Descripción: In the mammalian auditory system, the synapse between efferent olivocochlear (OC) neurons and sensory cochlear hair cells is cholinergic, fast, and inhibitory. This efferent synapse is mediated by the nicotinic α9α10 receptor coupled to the activation of SK2 Ca 2+-activated K+ channels that hyperpolarize the cell. So far, the ion channels that support and/or modulate neurotransmitter release from the OC terminals remain unknown. To identify these channels, we used an isolated mouse cochlear preparation and monitored transmitter release from the efferent synaptic terminals in inner hair cells (IHCs) voltage clamped in the whole-cell recording configuration. Acetylcholine (ACh) release was evoked by electrically stimulating the efferent fibers that make axosomatic contacts with IHCs before the onset of hearing. Using the specific antagonists for P/Q- and N-type voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs), ω-agatoxin IVA and ω-conotoxin GVIA, respectively, we show that Ca2+ entering through both types of VGCCs support the release process at this synapse. Interestingly, we found that Ca2+ entering through the dihydropiridine-sensitive L-type VGCCs exerts a negative control on transmitter release. Moreover, using immunostaining techniques combined with electrophysiology and pharmacology, we show that BK Ca2+-activated K+ channels are transiently expressed at the OC efferent terminals contacting IHCs and that their activity modulates the release process at this synapse. The effects of dihydropiridines combined with iberiotoxin, a specific BK channel antagonist, strongly suggest that L-type VGCCs negatively regulate the release of ACh by fueling BK channels that are known to curtail the duration of the terminal action potential in several types of neurons. Copyright © 2010 the authors.

Descripción: Fil:Sigaut, L. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.

Descripción: Background: Olfactory systems create representations of the chemical world in the animal brain. Recordings of odour-evoked activity in the primary olfactory centres of vertebrates and insects have suggested similar rules for odour processing, in particular through spatial organization of chemical information in their functional units, the glomeruli. Similarity between odour representations can be extracted from across-glomerulus patterns in a wide range of species, from insects to vertebrates, but comparison of odour similarity in such diverse taxa has not been addressed. In the present study, we asked how 11 aliphatic odorants previously tested in honeybees and rats are represented in the antennal lobe of the ant Camponotus fellah, a social insect that relies on olfaction for food search and social communication.Results: Using calcium imaging of specifically-stained second-order neurons, we show that these odours induce specific activity patterns in the ant antennal lobe. Using multidimensional analysis, we show that clustering of odours is similar in ants, bees and rats. Moreover, odour similarity is highly correlated in all three species.Conclusion: This suggests the existence of similar coding rules in the neural olfactory spaces of species among which evolutionary divergence happened hundreds of million years ago. © 2010 Dupuy et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Descripción: Sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects particularly motoneurons. Several pieces of evidence suggested the involvement of autoimmune mechanisms mediated by antibodies in ALS. However, the significance of those antibodies in the disease and the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Here we showed that IgG purified from a group of sporadic ALS patients, but not familial ALS patients, specifically interact with the presynaptic membrane of motoneurons through an antigen-antibody interaction and modulated synaptic transmission. Immunoreactivity against nerve terminals showed strong correlation with synaptic modulation ability. In addition, several controls have ruled out the possibility for this synaptic modulation to be mediated through proteases or nonspecific effects. Effective IgG potentiated both spontaneous and asynchronous transmitter release. Application of pharmacological inhibitors suggested that activation of this increased release required a nonconstitutive Ca2+ influx through N-type (Ca v2.2) channels and phospholipase C activity and that activation of IP3 and ryanodine receptors were necessary to both activate and sustain the increased release. Consistent with the notion that ALS is heterogeneous disorder, our results reveal that, in ∼50% of ALS patients, motor nerve terminals constitutes a target for autoimmune response. Copyright © 2006 Society for Neuroscience.

Descripción: A computational scheme was developed for a fourth-rank hyprmagnetizability tensor denoted by Xαβγδ. It was shown that this instrinsic property of diamagnetic atoms and molecules was useful to rationalize their nonlinear response to intense magnetic field. The terms connected with the fourth power of the perturbing field which represent the fourth-rank hypermagnetizability of the H2, HF, H2O, NH3, and CH4 molecules were evaluated at the coupled Hartree-Fock level of accuracy. The Gaugeless basis sets of increasing size and flexibility that adopted two different coordinate systems to estimate the degree of convergence of theoretical tensor components was employed.

Descripción: A new species of Calvatia from Manaus in Amazonas State, Brazil, is proposed, which is very close to Calvatia sporocristata, recently described from Costa Rica. The two species have been compared macroscopically and examined using light and scanning electron microscopy. The proposed new species, C. oblongispora, possesses a distinctly two-layered exoperidium consisting of a hyphal outer layer and an inner pseudoparenchymatous layer. This contrasts to the single pseudoparenchymatous exoperidium possessed by C. sporocristata. A table comparing the main exoperidial, basidiospore, and capillitial differences between both species is provided.

Descripción: 1. 1. The sensitivity of partially purified low Km, phosphodiesterase (PDE) from Mucor rouxii to pharmacological agents and cAMP analogs was studied. The IC50 obtained were compared with those reported for PDEs from higher eukaryotes. 2. 2. The best inhibitors of the hydrolysis of 1 gmM cAMP were SQ 65.442 (IC50, c 10 μM), dipyridamol and CI 930. cGMP was not an inhibitor (IC50 > 1000 μm). 3. 3. The cAMP analogs were tested as inhibitors of the hydrolysis of 0. l μM cAMP. 8-Aminohexylamino cAMP was the best inhibitor with an IC50 of c 1 μM. 4. 4. A sedimentation profile of Mucor PDE was assayed in the presence of several pharmacological inhibitors and eAMP analogs. No isoforms with different sensitivity towards the inhibitors were detected. Forms with slightly different behaviour towards some cAMP analogs were observed. © 1990.

Descripción: Fil:Mandrini, C. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.

Descripción: It is well known that - differing from ordinary gauge systems - canonical gauges are not admissible in the path integral for parametrized systems. This is the case for the relativistic particle and gravitation However, a time dependent canonical transformation can turn a parametrized system into an ordinary gauge system. It is shown how to build a canonical transformation such that the fixation of the new coordinates is equivalent to the fixation of the original ones; this aim can be achieved only if the Hamiltonian constraint allows for an intrinsic global time. Thus the resulting action, describing an ordinary gauge system and allowing for canonical gauges, can be used in the path integral for the quantum propagator associated with the original variables. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: A simple model, previously used to explore wetting transitions, is evaluated for the case of a slab geometry in which adsorption occurs between two semi-infinite solids, with parallel faces separated by a distance L. The model yields a universal description of possible wetting and capillary condensation (CC) transitions. The system’s thermodynamic behavior is predicted from the values of two dimensionless parameters: [Formula Presented] (the reduced gas-surface interaction strength, a function of temperature) and [Formula Presented] (the reduced separation). If [Formula Presented] negligible adsorption occurs at all pressures below saturated vapor pressure (SVP). For somewhat larger values of [Formula Presented] CC occurs for sufficiently small [Formula Presented] close to SVP. For very large values of [Formula Presented] an additional prewetting transition (formation of a film) is predicted for large [Formula Presented] this is accompanied by a CC transition close to SVP. The model is generally consistent with limited results of density-functional calculations for the He liquids at zero temperature. © 1999 The American Physical Society.

Descripción: Capybaras, (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) are large, herbivorous New World hystricomorphs, common in the seasonally flooded savannas of tropical and subtropical South America. In this paper we review the social structure and dynamics of capybaras across much of their geographic range. Wherever they have been studied capybaras live in groups. Capybara groups are stable social units composed of adult males and females (sex ratio biased toward females) with their young. A linear dominance hierarchy characterizes interactions among males, and the dominant male obtains most matings. Group sizes range from 6 to 16 adult members and vary with habitat characteristics and population density. At higher densities group sizes and the proportion of floaters (apparently unaffiliated animals; mostly males) increase. In 1 low-density location dispersal appears to occur in groups of both sexes, whereas in another location, where density is higher, males disperse and females are philopatric. We also discuss more conceptual issues (mostly proximate and ultimate mechanisms) that relate to intraspecific variation in social behavior in general, and capybaras in particular. © 2011 American Society of Mammalogists.

Descripción: Addition of nonsuperconducting phases, such as carbon nanotubes, can modify the superconducting properties of MgB 2 samples, improving the critical current density and upper critical field. A full understanding of the flux creep mechanism involved is crucial to the development of superconducting magnets in persistent mode, one of the main thrusts for the development of MgB 2 wires. In this paper we present a creep study in bulk MgB 2 samples, pure and with different amounts of carbon nanotubes additions. We conclude that the most consistent picture at low temperatures is a single vortex pinning regime, where the correlation length is limited by the grain size. We introduce a novel analysis that allows us to identify the region where the Anderson-Kim model is valid. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Descripción: The present paper describes the development of the CardioGRID framework into the GRID infrastructure. The core GRID services; Workload Management System (WMS), Data Management System and Grid Authentication have been implemented. Additionally, a web-based tool -the CardioGRID portal- has been developed to facilitate the user interaction with the GRID. As a result, the user is able to process the electrocardiogram (ECG) signals obtained form a portable data acquisition device and to process it on the GRID. Once the CardioGRID portal is prompted and the user identity is verified through a digital X.509 certificate, the operator may either upload new raw ECG data to the GRID Storage Elements or use already stored data. Then, subsequent analytics from these data are performed as GRID jobs and relevant medical quantities are derived through middle-ware job retrieval mechanism. In summary in this paper was described the development of a medical GRID based system, and its integration to an existing platform for Digital Repositories Infrastructure.

Descripción: Fil:Zelaya, D.G. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.

Descripción: We calculate the Casimir energy for scalar and gauge fields in interaction with zero-width mirrors, including quantum effects due to the matter fields inside the mirrors. We consider models where those fields are either scalar or fermionic, obtaining general expressions for the energy as a function of the vacuum field 1PI function. We also study, within the frame of a concrete model, the role of the dissipation induced by those degrees of freedom, showing that, after integration of the matter fields, the effective theory for the electromagnetic field contains modes with complex energies. As for the case of Lifshitz formula, we show that the formal result obtained by neglecting dissipation coincides with the correct result that comes from the quantum fluctuations of both bulk and matter fields. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Descripción: The type specimens (all current categories) of Chrysomelidae s.l. deposited in this Museum are listed; 125 names are recorded, 85 of them (68 percent) are represented here by name-bearing types ('primary' types), five of them dubious. The family is taken in its broadest sense, including the Bruchinae, Hispinae (along with the former Cassidinae), and other groups sometimes considered as separate families. The specific and subspecific names were alphabetically filed, followed by the generic ones as they were spelled in the original publication, or the generic and specific names in the case of subspecies and varieties. Later combinations and/or current binomina are mentioned insofar as these are known to the authors. Two lists are added: 1. of specimens labelled as types of unavailable names, chiefly those not found in the literature, and supposedly not published, and 2. of specimens labelled as types, but not originally included as such, and published or not after the original description.

Descripción: The type specimens of all accepted categories of twenty-eight names of craneflies (twenty-two of Limoniidae and six of Tipulidae), housed in this Museum are recorded. Specimens labeled as types, but which are not types, or are only very dubiously acceptable as types, are recorded in a separate list, in order to assist in future research. Most of the species here catalogued were described by Dr. C.P. Alexander, based upon specimens from this Museum, sent to him by C. Bruch.

Descripción: A catalog of the types, all current categories, of Geotrupidae, Glaresidae, Hybosoridae, Lucanidae and Trogidae, housed in this Museum, is given; it comprises the types of 40 names; 39 (98%) of them are here represented by name-bearing types («primary types»).

Descripción: The types (only paratypes) of 102 species of Mycetophilidae described and deposited in this Museum by Dr. José Pedro Duret are recorded. A selection from his rich collection was also here deposited by him. Most of his collection was acquired by Dr. Loic Matile, Paris, France. The Museum houses no other types of species of this family.

Descripción: The type specimens of all accepted categories of three names of Stratiomyidae, fifty-nine of Tabanidae, twenty-four of Asilidae sensu lato (includes Leptogastridae), and twenty of Syrphidae are recorded. In an appendix twelve paratypes of six species of Tabanidae are recorded, housed in the Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud "Dr. Carlos G. Malbrán" (ANLIS), Departamento Vectores, Buenos Aires.

Descripción: Context. A magnetic cloud (MC) is a magnetic flux rope in the solar wind (SW), which, at 1 AU, is observed ∼2-5 days after its expulsion from the Sun. The associated solar eruption is observed as a coronal mass ejection (CME).Aims. Both the in situ observations of plasma velocity distribution and the increase in their size with solar distance demonstrate that MCs are strongly expanding structures. The aim of this work is to find the main causes of this expansion and to derive a model to explain the plasma velocity profiles typically observed inside MCs.Methods. We model the flux rope evolution as a series of force-free field states with two extreme limits: (a) ideal magneto-hydrodynamics (MHD) and (b) minimization of the magnetic energy with conserved magnetic helicity. We consider cylindrical flux ropes to reduce the problem to the integration of ordinary differential equations. This allows us to explore a wide variety of magnetic fields at a broad range of distances to the Sun.Results. We demonstrate that the rapid decrease in the total SW pressure with solar distance is the main driver of the flux-rope radial expansion. Other effects, such as the internal over-pressure, the radial distribution, and the amount of twist within the flux rope have a much weaker influence on the expansion. We demonstrate that any force-free flux rope will have a self-similar expansion if its total boundary pressure evolves as the inverse of its length to the fourth power. With the total pressure gradient observed in the SW, the radial expansion of flux ropes is close to self-similar with a nearly linear radial velocity profile across the flux rope, as observed. Moreover, we show that the expansion rate is proportional to the radius and to the global velocity away from the Sun.Conclusions. The simple and universal law found for the radial expansion of flux ropes in the SW predicts the typical size, magnetic structure, and radial velocity of MCs at various solar distances. © 2009 ESO.

Descripción: DNA damage triggers a phosphorylation-based signaling cascade known as the DNA damage response. p19INK4d, a member of the INK4 family of CDK4/6 inhibitors, has been reported to participate in the DNA damage response promoting DNA repair and cell survival. Here, we provide mechanistic insight into the activation mechanism of p19INK4d linked to the response to DNA damage. Results showed that p19INK4d becomes phosphorylated following UV radiation, b-amyloid peptide and cisplatin treatments. ATM-Chk2/ATR-Chk1 signaling pathways were found to be differentially involved in p19INK4d phosphorylation depending on the type of DNA damage. Two sequential phosphorylation events at serine 76 and threonine 141 were identified using p19INK4d single-point mutants in metabolic labeling assays with 32P-orthophosphate. CDK2 and PKA were found to participate in p19INK4d phosphorylation process and that they would mediate serine 76 and threonine 141 modifications respectively. Nuclear translocation of p19INK4d induced by DNA damage was shown to be dependent on serine 76 phosphorylation. Most importantly, both phosphorylation sites were found to be crucial for p19INK4d function in DNA repair and cell survival. In contrast, serine 76 and threonine 141 were dispensable for CDK4/6 inhibition highlighting the independence of p19INK4d functions, in agreement with our previous findings. These results constitute the first description of the activation mechanism of p19INK4d in response to genotoxic stress and demonstrate the functional relevance of this activation following DNA damage. © 2012 Marazita et al.

