Project description:[Figure: see text] Stuart A. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D. is recognized here as a Redox Pioneer because of his publication of four articles that have been cited more than 1000 times, and 96 reports which have been cited more than 100 times. In the redox field, Dr. Lipton is best known for his work on the regulation by S-nitrosylation of the NMDA-subtype of neuronal glutamate receptor, which provided early evidence for in situ regulation of protein activity by S-nitrosylation and a prototypic model of allosteric control by this post-translational modification. Over the past several years, Lipton's group has pioneered the discovery of aberrant protein nitrosylation that may contribute to a number of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease). In particular, the phenotypic effects of rare genetic mutations may be understood to be enhanced or mimicked by nitrosative (and oxidative) modifications of cysteines and thereby help explain common sporadic forms of disease. Thus, Lipton has contributed in a major way to the understanding that nitrosative stress may result from modifications of specific proteins and may operate in conjunction with genetic mutation to create disease phenotype. Lipton (collaborating with Jonathan S. Stamler) has also employed the concept of targeted S-nitrosylation to produce novel neuroprotective drugs that act at allosteric sites in the NMDA receptor. Lipton has won a number of awards, including the Ernst Jung Prize in Medicine, and is an elected fellow of the AAAS. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 19, 757-764.
Project description:Nonlocal coupling, as an important connection topology among nonlinear oscillators, has attracted increasing attention recently with the research boom of chimera states. So far, most previous investigations have focused on nonlocally coupled systems interacted via similar variables. In this work, we report the evolutions of dynamical behaviors in the nonlocally coupled Stuart-Landau oscillators by applying conjugate variables feedback. Through rigorous analysis, we find that the oscillation death (OD) can convert into the amplitude death (AD) via the cluster state with the increasing of coupling range, making the AD regions to be expanded infinitely along two directions of both the natural frequency and the coupling strength. Moreover, the limit cycle oscillation (OS) region and the mixed region of OD and OS will turn to anti-synchronization state through amplitude-mediated chimera. Therefore, the procedure from local coupling to nonlocal one implies indeed the continuous enhancement of coherence among neighboring oscillators in coupled systems.
Project description:The genus Deuterixys Mason, 1981 of the tribe Cotesiini (Hymenopteran, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) is recorded from China for the first time. Two new species, Deuterixys bifossalis Zeng & Chen, sp. n. and Deuterixys curticalcar Zeng & Chen, sp. n., are described and illustrated, and a key to the Old World species of Deuterixys is given. In addition, Wilkinsonellus paramplus Long & van Achterberg, 2003 is recorded from China for the first time and illustrated.
Project description:A steady solution of the incompressible Euler equation on a toroidal surface TR,r of major radius R and minor radius r is provided. Its streamfunction is represented by an exact solution to the modified Liouville equation, ?TR,r2?=c?ed?+(8/d)? , where ?TR,r2 and ? denote the Laplace-Beltrami operator and the Gauss curvature of the toroidal surface respectively, and c, d are real parameters with cd?<?0. This is a generalization of the flows with smooth vorticity distributions owing to Stuart (Stuart 1967 J. Fluid Mech. 29, 417-440. (doi:10.1017/S0022112067000941)) in the plane and Crowdy (Crowdy 2004 J. Fluid Mech. 498, 381-402. (doi:10.1017/S0022112003007043)) on the spherical surface. The flow consists of two point vortices at the innermost and the outermost points of the toroidal surface on the same line of a longitude, and a smooth vorticity distribution centred at their antipodal position. Since the surface of a torus has non-constant curvature and a handle structure that are different geometric features from the plane and the spherical surface, we focus on how these geometric properties of the torus affect the topological flow structures along with the change of the aspect ratio ??=?R/r. A comparison with the Stuart vortex on the flat torus is also made.
