The 10 sea urchin receptor for egg jelly proteins (SpREJ) are members of the polycystic kidney disease-1 (PKD1) family

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mutations in the human polycystic kidney disease-1 (<it>hPKD1</it>) gene result in ~85% of cases of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, the most frequent human monogenic disease. PKD1 proteins are large multidomain proteins involved in a variety of signal transduction mechanisms. Obtaining more information about members of the PKD1 family will help to clarify their functions. Humans have five hPKD1 proteins, whereas sea urchins have 10. The PKD1 proteins of the sea urchin, <it>Strongylocentrotus purpuratus</it>, are referred to as the Receptor for Egg Jelly, or SpREJ proteins. The SpREJ proteins form a subfamily within the PKD1 family. They frequently contain C-type lectin domains, PKD repeats, a REJ domain, a GPS domain, a PLAT/LH2 domain, 1–11 transmembrane segments and a C-terminal coiled-coil domain.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The 10 full-length SpREJ cDNA sequences were determined. The secondary structures of their deduced proteins were predicted and compared to the five human hPKD1 proteins. The genomic structures of the 10 SpREJs show low similarity to each other. All 10 SpREJs are transcribed in either embryos or adult tissues. SpREJs show distinct patterns of expression during embryogenesis. Adult tissues show tissue-specific patterns of SpREJ expression.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Possession of a REJ domain of about 600 residues defines this family. Except for SpREJ1 and 3, that are thought to be associated with the sperm acrosome reaction, the functions of the other SpREJ proteins remain unknown. The sea urchin genome is one-fourth the size of the human genome, but sea urchins have 10 SpREJ proteins, whereas humans have five. Determination of the tissue specific function of each of these proteins will be of interest to those studying echinoderm development. Sea urchins are basal deuterostomes, the line of evolution leading to the vertebrates. The study of individual PKD1 proteins will increase our knowledge of the importance of this gene family.</p

Rashbons: Properties and their significance

In presence of a synthetic non-Abelian gauge field that induces a Rashba like spin-orbit interaction, a collection of weakly interacting fermions undergoes a crossover from a BCS ground state to a BEC ground state when the strength of the gauge field is increased [Phys. Rev. B {\bf 84}, 014512 (2011)]. The BEC that is obtained at large gauge coupling strengths is a condensate of tightly bound bosonic fermion-pairs whose properties are solely determined by the Rashba gauge field -- hence called rashbons. In this paper, we conduct a systematic study of the properties of rashbons and their dispersion. This study reveals a new qualitative aspect of the problem of interacting fermions in non-Abelian gauge fields, i.e., that the rashbon state induced by the gauge field for small centre of mass momenta of the fermions ceases to exist when this momentum exceeds a critical value which is of the order of the gauge coupling strength. The study allows us to estimate the transition temperature of the rashbon BEC, and suggests a route to enhance the exponentially small transition temperature of the system with a fixed weak attraction to the order of the Fermi temperature by tuning the strength of the non-Abelian gauge field. The nature of the rashbon dispersion, and in particular the absence of the rashbon states at large momenta, suggests a regime of parameter space where the normal state of the system will be a dynamical mixture of uncondensed rashbons and unpaired helical fermions. Such a state should show many novel features including pseudogap physics.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Species composition, distribution and economic importance of fishes in the Bolgoda lagoon

There are 55 species of fin fishes belonging to 33 families in the Bolgoda Lagoon,of which about 30 are commercially important. Sardinella melanura, Caranxsansun, Leognathus. sp, Mugil cephalus, Etroplus suratensis and Trachysuruscae/us are the dominant species. The mean annual fin fish production is 30mt/year and it is on the decline

People‟s Attitude toward Sri Lankan Cricket

This paper has two objectives. (1) To identify the degree of People‟s attitudeabout the Sri Lankan Cricket 2) To examine the perception of the people about SriLankan Cricket after the 2011 "world cup". Hence this study was based on threepredictions namely 1) There is a negative correlation between beliefs and attitudetoward cricket, (H1), 2) There is a negative correlation between loyalty and attitudetoward cricket, (H2). 3) There is a negative correlation between preference and attitudetoward cricket, (H3). At the point of testing these hypotheses, the study was limited to asample population for the convenience of the study, Kandy sectarian division, where thePallekale international cricket stadium is located and one game of world cup 2011 washeld. Five other sub divisions were selected: those located around the ground, andsample size of each division was selected proportionate to the sub division population.Then respondents were from sample random sampling technique with association ofdivisional registration unit and random number table. The data were collected from therespondents by exploring a questionnaire that was carefully conducted according to thelikert scale method. 117 questionnaires were distributed among the sample on the basisof quota given to each sub division. The three hypotheses were tested using SPSSversion 19.0. For validity and reliability of questionnaire, conbach's alpha (0.73) wasalso used. The results show that negative correlation between beliefs and attitudetowards cricket (r= -4.56*). Loyalty and attitude towards cricket also shows anegative(r= -5.78*). Preference and attitude toward cricket also shows a negative (r= -4.65*). Based on the findings of the study number of recommendations was made tothe sports authorities and researchers in the field of sport to improve attitude aboutCricket in the country in future. Resulting from implementation of givenrecommendations, the respective benefits will be yielded by Sri Lankan sports, ataggregate level.Key words: Cricket, Beliefs, Prefer, Loyalty, Attitude

BEHAVIOUR OF JUVENILE ASIAN ELEPHANTS IN Panicum maximum DOMINA TED GRASSLANDS IN THE UDA WALA WA NATIONAL PARK.

Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) dominated grasslands, a major habitat typein the Udawalawa National Park, is frequently occupied by wild elephants.Behaviour of juvenile elephants (4-6 years old) inhabiting the habitat wasstudied from April 2004 to March 2005. Focal animal sampling was employedto quantify behaviour and total time of observation was 3100 minutes.The activity budget of the juveniles comprised of ten behaviour patterns;feeding (44%), resting (24%), locomotion (19%), play (5%), comfort (5%),drinking, social, exploratory, agonistic and anxious. Maximum feeding (55%)and minimum resting (13%) were recorded during late afternoons (1500-1800hrs) whilst maximum resting (37%) and minimum feeding (29%) wererecorded during late mornings (0900-1200 hrs). Locomotion and otherbehaviour patterns did not significantly vary with time. Time spent on feedingwas higher in wet months (47%) than in dry months (39%). Resting wasrelatively higher in dry period (27%) than in wet (21 %). P. maximum was themajor food type consumed throughout the year while they fed on native grassesand herbs to a lesser extent (21-29%). Significant correlations between ambienttemperature and time spent on feeding (r= -0.716) and resting (r = +0.751)were evident.The Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Born Free Foundation, UKare acknowledged.

Impacts of the 2004 tsunami on groundwater resources in Sri Lanka, Water Resour

[1] The 26 December 2004 tsunami caused widespread destruction and contamination of coastal aquifers across southern Asia. Seawater filled domestic open dug wells and also entered the aquifers via direct infiltration during the first flooding waves and later as ponded seawater infiltrated through the permeable sands that are typical of coastal aquifers. In Sri Lanka alone, it is estimated that over 40,000 drinking water wells were either destroyed or contaminated. From February through September 2005, a team of United States, Sri Lankan, and Danish water resource scientists and engineers surveyed the coastal groundwater resources of Sri Lanka to develop an understanding of the impacts of the tsunami and to provide recommendations for the future of coastal water resources in south Asia. In the tsunami-affected areas, seawater was found to have infiltrated and mixed with fresh groundwater lenses as indicated by the elevated groundwater salinity levels. Seawater infiltrated through the shallow vadose zone as well as entered aquifers directly through flooded open wells. Our preliminary transport analysis demonstrates that the intruded seawater has vertically mixed in the aquifers because of both forced and free convection. Widespread pumping of wells to remove seawater was effective in some areas, but overpumping has led to upconing of the saltwater interface and rising salinity. We estimate that groundwater recharge from several monsoon seasons will reduce salinity of many sandy Sri Lankan coastal aquifers. However, the continued sustainability of these small and fragile aquifers for potable water will be difficult because of the rapid growth of human activities that results in more intensive groundwater pumping and increased pollution. Long-term sustainability of coastal aquifers is also impacted by the decrease in sand replenishment of the beaches due to sand mining and erosion

Generalised finite volume strategies for simulating transport in strongly orthotropic porous media

In this work two different finite volume computational strategies for solving a representative two-dimensional diffusion equation in an orthotropic medium are considered. When the diffusivity tensor is treated as linear, this problem admits an analytic solution used for analysing the accuracy of the proposed numerical methods. In the first method, the gradient approximation techniques discussed by Jayantha and Turner [Numerical Heat Transfer, Part B: Fundamentals, 40, pp.367–390, 2001] are applied directly to th

How likely is your family to visit you?: the effect of digital connectedness on intention to travel to Australia

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate whether digital connectedness between family members, attained through social media, increases the intention to travel overseas to visit family or relatives. In the context of the education sector, this paper specifically investigates the likelihood of a family member traveling to see a family member who is currently studying in Australia, despite their regular interactions on digital social platforms. Design/methodology/approach: This paper draws on the perspectives of earlier conceptual papers by Chacko et al. (2012) and Solnet and Hood (2008) in an effort to identify root causes and a possible solution. The context of Singapore and the international literature are also reviewed to establish theoretical and practical gaps that need to be filled. Findings: The study finds that both 'perceived media richness' of social media and communication applications and the 'perceived connectedness' gained through social media and communication applications have a positive effect on the 'intention to travel to the study destination'. Of the two variables measured in the study, perceived connectedness provides the strongest influence with nearly double the path coefficient as compared to the perceived media richness. Overall, an explanation of 32 per cent in one’s intention to travel provides a substantial discovery of travel intentions. Originality/value: The role that digital social media like Facebook plays in human connectivity is not a foregone conclusion, when one could argue that digital connectivity especially enhanced by the richness of social media has the potential to replace or minimize physical relationships. Yet, this study demonstrates that such associations between the family members are in fact augmented by social media