Developmentally regulated transcription factors in Drosophila melanogaster

During early stages of Drosophila development the heat shock response cannot be induced. It is reasoned that the adverse effects on cell cycle and cell growth brought about by Hsp70 induction must outweigh the beneficial aspects of Hsp70 induction in the early embryo. Although the Drosophila heat shock transcription factor (dHSF) is abundant in the early embryo, it does not enter the nucleus in response to heat shock. In older embryos and in cultured cells the factor is localized within the nucleus in an apparent trimeric structure that binds DNA with high affinity. The domain responsible for nuclear localization upon stress resides between residues 390 and 420 of the dHSF. Using that domain as bait in a yeast two-hybrid system we now report the identification and cloning of a nuclear transport protein Drosophila karyopherin-α3(dKap- α3). Biochemical methods demonstrate that the dKap-α3 protein binds specifically to the dHSF's nuclear localization sequence (NLS). Furthermore, the dKap-α3 protein does not associate with NLSs that contain point mutations which are not transported in vivo. Nuclear docking studies also demonstrate specific nuclear targeting of the NLS substrate by dKap-α3.Consistant with previous studies demonstrating that early Drosophila embryos are refractory to heat shock as a result of dHSF nuclear exclusion, we demonstrate that the early embryo is deficient in dKap-α3 protein through cycle 12. From cycle 13 onward the transport factor is present and the dHSF is localized within the nucleus thus allowing the embryo to respond to heat shock.

The pair-rule gene fushi tarazu (ftz) is a well-studied zygotic segmentation gene that is necessary for the development of the even-numbered parasegments in Drosophila melanogastor. During early embryogenesis, ftz is expressed in a characteristic pattern of seven stripes, one in each of the even-numbered parasegments. With a view to understand how ftz is transcriptionally regulated, cDNAs that encode transcription factors that bind to the zebra element of the ftz promoter have been cloned. Chapter Ill reports the cloning and characterization of the eDNA encoding zeb-1 (zebra element binding protein), a novel steroid receptor-like molecule that specifically binds to a key regulatory element of the ftz promoter. In transient transfection assays employing Drosophila tissue culture cells, it has been shown that zeb-1 as well as a truncated zeb-1 polypeptide (zeb480) that lacks the putative ligand binding domain function as sequencespecific trans-activators of the ftz gene.

The Oct factors are members of the POU family of transcription factors that are shown to play important roles during development in mammals. Chapter IV reports the eDNA cloning and expression of a Drosophila Oct transcription factor. Whole mount in-situ hybridization experiments revealed that the spatial expression patterns of this gene during embryonic development have not yet been observed for any other gene. In early embryogenesis, its transcripts are transiently expressed as a wide uniform band from 20-40% of the egg length, very similar to that of gap genes. This pattern progressively resolves into a series of narrower stripes followed by expression in fourteen stripes. Subsequently, transcripts from this gene are expressed in the central nervous system and the brain. When expressed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, this Drosophila factor functions as a strong, octamer-dependent activator of transcription. The data strongly suggest possible functions for the Oct factor in pattern formation in Drosophila that might transcend the boundaries of genetically defined segmentation genes.

Rhythms of division of some algae in situ and in laboratory culture. [Translation from: Studii Cerc.Biol.(Bot.) 21, 61-65, 1969. ]

The rhythm of division of 9 species belonging to different groups of algae were analysed in situ and in the laboratory. The research which developed in different environmental conditions attempted to establish the capacity for multiplication and assimilation of chlorophyll on the part of the algae under study with a view to placing them in a culture. The results obtained showed that the green multicellular algae (eg. Ulothrix) and the blue algae (eg. Lyngbya, Oscillatoria) are able to produce an appreciable quantity of dry matter, just as the unicellular algae. At the same time it arises that amongst the numerous factors of the environment, temperature plays one of the most important roles in the process of multiplication.

Measurement technique for in situ characterizing aberrations of projection optics in lithographic tools

As the feature size decreases, degradation of image quality caused by wavefront aberrations of projection optics in lithographic tools has become a serious problem in the low-k1 process. We propose a novel measurement technique for in situ characterizing aberrations of projection optics in lithographic tools. Considering the impact of the partial coherence illumination, we introduce a novel algorithm that accurately describes the pattern displacement and focus shift induced by aberrations. Employing the algorithm, the measurement condition is extended from three-beam interference to two-, three-, and hybrid-beam interferences. The experiments are performed to measure the aberrations of projection optics in an ArF scanner. (C) 2006 Optical Society of America.

Estudio de catalizadores basados en zeolitas HZSM-5 sometidas a tratamiento in situ con vapor de agua para la transformación de 1-buteno a propileno

El propileno es un monómero muy versátil y es la materia prima para una amplia gama de polímeros, intermedios y productos químicos. Esta versatilidad se debe a su estructura química: al igual que el etileno, el propileno contiene un doble enlace carbono - carbono, pero a diferencia de éste, el propileno contiene también un grupo metil - alílico (un grupo metilo adyacente a un doble enlace), otorgando a los químicos, diseñadores catalíticos e ingenieros dos distintas alternativas para llevar a cabo las trasformaciones químicas, por lo que son más numerosos los derivados del propilen o que del etileno (Plotkin, 2005).

In situ surface topography measurement method of granite base in scanning wafer stage with laser interferometer

Topography of a granite surface has an effect on the vertical positioning of a wafer stage in a lithographic tool, when the wafer stage moves on the granite. The inaccurate measurement of the topography results in a bad leveling and focusing performance. In this paper, an in situ method to measure the topography of a granite surface with high accuracy is present. In this method, a high-order polynomial is set up to express the topography of the granite surface. Two double-frequency laser interferometers are used to measure the tilts of the wafer stage in the X- and Y-directions. From the sampling tilts information, the coefficients of the high-order polynomial can be obtained by a special algorithm. Experiment results shows that the measurement reproducibility of the method is better than 10 nm. (c) 2006 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Mechanisms involved in Escherichia coli and Serratia marcescens removal during activated sludge wastewater treatment

Wastewater treatment reduces environmental contamination by removing gross solids and mitigating the effects of pollution. Treatment also reduces the number of indicator organisms and pathogens. In this work, the fates of two coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli and Serratia marcescens, were analyzed in an activated sludge process to determine the main mechanisms involved in the reduction of pathogenic microorganisms during wastewater treatment. These bacteria, modified to express green fluorescent protein, were inoculated in an activated sludge unit and in batch systems containing wastewater. The results suggested that, among the different biological factors implied in bacterial removal, bacterivorous protozoa play a key role. Moreover, a representative number of bacteria persisted in the system as free-living or embedded cells, but their distribution into liquid or solid fractions varied depending on the bacterium tested, questioning the real value of bacterial indicators for the control of wastewater treatment process. Additionally, viable but nonculturable cells constituted an important part of the bacterial population adhered to solid fractions, what can be derived from the competition relationships with native bacteria, present in high densities in this environment. These facts, taken together, emphasize the need for reliable quantitative and qualitative analysis tools for the evaluation of pathogenic microbial composition in sludge, which could represent an undefined risk to public health and ecosystem functions when considering its recycling.