Prime movers : mechanochemistry of mitotic kinesins

Mitotic spindles are self-organizing protein machines that harness teams of multiple force generators to drive chromosome segregation. Kinesins are key members of these force-generating teams. Different kinesins walk directionally along dynamic microtubules, anchor, crosslink, align and sort microtubules into polarized bundles, and influence microtubule dynamics by interacting with microtubule tips. The mechanochemical mechanisms of these kinesins are specialized to enable each type to make a specific contribution to spindle self-organization and chromosome segregation

Production and quality control of optical elements for the end cap hadron calorimeter of the CMS setup

An end cap hadron calorimeter, in which scintillators with wavelength-shifting fibers are used as the active elements, has been designed for the compact muon spectrometer (CMS) now under construction at CERN. A total of 1368 optical elements containing 21 096 scintillators have already been manufactured. The production and quality control procedures for these optical elements are described. copy 2005 Pleiades Publishing, Inc

Digital platforms for the logistics sector of the russian federation

This article explores digitalization initiatives for the transportation industry in the Russian Federation. The purpose of this study is to consider in detail an innovative digital platform development project, aimed at creating a unified multimodal transport and logistics environment in the Russian Federation in the context of a platform approach to digitalization. This article analyzed trends in the field of digitalization as a platform approach and the advantages and disadvantages in the application of this approaches in practice. Several examples from the experience in other countries in creating digital platforms were also studied, and special attention was paid to digitalization projects in the field of transport and logistics. These digital platforms of the transport sector of the Russian Federation (RF) we categorized on the base of the Enterprise Architecture approach. The prerequisites for creating an integrated platform designed for the digital transformation of the transport sector of the Russian Federation were identified, as well as the requirements for its architecture and functionality were formulated. In addition, the expected positive effects and possible threats were identified during the implementation of such a project, as well as some recommendations were made that will minimize the number of possible problematic situations during the operation of a single digital platform of the transport sector

Pseudogene-derived small interfering RNAs regulate gene expression in mouse oocytes

Pseudogenes populate the mammalian genome as remnants of artefactual incorporation of coding messenger RNAs into transposon pathways. Here we show that a subset of pseudogenes generates endogenous small interfering RNAs (endo-siRNAs) in mouse oocytes. These endo-siRNAs are often processed from double-stranded RNAs formed by hybridization of spliced transcripts from protein-coding genes to antisense transcripts from homologous pseudogenes. An inverted repeat pseudogene can also generate abundant small RNAs directly. A second class of endo-siRNAs may enforce repression of mobile genetic elements, acting together with Piwi-interacting RNAs. Loss of Dicer, a protein integral to small RNA production, increases expression of endo-siRNA targets, demonstrating their regulatory activity. Our findings indicate a function for pseudogenes in regulating gene expression by means of the RNA interference pathway and may, in part, explain the evolutionary pressure to conserve argonaute-mediated catalysis in mammals. ©2008 Nature Publishing Group