283 research outputs found
Azygophleps aburae Plotz 1880
No full textAzygophleps aburae (Plotz, 1880) (Fig. 45) Zeuzera aburae Plotz, 1880: 77. Type locality. Bei Aburi [Ghana]. Type material. location unknown; lost? Distribution. Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon, Malawi, Sudan (Schoorl 1990; Yakovlev 2011). Material examined. 2 males, Dzalanyama forest, Lilongwe distr., C. Malawi, 1300 m, 21.04. 2006, leg. R. Murphy (RMM); 2 males, Ntchisi forest, C. Malawi, 1600 m, 10 – 17.05.2002, leg. R. Murphy (RMM); 1 male, C. Malawi, Kasungu N.P., Lifupa Lodge, 13 °05' 12 "S 33 °08' 17 "E, h 1035 m, 22.04. 2011, leg. R. Yakovlev (RYB).Published as part of Yakovlev, Roman V. & Murphy, Raymond J., 2013, The Cossidae (Lepidoptera) of Malawi with descriptions of two new species, pp. 371-393 in Zootaxa 3709 (4) on page 390, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3709.4.5, http://zenodo.org/record/24896
Recall this Book 7: A Conversation with Samuel Delany
No full textFresh on the heels of our conversation with Madeline Miller, author of Circe, John Plotz has a talk with Samuel Delany, living legend of science fiction and fantasy. You probably know him best for breakthrough novels like Dhalgren and Trouble on Triton, which went beyond "New Wave" SF to introduce an intense and utterly idiosyncratic form of theory-rich and avant-garde stylistics to the genre. Reading him means leaving Earth, but also returning to the heady days when Greenwich Village was as caught up in the arrival of Levi-Strauss and Derrida to America as it was in a gender and sexuality revolution. RTB loves him especially for his mind-bending Neveryon series: did you know that many consider his 1984 novella from that series, The Tale of Plagues and Carnivals, (set both inside the world of Neveryon and along Bleecker Street in NY) the first piece of fiction about AIDS in America? He came to Wellesley's Newhouse Center for the Humanities to talk about Afrofuturism, but also carved out two little chunks of time for this conversation
Recall this Book 8: On Distraction: A Conversation with Marina Van Zuylen and John Plotz
No full textWe frequently worry that we live in a "distracted age." But perhaps the human condition is always to live "almost always in one place with our minds somewhere quite another" (Ford Madox Ford, On Impressionism). Join John's conversation with Marina Van Zuylen of Bard College. Van Zuylen, the author of The Plenitude of Distraction, makes the case that some aspects of distraction that are far more positive than they initially appear. Kierkegaard's image of saving yourself from a boring philosophy lecture by watching sweat trickle down the speaker's face is one highlight; her story about her real-life brain scan is another. John, drawing on his recent book Semi-Detached, approaches the topic via George Eliot's ideas about what it means to get lost in a novel-and by discussing the deadpan comedy of Buster Keaton. The conversation begins with the sublime, as Marina and John discuss acedia, the "noonday demon" that attacked medieval monks when they had spent too many hours in the study. But it ends up much closer to the present, as they debate the merits of iPhone usage and the distracting powers of the telephone. The event was hosted by Dean (and noted Art Historian) Robin Kelsey at Harvard's Mahindra Humanities Center in November 2018. Our podcast presentation of it has been edited and condensed for clarity; a video of the full event is available on their channe
C-terminal fluorescent labeling impairs functionality of DNA mismatch repair proteins
No full textThe human DNA mismatch repair (MMR) process is crucial to maintain the integrity of the genome and requires many different proteins which interact perfectly and coordinated. Germline mutations in MMR genes are responsible for the development of the hereditary form of colorectal cancer called Lynch syndrome. Various mutations mainly in two MMR proteins, MLH1 and MSH2, have been identified so far, whereas 55% are detected within MLH1, the essential component of the heterodimer MutLα (MLH1 and PMS2). Most of those MLH1 variants are pathogenic but the relevance of missense mutations often remains unclear. Many different recombinant systems are applied to filter out disease-associated proteins whereby fluorescent tagged proteins are frequently used. However, dye labeling might have deleterious effects on MutLα's functionality. Therefore, we analyzed the consequences of N- and C-terminal fluorescent labeling on expression level, cellular localization and MMR activity of MutLα. Besides significant influence of GFP- or Red-fusion on protein expression we detected incorrect shuttling of single expressed C-terminal GFP-tagged PMS2 into the nucleus and found that C-terminal dye labeling impaired MMR function of MutLα. In contrast, N-terminal tagged MutLαs retained correct functionality and can be recommended both for the analysis of cellular localization and MMR efficiency
Was ist ein geeigneter Maßstab, um die Ergebnisse von Lokalisationsergebnissen interpretieren zu können?
