Contact complete integrability

Complete integrability in a symplectic setting means the existence of a Lagrangian foliation leaf-wise preserved by the dynamics. In the paper we describe complete integrability in a contact set-up as a more subtle structure: a flag of two foliations, Legendrian and co-Legendrian, and a holonomy-invariant transverse measure of the former in the latter. This turns out to be equivalent to the existence of a canonical $\R\ltimes \R^{n-1}$ structure on the leaves of the co-Legendrian foliation. Further, the above structure implies the existence of $n$ contact fields preserving a special contact 1-form, thus providing the geometric framework and establishing equivalence with previously known definitions of contact integrability. We also show that contact completely integrable systems are solvable in quadratures. We present an example of contact complete integrability: the billiard system inside an ellipsoid in pseudo-Euclidean space, restricted to the space of oriented null geodesics. We describe a surprising acceleration mechanism for closed light-like billiard trajectories

Molecular basis of oocyte-paracrine signalling that promotes granulosa cell proliferation

Copyright © 2006 Company of BiologistsOocytes regulate follicle growth by secreting paracrine growth factors that act on neighbouring granulosa cells (GCs). Those factors identified to date are mainly members of the transforming growth factor-ß (TGFß) superfamily, but little is known about which specific receptor/signalling system(s) they employ. This study was conducted to determine the requisite pathways utilised by oocytes to promote GC proliferation. We used an established oocyte-secreted mitogen bioassay, where denuded mouse oocytes are co-cultured with mural GCs. Oocytes, growth differentiation factor-9 (GDF9), TGFß1 and activin-A all promoted GC DNA synthesis, but bone-morphogenetic protein 6 (BMP6) did not. Subsequently, we tested the capacity of various TGFß superfamily receptor ectodomains (ECD) to neutralise oocyte- or specific growth factor-stimulated GC proliferation. The BMP type-II receptor (BMPR-II) ECD antagonised oocyte and GDF9 bioactivity dose-dependently, but had no or minimal effect on TGFß1 and activin-A bioactivity, demonstrating its specificity. The TGFßR-II, activinR-IIA and activinR-IIB ECDs all failed to neutralise oocyte- or GDF9-stimulated GC DNA synthesis, whereas they did antagonise the activity of their respective native ligands. An activin receptor-like kinase (ALK) 4/5/7 inhibitor, SB431542, also antagonised both oocyte and GDF9 bioactivity in a dose-dependent manner. Consistent with these findings, oocytes, GDF9 and TGFß1 all activated SMAD2/3 reporter constructs in transfected GC, and led to phosphorylation of SMAD2 proteins in treated cells. Surprisingly, oocytes did not activate the SMAD1/5/8 pathway in transfected GCs although exogenous BMP6 did. This study indicates that oocyte paracrine factors primarily utilise a similar signalling pathway first identified for GDF9 that employs an unusual combination of TGFß superfamily receptors, the BMPR-II and a SMAD2/3 stimulatory ALK (4, 5 or 7), for transmitting their mitogenic actions in GC. This cell-signalling pathway may also have relevance in the hypothalamic-pituitary axis and in germ-somatic cell interactions in the testis.Robert B. Gilchrist, Lesley J. Ritter, Samu Myllymaa, Noora Kaivo-Oja, Rebecca A. Dragovic, Theresa E. Hickey, Olli Ritvos and David G. Mottershea

Color Confinement, Quark Pair Creation and Dynamical Chiral-Symmetry Breaking in the Dual Ginzburg-Landau Theory

We study the color confinement, the $q$-$\bar q$ pair creation and the dynamical chiral-symmetry breaking of nonperturbative QCD by using the dual Ginzburg-Landau theory, where QCD-monopole condensation plays an essential role on the nonperturbative dynamics in the infrared region. As a result of the dual Meissner effect, the linear static quark potential, which characterizes the quark confinement, is obtained in the long distance within the quenched approximation. We obtain a simple expression for the string tension similar to the energy per unit length of a vortex in the superconductivity physics. The dynamical effect of light quarks on the quark confining potential is investigated in terms of the infrared screening effect due to the $q$-$\bar q$ pair creation or the cut of the hadronic string. The screening length of the potential is estimated by using the Schwinger formula for the $q$-$\bar q$ pair creation. We introduce the corresponding infrared cutoff to the strong long-range correlation factor in the gluon propagator as a dynamical effect of light quarks, and obtain a compact formula of the quark potential including the screening effect in the infrared region. We investigate the dynamical chiral-symmetry breaking by using the Schwinger-Dyson equation, where the gluon propagator includes the nonperturbative effect related toComment: 37 pages, plain TeX (using `phyzzx' macro), (( 8 figures - available on request from [email protected] )

Role of genetic polymorphisms of drug metabolising enzymes in idiosyncratic drug reactions In vitro to in vivo translation

Vermeulen, N.P.E. [Promotor]Commandeur, J.N.M. [Copromotor

The uncommonness of urban commons in Central and Eastern European countries

This paper looks at the uncommonness of open space Urban Commons, i.e., squares, playgrounds, plazas, etc., in Central and Eastern European Countries. Such spaces are complex urban commons in terms of governance and are often contested in the frame of urbanisation and market-led processes of city-making, as well as for what they represent as constructs of values and identity. The four open space Urban Commons examples (respectively in Tirana, Podgorica, Gdansk and Moscow) analysed in this paper showcase successes and failures of [co-]governance, which reflect the varying development context in each country, the respective local governments’ roles, and the different pathways that citizens have taken towards city space [re]appropriation in the frame of post-socialism and neoliberalism.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Computerised interpretation of fetal heart rate during labour (INFANT) : a randomised controlled trial