Descripción: Drosophila tracheal terminal branches are plastic and have the capacity to sprout out projections toward oxygen-starved areas, in a process analogous to mammalian angiogenesis. This response involves the upregulation of FGF/Branchless in hypoxic tissues, which binds its receptor Breathless on tracheal cells. Here, we show that extra sprouting depends on the Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF)-α homolog Sima and on the HIF-prolyl hydroxylase Fatiga that operates as an oxygen sensor. In mild hypoxia, Sima accumulates in tracheal cells, where it induces breathless, and this induction is sufficient to provoke tracheal extra sprouting. In nontracheal cells, Sima contributes to branchless induction, whereas overexpression of Sima fails to attract terminal branch outgrowth, suggesting that HIF-independent components are also required for full induction of the ligand. We propose that the autonomous response to hypoxia that occurs in tracheal cells enhances tracheal sensitivity to increasing Branchless levels, and that this mechanism is a cardinal step in hypoxia-dependent tracheal sprouting. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Descripción: The endosperm of the seed of Gleditsia triacanthos L. contains 18.55% of its dry weight as nonreserve, cell-wall carbohydrates. Of this carbohydrate material, comprising mainly mannose, galactose, and glucose, 76.1% was of low-molecular weight or highly hydrophilic. Mannose, galactose, and glucose were also the major sugar components of the polysaccharides extracted with alkali (23.1% of the cell-wall), while the same sugars, with minor amounts of arabinose, form the residues. Methylation analysis of the polysaccharides and the borate-sodium hydroxide residue indicate that the cell walls are built up on a network of galactomannans, with high Man/Gal ratios, reinforced with minor amounts of cellulose.

Descripción: Aims: To study the modification of the cell wall of Lactobacillus casei ATCC 393 grown in high salt conditions. Methods and Results: Differences in the overall structure of cell wall between growth in high salt (MRS + 1 mol l -1 NaCl; N condition) and control (MRS; C condition) conditions were determined by transmission electronic microscopy and analytical procedures. Lactobacillus casei cells grown in N condition were significantly larger than cells grown under unstressed C condition. Increased sensitivity to mutanolysin and antibiotics with target in the cell wall was observed in N condition. Purified cell wall also showed the increased sensitivity to lysis by mutanolysin. Analysis of peptidoglycan (PG) from stressed cells showed that modification was at the structural level in accordance with a decreased PG cross-link involving penicillin-binding proteins (PBP). Nine PBP were first described in this species and these proteins were expressed in low percentages or presented a modified pattern of saturation with penicillin G (Pen G) during growth in high salt. Three of the essential PBP were fully saturated in N condition at lower Pen G concentrations than in C condition, suggesting differences in functionality in vivo. Conclusions: The results show that growth in high salt modified the structural properties of the cell wall. Significance and Impact of Study: Advances in understanding the adaptation to high osmolarity, in particular those involving sensitivity to lysis of lactic acid bacteria.

Descripción: Retrotapes, new genus, comprises a group of Neoaustral bivalves that appeared in the southern circumpolar regions by the Eocene and have since been confined to the high latitudes of the southern hemisphere. Its presence in the Tertiary strata of Antarctica and southern South America reflects an active faunal interchange between both regions during the Eocene. Retrotapes is here proposed to include to those Recent and Tertiary representatives of the Subfamily Tapetinae (Family Veneridae) from southern South America and Antarctica that had been previously placed in Venus Linné, 1758, Marcia H. and A. Adams, 1857, Eurhomalea Cossmann,1920, Samarangia Dall,1902, and Kalelysia Römer, 1857. The Argentine Tertiary species Retrotapes ninfasiensis, new species, R. fuegoensis, new species, R. striatolamellata (Ihering, 1897) and R. scutata (Ihering, 1907) are here described and illustrated. The Recent Argentine Venus exalbida Chemnitz, 1795 and Venus lenticularis Sowerby, 1835, the Antarctic V. antarctica Sharman and Newton, 1894 and V. newtoni Wilckens, 1911 (Eocene-early Oligocène?, La Meseta Formation), and the Neogene Chilean species V. navidadis Philippi, 1887 and V. colchaguensis Philippi, 1887 are also included in this new genus.

Descripción: The projections of mechanosensory hairs located on the dorsal and lateral head of the adult haematophagous bug Triatoma infestans were analyzed by means of cobalt filling. Axons run into the anterior and posterior tegumentary nerve and project through the brain to the ventral nerve cord. The fibres are small in diameter and run as a fascicle. Some branches run into suboesophageal and prothoracic centres; others run as far as to the mesothoracic ganglion. These sensory projections resemble that of wind-sensitive head hairs of the locust. The functional role of this sensory system in this species is discussed.

Descripción: Changes in biomass and elemental composition (dry mass, W; carbon, C; nitrogen, N; hydrogen, H) were studied in the laboratory during complete larval and early juvenile development of the southern stone crab Paralomis granulosa (Jacquinot). At 6 ± 0.5°C; total larval development from hatching to metamorphosis lasted ca. 56 d, comprising 2 demersal zoeal stages and a benthic megalopa, with mean stage durations of 5, 11 and 45 d, respectively. All larval stages of P. granulosa are lecithotrophic, and first feeding and growth were consistently observed immediately after metamorphosis to the first juvenile crab stage. Regardless of presence or absence of food, W, C, N, and H decreased throughout larval development. Also the C:N mass ratio decreased significantly, from 7.2 at hatching to 4.2 at metamorphosis, indicating that a large initial lipid store remaining from the egg yolk was gradually utilised as an internal energy source. In total, about 68% of the initial quantities of C and H present at hatching, and 44% of N were lost during non-feeding larval development to metamorphosis. Approximately 10% of the initially present C, N and H were lost with larval exuviae, half of which was lost in the megalopa stage alone. Hence, metabolic biomass degradation accounted for losses of ca. 59% in C and H, but for only 33% in N, Most of the losses in C and H reflected metabolic energy consumption (primarily lipid degradation), while ca. 1/4 of the losses in N and 2/3 of those in W were due to larval exuviation. Complete larval lecithotrophy is based on an enhanced maternal energy investment per offspring, and on energy-saving mechanisms such as low larval locomotory activity and low exuvial losses. These traits are interpreted as bioenergetic adaptations to food-limited conditions in subantarctic regions, where a pronounced seasonality limits the period of primary production.

Descripción: A soluble Ca2+-dependent protein kinase (CDPK) was purified to homogeneity in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plants. Potato CDPK was strictly dependent on Ca2+ (one-half maximal activation 0.6 μM) and phosphorylated a wide diversity of substrates, in which Syntide 2 was the best phosphate acceptor (Michaelis constant = 30 μM). The kinase was inhibited by Ca2+- chelating agents, phenotiazine derivatives, and N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1- naphthalenesulfonamide (one-half maximal inhibition = 0.25 mM). Polyclonal antibodies directed against the regulatory region of the soybean CDPK recognized a 53-kD polypeptide. In an autophosphorylation assay, this same band was strongly labeled with [γ-32P]ATP in the presence of Ca2+. CDPK activity was high in nontuberized plants, but increased 2.5-fold at the onset of tuber development and was reduced to one-half of its original activity when the tuber had completed formation. In the early stages of tuberization, Ca2+-dependent phosphorylation of endogenous targets (specific bands of 68, 51, and 46 kD) was observed. These polypeptides were not labeled in nontuberizing plants or in completely formed tubers, indicating that this phosphorylation is a stage-specific event. In addition, dephosphorylation of specific polypeptides was detected in tuberizing plants, suggesting the involvement of a phosphatase. Preincubation of crude extracts with phosphatase inhibitors rendered a 100% increase in CDPK activity.

Descripción: Fil:Moresco, P. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.

Descripción: The goal of this paper is to present the petrographic study from outcrop samples of the Central II alteration zone. This area is located in the San Rafael Massif, province of Mendoza (34°54'56" S; 68°37'02" O) and is related to hypoabyssal rhyolitic bodies that intrude a volcanic-volcaniclastic sequence corresponding to the upper section of Choiyoi Group. The alteration zone is represented by pervasive sericitization overprinted by silicic breccias and veins with WNW trend (Az 290° - 300°) and vertical dip. Hydrothermal veins are mainly composed by quartz with primary growth, recrystalization and replacement textures with minor pyrite, chalcopyrite and scarce arsenopyrite. The combination of crustifiform - colloform silica banding, quartz pseudomorphs of bladed calcite and adularia with different morphologies (sub-rhombic, rhombic and pseudo-acicular) is a clear evidence of a low-sulfidation epithermal system with paleozones of upflow boiling.

Descripción: Measurements on the ion flux transmission in a magnetically filtered d-c vacuum arc are presented. The device includes a metallic plasma-generating chamber with water-cooled electrodes coupled to a substrate chamber through a quarter-torus magnetic filter. It is employed a Copper cathode (6 cm in diameter) with a Copper annular anode. The filter consists in a steel cylinder 500 mm length and 100 mm inner diameter with 90° of bending angle and corrugated lateral walls, surrounded by a magnetic field generating coil. The arc is operated at a current level of 100 A, and the intensity of the filtering magnetic field was in the range 0-200 G (measured at the knee of the filter). This magnetic field is enough high so as to magnetize the electrons but not the ions. The discharge is ignited by bringing (and later removing) a tungsten striker into contact with the cathode. The arc voltage drop, the floating potentials of the filter and the plasma, and the ion current collected by probes located at different positions as functions of the magnetic field intensity are reported and compared with measurements presented in the literature with other similar devices.

Descripción: Bacterial DNA activates neutrophils through a CpG- and TLR9-independent mechanism. Neutrophil activation does not require DNA internalization, suggesting that it results from the interaction of bacterial DNA with a neutrophil surface receptor. The aim of this study was to characterize the interaction of bacterial DNA with the neutrophil surface. Bacterial DNA binding showed saturation and was inhibited by unlabeled DNA but not by other polyanions like yeast tRNA and poly-A. Resembling the conditions under which bacterial DNA triggers neutrophil activation, binding was not modified in the presence or absence of calcium, magnesium or serum. Treatment of neutrophils with proteases not only dramatically reduced bacterial DNA binding but also inhibited neutrophil activation induced by bacterial DNA. Experiments performed with DNA samples of different lengths obtained after digestion of bacterial DNA with DNase showed that only DNA fragments greater than ≈170-180 nucleotides competed bacterial DNA binding and retained the ability to trigger cell activation. Treatment of neutrophils with chemoattractants or conventional agonists significantly increased bacterial DNA binding. Moreover, neutrophils that underwent transmigration through human endothelial cell monolayers even in the absence of chemoattractants, exhibited higher binding levels of bacterial DNA. Together, our findings provide evidence that binding of bacterial DNA to neutrophils is a receptor-mediated process that conditions the ability of DNA to trigger cell activation. We speculate that neutrophil recognition of bacterial DNA might be modulated by the balance of agonists present at inflammatory foci. This effect might be relevant in bacterial infections with a biofilm etiology, in which extracellular DNA could function as a potent neutrophil agonist. © 2008 USCAP, Inc All rights reserved.

Descripción: We show that coorbit spaces can be characterized in terms of arbitrary phase-space covers, which are families of phase-space multipliers associated with partitions of unity. This generalizes previously known results for time-frequency analysis to include time-scale decompositions. As a by-product, we extend the existing results for time-frequency analysis to an irregular setting. © 2011 Elsevier Inc.

Descripción: An experimental investigation was performed to study the effect on the free volume of the advance of the cross-linking reaction in a copolymer of styrene butadiene rubber by sulfur vulcanization. The dynamic modulus and loss tangent were evaluated over samples cured for different times at 433 K by dynamic mechanical tests over a range of frequencies between 5 and 80 Hz at temperatures between 200 and 300 K. Using the William-Landel-Ferry relationship, master curves were obtained at a reference temperature of 298 K and the coefficients [formula presented] and [formula presented] were evaluated. From these parameters the dependence of the free volume on the cure time is obtained. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy was also used to estimate the size and number density of free volume sites in the material. The spectra were analyzed in terms of continuous distributions of free volume size. The results suggest an increase of the lower free volume size when cross linking takes place. Both techniques give similar results for the dependence of free volume on the time of cure of the polymer. © 2002 The American Physical Society.

Descripción: The solar wind (SW) is a suitable natural scenario to study the intermittent nature of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence for systems with low dissipation rate. In particular, nonlinear wave-wave interactions can be characterized by the degree of phase correlation and by departures from Gaussianity of the magnetic field. In this work, we study in situ observations of magnetic field intensity from the spacecraft ACE, which is located near one astronomical unit from the Sun, in the SW near Earth. We compute the phase coherence index analyzing two sets of observations, each one consisting of approximately three months during 2008 and 2012, respectively. From these sets of data we characterize intermittent features of the magnetic field intensity corresponding to a solar maximum and a solar minimum. © 2013 International Astronomical Union.

Descripción: This paper describes for the first time in the study area the lithology, structure and different metamorphic events that have affected the basement in the eastern margin of Brazo Huemul of Nahuel Huapi Lake. These rocks have been classified as protomilonitic paragneisses and they were correlated to the Colohuincul Complex. A brittle - ductile shear zone with an orientation of N14°W (similar to the regional trend) has been interpreted as a deep angle reverse fault (74°SW), that put metamorphic basement rocks in tectonic contact with volcanic/ volcaniclastic rocks from Ventana Formation. In agreement with the mineral assemblages observed (quartz - chlorite - biotite - garnet (almandine) - albite) it was possible to determine a sedimentary pelitic protolith that was affected by regional metamorphism under high temperature green schist facies (biotite - garnet zone) conditions. © 2006 Asociación Geológica Argentina.

Descripción: Fil:Maier, M.S. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.

Descripción: The specificity in phosphorylation by kinases is determined by the molecular recognition of the peptide target sequence. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the protein kinase A (PKA) specificity determinants are less studied than in mammalian PKA. The catalytic turnover numbers of the catalytic subunits isoforms Tpk1 and Tpk2 were determined, and both enzymes are shown to have the same value of 3 s-1. We analyze the substrate behavior and sequence determinants around the phosphorylation site of three protein substrates, Pyk1, Pyk2, and Nth1. Nth1 protein is a better substrate than Pyk1 protein, and both are phosphorylated by either Tpk1 or Tpk2. Both enzymes also have the same selectivity toward the protein substrates and the peptides derived from them. The three substrates contain one or more Arg-Arg-X-Ser consensus motif, but not all of them are phosphorylated. The determinants for specificity were studied using the peptide arrays. Acidic residues in the position P+1 or in the N-terminal flank are deleterious, and positive residues present beyond P-2 and P-3 favor the catalytic reaction. A bulky hydrophobic residue in position P+1 is not critical. The best substrate has in position P+4 an acidic residue, equivalent to the one in the inhibitory sequence of Bcy1, the yeast regulatory subunit of PKA. The substrate effect in the holoenzyme activation was analyzed, and we demonstrate that peptides and protein substrates sensitized the holoenzyme to activation by cAMP in different degrees, depending on their sequences. The results also suggest that protein substrates are better co-activators than peptide substrates. © 2010 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Descripción: The diffractive efficiency of Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) displays can be greatly diminished by the appearance of temporal phase fluctuations in the reflected beam, depolarization effects and also because of phase modulation depths smaller than 2π. In order to maximize the efficiency of the Diffractive Optical Elements (DOEs) implemented in the LCoS device, the Minimum Euclidean Distance principle can be applied. However, not all the diffractive elements can be corrected in the same way due to the anamorphic and spatial frequency dependent phenomenon, which is related to the LCoS response, largely depending on the period and the spatial orientation of the generated DOE. Experimental evidence for the anamorphic and spatial frequency dependent phenomenon is provided in this paper, as well as a comparative study between the LCoS display response for binary gratings of different periods.

