Conserved but flexible modularity in the zebrafish skull: implications for craniofacial evolvability

Morphological variation is the outward manifestation of development and provides fodder for adaptive evolution. Because of this contingency, evolution is often thought to be biased by developmental processes and functional interactions among structures, which are statistically detectable through forms of covariance among traits. This can take the form of substructures of integrated traits, termed modules, which together comprise patterns of variational modularity. While modularity is essential to an understanding of evolutionary potential, biologists currently have little understanding of its genetic basis and its temporal dynamics over generations. To address these open questions, we compared patterns of craniofacial modularity among laboratory strains, defined mutant lines and a wild population of zebrafish ( ). Our findings suggest that relatively simple genetic changes can have profound effects on covariance, without greatly affecting craniofacial shape. Moreover, we show that instead of completely deconstructing the covariance structure among sets of traits, mutations cause shifts among seemingly latent patterns of modularity suggesting that the skull may be predisposed towards a limited number of phenotypes. This new insight may serve to greatly increase the evolvability of a population by providing a range of 'preset' patterns of modularity that can appear readily and allow for rapid evolution

Creation and evolution of magnetic helicity

Projecting a non-Abelian SU(2) vacuum gauge field - a pure gauge constructed from the group element U - onto a fixed (electromagnetic) direction in isospace gives rise to a nontrivial magnetic field, with nonvanishing magnetic helicity, which coincides with the winding number of U. Although the helicity is not conserved under Maxwell (vacuum) evolution, it retains one-half its initial value at infinite time.Comment: Clarifying remarks and references added; 12 pages, 1 figure using BoxedEPSF, REVTeX macros; submitted to Phys Rev D; email to [email protected]

Modeling the climate impact of Southern Hemisphere ozone depletion:the importance of the ozone dataset

The ozone hole is an important driver of recent Southern Hemisphere (SH) climate change, and capturing these changes is a goal of climate modeling. Most climate models are driven by off-line ozone data sets. Previous studies have shown that there is a substantial range in estimates of SH ozone depletion, but the implications of this range have not been examined systematically. We use a climate model to evaluate the difference between using the ozone forcing (Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate (SPARC)) used by many Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project) models and one at the upper end of the observed depletion estimates (Binary Database of Profiles (BDBP)). In the stratosphere, we find that austral spring/summer polar cap cooling, geopotential height decreases, and zonal wind increases in the BDBP simulations are all doubled compared to the SPARC simulations, while tropospheric responses are 20–100% larger. These results are important for studies attempting to diagnose the climate fingerprints of ozone depletion

Diffusion in an Expanding Plasma using AdS/CFT

We consider the diffusion of a non-relativistic heavy quark of fixed mass M, in a one-dimensionally expanding and strongly coupled plasma using the AdS/CFT duality. The Green's function constructed around a static string embedded in a background with a moving horizon, is identified with the noise correlation function in a Langevin approach. The (electric) noise decorrelation is of order 1/T(\tau) while the velocity de-correlation is of order MD(\tau)/T(\tau). For MD>1, the diffusion regime is segregated and the energy loss is Langevin-like. The time dependent diffusion constant D(\tau) asymptotes its adiabatic limit 2/\pi\sqrt{\lambda} T(\tau) when \tau/\tau_0=(1/3\eta_0\tau_0)^3 where \eta_0 is the drag coefficient at the initial proper time \tau_0.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures, minor corrections, version to appear in JHE

Half-Metallic Graphene Nanoribbons

Electrical current can be completely spin polarized in a class of materials known as half-metals, as a result of the coexistence of metallic nature for electrons with one spin orientation and insulating for electrons with the other. Such asymmetric electronic states for the different spins have been predicted for some ferromagnetic metals - for example, the Heusler compounds- and were first observed in a manganese perovskite. In view of the potential for use of this property in realizing spin-based electronics, substantial efforts have been made to search for half-metallic materials. However, organic materials have hardly been investigated in this context even though carbon-based nanostructures hold significant promise for future electronic device. Here we predict half-metallicity in nanometre-scale graphene ribbons by using first-principles calculations. We show that this phenomenon is realizable if in-plane homogeneous electric fields are applied across the zigzag-shaped edges of the graphene nanoribbons, and that their magnetic property can be controlled by the external electric fields. The results are not only of scientific interests in the interplay between electric fields and electronic spin degree of freedom in solids but may also open a new path to explore spintronics at nanometre scale, based on graphene

