27,646 research outputs found
Biosynthesis and expression of zona pellucida glycoproteins in mammals
The zona pellucida (ZP) is an extracellular matrix surrounding the oocyte and the early embryo that exerts several important functions during fertilization and early embryonic development. The ZP of most mammalian species is composed of three glycoproteins (ZPA, ZPB, ZPC), products of the gene families ZPA, ZPB and ZPC that have been found to be highly homologous within mammalian species. Most data on the structure and function of the ZP are obtained from studies in mouse. New data from pig and other domestic animals, however, indicate that the mouse model does not hold for all other species. Whereas in the mouse ZPB is the primary sperm receptor, in the pig ZPA has been shown to possess receptor activity. Contrary to the mouse, where the growing oocyte is the only source of zona glycoproteins, in domestic animals these proteins are expressed in both the oocyte and granulosa cells in a stage-specific pattern and may play also a role in granulosa cell differentiation. In several mammalian species, the epithelial secretory cells of the oviduct synthesize and secrete specific glycoproteins (oviductins) that become closely associated with the ZP of the ovulated oocyte. Once bound to the ZP, oviductin molecules could act as a protective layer around the oocyte and early embryo by virtue of their densely glycosylated mucin-type domains. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel
Ultrafast Resonant Polarization Interferometry: Towards the First Direct Detection of Vacuum Polarization
Vacuum polarization, an effect predicted nearly 70 years ago, is still yet to
be directly detected despite significant experimental effort. Previous attempts
have made use of large liquid-helium cooled electromagnets which inadvertently
generate spurious signals that mask the desired signal. We present a novel
approach for the ultra-sensitive detection of optical birefringence that can be
usefully applied to a laboratory detection of vacuum polarization. The new
technique has a predicted birefringence measurement sensitivity of in a 1 second measurement. When combined with the extreme
polarizing fields achievable in this design we predict that a vacuum
polarization signal will be seen in a measurement of just a few days in
duration.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures. submitted to PR
How Sensitive are Di-Leptons from Rho Mesons to the High Baryon Density Region?
We show that the measurement of di-leptons might provide only a restricted
view into the most dense stages of heavy ion reactions. Thus, possible studies
of meson and baryon properties at high baryon densities, as e.g. done at
GSI-HADES and envisioned for FAIR-CBM, might observe weaker effects than
currently expected in certain approaches. We argue that the strong absorption
of resonances in the high baryon density region of the heavy ion collision
masks information from the early hot and dense phase due to a strong increase
of the total decay width because of collisional broadening. To obtain
additional information, we also compare the currently used approaches to
extract di-leptons from transport simulations - i.e. shining, only vector
mesons from final baryon resonance decays and instant emission of di-leptons
and find a strong sensitivity on the method employed in particular at FAIR and
SPS energies. It is shown explicitly that a restriction to rho meson (and
therefore di-lepton) production only in final state baryon resonance decays
provide a strong bias towards rather low baryon densities. The results
presented are obtained from UrQMD v2.3 calculations using the standard set-up.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, expanded versio
Satellite detection of vegetative damage and alteration caused by pollutants emitted by a zinc smelter
The author has identified the following significant results. Field observations and data collected by low flying aircraft were used to verify the accuracy of maps produced from the satellite data. Although areas of vegetation as small as six acres can accurately be detected, a white pine stand that was severely damaged by sulfur dioxide could not be differentiated from a healthy white pine stand because spectral differences were not large enough. When winter data were used to eliminate interference from herbaceous and deciduous vegetation, the damage was still undetectable. The analysis was able to produce a character map that accurately delineated areas of vegetative alteration due to high zinc levels accumulating in the soil. The map depicted a distinct gradient of less damage and alteration as the distance from the smelter increased. Although the satellite data will probably not be useful for detecting small acreages of damaged vegetation, it is concluded that the data may be very useful as an inventory tool to detect and delineate large vegetative areas possessing differing spectral signatures
Opening up the societal debate on climate engineering: How newspaper frames are changing
The use of climate engineering or geoengineering technologies to combat climate change has been a controversial topic, even in the scientific debate. In recent studies, it has been claimed that the debate on climate engineering technologies may be closing down prematurely, with detrimental effects on the possibility of social and ethical reflection in appraising these controversial technologies. We examined the extent to which the debate on climate engineering is opening up or closing down, analyzing the diversity of English-speaking newspaper frames in the period 2006–2011. The results provide strong support for an opening of the debate, especially since 2009, given the decline of overly deterministic frames, the emergence of frames related to sociopolitical issues and an overall more balanced distribution of the various frames. This provides evidence that different perspectives are voiced in the public debate, which may enable societies to critically reflect on these emerging technologies
Strong spin-orbit splitting on Bi surfaces
Using first-principles calculations and angle-resolved photoemission, we show
that the spin-orbit interaction leads to a strong splitting of the surface
state bands on low-index surfaces of Bi. The dispersion of the states and the
corresponding Fermi surfaces are profoundly modified in the whole surface
Brillouin zone. We discuss the implications of these findings with respect to a
proposed surface charge density wave on Bi(111) as well as to the surface
screening, surface spin-density waves, electron (hole) dynamics in surface
states, and to possible applications to the spintronics.Comment: 4 pages 2 figure
Directed flow as effect of transient matter rotation in hadron and nucleus collisions
We discuss directed flow introduced for description of nucleus collisions and
consider its possible behavior in hadronic and nuclei reactions due to rotation
of the transient matter.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure
Some triviality results for quasi-Einstein manifolds and Einstein warped products
In this paper we prove a number of triviality results for Einstein warped
products and quasi-Einstein manifolds using different techniques and under
assumptions of various nature. In particular we obtain and exploit gradient
estimates for solutions of weighted Poisson-type equations and adaptations to
the weighted setting of some Liouville-type theorems.Comment: 15 pages, fixed minor mistakes in Section
Deterministic quantum teleportation between distant atomic objects
Quantum teleportation is a key ingredient of quantum networks and a building
block for quantum computation. Teleportation between distant material objects
using light as the quantum information carrier has been a particularly exciting
goal. Here we demonstrate a new element of the quantum teleportation landscape,
the deterministic continuous variable (cv) teleportation between distant
material objects. The objects are macroscopic atomic ensembles at room
temperature. Entanglement required for teleportation is distributed by light
propagating from one ensemble to the other. Quantum states encoded in a
collective spin state of one ensemble are teleported onto another ensemble
using this entanglement and homodyne measurements on light. By implementing
process tomography, we demonstrate that the experimental fidelity of the
quantum teleportation is higher than that achievable by any classical process.
Furthermore, we demonstrate the benefits of deterministic teleportation by
teleporting a dynamically changing sequence of spin states from one distant
object onto another
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