Descripción: Background: Human β-amyloid, the main component in the neuritic plaques found in patients with Alzheimer's disease, is generated by cleavage of the β-amyloid precursor protein. Beyond the role in pathology, members of this protein family are synaptic proteins and have been associated with synaptogenesis, neuronal plasticity and memory, both in vertebrates and in invertebrates. Consolidation is necessary to convert a short-term labile memory to a long-term and stable form. During consolidation, gene expression and de novo protein synthesis are regulated in order to produce key proteins for the maintenance of plastic changes produced during the acquisition of new information.Results: Here we partially cloned and sequenced the beta-amyloid precursor protein like gene homologue in the crab Chasmagnathus (cappl), showing a 37% of identity with the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster homologue and 23% with Homo sapiens but with much higher degree of sequence similarity in certain regions. We observed a wide distribution of cappl mRNA in the nervous system as well as in muscle and gills. The protein localized in all tissues analyzed with the exception of muscle. Immunofluorescence revealed localization of cAPPL in associative and sensory brain areas. We studied gene and protein expression during long-term memory consolidation using a well characterized memory model: the context-signal associative memory in this crab species. mRNA levels varied at different time points during long-term memory consolidation and correlated with cAPPL protein levels. Conclusions: cAPPL mRNA and protein is widely distributed in the central nervous system of the crab and the time course of expression suggests a role of cAPPL during long-term memory formation. © 2010 Fustiñana et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Descripción: Three wild type strains of Rhizobium fredii, USDA 191, USDA 257 and HH 303, do not synthesize in vivo or in vitro beta(1-3), beta(1-6) cyclic glucans, all strains form in vitro and in vivo cyclic beta(1-2) glucans. Approximately 80% of the recovered R. fredii cellular cyclic beta(1-2) glucans were anionic and the substituent was identified as phosphoglycerol. Inner membranes prepared from these R. fredii strains have a beta(1-2) glucan-intermediate-protein with apparent molecular mass undistinguishable from Agrobacterium tumefaciens beta(1-2) glucan intermediate protein. Studies of the degree of polymerization of the oligosaccharides recovered from the protein-intermediate after short pulse incubations with UDP-14C-glucose suggested that the rate limiting step in the biosynthesis of cyclic glucan is cyclization. Kinetic studies revealed that the K(m) for UDP-glucose was 0.33 mM. No difference was detected between the K(m) for initiation/elongation and cyclization reactions. Nodulation studies of a ndvB R. fredii mutant with Mc Call and Peking soybean cultivars, revealed that beta(1-2) glucans do not seem to be required for normal nodule invasion of these soybean cultivars.

Descripción: Identification of Coprotus species has never been an easy task. Their morphological and cultural characteristics are very similar and this often makes species delimitation very difficult. In this study we first identified 44 monosporic strains of three species of the genus (C. lacteus, C. niveus, C. sexdecimsporus) by using exclusively morphological and cultural characters; then, an extensive isozyme analysis was performed as an additional taxonomical technique. Eleven isozyme systems were tested. Six of them were chosen for the following analysis. The phenogram (UPGMA) and the 3D graphic (ordination technique) clearly separated the three species. The results of this study support the utilization of isozyme patterns as a valuable additional tool in delimiting Coprotus species based on traditional taxonomical methods.

Descripción: Circular graphs are intersection graphs of arcs on a circle. These graphs are reported to have been studied since 1964, and they have been receiving considerable attention since a series of papers by Tucker in the 1970s. Various subclasses of circular-arc graphs have also been studied. Among these are the proper circular-arc graphs, unit circular-arc graphs, Helly circular-arc graphs and co-bipartite circular-arc graphs. Several characterizations and recognition algorithms have been formulated for circular-arc graphs and its subclasses. In particular, it should be mentioned that linear time algorithms are known for all these classes of graphs. In the present paper, we survey these characterizations and recognition algorithms, with emphasis on the linear time algorithms. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Descripción: Although the depositational environment assigned by Darwin to the large erratic blocks and gravels in the Río Santa Cruz valley has been reinterpreted, his geomorphological and stratigraphic observations are still in force. The large erratic blocks he described as crowning the Condor Cliff terrace and spread at the bottom of the valley just east of this locality (Sites 2 and 3), are now interpreted as indicators of the maximum glacial expansion in Patagonia. Similar blocks, though of a different lithology, accumulated over a lower terrace located up-valley (Site 4), are now linked to moraines and glacifluvial terraces of the Penultimate Glaciation. Finally, in addition to the erratic block discovered by Darwin in the lower Río Santa Cruz valley (Site 1), there are others - recently discovered - which probably account for a catastrophic event ascribed to a big glacier-lake outburst during the last interglacial.

Descripción: Seeds from Passiflora caerulea were defatted with n-hexane yielding 29,9% of crude oil (dry basis). The crude oil was examined in their physicochemical characteristics. Fatty acid composition value showed only three acids in significative proportion: 16:0, 18:1 and 18:2. The residual seed meal analysis included: moisture value, ash, metals content, sugars, crude fiber, protein and available lysine.

Descripción: Fil:Romero, S.I. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.

Descripción: Alternative splicing affects more than 90% of human genes. Coupling between transcription and splicing has become crucial in the complex network underlying alternative splicing regulation. Because chromatin is the real template for nuclear transcription, changes in its structure, but also in the "reading" and "writing" of the histone code, could modulate splicing choices. Here, we discuss the evidence supporting these ideas, from the first proposal of chromatin affecting alternative splicing, performed 20 years ago, to the latest findings including genome-wide evidence that nucleosomes are preferentially positioned in exons. We focus on two recent reports from our laboratories that add new evidence to this field. The first report shows that a physiological stimulus such as neuron depolarization promotes intragenic histone acetylation (H3K9ac) and chromatin relaxation, causing the skipping of exon 18 of the neural cell adhesion molecule gene. In the second report, we show how specific histone modifications can be created at targeted gene regions as a way to affect alternative splicing: Using small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), we increased the levels of H3K9me2 and H3K27me3 in the proximity of alternative exon 33 of the human fibronectin gene, favoring its inclusion into mature messenger RNA (mRNA) through a mechanism that recalls RNAmediated transcriptional gene silencing. © 2010 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Descripción: Our view of the structure and function of the interphase nucleus has changed drastically in recent years. It is now widely accepted that the nucleus is a well organized and highly compartmentalized organelle and that this organization is intimately related to nuclear function. In this context, chromatin-initially considered a randomly entangled polymer-has also been shown to be structurally organized in interphase and its organization was found to be very important to gene regulation. Relevant and not completely answered questions are how chromatin organization is achieved and what mechanisms are responsible for changes in the positions of chromatin loci in the nucleus. A significant advance in the field resulted from tagging chromosome sites with bacterial operator sequences, and visualizing these tags using green fluorescent protein fused with the appropriate repressor protein. Simultaneously, fluorescence imaging techniques evolved significantly during recent years, allowing observation of the time evolution of processes in living specimens. In this context, the motion of the tagged locus was observed and analyzed to extract quantitative information regarding its dynamics. This review focuses on recent advances in our understanding of chromatin dynamics in interphase with the emphasis placed on the information obtained from single-particle tracking (SPT) experiments. We introduce the basis of SPT methods and trajectory analysis, and summarize what has been learnt by using this new technology in the context of chromatin dynamics. Finally, we briefly describe a method of SPT in a two-photon excitation microscope that has several advantages over methods based on conventional microscopy and review the information obtained using this novel approach to study chromatin dynamics. © 2008 Springer.

Descripción: The maintenance of genomic integrity is of main importance to the survival and health of organisms which are continuously exposed to genotoxic stress. Cells respond to DNA damage by activating survival pathways consisting of cell cycle checkpoints and repair mechanisms. However, the signal that triggers the DNA damage response is not necessarily a direct detection of the primary DNA lesion. In fact, chromatin defects may serve as initiating signals to activate those mechanisms. If the modulation of chromatin structure could initiate a checkpoint response in a direct manner, this supposes the existence of specific chromatin sensors. p19INK4d, a member of the INK4 cell cycle inhibitors, plays a crucial role in regulating genomic stability and cell viability by enhancing DNA repair. Its expression is induced in cells injured by one of several genotoxic treatments like cis-platin, UV light or neocarzinostatin. Nevertheless, when exogenous DNA damaged molecules are introduced into the cell, this induction is not observed. Here, we show that p19INK4d is enhanced after chromatin relaxation even in the absence of DNA damage. This induction was shown to depend upon ATM/ATR, Chk1/Chk2 and E2F activity, as is the case of p19INK4d induction by endogenous DNA damage. Interestingly, p19INK4d improves DNA repair when the genotoxic damage is caused in a relaxed-chromatin context. These results suggest that changes in chromatin structure, and not DNA damage itself, is the actual trigger of p19INK4d induction. We propose that, in addition to its role as a cell cycle inhibitor, p19INK4d could participate in a signaling network directed to detecting and eventually responding to chromatin anomalies. © 2013 Ogara et al.

Descripción: The cactophilic Drosophila buzzatii provides an excellent model for the study of reaction norms across discrete environments because it breeds on rotting tissues (rots) of very different cactus species. Here we test the possible effects of second chromosome inversions on body size and shape (wing loading) across suitable natural breeding substrates. Using homokaryotypic stocks derived from several lines homozygous for four naturally occurring chromosomal inversions, we show that arrangements significantty affect size-related traits and wing loading. In addition, karyotypes show differing effects, across natural breeding resources, for wing loading. The 2st and 2jz3 arrangements decrease and the 2j arrangement increases wing loading. For thorax length and wing loading, karyotypic correlations across host plants are slightly lower in females than in males. These results support the hypothesis that these traits have a genetic basis associated with the inversion polymorphism.

Descripción: The genera Camptosema, Galactia and Collaea are grouped in a complex with exomorphological similarities and different criteria have been adopted to circumscribe them. The neotropical genus Camptosema in its southern distribution is represented by four species of which only the type, C. rubicundum, shows the diagnostic features of the genus. The other three taxa, C. paraguariense, C. praeandinum and C. scarlatinum are related morphologically to Camptosema s.s., Galactia and Collaea. In the subtribe Diocleinae, Camptosema is characterized by n = 11 chromosomes and Galactia and Collaea by n = 10. The aim of this study was to analyse cytological characters with special emphasis on the species of uncertain taxonomy. The most relevant character is chromosome number, which in the conflicting species of Camptosema is the same as in Galactia and Collaea. In this paper the chromosome numbers of C. praeandinum (2n = 20), C. paraguariense (n = 10) and C. scarlatinum (n = 10) are reported for the first time. These results, together with the morphological affinity and the phylogenetic hypotheses of other authors, would be of use for revising the current circumscription of these species. © 2006 The Linnean Society of London.

Descripción: Meiotic or mitotic chromosomes of seven Alstroemeria taxa, native in Argentina and Chile and with Andean distribution were studied: A. andina ssp. venustula, A. hookeri ssp. cummingiana, A. hookeri ssp. recumbens, A. pallida, A. patagonica, A. pseudospathulata and A. pygmaea. All were diploid with 2n = 16. Karyotypes of A. andina ssp. venustula and A. pygmaea were analysed, revealing similarity to previously analysed species. Thus, to all existing arguments for not retaining Schickendantzia as a separate genus, we can add another one which merges A. pygmaea with other Alstroemeria species, and does not support its taxonomic uniqueness. In general, the meiotic behaviour was normal, with regular formation of eight bivalents except in A. hookeri ssp. cummingiana, in one plant of which meiotic irregularities at various stages were observed. At the tetrad stage a large percentage of the cells presented micronuclei. The presence of 0-2 supernumerary chromosomes in A. hookeri ssp. recumbens is recorded. The karyotype asymmetry presented by most Alstroemeria species is discussed. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London.

Descripción: This paper presents the karyotype and DNA content of 12 diploid species of Hippeastrum from South America. The variation in genome size is compared with the karyotype and DNA content of Amaryllis belladonna from South Africa. The Hippeastrum species present a uniform and bimodal basic karyotype formula, but significant differences are found in the total chromosome volume (TCV) and nuclear DNA content. A positive correlation between the DNA content and TCV is also observed. The karyotype's constancy is a product of changes in DNA content occurring in the whole chromosome complement. The DNA addition to the long and short sets of chromosomes varies independently. In species with higher DNA contents, the short chromosomes add equal DNA amounts to both arms, maintaining their metacentric morphology, whereas the long chromosomes add DNA only to the short arm, increasing the chromosome symmetry. These data show that the evolutionary changes in DNA amount are proportional to chromosome length, maintaining the karyotypic uniformity. A. belladonna has a larger DNA content and possesses a karyotype different from that of Hippeastrum spp., supporting the distinction between the two genera and upholding the name Amaryllis for the South African entity against Hippeastrum for the South American genus. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London.

Descripción: To understand how the Rhizobium leguminosarum rail-raiR quorum-sensing system is regulated, we identified mutants with decreased levels of RaiI-made N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs). A LuxR-type regulator, ExpR, is required for raiR expression, and RaiR is required to induce rail. Since raiR (and rail) expression is also reduced in cinI and cinR quorum-sensing mutants, we thought CinI-made AHLs may activate ExpR to induce raiR. However, added CinI-made AHLs did not induce raiR expression in a cinI mutant. The reduced raiR expression in cinI and cinR mutants was due to lack of expression of cinS immediately downstream of cinI. cinS encodes a 67-residue protein, translationally coupled to CinI, and cinS acts downstream of expR for raiR induction. Cloned cinS in R. leguminosarum caused an unusual collapse of colony structure, and this was delayed by mutation of expR. The phenotype looked like a loss of exopolysaccharide (EPS) integrity; mutations in cinI, cinR, cinS, and expR all reduced expression of plyB, encoding an EPS glycanase, and mutation of plyB abolished the effect of cloned cinS on colony morphology. We conclude that CinS and ExpR act to increase PlyB levels, thereby influencing the bacterial surface. CinS is conserved in other rhizobia, including Rhizobium etli; the previously observed effect of cinI and cinR mutations decreasing swarming in that strain is primarily due to a lack of CinS rather than a lack of CinI-made AHL. We conclude that CinS mediates quorum-sensing regulation because it is coregulated with an AHL synthase and demonstrate that its regulatory effects can occur in the absence of AHLs. Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology.

Descripción: A recent study by Cid et al. (2012) showed that full halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs) coming from the limb can disturb the terrestrial environment. Although this result seems to rise some controversies with the well established theories, the fact is that the study encourages the scientific community to perform careful multidisciplinary analysis along the Sunto- Earth chain to fully understand which are the solar triggers of terrestrial disturbances. This paper aims to clarify some of the polemical issues arisen by that paper. © 2013 International Astronomical Union.

Descripción: Fil:Fendrik, A.J. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.

Descripción: We analyze the onset of classical behaviour after a second-order phase transition by considering a scalar field theory in which the system-field interacts with its environment, represented both by further fields and by its own short-wavelength modes. Within our approximations we see that the long-wavelength modes have become classical by the time that the transition has been first implemented (the spinodal time). © 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Descripción: Fil:Wisniacki, D.A. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.

Descripción: We have studied the hydration and diffusion of the hydroxyl radical O H0 in water using classical molecular dynamics. We report the atomic radial distribution functions, hydrogen-bond distributions, angular distribution functions, and lifetimes of the hydration structures. The most frequent hydration structure in the O H0 has one water molecule bound to the O H0 oxygen (57% of the time), and one water molecule bound to the O H0 hydrogen (88% of the time). In the hydrogen bonds between the O H0 and the water that surrounds it the O H0 acts mainly as proton donor. These hydrogen bonds take place in a low percentage, indicating little adaptability of the molecule to the structure of the solvent. All hydration structures of the O H0 have shorter lifetimes than those corresponding to the hydration structures of the water molecule. The value of the diffusion coefficient of the O H0 obtained from the simulation was 7.1× 10-9 m2 s-1, which is higher than those of the water and the O H-. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: We show that any smooth Q-normal lattice polytope P of dimension n and degree d is a strict Cayley polytope if n ≥ 2 d + 1. This gives a sharp answer, for this class of polytopes, to a question raised by V.V. Batyrev and B. Nill. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Descripción: Meteorological phenomena are closely linked to the presence of water vapor. They mainly originate and develop in the troposphere, where almost all the atmospheric water is concentrated. The Global Positioning System radio occultation (GPS RO) technique provides vertical profiles of refractivity from which other properties such as temperature and water vapor can be derived. The GPS RO capability to reproduce global, synoptic, and regional climatological patterns over South America, which is a mostly oceanic continent, is tested. From FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC mission data (2006-2010), our previous knowledge regarding global and synoptic/regional patterns of temperature, equivalent potential temperature, specific humidity, and pressure is verified. Special cases such as baroclinic disturbances arriving at South American midlatitudes and storm events over a mountain region near the Andes are analyzed. The temporal evolution and the latitude-longitude distribution in several layers of the variables listed above are well described with this technique. Copyright 2012 by the American Geophysical Union.

