Physical cues controlling seasonal immune allocation in a naturally-occurring vertebrate

Seasonal patterns in immunity are frequently observed in vertebrates but are poorly understood. Here we focussed on a natural piscine model, the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), and asked how seasonal immune allocation is driven by physical variables (time, light and heat). Using functionally-relevant gene expression metrics as a reporter of seasonal immune allocation we synchronously sampled fish monthly from the wild (two habitats), and from semi-natural outdoors mesocosms (stocked from one of the wild habitats). This was repeated across two annual cycles, with continuous within-habitat monitoring of environmental temperature and implementing a manipulation of temperature in the mesocosms. We also conducted a long-term laboratory experiment, subjecting acclimated wild fish to natural and accelerated (× 2) photoperiodic change at 7 and 15°C. The laboratory experiment demonstrated that immune allocation was independent of photoperiod and only a very modest effect, at most, was controlled by a tentative endogenous circannual rhythm. On the other hand, experimentally-determined thermal effects were able to quantitatively predict much of the summer-winter fluctuation observed in the field and mesocosms. Importantly, however, temperature was insufficient to fully predict, and occasionally was a poor predictor of, natural patterns. Thermal effects can thus be over-ridden by other (unidentified) natural environmental variation and do not take the form of an unavoidable constraint due to cold-blooded physiology. This is consistent with a context-dependent strategic control of immunity in response to temperature variation, and points to the existence of temperature-sensitive regulatory circuits that might be conserved in other vertebrates

Overcoming obstacles to IPv6 on WLCG

The transition of the Worldwide Large Hadron Collider Computing Grid (WLCG) storage services to dual-stack IPv6/IPv4 is almost complete; all Tier-1 and 94% of Tier-2 storage are IPv6 enabled. While most data transfers now use IPv6, a significant number of IPv4 transfers still occur even when both endpoints support IPv6. This paper presents the ongoing efforts of the HEPiX IPv6 working group to steer WLCG toward IPv6-only services by investigating and fixing the obstacles to the use of IPv6 and identifying cases where IPv4 is used when IPv6 is available. Removing IPv4 use is essential for the long-term agreed goal of IPv6-only access to resources within WLCG, thus eliminating the complexity and security concerns associated with dual-stack services. We present our achievements and ongoing challenges as we navigate the final stages of the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 within WLCG

The Physics of the B Factories

This work is on the Physics of the B Factories. Part A of this book contains a brief description of the SLAC and KEK B Factories as well as their detectors, BaBar and Belle, and data taking related issues. Part B discusses tools and methods used by the experiments in order to obtain results. The results themselves can be found in Part C

Designing the RAL Tier-1 Network for HL-LHC and Future data lakes

The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) runs the UK Tier-1 which supports all the LHC experiments, as well as a growing number of others in HEP, Astronomy and Space Science. In September 2020, RAL was provided with funds to upgrade its network. The Tier-1 not only wants to meet the demands of LHC Run 3, it also wants to ensure that it can take an active role in data lake development and the network data challenges in the preparation for HL-LHC. It was therefore decided to completely rebuild the Tier-1 network with a Spine / Leaf architecture. This paper describes the network requirements and design decision that went into building the new Tier-1 network. It also includes a cost analysis, to understand if the ever increasing network requirements are deliverable in a continued flat cash environment and what limitations or opportunities this may place on future data lakes

Cognitive science /

The field of cognitive science brings together elements of cognitive psychology, mathematics, perception, and linguistics. Focusing on the main areas of exploration in this field, this book presents comprehensive overviews of research findings and discusses new cross-over areas of interest.Includes bibliographical references and index.Print version record.Front Cover; Cognitive Science; Copyright Page; Contents; Contributors; Foreword; Preface; Chapter 1. Coordinate Transformations in the Genesis of Directed Action; Chapter 2. Attention; Chapter 3. Categorization; Chapter 4. Reasoning; Chapter 5. Cognitive Development; Chapter 6. The Brain Basis of Syntactic Processes: Architecture, Ontogeny, and Phylogeny; Chapter 7. The Cognitive Neuroscience Approach; Chapter 8. Emotion; Index.The field of cognitive science brings together elements of cognitive psychology, mathematics, perception, and linguistics. Focusing on the main areas of exploration in this field, this book presents comprehensive overviews of research findings and discusses new cross-over areas of interest.Elsevie