| 1. |
- Joss, D. T., et al.
(author)
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Recoil decay tagging of gamma rays in the extremely neutron-deficient nucleus Os-162
- 2004
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In: Physical Review C. Nuclear Physics. - : American Physical Society. - 0556-2813 .- 1089-490X. ; 70:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The neutron-deficient nucleus Os-162, produced in the Cd-106(Ni-58,2n) reaction, has been studied using the JUROGAM gamma-ray spectrometer in conjunction with the RITU gas-filled separator and the GREAT focal plane spectrometer. gamma-ray transitions in Os-162 have been assigned for the first time through the application of the recoil decay tagging technique. The excitation energy of the 2(+) state and the tentative energy of the 8(+) state are discussed in terms of the systematic energy trends as the N=82 shell gap is approached.
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| 2. |
- Diehl, S., et al.
(author)
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Effects of multiple, predator-induced behaviors on short-term producer-grazer dynamics in open systems
- 2000
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In: American Naturalist. ; 156:3, s. 293-313
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We investigated the population consequences of multiple behavioral responses of grazers to a foraging return-predation risk trade-off in an open system consisting of primary producers, grazers, and predators. Using a dynamical model where grazers adjust their foraging activity and emigration rate to the densities of predators and producers, we explored how changes in control variables (predator density, grazer immigration, and producer immigration and carrying capacity) affect the dynamics of producers and grazers at temporal scales shorter than consumer and predator reproduction. The model predicts that producer biomass increases and that both the density of foraging grazers and the feeding rate of predators decrease with predator density. These predictions hold although total (foraging + nonforaging) grazer density may actually increase with predator density. The latter will occur whenever the benefit of higher resource density outweighs the increased risk of predation. In this case. per capita grazer emigration decreases with predator density, which might be misinterpreted as a direct "freezing" response to predators. Increased grazer immigration is predicted to result in decreased producer density and increased densities of both foraging and total grazers, as well as increased grazer emigration and predator feeding rates. Increased producer immigration or carrying capacity should increase producer and grazer densities and predator feeding rate but decrease per capita grazer emigration. Manipulation of predator (trout) densities in a set of nine large (50 m(2)) stream channels produced results in broad agreement with model predictions. Most notably, a positive effect of trout on benthic algal biomass was mainly mediated through grazer behavior (changes in the use of epibenthic surfaces and in emigration rare) rather than through consumptive reductions of grazer numbers by trout.
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| 3. |
- Hammarström, Per, et al.
(author)
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D18G transthyretin is monomeric, aggregation prone, and not detectable in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid : A prescription for central nervous system amyloidosis?
- 2003
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In: Biochemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0006-2960 .- 1520-4995. ; 42:22, s. 6656-6663
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Over 70 transthyretin (TTR) mutations facilitate amyloidosis in tissues other than the central nervous system (CNS). In contrast, the D18G TTR mutation in individuals of Hungarian descent leads to CNS amyloidosis. D18G forms inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli, unlike the other disease-associated TTR variants overexpressed to date. Denaturation and reconstitution of D18G from inclusion bodies afford a folded monomer that is destabilized by 3.1 kcal/mol relative to an engineered monomeric version of WT TTR. Since TTR tetramer dissociation is typically rate limiting for amyloid formation, the monomeric nature of D18G renders its amyloid formation rate 1000-fold faster than WT. It is perplexing that D18G does not lead to severe early onset systemic amyloidosis, given that it is the most destabilized TTR variant characterized to date, more so than variants exhibiting onset in the second decade. Instead, CNS impairment is observed in the fifth decade as the sole pathological manifestation, however, benign systemic deposition is also observed. Analysis of heterozygote D18G patient's serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) detects only WT TTR, indicating that D18G is either rapidly degraded postsecretion or degraded within the cell prior to secretion, consistent with its inability to form hybrid tetramers with WT TTR. The nondetectable levels of D18G TTR in human plasma explain the absence of an early onset systemic disease. CNS disease may result owing to the sensitivity of the CNS to lower levels of D18G aggregate. Alternatively, or in addition, we speculate that a fraction of D18G made by the choroid plexus can be transiently tetramerized by the locally high thyroxine (T4) concentration, chaperoning it out into the CSF where it undergoes dissociation and amyloidogenesis due to the low T4 CSF concentration. Selected small molecule tetramer stabilizers can transform D18G from a monomeric aggregation-prone state to a nonamyloidogenic tetramer, which may prove to be a useful therapeutic strategy against TTR-associated CNS amyloidosis.
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