Descripción: The present study first addressed the question of whether developmental time (DT) and viability (VT) vary clinally along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients in Drosophila buzzatii, an autochthonous specialist and the generalist invasive Drosophila melanogaster. Coincident and positive altitudinal clines across species and, direct and inverse latitudinal clines were observed for DT in D. melanogaster and D. buzzatii, respectively. Opposing latitudinal and altitudinal clines were detected for VT only in D. melanogaster. The patterns observed along altitudinal gradients prompted us to investigate whether flies living at lowland and highland environments may respond differentially to thermal treatments consisting of regimes of constant and alternating temperatures. Flies reared at higher mean temperature developed faster than at lower mean temperature in both species. By contrast, the response in VT differed greatly between species. Highland D. melanogaster were more viable than lowland regardless the treatment, whereas, in D. buzzatii, highland flies were more viable than lowland in alternating thermal regimes and the reverse was true in treatments of constant temperature. The results obtained suggest that thermal amplitude may be an important factor that should be considered in investigations of thermal adaptation. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London.

Descripción: A circular-arc graphG is the intersection graph of a collection of arcs on the circle and such a collection is called a model of G. Say that the model is proper when no arc of the collection contains another one, it is Helly when the arcs satisfy the Helly Property, while the model is proper Helly when it is simultaneously proper and Helly. A graph admitting a Helly (resp. proper Helly) model is called a Helly (resp. proper Helly) circular-arc graph. The clique graphK (G) of a graph G is the intersection graph of its cliques. The iterated clique graphKi (G) of G is defined by K0 (G) = G and Ki + 1 (G) = K (Ki (G)). In this paper, we consider two problems on clique graphs of circular-arc graphs. The first is to characterize clique graphs of Helly circular-arc graphs and proper Helly circular-arc graphs. The second is to characterize the graph to which a general circular-arc graph K-converges, if it is K-convergent. We propose complete solutions to both problems, extending the partial results known so far. The methods lead to linear time recognition algorithms, for both problems. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Descripción: In strawberry, the putative participation of aquaporins should be considered during fruit ripening. Furthermore, the availability of different firmness cultivars in this non-climacteric fruit is a very useful tool to determine their involvement in softening. In a previous work, the cloning of a strawberry fruit-specific aquaporin, FaPIP1;1, which showed an expression profile associated with fruit ripening was reported. Here, FaPIP2;1, an aquaporin subtype of PIP2 was cloned and its functional characterization in Xenopus oocytes determined. The FaPIP2;1 gene encodes a water channel with high water permeability (Pf) that is regulated by cytosolic pH. Interestingly, the co-expression of both FaPIP subtypes resulted in an enhancement of water permeability, showing Pf values that exceeds their individual contribution. The expression pattern of both aquaporin subtypes in two cultivars with contrasting fruit firmness showed that the firmer cultivar (Camarosa) has a higher accumulation of FaPIP1 and FaPIP2 mRNAs during fruit ripening when compared with the softer cultivar (Toyonoka). In conclusion, not only FaPIP aquaporins showed an expression pattern associated with fruit firmness but it was also shown that the enhancement of water transfer through the plasma membrane is coupled to the presence/absence of the co-expression of both subtypes. © 2010 The Author(s).

Descripción: Electrical transmission among neurons has been considered a mechanism to synchronize neuronal activity, and rectification provides a mechanism to confine the flow of signals among the connected neurons. The question is how this type of transmission operates within complex neuronal networks. In the leech, the neurons located in position 151 of the midbody ganglion map are connected to virtually every motoneuron via rectifying electrical synapses that pass negative current to the motoneurons. These are nonspiking neurons, and here we have labeled them NS neurons. The goal of this investigation has been to assess their role in regulating motor activity and how rectifying electrical synapses contribute to the function of motor networks. The coupling between NS neurons and motoneurons was voltage sensitive: it increased as motoneurons were depolarized. In addition, excitation of motoneurons evoked hyperpolarizing synaptic responses in NS neurons, the amplitude of which depended on the membrane potential of the latter and on the motoneuron firing frequency. This hyperpolarization was mediated by chemical transmission through an interneuronal layer that spanned the nerve cord. These interactions established a feedback loop between NS and motoneurons that was regulated by the membrane potential of NS. This mechanism was responsible for the uncoupling between otherwise electrically coupled motoneurons. In this way, the NS neurons can act as "electrical neuromodulators," modifying the interaction of other neurons, depending on the activity of the system as a whole.

Descripción: Let X be a complete toric variety with homogeneous coordinate ring S. In this article, we compute upper and lower bounds for the codimension in the critical degree of ideals of S generated by dim(X) + 1 homogeneous polynomials that do not vanish simultaneously on X. ©2005 American Mathematical Society.

Descripción: Quartzitic sandstones of the sierras Bayas Group in Sierras Septentrionales of Buenos Aires are studied. Outcrops of these deformed rocks are observed at sierras Bayas and Barker localities, where quartzitic sandstones from Precambrian units are present. These rocks are compared with similar fault breccias in Sierras Australes of Buenos Aires, which were develop in quartzitic rocks of several Paleozoic units of this region. At both regions, fault zones are subvertical layers with acute contacts on the wall rocks. An original sedimentary protolith is recognized in textures and structures preserved in all samples of Sierras Bayas. Sedimentary textures at Sierras Australes are obliterated by penetrative deformation in greenschists facies methamorphism and also show a metaquartzitic protolith. In both analyzed regions, similar cataclastic textures are observed. All these breccias and microbreccias would be associated with a major extensional tectonic event of Jurassic - Cretaceous age, which could be related to the origin of Colorado and Salado extensional basins during the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean.

Descripción: We extend the notion of monogenic extension to the noncommutative setting, and we study the Hochschild cohomology ring of such an extension. As an application we complete the computation of the cohomology ring of the rank one Hopf algebras begun in [S.M. Burciu, S.J. Witherspoon, Hochschild cohomology of smash products and rank one Hopf algebras, math.RA/0608762, 2006]. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Descripción: We compute the multiplicative structure in the Hochschild cohomology ring of a differential operators ring and the cap product of Hochschild cohomology on the Hochschild homology. © 2011 Elsevier Inc.

Descripción: The collective dynamics of solitons with a coset space G/H as moduli space is studied. It is shown that the collective band for a vibrational state is given by the inequivalent coset space quantization corresponding to the representation of H carried by the vibration. To leading order the collective dynamics is free motion in G/H coupled to background gauge fields determined by the vibrational state. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: Fil:Facelli, J.C. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.

Descripción: Recently, exact agreement has been found between bulk and boundary three-point functions in Ad S3 × S3 × T4 with Neveu-Schwarz-Neveu- Schwarz (NSNS) fluxes. This represents a nontrivial check of AdS/CFT correspondence beyond the supergravity approximation as it corresponds to an exact worldsheet computation. When taking a closer look at this computation, one notices that a crucial point for the bulk-boundary agreement to hold is an intriguing mutual cancellation between worldsheet contributions corresponding to the Ad S3 and to the S3 pieces of the geometry, that results in a simple factorized form for the final three-point function. In this note we review this cancellation and clarify some points about the analytic relation between the SU (2) and the SL (2,R) structure constants. In particular, we dicuss the connection to the Coulomb gas representation. We also make some comments on the four-point function. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: The two-dimensional potential theory for translating and rotating solids developed in Minotti [Phys. Fluids 15, 3576 (2003)] is briefly revised and formulas of the force and moment of the force are given in their correct form. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: We discuss the 't Hoof ansatz for instanton solutions in noncommutative U (2) Yang-Mills theory. We show that the extension of the ansatz leading to singular solutions in the commutative case, yields to non self-dual (or self-antidual) configurations in noncommutative space-time. A proposal leading to selfdual solutions with Q = 1 topological charge (the equivalent of the regular BPST ansatz) can be engineered, but in that case the gauge field and the curvature are not Hermitian (although the resulting Lagrangian is real). © 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Descripción: Grand-canonical like descriptions of many electron atomic and molecular open systems which are characterized by a non-integer number of electrons are presented. Their associated reduced density matrices (RDMs) are obtained by introducing the contracting mapping for this type of distributions. It is shown that there is loss of information when connecting RDMs of different order by partial contractions. The energy convexity property of these systems simplifies the description. Consequently, this formulation opens the possibility to a new look for chemical descriptors such as chemical potential and reactivity among others. Examples are presented to discuss the theoretical aspects of this work. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Descripción: A symmetric residuated lattice is an algebra A = (A, ∨, ∧, *, →, ∼, 1, 0) such that (A, ∨, ∧, *, →, 1, 0) is a commutative integral bounded residuated lattice and the equations ∼ ∼ x = x and ∼ (x ∨ y) = ∼ x ∧ ∼ y are satisfied. The aim of the paper is to investigate the properties of the unary operation ε defined by the prescription ε x = ∼ x → 0. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for ε being an interior operator. Since these conditions are rather restrictive (for instance, on a symmetric Heyting algebra ε is an interior operator if and only the equation (x → 0) ∨ ((x → 0) → 0) = 1 is satisfied) we consider when an iteration of ε is an interior operator. In particular we consider the chain of varieties of symmetric residuated lattices such that the n iteration of ε is a boolean interior operator. For instance, we show that these varieties are semisimple. When n = 1, we obtain the variety of symmetric stonean residuated lattices. We also characterize the subvarieties admitting representations as subdirect products of chains. These results generalize and in many cases also simplify, results existing in the literature. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Descripción: In this paper, we give different compactifications for the domain and the codomain of an affine rational map f which parameterizes a hypersurface. We show that the closure of the image of this map (with possibly some other extra hypersurfaces) can be represented by a matrix of linear syzygies. We compactify An-1 into an (n-1)-dimensional projective arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay subscheme of some PN. One particular interesting compactification of An-1 is the toric variety associated to the Newton polytope of the polynomials defining f. We consider two different compactifications for the codomain of f: Pn and (P1)n. In both cases we give sufficient conditions, in terms of the nature of the base locus of the map, for getting a matrix representation of its closed image, without involving extra hypersurfaces. This constitutes a direct generalization of the corresponding results established by Laurent Busé and Jean-Pierre Jouanolou (2003) [12], Laurent Busé et al. (2009) [9], Laurent Busé and Marc Dohm (2007) [11], Nicolás Botbol et al. (2009) [5] and Nicolás Botbol (2009) [4]. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.

Descripción: Three water bodies of contrasting trophic status located at Hope Bay (Antarctic Peninsula) were studied during the summer of 1999, analysing all of their planktonic communities (zooplankton, phytoplankton and bacterioplankton) and their main limnological features. Important differences associated with their trophic conditions were found among lakes. At one extreme of the gradient, in the most oligotrophic lake (Lake Chico), the nektobenthic copepod Boeckella poppei and the rotifer Philodina gregaria were dominant in the open waters, and copepods presented a single reproductive event (univoltine life cycle); phytoplankton exhibited the lowest densities, dominated by nanoplanktonic Chrysophyceae and picocyanobacteria. In the meso-eutrophic Lake Boeckella, B. poppei, the dominant zooplankter, exhibited a multivoltine life cycle; phytoplankton were mainly represented by nanoplanktonic species of Volvocales, alternating with flagellate Chrysophyceae, and a great abundance of picocyanobacteria. In the hypertrophic Pingüi Pond, zooplankters were exclusively represented by bdelloid rotifers and ciliates; phytoplankton samples included some strictly planktonic species (Volvocales), a great proportion of picocyanobacteria and many typically benthic species (oscillatorians and diatoms) due to the shallowness of the water body. Bacterioplankton densities did not show important differences among lakes, but fluctuations, probably associated with a top-down control, were observed in the hypertrophic pond. This paper constitutes the first survey concerning all the planktonic compartments of water bodies of different trophic status at Hope Bay, describing the relative contributions of autotrophic and heterotrophic components to their food webs.

Descripción: Intradiurnal variation of arboreal pollen (AP) in Mar del Plata city is compared during three non -consecutive years of survey and described in relation to the associated weather. The daily pattern of pollen abundance has a maximum between 10:00 and 12:00 h, while a minimum occurs at 18:00 h. The first two years of survey showed homogeneous daily trends, but in 1995 the maximum and minimum concentrations were delayed because of the change in position of the collecting station. Arboreal pollen spectrum presented qualitative and quantitative changes in the three years analysed. Results indicate optimal conditions for diurnal dispersion of arboreal pollen are high temperatures and low relative humidity. Also interaction between source position and wind direction has important effects on the timing of the peaks of some pollen types.

Descripción: The South American fruit fly Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) is one of the most destructive fruit pests in this region, infesting major fruit crops. Implementation of the sterile insect technique (SIT) as part of an area-wide integrated approach against this species requires information on the survival of mass-reared and sterilized insects in the field and their ability to mate with wild females. The survival rates in field cages of both non-irradiated and irradiated laboratory flies were compared with that of wild flies. Both types of laboratory flies survived longer than their wild counterparts over the 8 days under the experimental conditions. The irradiation dose (70 Gy) did not affect survival of the laboratory reared flies. Our results improve the prospect of integrating the SIT into the control of A. fraterculus populations in Argentina.

Descripción: The aim of this study was to compare some of the properties of native and extruded amaranth flour obtained under mild and severe extrusion conditions. The chemical composition of the flours was similar. Flours obtained by both extrusion processes presented high solubility in water, low values of L* (luminosity) and an absence of endothermic peak on the DSC method. Water absorption, retrogradation tendency, final viscosity and the viscous behavior by rheology analysis were also studied. The results indicate that extruded flours have a good potential as an ingredient for food exposed to heat treatment at a high temperature and mechanical shear, for use in instant meal products. On the other hand, original flour properties are comparable to those of amaranth starch, which exhibits similarly high quality paste stability, low solubility in water, and elastic behavior, and could be used as a substitute for raw flour in a range of food formulas. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Descripción: We evaluated under semi-natural field cage conditions sexual compatibility and competitiveness of a laboratory strain (LAB) compared to a wild population (TUC) of Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann). The LAB strain is produced under semi-mass rearing conditions at the Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres facility (Tucumán, Argentina). Wild flies were obtained at Horco Molle (Tucumán, Argentina) from infested guava fruits. LAB pupae were irradiated (60Co) 48 h before adult emergence. The tested doses were 0 (control), 40, 70, and 100 Gy. Twenty-five males and 25 females each of TUC and LAB were released into cages and mating pairs collected. Only 1 irradiation dose was considered at a time. Females were separated and allowed to lay eggs into artificial fruits to estimate induced sterility from the corresponding hatching rate. Copulation start time did not differ significantly between strains nor among irradiation treatments. Copulation duration showed highly significant differences among irradiation doses, but no differences between strains. The index of sexual isolation (ISI) and the relative sterility index (RSI) indices indicated that LAB and TUC are fully compatible, males from TUC and LAB did not differ in mating competitiveness, and irradiation within the range tested did not affect these indices. Non-irradiated LAB females exhibited higher mating propensity than TUC ones. However, a significant reduction in the female relative performance index (FRPI) index was observed with increasing irradiation dose. The analysis of induced sterility indicated that treatment with 40 Gy reduces male fertility from about 80% to 0.75%, and higher doses produce total sterility. In females, the 40 Gy dose reduces fertility to about 2% and higher doses prevent egg laying.

Descripción: Competitive relationships between rodent species were studied in pampean agrosystems. Akodon azarae, Calomys laucha, Calomys musculinus and Oligoryzomys flavescens show a differential spatial distribution between cropfields and their borders in this system. The goal of this paper was to assess the role of competition in determining spatial distributions and relative abundances of these species. A removal experiment in border habitats showed that the removal of A. azarae causes an increase in captures, survival and residency time in C. laucha and O. flavescens (as compared to control areas). Removal of C. laucha didn't cause any change in the remaining species. Results showed that competition with A. azarae limits the use of field borders by C. laucha and O. flavescens. Presence of A. azarae in border habitats prevents the establishment of residents of C. laucha and O. flavescens, thereby causing also higher mortality and lower reproductive rates in these two species than those registered when A. azarae is removed. Interspecific encounters in a test arena showed that behavioral interactions are contributing to spatial segregation, with A. azarae becoming dominant over C. laucha. © 1993, Walter de Gruyter. All rights reserved.

