62,066 research outputs found
Four and a half LIM protein 1C (FHL1C)
Get PDFFour-and-a-half LIM domain protein 1 isoform A (FHL1A) is predominantly expressed in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Mutations in the FHL1 gene are causative for several types of hereditary myopathies including X-linked myopathy with postural muscle atrophy (XMPMA). We here studied myoblasts from XMPMA patients. We found that functional FHL1A protein is completely absent in patient myoblasts. In parallel, expression of FHL1C is either unaffected or increased. Furthermore, a decreased proliferation rate of XMPMA myoblasts compared to controls was observed but an increased number of XMPMA myoblasts was found in the G(0)/G(1) phase. Furthermore, low expression of K(v1.5), a voltage-gated potassium channel known to alter myoblast proliferation during the G(1) phase and to control repolarization of action potential, was detected. In order to substantiate a possible relation between K(v1.5) and FHL1C, a pull-down assay was performed. A physical and direct interaction of both proteins was observed in vitro. In addition, confocal microscopy revealed substantial colocalization of FHL1C and K(v1.5) within atrial cells, supporting a possible interaction between both proteins in vivo. Two-electrode voltage clamp experiments demonstrated that coexpression of K(v1.5) with FHL1C in Xenopus laevis oocytes markedly reduced K(+) currents when compared to oocytes expressing K(v1.5) only. We here present the first evidence on a biological relevance of FHL1C
A comment on "Intergenerational equity: sup, inf, lim sup, and lim inf"
Get PDFWe reexamine the analysis of Chambers (Social Choice and Welfare, 2009), that produces a characterization of a family of social welfare functions in the context of intergenerational equity: namely, those that coincide with either the sup, inf, lim sup, or lim inf rule. Reinforcement, ordinal covariance, and monotonicity jointly identify such class of rules. We show that the addition of a suitable axiom to this three properties permits to characterize each particular rule. A discussion of the respective distinctive properties is provided.Social welfare function; Intergenerational equity; Lim sup ; Lim inf
Multiple functions of LIM domain-binding CLIM/NLI/Ldb cofactors during zebrafish development
No full textThe crucial involvement of CLIM/NLI/Ldb cofactors for the exertion of the biological activity of LIM homeodomain transcription factors (LIM-HD) has been demonstrated. In this paper we show that CLIM cofactors are widely expressed during zebrafish development with high protein levels in specific neuronal cell types where LIM-HD proteins of the Isl class are synthesized. The overexpression of a dominant-negative CLIM molecule (DN-CLIM) that contains the LIM interaction domain (LID) during early developmental stages of zebrafish embryos results in an impairment of eye and midbrain-hindbrain boundary (MHB) development and disturbances in the formation of the anterior midline. On a cellular level we show that the outgrowth of peripheral but not central axons from Rohon Beard (RB) and trigeminal sensory neurons is inhibited by DN-CLIM overexpression. We demonstrate a further critical role of CLIM cofactors for axonal outgrowth of motor neurons. Additionally, DN-CLIM overexpression causes an increase of Isl-protein expression levels in specific neuronal cell types, likely due to a protection of the DN-CLIM/LIM-HD complex from proteasomal degradation. Our results demonstrate multiple roles of the CLIM cofactor family for the development of entire organs, axonal outgrowth of specific neurons and protein expression levels
K-theory for group C*-algebras
No full textThese notes are based on a lecture course given by the first author in the Sedano Winter School on K-theory held in Sedano, Spain, on January 22-27th of 2007. They aim at introducing K-theory of C*-algebras, equivariant K-homology and KK-theory in the context of the Baum-Connes conjectur
Concerted upregulation of CLP36 and smooth muscle actin protein expression in human endometrium during decidualization
Get PDFThe human endometrium prepares for implantation of the blastocyst by reorganization of its whole cellular network. Endometrial stroma cells change their phenotype starting around the 23rd day of the menstrual cycle. These predecidual stroma cells first appear next to spiral arteries, and after implantation these cells further differentiate into decidual stroma cells. The phenotypical changes in these cells during decidualization are characterized by distinct changes in the actin filaments and filament-related proteins such as α-actinin. The carboxyterminal LIM domain protein with a molecular weight of 36 kDa (CLP36) is a cytoskeletal component that has been shown to associate with contractile actin filaments and to bind to α-actinin supporting a role for CLP36 in cytoskeletal reorganization and signal transduction by binding to signaling proteins. The expression patterns of