Strained silicon as a new electro-optic material

For decades, silicon has been the material of choice for mass fabrication of electronics. This is in contrast to photonics, where passive optical components in silicon have only recently been realized. The slow progress within silicon optoelectronics, where electronic and optical functionalities can be integrated into monolithic components based on the versatile silicon platform, is due to the limited active optical properties of silicon. Recently, however, a continuous-wave Raman silicon laser was demonstrated; if an effective modulator could also be realized in silicon, data processing and transmission could potentially be performed by all-silicon electronic and optical components. Here we have discovered that a significant linear electro-optic effect is induced in silicon by breaking the crystal symmetry. The symmetry is broken by depositing a straining layer on top of a silicon waveguide, and the induced nonlinear coefficient, chi(2) approximately 15 pm V(-1), makes it possible to realize a silicon electro-optic modulator. The strain-induced linear electro-optic effect may be used to remove a bottleneck in modern computers by replacing the electronic bus with a much faster optical alternative.     

Mammalian MAP kinase signalling cascades

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are important signal transducing enzymes, unique to eukaryotes, that are involved in many facets of cellular regulation. Initial research concentrated on defining the components and organization of MAPK signalling cascades, but recent studies have begun to shed light on the physiological functions of these cascades in the control of gene expression, cell proliferation and programmed cell death.     

IKKalpha controls formation of the epidermis independently of NF-kappaB

The IKKalpha and IKKbeta catalytic subunits of IkappaB kinase (IKK) share 51% amino-acid identity and similar biochemical activities: they both phosphorylate IkappaB proteins at serines that trigger their degradation. IKKalpha and IKKbeta differ, however, in their physiological functions. IKKbeta and the IKKgamma/NEMO regulatory subunit are required for activating NF-kappaB by pro-inflammatory stimuli and preventing apoptosis induced by tumour necrosis factor-alpha (refs 5,6,7,8,9,10,11). IKKalpha is dispensable for these functions, but is essential for developing the epidermis and its derivatives. The mammalian epidermis is composed of the basal, spinous, granular and cornified layers. Only basal keratinocytes can proliferate and give rise to differentiated derivatives, which on full maturation undergo enucleation to generate the cornified layer. Curiously, keratinocyte-specific inhibition of NF-kappaB, as in Ikkalpha-/- mice, results in epidermal thickening but does not block terminal differentiation. It has been proposed that the epidermal defect in Ikkalpha-/- mice may be due to the failed activation of NF-kappaB. Here we show that the unique function of IKKalpha in control of keratinocyte differentiation is not exerted through its IkappaB kinase activity or through NF-kappaB. Instead, IKKalpha controls production of a soluble factor that induces keratinocyte differentiation.     

Researcher–Practitioner Partnering in Industry-Funded Participatory Action Research

This paper reflects on our experiences with researcher–practitioner partnering within an industry-funded Participatory Action Research (PAR) project. We find that the nature of partnering in our industry-funded engagement differs from that of traditional, non-industry funded PAR research. The distribution of power on the industry-funded academic-practitioner research team, whilst fairly equitable at the outset of the project, shifted in favour of the practitioner partners with the progressive spillover of credibility and knowledge from the academic to practitioner partners during the course of the engagement. Adhering to recommendations for academic-practitioner research teams, in our experience, does not guarantee successful partnering according to PAR due to the spillover problem. As the academic partners' power base erodes, the discretion to preserve the integrity of the PAR method is increasingly placed in the hands of the practitioner partners.     

Formation of stable epialleles and their paramutation-like interaction in tetraploid Arabidopsis thaliana

Polyploidization is found frequently in plants, and species previously considered to be diploid may show remnants of earlier polyploidization events on closer inspection of their genomes. The success of polyploids may lie in increased genetic redundancy supporting subsequent genetic diversification. Although doubling the genome does not generate diversity per se, recent studies show that rapid genomic rearrangements and changes in DNA modification and gene expression patterns are associated with polyploid formation. But recessive modifications will not become phenotypically apparent in early polyploid generations. Here we show that epialleles in tetraploid plants (but not in diploids) interact in trans and lead to heritable gene silencing persisting after segregation from the inactivating allele. This mechanism, resembling paramutation, leads to the establishment of functional epigenetic homozygosity and, thus, to conversion of new recessive alleles into traits expressed in early polyploid generations. Such interactions probably contribute to rapid adaptation and evolution of polyploid plant species.     

Hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia is caused by mutations in TRPM6, a new member of the TRPM gene family

Magnesium is an essential ion involved in many biochemical and physiological processes. Homeostasis of magnesium levels is tightly regulated and depends on the balance between intestinal absorption and renal excretion. However, little is known about specific proteins mediating transepithelial magnesium transport. Using a positional candidate gene approach, we identified mutations in TRPM6 (also known as CHAK2), encoding TRPM6, in autosomal-recessive hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia (HSH, OMIM 602014), previously mapped to chromosome 9q22 (ref. 3). The TRPM6 protein is a new member of the long transient receptor potential channel (TRPM) family and is highly similar to TRPM7 (also known as TRP-PLIK), a bifunctional protein that combines calcium- and magnesium-permeable cation channel properties with protein kinase activity. TRPM6 is expressed in intestinal epithelia and kidney tubules. These findings indicate that TRPM6 is crucial for magnesium homeostasis and implicate a TRPM family member in human disease.     

Levi-Civitasche Parallelverschiebung,affiner Zusammenhang, Übertragungsprinzip: 1916/17–1922/23

Zusammenfassung Der Riemannschen Geometrie fehlte lange Zeit ein zentraler Begriff, nämlich der des Parallelismus. Als Einstein 1916 seiner allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie die Riemannsche Geometrie in Form des damaligen Tensorkalküls (Ricci-Kalkül) zugrunde legte, war dieser ein rein formaler Kalkül ohne geometrische Interpretationen. Diesen Mangel an Geometrie behob die Einführung der Parallelverschiebung, die darüber hinaus auch eine anschaulichere, geometrische Erklärung des Krümmungstensors ermöglichte.Ausgehend von der Levi-Civitaschen Parallelverschiebung schuf Weyl 1918 den für die zukünftige Entwicklung so bedeutenden Begriff des affinen Zusammenhangs, den Schouten 1922 zum Übertragungsprinzip erweiterte. Aus den alten Christoffelsymbolen wurden die neuen , die in Zukunft sowohl in der Relativitätstheorie (Feldtheorie) als auch in der Differentialgeometrie eine fundamentale Rolle spielten. Aus der Differentialgeometrie wurden die (verschiedenen Arten von) Differentialgeometrien, die durch die vorgegebenen Übertragungen definiert waren.Zum 50. Todestag von Tullio Levi-Civita (29. 3. 1873–20. 12. 1941)