Selective phosphorylation of adult tau isoforms in mature hippocampal neurons exposed to fibrillar A beta

How senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are linked represents a major gap in our understanding of the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease. We characterized a hippocampal neuronal culture system in which tau undergoes maturation in vivo; rat neurons maintained in culture for more than 3 weeks replicated the splicing and phosphorylation changes that tau undergoes upon maturation in situ. Using this model system, we induced an Alzheimer-like neuritic dystrophy following the application of fibrillar beta-amyloid. The dystrophy consisted of focal distortions and swellings within the neurites and an altered phosphorylation of the adult tau isoforms. Fibrillar beta-amyloid induced the concomitant activation of MAP kinase and GSK3 beta. The aberrant activation of several signaling pathways may lead to the abnormal phosphorylation of tau and neuritic degeneration.     

The inactivated plasmid inititator protein RepC/RepC* may have a regulatory role

During replication of the plasmid pT181, the initiator protein RepC is modified by the addition of an oligodeoxynucleotide, giving rise to a new form, RepC*. Here we show that during in vitro replication, RepC* is radioactively labeled, suggesting that the source of the RepC* oligodeoxynucleotide is the newly synthesized pT181 DNA. The RepC/RepC* heterodimer retains its ability to bind the pT181 double-strand origin and, therefore, it may act as a competitive inhibitor of the RepC homodimer during replication.     

Semi-Markov models with an application to power-plant reliabilityanalysis

Systems with, (1) a finite number of states, and (2) random holding times in each state, are often modeled using semi-Markov processes. For general holding-time distributions, closed formulas for transition probabilities and average availability are usually not available. Recursion procedures are derived to approximate these quantities for arbitrarily distributed holding-times; these recursion procedures are then used to fit the semi-Markov model with Weibull distributed holding-times to actual power-plant operating data. The results are compared to the more familiar Markov models; the semi-Markov model using Weibull holding-times fits the data remarkably well. In particular comparing the transition probabilities shows that the probability of the system being in the state of refitting converges more quickly to its limiting value as compared to convergence in the Markov model. This could be because the distribution of the holding-times in this state is rather unlike the exponential distribution. The more flexible semi-Markov model with Weibull holding-times describes more accurately the operating characteristics of power-plants, and produces a better fit to the actual operating data     

Source separation using a criterion based on second-orderstatistics

It is often assumed that blind separation of dynamically mixed sources cannot be done with second-order statistics. It is shown that separation of dynamically mixed sources indeed can be performed using second-order statistics only. A criterion based on second-order statistics for the purpose of separating crosswise mixtures is stated. The criterion is used in order to derive a gradient-based separation algorithm, as well as a Newton-type separation algorithm. The uniqueness of the solution representing the separation is also investigated. This reveals that (1) the channel system is parameter identifiable under weak conditions, and (2) if the sources have the same color, there exists at most two solutions. The local convergence behavior of the proposed algorithm is studied and reveals a sufficient condition for local convergence. Furthermore, the estimates of the channel system are shown to be consistent or to locally minimize the criterion     

Electric field effects on roto-vibrational transitions of13CD3OH1

We used a Stark-Optoacoustic cell and hybrid waveguide resonators to perform an Infrared and Far Infrared Stark Spectroscopy study on some transitions of¹³CD₃OH. Different behaviours of the transitions in the presence of a d.c. electric field were observed. The Stark splittings of six FIR laser lines ranging from 34 to 136 MHz/kVcm^?1 were determined. The analysis of the behaviour of the IR and FIR transitions in the presence of the external electric fields gives important and exclusive information on the levels involved in the transitions.     

Recovery of SDS-protein and DNA using commercial automated gel electrophoresis apparatus

Forty-seven children afflicted with acute leukemia were studied at the Tata Memorial Hospital Bombay to record the occurrence of oral manifestations prior to and during chemotherapy. Lymphadenopathy was the most frequent single finding suggestive of leukemia during head and neck examination. Gingival abnormalities, bleeding gums and oral mucosal pallor were the other findings on initial oral examination. Due to immunosuppression caused by the chemotherapy drugs oral mucosal ulcerations, uncontrolled herpes, candidiasis and pseudomoniasis were observed.     

Preparation of SiC particles coated with alumina hydrate: Effect of reaction condition on particle coalescence

Alumina-hydrate-coated SiC particles were prepared via a homogeneous precipitation method using urea, and the conditions for uniform coating and less coalescence of the particles were investigated. Coalescence of coated particles could be said to occur by collision and agglomeration followed by deposition of alumina hydrate on the agglomerated particles. Coalescence of coated particles was suppressed by use of low reaction temperature, low concentration of aluminium sulfate, high concentration of urea, intensive stirring, and a flow reactor.