The thiazide sensitive sodium chloride co-transporter NCC is modulated by site-specific ubiquitylation.

The renal sodium chloride cotransporter, NCC, in the distal convoluted tubule is important for maintaining body Na(+) and K(+) homeostasis. Endogenous NCC is highly ubiquitylated, but the role of individual ubiquitylation sites is not established. Here, we assessed the role of 10 ubiquitylation sites for NCC function. Transient transfections of HEK293 cells with human wildtype (WT) NCC or various K to R mutants identified greater membrane abundance for K706R, K828R and K909R mutants. Relative to WT-NCC, stable tetracycline inducible MDCKI cell lines expressing K706R, K828R and K909R mutants had significantly higher total and phosphorylated NCC levels at the apical plasma membrane under basal conditions. Low chloride stimulation increased membrane abundance of all mutants to similar or greater levels than WT-NCC. Under basal conditions K828R and K909R mutants had less ubiquitylated NCC in the plasma membrane, and all mutants displayed reduced NCC ubiquitylation following low chloride stimulation. Thiazide-sensitive sodium-22 uptakes were elevated in the mutants and internalization from the plasma membrane was significantly less than WT-NCC. K909R had increased half-life, whereas chloroquine or MG132 treatment indicated that K706 and K909 play roles in lysosomal and proteasomal NCC degradation, respectively. In conclusion, site-specific ubiquitylation of NCC plays alternative roles for NCC function

Colored Spin Systems, BKP Evolution and finite N_c effects

Even within the framework of the leading logarithmic approximation the eigenvalues of the BKP kernel for states of more than three reggeized gluons are unknown in general, contrary to the planar limit case where the problem becomes integrable. We consider a 4-gluon kernel for a finite number of colors and define some simple toy models for the configuration space dynamics, which are directly solvable with group theoretical methods. Then we study the dependence of the spectrum of these models with respect to the number of colors and make comparisons with the large limit case.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, references update, to appear on EPJ

Tumor testicular de saco vitelino con metástasis a pleura: primer caso reportado en la literatura

ResumenEl cáncer testicular es el tumor urológico maligno más común en hombres jóvenes. Más del 90% corresponden a tumores de células germinales. El objetivo del estudio es el reporte del primer caso de cáncer testicular de tumores de células germinales con metástasis a pleura.Paciente masculino de 21 años, inicia su padecimiento con dolor en hemitórax derecho; la radiografía de tórax presenta una radioopacidad en lóbulo medio de pulmón derecho y la tomografía de tórax detecta una masa intratorácica y extrapulmonar. La biopsia torácica guiada por ultrasonido muestra una masa sólida adosada a la pared torácica, con efecto de desplazamiento sobre la pleura, conocido como «efecto en cola de cometa». La biopsia fue positiva para lesión neoplásica maligna poco diferenciada de la pleura. A la exploración encontramos testículo derecho con tumoración en polo inferior el cual se corrobora por ultrasonido. Los marcadores tumorales solo con elevación de alfa-fetoproteína 295.87ng/dL y deshidrogenasa láctica en 2,380UI/L. En la tomografía de abdomen se identificó actividad ganglionar interaortocava. Realizamos orquiectomía radical derecha. Reporte patológico: tumor testicular de saco vitelino, pT1N2M1S2.En este caso se pudo comprobar que las metástasis fueron a nivel pleural, que lo ubica como una forma de diseminación excepcional.AbstractTesticular cancer is the most common malignant urologic tumor in young men. More than 90% are germ cell tumors. The aim of this study was to report the first case of germ cell tumor testicular cancer with metastasis to the pleura.A 21-year-old man had disease onset with pain in the right hemithorax. The chest x-ray showed radio-opacity in the middle lobe of the right lung. A chest tomography scan detected an intrathoracic and extrapulmonary mass. Ultrasound-guided thoracic biopsy revealed a solid mass attached to the thoracic wall, displaced over the pleura, known as the “comet tail effect”. The biopsy was positive for a poorly differentiated malignant neoplastic lesion of the pleura. Upon physical examination we encountered a right testis with a tumor at the lower pole; this was corroborated through ultrasound. In relation to tumor markers, only alpha-fetoprotein was elevated at 295.87ng/dl and lactate dehydrogenase at 2,380 IU/l. An abdominal tomography scan identified interaortocaval lymph node activity. We performed a right radical orchiectomy and the pathology report was testicular yolk sac tumor, pT1N2M1S2.In our patient, metastasis at the level of the pleura was confirmed, making this a case with an exceptional form of spread

