3,320 research outputs found
Imbalance of p75(NTR)/TrkB protein expression in Huntington's disease: Implication for neuroprotective therapies
Neuroprotective therapies based on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) administration have been proposed for Huntington's disease (HD) treatment. However, our group has recently reported reduced levels of TrkB in HD mouse models and HD human brain suggesting that besides a decrease on BDNF levels a reduction of TrkB expression could also contribute to diminished neurotrophic support in HD. BDNF can also bind to p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75(NTR)) modulating TrkB signaling. Therefore, in this study we have analyzed the levels of p75(NTR) in several HD models, as well as in HD human brain. Our data demonstrates a p75(NTR)/TrkB imbalance in the striatum of two different HD mouse models, Hdh(Q111/111) homozygous knockin mice and R6/1 mice that was also manifested in the putamen of HD patients. The imbalance between TrkB and p75(NTR) levels in a HD cellular model did not affect BDNF-mediated TrkB activation of prosurvival pathways but induced activation of apoptotic cascades as demonstrated by increased JNK phosphorylation. Moreover, BDNF failed to protect mutant huntingtin striatal cells transfected with p75(NTR) against NMDA-mediated excitotoxicity, which was associated with decreased Akt phosphorylation. Interestingly, lack of Akt activation following BDNF and NMDA treatment correlated with increased PP1 levels. Accordingly, pharmacological inhibition of PP1 by okadaic acid (OA) prevented mutant huntingtin striatal cell death induced by NMDA and BDNF. Altogether, our findings demonstrate that the p75(NTR)/TrkB imbalance induced by mutant huntingtin in striatal cells associated with the aberrant activity of PP1 disturbs BDNF neuroprotection likely contributing to increasing striatal vulnerability in HD. On the basis of this data we hypothesize that normalization of p75(NTR) and/or TrkB expression or their signaling will improve BDNF neuroprotective therapies in HD. Cell Death and Disease (2013) 4, e595; doi:10.1038/cddis.2013.116; published online 18 April 201
Structure, phase transformations, and defects of HfO₂ and ZrO₂ nanoparticles studied by ^(181)Ta and ^(111)Cd perturbed angular correlations, ^(1) H magic-angle spinning NMR, XPS, and x-ray and electron diffraction
Structure, phase transformations, grain growth, and defects of bare and alumina-coated nanoparticles of HfO₂ and ZrO₂ synthesized in a microwave-plasma process have been investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and perturbed angular correlation (PAC) spectroscopy. The PAC technique was used to measure the electric quadrupole interactions (QIs) of the nuclear probes ^(181)Ta and ^(111)Cd in nanocrystalline HfO₂ and ZrO₂ as a function of temperature. For comparison, the QI of ^(181)Ta in the bulk oxides was determined in the same temperature range 300 K ≤ T ≤ 1550 K. The oxygen-metal ratio of the as- ynthesized particles was determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to be in the range 1.4 ≤ x ≤ 1.8. A hydrate surface layer with a hydrogen content of 5–10 wt %, consisting of chemisorbed hydroxyl groups and organic precursor fragments, was detected by ^(1) H magic-angle spinning NMR. XRD and TEM show that bare n-ZrO₂, Al₂O₃-coated n-ZrO₂, and Al₂O₃-coated n-HfO₂ are synthesized in the tetragonal or cubic modification with a particle size d < 5 nm, whereas bare n-HfO₂ is mainly monoclinic. The grain growth activation enthalpy of bare n-ZrO₂ is Q_(A)=32(5)kJ/mol. Coating with Al₂O₃ stabilizes the tetragonal over the monoclinic phase, both in hafnia and zirconia nanoparticles. While TEM micrographs of the native nanoparticles reveal a well-ordered cation sublattice, the observation of a broad QI distribution in the PAC spectra suggests a high degree of disorder of the oxygen sublattice. The gradual transformation of the disordered state and the phase evolution were studied by high-temperature QI measurements. Hafnia nanoparticles persist in the monoclinic (m) phase up to T ≤ 1400 K. In coated n-ZrO₂ /Al₂O₃, the monoclinic and tetragonal (t) phases coexist over a large temperature range, whereas uncoated, initially tetragonal or cubic (t or c) n-ZrO₂ presents a sharp m↔t transition. A “defect” component involving 30%–40% of the probe nuclei appears in the ^(181)Ta PAC spectra of all nanoparticles when these are cooled from high temperatures T ≥ 1200 K. The temperature dependence of this component can be reproduced by assuming that Ta impurities in hafnia and zirconia may trap electrons at low temperatures. The observation that the defect component appears only in nanoparticles with diameter d < 100 nm suggests that mobile electrons are available only in the surface region of the oxide particles, either from oxygen vacancies (Vo) and/or Vo- hydrogen donors at the interface of the nanoparticles and their hydrate layers. This conclusion is supported by the absence of a size effect for ^(111)Cd probes in HfO₂ and ZrO₂. The temperature dependence of the ^(181)Ta defect fraction is consistent with a Ta_(+) impurity level at E_d ~ 0.9 and 0.6 eV below the hafnia and zirconia conduction band, respectively
Temporal evolution of the Evershed flow in sunspots. II. Physical properties and nature of Evershed clouds
Context: Evershed clouds (ECs) represent the most conspicuous variation of
the Evershed flow in sunspot penumbrae. Aims: We determine the physical
properties of ECs from high spatial and temporal resolution spectropolarimetric
measurements. Methods: The Stokes profiles of four visible and three infrared
spectral lines are subject to inversions based on simple one-component models
as well as more sophisticated realizations of penumbral flux tubes embedded in
a static ambient field (uncombed models). Results: According to the
one-component inversions, the EC phenomenon can be understood as a perturbation
of the magnetic and dynamic configuration of the penumbral filaments along
which these structures move. The uncombed inversions, on the other hand,
suggest that ECs are the result of enhancements in the visibility of penumbral
flux tubes. We conjecture that the enhancements are caused by a perturbation of
the thermodynamic properties of the tubes, rather than by changes in the vector
