emb-1 Encodes the APC16 Subunit of the Caenorhabditis elegans Anaphase-Promoting Complex

In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, temperature-sensitive mutants of emb-1 arrest as one-cell embryos in metaphase of meiosis I in a manner that is indistinguishable from embryos that have been depleted of known subunits of the anaphase-promoting complex or cyclosome (APC/C). Here we show that the emb-1 phenotype is enhanced in double mutant combinations with known APC/C subunits and suppressed in double mutant combinations with known APC/C suppressors. In addition to its meiotic function, emb-1 is required for mitotic proliferation of the germline. These studies reveal that emb-1 encodes K10D2.4, a homolog of the small, recently discovered APC/C subunit, APC16

Vortex rings impinging on permeable boundaries

Experiments with vortex rings impinging permeable and solid boundaries are presented in order to investigate the influence of permeability. Utilizing Particle Image Velocimetry, we compared the behaviour of a vortex ring impinging four different reticulated foams (with permeability k ∼ 26 − 85 × 10−8 m2) and a solid boundary. Results show how permeability affects the stretching phenomena of the vortex ring and the formation and evolution of the secondary vortex ring with opposite sign. Moreover, permeability also affects the macroscopic no-slip boundary condition found on the solid boundary, turning it into an apparent slip boundary condition for the most permeable boundary. The apparent slip-boundary condition and the flux exchange between the ambient fluid and the foam are jointly responsible for both the modified formation of the secondary vortex and changes on the vortex ring diameter increase.The experimental work presented herein was conducted during a four-months-long visit of A.M.C. to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University, UK. The financial support of the Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia de España through Grant No. CGL 2009-13039 is gratefully acknowledged. The support of the UPC-Barcelona Tech University is also acknowledged.This is the accepted manuscript. Copyright (2015) American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Physics of Fluids 27, 015106 (2015) and may be found at (http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/pof2/27/1/10.1063/1.4906504)

Anonymous and EST-based microsatellite DNA markers that transfer broadly across the fig genus (Ficus, Moraceae)

• Premise of the study: We developed a set of microsatellite markers for broad utility across the species-rich pantropical tree genus Ficus (fig trees). The markers were developed to study population structure, hybridization, and gene flow in neotropical species. • Methods and Results: We developed seven novel primer sets from expressed sequence tag (EST) libraries of F. citrifolia and F. popenoei (subgen. Urostigma sect. Americana) and optimized five previously developed anonymous loci for cross-species amplification. The markers were successfully tested on four species from the basal subgenus Pharmacosycea sect. Pharmaco- sycea (F. insipida, F. maxima, F. tonduzii, and F. yoponensis) and seven species of the derived subgenus Urostigma (F. citrifolia, F. colubrinae, F. costaricana, F. nymphaeifolia, F. obtusifolia, F. pertusa, and F. popenoei). The 12 markers amplified consis- tently and displayed polymorphism in all the species. • Conclusions: This set of microsatellite markers is transferable across the phylogenetic breadth of Ficus, and should therefore be useful for studies of population structure and gene flow in approximately 750 fig species worldwide.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92471/1/Heer2012.pdf8

(E)-17β,19-Epoxy­methano-17,23,24-tridemethyl-4-nor-5β,18α-olean-3-one oxime

In the penta­cyclic triterpenoide skeleton of the title mol­ecule, C27H43NO2 [systematic name: (3E,3aS,5aR,5bR,7aR,11R,11aR,11bR,13aR,13bR)-5a,5b,10,10,13b-penta­methyl­icosa­hydro-1H-11,7a-(epoxy­methano)cyclo­penta­[a]chrysen-3-one oxime], the five-membered ring A has an envelope conformation, while the six-membered rings B–E adopt chair conformations. Rings A and B are cis-fused. The hydroximino group has an E configuration. Strong inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into helical chains

The JAX Synteny Browser for mouse-human comparative genomics.

Visualizing regions of conserved synteny between two genomes is supported by numerous software applications. However, none of the current applications allow researchers to select genome features to display or highlight in blocks of synteny based on the annotated biological properties of the features (e.g., type, function, and/or phenotype association). To address this usability gap, we developed an interactive web-based conserved synteny browser, The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) Synteny Browser. The browser allows researchers to highlight or selectively display genome features in the reference and/or the comparison genome according to the biological attributes of the features. Although the current implementation for the browser is limited to the reference genomes for the laboratory mouse and human, the software platform is intentionally genome agnostic. The JAX Synteny Browser software can be deployed for any two genomes where genome coordinates for syntenic blocks are defined and for which biological attributes of the features in one or both genomes are available in widely used standard bioinformatics file formats. The JAX Synteny Browser is available at: http://syntenybrowser.jax.org/. The code base is available from GitHub: https://github.com/TheJacksonLaboratory/syntenybrowser and is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY)

"Now he walks and walks, as if he didn't have a home where he could eat": food, healing, and hunger in Quechua narratives of madness