CLP36, α-actinin and actin were studied in endometrial stroma cells from different stages of the menstrual cycle and in decidual stroma cells from the 6th week of gestation until the end of pregnancy. During the menstrual cycle, CLP36 is only expressed in the luminal and glandular epithelium but not in endometrial stroma cells. During decidualization and throughout pregnancy, a parallel upregulation of CLP36 and smooth muscle actin, an early marker of decidualization in the baboon, was observed in endometrial decidual cells. Since both proteins maintain a high expression level throughout pregnancy, a role of both proteins is suggested in the stabilization of the cytoskeleton of these cells that come into close contact with invading trophoblast cells. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel
Platyrrhinus guianensis Velazco & Lim, 2014, new species
No full textPlatyrrhinus guianensis new species Guianan Broad-nosed Bat Figures 4–7 P [latyrrhinus]. helleri: Lim, 1993: 162 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Smith and Kerry, 1996: 932 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Lim and Engstrom, 2000: 121 P [latyrrhinus]. helleri: Lim and Engstrom, 2001 a: 632 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Lim and Engstrom, 2001 b: 664 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Engstrom and Lim, 2002: 364 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Lim and Norman, 2002: 54 P [latyrrhinus]. helleri: Lim et al., 2002: 1239 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Lim and Engstrom, 2005: 77 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Lim et al., 2005 a: 244 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Lim et al., 2005 b: 87 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Clare et al., 2007: 187 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Borisenko et al., 2008: 475 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Lim, 2009: 45 (part) P [latyrrhinus]. recifinus: Velazco, 2009: 259 (part) Platyrrhinus recifinus: Tavares and Velazco, 2010: 119 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Clare et al., 2011: 8 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Clare, 2011: 4 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Lim, 2012: 253 (part) Platyrrhinus helleri: Lim and Tavares, 2012: 115 (part) Holotype. Dried skin, skull and skeleton of an adult pregnant female, Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) number 113465, obtained 20 September 2001 by Burton K. Lim and Zacharias Norman (original field number F 50445). The skin, skull, and skeleton are in good condition. Frozen tissues are deposited at the Royal Ontario Museum (F 50445). Type locality. Pobawau Creek mouth, 100 m; Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo; Guyana, 3 ° 16 ’ 3.1 ”N, 58 ° 46 ’ 42.7 ”W (Fig. 3). Paratypes. The skin, skull, and skeleton of an adult male (ROM 108487) caught on 8 October 1997 at 38 mi Camp, 35 km SW Kurupukari, 100 m, Iwokrama Forest, Potaro-Siparuni, Guyana, 4 ° 22 ’W, 58 ° 51 ’W; one skin and skull of an adult male (ROM 114070) caught on 16 April 2002 and one skin, skull, and skeleton of an adult pregnant female (ROM 113991) caught on 13 April 2002 at Brownsberg Nature Park headquarters, 500 m, Brokopondo, Suriname, 4 ° 57 ’N, 55 ° 11 ’W; and the skin and skull of an adult male (ROM 114195) caught on 21 April 2002 at Km 2.4 Wittie Kreek trail, 300 m, Brownsberg Nature Park, Brokopondo, Suriname, 4 ° 56 ’N, 55 ° 10 ’W. The holotype and 4 paratypes, along with 31 other specimens from the known distributional range, are listed in Appendix 1 (Fig. 3). Measurements of each specimen of the type series of P. guianensis are provided in Table 4. Distribution. Platyrrhinus guianensis is known from Guyana and Suriname (Fig. 3). Etymology. The species name is derived from the Latin description of its endemic distribution in the Guiana region of South America. Diagnosis. Platyrrhinus guianensis is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of external and craniodental characteristics. The ventral fur is dark gray; ventral fur unicolor; dorsal stripe wide and brilliant white; fringe of hair along margin of uropatagium long, conspicuously dense, and pale yellow. The skull of P. guianensis lacks a fossa on the squamosal root of the zygomatic arch. Dentally, two stylar cuspules are present on the posterior cristid of P 4; and one stylid cuspulid on the anterior cristid of p 4. Description. Platyrrhinus guianensis is a small Platyrrhinus (FA 37–41 mm) distinguished from its sister species P. recifinus by its smaller size and shorter skull (Table 5; Velazco & Gardner 2009, Table 2–4 and 7). However, measurements of P. guianensis overlap with P. angustirostris, P. brachycephalus, P. fusciventris, P. helleri, P. i n c a r u m, and P. matapalensis (Tables 4 –5). Dorsal fur mostly dark brown, but paler on the upper dorsum; dorsal fur is bicolored with darker tips; facial stripes wide and white; dorsal stripe brilliant