WASp is required for the correct temporal morphogenesis of rhabdomere microvilli

Microvilli are actin-based fingerlike membrane projections that form the basis of the brush border of enterocytes and the Drosophila melanogaster photoreceptor rhabdomere. Although many microvillar cytoskeletal components have been identified, the molecular basis of microvillus formation is largely undefined. Here, we report that the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASp) is necessary for rhabdomere microvillus morphogenesis. We show that WASp accumulates on the photoreceptor apical surface before microvillus formation, and at the time of microvillus initiation WASp colocalizes with amphiphysin and moesin. The loss of WASp delays the enrichment of F-actin on the apical photoreceptor surface, delays the appearance of the primordial microvillar projections, and subsequently leads to malformed rhabdomeres

Radiation risk predictions for Space Station Freedom orbits

Risk assessment calculations are presented for the preliminary proposed solar minimum and solar maximum orbits for Space Station Freedom (SSF). Integral linear energy transfer (LET) fluence spectra are calculated for the trapped proton and GCR environments. Organ dose calculations are discussed using the computerized anatomical man model. The cellular track model of Katz is applied to calculate cell survival, transformation, and mutation rates for various aluminum shields. Comparisons between relative biological effectiveness (RBE) and quality factor (QF) values for SSF orbits are made

Orientational Disorder in Sodium Cadmium Trifluoride Trihydrate, NaCdF3·3H2O

Attempts to synthesize the hypothetical anhydrous fluoroperovskite NaCdF3, which has been predicted to be stable, resulted instead in a hydrated fluoride of nominal composition NaCdF3·3H2O. It decomposes to sodium fluoride, cadmium fluoride, and water at 60 °C. Its structure has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Na0.92(2)Cd1.08F3.08·2.92H2O crystallizes in the cubic space group with a = 8.2369(4) Å and Z = 4. The structure is based on the NaSbF6-type (an ordered variant of the ReO3-type) and features tilted sodium- and cadmium-centred octahedra that are linked by shared vertices to form a three-dimensional network. Substitutional disorder occurs on the nonmetal site, which is occupied by both F and O atoms, and on one of the metal sites, which is occupied by 92% Na and 8% Cd. A four-fold orientational disorder of the tilted octahedra is manifested as partial occupancy (25%) of the nonmetal site. A scheme to synthesize the anhydrous fluoride is presented

Dielectric Properties and Maxwell-Wagner Relaxation of Compounds ACu3Ti4O12 (A=Ca,Bi2/3,Y2/3,La2/3)

We have studied the frequency and temperature dependences of permittivity and impedance of the compounds ACu3Ti4O12 A=Ca, Bi2/3, Y2/3, La2/3 in the ranges of 10−1–106 Hz and −150–200 °C. All compounds investigated display similar dielectric properties. Specifically, they all have a Debye-like relaxation and their dielectric constants are independent of frequency and temperature over a wide range. They all have two electrical responses in impedance formalism, indicating that there are two distinct contributions. We attribute them to grains and grain boundaries in the ceramic samples and explain the dielectric behaviors by Maxwell-Wagner relaxation arising at the interfaces between grains and their boundaries

Mouse model phenotypes provide information about human drug targets

Motivation: Methods for computational drug target identification use information from diverse information sources to predict or prioritize drug targets for known drugs. One set of resources that has been relatively neglected for drug repurposing is animal model phenotype. Results: We investigate the use of mouse model phenotypes for drug target identification. To achieve this goal, we first integrate mouse model phenotypes and drug effects, and then systematically compare the phenotypic similarity between mouse models and drug effect profiles. We find a high similarity between phenotypes resulting from loss-of-function mutations and drug effects resulting from the inhibition of a protein through a drug action, and demonstrate how this approach can be used to suggest candidate drug targets. Availability and implementation: Analysis code and supplementary data files are available on the project Web site at https://drugeffects.googlecode.com. Contact: [email protected] or [email protected] Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online

Boundary Avoidance Tracking for Instigating Pilot Induced Oscillations

In order to advance research in the area of pilot induced oscillations, a reliable method to create PIOs in a simulated environment is necessary. Using a boundary avoidance tracking task, researchers performing an evaluation of control systems were able to create PIO events in 42% of cases using a nominal aircraft, and 91% of cases using an aircraft with reduced actuator rate limits. The simulator evaluation took place in the NASA Ames Vertical Motion Simulator, a high-fidelity motion-based simulation facility

