Production and processing of organically grown fiber nettle (Urtica dioica L.) and its potential use in the natural textiles industry: A review

In Europe, the perennial stinging nettle was cultivated during the 19th century until the Second World War and has a long history as a fiber plant. Clone varieties dating back to the early 20th century are still maintained at European research institutions. The fiber content of clones ranges from 1.2 to 16% dry matter, and fiber yields range from 0.14 to 1.28 Mg/ha. Varietal purity of fiber nettle can only be achieved by planting cuttings. The harvesting of fiber starts in the second year of growth and the crop may produce well for several years. Several agronomic practices influence fiber quality, but causal relations are not yet well understood. Various parts of the fiber nettle plant can be used as food, fodder and as raw material for different purposes in cosmetics, medicine, industry and biodynamic agriculture. Organically produced fibers are in demand by the green textile industry and show potential that is economically promising

A New Take on John Maynard Smith's Concept of Protein Space for Understanding Molecular Evolution

Much of the public lacks a proper understanding of Darwinian evolution, a problem that can be addressed with new learning and teaching approaches to be implemented both inside the classroom and in less formal settings. Few analogies have been as successful in communicating the basics of molecular evolution as John Maynard Smith’s protein space analogy (1970), in which he compared protein evolution to the transition between the terms WORD and GENE, changing one letter at a time to yield a different, meaningful word (in his example, the preferred path was WORD → WORE → GORE → GONE → GENE). Using freely available computer science tools (Google Books Ngram Viewer), we offer an update to Maynard Smith’s analogy and explain how it might be developed into an exploratory and pedagogical device for understanding the basics of molecular evolution and, more specifically, the adaptive landscape concept. We explain how the device works through several examples and provide resources that might facilitate its use in multiple settings, ranging from public engagement activities to formal instruction in evolution, population genetics, and computational biology

2-D reconstruction of atmospheric concentration peaks from horizontal long path DOAS tomographic measurements: parametrisation and geometry within a discrete approach

International audienceIn this study, we theoretically investigate the reconstruction of 2-D cross sections through Gaussian concentration distributions, e.g. emission plumes, from long path DOAS measurements along a limited number of light paths. This is done systematically with respect to the extension of the up to four peaks and for six different measurement setups with 2-4 telescopes and 36 light paths each. We distinguish between cases with and without additional background concentrations. Our approach parametrises the unknown distribution by local piecewise constant or linear functions on a regular grid and solves the resulting discrete, linear system by a least squares minimum norm principle. We show that the linear parametrisation not only allows better representation of the distributions in terms of discretisation errors, but also better inversion of the system. We calculate area integrals of the concentration field (i.e. total emissions rates for non-vanishing perpendicular wind speed components) and show that reconstruction errors and reconstructed area integrals within the peaks for narrow distributions crucially depend on the resolution of the reconstruction grid. A recently suggested grid translation method for the piecewise constant basis functions, combining reconstructions from several shifted grids, is modified for the linear basis functions and proven to reduce overall reconstruction errors, but not the uncertainty of concentration integrals. We suggest a procedure to subtract additional background concentration fields before inversion. We find large differences in reconstruction quality between the geometries and conclude that, in general, for a constant number of light paths increasing the number of telescopes leads to better reconstruction results. It appears that geometries that give better results for negligible measurement errors and parts of the geometry that are better resolved are also less sensitive to increasing measurement errors

Orbital evolution of a particle around a black hole: II. Comparison of contributions of spin-orbit coupling and the self force

We consider the evolution of the orbit of a spinning compact object in a quasi-circular, planar orbit around a Schwarzschild black hole in the extreme mass ratio limit. We compare the contributions to the orbital evolution of both spin-orbit coupling and the local self force. Making assumptions on the behavior of the forces, we suggest that the decay of the orbit is dominated by radiation reaction, and that the conservative effect is typically dominated by the spin force. We propose that a reasonable approximation for the gravitational waveform can be obtained by ignoring the local self force, for adjusted values of the parameters of the system. We argue that this approximation will only introduce small errors in the astronomical determination of these parameters.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

