668 research outputs found
The prenylated rab GTPase receptor PRA1.F4 contributes to protein exit from the golgi apparatus
Prenylated Rab acceptor1 (PRA1) functions in the recruitment of prenylated Rab proteins to their cognate organelles. Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) contains a large number of proteins belonging to the AtPRA1 family. However, their physiological roles remain largely unknown. Here, we investigated the physiological role of AtPRA1.F4, a member of the AtPRA1 family. A T-DNA insertion knockdown mutant of AtPRA1.F4, atpra1.f4, was smaller in stature than parent plants and possessed shorter roots, whereas transgenic plants overexpressing HA:AtPRA1.F4 showed enhanced development of secondary roots and root hairs. However, both overexpression and knockdown plants exhibited increased sensitivity to high-salt stress, lower vacuolar Na+/K+-ATPase and plasma membrane ATPase activities, lower and higher pH in the vacuole and apoplast, respectively, and highly vesiculated Golgi apparatus. HA:AtPRA1.F4 localized to the Golgi apparatus and assembled into high-molecular-weight complexes. atpra1.f4 plants displayed a defect in vacuolar trafficking, which was complemented by low but not high levels of HA:AtPRA1.F4. Overexpression of HA:AtPRA1.F4 also inhibited protein trafficking at the Golgi apparatus, albeit differentially depending on the final destination or type of protein: trafficking of vacuolar proteins, plasma membrane proteins, and trans-Golgi network (TGN)-localized SYP61 was strongly inhibited; trafficking of TGN-localized SYP51 was slightly inhibited; and trafficking of secretory proteins and TGN-localized SYP41 was negligibly or not significantly inhibited. Based on these results, we propose that Golgi-localized AtPRA1.F4 is involved in the exit of many but not all types of post-Golgi proteins from the Golgi apparatus. Additionally, an appropriate level of AtPRA1.F4 is crucial for its function at the Golgi apparatus. ? 2017 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.111Ysciescopu
Electronic localization at mesoscopic length scales: different definitions of localization and contact effects in a heuristic DNA model
In this work we investigate the electronic transport along model DNA
molecules using an effective tight-binding approach that includes the backbone
on site energies. The localization length and participation number are examined
as a function of system size, energy dependence, and the contact coupling
between the leads and the DNA molecule. On one hand, the transition from an
diffusive regime to a localized regime for short systems is identified,
suggesting the necessity of a further length scale revealing the system borders
sensibility. On the other hand, we show that the lenght localization and
participation number, do not depended of system size and contact coupling in
the thermodynamic limit. Finally we discuss possible length dependent origins
for the large discrepancies among experimental results for the electronic
transport in DNA sample
Search for sterile neutrino oscillation using RENO and NEOS data
We present a reactor model independent search for sterile neutrino
oscillation using 2\,509\,days of RENO near detector data and 180 days of NEOS
data. The reactor related systematic uncertainties are significantly suppressed
as both detectors are located at the same reactor complex of Hanbit Nuclear
Power Plant. The search is performed by electron
antineutrino\,() disappearance between six reactors and two
detectors with baselines of 294\,m\,(RENO) and 24\,m\,(NEOS). A spectral
comparison of the NEOS prompt-energy spectrum with a no-oscillation prediction
from the RENO measurement can explore reactor oscillations
to sterile neutrino. Based on the comparison, we obtain a 95\% C.L. excluded
region of \,eV. We also obtain a 68\% C.L. allowed
region with the best fit of \,eV and
=0.080.03 with a p-value of 8.2\%. Comparisons of
obtained reactor antineutrino spectra at reactor sources are made among RENO,
NEOS, and Daya Bay to find a possible spectral variation.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures: This manuscript has been significantly revised by
the joint reanalysis by RENO and NEOS Collaborations. (In the previous
edition, the RENO collaboration used publicly available NEOS data to evaluate
the expected neutrino spectrum at NEOS.
Prevalence and predictors for sustained remission in rheumatoid arthritis
Objective
Remission is a key goal in managing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), with sustained remission as
the preferred sequelae of short-term remission. However little is known about the predictors
of sustained remission for patients reaching remission. Using two independent cohorts, we
aimed to evaluate the prevalence and predictors for sustained remission.
