Electron-lattice energy relaxation in laser-excited thin-film Au-insulator heterostructures studied by ultrafast MeV electron diffraction.

We apply time-resolved MeV electron diffraction to study the electron-lattice energy relaxation in thin film Au-insulator heterostructures. Through precise measurements of the transient Debye-Waller-factor, the mean-square atomic displacement is directly determined, which allows to quantitatively follow the temporal evolution of the lattice temperature after short pulse laser excitation. Data obtained over an extended range of laser fluences reveal an increased relaxation rate when the film thickness is reduced or the Au-film is capped with an additional insulator top-layer.

Neuronal oscillations reveal the processes underlying intentional compared to incidental learning in children and young adults.

This EEG study investigated the neuronal processes during intentional compared to incidental learning in young adults and two groups of children aged 10 and 7 years. Theta (3-8 Hz) and alpha (10-16 Hz) neuronal oscillations were analyzed to compare encoding processes during an intentional and an incidental encoding task. In all three age groups, both encoding conditions were associated with an increase in event-related theta activity.

Simultaneous silencing of isoamylases ISA1, ISA2 and ISA3 by multi-target RNAi in potato tubers leads to decreased starch content and an early sprouting phenotype.

Isoamylases hydrolyse (1-6)-alpha-D-glucosidic linkages in starch and are involved in both starch granule formation and starch degradation. In plants, three isoamylase isoforms with distinct functions in starch synthesis (ISA1 and ISA2) and degradation (ISA3) have been described. Here, we created transgenic potato plants with simultaneously decreased expression of all three isoamylases using a chimeric RNAi construct targeting all three isoforms.

Motor control of feeding behavior.

The precise coordination of body parts is essential for survival and behavior of higher organisms. While progress has been made towards the identification of central mechanisms coordinating limb movement, only limited knowledge exists regarding the generation and execution of sequential motor action patterns at the level of individual motoneurons. Here we use Drosophila proboscis extension as a model system for a reaching-like behavior.

Distinct Features of Cyanophage-encoded T-type Phycobiliprotein Lyase ΦCpeT: THE ROLE OF AUXILIARY METABOLIC GENES.

Auxiliary metabolic genes (AMG) are commonly found in the genomes of phages that infect cyanobacteria and increase the fitness of the cyanophage. AMGs are often homologs of host genes, and also typically related to photosynthesis. For example, the Φ gene in the cyanophage P-HM1 encodes a putative phycobiliprotein lyase related to cyanobacterial T-type lyases, which facilitate attachment of linear tetrapyrrole chromophores to Cys-155 of phycobiliprotein β-subunits, suggesting that ΦCpeT may also help assemble light-harvesting phycobiliproteins during infection.

Too much to handle - how gaining chromosomes destabilizes the genome.

Most eukaryotic organisms are diploid, with 2 chromosome sets in their nuclei. Whole chromosomal aneuploidy, a deviation from multiples of the haploid chromosome number, arises from chromosome segregation errors and often has detrimental consequences for cells. In humans, numerical aneuploidy severely impairs embryonic development and the rare survivors develop disorders characterized by multiple pathologies.

New biosynthetic pathway for pink pigments from uncultured oceanic viruses.

The pink open-chain tetrapyrrole pigment phycoerythrobilin (PEB) is employed by marine cyanobacteria, red algae and cryptophytes as a light-harvesting chromophore in phycobiliproteins. Genes encoding biosynthesis proteins for PEB have also been discovered in cyanophages, viruses that infect cyanobacteria, and mimic host pigment biosynthesis with the exception of PebS which combines the enzymatic activities of two host enzymes. In this study, we have identified novel members of the PEB biosynthetic enzyme families, heme oxygenases and ferredoxin-dependent bilin reductases.

A gapless genome sequence of the fungus Botrytis cinerea.

Following earlier incomplete and fragmented versions of a genome sequence for the grey mould Botrytis cinerea, a gapless, near-finished genome sequence for B. cinerea strain B05.10 is reported.

The presence of extra chromosomes leads to genomic instability.

Aneuploidy is a hallmark of cancer and underlies genetic disorders characterized by severe developmental defects, yet the molecular mechanisms explaining its effects on cellular physiology remain elusive. Here we show, using a series of human cells with defined aneuploid karyotypes, that gain of a single chromosome increases genomic instability. Next-generation sequencing and SNP-array analysis reveal accumulation of chromosomal rearrangements in aneuploids, with break point junction patterns suggestive of replication defects.

Symmetry-Protected Topological Phase in a One-Dimensional Correlated Bosonic Model with a Synthetic Spin-Orbit Coupling.

By performing large-scale density-matrix renormalization group simulations, we investigate a one-dimensional correlated bosonic lattice model with a synthetic spin-orbit coupling realized in recent experiments. In the insulating regime, this model exhibits a symmetry-protected topological phase. This symmetry-protected topological phase is stabilized by time-reversal symmetry and it is identified as a Haldane phase.

Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Thrombotic Effects of the Fungal Metabolite Galiellalactone in Apolipoprotein E-Deficient Mice.

Patients suffering from chronic inflammatory diseases have an increased mortality risk resulting from cardiovascular disorders due to enhanced atherosclerotic and thrombotic events. Until now, it is not completely understood in which way an abnormal expression of pro-inflammatory mediators contributes to this elevated cardiovascular risk, but there is a need for new drugs that on the one hand suppress the expression of pro-inflammatory mediators and on the other hand inhibit arterial platelet adhesion. Thus, we analyzed the anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic capacity of the fungal metabolite Galiellalactone in atherosclerosis-prone apolipoprotein E-deficient mice.

Sometimes we have to intentionally focus on the details: Incidental encoding and perceptual change decrease recognition memory performance and the ERP correlate of recollection.

Prior studies suggest that memory retrieval is based on two independent processes: Recollection and familiarity. Here, we investigated the role of incidental and intentional encoding, and specifically whether perceptual changes between study and test affects behavioral and electrophysiological correlates of both retrieval processes. During retrieval, participants distinguished between identical and changed exemplars as well as novel distractors.

Purification and many-body localization in cold atomic gases.

We propose to observe many-body localization in cold atomic gases by realizing a Bose-Hubbard chain with binary disorder and studying its nonequilibrium dynamics. In particular, we show that measuring the difference in occupation between even and odd sites, starting from a prepared density-wave state, provides clear signatures of localization. Furthermore, we confirm as hallmarks of the many-body localized phase a logarithmic increase of the entanglement entropy in time and Poissonian level statistics.

Dysfunctional cortical inhibition in adult ADHD: neural correlates in auditory event-related potentials.

In recent times, the relevance of an accurate diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults has been the focus of several studies. No longer considered a pathology exclusive to children and adolescents, and taking into account its social implications, developing enhanced support tools for the current diagnostic procedure becomes a priority. Here we present a method for the objective assessment of ADHD in adults using chirp-evoked, paired auditory late responses (ALRs) combined with a two-dimensional ALR denoising scheme to extract correlates of intracortical inhibition.

ERPs dissociate proactive and reactive control: evidence from a task-switching paradigm with informative and uninformative cues.

According to the dual mechanism of control (DMC) framework, cognitive control can be recruited proactively to prevent response conflict when advance preparation is feasible or is up-regulated to overcome response conflict after it is detected. This study aimed at empirically dissociating proactive and reactive control processes proposed by the DMC and identifying corresponding event-related potential (ERP) correlates. Behavioral and electrophysiological indices of cognitive control were measured during a task-switch paradigm with or without informative advance cues, in which proactive control was feasible or not.

The fungal lactone oxacyclododecindione is a potential new therapeutic substance in the treatment of lupus-associated kidney disease.

Recently oxacyclododecindione (Oxa), a macrocyclic lactone isolated from the imperfect fungus Exserohilum rostratum, has been described as a potent transcription inhibitor of inducible proinflammatory and profibrotic genes in cell culture models. As kidney disease in systemic lupus erythematosus is characterized by aberrant expression of inflammatory mediators and infiltration of immune cells, we investigated the effect of Oxa in MRL-Fas(lpr) mice, a model of systemic lupus erythematosus. These mice develop a spontaneous T-cell and macrophage-dependent autoimmune disease including severe glomerulonephritis that shares features with human lupus.

Closed and open system dynamics in a fermionic chain with a microscopically specified bath: relaxation and thermalization.

We study thermalization in a one-dimensional quantum system consisting of a noninteracting fermionic chain with each site of the chain coupled to an additional bath site. Using a density matrix renormalization group algorithm we investigate the time evolution of the observables in the chain after a quantum quench. For low densities we show that the intermediate time dynamics can be quantitatively described by a system of coupled equations of motion.

Longer term safety of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors are oral antidiabetic agents that hold the potential of slowing the progress of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Their long-term safety is still a subject of debate. A systematic review of randomized, controlled trials was undertaken to comprehensively profile the safety of chronic treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus with DPP-4 inhibitors.

A multiple PCR-primer approach to access the microeukaryotic diversity in environmental samples.

The Cariaco Basin off the Venezuelan coast in the Caribbean Sea is the world's largest truly marine body of anoxic water. The first rRNA survey of microbial eukaryotes in this environment revealed a number of novel lineages, but sampled only a fraction of the entire diversity. The goal of this study was to significantly improve recovery of protistan rRNA from the Basin.

Mutagenic and cytotoxic effects of immunosuppressive drugs on human lymphocyte cultures.

Objectives: Immunosuppressive drugs such as cyclosporine A, mycophenolate mofetil, tacrolimus, and the immunosuppressive agent sirolimus are used effectively to prevent immunologic rejection after solid-organ transplantation. The most serious complication among patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapy is the risk of developing cancer. The question is whether the drugs used have mutagenic properties and so contribute to increased cancer risk.