magnetic field. The feasibility of this mechanism is investigated performing
numerical experiments of thick penumbral tubes in mechanical equilibrium with a
background field. Conclusions: While the one-component inversions confirm many
of the properties indicated by a simple line parameter analysis (Paper I of
this series), we tend to give more credit to the results of the uncombed
inversions because they take into account, at least in an approximate manner,
the fine structure of the penumbra.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Prompt dipole radiation in fusion reactions
The prompt gamma ray emission was investigated in the 16A MeV energy region
by means of the 36,40Ar+96,92Zr fusion reactions leading to a compound nucleus
in the vicinity of 132Ce. We show that the prompt radiation, which appears to
be still effective at such a high beam energy, has an angular distribution
pattern consistent with a dipole oscillation along the symmetry axis of the
dinuclear system. The data are compared with calculations based on a collective
bremsstrahlung analysis of the reaction dynamics
Strategy for the inversion of Hinode spectropolarimetric measurements in the quiet Sun
In this paper we propose an inversion strategy for the analysis of
spectropolarimetric measurements taken by {\em Hinode} in the quiet Sun. The
spectropolarimeter of the Solar Optical Telescope aboard {\em Hinode} records
the Stokes spectra of the \ion{Fe}{i} line pair at 630.2 nm with unprecendented
angular resolution, high spectral resolution, and high sensitivity. We discuss
the need to consider a {\em local} stray-light contamination to account for the
effects of telescope diffraction. The strategy is applied to observations of a
wide quiet Sun area at disk center. Using these data we examine the influence
of noise and initial guess models in the inversion results. Our analysis yields
the distributions of magnetic field strengths and stray-light factors. They
show that quiet Sun internetwork regions consist mainly of hG fields with
stray-light contaminations of about 0.8.Comment: To appear in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, 8
pages, 10 figure
197A pilot study of myeloablative (MA) autologous stem cell transplantation (Auto SCT) followed by reduced intensity (RI) allogeneic transplantation (ALLO SCT) in children and young adults with relapsed lymphoma
Autonomous on-board data processing and instrument calibration software for the SO/PHI
The extension of on-board data processing capabilities is an attractive
option to reduce telemetry for scientific instruments on deep space missions.
The challenges that this presents, however, require a comprehensive software
system, which operates on the limited resources a data processing unit in space
allows. We implemented such a system for the Polarimetric and Helioseismic
Imager (PHI) on-board the Solar Orbiter (SO) spacecraft. It ensures autonomous
operation to handle long command-response times, easy changing of the processes
after new lessons have been learned and meticulous book-keeping of all
operations to ensure scientific accuracy. This contribution presents the
requirements and main aspects of the software implementation, followed by an
example of a task implemented in the software frame, and results from running
it on SO/PHI. The presented example shows that the different parts of the
software framework work well together, and that the system processes data as we
expect. The flexibility of the framework makes it possible to use it as a
baseline for future applications with similar needs and limitations as SO/PHI.Comment: Conference: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentatio, Software
and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy
Relativistic MHD Simulations of Jets with Toroidal Magnetic Fields
This paper presents an application of the recent relativistic HLLC
approximate Riemann solver by Mignone & Bodo to magnetized flows with vanishing
normal component of the magnetic field.
The numerical scheme is validated in two dimensions by investigating the
propagation of axisymmetric jets with toroidal magnetic fields.
The selected jet models show that the HLLC solver yields sharper resolution
of contact and shear waves and better convergence properties over the
traditional HLL approach.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
Vector spectropolarimetry of dark-cored penumbral filaments with Hinode
We present spectropolarimetric measurements of dark-cored penumbral filaments
taken with Hinode at a resolution of 0.3". Our observations demonstrate that
dark-cored filaments are more prominent in polarized light than in continuum
intensity. Far from disk center, the Stokes profiles emerging from these
structures are very asymmetric and show evidence for magnetic fields of
different inclinations along the line of sight, together with strong Evershed
flows of at least 6-7 km/s. In sunspots closer to disk center, dark-cored
penumbral filaments exhibit regular Stokes profiles with little asymmetries due
to the vanishing line-of-sight component of the horizontal Evershed flow. An
inversion of the observed spectra indicates that the magnetic field is weaker
and more inclined in the dark cores as compared with the surrounding bright
structures. This is compatible with the idea that dark-cored filaments are the
manifestation of flux tubes carrying hot Evershed flows.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. Use the Postscript version
for high quality figure
Moving Magnetic Features around a Pore
Spectropolarimetric observations from Sunrise II/IMaX obtained in June 2013
are used for a statistical analysis to determine the physical properties of
moving magnetic features (MMFs) observed near a pore. MMFs of the same and
opposite polarity with respect to the pore are found to stream from its border
at an average speed of 1.3 km s and 1.2 km s respectively, with
mainly same-polarity MMFs found further away from the pore. MMFs of both
polarities are found to harbor rather weak, inclined magnetic fields.
Opposite-polarity MMFs are blue-shifted, while same-polarity MMFs do not show
any preference for up- or downflows. Most of the MMFs are found to be of
sub-arcsecond size and carry a mean flux of 1.2 Mx.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
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