Dynamics of myosin, microtubules, and Kinesin-6 at the cortex during cytokinesis in Drosophila S2 cells

© The Authors, 2009 . This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. The definitive version was published in Journal of Cell Biology 186 (2009): 727-738, doi:10.1083/jcb.200902083.Signals from the mitotic spindle during anaphase specify the location of the actomyosin contractile ring during cytokinesis, but the detailed mechanism remains unresolved. Here, we have imaged the dynamics of green fluorescent protein–tagged myosin filaments, microtubules, and Kinesin-6 (which carries activators of Rho guanosine triphosphatase) at the cell cortex using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy in flattened Drosophila S2 cells. At anaphase onset, Kinesin-6 relocalizes to microtubule plus ends that grow toward the cortex, but refines its localization over time so that it concentrates on a subset of stable microtubules and along a diffuse cortical band at the equator. The pattern of Kinesin-6 localization closely resembles where new myosin filaments appear at the cortex by de novo assembly. While accumulating at the equator, myosin filaments disappear from the poles of the cell, a process that also requires Kinesin-6 as well as possibly other signals that emanate from the elongating spindle. These results suggest models for how Kinesin-6 might define the position of cortical myosin during cytokinesis.This work was supported by a National Institutes of Health grant NIH 38499 to R.D. Vale

A comprehensive classification of galaxies in the SDSS: How to tell true from fake AGN?

We use the W_Ha versus [NII]/Ha (WHAN) diagram to provide a comprehensive emission-line classification of SDSS galaxies. This classification is able to cope with the large population of weak line galaxies that do not appear in traditional diagrams due to a lack of some of the diagnostic lines. A further advantage of the WHAN diagram is to allow the differentiation between two very distinct classes that overlap in the LINER region of traditional diagnostic diagrams. These are galaxies hosting a weakly active nucleus (wAGN) and "retired galaxies" (RGs), i.e. galaxies that have stopped forming stars and are ionized by their hot evolved low-mass stars. A useful criterion to distinguish true from fake AGN (i.e. the RGs) is the ratio (\xi) of the extinction-corrected L_Ha with respect to the Ha luminosity expected from photoionization by stellar populations older than 100 Myr. This ratio follows a markedly bimodal distribution, with a \xi >> 1 population composed by systems undergoing star-formation and/or nuclear activity, and a peak at \xi ~ 1 corresponding to the prediction of the RG model. We base our classification scheme on the equivalent width of Ha, an excellent observational proxy for \xi. Based on the bimodal distribution of W_Ha, we set the division between wAGN and RGs at W_Ha = 3 A. Five classes of galaxies are identified within the WHAN diagram: (a) Pure star forming galaxies: log [NII]/Ha 3 A. (b) Strong AGN (i.e., Seyferts): log [NII]/Ha > -0.4 and W_Ha > 6 A. (c) Weak AGN: log [NII]/Ha > -0.4 and W_Ha between 3 and 6 A. (d) RGs: W_Ha < 3 A. (e) Passive galaxies (actually, line-less galaxies): W_Ha and W_[NII] < 0.5 A. A comparative analysis of star formation histories and of other properties in these different classes of galaxies corroborates our proposed differentiation between RGs and weak AGN in the LINER-like family. (Abridged)Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

