OBJECTIVES To determine if the amount of salt delivered by standard salt shakers commonly used in English independent takeaways varies between those with five and 17 holes; and to determine if any differences are robust to variations in: the amount of salt in the shaker, the length of time spent shaking, and the person serving. DESIGN Four laboratory experiments comparing the amount of salt d...

We are analyzing features of the K+ channel subunit proteins that are critical for function and regulation of these proteins. Our studies show biochemically that subunit proteins from the Shaker and Shaw subfamilies fail to assemble into a heteromultimer. The basis for this incompatibility is the sequences contained within the T1 assembly domain. For a subunit protein to heteromultimerize with ...

Shaker K(+)-channels are one of several voltage-activated K(+)-channels expressed in Drosophila photoreceptors. We have shown recently that Shaker channels act as selective amplifiers, attenuating some signals while boosting others. Loss of these channels reduces the photoreceptor information capacity (bits s(-1)) and induces compensatory changes in photoreceptors enabling them to minimize the ...

OBJECTIVE Anecdotal evidence shows that the Shaker exercise and its modifications improve pharyngeal muscle contraction. However, there is no experimental evidence for the same. Thus, the present study examined the effect of modified Shaker exercise on the amplitude and duration of pharyngeal muscle contraction using cervical auscultation. DESIGN The study follows a cross-sectional study desi...

Charybdotoxin, a peptide neurotoxin of known molecular structure, blocks Shaker K+ channels by binding to a receptor at the outer opening of the ion conduction pathway. Analysis of variants of CTX at position 29 and of Shaker at position 449 shows that these two residues interact closely in the channel-toxin complex. The CTX mutation M29I leads to a slight strengthening of block when tested on ...

Domains in macromolecular complexes are often considered structurally and functionally conserved while energetically coupled to each other. In the modular voltage-gated ion channels the central ion-conducting pore is surrounded by four voltage sensing domains (VSDs). Here, the energetic coupling is mediated by interactions between the S4-S5 linker, covalently linking the domains, and the proxim...

The classical isoperimetric problem seeks the least-area way to enclose a single region of prescribed volume. About 200 BC, Zenodorus argued that a circle is the least-perimeter enclosure of prescribed area in the plane (see [Heath 60]). In 1884, Schwarz [Schwarz 1884] proved by symmetrization that a sphere minimizes surface area for a given volume in R. Isoperimetric problems arise naturally i...

The Shaker locus of Drosophila contains a very large transcription unit. It is expressed predominantly in the nervous system by multiple, differential as well as alternative, splicing mechanisms into different, but functionally related proteins. The structure of the Shaker transcription unit and the properties of the encoded Shaker protein family provide a molecular basis for A channel diversit...

The genome of the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis (starlet sea anemone) provides a molecular genetic view into the first nervous systems, which appeared in a late common ancestor of cnidarians and bilaterians. Nematostella has a surprisingly large and diverse set of neuronal signaling genes including paralogs of most neuronal signaling molecules found in higher metazoans. Several ion channel g...

Shaker testing is commonly used as a method for measuring forced input in experimental modal analysis. The setup of conventional shakers, stingers and transducers is often the source of test difficulties and avoidable measurement errors. This paper reviews the basic design of shakers as beneficial to modal testing, and the common problems associated with setup issues and resulting measurement e...