1,106 research outputs found
C-terminal fusion of eGFP to the bradykinin B-2 receptor strongly affects down-regulation but not receptor internalization or signaling
A functional comparison was made between the wildtype bradykinin B, receptor (B(2)wt) and the chimera B(2)eGFP (enhanced green-fluorescent protein fused to the C-terminus of B(2)Wt), both stably expressed in HEK 293 cells. There was almost no difference in terms of ligand-inducible receptor phosphorylation and internalization, signal transduction (accumulation of inositol phosphates) or expression and affinity. However, stimulation for up to 8 h with 10 mu M bradykinin (BK) resulted in a strong decrease in surface receptors (by 60% within 5 h) in B(2)Wt, but not in B(2)eGFP. When the expression levels of both constructs where comparably reduced using a weaker promoter, long-term stimulation resulted in a reduction in surface receptors for B(2)wt(low) to less than 20% within 1 h, whereas the chimera B(2)eGFP(low) still displayed 50% binding activity after 2 h. A 1-h incubation in the absence of BK resulted in a recovery of 60% of the binding in B(2)wt(low) after 1-h stimulation with BK, but of only 20% after 7-h stimulation. In contrast, B(2)eGFP(low) levels were restored to more than 70%, even after 7-h stimulation. These data indicate that although the fusion of eGFP to B(2)wt does not affect its ligand-induced internalization, it strongly reduces the down-regulation, most likely by promoting receptor recycling over degradation
An analytic interface dynamo over a shear layer of finite depth
Parker's analytic Cartesian interface dynamo is generalized to the case of a
shear layer of finite thickness and low resistivity ("tachocline"), bounded by
a perfect conductor ("radiative zone") on the one side, and by a highly
diffusive medium ("convective zone") supporting an -effect on the other
side. In the limit of high diffusivity contrast between the shear layer and the
diffusive medium, thought to be relevant for the Sun, a pair of exact
dispersion relations for the growth rate and frequency of dynamo modes is
analytically derived. Graphic solution of the dispersion relations displays a
somewhat unexpected, non-monotonic behaviour, the mathematical origin of which
is elucidated. The dependence of the results on the parameter values (dynamo
number and shear layer thickness) is investigated. The implications of this
result for the solar dynamo problem are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dyn., in pres
The intensity contrast of solar granulation: comparing Hinode SP results with MHD simulations
The contrast of granulation is an important quantity characterizing solar
surface convection. We compare the intensity contrast at 630 nm, observed using
the Spectro-Polarimeter (SP) aboard the Hinode satellite, with the 3D radiative
MHD simulations of V{\"o}gler & Sch{\"u}ssler (2007). A synthetic image from
the simulation is degraded using a theoretical point-spread function of the
optical system, and by considering other important effects. The telescope
aperture and the obscuration by the secondary mirror and its attachment spider,
reduce the simulated contrast from 14.4 % to 8.5 %. A slight effective defocus
of the instrument brings the simulated contrast down to 7.5 %, close to the
observed value of 7.0 %. A proper consideration of the effects of the optical
system and a slight defocus, lead to sufficient degradation of the synthetic
image from the MHD simulation, such that the contrast reaches almost the
observed value. The remaining small discrepancy can be ascribed to straylight
and slight imperfections of the instrument, which are difficult to model.
Hence, Hinode SP data are consistent with a granulation contrast which is
predicted by 3D radiation MHD simulations.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to be published in A&
The obligate endobacteria of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are ancient heritable components related to the Mollicutes
MpTCP1 controls cell proliferation and redox processes in Marchantia polymorpha
TCP transcription factors are key regulators of angiosperm cell proliferation processes. It is unknown whether their regulatory growth capacities are conserved across land plants, which we examined in liverworts, one of the earliest diverging land plant lineages. We generated knockout mutants for MpTCP1, the single TCP‐P clade gene in Marchantia polymorpha, and characterized its function conducting cell proliferation and morphological analyses as well as mRNA expression, transcriptome, chemical and DNA binding studies. Mptcp1ge lines show a reduced vegetative thallus growth and extra tissue formation in female reproductive structures. Additionally, mutant plants reveal increased H2O2 levels and an enhanced pigmentation in the thallus caused by formation of secondary metabolites, such as aminochromes. MpTCP1 proteins interact redox‐dependently with DNA and regulate the expression of a comprehensive redox network, comprising enzymes involved in H2O2 metabolism. MpTCP1 regulates Marchantia growth context‐dependently. Redox sensitivity of the DNA binding capacity of MpTCP1 proteins provides a mechanism to respond to altered redox conditions. Our data suggest that MpTCP1 activity could thereby have contributed to diversification of land plant morphologies and to adaptations to abiotic and biotic challenges, experienced by liverworts during early land plant colonization
Comparison of solar photospheric bright points between SUNRISE observations and MHD simulations
Bright points (BPs) in the solar photosphere are radiative signatures of
magnetic elements described by slender flux tubes located in the darker
intergranular lanes. They contribute to the ultraviolet (UV) flux variations
over the solar cycle and hence may influence the Earth's climate. Here we