No full textHintergrund: Das Richtungshören ist eine der Grundfunktionen des binauralen Hörens. Durch einen Vergleich der beidohrigen Signale, kann der Ort eines Hörereignisses bezüglich Richtung und Entfernung bestimmt werden. In verschiedenen Alltagssituationen ist die präzise Ortung von Schallquellen von großer Bedeutung. Neben der Ortung von möglichen Gefahrenquellen, spielt die Lokalisationsfähigkeit auch bei der Kommunikation eine grundlegende Rolle. So ist die Lokalisation eines Sprechers für das Verstehen von Sprache im Störgeräusch entscheidend. Im Vergleich zu Normalhörenden, zeigen Patienten mit Hörstörungen zum Teil erhebliche Defizite beim Richtungshören. Trotzdem ist die Überprüfung der Lokalisationsleistung bisher nicht flächendeckend im klinisch-audiologischen Bereich vertreten. In Forschungslaboren gibt es viele unterschiedliche Messmethoden, die jedoch nicht in der Diagnostik und Rehabilitation eingesetzt werden. Ferner ist auch die Darstellung und Auswertung der Ergebnisse entscheidend für die Begutachtung und Interpretation der jeweiligen Lokalisationsleistungen. Gleichwohl wäre eine Analysemethode wünschenswert, die etwaige Faktoren der unterschiedlichen Messsysteme berücksichtigt und die Berechnung eines geeigneten Indexes zulässt.Material und Methoden: Die Messungen finden an einem modifizierten Mainzer Kindertisch (ERKI-Setup, Plotz & Schmidt ) statt. Im Bereich von ±90° werden die Stimuli (300 ms; 65 dB SPL) in 5°-Schritten über 37 Wiedergabewinkel (5 reale, 32 virtuelle Schallquellen) präsentiert. An der Studie nahmen normalhörende Kinder, sowie normalhörende und schwerhörende Erwachsene teil.Ergebnisse: Für den Tagungsbeitrag werden die Ergebnisse aus den ERKI-Messungen mit verschiedenen Analysemethoden ausgewertet und zueinander in Bezug gesetzt. Ein Ansatz ist, neben dem RMS-Wert bzw. den RMS-Fehler auch den "localization sensitivity index (LSI)" nach der Methode von Zheng et al. zu berechnen. Die Arbeitsgruppe von Zheng kritisierte in ihrer Studie die Aussagekraft des RMS-Wertes bezogen auf die Lokalisationsfähigkeit des Probanden. So erhielten sie z.B. für zwei Probanden sehr ähnliche RMS-Werte, obwohl die Muster der Lokalisationen unterschiedlich waren. Zudem gab es erste erfolgreiche Ansätze, die Ergebnisse der Lokalisationsexperimente über antrainierte Algorithmen auszuwerten (Lückehe et al. ). Der Algorithmus sollte entscheiden, ob es sich bei den ERKI-Ergebnissen um die eines Kindes oder eines Erwachsenen handelte
Intraspecific allometric comparison of laboratory gerbils with Mongolian gerbils trapped in the wild indicates domestication in Meriones unguiculatus (Milne-Edwards, 1867) (Rodentia : Gerbillinae)
No full textA survey of adult male Mongolian gerbils, Meriones unguiculatus (Milne-Edwards, 1867), either trapped during an expedition in Mongolia near 47 degreesN and 105,5 degreesE in June 1995 (WILD) or obtained from a laboratory strain bred in captivity since 1935 (LAB), revealed significant morphological and behavioural differences, which are likely a result of domestication in the laboratory strain. Mean body length (125.4 mm), tail length (95.5 mm) and body weight (53.6 g) was lower in WILD, although no other external characteristics were obviously different. Related allometrically to net carcass weight, organ weights were significantly lower (p < 0.01) in LAB (brain - 17.6%, eyes - 26.0%, heart - 22.3%, lungs - 43.3%). Seizures frequently seen in LAB were absent in WILD trapped (n = 167) or subsequently housed in Germany (n = 8 1), and rare in their offspring. Mean litter size was greater in LAB (n = 5.5) than in WILD bred in the laboratory (n = 4.4). The WILD breeding strain was named Ugoe:MU95. A genetic bottleneck (n = 9) that occurred in 1954 and remarkably smaller brains in LAB indicate that the laboratory strain has become domesticated and should be designated as "Laboratory gerbils" (M. unguiculatus forma domestica) to signify this new case of domestication among rodents
Chemotaxis and activation of human peripheral blood eosinophils induced by pollen-associated lipid mediators