Sis1 potentiates the stress response to protein aggregation and elevated temperature

Cells adapt to conditions that compromise protein conformational stability by activating various stress response pathways, but the mechanisms used in sensing misfolded proteins remain unclear. Moreover, aggregates of disease proteins often fail to induce a productive stress response. Here, using a yeast model of polyQ protein aggregation, we identified Sis1, an essential Hsp40 co-chaperone of Hsp70, as a critical sensor of proteotoxic stress. At elevated levels, Sis1 prevented the formation of dense polyQ inclusions and directed soluble polyQ oligomers towards the formation of permeable condensates. Hsp70 accumulated in a liquid-like state within this polyQ meshwork, resulting in a potent activation of the HSF1 dependent stress response. Sis1, and the homologous DnaJB6 in mammalian cells, also regulated the magnitude of the cellular heat stress response, suggesting a general role in sensing protein misfolding. Sis1/DnaJB6 functions as a limiting regulator to enable a dynamic stress response and avoid hypersensitivity to environmental changes. Identifying factors that enable cells to induce a potent stress response to amyloid-like aggregation can provide further insight into the mechanism of stress regulation. Here, the authors express polyglutamine-expanded Huntingtin as a model disease protein in yeast cells and perform a genetic screen for chaperone factors that allow yeast cells to activate a potent stress response. They identify Sis1, an essential Hsp40 co-chaperone of Hsp70, as a critical sensor of proteotoxic stress and further show that both Sis1 and its mammalian homolog DnaJB6 regulate the magnitude of the cellular heat stress response, indicating that this mechanism is conserved.FRAP experiments were performed at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry Imaging Core Facility

Temporal and dimensional effects in evolutionary graph theory

The spread in time of a mutation through a population is studied analytically and computationally in fully-connected networks and on spatial lattices. The time, t_*, for a favourable mutation to dominate scales with population size N as N^{(D+1)/D} in D-dimensional hypercubic lattices and as N ln N in fully-connected graphs. It is shown that the surface of the interface between mutants and non-mutants is crucial in predicting the dynamics of the system. Network topology has a significant effect on the equilibrium fitness of a simple population model incorporating multiple mutations and sexual reproduction. Includes supplementary information.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures Replaced after final round of peer revie

Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 29

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

Complex patterns of secondary spread without loss of genetic diversity in invasive populations of the Asian shore crab Hemigrapsus takanoi (Decapoda) along European coasts

Genetic studies of introduced non-native species are a valuable tool to investigate invasion history and pathways, source populations and multiple introductions of alien species, as well as evolutionary genetic changes following establishment in a new environment. We used a set of nine polymorphic microsatellites to analyse the population genetic structure of the introduced Asian shore crab Hemigrapsus takanoi along European coasts. Our dataset covered the complete known European range of the species, including the most recent records from Great Britain and the southwestern Baltic Sea. The results showed a similarly high genetic diversity of H. takanoi throughout Europe, and no indication of genetic bottlenecks during secondary spread, even in the most recently established populations. Analyses for population structure along geographic regions gave support for a separation between the Bay of Seine populations (northern France) and all other populations. Genetic differentiation within the North and Baltic Seas was more subtle and patchy, hinting to potential unrecognised introduction events, dispersal barriers and anthropogenic vector activity. The populations from the Baltic Sea and Great Britain clustered with the Wadden Sea populations, suggesting secondary introductions from the southeastern North Sea as likely invasion pathways. In summary, we suggest that a combination of anthropogenic secondary spread and the species’ reproductive biology have prevented a loss of genetic diversity during its ongoing expansion. We argue that genetic data depicting population status shortly after an introduction event—like the British and Baltic Sea populations of H. takanoi—may provide important baseline data for investigations of genetic changes during establishment and adaptation processes