Two chemically distinct root lignin barriers control solute and water balance.

Lignin is a complex polymer deposited in the cell wall of specialised plant cells, where it provides essential cellular functions. Plants coordinate timing, location, abundance and composition of lignin deposition in response to endogenous and exogenous cues. In roots, a fine band of lignin, the Casparian strip encircles endodermal cells. This forms an extracellular barrier to solutes and water and plays a critical role in maintaining nutrient homeostasis. A signalling pathway senses the integrity of this diffusion barrier and can induce over-lignification to compensate for barrier defects. Here, we report that activation of this endodermal sensing mechanism triggers a transcriptional reprogramming strongly inducing the phenylpropanoid pathway and immune signaling. This leads to deposition of compensatory lignin that is chemically distinct from Casparian strip lignin. We also report that a complete loss of endodermal lignification drastically impacts mineral nutrients homeostasis and plant growth

Ionic and electronic structure of sodium clusters up to N=59

We determined the ionic and electronic structure of sodium clusters with even electron numbers and 2 to 59 atoms in axially averaged and three-dimensional density functional calculations. A local, phenomenological pseudopotential that reproduces important bulk and atomic properties and facilitates structure calculations has been developed. Photoabsorption spectra have been calculated for $\mathrm{Na}_2$, $\mathrm{Na}_8$, and $\mathrm{Na}_9^+$ to $\mathrm{Na}_{59}^+$. The consistent inclusion of ionic structure considerably improves agreement with experiment. An icosahedral growth pattern is observed for $\mathrm{Na}_{19}^+$ to $\mathrm{Na}_{59}^+$. This finding is supported by photoabsorption data.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. B 62. Version with figures in better quality can be requested from the author

Perspectives of marine biodiversity studies in Argentina

This paper provides an overview of the research being carried out at the moment by a group of Argentinean scientists working on the subjects of marine biodiversity and oceanography. When the idea of the Census of Marine Life (CoML)was proposed following the Symposium held during the IAPSO-IABO conference in Mar del Plata in October 2001, there was a wide response from the marine scientific community. Information about current research projects, as well as plans for future work in the context of the CoML, were then obtained from about 70 scientists (Appendix I) belonging to 12 institutions located along the Argentinean coast (Appendix II, Figure 1). This has been used to illustrate what is currently being pursued in marine biodiversity in Argentina and which subjects are considered as priority for future research in the area. This paper is, thus, not an historical update of the knowledge of marine biodiversity, but it attempts to give an idea of the current situation and what is planned for the future. The development of an extensive database of what is known on marine biodiversity in the region is considered to be a necessity, but it constitutes a complete project on its own; as such it is included in the proposals for future work (see Future Work in this paper). It is emphasised that this synthesis is not exhaustive in the content of the topics being studied or in the number of researchers working in marine biodiversity in the country. It is, though, considered to be a representative sample of the knowledge in marine science in Argentina today. This is a starting point for the CoML project in South America and it is hoped that, as it develops, it will be improved by the active participation, advice and experience of many other scientists in the region

Early- Onset Stroke and Vasculopathy Associated with Mutations in ADA2

Adenosine deaminase 2 (ADA2) is an enzyme involved in purine metabolism and a growth factor that influences the development of endothelial cells and leukocytes. This study shows that defects in ADA2 cause recurrent fevers, vascular pathologic features, and mild immunodeficiency. Patients with autoinflammatory disease sometimes present with clinical findings that encompass multiple organ systems.(1) Three unrelated children presented to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center with intermittent fevers, recurrent lacunar strokes, elevated levels of acute-phase reactants, livedoid rash, hepatosplenomegaly, and hypogammaglobulinemia. Collectively, these findings do not easily fit with any of the known inherited autoinflammatory diseases. Hereditary or acquired vascular disorders can have protean manifestations yet be caused by mutations in a single gene. Diseases such as the Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome,(2),(3) polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy,(4) sickle cell anemia,(5) livedoid vasculopathy,(6) and the small-vessel vasculitides(7),(8) are examples of systemic ...</p

Search for jet extinction in the inclusive jet-pT spectrum from proton-proton collisions at s=8 TeV

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published articles title, journal citation, and DOI.The first search at the LHC for the extinction of QCD jet production is presented, using data collected with the CMS detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 10.7  fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The extinction model studied in this analysis is motivated by the search for signatures of strong gravity at the TeV scale (terascale gravity) and assumes the existence of string couplings in the strong-coupling limit. In this limit, the string model predicts the suppression of all high-transverse-momentum standard model processes, including jet production, beyond a certain energy scale. To test this prediction, the measured transverse-momentum spectrum is compared to the theoretical prediction of the standard model. No significant deficit of events is found at high transverse momentum. A 95% confidence level lower limit of 3.3 TeV is set on the extinction mass scale

