Why is low waist-to-chest ratio attractive in males? The mediating roles of perceived dominance, fitness, and protection ability

Past research suggests that a lower waist-to-chest ratio (WCR) in men (i.e., narrower waist and broader chest) is viewed as attractive by women. However, little work has directly examined why low WCRs are preferred. The current work merged insights from theory and past research to develop a model examining perceived dominance, fitness, and protection ability as mediators of to WCR-attractiveness relationship. These mediators and their link to both short-term (sexual) and long-term (relational) attractiveness were simultaneously tested by having 151 women rate one of 15 avatars, created from 3D body scans. Men with lower WCR were perceived as more physically dominant, physically fit, and better able to protect loved ones; these characteristics differentially mediated the effect of WCR on short-term, long-term, and general attractiveness ratings. Greater understanding of the judgments women form regarding WCR may yield insights into motivations by men to manipulate their body image

Novel octaketide macrolides related to 6-deoxyerythronolide B provide evidence for iterative operation of the erythromycin polyketide synthase

AbstractBackground: The macrolide antibiotic erythromycin A, like other complex aliphatic polyketides, is synthesised by a bacterial modular polyketide synthase (PKS). Such PKSs, in contrast to other fatty acid and polyketide synthases which work iteratively, contain a separate set or module of enzyme activities for each successive cycle of polyketide chain extension, and the number and type of modules together determine the structure of the polyketide product. Thus, the six extension modules of the erythromycin PKS (DEBS) together catalyse the production of the specific heptaketide 6-deoxyerythronolide B.Results: A mutant strain of the erythromycin producer Saccharopolyspora erythraea, which accumulates the aglycone intermediate erythronolide B, was found unexpectedly to produce two novel octaketides, both 16-membered macrolides. These compounds were detectable in fermentation broths of wild-type S. erythraea, but not in a strain from which the DEBS genes had been specifically deleted. From their structures, both of these octaketides appear to be aberrant products of DEBS in which module 4 has ‘stuttered’, that is, has catalysed two successive cycles of chain extension.Conclusions: The isolation of novel DEBS-derived octaketides provides the first evidence that an extension module in a modular PKS has the potential to catalyse iterative rounds of chain elongation like other type I FAS and PKS systems. The factors governing the extent of such ‘stuttering’ remain to be determined

Photoproduction of mesons off nuclei

Recent results for the photoproduction of mesons off nuclei are reviewed. These experiments have been performed for two major lines of research related to the properties of the strong interaction. The investigation of nucleon resonances requires light nuclei as targets for the extraction of the isospin composition of the electromagnetic excitations. This is done with quasi-free meson photoproduction off the bound neutron and supplemented with the measurement of coherent photoproduction reactions, serving as spin and/or isospin filters. Furthermore, photoproduction from light and heavy nuclei is a very efficient tool for the study of the interactions of mesons with nuclear matter and the in-medium properties of hadrons. Experiments are currently rapidly developing due to the combination of high quality tagged (and polarized) photon beams with state-of-the-art 4pi detectors and polarized targets

Extension of sylvatic circulation of African swine fever virus in extralimital warthogs in South Africa

Sylvatic circulation of African swine fever virus (ASFV) in warthogs and Ornithodoros ticks that live in warthog burrows historically occurred in northern South Africa. Outbreaks of the disease in domestic pigs originated in this region. A controlled area was declared in the north in 1935 and regulations were implemented to prevent transfer of potentially infected suids or products to the rest of the country. However, over the past six decades, warthogs have been widely translocated to the south where the extralimital animals have flourished to become an invasive species. Since 2016, there have been outbreaks of ASF in pigs outside the controlled area that cannot be linked to transfer of infected animals or products from the north. An investigation in 2008–2012 revealed that the presence of Ornithodoros ticks and ASFV in warthog burrows extended marginally across the boundary of the controlled area. We found serological evidence of ASFV circulation in extralimital warthogs further south in the central part of the country.NBAF Transition funds from the State of Kansas, the P20GM130448 and the Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases.https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science#am2022Veterinary Tropical Disease

Refining trait resilience: identifying engineering, ecological, and adaptive facets from extant measures of resilience

The current paper presents a new measure of trait resilience derived from three common mechanisms identified in ecological theory: Engineering, Ecological and Adaptive (EEA) resilience. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of five existing resilience scales suggest that the three trait resilience facets emerge, and can be reduced to a 12-item scale. The conceptualization and value of EEA resilience within the wider trait and well-being psychology is illustrated in terms of differing relationships with adaptive expressions of the traits of the five-factor personality model and the contribution to well-being after controlling for personality and coping, or over time. The current findings suggest that EEA resilience is a useful and parsimonious model and measure of trait resilience that can readily be placed within wider trait psychology and that is found to contribute to individual well-bein

MYO6 is targeted by Salmonella\textit{Salmonella} virulence effectors to trigger PI3-kinase signaling and pathogen invasion into host cells

To establish infections, $\textit{Salmonella}$ injects virulence effectors that hijack the host actin cytoskeleton and phosphoinositide signaling to drive pathogen invasion. How effectors reprogram the cytoskeleton network remains unclear. By reconstituting the activities of the $\textit{Salmonella}$ effector SopE, we recapitulated Rho GTPase-driven actin polymerization at model phospholipid membrane bilayers in cell-free extracts and identified the network of Rho-recruited cytoskeleton proteins. Knockdown of network components revealed a key role for myosin VI (MYO6) in $\textit{Salmonella}$ invasion. SopE triggered MYO6 localization to invasion foci, and SopE-mediated activation of PAK recruited MYO6 to actin-rich membranes. We show that the virulence effector SopB requires MYO6 to regulate the localization of PIP3 and PI(3)P phosphoinositides and Akt activation. SopE and SopB target MYO6 to coordinate phosphoinositide production at invasion foci, facilitating the recruitment of cytoskeleton adaptor proteins to mediate pathogen uptake.This work was funded by Wellcome Trust Grant 101828/Z/13/Z (to V.K.), by Medical Research Council Grants MR/K000888/1 and MR/N000048/1 (to F.B.), MR/L008122/1 (to V.K.), and MR/M011771/1 (to D.H.), and by the Cambridge Isaac Newton Trust