Descripción: Les relations interspecifiques entre une serie de rongeurs Cricetides ont ete etudiees dans des ecosystemes agraires de la province de Buenos-Aires de 1979 ä 1982. Leurs relations spatiales et numeriques ont ete analysees dans un Systeme de double habitat comprenant les champs cultives et leurs bordures. Une competition interspecifique asymetrique pour Pespace a ete mise en evidence, surtout pendant Fete chez 1‘espece dominante Akodon azarae^ et on a constate des differences individuelles dans 1’aptitude ä la competition. Les femelles de cette espece etaient plus dominantes que les males, et les juveniles de Calomys laucha etaient plus disperses que les adultes. Les mecanismes de coexistence d'especes differentes dans les bordures sont discutees. © 1992, Walter de Gruyter. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Descripción: The detection of delayed X-rays produced by the decay that follows electron capture in the residual nuclei has been used in the past for the determination of fusion cross sections of tightly bound nuclei. In this work we applied this technique to study the effect of the break-up of a weakly bound projectile, like in the case of the 9Be + 144Sm system. Preliminary results of the complete fusion in this system at near barrier energies are presented.

Descripción: We present examples that show that in dimension higher than one or codimension higher than two, there exist toric ideals IA such that no binomial ideal contained in IA and of the same dimension is a complete intersection. This result has important implications in sparse elimination theory and in the study of the Horn system of partial differential equations. © 2006 American Mathematical Society.

Descripción: We present the full O(αS2) computation of the interference effects between the Higgs diphoton signal and the continuum background at the LHC. While the main contribution to the interference originates on the gg partonic subprocess, we find that the corrections from the qg and qq̄ channels amount up to 35 % of it. We discuss the effect of these new subprocesses in the shift of the diphoton invariant mass peak recently reported by S. Martin in (Phys. Rev. D 86:073016, 2012). © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg and Società Italiana di Fisica.

Descripción: While there is broad consensus about the structural similarities between language and music, comparably less attention has been devoted to semantic correspondences between these two ubiquitous manifestations of human culture. We have investigated the relations between music and a narrow and bounded domain of semantics: the words and concepts referring to taste sensations. In a recent work, we found that taste words were consistently mapped to musical parameters. Bitter is associated with low-pitched and continuous music (legato), salty is characterized by silences between notes (staccato), sour is high pitched, dissonant and fast and sweet is consonant, slow and soft (Mesz2011). Here we extended these ideas, in a synergistic dialog between music and science, investigating whether music can be algorithmically generated from taste-words. We developed and implemented an algorithm that exploits a large corpus of classic and popular songs. New musical pieces were produced by choosing fragments from the corpus and modifying them to minimize their distance to the region in musical space that characterizes each taste. In order to test the capability of the produced music to elicit significant associations with the different tastes, musical pieces were produced and judged by a group of non musicians. Results showed that participants could decode well above chance the taste-word of the composition. We also discuss how our findings can be expressed in a performance bridging music and cognitive science. © 2012 Mesz, Sigman and Trevisan.

Descripción: Background: Compound A (CpdA) is a dissociating non-steroidal glucocorticoid receptor (GR) ligand which has anti-inflammatory properties exerted by down-modulating proinflammatory gene expression. By favouring GR monomer formation, CpdA does not enhance glucocorticoid (GC) response element-driven gene expression, resulting in a reduced side effect profile as compared to GCs. Considering the importance of Th1/Th2 balance in the final outcome of immune and inflammatory responses, we analyzed how selective GR modulation differentially regulates the activity of T-bet and GATA-3, master drivers of Th1 and Th2 differentiation, respectively. Results: Using Western analysis and reporter gene assays, we show in murine T cells that, similar to GCs, CpdA inhibits T-bet activity via a transrepressive mechanism. Different from GCs, CpdA induces GATA-3 activity by p38 MAPK-induction of GATA-3 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation. CpdA effects are reversed by the GR antagonist RU38486, proving the involvement of GR in these actions. ELISA assays demonstrate that modulation of T-bet and GATA-3 impacts on cytokine production shown by a decrease in IFN-γ and an increase in IL-5 production, respectively. Conclusions: Taken together, through their effect favoring Th2 over Th1 responses, particular dissociated GR ligands, for which CpdA represents a paradigm, hold potential for the application in Th1-mediated immune disorders. © 2012 Liberman et al.

Descripción: A comprehensive study of nonstoichiometry titanium oxide thin films (TiO x , 0.3≤x≤2) prepared by ion beam deposition technique is reported. The physical properties of the material are studied by ultraviolet and x-ray photoelectron, Raman, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies, and atomic force microscopy. An abrupt transition from metallic characteristics to a wide gap semiconductor is observed in a very narrow range of oxygen variation. Concomitantly with this change the crystal structure and morphology suffer remarkable physical properties modifications. This transformation is ascribed to surface-volume energy minimization due to the influence of oxygen determining the size of the TiO 2 particles during coalescence. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: The compressible magnetohydrodynamic Kelvin-Helmholtz instability occurs in two varieties, one that can be called incompressible as it exists in the limit of vanishing compressibility (primary instability), while the other exists only when compressibility is included in the model (secondary instability). In previous work we developed techniques to investigate the stability of a surface of discontinuity between two different uniform flows. Our treatment includes arbitrary jumps of the velocity and magnetic fields as well as of density and temperature, with no restriction on the wave vector of the modes. Then it allows stability analyses of complex configurations not previously studied in detail. Here we apply our methods to investigate the stability of various typical situations occurring at different regions of the front side, and the near flanks of the magnetopause. The physical conditions of the vector and scalar fields that characterize the equilibrium interface at the positions considered are obtained both from experimental data and from results of simulation codes of the magnetosheath available in the literature. We give particular attention to the compressible modes in configurations in which the incompressible modes are stabilized by the magnetic shear. For configurations of the front of the magnetopause, which have small relative velocities, we find that the incompressible MHD model gives reliable estimates of their stability, and compressibility effects do not introduce significant changes. However, at the flanks of the magnetopause the occurrence of the secondary instability and the shift of the boundary of the primary instability play an important role. Consequently, configurations that are stable if compressibility is neglected turn out to be unstable when it is considered and the stability properties are quite sensitive on the values of the parameters. Then compressibility should be taken into account when assessing the stability properties of these configurations, since the estimates based on incompressible MHD may be misleading. A careful analysis is required in each case, since no simple rule of thumb can be given.

Descripción: A Three-Dimensional Finite Volume Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian simulation code was developed to study different plasma physics problems in 3D+t. The code is based on a complex multi-component species program with transport and radiation terms written and applied to plasma and fusion physics problems. The integration domain is represented with a structured irregular mesh, with fixed connectivity made of hexahedral cells. Coordinates and velocities are assigned to cell vertices. After each calculation cycle, mesh vertices are moved arbitrary over the fluid. The adaptive method consists of shifting mesh vertices over the fluid in order to keep a reasonable mesh structure and increase the spatial resolution where the physical solution demands. The code was a valuable tool for parametric study of different physical problems, mainly optimization of Plasma Focus Machine, detonation and propagation of thermonuclear reactions, and Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities in the boundary layer of the terrestrial magnetopause. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Descripción: We extend our previous molecular dynamics experiments [Rodriguez, J. Phys. Chem. B 109, 24427 (2005)] to the analysis of the adsorption of catanionic surfactants at water/air interfaces, at a surfactant coverage close to that of the saturated monolayer: 30.3 Å2 per headgroup. The mixture of surfactants investigated corresponds to equal amounts of dodecytrimethylammonium (DTA) and dodecylsulfate (DS). The structure of the interface is analyzed in terms of the local densities and orientational correlations of all relevant interfacial species. In accordance with experimental evidence, the DTA headgroups penetrate deeper into the aqueous substrate than the DS ones, although the average positions of all headgroups, with respect to the interface, lie in positions somewhat more external than the ones observed at lower coverages. Average tail tilts are close to 45°. The characteristics of the headgroup-water substrate correlations are also analyzed using a tessellation procedure of the interface. The density and polarization responses of the interfacial domains closest to the DS headgroups are enhanced, compared to those adjacent to the DTA detergents. Dynamical aspects related to the diffusion and to the orientational correlations of different water layers in close contact with the surfactant are also investigated. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: Let K be an algebraically closed field, V ⊂ Kn be a smooth equidimensional algebraic variety and I (V) ⊂ K[x1,...,xn] be the ideal of all polynomials vanishing on V. We show that there exists a system of generators f1,...,fm of I (V) such that m ≤ (n - dim V) (1 + dim V) and deg(fi) ≤ deg V for i = 1,...,m. If char(K) = 0 we present a probabilistic algorithm which computes the generators f1,..., fm from a set-theoretical description of V. If V is given as the common zero locus of s polynomials of degrees bounded by d encoded by straight-line programs of length L, the algorithm obtains the generators of I (V) with error probability bounded by E within complexity s(ndn)O(1)log2 (⌈1/E⌉)L. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Descripción: We present a symbolic probabilistic algorithm to compute the isolated roots in Cn of sparse polynomial equation systems. As some already known numerical algorithms solving this task, our procedure is based on polyhedral deformations and homotopies, but it amounts to solving a smaller number of square systems of equations and in fewer variables. The output of the algorithm is a geometric resolution of a finite set of points including the isolated roots of the system. The complexity is polynomial in the size of the combinatorial structure of the system supports up to a pre-processing yielding the mixed cells in a subdivision of the family of these supports. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Descripción: We present a new algorithm for the computation of resultants associated with multihomogeneous (and, in particular, homogeneous) polynomial equation systems using straight-line programs. Its complexity is polynomial in the number of coefficients of the input system and the degree of the resultant computed. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Descripción: Fil:Gratton, F.T. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.

Descripción: The complete set of concomitants is given of the metric, a scalar function, and their derivatives in six dimensions without imposing conditions on the order of the derivatives and their properties are studied under conformal transformations. These results are useful in several physical problems, like finding φ2ren and Τμν ren in any geometry. © 1992 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: General constraints for invariance of magnetic properties in a gauge transformation are analyzed. Sum rules relative to the transformation from Coulomb to Landau gauges are examined in particular. Numerical tests for hydrogen fluoride, water, ammonia, and methane molecule have been carried out in large basis set calculations, using random-phase approximation. The conditions for invariance are severe conditions for accuracy of variational molecular wave functions. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: The conductance of a double-dot system in a ring threaded by a magnetic flux is studied. The ring is connected to two leads in such a way that each dot is embedded in one arm of the structure. The currents going through each arm of the ring are determined by the Aharonov-Bohm effect and the dot charging effects. The conductance for different values of the magnetic flux is obtained as a function of the gate potentials applied to the dots, for two situations: when the dot level energies are equal, ΔE = 0, and when they are different but with ΔE smaller than the Coulomb interaction U. The conductance shows quite distinct behavior according to having a finite or zero magnetic flux threading the ring. The system presents S = 1/2 and S = l Kondo phenomena for no magnetic flux and is in the S = 1/2 Kondo regime in the case of half a quantum of magnetic flux.

Descripción: The confinement of Ar in planar slits of two identical parallel semi-infinite walls of alkali metals, alkaline-earth metal Mg, and CO 2 is investigated within the framework of the density functional theory. It is assumed that (1) the fluid atoms interact via a recently proposed effective attractive pair potential with strength, εff, which reproduces the experimental data of the surface tension of the liquid-vapor interface at the bulk coexistence curve, and (2) the adsorption on the walls is described by ab initio potentials characterized by a well depth, Wsf. In this way the systems were studied in the framework of a realistic approach. We found that for small coverages, the slit is always filled by forming two symmetric vapor films, one at each wall. For increasing coverage the behavior depends on the ratio Wsf/εff and the temperature T. In the case of alkali metals, we found at the triple point, Tt, of the adsorbate a regime of average density ρ*av in which the ground state exhibits asymmetric density profiles, leading to the so-called spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) effect. The SSB appears at an average density ρ*sb1 and disappears at a higher average density ρ*sb2 . When T is increased, the range of densities ρ*sb1≤ρ*av≤ ρ* sb2 diminishes and eventually the SSB disappears at a critical temperature, Tsb, which coincides with the critical prewetting temperature Tcpw observed in the adsorption on a single wall. For T>Tcpw the slit is filled symmetrically up to the phase transition to capillary condensation. All these features are examined as a function of the strength of the substrate and the width of the slit. Furthermore, no SSB effect was found for Mg and CO2. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: We revisit an extension of the well-known formalism for gauge-invariant scalar metric fluctuations to study the spectra for both the inflaton and gauge-invariant (scalar) metric fluctuations in the framework of a single-field inflationary model, in which the quasi-exponential expansion is driven by an inflaton which is minimally coupled to gravity. The proposal here examined is valid also for fluctuations with large amplitudes, but for cosmological scales, where vector and tensor perturbations can be neglected and the fluid is irrotacional. © 2009 Springer-Verlag / Società Italiana di Fisica. PB - Springer-Verlag

Descripción: We assessed the intracellular association states of the Parkinson's disease related protein α-synuclein (AS) in living cells by transfection with a functional recombinant mutant protein (AS-C4) bearing a tetracysteine tag binding the fluorogenic biarsenical ligands FlAsH and ReAsH, The aggregation states of AS-C4 were assessed by in situ microscopy of molecular translational mobility with FRAP (fluorescence recovery after photobleaching) and of local molecular density with confocal fluorescence anisotropy (CFA). FRAP recovery was quantitative and rapid in regions of free protein, whereas AS in larger aggregates was>80% immobile. A small 16% recovery characterized by an apparent diffusion constant of 0.03-0.04 μm 2/s was attributed to the dynamics of smaller, associated forms of AS-C4 and the exchange of mobile species with the larger immobile aggregates. By CFA, the larger aggregates exhibited high brightness and very low anisotropy, consistent with homoFRET between closely packed AS, for which a Förster distance (R o) of 5.3 nm was calculated. Other bright regions had high anisotropy values, close to that of monomeric AS, and indicative of membrane-associated protein with both low mobility and low degree of association. The anisotropy-fluorescence intensity correlations also revealed regions of free protein or of small aggregates, undetectable by conventional fluorescence imaging alone. The combined strategy (FRAP+CFA) provides a highly sensitive means for elucidating both the dynamics and structural features of protein aggregates and other intracellular complexes in living cells, and can be extended to other amyloid systems and to drug screening protocols. © 2011 Roberti et al.

Descripción: We examine turbulent flows in the presence of solid-body rotation and helical forcing in the framework of stochastic Schramm-Löwner evolution (SLE) curves. The data stem from a run with 15363 grid points, with Reynolds and Rossby numbers of, respectively, 5100 and 0.06. We average the parallel component of the vorticity in the direction parallel to that of rotation and examine the resulting ω z field for scaling properties of its zero-value contours. We find for the first time for three-dimensional fluid turbulence evidence of nodal curves being conformal invariant, belonging to a SLE class with associated Brownian diffusivity κ=3.6±0.1. SLE behavior is related to the self-similarity of the direct cascade of energy to small scales and to the partial bidimensionalization of the flow because of rotation. We recover the value of κ with a heuristic argument and show that this is consistent with several nontrivial SLE predictions. © 2011 American Physical Society.

Descripción: The main purpose of this paper is to provide explicit computations of the fundamental groups of several algebras. For this purpose, given a k-algebra A, we consider the category of all connected gradings of A by a group G and we study the relation between gradings and Galois coverings. This theoretical tool gives information about the fundamental group of A, which allows its computation using complete lists of gradings. © 2010 by Mathematical Sciences Publishers.

