Binding of smoothelin-like 1 to tropomyosin and calmodulin is mutually exclusive and regulated by phosphorylation

BACKGROUND: The smoothelin-like 1 protein (SMTNL1) can associate with tropomyosin (Tpm) and calmodulin (CaM), two proteins essential to the smooth muscle contractile process. SMTNL1 is phosphorylated at Ser301 by protein kinase A during calcium desensitization in smooth muscle, yet the effect of SMTNL1 phosphorylation on Tpm- and CaM-binding has yet to be investigated. RESULTS: Using pull down studies with Tpm-Sepharose and CaM-Sepharose, we examined the interplay between Tpm binding, CaM binding, phosphorylation of SMTNL1 and calcium concentration. Phosphorylation greatly enhanced the ability of SMTNL1 to associate with Tpm in vitro; surface plasmon resonance yielded a 10-fold enhancement in K (D) value with phosphorylation. The effect on CaM binding is more complex and varies with the availability of calcium. CONCLUSIONS: Combining both CaM and Tpm with SMTNL1 shows that the binding to both is mutually exclusive. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12858-017-0080-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Regional Pollution due to Biomass Burning in South America

The present study analyses a low level jet event that occurred inconjunction with biomass burning and focuses on the impact onsoutheastern South America. The aerosol transport is analyzed usingoutputs of the CATT-BRAMS modeling system. The relationships betweenthe low level jet and the smoke plume pattern and concentrations are shown.The present study analyses a low level jet event that occurred inconjunction with biomass burning and focuses on the impact onsoutheastern South America. The aerosol transport is analyzed usingoutputs of the CATT-BRAMS modeling system. The relationships betweenthe low level jet and the smoke plume pattern and concentrations are shown

British Romanticism and the Global Climate

As a result of developments in the meteorological and geological sciences, the Romantic period saw the gradual emergence of attempts to understand the climate as a dynamic global system that could potentially be affected by human activity. This chapter examines textual responses to climate disruption cause by the Laki eruption of 1783 and the Tambora eruption of 1815. During the Laki haze, writers such as Horace Walpole, Gilbert White, and William Cowper found in Milton a powerful way of understanding the entanglements of culture and climate at a time of national and global crisis. Apocalyptic discourse continued to resonate during the Tambora crisis, as is evident in eyewitness accounts of the eruption, in the utopian predictions of John Barrow and Eleanor Anne Porden, and in the grim speculations of Byron’s ‘Darkness’. Romantic writing offers a powerful analogue for thinking about climate change in the Anthropocene

Bacterial rot of lettuce caused by Pseudomonas cichorii in Turkey

[No abstract available

Southern South American Long-Distance Pollen Dispersal and Its Relationship with Atmospheric Circulation

This paper addresses the study of synoptic-scale meteorological conditions that favor long-range pollen transport in southern South America combining airborne pollen counts, modeled three-dimensional backward trajectories, and synoptic and surface meteorological data. Alnus pollen transport trajectories indicate origins predominantly in montane forests of the Yungas between 1500 and 2800 m altitude. The South American Low-Level Jet is the main meteorological feature that explains 64% of the detected pollen arrival at the target site. Podocarpus and Nothofagus pollen instead are linked primarily to the widespread Subantartic forests in southern Patagonia. Their transport patterns are consistent with previous studies, which show an association with synoptic patterns related to cold front passages carrying pollen in the free atmosphere (27% for Nothofagus and 25% for Podocarpus). These results show the significance of understanding long-distance pollen transport for disciplines such as climate change reconstruction and agriculture, emphasizing the need for further research to refine atmospheric circulation models and refine interpretations of past vegetation and climate dynamics

Diversidad polínica atmosférica en la ciudad de Sunchales (Santa Fe, Argentina): agosto – noviembre 2012, agosto – diciembre 2013

Introducción y objetivos: Las afecciones respiratorias, como el asma, la rinitis y las alergias, están aumentando en todo el mundo, en asociación a una mayor presencia en el aire de distintos agentes etiológicos desencadenantes, de los cuales, el polen es uno de los más importantes. Estas evidencias muestran la importancia de monitorear sus concentraciones con fines preventivos o de posible control. Este trabajo reporta la incidencia y prevalencia del contenido polínico de la atmósfera y los tipos alergénicos presentes en el aire de la ciudad de Sunchales (Santa Fe, Argentina) durante dos períodos de estudio (agosto – noviembre 2012, agosto – diciembre 2013) con el objetivo de presentar un relevamiento preliminar para la localidad. M&amp;M: Las muestras se colectaron con una trampa Burkard ubicada a 1,3 m sobre el suelo con un volumen de aspiración de 0,6 m3 h-1. Se analizaron con microscopio óptico a 400x, recorriendo la totalidad del preparado. Así se determinó la concentración diaria (gr m-3) para los tipos polínicos reconocidos. El reconocimiento de los mismos y su alergenicidad se determinó mediante bibliografía especializada.  Resultados &amp; Conclusiones: En comparación con otras ciudades del país, el registro es rico en especies, aunque la concentración diaria para el período analizado es baja. La mayoría del polen capturado (cerca de 70%) corresponde a sólo cuatro tipos polínicos (Cupressaceae, Moraceae, Poaceae y Urticaceae) reportados en la bibliografía como alergénicos.</jats:p

Assessment of the unified analytical solution of the steady-state atmospheric diffusion equation for stable conditions

In this work, the performance of a unified formal analytical solution for the simulation of atmospheric diffusion problems under stable conditions is evaluated. The eigenquantities required by the formal analytical solution are obtained by solving numerically the associated eigenvalue problem based on a newly developed algorithm capable of being used in high orders and without missing eigenvalues. The performance of the formal analytical solution is evaluated by comparing the converged predicted results against the observed values in the stable runs of the Prairie Grass experiment as well as the simulated results available in the literature. It was found that the developed algorithm was efficient and that the convergence rate depends on the stability condition and the considered parametrizations for wind speed and turbulence. The comparisons among predicted and observed concentrations showed a good agreement and indicate that the considered dispersion formulations are appropriate to simulate dispersion under slightly to moderate atmospheric stable conditions.</jats:p