In the Quechua-speaking peasant communities of southern Peru, mental disorder is understood less as individualized pathology and more as a disturbance in family and social relationships. For many Andeans, food and feeding are ontologically fundamental to such relationships. This paper uses data from interviews and participant observation in a rural province of Cuzco to explore the significance of food and hunger in local discussions of madness. Carers’ narratives, explanatory models, and theories of healing all draw heavily from idioms of food sharing and consumption in making sense of affliction, and these concepts structure understandings of madness that differ significantly from those assumed by formal mental health services. Greater awareness of the salience of these themes could strengthen the input of psychiatric and psychological care with this population and enhance knowledge of the alternative treatments that they use. Moreover, this case provides lessons for the global mental health movement on the importance of openness to the ways in which indigenous cultures may construct health, madness, and sociality. Such local meanings should be considered by mental health workers delivering services in order to provide care that can adjust to the alternative ontologies of sufferers and carers

Colorectal cancer risk following adenoma removal: a large prospective population-based cohort study

BACKGROUND: Randomised controlled trials have demonstrated significant reductions in colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality associated with polypectomy. However, little is known about whether polypectomy is effective at reducing CRC risk in routine clinical practice. The aim of this investigation was to quantify CRC risk following polypectomy in a large prospective population-based cohort study. METHODS: Patients with incident colorectal polyps between 2000 and 2005 in Northern Ireland (NI) were identified via electronic pathology reports received to the NI Cancer Registry (NICR). Patients were matched to the NICR to detect CRC and deaths up to 31(st) December 2010. CRC standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated and Cox proportional hazards modelling applied to determine CRC risk. RESULTS: During 44,724 person-years of follow-up, 193 CRC cases were diagnosed amongst 6,972 adenoma patients, representing an annual progression rate of 0.43%. CRC risk was significantly elevated in patients who had an adenoma removed (SIR 2.85; 95% CI: 2.61 to 3.25) compared with the general population. Male sex, older age, rectal site and villous architecture were associated with an increased CRC risk in adenoma patients. Further analysis suggested that not having a full colonoscopy performed at, or following, incident polypectomy contributed to the excess CRC risk. CONCLUSIONS: CRC risk was elevated in individuals following polypectomy for adenoma, outside of screening programmes. IMPACT: This finding emphasises the need for full colonoscopy and adenoma clearance, and appropriate surveillance, after endoscopic diagnosis of adenoma

The pH Low Insertion Peptide pHLIP Variant 3 as a Novel Marker of Acidic Malignant Lesions

Current strategies for early detection of breast and other cancers are limited in part because some lesions identified as potentially malignant do not develop into aggressive tumors. Acid pH has been suggested as a key characteristic of aggressive tumors that might distinguish aggressive lesions from more indolent pathology. We therefore investigated the novel class of molecules, pH low insertion peptides (pHLIPs), as markers of low pH in tumor allografts and of malignant lesions in a mouse model of spontaneous breast cancer, BALB/neu-T. pHLIP Variant 3 (Var3) conjugated with fluorescent Alexa546 was shown to insert into tumor spheroids in a sequence-specific manner. Its signal reflected pH in murine tumors. It was induced by carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) overexpression and inhibited by acetazolamide (AZA) administration. By using 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), we demonstrated that pHLIP Var3 was retained in tumors of pH equal to or less than 6.7 but not in tissues of higher pH. In BALB/neu-T mice at different stages of the disease, the fluorescent signal from pHLIP Var3 marked cancerous lesions with a very low false-positive rate. However, only ∼60% of the smallest lesions retained a pHLIP Var3 signal, suggesting heterogeneity in pH. Taken together, these results show that pHLIP can identify regions of lower pH, allowing for its development as a theranostic tool for clinical applications

Cosmological parameter estimation using Very Small Array data out to l=1500

We estimate cosmological parameters using data obtained by the Very Small Array (VSA) in its extended configuration, in conjunction with a variety of other CMB data and external priors. Within the flat $\Lambda$CDM model, we find that the inclusion of high resolution data from the VSA modifies the limits on the cosmological parameters as compared to those suggested by WMAP alone, while still remaining compatible with their estimates. We find that $\Omega_{\rm b}h^2=0.0234^{+0.0012}_{-0.0014}$, $\Omega_{\rm dm}h^2=0.111^{+0.014}_{-0.016}$, $h=0.73^{+0.09}_{-0.05}$, $n_{\rm S}=0.97^{+0.06}_{-0.03}$, $10^{10}A_{\rm S}=23^{+7}_{-3}$ and $\tau=0.14^{+0.14}_{-0.07}$ for WMAP and VSA when no external prior is included.On extending the model to include a running spectral index of density fluctuations, we find that the inclusion of VSA data leads to a negative running at a level of more than 95% confidence ($n_{\rm run}=-0.069\pm 0.032$), something which is not significantly changed by the inclusion of a stringent prior on the Hubble constant. Inclusion of prior information from the 2dF galaxy redshift survey reduces the significance of the result by constraining the value of $\Omega_{\rm m}$. We discuss the veracity of this result in the context of various systematic effects and also a broken spectral index model. We also constrain the fraction of neutrinos and find that $f_{\nu}< 0.087$ at 95% confidence which corresponds to $m_\nu<0.32{\rm eV}$ when all neutrino masses are the equal. Finally, we consider the global best fit within a general cosmological model with 12 parameters and find consistency with other analyses available in the literature. The evidence for $n_{\rm run}<0$ is only marginal within this model