The ribbon complex of retinal photoreceptor synapses represents a specialization of the cytomatrix at the active zone (CAZ) present at conventional synapses. In mice deficient for the CAZ protein Bassoon, ribbons are not anchored to the presynaptic membrane but float freely in the cytoplasm. Exploiting this phenotype, we dissected the molecular structure of the photoreceptor ribbon complex. Ide...

In sensory hair cells of auditory and vestibular organs, the ribbon synapse is required for the precise encoding of a wide range of complex stimuli. Hair cells have a unique presynaptic structure, the synaptic ribbon, which organizes both synaptic vesicles and calcium channels at the active zone. Previous work has shown that hair-cell ribbon size is correlated with differences in postsynaptic a...

Both intact and nuclease-isolated chromatin fibers have been examined at different degrees of salt-induced compaction, using a variety of preparation techniques. The results suggest that the initial folding step in nucleosome packing involves the formation of a zig-zag ribbon as has been proposed by others (Thoma F., T. Koller, and A. Klug, 1979, J. Cell Biol., 83:403-427; Worcel A., S. Strogar...

In [LLT] Lascoux, Leclerc and Thibon introduced symmetric functions Gλ which are spin and weight generating functions for ribbon tableaux. This article is aimed at studying these functions in analogy with Schur functions. In particular we will describe: • a Pieri and dual-Pieri formula for ribbon functions, • a ribbon Murnagham-Nakayama formula, • ribbon Cauchy and dual Cauchy identities, • and...

A statistical study of the chromospheric ribbon evolution in H[Formula: see text] two-ribbon flares was performed. The data set consists of 50 confined (62%) and eruptive (38%) flares that occurred from June 2000 to June 2015. The flares were selected homogeneously over the H[Formula: see text] and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) classes, with an emphasis on including p...

We have studied a stacked-type electrostatic actuator by folding two ribbon electrodes in an alternate configuration. The energy efficiency of this type of actuator was investigated using the thick-electrode-part actuator and triangle-shaped actuator. The maximum energy efficiency levels were 30–40% for the thick-electrode-part actuator and 40–50% for the triangle-shaped actuator.

In this paper we consider minors of ribbon graphs (or, equivalently, cellularly embedded graphs). The theory of minors of ribbon graphs differs from that of graphs in that contracting loops is necessary and doing this can create additional vertices and components. Thus the ribbon graph minor relation is incompatible with the graph minor relation. We discuss excluded minor characterisations of m...

L-type calcium channels (Ca(V)1) are involved in diverse processes, such as neurotransmission, hormone secretion, muscle contraction, and gene expression. In this study, we uncover a role for Ca(V)1.3a in regulating the architecture of a cellular structure, the ribbon synapse, in developing zebrafish sensory hair cells. By combining in vivo calcium imaging with confocal and super-resolution str...

Piccolo is one of the largest cytomatrix proteins present at active zones of chemical synapses, where it is suggested to play a role in recruiting and integrating molecules relevant for both synaptic vesicle exo- and endocytosis. Here we examined the retina of a Piccolo-mutant mouse with a targeted deletion of exon 14 in the Pclo gene. Piccolo deficiency resulted in its profound loss at convent...

Sporozoite gliding motility and invasion of mosquito and vertebrate host cells in malaria is mediated by thrombospondin repeat anonymous protein (TRAP). Tandem von Willebrand factor A (VWA) and thrombospondin type I repeat (TSR) domains in TRAP connect through proline-rich stalk, transmembrane, and cytoplasmic domains to the parasite actin-dependent motility apparatus. We crystallized fragments...