Stochastic String Motion Above and Below the World Sheet Horizon

We study the stochastic motion of a relativistic trailing string in black hole AdS_5. The classical string solution develops a world-sheet horizon and we determine the associated Hawking radiation spectrum. The emitted radiation causes fluctuations on the string both above and below the world-sheet horizon. In contrast to standard black hole physics, the fluctuations below the horizon are causally connected with the boundary of AdS. We derive a bulk stochastic equation of motion for the dual string and use the AdS/CFT correspondence to determine the evolution a fast heavy quark in the strongly coupled $\N=4$ plasma. We find that the kinetic mass of the quark decreases by $\Delta M=-\sqrt{\gamma \lambda}T/2$ while the correlation time of world sheet fluctuations increases by $\sqrt{\gamma}$.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures; v2 final version, small changes, references adde

Neonatal hyperoxia promotes asthma-like features through IL-33–dependent ILC2 responses

Background Premature infants often require oxygen supplementation and, therefore, are exposed to oxidative stress. Following oxygen exposure, preterm infants frequently develop chronic lung disease and have a significantly increased risk of asthma. Objective We sought to identify the underlying mechanisms by which neonatal hyperoxia promotes asthma development. Methods Mice were exposed to neonatal hyperoxia followed by a period of room air recovery. A group of mice was also intranasally exposed to house dust mite antigen. Assessments were performed at various time points for evaluation of airway hyperresponsiveness, eosinophilia, mucus production, inflammatory gene expression, and TH and group 2 innate lymphoid cell (ILC2) responses. Sera from term- and preterm-born infants were also collected and levels of IL-33 and type 2 cytokines were measured. Results Neonatal hyperoxia induced asthma-like features including airway hyperresponsiveness, mucus hyperplasia, airway eosinophilia, and type 2 pulmonary inflammation. In addition, neonatal hyperoxia promoted allergic TH responses to house dust mite exposure. Elevated IL-33 levels and ILC2 responses were observed in the lungs most likely due to oxidative stress caused by neonatal hyperoxia. IL-33 receptor signaling and ILC2s were vital for the induction of asthma-like features following neonatal hyperoxia. Serum IL-33 levels correlated significantly with serum levels of IL-5 and IL-13 but not IL-4 in preterm infants. Conclusions These data demonstrate that an axis involving IL-33 and ILC2s is important for the development of asthma-like features following neonatal hyperoxia and suggest therapeutic potential for targeting IL-33, ILC2s, and oxidative stress to prevent and/or treat asthma development related to prematurity

Renal Mass Imaging Modalities: Does Body Mass Index (BMI) Matter?

PURPOSE: Accurate measurement of renal mass size is crucial in the management of renal cancer. With the burdensome cost of imaging yet its need for management, a better understanding of the variability among patients when determining mass size remains of urgent importance. Current guidelines on optimal imaging are limited, especially with respect to body mass index (BMI). The aim of this study is to discern which modalities accurately measure renal mass size and whether BMI influences such accuracy. METHODS: A multi-institutional chart review was performed for adult patients undergoing partial or radical nephrectomy between 2018 and 2021, with 236 patients ultimately included. Patients were categorized by BMI (BMI 1: 18.5-24.9, BMI 2: 25-29.9, BMI 3: 30-34.9, and BMI 4: ≥ 35). The greatest mass lengths were compared between the pathology report and the following: computerized tomography (CT), renal ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). RESULTS: The difference between greatest length on CT with contrast and MRI were significantly different when compared to pathologic measurement. BMI groups 3 and 4 were found to have a significant difference in size estimates compared to BMI 2 for CT with contrast. No difference was found between size estimates by BMI group for any other imaging modality. CONCLUSION: CT with contrast becomes less accurate at estimating mass size for patients with BMI \u3e 30. While contrast-enhanced CT remains a vital imaging modality for tissue enhancement in the context of unknown renal masses, caution must be used for mass size estimation in the obese population