Cells expressing inositol triphosphate receptors with an engineered binding site stained with snake venom

The earliest vertebrate fossils show only well-developed dorsal and ventral (median) fins what has led researchers to suspect that these were the basis for which all paired fins and limbs evolved. However, their different location (median versus side of the body) seemed to indicate that they appeared from different cells in the embryo, which challenged the common-origin idea.

In order to investigate the issue, Renata Freitas, a Portuguese scientist, together with Guang Jun Zhang and Martin J. Cohn, all working at the department of Zoology, University of Florida, studied the embryonic development of Catshark’s fins. Catsharks are sharks found in the Atlantic and owe their name to their flat heads and long, catlike eyes.

The researchers started by marking the different cells from the embryo and following their development, in order to understand which cells originated the different parts of the shark’s body. Next, they investigated the activity of different genes during fin development. From these two experiments, Freitas and colleagues discovered that the median fin of Catsharks, although originating from different embryonic cells, uses the same genes (Hox and Tbx18) during development as limbs and paired fins.

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http://istresults.cordis.lu/

Though security applications that verify a person’s identity based on their physical attributes, such as fingerprint readers or iris scanners, have been in use for some time, biometric security has only recently started to appear in mobile phones, PDAs and notebook computers where the need for miniaturisation represents a technological challenge.

So far biometric data has been used to tie the device to a person to prevent it from being used illegitimately if lost or stolen. But the IST project SecurePhone is taking a new approach, employing physical attributes to enable the user to digitally sign audio, text or image files, providing proof of their origin and authenticity.

“As far as we know there is no other biometrically-enabled digital signature application available for mobile devices that can guarantee security by storing and processing all sensitive information on the device’s SIM card,” explains SecurePhone technical coordinator Roberto Ricci at Informa in Italy. “Because biometric data never leaves the device’s SIM card and cannot be accessed, except by the verification module which also runs on the SIM card, the user’s biometric profile is completely safe. This is important to meet the highest privacy requirements.”

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This mosaic of three images, taken by the advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows the area around the Sulpicius Gallus crater (upper left), a fairly fresh, bowl-shaped crater with a diameter of roughly 12 kilometres, on the near side of the Moon. AMIE obtained this sequence on 18 March 2006, from a distance of 1200 kilometres from the surface, with a ground resolution ranging from 110 to 114 metres per pixel. The area shown in the top image is centred at a latitude of 19.7º North and longitude 12.2º East; the image in the middle is centred at a latitude of 18.2º North and longitude 12.3º East; the bottom image is centred at a latitude of 16.7º North and longitude 12.5º East. The area around Sulpicius Crater is geologically interesting for lunar scientists, since it is one of the areas where good spectroscopic data (that is relative to the mineralogical composition) are available both from the Clementine mission and from ground-based observations. These data sets, together with the colour images from the AMIE camera, are helping to better constrain the geological evolution of our closest cosmic neighbour. Credits: ESA/SMART-1/Space-X (Space Exploration Institute)

AMIE obtained this sequence on 18 March 2006, from a distance of 1200 kilometres from the surface, with a ground resolution ranging from 110 to 114 metres per pixel.
The area shown in the top image is centred at a latitude of 19.7º North and longitude 12.2º East; the image in the middle is centred at a latitude of 18.2º North and longitude 12.3º East; the bottom image is centred at a latitude of 16.7º North and longitude 12.5º East.

The prominent crater on the upper left area of this mosaic is called Sulpicius Gallus. It is a fairly fresh, bowl-shaped crater with a diameter of roughly 12 kilometres. The flat lava plains surrounding it belong to the Mare Serenitatis (the 'Sea of Serenity') on the north-eastern side of the Moon facing Earth. The mountains going diagonally through the middle part of the mosaic are called Montes Haemus. They are denoting the edge of the huge impact crater which formed the Mare Serenitatis.

The area around Sulpicius Crater is very interesting for lunar scientists – it is one of the most geologically and compositionally complex areas of the nearside of the Moon. The geologic history of this region has been shaped by impacts of different scales and epochs, by volcanism of variable style and composition with time, and by limited tectonics. Specific findings (Bell and Hawke, 1995) include the detection of relatively fresh highlands materials in the crater.

Good spectroscopic data (that is relative to the mineralogical composition) are available both from the Clementine mission and from ground-based observations, allowing to better constrain the geological evolution of our closest cosmic neighbour.

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