Descripción: Prosopis represents a valuable forest resource in arid and semiarid regions. Management of promising species requires information about genetic parameters, mainly the heritability (h2) of quantitative profitable traits. This parameter is traditionally estimated from progeny tests or half-sib analysis conducted in experimental stands. Such an approach estimates h 2 from the ratio of between-family/total phenotypic variance. These analyses are difficult to apply to natural populations of species with a long life cycle, overlapping generations, and a mixed mating system, without genealogical information. A promising alternative is the use of molecular marker information to infer relatedness between individuals and to estimate h 2 from the regression of phenotypic similarity on inferred relatedness. In the current study we compared h2 of 13 quantitative traits estimated by these two methods in an experimental stand of P. alba, where genealogical information was available. We inferred pairwise relatedness by Ritland's method using six microsatellite loci. Relatedness and heritability estimates from molecular information were highly correlated to the values obtained from genealogical data. Although Ritland's method yields lower h 2 estimates and tends to overestimate genetic correlations between traits, this approach is useful to predict the expected relative gain of different quantitative traits under selection without genealogical information.

Descripción: We perform a detailed study of the consistency between different sets of polarized deep inelastic scattering data and theory, from the standpoint of a next to leading order QCD global analysis, and following the criteria proposed by Collins and Pumplin. In face of recent suggestions that challenge the usual assumption about parent parton spin independence of unpolarized fragmentation functions, we specially focus on polarized semi-inclusive data.

Descripción: The first specific precursor of porphyrin biosynthesis is δ-aminolevulinic acid. δ-Aminolevulinic acid enters Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells through the γ-aminobutyric acid specific permease Uga4p. It was described that this permease is inducible by γ-aminobutyric acid and its regulation involves several specific and pleiotropic transcriptional factors. However, some studies showed that under certain growth conditions the synthesis of Uga4p was not dependent on the presence of γ-aminobutyric acid. To study the effect of the trans-acting factors Uga43p, Uga3p, Uga35p, Ure2p and Gln3p on the expression of UGA4, we measured γ-aminobutyric acid and δ-aminolevulinic acid uptake in yeast mutant cells, lacking one of these regulatory factors, grown under different conditions. Experiments analyzing the UGA4 promoter using a fusion construction UGA4::lacZ were also carried out. The results show that the constitutive expression of the UGA4 gene found in cells under certain growth conditions depends on the presence of Uga3p and Uga35p. In contrast, Gln3p and Ure2p do not seem to have any effect on this constitutive mechanism. Copyright (C) 2000 Federation of European Microbiological Societies.

Descripción: Efferent inhibition of cochlear hair cells is mediated by α9α10 nicotinic cholinergic receptors (nAChRs) functionally coupled to calcium-activated, small conductance (SK2) potassium channels. Before the onset of hearing, efferent fibers transiently make functional cholinergic synapses with inner hair cells (IHCs). The retraction of these fibers after the onset of hearing correlates with the cessation of transcription of the Chrna10 (but not the Chrna9) gene in IHCs. To further analyze this developmental change, we generated a transgenic mice whose IHCs constitutively express α10 into adulthood by expressing the α10 cDNA under the control of the Pou4f3 gene promoter. In situ hybridization showed that the α10 mRNA is expressed in IHCs of 8-week-old transgenic mice, but not in wild-type mice. Moreover, this mRNA is translated into a functional protein, since IHCs from P8-P10 α10 transgenic mice backcrossed to a Chrna10 -/- background (whose IHCs have no cholinergic function) displayed normal synaptic and acetylcholine (ACh)-evoked currents in patch-clamp recordings. Thus, the α10 transgene restored nAChR function. However, in the α10 transgenic mice, no synaptic or ACh-evoked currents were observed in P16-18 IHCs, indicating developmental down-regulation of functional nAChRs after the onset of hearing, as normally observed in wild-type mice. The lack of functional ACh currents correlated with the lack of SK2 currents. These results indicate that multiple features of the efferent postsynaptic complex to IHCs, in addition to the nAChR subunits, are down-regulated in synchrony after the onset of hearing, leading to lack of responses to ACh. © 2009 Association for Research in Otolaryngology.

Descripción: Daily station precipitation totals are used to develop a gridded dataset for the region (14°-40°S, 45°-70°W) on a 0.5° × 0.5° latitude/longitude grid, primarily for comparison with regional climate model (RCM) simulations. The gridded dataset covers the period 1961-2000. Much of the paper discusses the quality control of the basic station precipitation series. Although the primary aim of the development has been RCM validation, we have assessed trends in seasonal precipitation totals as well as trends in two measures of precipitation extremes (R95p, the daily precipitation amount exceeded only 5% of the time and Rx5day, the maximum 5-d precipitation total during each season). Relatively few regions across the large domain have statistically significant trends, but those that do tend to be located in the eastern two thirds of the grid, particularly over southeastern Brazil and Uruguay. Significant trends are also more evident in the DJF and MAM seasons. There is good spatial agreement between the trends in seasonal totals and trends in the extreme indices. © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society.

Descripción: A procedure for the construction of balanced orthogonal nonseparable quincunx multiwavelets, having filters with good lowpass properties, is introduced. The matrix filter bank is viewed as the polyphase matrix of other filters, upon which the lowpass condition is imposed. The multiscaling functions obtained are plotted by means of the cascade algorithm. The process of transforming an image with these wavelets is outlined: formulae for analysis and synthesis are given, the first steps are illustrated with images, and the decomposition of the original image into two input images is addressed. Compression is achieved in a nonlinear process. Experimental results show that (i) the constructed multiwavelets having lowpass properties perform better than other nonseparable multiwavelets, (ii) the energy compaction in the fine detail subbands is greater for the multiwavelets than for the one-dimensional wavelets tried.

Descripción: A core problem of decision theories is that although decisionmakers' preferences depend on learning, their choices could be driven either by learned representations of the physical properties of each alternative (for instance reward sizes) or of the benefit (utility and fitness) experienced from them. Physical properties are independent of the subject's state and context, but utility depends on both. We show that starlings' choices are better explained by memory for context-dependent utility than by representations of the alternatives' physical properties, even when the decisionmakers' state is controlled and they have accurate knowledge about the options' physical properties. Our results support the potential universality of utility-driven preference control.

Descripción: Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of American trypanosomiasis is unable to synthesize sialic acid (SA). Instead of using the corresponding nucleotide sugar as donor of the monosaccharide, the transfer occurs from α-2,3-linked SA in the host sialoglycoconjugates to terminal β-galactopyranosyl units of the parasite mucins. For that purpose, T. cruzi expresses a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored transsialidase (TcTS) that is shed into the milieu, being detected in the blood during the acute phase of the infection. The essential role of TcTS in infection and the absence of a similar activity in mammals make this enzyme an attractive target for the development of alternative chemotherapies. However, there is no effective inhibitor toward this enzyme. In vitro, 3′-sialyllactose (SL) as donor and radioactive lactose as acceptor substrate are widely used to measure TcTS activity. The radioactive sialylated product is then isolated by anion exchange chromatography and measured. Here we describe a new nonradioactive assay using SL or fetuin as donor and benzyl β-D-Fuc-(1→6)-α-D-GlcNAc (1) as acceptor. Disaccharide 1 was easily synthesized by regioselective glycosylation of benzyl α-D-GlcNAc with tetra-Obenzoyl-D-fucose followed by debenzoylation. Compound 1 lacks the hydroxyl group at C-6 of the acceptor galactose and therefore is not a substrate for galactose oxidase. Our method relies on the specific quantification of terminal galactose produced by trans-sialylation from the donor to the 6-deoxy-galactose (D-Fuc) unit of 1 by a spectrophotometric galactose oxidase assay. This method may also discriminate sialidase and trans-sialylation activities by running the assay in the absence of acceptor 1. © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions

Descripción: Second chromosome inversion and genotypic frequencies at seven allozyme loci, differentially associated with inversions, were determined in seven natural populations of Drosophila buzzatii. The patterns of variation of allozymes and the inversion polymorphisms were significantly different, indicating the role of adaptive differentiation for the latter. Moreover, the patterns of population structure varied among allozyme loci, suggesting the operation of diversifying selection for certain loci. Differentiation was negligible for Leucyl-amino peptidase (Lap) and Peptidase-2 (Pep-2), low to moderate for Aldehyde oxidase (Aldox), Peptidase-1 (Pep-1) and Esterase-1 (Est-1) and high for Esterase-2 (Est-2) and Xanthine dehydrogenase (Xdh). Significant linkage disequilibria were detected between inversions and Aldox, Est-1, Est-2 and Xdh. Multiple regression analyses of inversion and allele frequencies on environmental variables revealed the existence of clines for inversions, Est-1, Est-2, Xdh and Aldox along altitudinal, latitudinal and/or climatic gradients. Tests using conditional allele frequencies showed that Est-1 and Aldox clines could be accounted for by hitchhiking with inversions, whereas natural selection should be invoked to explain the clines observed for Est-2 and Xdh.

Descripción: In Optometry and in Audiology, the routine tests to prescribe correction lenses and headsets are respectively the visual acuity test (the first chart with letters was developed by Snellen in 1862) and conventional pure tone audiometry (the first audiometer with electrical current was devised by Hartmann in 1878). At present there are psychophysical non invasive tests that, besides evaluating visual and auditory performance globally and even in cases catalogued as normal according to routine tests, supply early information regarding diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, renal failure, cardiovascular problems, etc. Concerning Optometry, one of these tests is the achromatic luminance contrast sensitivity test (introduced by Schade in 1956). Concerning Audiology, one of these tests is high frequency pure tone audiometry (introduced a few decades ago) which yields information relative to pathologies affecting the basal cochlea and complements data resulting from conventional audiometry. These utilities of the contrast sensitivity test and of pure tone audiometry derive from the facts that Fourier components constitute the basis to synthesize stimuli present at the entrance of the visual and auditory systems; that these systems responses depend on frequencies and that the patient's psychophysical state affects frequency processing. The frequency of interest in the former test is the effective spatial frequency (inverse of the angle subtended at the eye by a cycle of a sinusoidal grating and measured in cycles/degree) and, in the latter, the temporal frequency (measured in cycles/sec). Both tests have similar duration and consist in determining the patient's threshold (corresponding to the inverse multiplicative of the contrast or to the inverse additive of the sound intensity level) for each harmonic stimulus present at the system entrance (sinusoidal grating or pure tone sound). In this article the frequencies, standard normality curves and abnormal threshold shifts inherent to the contrast sensitivity test (which for simplicity could be termed "visionmetry") and to pure tone audiometry (also termed auditory sensitivity test) are analyzed with the purpose of contributing to divulge their ability to supply early information associated to pathologies not solely related to the visual and auditory systems respectively. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: Fil:González-Fischer, C.M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.

Descripción: In this report we describe our studies on intracellular signals that mediate neurite outgrowth and long-term survival of cerebellar granule cells. The effect of voltage-gated calcium channel activation on neurite complexity was evaluated in cultured cerebellar granule cells grown for 48 h at low density; the parameter measured was the fractal dimension of the cell. We explored the contribution of two intracellular pathways, Ca2+ calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK1), to the effects of high [K+]e under serum-free conditions. We found that 25 mM KCI (25K) induced an increase in calcium influx through L subtype channels. In neurones grown for 24-48 h under low-density conditions, the activation of these channels induced neurite outgrowth through the activation of Ca2+ calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. This also produced an increase in long-term neuronal survival with a partial contribution from the MEK1 pathway. We also found that the addition of 25K increased the levels of the phosphorylated forms of Ca2+ calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II and of the extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2. Neuronal survival under resting conditions is supported by the MEK1 pathway. We conclude that intracellular calcium oscillations can triggered different biological effects depending on the stage of maturation of the neuronal phenotype. Ca2+ calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II activation determines the growth of neurites and the development of neuronal complexity.

Descripción: The realization that the mammalian proteomic complexity is achieved with a limited number of genes demands a better understanding of alternative splicing regulation. Promoter control of alternative splicing was originally described by our group in studies performed on the fibronectin gene. Recently, other labs extended our findings to the cystic fibrosis, CD44 and CGRP genes strongly supporting a coupling between transcription and pre-mRNA splicing. A possible mechanism that would fit in these results is that the promoter itself is responsible for recruiting splicing factors, such as SR proteins, to the site of transcription, possibly through transcription factors that bind the promoter or the transcriptional enhancers. An alternative model, discussed more extensively in this review, involves modulation of RNA pol II (pol II) elongation rate. The model is supported by findings that cis- and trans-acting factors that modulate pol II elongation on a particular template also provoke changes in the alternative splicing balance of the encoded mRNAs.

Descripción: Background: Premature ovarian failure (POF) is characterized by hypergonadotropic amenorrhoea before the age of 40. Inhibin α-subunit (INHα) gene is proposed as a candidate gene due to its role in negative feedback control of FSH. Methods: Polymorphism -16 C>T of INHα gene was studied in 61 POF patients and 82 controls above 40 years old (C > 40). Substitution 769G>A was studied in 59 POF patients, 76 C > 40 and 73 controls below 40 years old (C < 40). Results: No significant difference in risk of POF development for -16T allele was found when comparing idiopathic POF (I-POF) with C > 40 (Odds ratio = 1.46; 95% confidence interval = 0.63-3.19). Implication of -16C>T polymorphism in serum inhibin levels was analysed in 46 controls, and no significant differences (P > 0.05) were found between CC and CT + TT genotype groups when comparing either mid-follicular phase Pro-αC and inhibin B values or mid-luteal phase Pro-αC and inhibin A values. Heterozygosity for substitution 769G>A was found in 1 of 59 POF woman, 2 of 76 C > 40 and 6 of 73 C < 40. Presence of this su bstitution in a relevant number of control subjects is herein described for the first time. Conclusion: Our results indicate that -16C>T and 769G>A variants in INHα gene may not be associated to POF disease. © 2006 Oxford University Press.

Descripción: The proopiomelanocortin gene (POMC) is expressed in a group of neurons present in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. Neuron-specific POMC expression in mammals is conveyed by two distal enhancers, named nPE1 and nPE2. Previous transgenic mouse studies showed that nPE1 and nPE2 independently drive reporter gene expression to POMC neurons. Here, we investigated the evolutionary mechanisms that shaped not one but two neuron- specific POMC enhancers and tested whether nPE1 and nPE2 drive identical or complementary spatiotemporal expression patterns. Sequence comparison among representative genomes of most vertebrate classes and mammalian orders showed that nPE1 is a placental novelty. Using in silico paleogenomics we found that nPE1 originated from the exaptation of a mammalian- apparent LTR retrotransposon sometime between the metatherian/ eutherian split (147 Mya) and the placental mammal radiation (≈90 Mya). Thus, the evolutionary origin of nPE1 differs, in kind and time, from that previously demonstrated for nPE2, which was exapted from a CORE-short interspersed nucleotide element (SINE) retroposon before the origin of prototherians, 166 Mya. Transgenic mice expressing the fluorescent markers tomato and EGFP driven by nPE1 or nPE2, respectively, demonstrated coexpression of both reporter genes along the entire arcuate nucleus. The onset of reporter gene expression guided by nPE1 and nPE2 was also identical and coincidental with the onset of Pomc expression in the presumptive mouse diencephalon. Thus, the independent exaptation of two unrelated retroposons into functional analogs regulating neuronal POMC expression constitutes an authentic example of convergent molecular evolution of cell-specific enhancers.

