640 research outputs found
Effect of Cavtratin, a Caveolin-1 Scaffolding Domain Peptide, on Oligodendroglial Signaling Cascades
Caveolin and caveolin containing rafts are involved in the signaling of growth factors in various cell types. Previous reports of our lab indicated a co-localization of caveolin and the high affinity nerve growth factor (NGF) receptor tyrosine kinase A (TrkA). Mutual effects have been observed among which a caveolin-1 knock-down resulted in an impairment of the NGF signaling cascade rather than in an increase of activity as expected from other growth factor reports. On the other hand, an over-expression of caveolin-1 impaired the NGF stimulated activity of p42/44 mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPK). In this study, we used a caveolin-1 scaffolding domain (CSD) peptide (cavtratin) of which an inhibitory effect on growth factor receptors was reported. Our data showed that cavtratin suppresses the NGF-induced phosphorylation of TrkA as well as the activation of MAPK in porcine oligodendrocytes significantly
Principal component and Voronoi skeleton alternatives for curve reconstruction from noisy point sets
Surface reconstruction from noisy point samples must take into consideration the stochastic nature of the sample -- In other words, geometric algorithms reconstructing the surface or curve should not insist in following in a literal way each sampled point -- Instead, they must interpret the sample as a âpoint cloudâ and try to build the surface as passing through the best possible (in the statistical sense) geometric locus that represents the sample -- This work presents two new methods to find a Piecewise Linear approximation from a Nyquist-compliant stochastic sampling of a quasi-planar C1 curve C(u) : R â R3, whose velocity vector never vanishes -- One of the methods articulates in an entirely new way Principal Component Analysis (statistical) and Voronoi-Delaunay (deterministic) approaches -- It uses these two methods to calculate the best possible tape-shaped polygon covering the planarised point set, and then approximates the manifold by the medial axis of such a polygon -- The other method applies Principal Component Analysis to find a direct Piecewise Linear approximation of C(u) -- A complexity comparison of these two methods is presented along with a qualitative comparison with previously developed ones -- It turns out that the method solely based on Principal Component Analysis is simpler and more robust for non self-intersecting curves -- For self-intersecting curves the Voronoi-Delaunay based Medial Axis approach is more robust, at the price of higher computational complexity -- An application is presented in Integration of meshes originated in range images of an art piece -- Such an application reaches the point of complete reconstruction of a unified mes
Hierarchic Superposition Revisited
Many applications of automated deduction require reasoning in first-order
logic modulo background theories, in particular some form of integer
arithmetic. A major unsolved research challenge is to design theorem provers
that are "reasonably complete" even in the presence of free function symbols
ranging into a background theory sort. The hierarchic superposition calculus of
Bachmair, Ganzinger, and Waldmann already supports such symbols, but, as we
demonstrate, not optimally. This paper aims to rectify the situation by
introducing a novel form of clause abstraction, a core component in the
hierarchic superposition calculus for transforming clauses into a form needed
for internal operation. We argue for the benefits of the resulting calculus and
provide two new completeness results: one for the fragment where all
background-sorted terms are ground and another one for a special case of linear
(integer or rational) arithmetic as a background theory
Discovery of near-ultraviolet counterparts to millisecond pulsars in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae
We report the discovery of the likely white dwarf companions to radio
millisecond pulsars 47 Tuc Q and 47 Tuc S in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae.
These blue stars were found in near-ultraviolet images from the Hubble Space
Telescope for which we derived accurate absolute astrometry, and are located at
positions consistent with the radio coordinates to within 0.016 arcsec
(0.2sigma). We present near-ultraviolet and optical colours for the previously
identified companion to millisecond pulsar 47 Tuc U, and we unambiguously
confirm the tentative prior identifications of the optical counterparts to 47
Tuc T and 47 Tuc Y. For the latter, we present its radio-timing solution for
the first time. We find that all five near-ultraviolet counterparts have
U300-B390 colours that are consistent with He white dwarf cooling models for
masses ~0.16-0.3 Msun and cooling ages within ~0.1-6 Gyr. The Ha-R625 colours
of 47 Tuc U and 47 Tuc T indicate the presence of a strong Ha absorption line,
as expected for white dwarfs with an H envelope.Comment: Accepted for publication on MNRAS. 12 pages, 5 figures, 3 table
Slowly cooling white dwarfs in M13 from stable hydrogen burning
White dwarfs (WDs) are the final evolutionary product of the vast majority of stars in the Universe. They are electron-degenerate structures characterized by no stable thermonuclear activity, and their evolution is generally described as a pure cooling process. Their cooling rate is adopted as cosmic chronometer to constrain the age of several Galactic populations, including the disk, globular and open clusters. By analysing high-resolution photometric data of two very similar Galactic globular clusters (M3 and M13), we find a clear-cut and unexpected overabundance of bright WDs in M13. Theoretical models suggest that, consistent with the horizontal branch morphology, this overabundance is due to a slowing down of the cooling process in ~70% of the WDs in M13, caused by stable thermonuclear burning in their residual hydrogen-rich envelope. The presented observational evidence of quiescent thermonuclear activity occurring in cooling WDs brings new attention on the use of the WD cooling rate as cosmic chronometer for low-metallicity environments
Labels direct infantsâ attention to commonalities during novel category learning
Recent studies have provided evidence that labeling can influence the outcome of infantsâ visual categorization. However, what exactly happens during learning remains unclear. Using eye-tracking, we examined infantsâ attention to object parts during learning. Our analysis of looking behaviors during learning provide insights going beyond merely observing the learning outcome. Both labeling and non-labeling phrases facilitated category formation in 12-month-olds but not 8-month-olds (Experiment 1). Non-linguistic sounds did not produce this effect (Experiment 2). Detailed analyses of infantsâ looking patterns during learning revealed that only infants who heard labels exhibited a rapid focus on the object part successive exemplars had in common. Although other linguistic stimuli may also be beneficial for learning, it is therefore concluded that labels have a unique impact on categorization
An Exact Algorithm for Side-Chain Placement in Protein Design
Computational protein design aims at constructing novel or improved functions
on the structure of a given protein backbone and has important applications in
the pharmaceutical and biotechnical industry. The underlying combinatorial
side-chain placement problem consists of choosing a side-chain placement for
each residue position such that the resulting overall energy is minimum. The
choice of the side-chain then also determines the amino acid for this position.