Project description:Retroviral envelope glycoprotein (Env) is essential for the specific recognition of the host cell and the initial phase of infection. As reported for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the recruitment of Env into a retroviral membrane envelope is mediated through its interaction with a Gag polyprotein precursor of structural proteins. This interaction, occurring between the matrix domain (MA) of Gag and the cytoplasmic tail (CT) of the transmembrane domain of Env, takes place at the host cell plasma membrane. To determine whether the MA of Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (M-PMV) also interacts directly with the CT of Env, we mimicked the in vivo conditions in an in vitro experiment by using a CT in its physiological trimeric conformation mediated by the trimerization motif of the GCN4 yeast transcription factor. The MA protein was used at the concentration shifting the equilibrium to its trimeric form. The direct interaction between MA and CT was confirmed by a pulldown assay. Through the combination of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and protein cross-linking followed by mass spectrometry analysis, the residues involved in mutual interactions were determined. NMR has shown that the C terminus of the CT is bound to the C-terminal part of MA. In addition, protein cross-linking confirmed the close proximity of the N-terminal part of CT and the N terminus of MA, which is enabled in vivo by their location at the membrane. These results are in agreement with the previously determined orientation of MA on the membrane and support the already observed mechanisms of M-PMV virus-like particle transport and budding.IMPORTANCE By a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectroscopy of cross-linked peptides, we show that in contrast to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the C-terminal residues of the unstructured cytoplasmic tail of Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (M-PMV) Env interact with the matrix domain (MA). Based on biochemical data and molecular modeling, we propose that individual cytoplasmic tail (CT) monomers of a trimeric complex bind MA molecules belonging to different neighboring trimers, which may stabilize the MA orientation at the membrane by the formation of a membrane-bound net of interlinked Gag and CT trimers. This also corresponds with the concept that the membrane-bound MA of Gag recruits Env through interaction with the full-length CT, while CT truncation during maturation attenuates the interaction to facilitate uncoating. We propose a model suggesting different arrangements of MA-CT complexes between a D-type and C-type retroviruses with short and long CTs, respectively.
Project description:A report on the brachyuran crabs collected from the southwestern coast of India by the Indian research vessel FORV Sagar Sampada is presented. The material consists of 13 species from three genera and five families, of which four are new records for India: Heteroplaxmaldivensis (Rathbun, 1902) (Euryplacidae), Cryptopodiacollifer Flipse, 1930 (Parthenopidae), Thalamitamacrodonta Borradaile, 1903 (Portunidae), and Paraxanthodescumatodes (MacGilchrist, 1905) (Xanthidae). The cruise also obtained the first known male of Nectopanoperhodobaphes Wood-Mason in Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891 (type species of Nectopanope Wood-Mason in Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891), and its characters show that it is in fact a member of the Euryplacidae Stimpson, 1871. The genus had previously been incorrectly classified in the Xanthidae MacLeay, 1838.
Project description:Medial meniscal tears are among the most common injuries to the knee joint. Loss of the meniscus has been linked to increased contact pressures on the adjacent articular cartilage and progression of degenerative changes in the knee. A subset of tears known as "root tears" involves the insertion of the posterior horn of the meniscus to the bone. Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy for root tears led to undesirable outcomes, which prompted surgeons to explore restorative procedures. Multiple repair techniques have been presented with an emphasis placed on initial secure fixation and stimulation of potential healing. We present an arthroscopic-assisted technique for medial meniscal root repair with these goals in mind.
Project description:The mason bee, Osmia pedicornis Cockerell, 1919, which is importantly used as the pollinator, particularly for apples in Korea. We sequenced the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of O. pedicornis as an initial study for species identification and subsequent population genetic study. The size of the incomplete genome was 14,505 bp, excluding the trnA, trnC, and the A + T-rich region that were unable to sequence, but including partially sequenced trnM and srRNA. The genome included typical sets of protein-coding genes (PCGs), rRNA genes, and one non-coding region, tRNAs, excluding two unidentified tRNAs. Although positions of the two tRNAs that were not sequenced are unknown the gene arrangement of O. pedicornis mitogenome has the tRNA arrangement, trnM-trnQ-trnI, at the A + T-rich region and ND2 junction that differed from that of previously published O. excavate, which has trnA-trnQ-trnI arrangement at the junction. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using concatenated sequences of the 13 PCGs genes and the maximum likelihood method with the inclusion of a total of 12 mitogenome sequences belonging to three families in the superfamily Apoidea. Current O. pedicornis was placed as the sister to the O. bicornis, with the highest nodal support. The Apidae and Megachilidae were placed as the sister group, with the placement of Colletidae as the basal lineage for the group with the highest nodal support.
Project description:To accomplish their replication cycle, retroviruses rely heavily on a wide variety of cellular proteins and enzymes, such as helicases. Among these, the DExD-box and DEAH/RHA-box helicases were identified to play crucial roles in their nucleic acid metabolism. This study explores the Betaretrovirus Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (M-PMV), which uniquely encodes a G-patch motif - a feature shared with several endogenous retroviruses. Typically found in eukaryotic RNA-binding proteins, G-patch acts as cofactors for DEAH-box RNA helicases, guiding them to specific sub-cellular sites and activating them in diverse RNA metabolic pathways. Despite its established importance in the betaretrovirus replication cycle, the function of the G-patch still needs to be discovered. Using MS analysis, we identified DHX15, a cellular DEAH-box RNA helicase, as host cell protein macked into mature virions. Further research illuminates the complex interplay between retroviruses and host cellular machinery, highlighting the pivotal role of helicases in viral replication processes.