Contents
Vol 311, Issue 5764
Contents
This Week in Science
Editorial
Editors' Choice
NetWatch
Products & Materials
News of the Week
ScienceScope
Random Samples
Newsmakers
News Focus
Letters
Books
Education Forum
Perspectives
Association Affairs
Review
Brevia
- Prions in Skeletal Muscles of Deer with Chronic Wasting Disease
Significant amounts of infectious prions are found in the muscles of deer infected with chronic wasting disease, not just in the nervous tissues as in infected cattle.
Research Articles
- Noncoding RNAs of Trithorax Response Elements Recruit Drosophila Ash1 to Ultrabithorax
Three noncoding RNAs recruit activator proteins to transcription regulatory elements in order to epigenetically activate Drosophila genes.
- A Swimming Mammaliaform from the Middle Jurassic and Ecomorphological Diversification of Early Mammals
A ~164-million-year-old mammal from China, resembling a beaver with body fur and a broad scaly tail, shows that early mammals were large and inhabited aquatic environments.
Reports
- X-ray Flares from Postmerger Millisecond Pulsars
X-ray flashes that follow some short-duration gamma-ray bursts may be produced by magnetic energy released from a millisecond pulsar formed by a neutron star merger.
- Explaining the Color Distributions of Globular Cluster Systems in Elliptical Galaxies
A nonlinear relation between metal content of stars and their color, not age differences, produces the red and blue colors of stars in globular clusters.
- Quantum Computation as Geometry
The problem of finding efficient quantum algorithms can be recast in terms of determining the shortest path between two points in a certain curved geometry.
- Effects of Solar Flares on the Ionosphere of Mars
Observations from Mars Global Surveyor show that the x-rays in solar flares strongly enhance the ionosphere of Mars nearly simultaneously with their effects on Earth.
- Anthropogenic and Natural Influences in the Evolution of Lower Stratospheric Cooling
Climate models show that the two-step cooling of the lower stratosphere from 1980 to 2000 was caused by anthropogenic climate change modified by natural factors.
- Molecular Linkage Between the Kinase ATM and NF-κB Signaling in Response to Genotoxic Stimuli
A protein kinase that is stimulated when DNA is damaged leaves the nucleus to activate survival signals in the cytoplasm.
- Cell Type Regulates Selective Segregation of Mouse Chromosome 7 DNA Strands in Mitosis
In dividing mouse embryonic stem cells, unexpected nonrandom segregation of daughter chromosomes occurs in stem cells and endodermal and neuroectodermal cells.
- Transient Homologous Chromosome Pairing Marks the Onset of X Inactivation
Inactivation of the extra X chromosome in female mice requires noncoding RNA and a transient interaction between the pair of X chromosomes.
- Structure of a DNA Glycosylase Searching for Lesions
A DNA repair enzyme searches for damaged bases by inserting a phenylalanine residue into the intact DNA helix, causing buckling and sensing deformed bases.
- Coherent Sign Switching in Multiyear Trends of Microbial Plankton
In the waters off of Nova Scotia, changes in the abundance of phytoplankton predict similar changes in plankton-eating bacteria, illustrating their trophic coupling.
- Dendritic Cell Apoptosis in the Maintenance of Immune Tolerance
Mice in which immune dendritic cells do not undergo their normal programmed death exhibit autoimmune disease, implicating these cells in the control of autoimmunity.
Technical Comments