Descripción: With the purpose of modeling the process of mountain building, we investigate the evolution of the ridge produced by the convergent motion of a system consisting of two layers of liquids that differ in density and viscosity to simulate the crust and the upper mantle that form a lithospheric plate. We assume that the motion is driven by basal traction. Assuming isostasy, we derive a nonlinear differential equation for the evolution of the thickness of the crust. We solve this equation numerically to obtain the profile of the range. We find an approximate self-similar solution that describes reasonably well the process and predicts simple scaling laws for the height and width of the range as well as the shape of the transversal profile. We compare the theoretical results with the profiles of real mountain belts and find an excellent agreement. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: In order to describe the development of plateaus such as the Tibet and the Altiplano we extend the two-layer model used in a previous paper [C. A. Perazzo and J. Gratton, Phys. Fluids22, 056603 (2010)] to reproduce the evolution of mountain ranges. As before, we consider the convergent motion of a system of two liquid layers to simulate the crust and the upper mantle that form a lithospheric plate, but now we assume that the viscosity of the crust falls off abruptly at a specified depth. We derive a nonlinear differential equation for the evolution of the thickness of the crust. The solution of this equation shows that the process consists of a first stage in which a peaked range is formed and grows until its root reaches the depth where its viscosity drops. After that the range ceases to grow in height and a flat plateau appears at its top. In this second stage the plateau width increases linearly with time as its sides move outward as traveling waves. We derive simple approximate formulas for various properties of the plateau and its evolution. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: In this paper we study the existence of nontrivial solutions of the problem {-Δu+u = u p-2u in Ω, {∂u/∂v = λ u q-2u on ∂Ω, with 1<q<2(N-1)/(N-2) and 1<p≤2N/(N-2). In the concave-convex case, i.e., 1<q<2<p, if λ is small there exist two positive solutions while for λ large there is no positive solution. When p is critical, and q subcritical we obtain existence results using the concentration compactness method. Finally, we apply the implicit function theorem to obtain solutions for λ small near u0 = 1. © 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

Descripción: A large body of work has proved that transcription by RNA polymerase II and pre-mRNA processing are coordinated events within the cell nucleus. Capping, splicing and polyadenylation occur while transcription proceeds, suggesting that RNA polymerase II plays a role in the regulation of these events. The presence and degree of phosphorylation of the carboxy-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II large subunit is important for functioning of the capping enzymes, the assembly of spliceosomes and the binding of the cleavage/polyadenylation complex. Nuclear architecture and gene promoter structure have also been shown to play key roles in coupling between transcription and splicing. © 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

Descripción: The Andes located in the central Neuquén (38°-39°S), which belong to the southern Central Andes (35°-39°S), have recorded a similar chronology of uplift than the neighbor northern Patagonian Andes (39°-46°S), Both areas have been formed trough successive phases of contraction in the Late Cretaceous, Middle Eocene and Late Miocene respectively. However, the Neuquén Andes have experienced two discrete phases of orogenic relaxation, during the Late Oligocene and Pliocene-Quaternary, which make then distinctive respect to the area located to the south. Field studies have shown new evidences of an episodic behavior of the fold and thrust belt in Neuquen, corresponding to compressive phases followed by stages of crustal collapse, at least since the Middle Cretaceous. The study of two main morphostructural units in the arc and retroarc area at 37°-39°S, the Alto de Copahue Pino Hachado, and its continuation to the north in the Chilean Andes (Laguna de la Laja), and the Loncopué trough respectively exemplify this particular behavior. A structural and a stratigraphie study in those areas have given a new evolutionary framework for the Neuquén Andes. © 2005 Asociación Geológica Argentina.

Descripción: The heating and acceleration of the solar wind is an active area of research. Alfvén waves, because of their ability to accelerate and heat the plasma, are a likely candidate in both processes. Many models have explored wave dissipation mechanisms which act either in closed or open magnetic field regions. In this work, we emphasize the boundary between these regions, drawing on observations which indicate unique heating is present there. We utilize a new solar corona component of the Space Weather Modeling Framework, in which Alfvén wave energy transport is self-consistently coupled to the magnetohydrodynamic equations. In this solar wind model, the wave pressure gradient accelerates and wave dissipation heats the plasma. Kolmogorov-like wave dissipation as expressed by Hollweg along open magnetic field lines was presented in van der Holst et al. Here, we introduce an additional dissipation mechanism: surface Alfvén wave (SAW) damping, which occurs in regions with transverse (with respect to the magnetic field) gradients in the local Alfvén speed. For solar minimum conditions, we find that SAW dissipation is weak in the polar regions (where Hollweg dissipation is strong), and strong in subpolar latitudes and the boundaries of open and closed magnetic fields (where Hollweg dissipation is weak). We show that SAW damping reproduces regions of enhanced temperature at the boundaries of open and closed magnetic fields seen in tomographic reconstructions in the low corona. Also, we argue that Ulysses data in the heliosphere show enhanced temperatures at the boundaries of fast and slow solar wind, which is reproduced by SAW dissipation. Therefore, the model's temperature distribution shows best agreement with these observations when both dissipation mechanisms are considered. Lastly, we use observational constraints of shock formation in the low corona to assess the Alfvén speed profile in the model. We find that, compared to a polytropic solar wind model, the wave-driven model with physical dissipation mechanisms presented in this work is more aligned with an empirical Alfvén speed profile. Therefore, a wave-driven model which includes the effects of SAW damping is a better background to simulate coronal-mass-ejection-driven shocks. © 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Descripción: We have investigated two full solar rotations belonging to two distinct solar minima, in the frame of two coordinated observational and research campaigns. The nearly uninterrupted gathering of solar coronal data since the beginning of the SOHO era offers the exceptional possibility of comparing two solar minima for the first time, with regard to coronal transients. This study characterizes the variety of outward-travelling transients observed in the solar corona during both time intervals, from very narrow jet-like events to coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Their solar source regions and ensuing interplanetary structures were identified and characterized. Multi-wavelength images from the space missions SOHO, Yohkoh and STEREO, and ground-based observatories were studied for coronal ejecta and their solar sources, while in situ data registered by the ACE spacecraft were inspected for interplanetary CMEs and magnetic clouds. Instrumental aspects such as dissimilar resolution, cadence, and fields of view are considered in order to discern instrumentally-driven disparities from inherent differences between solar minima. © 2012 International Astronomical Union.

Descripción: This paper describes a matrix formulation for the correlated hole theory within the framework of the domain-averaged model in many electron systems (atoms, molecules, condensed matter, etc.). General relationships between this quantity and one-particle reduced density matrices for any independent particle or correlated state functions are presented. This formulation turns out to be suitable for computational purposes due to the straightforward introduction of cumulants of two-particle reduced density matrices within the quantum field structure. Numerical calculations in selected simple molecular systems have been performed in order to determine preliminary correlated values for such a quantity.

Descripción: In this work we introduce a new approach for corner extraction. The method that allows the corner extraction with rotation invariance is composed by a spiral phase function and a binary amplitude. The designed function can be easily implemented as a filter for a Vander Lugt-like optical correlator. A final image obtained with the detector presents intensity peaks in each corner location. Numerical simulation has been performed on a set of synthetic scenes, modulated either in amplitude or phase. Results that show the very good performance of the method are shown. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: The effect of pore size to H2O2 detection by macroporous and mesoporous Prussian blue type electrocatalysts is reported in the present paper. The macroporous electrocatalysts were prepared employing spherical colloidal particles of different sizes (300, 460, 600 and 800 nm) as sacrificial templates to synthesize a copper hexacyanoferrate/polypyrrole (CuHCNFe/Ppy) hybrid material. Surprisingly, macroporous and non-porous CuHCNFe/Ppy displayed very similar results, which led to a discussion that application of macroporous platforms in sensors must consider the material wettability and the influence of electrochemical kinetics on analyte detection. In order to evaluate the effect of smaller pores, the performance of the macroporous H2O2 sensors was also compared to electrocatalysts synthesised through the immobilization of Prussian blue and CuHCNFe layers inside the cavities of mesoporous TiO2 films with diameters of 13, 20 and 40 nm. In this scale, the results were superior than those achieved with the non-porous sensors, demonstrating the possibility of controlling the performance of H2O2 sensors according to the pore diameter and the amount of immobilized material. Among the tested porous materials, the H2O2 sensor with better performance was achieved using the 20-nm diameter TiO2 platform functionalized with Prussian blue, which presented a sensitivity of (930 ± 50) μA cm-2 mmol-1 L, detection limit of (0.49 ± 0.08) μmol L-1, response time of (6 ± 2) seconds and linear range up to (1.3 ± 0.1) mmol L-1. This performance was extremely satisfactory considering sensors operating by chronoamperometry. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Descripción: We study the generation of primordial magnetic fields, coherent over cosmologically interesting scales, by gravitational creation of charged scalar particles during the reheating period. We show that magnetic fields consistent with those detected by observation may be obtained if the particle mean life τ(s) is in the range 10-14 s ≤ τ(s) ≤ 10-7 s. We apply this mechanism to minimal gauge-mediated supersymmetry-breaking models, in the case in which the lightest stau τ(l) is the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle. We show that, for a large range of phenomenologically acceptable values of the supersymmetry-breaking scale √F, the generated primordial magnetic field can be strong enough to seed the galactic dynamo. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.

Descripción: Deception Island (South Shetlands, Antarctica) is one of the most active volcanoes in Antarctica, having erupted recently in 1967, 1969 and 1970, damaging scientific stations on the island. It is also seismically very active. The island has attracted the attention of many researchers as it constitutes an undisturbed natural laboratory to study seismo-volcanic events and how they affect landscape modelling and evolution. One of the most remarkable geological and geomorphological features on Deception Island is the linearity of its easternmost coastal landform, the origin of which remains unknown. Some answers, based on presence of strike-slip fault or on the ice cap and beach geomorphological dynamics, have been reported in the literature. Our new work provides several indications of the existence of a dip-slip submarine fault, parallel to the coast (NNW-SSE), which suggests a tectonic origin for this morphological feature. Uplifted marine terraces, incision of a fluvial network over the ice cap, normal faulting parallel to the coast in the north and south rock heads bounding the beach and sharp shelf-break with rather constant slope, constitute some of this evidence. Terrace uplift and fluvial channel incision decreasing southward from Macaroni Point, indicates possible tilt movement across this inferred fault plane. © Antarctic Science Ltd.

Descripción: A new species of Coulmannia, C. rossensis, is described from the Ross Sea, Antarctica. It is most similar to C. ramosae Castelló, 2004, but can easily be distinguished from this species by the males yielding a pair of granulate humps on the dorsum of the pereonites 1-6 and a single granulate hump on the pereonite 7 and the free pleonite. Coulmannia rossensis sp. n. is sexually dimorphic. Th e dorsal sculpture of the female bodies yield a single granulate hump on all the pereonites and free pleonite. Th e species of the genus Coulmannia are restricted to the Southern Ocean, and C. rossensis sp. n. is the fourth species included in it. © M. Choudhury et al.

Descripción: A palaeomagnetic study was made on the Early Permian Del Salto Formation, exposed in the Western Precordillera (31.3°S, 69.2°W). Eleven sites were sampled for siltstone and fine-grained sandstone in the middle-upper part of the succession exposed in the creek at kilometre 114, San Juan. Standard demagnetization techniques permitted the identification of a characteristic remanence that showed good within-site consistency of direction at eight sites. Application of a tectonic correction showed that the characteristic remanence is pre-tectonic. A palaeomagnetic pole for the Del Salto Formation was computed, SC: 26.8°S, 357.0°E.δp = 4.4°, δm = 6.4°, N = 8. The position of SC indicates that the sampling locality underwent a counterclockwise rotation of about 40° around a vertical axis. The age of the rotation cannot be determined from the available data but it is most likely to have happened in either Permian or Late Cenozoic times.

Descripción: We study the problem of counting the total number of affine solutions of a system of n binomials in n variables over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. We show that we may decide in polynomial time if that number is finite. We give a combinatorial formula for computing the total number of affine solutions (with or without multiplicity) from which we deduce that this counting problem is # P-complete. We discuss special cases in which this formula may be computed in polynomial time; in particular, this is true for generic exponent vectors. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Descripción: In this work we investigate experimentally the dynamics of two coupled optical excitable cells, namely, two semiconductor lasers with optical feedback. We analyze the dynamics observed in terms of the statistical properties of the time series and in terms of the phase space reconstruction from the data. We build a model based on a simple set of deterministic equations (on a two torus) plus noise in order to capture the essential features of the dynamics observed. We discuss the validity of our theoretical results in terms of families of excitable systems and coupling terms. © 2002 The American Physical Society.

Descripción: This study documents differences in the courtship behavior of wild strains of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) from Madeira (Portugal), Hawaii (U.S.A.), Costa Rica, and Patagonia (Argentina). Some traits showed large variations and others substantial overlaps. The angle at which the male faced toward the female at the moment of transition from continuous wing vibration and intermittent buzzing changed very little during the course of courtship in all strains, but males from Madeira tended to face more directly toward the female than other males. Females tended to look more, and more directly, toward the males as courtship progressed in all strains. The distance between male and female tended to decrease as courtship proceeded in all strains, but the distances at which males initiated continuous vibration, intermittent buzzing, and jumped onto the female were relatively less variable between strains, except for the strain from Costa Rica. Flies of Madeira courted for longer and the male moved his head and buzzed his wings longer than the other strains.

Descripción: The effective action for quantum fields on a d-dimensional spacetime can be computed using a non-local expansion in powers of the curvature. We show explicitly that, for conformal fields and up to quadratic order in the curvature, the non-local effective action is equivalent to the d + 1 action for classical gravity in AdSd+1 restricted to a (d - 1)-brane. This generalizes previous results about quantum corrections to the Newtonian potential and provides an alternative method for making local a non-local effective action. The equivalence can be easily understood by comparing the Kallen-Lehmann decomposition of the classical propagator with the spectral representation of the non-local form factors in the quantum effective action. © 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Descripción: A new species, Crepidula cachimilla, is described based on a population from 15 m depth in San Antonio Oeste, Argentina. Shell length ranged from 5.4 to 28.5 mm for males and from 9.6 to 52.2 mm for females. The minimum shell length recorded for a brooding female was 23.5 mm, and the maximum shell length was 49.3 mm. A detailed anatomical description is given, showing as main characters of the species a relative thick columellar muscle, a greater closure of the palliai cavity aperture by a fusion of the mantle border, a very small osphradium, with about 16 broad filaments, endostyle divided by a middle longitudinal furrow, very large salivary glands, duplication of both gastric ducts to the digestive gland, male seminal vesicle very long and with irregular walls, pallial oviduct with a broad vaginal duct and a tall papilla originating both from palliai floor and roof. Brood egg masses of mature females contained from 15 to 65 egg capsules. The triangular-shaped egg capsules measured between 2.2 and 3.4 mm in length and between 2.3 and 3.8 mm in width. Each egg capsule contained between 129 and 563 eggs. The number of eggs per capsule and the egg diameter did not correlate with female shell length. Uncleaved eggs measured between 180 and 200 μm in diameter. They all developed synchronously within the egg capsules. Prehatching veliger shells measured between 260 and 300 μm in length. After hatching at the veliger stage, protoconch length during metamorphosis ranged between 700 and 800 μm. These parameters neither coincide with those reported by Hoagland (1977) for the similar Californian Crepidula onyx, nor with the reproductive characters reported by Miloslavich & Penchaszadeh (2001) for Crepidula aplysioides, which supposedly occurs in the region.

Descripción: This paper reports the presence of Maastrichtian rocks in the north of the Precordillera (La Rioja province). The Cretaceous succesion (122 m thick) is a classical red bed sequence composed of sandstones, mudstones, marls and thin levels of evaporites. According to lithological features 6 facies associations have been recognized that mainly characterize a lacustrine system developed under arid to semiarid conditions. Probably as a result of an increase in aridity, eolian sediments were deposited at the top of the Cretaceous unit. At least two transgressive-regressive events have been recognized in the lacustrine sequence. The best developed is the first event formed by fossiliferous black shales corresponding to the maximum flooding stage. These rocks have yield remains of calcareous microfossils, palynomorphs and gastropods. The former comprise charophytes, with Platychara compressa (Knowlton) an Tectochara sp. A Musacchio, anda ostracods, with Ilyocypris wichmanni punctata Musacchio y Simeoni, Eucandona? sp., Cypridopsis and Ovo cytheridea? rionegrensis Musacchio.. Palinomorphs form a monospecific assemblage of algae colonies corresponding to Pediastrum. The lithological features, stratigraphic location and fossiliferous remains clearly suggest a regional correlation with the Ciénaga del Rio Huaco Formation. This correlation considerably enlarge the regional distribution of the Cretaceous sediments which were previously limited to the Precordillera of San Juan province. © 2005 Asociación Geológica Argentina.