No full textBackground: Eosinophil accumulation at sites of allergic inflammation is largely regulated by chemokines and lipid mediators released by a variety of cells of the local microenvironment. Recent studies have shown that pollen grains, apart from their function as allergen carriers, are a rich exogenous source of eicosanoid-like lipid mediators that are rapidly released on contact with the aqueous phase and thus may contribute to the generation of local inflammatory responses. Objective: Here we analyze the biological activity of pollen-associated lipid mediators (PALMs) on peripheral human blood eosinophils. Methods: Human eosinophils were coincubated with pollen grains and analyzed by electron microscopy. The lipid mediator composition of aqueous pollen extracts (APEs) was analyzed by HPLC. Human eosinophils were exposed to APEs or lipid fractions from pollen. Effects on eosinophils were tested by transwell migration and surface expression of CD11b. Results: In vitro experiments showed adhesion of eosinophils to Phleum pratense pollen. In chemotaxis assays eosinophils displayed significant directed migration to APEs. HPLC analysis of APEs from Phleum pratense and Betula alba pollen demonstrated the occurrence of linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid as well as their monohydroxylated derivatives. Moreover, total lipid extracts from pollen and RP-HPLC fractions containing monohydroxylated derivatives of linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid induced similar migratory responses, although to a lesser degree than APEs. In addition, APEs and lipid extracts induced up-regulation of CD11b surface expression and secretion of eosinophil cationic protein. APE-induced chemotaxis was blocked by the leukotriene B-4 receptor antagonist LY293111, suggesting that PALMs may serve as ligands for LTB4 receptors. Conclusion: Pollen grains release lipid mediators that recruit and activate eosinophils in vitro. Similar mechanisms may be effective under natural exposure conditions, in which PALMs may play a role in the recruitment of eosinophils to the site of allergic inflammation
Detection and imaging of non-contractile inclusions and sarcomeric anomalies in skeletal muscle by second harmonic generation combined with two-photon excited fluorescence.
No full textN‐terminus of hMLH1 confers interaction of hMutLα and hMutLβ with hMutSα
No full textMismatch repair is a highly conserved system that ensures replication fidelity by repairing mispairs after DNA synthesis. In humans, the two protein heterodimers hMutSα (hMSH2‐hMSH6) and hMutLα (hMLH1‐hPMS2) constitute the centre of the repair reaction. After recognising a DNA replication error, hMutSα recruits hMutLα, which then is thought to transduce the repair signal to the excision machinery. We have expressed an ATPase mutant of hMutLα as well as its individual subunits hMLH1 and hPMS2 and fragments of hMLH1, followed by examination of their interaction properties with hMutSα using a novel interaction assay. We show that, although the interaction requires ATP, hMutLα does not need to hydrolyse this nucleotide to join hMutSα on DNA, suggesting that ATP hydrolysis by hMutLα happens downstream of complex formation. The analysis of the individual subunits of hMutLα demonstrated that the hMutSα–hMutLα interaction is predominantly conferred by hMLH1. Further experiments revealed that only the N‐terminus of hMLH1 confers this interaction. In contrast, only the C‐terminus stabilised and co‐immunoprecipitated hPMS2 when both proteins were co‐expressed in 293T cells, indicating that dimerisation and stabilisation are mediated by the C‐terminal part of hMLH1. We also examined another human homologue of bacterial MutL, hMutLβ (hMLH1–hPMS1). We show that hMutLβ interacts as efficiently with hMutSα as hMutLα, and that it predominantly binds to hMutSα via hMLH1 as well
Recall this Book 31: A Conversation with Vanessa Smith
No full textU. Sydney professor Vanessa Smith-author of Intimate Strangers, and also of a lovely short piece about Marion Milner-joins John to discuss her pandemic reading. She praises a Milner (quasi)travel book, but she also makes the case for M F K Fisher and a book about the glories of hypochondria. Then the old friends share their newfound love for spiky Australian novelist Helen Garner, doyenne of share-house feminism
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