Regular use of prostheses is critical for individuals with lower limb amputations to achieve everyday mobility, maintain physical and physiological health, and achieve a better quality of life. Use of prostheses is influenced by numerous factors, with prosthetic design playing a critical role in facilitating mobility for an amputee. Thus, prostheses design can either promote biomechanically eff...

We describe evidence that a regulatory B subunit of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) positively regulates an RTK-Ras-MAP kinase signaling cascade during Caenorhabditis elegans vulval induction. Although reduction of sur-6 PP2A-B function causes few vulval induction defects in an otherwise wild-type background, sur-6 PP2A-B mutations suppress the Multivulva phenotype of an activated ras mutation an...

The kinase suppressor of Ras 2 (KSR2) is a scaffold protein for the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) signaling pathway. KSR2 mediates germline mpk-1 (Caenorhabditis elegans ERK) phosphorylation in C. elegans and has been implicated the regulation of meiosis. KSR2(-/-) mice exhibit metabolic abnormalities and are reproductively impaired. The role of KSR2 in meiosis and fertili...

Recall that E denotes the number of red edges, and F denotes the total number of edges. Then E = ξF = ξNΛ′(1) with ξ defined appropriately. In this lecture we use the saddle point method to derive an approximation to coeff [∏kmax k=2 qk(z) MPk , zE ] , where qk(z) = 12 ((1 + z) n + (1− z)n) = ∑ r even ( k r ) zr. This coefficient counts the number of ways to choose which edges incident to the c...

We develop a methodology to analyze capital misallocation (dispersion in static marginal products) measure the contributions of technological/informational frictions and a rich class of firm-specific factors. An application to Chinese manufacturing firms reveals that adjustment costs and uncertainty, while significant, generate only a modest amount of MPK dispersion, which stems largely from ot...

Abstract Plant vascular pathogens are one kind of destructive in agricultural production. However, mechanisms behind the pathogen-recognition and subsequent defense responses plants not well known. A recent pioneering study on plant immunity discovered a conserved MKP1-MPK-MYB signaling cascade that activates lignin biosynthesis tissues to confer resistance both monocot rice dicot Arabidopsis. ...

Signals that promote germ cell self-renewal by preventing premature meiotic entry are well understood. However, signals that control mitotic proliferation to promote meiotic differentiation have not been well characterized. In Caenorhabditis elegans, GLP-1 Notch signalling promotes the proliferative fate by preventing premature meiotic entry. The germline niche cell, which is the source of the ...