999 research outputs found
The beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotrophin exists as a homodimer
The free beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCGbeta) is well recognised as a product of many epithelial tumours. Recently, it has been shown that this ectopic production may have a functional relationship to tumour growth. The growth-promoting activity of hCGbeta may be explained by its structural similarity to a family of growth factors which all contain the same distinct topological fold known as the cystine-knot motif. Since the other members of this family all exhibit their activities as homo- and heterodimers, it is possible that the same may be true for hCGbeta. Using size-exclusion chromatography, low stringency SDS-PAGE and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionisation (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) we have shown that pure preparations of hCGbeta contain hCGbetabeta homodimers. Size-exclusion chromatography revealed asymmetric elution profiles with a forward peak corresponding to the size-exclusion characteristic of a globular protein with an approximate mass of 44-54 kDa and a late shoulder centered around an elution position expected for a globular protein of approximately 29 kDa. Two immunoreactive hCGbeta species, of approximately 32 and 64 kDa, were clearly resolved by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. When analysed by MALDI-TOF MS a |mf23 kDa monomer and a |mf46 kDa dimer were identified. Formation of hCGbetabeta homodimers is consistent with the behaviour of other cystine-knot growth factors and strengthens the inclusion of the glycoprotein hormones within this superfamily. It has yet to be determined whether it is this dimeric molecular species that is responsible for growth-promoting activity of hCGbeta preparations in tumours
Blocking Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Signaling in HTR-8/SVneo First Trimester Trophoblast Cells Results in Dephosphorylation of PKBα/AKT and Induces Apoptosis
We identified a major peptide signaling target of EGF/EGFR pathway and explored the consequences of blocking or activating this pathway in the first trimester extravillous trophoblast cells, HTR-8/SVneo. A global analysis of protein phosphorylation was undertaken using novel technology (Kinexus Kinetworks) that utilizes SDS-polyacrylamide minigel electrophoresis and multi-lane immunoblotting to permit specific and semiquantitative detection of multiple phosphoproteins. Forty-seven protein phosphorylation sites were queried, and the results reported based on relative phosphorylation at each site. EGF- and Iressa-(gefitinib, ZD1839, an inhibitor of EGFR) treated HTR-8/SVneo cells were subjected to immunoblotting and flow cytometry to confirm the phosphoprotein screen and to assess the effects of EGF versus Iressa on cell cycle and apoptosis. EGFR mediates the phosphorylation of important signaling proteins, including PKBα/AKT. This pathway is likely to be central to EGFR-mediated trophoblast survival. Furthermore, EGF treatment induces proliferation and inhibits apoptosis, while Iressa induces apoptosis
Hawtreyan 'credit deadlock' or Keynesian 'liquidity trap'? Lessons for Japan from the great depression
This paper outlines the ideas of Ralph Hawtrey and Lauchlin Currie on the need for monetised fiscal deficit spending in 1930s USA to combat the deep depression into which the economy had been allowed to sink. In such exceptional circumstances of 'credit deadlock' in which banks were afraid to lend and households and business afraid to borrow, the deadlock could best be broken through the spending of new money into circulation via large fiscal deficits. This complementarity of fiscal and monetary policy was shown to be essential, and as such indicates the potential power of monetary policy - in contrast to the Keynesian "liquidity trap" view that it is powerless This lesson was not learned by the Japanese authorities in their response to the asset price collapse of 1991-92, resulting in a lost decade as ballooning fiscal deficits were neutralised throughout the 1990s by unhelpfully tight monetary policy with the Bank of Japan refusing to monetise the deficits
Nonequilibrium orientational patterns in two-component Langmuir monolayers
A model of a phase-separating two-component Langmuir monolayer in the
presence of a photo-induced reaction interconvering two components is
formulated. An interplay between phase separation, orientational ordering and
treaction is found to lead to a variety of nonequilibrium self-organized
patterns, both stationary and traveling. Examples of the patterns, observed in
numerical simulations, include flowing droplets, traveling stripes, wave
sources and vortex defects.Comment: Submitted to the Physical Review
First-principles kinetic Monte Carlo simulations for heterogeneous catalysis, applied to the CO oxidation at RuO2(110)
We describe a first-principles statistical mechanics approach enabling us to
simulate the steady-state situation of heterogeneous catalysis. In a first step
density-functional theory together with transition-state theory is employed to
obtain the energetics of all relevant elementary processes. Subsequently the
statistical mechanics problem is solved by the kinetic Monte Carlo method,
which fully accounts for the correlations, fluctuations, and spatial
distributions of the chemicals at the surface of the catalyst under
steady-state conditions. Applying this approach to the catalytic oxidation of
CO at RuO2(110), we determine the surface atomic structure and composition in
reactive environments ranging from ultra-high vacuum (UHV) to technologically
relevant conditions, i.e. up to pressures of several atmospheres and elevated
temperatures. We also compute the CO2 formation rates (turnover frequencies).