The many faces of LINER-like galaxies: a WISE view

We use the SDSS and WISE surveys to investigate the real nature of galaxies defined as LINERs in the BPT diagram. After establishing a mid-infrared colour W2-W3 = 2.5 as the optimal separator between galaxies with and without star formation, we investigate the loci of different galaxy classes in the W_{Ha} versus W2-W3 space. We find that: (1) A large fraction of LINER-like galaxies are emission-line retired galaxies, i.e galaxies which have stopped forming stars and are powered by hot low-mass evolved stars (HOLMES). Their W2-W3 colours show no sign of star formation and their Ha equivalent widths, W_{Ha}, are consistent with ionization by their old stellar populations. (2) Another important fraction have W2-W3 indicative of star formation. This includes objects located in the supposedly `pure AGN' zone of the BPT diagram. (3) A smaller fraction of LINER-like galaxies have no trace of star formation from W2-W3 and a high W_{Ha}, pointing to the presence of an AGN. (4) Finally, a few LINERs tagged as retired by their W_{Ha} but with W2-W3 values indicative of star formation are late-type galaxies whose SDSS spectra cover only the old `retired' bulge. This reinforces the view that LINER-like galaxies are a mixed bag of objects involving different physical phenomena and observational effects thrusted into the same locus of the BPT diagram.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 9 pages, 6 figure

Retired galaxies: not to be forgotten in the quest of the star formation -- AGN connection

We propose a fresh look at the Main Galaxy Sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey by packing the galaxies in stellar mass and redshift bins. We show how important it is to consider the emission-line equivalent widths, in addition to the commonly used emission-line ratios, to properly identify retired galaxies (i.e. galaxies that have stopped forming stars and are ionized by their old stellar populations) and not mistake them for galaxies with low-level nuclear activity. We find that the proportion of star-forming galaxies decreases with decreasing redshift in each mass bin, while that of retired galaxies increases. Galaxies with $M_\star > 10^{11.5} M_\odot$ have formed all their stars at redshift larger than 0.4. The population of AGN hosts is never dominant for galaxy masses larger than $10^{10} M_\odot$. We warn about the effects of stacking galaxy spectra to discuss galaxy properties. We estimate the lifetimes of active galactic nuclei (AGN) relying entirely on demographic arguments --- i.e. without any assumption on the AGN radiative properties. We find upper-limit lifetimes of about 1--5 Gyr for detectable AGN in galaxies with masses between $10^{10}$--$10^{12} M_\odot$. The lifetimes of the AGN-dominated phases are a few $10^8$ yr. Finally, we compare the star-formation histories of star-forming, AGN and retired galaxies as obtained by the spectral synthesis code STARLIGHT. Once the AGN is turned on it inhibits star formation for the next $\sim$ 0.1 Gyr in galaxies with masses around $10^{10} M_\odot$, $\sim$ 1 Gyr in galaxies with masses around $10^{11} M_\odot$.Comment: accepted for MNRAS figure resolution has been degraded with respect to what will be published in MNRA

Developing the Intervention and Outcome Components of a Proposed Randomised Controlled trial (RCT) of a National Screening Programme for Open Angle Glaucoma (OAG) : Medical Research Council funded trial platform study (G0701759): Study protocol

Postprin

BOND: Bayesian Oxygen and Nitrogen abundance Determinations in giant H II regions using strong and semi-strong lines

We present BOND, a Bayesian code to simultaneously derive oxygen and nitrogen abundances in giant H II regions. It compares observed emission lines to a grid of photoionization models without assuming any relation between O/H and N/O. Our grid spans a wide range in O/H, N/O and ionization parameter U, and covers different starburst ages and nebular geometries. Varying starburst ages accounts for variations in the ionizing radiation field hardness, which arise due to the ageing of H II regions or the stochastic sampling of the initial mass function. All previous approaches assume a strict relation between the ionizing field and metallicity. The other novelty is extracting information on the nebular physics from semi-strong emission lines. While strong lines ratios alone ([O III]/Hbeta, [O II]/Hbeta and [N II]/Hbeta) lead to multiple O/H solutions, the simultaneous use of [Ar III]/[Ne III] allows one to decide whether an H II region is of high or low metallicity. Adding He I/Hbeta pins down the hardness of the radiation field. We apply our method to H II regions and blue compact dwarf galaxies, and find that the resulting N/O vs O/H relation is as scattered as the one obtained from the temperature-based method. As in previous strong-line methods calibrated on photoionization models, the BOND O/H values are generally higher than temperature-based ones, which might indicate the presence of temperature fluctuations or kappa distributions in real nebulae, or a too soft ionizing radiation field in the models.Comment: MNRAS in press; 21 pages, 22 figures, 2 tables; code, data and results available at http://bond.ufsc.b