Interaction of Reggeized Gluons in the Baxter-Sklyanin Representation

We investigate the Baxter equation for the Heisenberg spin model corresponding to a generalized BFKL equation describing composite states of n Reggeized gluons in the multi-color limit of QCD. The Sklyanin approach is used to find an unitary transformation from the impact parameter representation to the representation in which the wave function factorizes as a product of Baxter functions and a pseudo-vacuum state. We show that the solution of the Baxter equation is a meromorphic function with poles (lambda - i r)^{-(n-1)} (r= 0, 1,...) and that the intercept for the composite Reggeon states is expressed through the behavior of the Baxter function around the pole at lambda = i . The absence of pole singularities in the two complex dimensional lambda-plane for the bilinear combination of holomorphic and anti-holomorphic Baxter functions leads to the quantization of the integrals of motion because the holomorphic energy should be the same for all independent Baxter functions.Comment: LaTex, 48 pages, 1 .ps figure, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Exact resolution of the Baxter equation for reggeized gluon interactions

The interaction of reggeized gluons in multi-colour QCD is considered in the Baxter-Sklyanin representation, where the wave function is expressed as a product of Baxter functions Q(lambda) and a pseudo-vacuum state. We find n solutions of the Baxter equation for a composite state of n gluons with poles of rank r in the upper lambda semi-plane and of rank n-1-r in the lower lambda semi-plane (0 leq r leq n-1). These solutions are related by n-2 linear equations with coefficients depending on coth (pi lambda). The poles cancel in the wave function, bilinear combination of holomorphic and anti-holomorphic Baxter functions, guaranteeing its normalizability. The quantization of the intercepts of the corresponding Regge singularities appears as a result of the physical requirements that the holomorphic energies for all solutions of the Baxter equation are the same and the total energies, calculated around two singularities lambda, lambda^* --> + i or -i, coincide. It results in simple properties of the zeroes of the Baxter functions. For illustration we calculate the parameters of the reggeon states constructed from three and four gluons. For the Odderon the ground state has conformal spin |m -m | = 1 and its intercept equals unity. The ground state of four reggeized gluons possesses conformal spin 2 and its intercept turns out to be higher than that for the BFKL Pomeron. We calculate the anomalous dimensions of the corresponding operators for arbitrary alpha_s/omega.Comment: LaTex, 42 pages, 8 .ps figures. Expanded and improved versio

Predicting soybean development with a simple photothermal dynamic algorithm

Predicting the occurrence of the critical period for soybean’s yield determination is important for farmers to decide on variety and sowing date with the objective to expose this period (during which yield is mainly determined) to the best environmental conditionsEEA PergaminoFil: Severini, Alan. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Sección Ecofisiología; ArgentinaFil: Álvarez Prado, S. Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Otegui, María Elena. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Ecofisiología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Vega, Claudia Rosa Cecilia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Manfredi; ArgentinaFil: Zuil, Sebastian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Reconquista; ArgentinaFil: Kavanová, M. Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA). La Estanzuela; UruguayFil: Ceretta, S. Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA). La Estanzuela; UruguayFil: Acreche, Martin Moises. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Salta; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Scholz Drodowski, R.F. Instituto Paraguayo de Tecnología Agraria (IPTA). Capitan Miranda; ParaguayFil: Serrago, R.A. Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Miralles, D.J. Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Anomalous dimensions of finite size field strength operators in N=4 SYM