Background: Continuous electronic fetal heart-rate monitoring is widely used during labour, and computerised interpretation could increase its usefulness. We aimed to establish whether the addition of decision-support software to assist in the interpretation of cardiotocographs affected the number of poor neonatal outcomes. Methods: In this unmasked randomised controlled trial, we recruited women in labour aged 16 years or older having continuous electronic fetal monitoring, with a singleton or twin pregnancy, and at 35 weeks' gestation or more at 24 maternity units in the UK and Ireland. They were randomly assigned (1:1) to decision support with the INFANT system or no decision support via a computer-generated stratified block randomisation schedule. The primary outcomes were poor neonatal outcome (intrapartum stillbirth or early neonatal death excluding lethal congenital anomalies, or neonatal encephalopathy, admission to the neonatal unit within 24 h for >= 48 h with evidence of feeding difficulties, respiratory illness, or encephalopathy with evidence of compromise at birth), and developmental assessment at age 2 years in a subset of surviving children. Analyses were done by intention to treat. This trial is completed and is registered with the ISRCTN Registry, number 98680152. Findings: Between Jan 6, 2010, and Aug 31, 2013, 47 062 women were randomly assigned (23 515 in the decision-support group and 23 547 in the no-decision-support group) and 46 042 were analysed (22 987 in the decision-support group and 23 055 in the no-decision-support group). We noted no difference in the incidence of poor neonatal outcome between the groups-172 (0.7%) babies in the decision-support group compared with 171 (0.7%) babies in the no-decision-support group (adjusted risk ratio 1.01, 95% CI 0.82-1.25). At 2 years, no significant differences were noted in terms of developmental assessment. Interpretation: Use of computerised interpretation of cardiotocographs in women who have continuous electronic fetal monitoring in labour does not improve clinical outcomes for mothers or babies

Monoubiquitination of syntaxin 3 leads to retrieval from the basolateral plasma membrane and facilitates cargo recruitment to exosomes

Syntaxin 3 (Stx3), a SNARE protein located and functioning at the apical plasma membrane of epithelial cells, is required for epithelial polarity. A fraction of Stx3 is localized to late endosomes/lysosomes, although how it traffics there and its function in these organelles is unknown. Here we report that Stx3 undergoes monoubiquitination in a conserved polybasic domain. Stx3 present at the basolateral—but not the apical—plasma membrane is rapidly endocytosed, targeted to endosomes, internalized into intraluminal vesicles (ILVs), and excreted in exosomes. A nonubiquitinatable mutant of Stx3 (Stx3-5R) fails to enter this pathway and leads to the inability of the apical exosomal cargo protein GPRC5B to enter the ILV/exosomal pathway. This suggests that ubiquitination of Stx3 leads to removal from the basolateral membrane to achieve apical polarity, that Stx3 plays a role in the recruitment of cargo to exosomes, and that the Stx3-5R mutant acts as a dominant-negative inhibitor. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) acquires its membrane in an intracellular compartment and we show that Stx3-5R strongly reduces the number of excreted infectious viral particles. Altogether these results suggest that Stx3 functions in the transport of specific proteins to apical exosomes and that HCMV exploits this pathway for virion excretion

Svetlana Kana Radević: Arhitektka socialističnega modernizma

The book ('Our Women Scientists. How women co-created science in Yugoslavia') is conceived as a collection of articles about women scientists who have taken their field “one step further”. By this we mean women researchers, professors, innovators, authors of a significant scientific breakthrough or discovery, a patent, or women who have introduced new practices and methods in their academic field, founded an institute or department, or created the conditions for the development of new scientific disciplines. The professional biographies of the 27 women presented in this book show what the pursuit of science actually means. The women’s scientific contribution is narrated through their work and their life stories, because the professional/public can never be separated from the private/intimate. The question of who does research can never be separated from what they research and how they do it. The essays also tell the story of the broader social contribution that women scientists have made, which goes far beyond narrowly defined scientific work. In this way, the book also aims to change the understanding of what science is as a process of knowledge production, as human labor, as social practice, and as vocation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A research-informed, school-based professional development workshop programme to promote dialogic teaching with interactive technologies

The study reported in this article investigated the influence of a researchinformed, school-based, professional development workshop programme on the quality of classroom dialogue using the interactive whiteboard (IWB). The programme aimed to develop a dialogic approach to teaching and learning mediated through more interactive uses of the IWB, through a model of active participation of students, collaborative knowledgebuilding, learning through inquiry and evaluating ideas. Ten professional development workshops based on video-stimulated discussions of practices were co-developed and conducted with an ‘ambassador’ within each of five school clusters. In total, 80 teachers from 15 schools, ranging from infant to secondary schools, participated. Data were collected through surveys, semi-structured interviews with teachers and ambassadors, teachers’ posters created during workshop activities, lesson observations and a portfolio of dialogic classroom practices, mediated by the IWB. Findings strongly support the potential of this ambassador-led workshop model to involve teachers in developing their understandings of classroom dialogue and devising new approaches to support it. The research additionally confirms the potential of the IWB as a tool to support dialogic teaching.This work was supported by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Pilot Programme from February-August 2014. It built on previous work carried out as part of a personal Research Fellowship programme of work by Sara Hennessy in 2007-2010 under ESRC Grant RES063270081; the 'IWBs and Dialogic Teaching' project (http://dialogueiwb.educ.cam.ac.uk/) was conducted in collaboration with Neil Mercer and Paul Warwick