CaCu3Ti4O12: Low-Temperature Synthesis by Pyrolysis of an Organic Solution

The giant-dielectric-constant material CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) has been synthesized by pyrolyzing an organic solution containing stoichiometric amounts of the metal cations, which is done at lower temperature and shorter reaction time than the conventional solid-state reaction. A stable solution was prepared by dissolving calcium nitrate, copper(II) nitrate, and titanium(IV) isopropoxide in 2-methoxyethanol. This solution was pyrolyzed and heat-treated to achieve single-phase CCTO. The phases, microstructures, and dielectric properties of intermediate and final samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and dielectric spectroscopy

Characterisation and quantification of changes in odorants from litter headspace of meat chickens fed diets varying in protein levels and additives

The effect of dietary crude protein (CP) and additives on odor flux from meat chicken litter was investigated using 180 day-old Ross 308 male chicks randomly allocated to five dietary treatments with three replicates of 12 birds each. A 5 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments was employed. Factors were: diet (low CP, high CP, high CP+antibiotic, high CP+probiotic, high CP+saponin) and age (15, 29, 35 days). The antibiotic used was Zn bacitracin, the probiotic was a blend of three Bacillus subtilis strains and the saponin came from a blend of Yucca and Quillaja. Odorants were collected from litter headspace with a flux hood and measured using selective ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS). Litter moisture, water activity (Aw), and litter headspace odorant concentrations were correlated. The results showed that low CP group produced lower flux of dimethyl amine, trimethyl amine, H2S, NH3, and phenol in litter compared to high CP group (P < 0.05). Similarly, high CP+probiotic group produced lower flux of H2S (P < 0.05) and high CP+saponin group produced lower flux of trimethylamine and phenol in litter compared to high CP group (P < 0.05). The dietary treatments tended (P = 0.065) to have higher flux of methanethiol in high CP group compared to others. There was a diet × age interaction for litter flux of diacetyl, 3-hydroxy-2-butanone (acetoin), 3-methyl-1-butanol, 3-methylbutanal, ethanethiol, propionic acid, and hexane (P < 0.05). Concentrations of diacetyl, acetoin, propionic acid, and hexane in litter were higher from low CP group compared to all other treatments on d 35 (P < 0.05) but not on d 15 and 29. A high litter moisture increased water activity (P < 0.01) and favored the emissions of methyl mercaptan, hydrogen sulfide, dimethyl sulfide, ammonia, trimethyl amine, phenol, indole, and 3-methylindole over others. Thus, the low CP diet, Bacillus subtilis based probiotic and the blend of Yucca/Quillaja saponin were effective in reducing the emissions of some key odorants from meat chicken litter

Order-Disorder Phase Transitions in KNO2 , CsNO2, and TlNO2 crystals: A Molecular Dynamics Study

The order-disorder phase transitions of KNO2 , CsNO2, and TlNO2 have been studied using parameter-free molecular dynamics simulation. It is found that the phase transitions in nitrites investigated are driven by the rotations of the NO2 2 ions about different axes together with displacements of cations and anions. We successfully reproduce the high-temperature phases of these nitrites, i.e., the NaCl-like structure for KNO2 and CsCl-like structure for Cs(Tl)NO2. Based on the investigation of the radial distribution function of the cations and anions, we explain why KNO2 and Cs(Tl)NO2 form quite different low-temperature phases

Electrical properties and Raman Scattering Study of Single Crystal Cs2Nb4O11

We studied temperature dependence of complex capacitance, impedance, and polarized Raman spectra of single crystal Cs2Nb4O11. First, we observed a sharp-shaped peak at 165 oC in the complex capacitance, then found drastic changes in the Raman spectra in the same temperature range. Utilizing the pseudosymmetry search of structure space group, we attributed the observed anomalies to a structural change from the room temperature orthorhombic Pnn2 to another or- thorhombic Imm2. We also measured room temperature polarized Raman spectra in different symmetries of normal vibrations and assigned high wavenumber Raman bands to the internal vibrations of NbO6 octahedra and NbO4 tetrahedra