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Projectile Coulomb excitation experiments were performed at HIE-ISOLDE at CERN with the radioactive ion beams of 140Nd and 142Sm. Ions with an energy of 4:62 MeV/A were impinging on a 1.45 mg/cm2 thick 208Pb target. The γ-rays depopulating the Coulomb-excited states were recorded by the HPGe-array MINIBALL and scattered particles were detected by a double-sided silicon strip detector. Experimental intensities were used for the determination of electromagnetic transition matrix elements. A preliminary result of the B(M1; 2+3 → 2+1) of 140Nd and an upper limit for the case of 142Sm are revealing the main fragments of the proton-neutron mixed-symmetry 2+1;ms states.

The mutations that cause Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) lead to photoreceptor cell death at an early age, causing childhood blindness. To unravel the molecular basis of LCA, we analyzed how [...]

The study presents biochemical and cytological activities of synthetic dictyostatin, induces assembly of purified tubulin more rapidly than paclitaxel. It shows that dictyostatin inhibited the binding of radiolabeled discodermolide to microtubules more potently than any other compound examined, and dictyostatin and discodermolide had equivalent activity as inhibitors of the binding of both radiolabeled epothilone B and paclitaxel to microtubules.

Coplanar waveguide bandpass filters with shunt inductively coupled resonators using high-temperature superconductors (HTS's) on LaAl[O.sub.3] substrates were developed for high packing density, narrow bandwidth, and low power applications. The computer-aided design and measurements on resonators to test weak end-coupling are described in this paper. A coplanar three-pole Chebychev bandpass filter with 1.8% 3-dB bandwidth at 10 GHz and 1.3-dB insertion loss at 77 K was fabricated and measured. The maximum superconducting current density of the filter is evaluated. Index Terms - Superconducting filters.

The role and outcome of the muscarinic M2 acetylcholine receptor (M2R) signaling in healthy and diseased cardiomyocytes is still a matter of debate. Here, we report that the long isoform of the regulator of G protein signaling 3 (RGS3L) functions as a switch in the muscarinic signaling, most likely of the M2R, in primary cardiomyocytes. High levels of RGS3L, as found in heart failure, redirect the Gi-mediated Rac1 activation into a Gi-mediated RhoA/ROCK activation. Functionally, this switch resulted in a reduced production of reactive oxygen species (− 50%) in cardiomyocytes and an inotropic response (+ 18%) in transduced engineered heart tissues. Importantly, we could show that an adeno-associated virus 9-mediated overexpression of RGS3L in rats in vivo, increased the contractility of ventricular strips by maximally about twofold. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that this switch is mediated by a complex formation of RGS3L with the GTPase-activating protein p190RhoGAP, which balances the activity of RhoA and Rac1 by altering its substrate preference in cardiomyocytes. Enhancement of this complex formation could open new possibilities in the regulation of the contractility of the diseased heart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The two farnesyltransferases (Ftases I and II) of the Burkitt lymphoma Daudi cells are separately distinguished by their charge, immunochemical nature, size and divalent cation requirements. The molecular masses of FTase I and FTase II are 90,000 and 250,000 Da, respectively. A beta-subunit is present in FTase II and a alpha/beta-heterodimer in FTase I. Both the FTases exhibit enzymatic performances in the presence of magnesium ions but FTase I has lower performance in contrast to the FTase II in the presence of zinc ions.