Maternal Inheritance: Longevity Programs Nourish Progeny via Yolk

Epigenetic effects can be mediated by changes in chromatin state that are transmitted from parent to child via gametes, but support is gathering for maternal yolk, which is deposited into ooctyes, as an extranuclear epigenetic factor that can contribute to phenotypic plasticity across generations in Caenorhabditis elegans

Using the secondary metabolites of some fungi and wild plants as natural pesticides to control cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

As alternatives to chemical insecticides, entomopathogenic fungi or wild plants and their secondary metabolites are being used. These biocontrol agents are significant because of their biodegradability, specificity, eco-friendliness, and utility as agents to reduce insecticide resistance. In this study five ethyl acetate extracts of locally isolated fungal strains ( Talaromyces atroroseus, Fusarium chlamydosporum, Talaromyces stipitatus, Trichoderma lixii, Beauveria bassiana) as well as alkaloid extract of Haloxylon salicornicum were extracted and investigated as biocontrol agents against cotton mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis. The results indicated that all extracts had toxic effects against P. solenopsis except the extract of T. stipitatus. The LC50 values and toxicity index indicated that the alkaloid extract of H. salicornicum was the most toxic one (26 ppm) after 72 hours of treatment followed by the extracts of F. chlamydosporum (77 ppm), then B. bassiana (84 ppm) and T. lixii (118 ppm). On the other hand, there were significant changes in tested insect enzyme activities (amylase, lipase, glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), and acetyl choline esterase (AchE) as well as total proteins and lipids in the insects treated with the alkaloid extract of H. salicornicum, and ethyl acetate extracts of F. chlamydosporum and B. bassiana after 24 hours of treatment compared to the control. GC/MS analyses of fungal extracts indicated that there were some bioactive compounds like hexadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid, and tetradecanoic acid. In addition, the anabasine compound was found as a major constituent of the alkaloid extract of H. salicornicum and identified by 1H NMR and GC/MS analysis. In conclusion, according to this study, it was recommended that the alkaloid extract of H. salicornicum and the ethyl acetate extracts of F. chlamydosporum, B. bassiana, and T. lixii be used as alternatives to chemical insecticides for controlling the cotton mealybug P. solenopsis

Effect of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle on Post-Inflation Preheating

We examine effects of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle, predicted by various theories of quantum gravity to replace the Heisenberg's uncertainty principle near the Planck scale, on post inflation preheating in cosmology, and show that it can predict either an increase or a decrease in parametric resonance and a corresponding change in particle production. Possible implications are considered.Comment: v1: 9 pages, revtex4, no figures, accepted for publication in JCAP; v2: one reference added and various cosmetic (but no physics) changes to match published versio

Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation for the acute treatment of episodic and chronic cluster headache: A randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled ACT2 study

Background Clinical observations and results from recent studies support the use of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) for treating cluster headache (CH) attacks. This study compared nVNS with a sham device for acute treatment in patients with episodic or chronic CH (eCH, cCH). Methods After completing a 1-week run-in period, subjects were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive nVNS or sham therapy during a 2-week double-blind period. The primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of all treated attacks that achieved pain-free status within 15 minutes after treatment initiation, without rescue treatment. Results The Full Analysis Set comprised 48 nVNS-treated (14 eCH, 34 cCH) and 44 sham-treated (13 eCH, 31 cCH) subjects. For the primary endpoint, nVNS (14%) and sham (12%) treatments were not significantly different for the total cohort. In the eCH subgroup, nVNS (48%) was superior to sham (6%;p<0.01). No significant differences between nVNS (5%) and sham (13%) were seen in the cCH subgroup. Conclusions Combing both eCH and cCH patients, nVNS was no different to sham. For the treatment of CH attacks, nVNS was superior to sham therapy in eCH but not in cCH. These results confirm and extend previous findings regarding the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of nVNS for the acute treatment of eCH

Development of an approximate method for quantum optical models and their pseudo-Hermicity

An approximate method is suggested to obtain analytical expressions for the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the some quantum optical models. The method is based on the Lie-type transformation of the Hamiltonians. In a particular case it is demonstrated that $E\times \epsilon$ Jahn-Teller Hamiltonian can easily be solved within the framework of the suggested approximation. The method presented here is conceptually simple and can easily be extended to the other quantum optical models. We also show that for a purely imaginary coupling the $E\times \epsilon$ Hamiltonian becomes non-Hermitian but $P\sigma _{0}$-symmetric. Possible generalization of this approach is outlined.Comment: Paper prepared fo the "3rd International Workshop on Pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians in Quantum Physics" June 2005 Istanbul. To be published in Czechoslovak Journal of Physic

