Twisted gastrulation can function as a BMP antagonist

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), including the fly homologue Decapentaplegic (DPP), are important regulators of early vertebrate and invertebrate dorsal-ventral development. An evolutionarily conserved BMP regulatory mechanism operates from fly to fish, frog and mouse to control the dorsal-ventral axis determination. Several secreted factors, including the BMP antagonist chordin/Short gastrulation (SOG), modulate the activity of BMPs. In Drosophila, Twisted gastrulation (TSG) is also involved in dorsal-ventral patterning, yet the mechanism of its function is unclear. Here we report the characterization of the vertebrate Tsg homologues. We show that Tsg can block BMP function in Xenopus embryonic explants and inhibits several ventral markers in whole-frog embryos. Tsg binds directly to BMPs and forms a ternary complex with chordin and BMPs. Coexpression of Tsg with chordin leads to a more efficient inhibition of the BMP activity in ectodermal explants. Unlike other known BMP antagonists, however, Tsg also reduces several anterior markers at late developmental stages. Our data suggest that Tsg can function as a BMP inhibitor in Xenopus; furthermore, Tsg may have additional functions during frog embryogenesis.     

Nuclear fission modes and fragment mass asymmetries in a five-dimensional deformation space

Nuclei undergoing fission can be described by a multi-dimensional potential-energy surface that guides the nuclear shape evolution--from the ground state, through intermediate saddle points and finally to the configurations of separated fission fragments. Until now, calculations have lacked adequate exploration of the shape parameterization of sufficient dimensionality to yield features in the potential-energy surface (such as multiple minima, valleys, saddle points and ridges) that correspond to characteristic observables of the fission process. Here we calculate and analyse five-dimensional potential-energy landscapes based on a grid of 2,610,885 deformation points. We find that observed fission features--such as the distributions of fission fragment mass and kinetic energy, and the different energy thresholds for symmetric and asymmetric fission--are very closely related to topological features in the calculated five-dimensional energy landscapes.     

High critical current density and enhanced irreversibility field in superconducting MgB2 thin films

The discovery of superconductivity at 39 K in magnesium diboride offers the possibility of a new class of low-cost, high-performance superconducting materials for magnets and electronic applications. This compound has twice the transition temperature of Nb3Sn and four times that of Nb-Ti alloy, and the vital prerequisite of strongly linked current flow has already been demonstrated. One possible drawback, however, is that the magnetic field at which superconductivity is destroyed is modest. Furthermore, the field which limits the range of practical applications-the irreversibility field H*(T)-is approximately 7 T at liquid helium temperature (4.2 K), significantly lower than about 10 T for Nb-Ti (ref. 6) and approximately 20 T for Nb3Sn (ref. 7). Here we show that MgB2 thin films that are alloyed with oxygen can exhibit a much steeper temperature dependence of H*(T) than is observed in bulk materials, yielding an H* value at 4.2 K greater than 14 T. In addition, very high critical current densities at 4.2 K are achieved: 1 MA cm-2 at 1 T and 105 A cm-2 at 10 T. These results demonstrate that MgB2 has potential for high-field superconducting applications.     

Enhancement of the high-magnetic-field critical current density of superconducting MgB2 by proton irradiation

Magnesium diboride, MgB2, has a relatively high superconducting transition temperature, placing it between the families of low- and high-temperature (copper oxide based) superconductors. Supercurrent flow in MgB2 is unhindered by grain boundaries, making it potentially attractive for technological applications in the temperature range 20-30 K. But in the bulk material, the critical current density (Jc) drops rapidly with increasing magnetic field strength. The magnitude and field dependence of the critical current are related to the presence of structural defects that can 'pin' the quantized magnetic vortices that permeate the material, and a lack of natural defects in MgB2 may be responsible for the rapid decline of Jc with increasing field strength. Here we show that modest levels of atomic disorder induced by proton irradiation enhance the pinning of vortices, thereby significantly increasing Jc at high field strengths. We anticipate that either chemical doping or mechanical processing should generate similar levels of disorder, and so achieve performance that is technologically attractive in an economically viable way.     