Amplification and squeezing of quantum noise with a tunable Josephson metamaterial

It has recently become possible to encode the quantum state of superconducting qubits and the position of nanomechanical oscillators into the states of microwave fields. However, to make an ideal measurement of the state of a qubit, or to detect the position of a mechanical oscillator with quantum-limited sensitivity requires an amplifier that adds no noise. If an amplifier adds less than half a quantum of noise, it can also squeeze the quantum noise of the electromagnetic vacuum. Highly squeezed states of the vacuum serve as an important quantum information resource. They can be used to generate entanglement or to realize back-action-evading measurements of position. Here we introduce a general purpose parametric device, which operates in a frequency band between 4 and 8 GHz. It is a subquantum-limited microwave amplifier, it amplifies quantum noise above the added noise of commercial amplifiers, and it squeezes quantum fluctuations by 10 dB.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Single-sideband modulator for frequency domain multiplexing of superconducting qubit readout

We introduce and experimentally characterize a superconducting single-sideband modulator compatible with cryogenic microwave circuits, and propose its use for frequency domain multiplexing of superconducting qubit readout. The monolithic single-quadrature modulators that comprise the device are formed with purely reactive elements (capacitors and Josephson junction inductors) and require no microwave-frequency control tones. Microwave signals in the 4 to 8 GHz band, with power up to -85 dBm, are converted up or down in frequency by as much as 120 MHz. Spurious harmonics in the device can be suppressed by up to 25 dB for select probe and modulation frequencies.Comment: 5 page main text, 6 page supplementary informatio

Rapid Spatial Learning Controls Instinctive Defensive Behavior in Mice

Instinctive defensive behaviors are essential for animal survival. Across the animal kingdom, there are sensory stimuli that innately represent threat and trigger stereotyped behaviors such as escape or freezing [1–4]. While innate behaviors are considered to be hard-wired stimulus-responses [5], they act within dynamic environments, and factors such as the properties of the threat [6–9] and its perceived intensity [1, 10, 11], access to food sources [12–14], and expectations from past experience [15, 16] have been shown to influence defensive behaviors, suggesting that their expression can be modulated. However, despite recent work [2, 4, 17–21], little is known about how flexible mouse innate defensive behaviors are and how quickly they can be modified by experience. To address this, we have investigated the dependence of escape behavior on learned knowledge about the spatial environment and how the behavior is updated when the environment changes acutely. Using behavioral assays with innately threatening visual and auditory stimuli, we show that the primary goal of escape in mice is to reach a previously memorized shelter location. Memory of the escape target can be formed in a single shelter visit lasting less than 20 s, and changes in the spatial environment lead to a rapid update of the defensive action, including changing the defensive strategy from escape to freezing. Our results show that although there are innate links between specific sensory features and defensive behavior, instinctive defensive actions are surprisingly flexible and can be rapidly updated by experience to adapt to changing spatial environments

Beware of fake AGNs

In the BPT diagram, the distribution of the emission-line galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) evokes the wings of a seagull. Traditionally, galaxies in the right wing are considered to host AGNs. Our study of the stellar populations of SDSS galaxies showed that about1/4 of galaxies thought to host LINERS are in fact "retired galaxies", i.e. galaxies that stopped forming stars and are ionized by hot post-AGB stars and white dwarfs (Stasinska et al. 2008). When including the galaxies that lack some of the lines needed to place them in the BPT diagram the fraction of retired galaxies is even larger (Cid Fernandes et al., 2009, arXiv:0912.1376)Comment: to be published in "Co-evolution of central black holes and galaxies: feeding and feed-back" Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 267, Peterson, Rachel Somerville, & Thaisa Storchi-Bergmann ed