Methods
The study cohort consisted of subjects with RA from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Rheumatoid Arthritis Sequential Study (BRASS) and the Korean Observational Study Network for Arthritis (KORONA). We analyzed subjects who reached remission in 2009 with follow up data for two consecutive years. Remission was defined by the Disease Activity Score
28- (DAS28-CRP) of less than 2.6. Sustained remission was defined as three consecutive
annual visits in remission. Predictors for sustained remission were identified by multivariate
logistic regression analysis.
Results
A total of 465 subjects were in remission in 2009. Sustained remission was achieved by 53
of 92 (57.5%) in BRASS and by 198 of 373 (53.1%) in KORONA. In multivariate analyses,
baseline predictors of sustained remission were: disease duration less than 5 years [odds
ratio (OR) 1.96, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.08–3.58], Modified Health Assessment
Questionnaire (MHAQ) score of 0 (OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.18–2.74), and non-use of oral glucocorticoid (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.01–2.47). Conclusion
More than half of RA subjects in remission in 2009 remained in remission through 2011.
Short disease duration, no disability, and non-use of oral glucocorticoid at baseline were
associated with sustained remission
Parton coalescence at RHIC
Using a covariant coalescence model, we study hadron production in
relativistic heavy ion collisions from both soft partons in the quark-gluon
plasma and hard partons in minijets. Including transverse flow of soft partons
and independent fragmentation of minijet partons, the model is able to describe
available experimental data on pion, kaon, and antiproton spectra. The
resulting antiproton to pion ratio is seen to increase at low transverse
momenta and reaches a value of about one at intermediate transverse momenta, as
observed in experimental data at RHIC. A similar dependence of the antikaon to
pion ratio on transverse momentum is obtained, but it reaches a smaller value
at intermediate transverse momenta. At high transverse momenta, the model
predicts that both the antiproton to pion and the antikaon to pion ratio
decrease and approach those given by the perturbative QCD. Both collective flow
effect and coalescence of minijet partons with partons in the quark-gluon
plasma affect significantly the spectra of hadrons with intermediate transverse
momenta. Elliptic flows of protons, Lambdas, and Omegas have also been
evaluated from partons with elliptic flows extracted from fitting measured pion
and kaon elliptic flows, and they are found to be consistent with available
experimental data.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure
Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset
corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected
during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV.
The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the
couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and
right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary
mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b,
leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing
transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W'
boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to
the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for
masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC
data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed
coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant
improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe
Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV
A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The
analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC
from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an
integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross
section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected
exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the
standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The
analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model
Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The
largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is
observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance
of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local
significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is
estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of
this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Measurement of the Lambda(b) cross section and the anti-Lambda(b) to Lambda(b) ratio with Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda decays in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section
ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum
pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7
TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are
based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi
Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and
Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times
the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls
faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the
branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06
+/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for
anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are
statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Search for new physics in events with opposite-sign leptons, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in final
states with a pair of opposite-sign isolated leptons accompanied by jets and
missing transverse energy. The search uses LHC data recorded at a
center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector, corresponding to
an integrated luminosity of approximately 5 inverse femtobarns. Two
complementary search strategies are employed. The first probes models with a
specific dilepton production mechanism that leads to a characteristic kinematic
edge in the dilepton mass distribution. The second strategy probes models of
dilepton production with heavy, colored objects that decay to final states
including invisible particles, leading to very large hadronic activity and
missing transverse energy. No evidence for an event yield in excess of the
standard model expectations is found. Upper limits on the BSM contributions to
the signal regions are deduced from the results, which are used to exclude a
region of the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric
extension of the standard model. Additional information related to detector
efficiencies and response is provided to allow testing specific models of BSM
physics not considered in this paper.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Measurement of isolated photon production in pp and PbPb collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 2.76 TeV
Isolated photon production is measured in proton-proton and lead-lead
collisions at nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energies of 2.76 TeV in the
pseudorapidity range |eta|<1.44 and transverse energies ET between 20 and 80
GeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measured ET spectra are found to be
in good agreement with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions. The
ratio of PbPb to pp isolated photon ET-differential yields, scaled by the
number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions, is consistent with unity for
all PbPb reaction centralities.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
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