The results are in quantitative agreement with all existing experimental data.
We find that the high catalytic activity of this system is intimately connected
with a disordered, dynamic surface ``phase'' with significant compositional
fluctuations. In this active state the catalytic function results from a
self-regulating interplay of several elementary processes.Comment: 18 pages including 9 figures; related publications can be found at
http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/th.htm
An archival case study : revisiting the life and political economy of Lauchlin Currie
This paper forms part of a wider project to show the significance of archival material on distinguished economists, in this case Lauchlin Currie (1902-93), who studied and taught at Harvard before entering government service at the US Treasury and Federal Reserve Board as the intellectual leader of Roosevelt's New Deal, 1934-39, as FDR's White House economic adviser in peace and war, 1939-45, and as a post-war development economist. It discusses the uses made of the written and oral material available when the author was writing his intellectual biography of Currie (Duke University Press 1990) while Currie was still alive, and the significance of the material that has come to light after Currie's death
Molecular formations in ultracold mixtures of interacting and noninteracting atomic gases
Atom-molecule equilibrium for molecular formation processes is discussed for
boson-fermion, fermion-fermion, and boson-boson mixtures of ultracold atomic
gases in the framework of quasichemical equilibrium theory. After presentation
of the general formulation, zero-temperature phase diagrams of the
atom-molecule equilibrium states are calculated analytically; molecular, mixed,
and dissociated phases are shown to appear for the change of the binding energy
of the molecules. The temperature dependences of the atom or molecule densities
are calculated numerically, and finite-temperature phase structures are
obtained of the atom-molecule equilibrium in the mixtures. The transition
temperatures of the atom or molecule Bose-Einstein condensations are also
evaluated from these results. Quantum-statistical deviations of the law of mass
action in atom-molecule equilibrium, which should be satisfied in mixtures of
classical Maxwell-Boltzmann gases, are calculated, and the difference in the
different types of quantum-statistical effects is clarified. Mean-field
calculations with interparticle interactions (atom-atom, atom-molecule, and
molecule-molecule) are formulated, where interaction effects are found to give
the linear density-dependent term in the effective molecular binding energies.
This method is applied to calculations of zero-temperature phase diagrams,
where new phases with coexisting local-equilibrium states are shown to appear
in the case of strongly repulsive interactions.Comment: 35 pages, 14 figure
What’s Sex (Composition) Got to Do with It? The Importance of Sex Composition of Gangs for Female and Male Members’ Offending and Victimization
Sex composition of groups has been theorized in organizational sociology and found in prior work to structure female and male members’ behaviors and experiences. Peer group and gang literature similarly finds that the sex gap in offending varies across groups of differing sex ratios. Drawing on this and other research linking gang membership, offending, and victimization, we examine whether sex composition of gangs is linked to sex differences in offending in this sample, further assess whether sex composition similarly structures females’ and males’ victimization experiences, and if so, why. Self-report data from gang members in a multi-site, longitudinal study of 3,820 youths are employed. Results support previous findings about variations in member delinquency by both sex and sex composition of the gang and also indicate parallel variations in members’ victimization. These results are further considered within the context of facilitating effects such as gender dynamics, gang characteristics, and normative orientation
Complete Exact Solution of Diffusion-Limited Coalescence, A + A -> A
Some models of diffusion-limited reaction processes in one dimension lend
themselves to exact analysis. The known approaches yield exact expressions for
a limited number of quantities of interest, such as the particle concentration,
or the distribution of distances between nearest particles. However, a full
characterization of a particle system is only provided by the infinite
hierarchy of multiple-point density correlation functions. We derive an exact
description of the full hierarchy of correlation functions for the
diffusion-limited irreversible coalescence process A + A -> A.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures (postscript). Typeset with Revte
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