Increased p21 expression in chondrocytes of achondroplasic children independently from the presence of the G380R FGFR3 mutation

Background. Achondroplasia (ACH) represents the major cause of dwarfi sm and is due to mutations in the fi broblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene. The cellular mechanisms involved in the reduced growth have been mainly described for in vitro or in vivo models, but few data have been obtained for humans. Methods. Thirteen children with ACH were enrolled in the study; the presence of FGFR3 mutations was determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and sequencing, whereas protein expression in cartilage biopsy was assessed by immunohistochemistry. Results. Chondrocytes in cartilage biopsies of ACH children were characterized by the presence of growth arrest mediated by STAT activation (both STAT1 and STAT5) and increased expression of p21 and cyclin D1, whereas no expression of either p53 or cyclin D3 could be detected. This mechanism was present in ACH children carrying the G380R mutation but also in a patient in whom no mutation could be detected in the entire coding region of the FGFR3 gene. Conclusions. These data thus demonstrate the presence of a common fi nal mechanism involving p21 and possibly leading to a block in chondrocyte proliferation

The FORUM end-to-end simulator project: architecture and results

FORUM (Far-infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring) will fly as the ninth ESA's Earth Explorer mission, and an end-to-end simulator (E2ES) has been developed as a support tool for the mission selection process and the subsequent development phases. The current status of the FORUM E2ES project is presented together with the characterization of the capabilities of a full physics retrieval code applied to FORUM data. We show how the instrument characteristics and the observed scene conditions impact on the spectrum measured by the instrument, accounting for the main sources of error related to the entire acquisition process, and the consequences on the retrieval algorithm. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous case studies are simulated in clear and cloudy conditions, validating the E2ES against appropriate well-established correlative codes. The performed tests show that the performance of the retrieval algorithm is compliant with the project requirements both in clear and cloudy conditions. The far-infrared (FIR) part of the FORUM spectrum is shown to be sensitive to surface emissivity, in dry atmospheric conditions, and to cirrus clouds, resulting in improved performance of the retrieval algorithm in these conditions. The retrieval errors increase with increasing the scene heterogeneity, both in terms of surface characteristics and in terms of fractional cloud cover of the scene

Exchange bias effect in alloys and compounds

The phenomenology of exchange bias effects observed in structurally single-phase alloys and compounds but composed of a variety of coexisting magnetic phases such as ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, ferrimagnetic, spin-glass, cluster-glass and disordered magnetic states are reviewed. The investigations on exchange bias effects are discussed in diverse types of alloys and compounds where qualitative and quantitative aspects of magnetism are focused based on macroscopic experimental tools such as magnetization and magnetoresistance measurements. Here, we focus on improvement of fundamental issues of the exchange bias effects rather than on their technological importance

American Thyroid Association Guide to Investigating Thyroid Hormone Economy and Action in Rodent and Cell Models

Background: An in-depth understanding of the fundamental principles that regulate thyroid hormone homeostasis is critical for the development of new diagnostic and treatment ap-proaches for patients with thyroid disease. Summary: Important clinical practices in use today for the treatment of patients with hypothy-roidism, hyperthyroidism, or thyroid cancer, are the result of laboratory discoveries made by scientists investigating the most basic aspects of thyroid structure and molecular biology. In this document, a panel of experts commissioned by the American Thyroid Association makes a se-ries of recommendations related to the study of thyroid hormone economy and action. These recommendations are intended to promote standardization of study design, which should in turn increase the comparability and reproducibility of experimental findings. Conclusions: It is expected that adherence to these recommendations by investigators in the field will facilitate progress towards a better understanding of the thyroid gland and thyroid hormone dependent processes

Technical Note: Measurement of the tropical UTLS composition in presence of clouds using millimetre-wave heterodyne spectroscopy

The MARSCHALS (Millimetre-wave Airborne Receiver for Spectroscopic CHaracterisation of Atmospheric Limb-Sounding) project has the general objectives of demonstrating the measurement capabilities of a limb viewing instrument working in the millimetre and sub-millimetre spectral regions (from 294 to 349 GHz) for the study of the Upper Troposphere – Lower Stratosphere (UTLS). MARSCHALS has flown on board the M-55 stratospheric aircraft (Geophysica) in two measurements campaigns. Here we report the results of the analysis of MARSCHALS measurements during the SCOUT-O3 campaign held in Darwin (Australia) in December 2005 obtained with MARC (Millimetre-wave Atmospheric-Retrieval Code). MARSCHALS measured vertical distributions of temperature, water vapour, ozone and nitric acid in the altitude range from 10 to 20 km in presence of clouds that obscure measurements in the middle infrared spectroscopic region. The minimum altitude at which the retrieval has been possible is determined by the high water concentration typical of the tropical region rather than the extensive cloud coverage experienced during the flight. Water has been measured from 10 km to flight altitude (~18 km) with a 10% accuracy, ozone from 14 km to flight altitude with accuracy ranging from 10% to 60%, while the retrieval of nitric acid has been possible with an accuracy not better than 40% only from 16 km to flight altitude due to the low signal to noise ratio of its emission in the analysed spectral region. The results have been validated using measurement made in a less cloudy region by MIPAS-STR, an infrared limb-viewing instrument on board the M-55, during the same flight

Search for New Physics with Jets and Missing Transverse Momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for new physics is presented based on an event signature of at least three jets accompanied by large missing transverse momentum, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns collected in proton--proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. No excess of events is observed above the expected standard model backgrounds, which are all estimated from the data. Exclusion limits are presented for the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Cross section limits are also presented using simplified models with new particles decaying to an undetected particle and one or two jets