Solar Neutrino Constraints on the BBN Production of Li

Using the recent WMAP determination of the baryon-to-photon ratio, 10^{10} \eta = 6.14 to within a few percent, big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) calculations can make relatively accurate predictions of the abundances of the light element isotopes which can be tested against observational abundance determinations. At this value of \eta, the Li7 abundance is predicted to be significantly higher than that observed in low metallicity halo dwarf stars. Among the possible resolutions to this discrepancy are 1) Li7 depletion in the atmosphere of stars; 2) systematic errors originating from the choice of stellar parameters - most notably the surface temperature; and 3) systematic errors in the nuclear cross sections used in the nucleosynthesis calculations. Here, we explore the last possibility, and focus on possible systematic errors in the He3(\alpha,\gamma)Be7 reaction, which is the only important Li7 production channel in BBN. The absolute value of the cross section for this key reaction is known relatively poorly both experimentally and theoretically. The agreement between the standard solar model and solar neutrino data thus provides additional constraints on variations in the cross section (S_{34}). Using the standard solar model of Bahcall, and recent solar neutrino data, we can exclude systematic S_{34} variations of the magnitude needed to resolve the BBN Li7 problem at > 95% CL. Additional laboratory data on He3(\alpha,\gamma)Be7 will sharpen our understanding of both BBN and solar neutrinos, particularly if care is taken in determining the absolute cross section and its uncertainties. Nevertheless, it already seems that this ``nuclear fix'' to the Li7 BBN problem is unlikely; other possible solutions are briefly discussed.Comment: 21 pages, 3 ps figure

Franck-Condon Effect in Central Spin System

We study the quantum transitions of a central spin surrounded by a collective-spin environment. It is found that the influence of the environmental spins on the absorption spectrum of the central spin can be explained with the analog of the Franck-Condon (FC) effect in conventional electron-phonon interaction system. Here, the collective spins of the environment behave as the vibrational mode, which makes the electron to be transitioned mainly with the so-called "vertical transitions" in the conventional FC effect. The "vertical transition" for the central spin in the spin environment manifests as, the certain collective spin states of the environment is favored, which corresponds to the minimal change in the average of the total spin angular momentum.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Cohesin Releases DNA through Asymmetric ATPase-Driven Ring Opening

Cohesin stably holds together the sister chromatids from S phase until mitosis. To do so, cohesin must be protected against its cellular antagonist Wapl. Eco1 acetylates cohesin's Smc3 subunit, which locks together the sister DNAs. We used yeast genetics to dissect how Wapl drives cohesin from chromatin and identified mutants of cohesin that are impaired in ATPase activity but remarkably confer robust cohesion that bypasses the need for the cohesin protectors Eco1 in yeast and Sororin in human cells. We uncover a functional asymmetry within the heart of cohesin's highly conserved ABC-like ATPase machinery and find that both ATPase sites contribute to DNA loading, whereas DNA release is controlled specifically by one site. We propose that Smc3 acetylation locks cohesin rings around the sister chromatids by counteracting an activity associated with one of cohesin's two ATPase sites. Tight regulation of DNA entrapment and release by the cohesin complex is crucial for its multiple cellular functions. Elbatsh et al. find that cohesin's release from DNA requires an activity associated with one of its ATPase sites, whereas both sites control cohesin's loading onto DNA

Time-integrated luminosity recorded by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e+e- collider

This article is the Preprint version of the final published artcile which can be accessed at the link below.We describe a measurement of the time-integrated luminosity of the data collected by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e+e- collider at the ϒ(4S), ϒ(3S), and ϒ(2S) resonances and in a continuum region below each resonance. We measure the time-integrated luminosity by counting e+e-→e+e- and (for the ϒ(4S) only) e+e-→μ+μ- candidate events, allowing additional photons in the final state. We use data-corrected simulation to determine the cross-sections and reconstruction efficiencies for these processes, as well as the major backgrounds. Due to the large cross-sections of e+e-→e+e- and e+e-→μ+μ-, the statistical uncertainties of the measurement are substantially smaller than the systematic uncertainties. The dominant systematic uncertainties are due to observed differences between data and simulation, as well as uncertainties on the cross-sections. For data collected on the ϒ(3S) and ϒ(2S) resonances, an additional uncertainty arises due to ϒ→e+e-X background. For data collected off the ϒ resonances, we estimate an additional uncertainty due to time dependent efficiency variations, which can affect the short off-resonance runs. The relative uncertainties on the luminosities of the on-resonance (off-resonance) samples are 0.43% (0.43%) for the ϒ(4S), 0.58% (0.72%) for the ϒ(3S), and 0.68% (0.88%) for the ϒ(2S).This work is supported by the US Department of Energy and National Science Foundation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Canada), the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique and Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physiquedes Particules (France), the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Germany), the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (Italy), the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (The Netherlands), the Research Council of Norway, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain), and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (United Kingdom). Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie IEF program (European Union) and the A.P. Sloan Foundation (USA)

Testing Newton/GR, MoND and quantised inertia on wide binaries

Wide binary stars are within the low-acceleration regime in which galactic rotation curves deviate from Newtonian or general relativistic predictions. It has recently been observed that their rotation rates are similarly anomalous in a way that dark matter cannot explain, since it must be smooth on these small scales to fit galaxy rotation curves. Here, it is shown that Newtonian/GR models cannot predict these wide binaries since dark matter cannot be applied. It is also shown that MoND cannot predict these systems. However, a model which assumes that inertia is due to Unruh radiation made inhomogeneous in space by relativistic horizons (QI, quantised inertia) can predict these wide binaries, and it has the advantage of not needing an adjustable parameter.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure. Accepted by Astrophysics and Space Science on 26/7/201