Association of variants in the SPTLC1 gene with juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

IMPORTANCE Juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare form of ALS characterized by age of symptom onset less than 25 years and a variable presentation.OBJECTIVE To identify the genetic variants associated with juvenile ALS.DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In this multicenter family-based genetic study, trio whole-exome sequencing was performed to identify the disease-associated gene in a case series of unrelated patients diagnosed with juvenile ALS and severe growth retardation. The patients and their family members were enrolled at academic hospitals and a government research facility between March 1, 2016, and March 13, 2020, and were observed until October 1, 2020. Whole-exome sequencing was also performed in a series of patients with juvenile ALS. A total of 66 patients with juvenile ALS and 6258 adult patients with ALS participated in the study. Patients were selected for the study based on their diagnosis, and all eligible participants were enrolled in the study. None of the participants had a family history of neurological disorders, suggesting de novo variants as the underlying genetic mechanism.MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES De novo variants present only in the index case and not in unaffected family members.RESULTS Trio whole-exome sequencing was performed in 3 patients diagnosed with juvenile ALS and their parents. An additional 63 patients with juvenile ALS and 6258 adult patients with ALS were subsequently screened for variants in the SPTLC1 gene. De novo variants in SPTLC1 (p. Ala20Ser in 2 patients and p.Ser331Tyr in 1 patient) were identified in 3 unrelated patients diagnosed with juvenile ALS and failure to thrive. A fourth variant (p.Leu39del) was identified in a patient with juvenile ALS where parental DNA was unavailable. Variants in this gene have been previously shown to be associated with autosomal-dominant hereditary sensory autonomic neuropathy, type 1A, by disrupting an essential enzyme complex in the sphingolipid synthesis pathway.CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE These data broaden the phenotype associated with SPTLC1 and suggest that patients presenting with juvenile ALS should be screened for variants in this gene.Genetics of disease, diagnosis and treatmen

Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Conceptual Design Report Volume 2: The Physics Program for DUNE at LBNF

The Physics Program for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) at the Fermilab Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) is described

Searches for electroweak neutralino and chargino production in channels with Higgs, Z, and W bosons in pp collisions at 8 TeV

Searches for supersymmetry (SUSY) are presented based on the electroweak pair production of neutralinos and charginos, leading to decay channels with Higgs, Z, and W bosons and undetected lightest SUSY particles (LSPs). The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of about 19.5 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected in 2012 with the CMS detector at the LHC. The main emphasis is neutralino pair production in which each neutralino decays either to a Higgs boson (h) and an LSP or to a Z boson and an LSP, leading to hh, hZ, and ZZ states with missing transverse energy (E-T(miss)). A second aspect is chargino-neutralino pair production, leading to hW states with E-T(miss). The decays of a Higgs boson to a bottom-quark pair, to a photon pair, and to final states with leptons are considered in conjunction with hadronic and leptonic decay modes of the Z and W bosons. No evidence is found for supersymmetric particles, and 95% confidence level upper limits are evaluated for the respective pair production cross sections and for neutralino and chargino mass values

Chronotherapy of hypertension: administration-time-dependent effects of treatment on the circadian pattern of blood pressure

Some specific features of the 24-hour blood pressure (BP) pattern are linked to the progressive injury of target tissues and the triggering of cardiac and cerebrovascular events. Thus, there is growing interest in how to best tailor the treatment of hypertensive patients according to the circadian BP pattern of each individual. Significant administration-time differences in the kinetics (i.e., chronokinetics) plus beneficial and adverse effects (i.e., chronodynamics) of antihypertensive medications are well known. Thus, bedtime dosing with nifedipine GITS is more effective than morning dosing, while also significantly reducing adverse effects. The dose-response curve, therapeutic coverage, and efficacy of doxazosin GITS are all markedly dependent on the circadian time of drug administration. Moreover, valsartan administration at bedtime, as opposed to upon wakening, results in an improved diurnal/nocturnal BP ratio, increased percentage of controlled patients, and significant reduction in urinary albumin excretion in hypertensive patients. Chronotherapy provides a means of individualizing the treatment of hypertension according to the circadian BP profile of each patient, and constitutes a new option to optimize BP control and to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (myocardial infarction and stroke) and of end-organ injury of the blood vessels and tissue of the heart, brain, kidney, eye, and other organs