In the N=4 super Yang-Mills theory, we consider the higher order anomalous dimensions gamma_L(g) of purely gluonic operators Tr(F^L) where F is a component of the self-dual field strength. We propose compact closed expressions depending parametrically on L that reproduce the prediction of Bethe Ansatz equations up to five loop order, including transcendental dressing corrections. The size dependence follows a simple pattern as the perturbative order is increased and suggests hidden relations for these special operators.Comment: 26 pages, 3 eps figures. v2: published version, minor changes, references adde

Analysis of bioactivities and chemical composition of Ziziphus joazeiro Mart. using HPLC–DAD

AbstractThe aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical profile and antioxidant, antimicrobial and antiparasitic activities of the hydroalcoholic extract of the leaves of Ziziphus joazeiro Mart. (HELZJ). The antioxidant DPPH and FRAP assays and chemical profile were determined by colorimetric methods and HPLC/DAD. The antiparasitic, antibiotic and antibiotic-modifying activity were evaluated by microdilution assays. The HPLC–DAD assay showed the presence of mostly tannins and flavonoids, such as caffeic acid and quercetin. The levels of polyphenols and flavonoids were 183.136mg/g extract and 7.37mg/g extract, respectively. DPPH and FRAP showed low antioxidant activity for the extract. The antibacterial and antifungal activities were not of clinical relevance, showing MIC>1024μg/mL. However, synergism was observed between HELZJ and the antibiotics amikacin and gentamicin, which resulted in decreased bacterial drug resistance. EHFZJ showed low toxicity in fibroblasts in vitro, while antiparasitic results against Trypnosoma cruzi, Leishmania braziliensis and Leishmania infantum were not clinically relevant. Thus, our results indicate that Z. joazeiro Mart. (HELZJ) could be a source of plant-derived natural products that could lead to the development of promising new antibiotic compounds for infectious diseases

Multiplicity of supercritical fronts for reaction-diffusion equations in cylinders

We study multiplicity of the supercritical traveling front solutions for scalar reaction-diffusion equations in infinite cylinders which invade a linearly unstable equilibrium. These equations are known to possess traveling wave solutions connecting an unstable equilibrium to the closest stable equilibrium for all speeds exceeding a critical value. We show that these are, in fact, the only traveling front solutions in the considered problems for sufficiently large speeds. In addition, we show that other traveling fronts connecting to the unstable equilibrium may exist in a certain range of the wave speed. These results are obtained with the help of a variational characterization of such solutions

Micro-CT imaging of onchocerca infection of simulium damnosum s.l. blackflies and comparison of the peritrophic membrane thickness of forest and savannah flies

Onchocerciasis is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by Onchocerca Diesing 1841 (Spirurida: Onchocercidae) nematodes transmitted by blackflies. It is associated with poverty and imposes a significant health, welfare and economic burden on many tropical countries. Current methods to visualize infections within the vectors rely on invasive methods. However, using micro-computed tomography techniques, without interference from physical tissue manipulation, we visualized in three dimensions for the first time an L1 larva of an Onchocerca species within the thoracic musculature of a blackfly, Simulium damnosum s.l. Theobald 1903 (Diptera: Simuliidae), naturally infected in Ghana. The possibility that thicker peritrophic membranes in savannah flies could account for their lower parasite loads was not supported, but there were limits to our analysis. While there were no statistically significant differences between the mean thicknesses of the peritrophic membranes, in the anterior, dorsal and ventral regions, of forest and savannah blackflies killed 34–48min after a blood-meal, the thickness of the peritrophicmembrane in the posterior region could not be measured. Micro-computed tomography has the potential to provide novel information on many other parasite/vector systems and impactful images for public engagement in health education