Models of curves : the birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture & ordinary reduction

Chapter 1,contains the numerical verification of the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture for hundreds of Jacobians of hyperelliptic curves of genus 2, 3, 4 and 5. Chapter 2 treats the equivalence of BSD for a certain elliptic curve over Q(∜5), and a pair of hyperelliptic curves over Q. In chapter 3, ordinary Galois covers of smooth curves are constructed from ordinary Galois covers of semi-stable curves. Finally, in chapter 4, the statistics of ordinary reduction for hyperelliptic curves is considered. Number theory, Algebra and Geometr

Silica nanowires templated by amyloid-like fibrils

Many peptides self-assemble to form amyloid fibrils. We previously explored the sequence propensity to form amyloid using variants of a designed peptide with sequence KFFEAAAKKFFE. These variant peptides form highly stable amyloid fibrils with varied lateral assembly and are ideal to template further assembly of non-proteinaceous material. Herein, we show that the fibrils formed by peptide variants can be coated with a layer of silica to produce silica nanowires using tetraethyl-orthosilicate. The resulting nanowires were characterized using electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray fiber diffraction, FTIR and cross-section EM to reveal a nanostructure with peptidic core. Lysine residues play a role in templating the formation of silica on the fibril surface and, using this library of peptides, we have explored the contributions of lysine as well as arginine to silica templating, and find that sequence plays an important role in determining the physical nature and structure of the resulting nanowires

Rothamsted Conference RC No 4 : The culture and manuring of sugar beet

RESP-49

Catalytic activity of the membrane-bound methylcholanthrene-inducible cytochrome P-450

AbstractThe benzopyrene hydroxylase activity of the methylcholanthrene-inducible form of cytochrome P-450 (P-448) has been studied in native and reconstituted liver microsomal membranes. The data obtained show that the molecular catalytic activity of membrane-bound cytochrome P-448 depends on the molar ratio of the cytochrome to NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase and that the optimal ratio for maximal activity of cytochrome P-448 in the microsomal membrane essentially differs from the equimolar one

CD47, a multi-facetted target for cancer immunotherapy

CD47 is a ubiquitously expressed immunoregulatory protein best known for its so-called 'don't eat me' function that prevents phagocytic removal of healthy cells by the immune system. Many types of cancer present high levels of this don't eat me signal on their surface, thereby disrupting anti-cancer immune responses. Based on this observation, CD47 has become a prominent target in the field of cancer immunotherapy. Indeed, pre-clinical studies have shown therapeutic benefit of anti-CD47 antibodies in solid cancers and most notably B-cell malignancies. However, CD47 is also involved in various other important cellular processes, such as angiogenesis, cancer cell death and regulation of T-cell immunity, which can be modulated via interactions with thrombospondin-1. The therapeutic outcome of CD47-targeted immunotherapy therefore relies on the combined effects of all these processes. Here we will review the various physiological functions of CD47 and their implications in cancer biology. Further, we will review ongoing efforts and provide perspectives for exploiting CD47 as an immunotherapeutic target in cancer