white; ventral fur dark gray, individual hairs unicolored; pinnae have well-marked fold lines; tragus and anterior and posterior rims of pinnae bright yellow (Fig. 4); lateral borders of the proximal half of the noseleaf and borders of the horseshoe yellow; inferior border of the horseshoe completely free of upper lip; posterior margin of uropatagium has the shape of an inverted ‘U’; hair on upper surface of feet brown, long and dense (Fig. 5); fringe of hair along the trailing margin of uropatagium long, conspicuously dense, and pale yellow; metacarpal III longer than metacarpal V. Rostrum is slender; has a well developed anterior notch in the nasals; postorbital processes moderately developed; paraoccipital processes poorly developed; two infraorbital foramina present; posterior border of hard palate ‘V’-shaped (Fig. 6); fossa on the squamosal root of the zygomatic arch absent; and paraoccipital and paracondylar processes poorly developed. Upper inner incisors bilobed and convergent, not in contact, and tips extend below level of cingula of upper canines; upper outer incisors monolobate; two stylar cuspules on posterior cristid of P 4; hypoconal basin fossa of P 4 shallow; M 1 parastyle present; M 1 mesostyle absent; M 1 metacone divided in two cones; M 1 metacone labial cingulum present; stylar cuspule absent on lingual cingulum of M 1 metacone; sulcus on posterior cristid of paracone joined to cingulum of lingual face of metacone on M 1; M 1 metastyle present; M 1 protocone well developed; M 2 parastyle present; labial cingulum present on M 2 paracone; stylar cuspule on lingual face of M 2 paracone absent; M 2 metastyle present; stylar cuspule absent on lingual face of M 2 metacone; lingual cingulum of the M 2 metacone not extending to the paracone; developed M 2 hypoconal basin; M 3 minute; labial and lingual cingulids on p 4; one stylid cuspulid on anterior cristid of p 4; two stylid cuspulids on posterior cristid of p 4; m 1 paraconid poorly developed; labial and lingual cingulids present on m 1; stylid cuspulid present on anterior cristid of m 1 protoconid; m 1 metaconid well developed; m 2 hypoconid absent; stylid cuspulid between the metaconid and protoconid poorly developed on m 2; labial and lingual cingulids present on m 2. Comparisons. Platyrrhinus guianensis can be confused with P. angustirostris, P. brachycephalus, P. fusciventris, P. he l l e r i, P. i nc a r u m, and P. matapalensis because their external and cranial measurements overlap (Table 3–4). But it can be easily distinguished from P. brachycephalus and P. matapalensis by the presence of one accessory cuspulid on the anterolingual cristid of p 4 (Fig. 7) (cuspulid lacking in P. matapalensis and two accessory cuspulids present in P. brachycephalus; Velazco 2005, fig. 27). Therefore, the following comparisons focus on differentiating P. guianensis from P. angustirostris, P. fusciventris, P. helleri, and P. incarum. Externally, ventral fur is dark gray in P. guianensis and P. angustirostris (brownish gray in P. i n c ar u m; pale gray in P. h el l e r i; brown in P. fusciventris); ventral fur unicolored in P. guianensis, P. angustirostris, P. fusciventris, and P. h el l e r i (bicolored in P. i nc a r u m); dorsal stripe wide and brilliant white in P. guianensis and P. he l l e r i (conspicuous but narrow in P. angustirostris, P. fusciventris, and P. incarum); tragus and anterior and posterior rims of pinnae bright yellow in P. guianensis, P. fusciventris, and P. helleri (whitish in P. angustirostris and P. incarum); lateral borders of the proximal half of the noseleaf and borders of the horseshoe yellow in P. guianensis, P. fusciventris, and P. he l l e r i (whitish in P. angustirostris and P. i n c ar um); posterior margin of uropatagium with a shape of an inverted ‘U’ in P. guianensis, P. angustirostris, and P. i n c ar u m (‘V’ shaped in P. fusciventris and P. helleri); fringe of hair along margin of uropatagium long, conspicuously dense, and pale yellow in P. guianensis (long, dense, and pale brown in P. helleri; long, dense, and whitish in P. fusciventris and P. i nc a r u m; short, dense, and pale brown in P. angustirostris); hair on the upper surface of feet brown, long and dense in P. guianensis, P. angustirostris, and P. i n c a r um (short and intermediate in density in P. fusciventris and P. hell eri); metacarpal III longer than metacarpal V in P. guianensis, P. angustirostris, and P. i n c a r um (metacarpals III and V subequal in P. fusciventris and P. he l l e r i). Cranially, there is a ‘V’-shaped posterior border of the hard palate in P. guianensis, P. angustirostris, P. hel leri, and P. i n c ar u m (‘V’- or ‘U’-shaped in P. fusciventris); fossa on the squamosal root of the zygomatic arch absent in P. guianensis, P. helleri, and P. i ncarum (shallow in P. angustirostris and P. fusciventris). Dentally, there are two stylar cuspules on posterior cristid of P 4 in P. guianensis, P. fusciventris, P. helleri, and P. i nc a r u m (three in P. angustirostris); stylar