Descripción: The paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic significance of Cretaceous flora in the Neuquén Basin is summarized. Berriasian-Barremian terrestrial palynological assemblages are dominated by Araucariaceae and Cheirolepidiaceae, with subordinated podopcarps, ferns, lycopsids and bryophytes that progressed in a mild and humid climate. Tithonian-Barremian dinoflagellates mostly possess Mediterranean affinities. Upper Barremian evaporitic strata represent the final cycle of marine deposition related to the Pacific ocean in the basin. In the Aptian appear the first angiosperm pollen grains. Aptian-Cenomanian terrestrial palynological assemblages are characterized by the presence of northern Gondwana forms such as Afropollis and elaterate pollen grains. Tempskyaceae and Ginkgoales are also present in the late Early Cretaceous. Turonian-lower Campanian continental strata mostly include petrified wood and charophytes. Upper Campanian-Maastrichtian strata yield a rich terrestrial palynological assemblage composed by Nothofagaceae, Podocarpaceae, Cheirolepidiaceae, Araucariaceae, Salviniales and angiosperms, but also dinoflagellates that reflect the beginning of a marine transgression related to the Atlantic ocean. The presence of locally abundant cycads and palms suggests a warm and relatively humid climate towards the end of the Cretaceous.

Descripción: Nearly all data regarding land-plant turnover across the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary come from western North America, relatively close to the Chicxulub, Mexico impact site. Here, we present a palynological analysis of a section in Patagonia that shows a marked fall in diversity and abundance of nearly all plant groups across the K/Pg interval. Minimum diversity occurs during the earliest Danian, but only a few palynomorphs show true extinctions. The low extinction rate is similar to previous observations from New Zealand. The differing responses between the Southern and Northern hemispheres could be related to the attenuation of damage with increased distance from the impact site, to hemispheric differences in extinction severity, or to both effects. Legacy effects of the terminal Cretaceous event also provide a plausible, partial explanation for the fact that Paleocene and Eocene macrofloras from Patagonia are among the most diverse known globally. Also of great interest, earliest Danian assemblages are dominated by the gymnosperm palynomorphs Classopollis of the extinct Mesozoic conifer family Cheirolepidiaceae. The expansion of Classopollis after the boundary in Patagonia is another example of typically Mesozoic plant lineages surviving into the Cenozoic in southern Gondwanan areas, and this greatly supports previous hypotheses of high latitude southern regions as biodiversity refugia during the end-Cretaceous global crisis. © 2012 Barreda et al.

Descripción: We consider multiple k-essence sources and obtain the conditions their kinetic functions must satisfy so that purely kinetic k-essences lead to models with phantom barrier crossing. After that, we show that polynomial kinetic functions allow the integration of the dynamical equations determining the geometry and the k-fields. The models thus obtained have accelerated expansion at late cosmic time, representing universes ending at a finite time with a big rip singularity. In addition, these models begin to evolve from an initial singularity, so they have a finite time span. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Descripción: Multiple ionization cross sections of Ne atoms are reported for Li 3+ impact in the energy range of 2 to 5.8MeV. The neon ionization cross sections were separated into three collision channels, namely; direct ionization (DI), single capture (SC) and transfer ionization (TI). The direct ionization data is compared to CDW-EIS calculations as well as to other projectiles with charge state q 3+. The single capture is compared to a modified Bohr-Lindhard semi classical model.

Descripción: As a result of a microfacial study in the outer and middle ramp deposits of the Vaca Muerta Formation (lower Tithonian-upper Valanginian), four ichnotaxa of crustacean microcoprolites are described: Palaxius azulensis Kietzmann isp. nov., Palaxius caracuraensis Kietzmann isp. nov., Helicerina? isp. A. aff. Helicerina siciliana and Helicerina isp. B. They represent one of the first records of crustacean microcoprolites for the Neuqun Basin and Argentina. Helicerina is reported for the first time from the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous of South America. It is inferred that Palaxius ichnospecies were produced by callianassids, while Helicerina ichnospecies could be produced by decapods of Mecochiridae, Erymidae, and/or Nephropidae affinity. Two assemblages of crustacean microcoprolites are recognised, a middle Tithonian to lower Berriasian Palaxius-dominated assemblage and an early to late Valanginian Helicerina-dominated assemblage.

Descripción: Fil:Gratton, J. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.

Descripción: By x-ray diffraction, the chemical formula and crystal structure of Pt 3O4 have been established. The crystal lattice has a body-centered cube symmetry. The edges of the cubes are 6.226A long, and there are two molecules per unit cell. A chemical method for preparing this oxide has been given by Jörgensen but Wöhler claims that the compound thus obtained is a mixture of monoxide and dioxide rather than a separate chemical entity, see references 2 and 3.

Descripción: Fil:Gros, E.G. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.

Descripción: Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is the active ingredient of the spice plant Curcuma longa and has been shown to act anti-tumorigenic in different types of tumours. Therefore, we have studied its effect in pituitary tumour cell lines and adenomas. Proliferation of lactosomatotroph GH3 and somatotroph MtT/S rat pituitary cells as well as of corticotroph AtT20 mouse pituitary cells was inhibited by curcumin in monolayer cell culture and in colony formation assay in soft agar. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis demonstrated curcumin-induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M. Analysis of cell cycle proteins by immunoblotting showed reduction in cyclin D1, cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and no change in p27kip. FACS analysis with Annexin V-FITC/7-aminoactinomycin D staining demonstrated curcumin-induced early apoptosis after 3, 6, 12 and 24 h treatment and nearly no necrosis. Induction of DNA fragmentation, reduction of Bcl-2 and enhancement of cleaved caspase-3 further confirmed induction of apoptosis by curcumin. Growth of GH3 tumours in athymic nude mice was suppressed by curcumin in vivo. In endocrine pituitary tumour cell lines, GH, ACTH and prolactin production were inhibited by curcumin. Studies in 25 human pituitary adenoma cell cultures have confirmed the antitumorigenic and hormone-suppressive effects of curcumin. Altogether, the results described in this report suggest this natural compound as a good candidate for therapeutic use on pituitary tumours. © 2009 Society for Endocrinology Printed in Great Britain.

Descripción: We report the changes that have taken place recently regarding the situation of female scientists in Argentina. We comment on the rules for maternity leave that have been passed recently for research scholars doing their PhDs and on the number of women scientists that occupy decision making-positions in science. We also present some evidence that seems to indicate that, among young scientists, women are more willing to occupy leadership positions and that the Argentinean society is more accepting of this new role. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.

Descripción: We present an approach based on integer programming formulations of the graph coloring problem. Our goal is to develop models that remove some symmetrical solutions obtained by color permutations. We study the problem from a polyhedral point of view and determine some families of facets of the 0/1-polytope associated with one of these integer programming formulations. The theoretical results described here are used to design an efficient Cutting Plane algorithm. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Descripción: We have studied the effects of accumulating cyclic electrical pulses of increasing amplitude on the non-volatile resistance state of interfaces made by sputtering a metal (Au, Pt) on top of the surface of a cuprate superconductor YBa2Cu3O7-δ. We have analyzed the influence of the number of applied pulses N on the relative amplitude of the remnant resistance change between the high (RH) and the low (R L) state [( = (R H-R L) / R L] at different temperatures (T). We show that the critical voltage (Vc) needed to produce a resistive switching (RS, i.e., > 0) decreases with increasing N or T. We also find a power law relation between the voltage of the pulses and the number of pulses N 0 required to produce a RS of = 0. This relation remains very similar to the Basquin equation used to describe the stress-fatigue lifetime curves in mechanical tests. This points out to the similarity between the physics of the RS, associated with the diffusion of oxygen vacancies induced by electrical pulses, and the propagation of defects in materials subjected to repeated mechanical stress. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Descripción: Let k be a field, A a unitary associative k-algebra and V a k-vector space endowed with a distinguished element 1V. We obtain a mixed complex, simpler than the canonical one, that gives the Hochschild, cyclic, negative and periodic homologies of a crossed product E := A #fV, in the sense of Brzeziński. We actually work in the more general context of relative cyclic homology. Specifically, we consider a subalgebra K of A that satisfies suitable hypothesis and we find a mixed complex computing the Hochschild, cyclic, negative and periodic homologies of E relative to K. Then, when E is a cleft braided Hopf crossed product, we obtain a simpler mixed complex, that also gives the Hochschild, cyclic, negative and periodic homologies of E. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Descripción: We obtain a mixed complex, simpler than the canonical one, given the Hochschild, cyclic, negative and periodic homology of a crossed product E = A #f H, where H is an arbitrary Hopf algebra and f is a convolution invertible cocycle with values in A. We actually work in the more general context of relative cyclic homology. Specifically, we consider a subalgebra K of A which is stable under the action of H, and we find a mixed complex computing the Hochschild, cyclic, negative and periodic homology of E relative to K. As an application we obtain two spectral sequences converging to the cyclic homology of E relative to K. The first one works in the general setting and the second one (which generalizes those previously found by several authors) works when f takes its values in K. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Descripción: We study the Hochschild and cyclic homology of noncommutative monogenic extensions. As an application we compute the Hochschild and cyclic homology of the rank 1 Hopf algebras introduced in [L. Krop, D. Radford, Finite dimensional Hopf algebras of rank 1 in characteristic 0, Journal of Algebra 302 (1) (2006) 214-230]. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Descripción: Although cyclophilin A (CyP-A) is a relatively abundant small immunophilin present in the cytoplasm of all mammalian cells, its general function(s) in the absence of the immunosuppressant drug cyclosporin A is not known. In contrast, the high molecular weight hsp90-binding immunophilins appear to play a role in protein trafficking in that they have been shown to link glucocorticoid receptor-hsp90 and p53-hsp90 complexes to the dynein motor protein for retrograde movement along microtubules. These immunophilins link to cytoplasmic dynein indirectly through the association of the immunophilin peptidylprolyl isomerase (PPIase) domain with dynamitin, a component of the dynein-associated dynactin complex (Galigniana, M. D., Harrell, J. M., O'Hagen, H. M., Ljungman, M., and Pratt, W. B. (2004) J. Biol. Chem. 279, 22483-22489). Here, we show that CyP-A exists in native heterocomplexes containing cytoplasmic dynein that can be formed in cell-free systems. Prolyl isomerase activity is not required for forming the dynein complex, but the PPIase domain fragment of FKBP52 blocks complex formation and CyP-A binds to dynamitin in a PPIase domain-dependent manner. CyP-A heterocomplexes containing tubulin and dynein can be formed in cytosol prepared under microtubule-stabilizing conditions, and CyP-A colocalizes in mouse fibroblasts with microtubules. Colocalization with microtubules is disrupted by overexpression of the PPIase domain fragment. Thus, we conclude that CyP-A associates in vitro and in vivo with the dynein/dynactin motor protein complex and we suggest that CyP-A may perform a general function related to the binding of cargo for retrograde movement along microtubules.

Descripción: Aims: To evaluate the antagonistic activity of Fusarium oxysporum nonpathogenic fungal strain S6 against the phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and to identify the antifungal compounds involved. Methods and Results: The antagonistic activity of Fusarium oxysporum strain S6 was determined in vitro by dual cultures. The metabolite responsible for the activity was isolated by chromatographic techniques, purified and identified by spectroscopic methods as cyclosporine A. The antifungal activity against the pathogen was correlated with the presence of this metabolite by a dilution assay and then quantified. Cyclosporine A caused both growth inhibition and suppression of sclerotia formation. In a greenhouse assay, a significant increase in the number of surviving soybean (Glycine max) plants was observed when S. sclerotiorum and F. oxysporum (S6) were inoculated together when compared with plants inoculated with S. sclerotiorum alone. Conclusion: Fusarium oxysporum (S6) may be a good fungal biological control agent for S. sclerotiorum and cyclosporine A is the responsible metabolite involved in its antagonistic activity in vitro. Significance and Impact of the Study: Cyclosporine A has not been previously described as an inhibitor of S. sclerotiorum. Its minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0·1 μg disc-1 makes it suitable to use as a biofungicide. In vivo experiments showed that F. oxysporum (S6) is a good candidate for the biocontrol of S. sclerotiorum in soybean. © 2006 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Descripción: Pseudacteon flies, parasitoids of worker ants, are being intensively studied as potentially effective agents in the biological control of the invasive pest fire ant genus Solenopsis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). This is the first attempt to describe the karyotype of P. curvatus Borgmeier, P. nocens Borgmeier and P. tricuspis Borgmeier. The three species possess 2n = 6; chromosomes I and II were metacentric in the three species, but chromosome pair III was subtelocentric in P. curvatus and P. tricuspis, and telocentric in P. nocens. All three species possess a C positive band in chromosome II, lack C positive heterochromatin on chromosome I, and are mostly differentiated with respect to chromosome III. P. curvatus and P. tricuspis possess a C positive band, but at different locations, whereas this band is absent in P. nocens. Heterochromatic bands are neither AT nor GC rich as revealed by fluorescent banding. In situ hybridization with an 18S rDNA probe revealed a signal on chromosome II in a similar location to the C positive band in the three species. The apparent lack of morphologically distinct sex chromosomes is consistent with proposals of environmental sex determination in the genus. Small differences detected in chromosome length and morphology suggests that chromosomes have been highly conserved during the evolutionary radiation of Pseudacteon. Possible mechanisms of karyotype evolution in the three species are suggested. Copyright © 2009, Sociedade Brasileira de Genética.

Descripción: We studied three different tricepiros: (Don Santiago x Don Noé), (Cumé x Horovitz) and (Cumé x Don Noé). The tricepiro (Don Santiago x Don Noé) was obtained by crossing the triticale Don Santiago INTA (AABBRR, 2n = 6x = 42) with the trigopiro Don Noé INTA (AABBDDJJ, 2n = 8x = 56). The number of chromosomes for the F1 was 2n = 49, the most frequent meiotic configuration being 14 bivalents and 21 univalents. The univalents were situated in the periphery of the equatorial plane, whereas the bivalents were located in the central zone. The chromatids in some of the univalents split when bivalents underwent reductional division in anaphase I. There were few laggard chromosomes or chromatids at this phase. The number of chromosomes (2n = 48-58) was high and variable, and the number of bivalents per cell (18-23) also high in F3 individuals. In all F8 tricepiros (Don Santiago x Don Noé), F12 tricepiros (Cumé x Horovitz) and F12 tricepiros (Cumé x Don Noé), the number of chromosomes (2n = 42) was the same, these retaining the rye genome, as demonstrated by GISH and FISH. These new synthesized allopolyploids constitute interesting models for investigating the evolutionary changes responsible for diploidization, and the chromosomal and genomic re-ordering that cannot be revealed in natural allopolyploids. Copyright © 2009, Sociedade Brasileira de Genética.

Descripción: A cytoplasmically inherited chlorophyll-deficient mutant of barley (Hordeum vulgare) termed cytoplasmic line 3 (CL3), displaying a viridis (homogeneously light-green colored) phenotype, has been previously shown to be affected by elevated temperatures. In this article, biochemical, biophysical, and molecular approaches were used to study the CL3 mutant under different temperature and light conditions. The results lead to the conclusion that an impaired assembly of photosystem I (PSI) under higher temperatures and certain light conditions is the primary cause of the CL3 phenotype. Compromised splicing of ycf3 transcripts, particularly at elevated temperature, resulting from a mutation in a noncoding region (intron 1) in the mutant ycf3 gene results in a defective synthesis of Ycf3, which is a chaperone involved in PSI assembly. The defective PSI assembly causes severe photoinhibition and degradation of PSII. © 2009 American Society of Plant Biologists.

Descripción: The phytochemical investigation of the dichloromethane-soluble part of the methanol extract obtained from the fruits of Melia azedarach afforded one new tirucallanetype triterpene, 3-α-tigloylmelianol (1) and three known tirucallanes, melianone (2), 21-β-acetoxy-melianone (3), and methyl kulonate (4). The structure of the isolated compounds was mainly determined by 1D and 2D NMR experiments as well as HPLC-Q-TOF mass spectrometry. The cytotoxicity of the isolated compounds toward the human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cell line A549 was determined, while no activity was observed against the phytonematode Meloidogyne incognita. © 2010 by the authors.