combine high-resolution UV and spectro-polarimetric observations of BPs by the
SUNRISE observatory with 3D radiation MHD simulations. Full spectral line
syntheses are performed with the MHD data and a careful degradation is applied
to take into account all relevant instrumental effects of the observations. It
is demonstrated that the MHD simulations reproduce the measured distributions
of intensity at multiple wavelengths, line-of-sight velocity, spectral line
width, and polarization degree rather well. Furthermore, the properties of
observed BPs are compared with synthetic ones. These match also relatively
well, except that the observations display a tail of large and strongly
polarized BPs not found in the simulations. The higher spatial resolution of
the simulations has a significant effect, leading to smaller and more numerous
BPs. The observation that most BPs are weakly polarized is explained mainly by
the spatial degradation, the stray light contamination, and the temperature
sensitivity of the Fe I line at 5250.2 \AA{}. The Stokes asymmetries of the
BPs increase with the distance to their center in both observations and
simulations, consistent with the classical picture of a production of the
asymmetry in the canopy. This is the first time that this has been found also
in the internetwork. Almost vertical kilo-Gauss fields are found for 98 % of
the synthetic BPs. At the continuum formation height, the simulated BPs are on
average 190 K hotter than the mean quiet Sun, their mean BP field strength is
1750 G, supporting the flux-tube paradigm to describe BPs.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics on May 30 201
The H.E.S.S. multi-messenger program
Based on fundamental particle physics processes like the production and
subsequent decay of pions in interactions of high-energy particles, close
connections exist between the acceleration sites of high-energy cosmic rays and
the emission of high-energy gamma rays and high-energy neutrinos. In most cases
these connections provide both spatial and temporal correlations of the
different emitted particles. The combination of the complementary information
provided by these messengers allows to lift ambiguities in the interpretation
of the data and enables novel and highly sensitive analyses. In this
contribution the H.E.S.S. multi-messenger program is introduced and described.
The current core of this newly installed program is the combination of
high-energy neutrinos and high-energy gamma rays. The search for gamma-ray
emission following gravitational wave triggers is also discussed. Furthermore,
the existing program for following triggers in the electromagnetic regime was
extended by the search for gamma-ray emission from Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). An
overview over current and planned analyses is given and recent results are
presented.Comment: In Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference
(ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherland
Precision spectroscopy of the 3s-3p fine structure doublet in Mg+
We apply a recently demonstrated method for precision spectroscopy on strong
transitions in trapped ions to measure both fine structure components of the
3s-3p transition in 24-Mg+ and 26-Mg+. We deduce absolute frequency reference
data for transition frequencies, isotope shifts and fine structure splittings
that are in particular useful for comparison with quasar absorption spectra,
which test possible space-time variations of the fine structure constant. The
measurement accuracy improves previous literature values, when existing, by
more than two orders of magnitude
Stratification of sunspot umbral dots from inversion of Stokes profiles recorded by Hinode
This work aims to constrain the physical nature of umbral dots (UDs) using
high-resolution spectropolarimetry. Full Stokes spectra recorded by the
spectropolarimeter on Hinode of 51 UDs in a sunspot close to the disk center
are analyzed. The height dependence of the temperature, magnetic field vector,
and line-of-sight velocity across each UD is obtained from an inversion of the
Stokes vectors of the two FeI lines at 630 nm. No difference is found at higher
altitudes (-3 <= log(tau) <= -2) between the UDs and the diffuse umbral
background. Below that level the difference rapidly increases, so that at the
continuum formation level (log(tau) = 0) we find on average a temperature
enhancement of 570 K, a magnetic field weakening of 510 G, and upflows of 800
m/s for peripheral UDs, whereas central UDs display an excess temperature of on
average 550 K, a field weakening of 480 G, and no significant upflows. The
results for, in particular, the peripheral UDs, including cuts of magnetic
vector and velocity through them, look remarkably similar to the output of
recent radiation MHD simulations. They strongly suggest that UDs are produced
by convective upwellings
Umbral Dynamics in the Near Infrared Continuum
We detected peaks of oscillatory power at 3 and ~6.5 minutes in the umbra of
the central sunspot of the active region NOAA AR 10707 in data obtained in the
near infrared (NIR) continuum at 1565.7 nm. The NIR dataset captured umbral
dynamics around 50 km below the photospheric level. The umbra does not
oscillate as a whole, but rather in distinct parts that are distributed over
the umbral surface. The most powerful oscillations, close to a period of ~ 6.5,
do not propagate upward. We noted a plethora of large umbral dots that
persisted for more than 30 minutes and stayed in the same locations. The peaks
of oscillatory power above the detected umbral dots are located at 3 and 5
minutes oscillations, but are very weak in comparison with the oscillations of
~ 6.5 minutes.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, accepted in Ap
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