We present preliminary results from the deepest and largest photographic proper-motion survey ever undertaken of the Galactic bulge. Our first-epoch plate material (from 1972-3) goes deep enough (V lim ∼ 22) to reach below the bulge main-sequence turnoff. These plates cover an area of approximately 25 ′ ×25 ′ of the bulge in the low-extinction (A v ∼ 0.8 mag) Plaut field at l = 0 • , b = −8 • ,...

We have observed 60 edge-on galaxies in the NIR in order to study the stellar distribution in galaxies with box/peanut-shaped bulges. The much smaller amount of dust extinction at these wavelengths allows us to identify in almost all target galaxies with box/peanut-shaped bulges an additional thin, central component in cuts parallel to the major axis. This structure can be identified with a bar...

Notch signaling plays an important role in hair follicle maintenance, and it has been suggested that Notch is also required for follicular fate selection by adult hair follicle stem cells in the bulge. Here we demonstrate that, on the contrary, Notch signaling in bi-potential bulge stem cells or their uncommitted descendents acts to suppress the epidermal fate choice, thus ensuring follicular f...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a small DNA virus that replicates by reverse transcription of a terminally redundant RNA, the pregenome. Specific packaging of this transcript into viral capsids is mediated by interaction of the reverse transcriptase, P protein, with the 5'-proximal encapsidation signal epsilon, epsilon-function is correlated with the formation of a hairpin structure containing a bul...

We present the first results of a new abundance survey of the Milky Way bulge based on Keck/HIRES spectra of 27 K-giants in the Baade’s Window (l = 1, b = −4) field. The spectral data used in this study are of much higher resolution and signal-to-noise than previous optical studies of Galactic bulge stars. The [Fe/H] values of our stars, which range between −1.29 and +0.51, were used to recalib...

Contrary to traditional models of galaxy formation, recent observations suggest that some bulges form within preexisting disk galaxies. Such late-epoch bulge formation within disks seems to be linked to disk gas inflow and central star formation, caused by either internal secular processes or galaxy mergers and interactions. We identify a population of galaxies likely to be experiencing active ...

We investigate the formation of disk-bulge-halo systems by including bulges in the Fall & Efstathiou theory of disk formation. This allows an investigation of bulge dominated disk galaxies, such as S0s and disky ellipticals. These latter systems, which consist of an elliptical spheroid with an embedded disk with a scale-length of typically a few hundred parsecs, seem to form a smooth sequence w...

Ferrocene-modified DNA probes formed fully matched duplexes and bulge-containing ones with wild-type and insertion/deletion-type complements of clinical importance, respectively. Cyclic voltammetry measurements revealed that the bulge-containing duplexes showed an increased flexibility compared to the fully matched duplexes. The difference in the bending elasticity could be read out electrochem...

We analyse the kinematics and chemistry of the bulge stars of two simulated disc galaxies using our chemodynamical galaxy evolution code GCD+. First we compare stars that are born inside the galaxy with those that are born outside the galaxy and are accreted into the centre of the galaxy. Stars that originate outside of the bulge are accreted into it early in its formation within 3 Gyrs so that...

Tat activates human immunodeficiency type 1 gene expression by binding to TAR RNA. TAR comprises a partially base paired stem and hexanucleotide loop with a tripyrimidine bulge in the upper stem. In vitro, Tat binds to the bulge and upper stem, with no requirement for the loop. However, in vivo, loop sequences are critical for activation, implying that a loop binding cellular factor may be invo...