LDL-receptor-related protein 6 is a receptor for Dickkopf proteins

Wnt glycoproteins have been implicated in diverse processes during embryonic patterning in metazoa. They signal through frizzled-type seven-transmembrane-domain receptors to stabilize beta-catenin. Wnt signalling is antagonized by the extracellular Wnt inhibitor dickkopf1 (dkk1), which is a member of a multigene family. dkk1 was initially identified as a head inducer in Xenopus embryos but the mechanism by which it blocks Wnt signalling is unknown. LDL-receptor-related protein 6 (LRP6) is required during Wnt/beta-catenin signalling in Drosophila, Xenopus and mouse, possibly acting as a co-receptor for Wnt. Here we show that LRP6 (ref. 7) is a specific, high-affinity receptor for Dkk1 and Dkk2. Dkk1 blocks LRP6-mediated Wnt/beta-catenin signalling by interacting with domains that are distinct from those required for Wnt/Frizzled interaction. dkk1 and LRP6 interact antagonistically during embryonic head induction in Xenopus where LRP6 promotes the posteriorizing role of Wnt/beta-catenin signalling. Thus, DKKs inhibit Wnt co-receptor function, exemplifying the modulation of LRP signalling by antagonists.     

The size and albedo of the Kuiper-belt object (20000) Varuna

Observations over the last decade have revealed the existence of a large number of bodies orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune. Known as the Kuiper-belt objects (KBOs), they are believed to be formed in the outer reaches of the protoplanetary disk around the young Sun, and have been little altered since then. They are probably the source of short-period comets. The KBOs are, however, difficult objects to study because of their distance from earth, so even basic physical properties such as their sizes and albedos remain unknown. Previous size estimates came from assuming an albedo with the canonical value being 0.04. Here we report simultaneous measurements of the thermal emission and reflected optical light of the bright KBO (20000) Varuna, which allow us to determine independently both the size and the albedo. Varuna has an equivalent circular diameter of D = 900+129-145 km and a red geometric albedo of pR = 0.070+0.030-0.017. Its surface is darker than Pluto's, suggesting that it is largely devoid of fresh ice, but brighter than previously assumed for KBOs.     

'Inverse' melting of a vortex lattice

Inverse melting is the process in which a crystal reversibly transforms into a liquid or amorphous phase when its temperature is decreased. Such a process is considered to be very rare, and the search for it is often hampered by the formation of non-equilibrium states or intermediate phases. Here we report the discovery of first-order inverse melting of the lattice formed by magnetic flux lines in a high-temperature superconductor. At low temperatures, disorder in the material pins the vortices, preventing the observation of their equilibrium properties and therefore the determination of whether a phase transition occurs. But by using a technique to 'dither' the vortices, we were able to equilibrate the lattice, which enabled us to obtain direct thermodynamic evidence of inverse melting of the ordered lattice into a disordered vortex phase as the temperature is decreased. The ordered lattice has larger entropy than the low-temperature disordered phase. The mechanism of the first-order phase transition changes gradually from thermally induced melting at high temperatures to a disorder-induced transition at low temperatures.     

Evidence for ubiquitous strong electron-phonon coupling in high-temperature superconductors

Coupling between electrons and phonons (lattice vibrations) drives the formation of the electron pairs responsible for conventional superconductivity. The lack of direct evidence for electron-phonon coupling in the electron dynamics of the high-transition-temperature superconductors has driven an intensive search for an alternative mechanism. A coupling of an electron with a phonon would result in an abrupt change of its velocity and scattering rate near the phonon energy. Here we use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to probe electron dynamics-velocity and scattering rate-for three different families of copper oxide superconductors. We see in all of these materials an abrupt change of electron velocity at 50-80 meV, which we cannot explain by any known process other than to invoke coupling with the phonons associated with the movement of the oxygen atoms. This suggests that electron-phonon coupling strongly influences the electron dynamics in the high-temperature superconductors, and must therefore be included in any microscopic theory of superconductivity.