Description: Crusts composed of nontronite and ferromanganese oxides were recovered from Explorer Ridge, a spreading ridge segment in the northeastern Pacific Ocean located off the west coast of Canada. The chemical and mineralogical composition of the crusts closely resembles that of the mound-like hydrothermal deposits recently discovered at the FAMOUS site on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and on the Galapagos spreading centre. Compositional anomalies suggest that the crusts are precipitates of hydrothermal vent solutions which were ejected discontinuously and subsequently mixed with seawater.

Description: Concretions of iron and manganese oxides and hydrous oxidesóobjects commonly called manganese nodulesóare widely distributed not only on the deep-sea floor but also in shallow marine environments1. Such concretions were not known to occur north of Cape Mendocino in the shallow water zones bordering the North-East Pacific Ocean until the summer of 1966 when they were recovered by one of us (J. W. M.) in dredge samples from Jervis Inlet, a fjord approximately 50 miles north-west of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Description: Objective— Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease with multiple underlying metabolic and physical risk factors. Bone morphogenic protein 4 (BMP4) expression is increased in endothelium in atherosclerosis-prone regions and is known to induce endothelial inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and hypertension. BMP actions are mediated by 2 different types of BMP receptors (BMPRI and BMPRII). Here, we show a surprising finding that loss of BMPRII expression causes endothelial inflammation and atherosclerosis. Approach and Results— Using BMPRII siRNA and BMPRII +/– mice, we found that specific knockdown of BMPRII, but not other BMP receptors (Alk1, Alk2, Alk3, Alk6, ActRIIa, and ActRIIb), induced endothelial inflammation in a ligand-independent manner by mechanisms mediated by reactive oxygen species, nuclear factor-KappaB, and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidases. Further, BMPRII +/– ApoE –/– mice developed accelerated atherosclerosis compared with BMPRII +/+ ApoE –/– mice. Interestingly, we found that multiple proatherogenic stimuli, such as hypercholesterolemia, disturbed flow, prohypertensive angiotensin II, and the proinflammatory cytokine (tumor necrosis factor-α), downregulated BMPRII expression in endothelium, whereas antiatherogenic stimuli, such as stable flow and statin treatment, upregulated its expression in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, BMPRII expression was significantly diminished in human coronary advanced atherosclerotic lesions. Also, we were able to rescue the endothelial inflammation induced by BMPRII knockdown by overexpressing the BMPRII wild type, but not by the BMPRII short form lacking the carboxyl-terminal tail region. Conclusions— These results suggest that BMPRII is a critical, anti-inflammatory, and antiatherogenic protein that is commonly targeted by multiple pro- and antiatherogenic factors. BMPRII may be used as a novel diagnostic and therapeutic target in atherosclerosis.

Description: Author(s): J. Kunc, B. A. Piot, D. K. Maude, M. Potemski, R. Grill, C. Betthausen, D. Weiss, V. Kolkovsky, G. Karczewski, and T. Wojtowicz At low temperatures, the longitudinal resistivity of metallic systems exhibits quantum oscillations when submitted to a sufficiently high magnetic field. The authors report magneto-transport study of a high quality magnetic two-dimensional electron gas formed in a diluted magnetic CdMnTe quantum well. They find that the Shubnikov-de Haas characteristics is well-described by incorporating the electron Mn exchange interaction into the traditional Lifshitz-Kosevich formalism in a “mean field” approach. [Phys. Rev. B 92, 085304] Published Wed Aug 12, 2015

Description: Author(s): Fabrizio Grill, Helena Pais, Constança Providência, Isaac Vidaña, and Sidney S. Avancini The cell structure of β-stable clusters in the inner crust of cold and warm neutron stars is studied within the Thomas–Fermi approach by using relativistic mean-field nuclear models. The relative size of the inner crust and the pasta phase of neutron stars is calculated, and the effect of the symmet... [Phys. Rev. C 90, 045803] Published Fri Oct 17, 2014

Description: Author(s): Édgar Roldán, Ana Lisica, Daniel Sánchez-Taltavull, and Stephan W. Grill Transcription is a key process in gene expression, in which RNA polymerases produce a complementary RNA copy from a DNA template. RNA polymerization is frequently interrupted by backtracking, a process in which polymerases perform a random walk along the DNA template. Recovery of polymerases from th… [Phys. Rev. E 93, 062411] Published Mon Jun 20, 2016