Many algorithms for this NP-hard problem have been proposed in the context of
homology modeling, which, however, reach their limits when faced with large
protein design instances.
In this paper, we propose a new exact method for the side-chain placement
problem that works well even for large instance sizes as they appear in protein
design. Our main contribution is a dedicated branch-and-bound algorithm that
combines tight upper and lower bounds resulting from a novel Lagrangian
relaxation approach for side-chain placement. Our experimental results show
that our method outperforms alternative state-of-the art exact approaches and
makes it possible to optimally solve large protein design instances routinely
White dwarf-main sequence binaries from Gaia EDR3 : the unresolved 100Â pc volume-limited sample
We use the data provided by the Gaia Early Data Release 3 to search for a highly-complete volume-limited sample of unresolved binaries consisting of a white dwarf and a main sequence companion (i.e. WDMS binaries) within 100 pc. We select 112 objects based on their location within the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, of which 97 are new identifications. We fit their spectral energy distributions (SED) with a two-body fitting algorithm implemented in VOSA (Virtual Observatory SED Analyser) to derive the effective temperatures, luminosities and radii (hence surface gravities and masses) of both components. The stellar parameters are compared to those from the currently largest catalogue of close WDMS binaries, from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We find important differences between the properties of the Gaia and SDSS samples. In particular, the Gaia sample contains WDMS binaries with considerably cooler white dwarfs and main sequence companions (some expected to be brown dwarfs). The Gaia sample also shows an important population of systems consisting of cool and extremely low-mass white dwarfs, not present in the SDSS sample. Finally, using a Monte Carlo population synthesis code, we find that the volume-limited sample of systems identified here seems to be highly complete (â 80 ± 9 per cent), however it only represents â9 per cent of the total underlying population. The missing â91 per cent includes systems in which the main sequence companions entirely dominate the SEDs. We also estimate an upper limit to the total space density of close WDMS binaries of â (3.7 ± 1.9) Ă 10-4 pc-3.Fil: Rebassa Mansergas, A. Universidad PolitĂ©cnica de Catalunya. Departament de FĂsica Enginyeria; EspañaFil: Solano, E.. CSIC-INTA. Centro de AstrobiologĂÂa; EspañaFil: JimĂ©nez Esteban, F. M.. CSIC-INTA. Centro de AstrobiologĂÂa; EspañaFil: Torres, S.. Universidad PolitĂ©cnica de Catalunya. Departament de FĂsica Enginyeria; EspañaFil: Rodrigo, C.. CSIC-INTA. Centro de AstrobiologĂÂa; EspañaFil: Ferrer Burjachs, A. Universidad PolitĂ©cnica de Catalunya. Departament de FĂsica Enginyeria; EspañaFil: Calcaferro, Leila Magdalena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de AstrofĂsica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias AstronĂłmicas y GeofĂsicas. Instituto de AstrofĂsica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Althaus, Leandro Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de AstrofĂsica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias AstronĂłmicas y GeofĂsicas. Instituto de AstrofĂsica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: CĂłrsico, Francisco Armando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de AstrofĂsica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias AstronĂłmicas y GeofĂsicas. Instituto de AstrofĂsica La Plata; Argentin
Evolutionary and pulsational properties of white dwarf stars
Abridged. White dwarf stars are the final evolutionary stage of the vast
majority of stars, including our Sun. The study of white dwarfs has potential
applications to different fields of astrophysics. In particular, they can be
used as independent reliable cosmic clocks, and can also provide valuable
information about the fundamental parameters of a wide variety of stellar
populations, like our Galaxy and open and globular clusters. In addition, the
high densities and temperatures characterizing white dwarfs allow to use these
stars as cosmic laboratories for studying physical processes under extreme
conditions that cannot be achieved in terrestrial laboratories. They can be
used to constrain fundamental properties of elementary particles such as axions
and neutrinos, and to study problems related to the variation of fundamental
constants.
In this work, we review the essentials of the physics of white dwarf stars.
Special emphasis is placed on the physical processes that lead to the formation
of white dwarfs as well as on the different energy sources and processes
responsible for chemical abundance changes that occur along their evolution.
Moreover, in the course of their lives, white dwarfs cross different
pulsational instability strips. The existence of these instability strips
provides astronomers with an unique opportunity to peer into their internal
structure that would otherwise remain hidden from observers. We will show that
this allows to measure with unprecedented precision the stellar masses and to
infer their envelope thicknesses, to probe the core chemical stratification,
and to detect rotation rates and magnetic fields. Consequently, in this work,
we also review the pulsational properties of white dwarfs and the most recent
applications of white dwarf asteroseismology.Comment: 85 pages, 28 figures. To be published in The Astronomy and
Astrophysics Revie
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