BAF

BAF may refer to:

Biology

Resolution Island (Nunavut)

Resolution Island is one of the many uninhabited Canadian Arctic islands in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut. It is a Baffin Island offshore island located in Hudson Strait. It has an area of 1,015 km² (392 sq mi). The Lower Savage Islands lie between Resolution Island and Baffin Island, while Graves Strait separates Resolution Island from the more northern Edgell Island.

History

English explorer Martin Frobisher landed on the island on July 28, 1576, while on a voyage to discover the fabled Northwest Passage. However it appears to have been named Resolution in 1612 by Sir Thomas Button, after his own ship, the Resolution.

The island was home to an American military base, now CFS Resolution Island, that became operational in 1954 as part of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) line. The base was vacated in 1973 and turned over to the Canadian government in 1974.

The Canadian cargo ship named "MINNA" was wrecked on the east side of the island, on 18 August 1974. The vessel was then under charter by the Bedford Institute of Oceanography and was doing scientific surveys at the time of the accident. Badly damaged, the crew and scientific equipment's were removed. Bad weather swept the vessel in deeper waters where she sank on October 2nd 1974. This vessel with a length of 275 feet's and displacement of 4280 tons was based in Halifax and was on regular charter with the BIO for hydrographic surveys on the Labrador Coast and Hudson Strait. The MINNA was built in 1962 and had a crew of 21 men + 18 scientists.

SMARCA4

Transcription activator BRG1 also known as ATP-dependent helicase SMARCA4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SMARCA4 gene.

Function

The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the SWI/SNF family of proteins and is similar to the brahma protein of Drosophila. Members of this family have helicase and ATPase activities and are thought to regulate transcription of certain genes by altering the chromatin structure around those genes. The encoded protein is part of the large ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complex SWI/SNF, which is required for transcriptional activation of genes normally repressed by chromatin. In addition, this protein can bind BRCA1, as well as regulate the expression of the tumorigenic protein CD44.

BRG1 works to activate or repress transcription. Having functional BRG1 is important for development past the pre-implantation stage. Without having a functional BRG1, exhibited with knockout research, the embryo will not hatch out of the zona pellucida, which will inhibit implantation from occurring on the endometrium (uterine wall). BRG1 is also crucial to the development of sperm. During the first stages of meiosis in spermatogenesis there are high levels of BRG1. When BRG1 is genetically damaged, meiosis is stopped in prophase 1, hindering the development of sperm and would result in infertility. More knockout research has concluded BRG1’s aid in the development of smooth muscle. In a BRG1 knockout, smooth muscle in the gastrointestinal tract lacks contractility, and intestines are incomplete in some cases. Another defect occurring in knocking out BRG1 in smooth muscle development is heart complications such as an open ductus arteriosus after birth.

Complex

Complex may refer to:

Biology

Chemistry

Mathematics

Complex (psychology)

A complex is a core pattern of emotions, memories, perceptions, and wishes in the personal unconscious organized around a common theme, such as power or status. Primarily a psychoanalytic term, it is found extensively in the works of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud.

An example of a complex would be as follows: if you had a leg amputated when you were a child, this would influence your life in profound ways, even if you were wonderfully successful in overcoming the handicap. You might have many thoughts, emotions, memories, feelings of inferiority, triumphs, bitterness and determinations centering on that one aspect of your life. If these thoughts troubled you, Jung would say you had a complex about the leg.

Complex existence is widely agreed upon in the area of depth psychology. It assumes the most important factors influencing your personality are deep in the unconscious. They are generally a way of mapping the psyche, and are crucial theoretical items of common reference to be found in therapy. Complexes are believed by Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud to influence the individual's attitude and behavior.

Multiprotein complex

A multiprotein complex (or protein complex) is a group of two or more associated polypeptide chains. The different polypeptide chains may have different functions. This is distinct from a multienzyme polypeptide, in which multiple catalytic domains are found in a single polypeptide chain.

Protein complexes are a form of quaternary structure. Proteins in a protein complex are linked by non-covalent protein–protein interactions, and different protein complexes have different degrees of stability over time. These complexes are a cornerstone of many (if not most) biological processes and together they form various types of molecular machinery that perform a vast array of biological functions. Increasingly, scientists view the cell as composed of modular supramolecular complexes, each of which performs an independent, discrete biological function.

Through proximity, the speed and selectivity of binding interactions between enzymatic complex and substrates can be vastly improved, leading to higher cellular efficiency. Unfortunately, many of the techniques used to break open cells and isolate proteins are inherently disruptive to such large complexes, so it is often difficult to determine the components of a complex. Examples of protein complexes include the proteasome for molecular degradation and most RNA polymerases. In stable complexes, large hydrophobic interfaces between proteins typically bury surface areas larger than 2500 square angstroms.