cuspule on lingual face of M 2 paracone absent in P. guianensis, P. angustirostris, and P. fusciventris (one stylar cuspule in P. he l l e r i and P. incarum); M 3 minute in P. guianensis and P. i n ca r u m (larger in P. h el l e r i, P. angustirostris, and P. fusciventris); one stylid cuspulid on the anterior cristid of p 4 in P. guianensis, P. fusciventris, and P. helleri (one or two in P. i n ca r u m and P. angustirostris); tall m 2 protoconid in P. guianensis, P. angustirostris, P. fusciventris, P. i n c a r um (Fig. 7) (shorter in P. helleri); hypoconid lacking on m 2 in P. guianensis, P. angustirostris, P. fusciventris, and P. helleri (poorly developed in P. i n c a r um); poorly developed stylid cuspulid between the metaconid and protoconid on m 2 in P. guianensis, P. fusciventris, and P. helleri (well developed in P. i ncarum and P. angustirostris). Natural history. Platyrrhinus guianensis has been documented from an elevational range of 60 to 500 m and is found primarily in rainforest (n= 33), but 3 individuals were netted in savanna. Of the 36 specimens examined, 16 are males and 20 females. Testes size (length by width in mm) ranged from 3 by 2 to 5 by 4. From 12 January to 9 February 2006, 8 of 10 females were pregnant with crown-rump (CR) measurements ranging from 4 to 13 mm. A female was pregnant on 13 April 2002 and another on 27 July 2009 with CR of 13 mm and 4 mm, respectively. Three females were pregnant on 20 and 21 September 2001 with CR ranging from 18 to 21 mm. A non-pregnant female was collected on 24 October 1997. A female had an embryo with CR of 26 mm collected on 31 October 2005. Two non-pregnant lactating females were caught on 8 and 11 November 1999 and one non-pregnant female was caught on 19 November 1997.Published as part of Velazco, Paúl M. & Lim, Burton K., 2014, A new species of broad-nosed bat Platyrrhinus Saussure, 1860 (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from the Guianan Shield, pp. 175-193 in Zootaxa 3796 (1) on pages 181-189, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3796.1.9, http://zenodo.org/record/22516
Search for eta(c) decays into pi pi and K(K)over-bar
No full textUsing 58 million J/psi) events taken with the BESII detector, a search for eta(c) CP violating decays into pi pi and K (K) over bar has been performed. No clear 77, signal is observed, and upper limits for B(eta(c) -> pi pi) and B(eta(c) -> K (K) over bar) are given at the 90% confidence level, B(J/psi -> gamma eta(c)) center dot B(eta(c) -> pi(+)pi(-)) < 1.1 x 10(-5), B(J/psi -> gamma eta(c)) center dot B(eta(c) -> pi(0)pi(0)) < 0.71 x 10(-5), B(J/psi -> gamma(eta c)) center dot B(eta(c) -> K+K-) < 0.96 x 10(-5), and B(J/psi -> gamma eta(c)) center dot B(eta(c) (KSKS0)-K-0) < 0.53 x 10(-5).Physics, Particles & FieldsSCI(E)1ARTICLE2337-3414
Measurement of the ratio of branching fractions B(B0→K∗0γ )/B(B0s→φγ ) and the directCP asymmetry inB 0→K∗0γ
Get PDFThe ratio of branching fractions of the radiative B decays B0→K⁎0γ and B0s→ϕγ has been measured using an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1 of pp collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=7TeV. The value obtained is
B(B0→K⁎0γ)B(B0s→ϕγ)=1.23±0.06(stat.)±0.04(syst.)±0.10(fs/fd),
where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is the experimental systematic uncertainty and the third is associated with the ratio of fragmentation fractions fs/fd. Using the world average value for B(B0→K⁎0γ), the branching fraction B(B0s→ϕγ) is measured to be (3.5±0.4)×10−5.
The direct CP asymmetry in B0→K⁎0γ decays has also been measured with the same data and found to be
ACP(B0→K⁎0γ)=(0.8±1.7(stat.)±0.9(syst.))%.
Both measurements are the most precise to date and are in agreement with the previous experimental results and theoretical expectations
Semantic category interference effects upon the reach-to-grasp movement
Get PDFIn the present study the kinematics of the reach-to-grasp movement towards a targetobject in the presence of distractors was investigated. Three experiments were conducted. In thefirst experiment, there were three conditions, (a) the target alone, (b) the target presented with adistractor object that was semantically similar to the target and (c) the target presented with adistractor object that was semantically different from the target. The same conditions wererepeated for the second experiment but the size of the distractors were also manipulated. For thethird experiment the target was presented with a distractor object that was semantically differentfrom the target but similar in shape. In the first experiment interference effects were observed inkinematic parameters of the grasp, but not for the reach component when the target and thedistractor were semantically different. In the second and the third experiment, similar resultswere found. Results are discussed in terms of conflicting processing between objects pertainingto different semantic categories
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