Delayed Rupture of the Right Sinus of Valsalva into the Right Atrium after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Rupture of the sinus of Valsalva is an extremely rare complication after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Because it usually results from the retrograde extension of a dissection of the right coronary artery and may quickly spread to involve the entire aorta, it can cause life-threatening complications such as aortic dissection. If the dissection remains localized, it can resolve spontaneously in the first month. Our patient experienced a delayed rupture of the right sinus of Valsalva into the right atrium at approximately 3 months after PCI

Lifshitz black holes in Brans-Dicke theory

We present an exact asymptotically Lifshitz black hole solution in Brans-Dicke theory of gravity in arbitrary $n(\ge 3)$ dimensions in presence of a power-law potential. In this solution, the dynamical exponent $z$ is determined in terms of the Brans-Dicke parameter $\omega$ and $n$. Asymptotic Lifshitz condition at infinity requires $z>1$, which corresponds to $-(n-1)/(n-2) \le \omega < -n/(n-1)$. On the other hand, the no-ghost condition for the scalar field in the Einstein frame requires $0<z \le 2(n-2)/(n-3)$. We compute the Hawking temperature of the black hole solution and discuss the problems encountered and the proposals in defining its thermodynamic properties. A generalized solution charged under the Maxwell field is also presented.Comment: 32 pages, no figure. v2: revised version. Section 3.1 and Appendix B improved. The argument in Appendix A clarified. v3: References added. v4: analysis on the black hole thermodynamical properties corrected. Final version to appear in JHE

A systematic study of the optical properties of mononuclear hybrid organo-inorganic lanthanoid complexes

A series of hybrid organo-inorganic mononuclear lanthanoid complexes, [n-NBu4]3[LnH(PW11O39)(phen)2]·H2O, denoted as LM4-1-Ln (Ln = DyIII, TbIII, EuIII, NdIII, ErIII, HoIII and GdIII), were synthesized via hydrothermal synthesis and were structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction. The optical properties of all complexes have been investigated in the solid state. The temperature-dependent emission spectra of LM4-1-Dy, LM4-1-Tb and LM4-1-Eu complexes show intense lanthanoid emissions in the visible region, while LM4-1-Nd shows near-infrared (NIR) luminescence. The EuIII complex shows typical strong red emissions from the 5D0 → 7F0,1,2,3,4 transitions, with the CIE colour coordinates (0.631,0.364), the colour purity value of 83.9% and a quantum yield of up to 4.3%, suggesting that the organic fragment has an effect on the optical properties compared to fully inorganic systems, making this complex very attractive as a red component of light-emitting diodes. The luminescence decays of LM4-1-Dy, LM4-1-Tb and LM4-1-Eu exhibit a biexponential behaviour, with τAV = 4.1(7) μs, 0.35(2) ms and 0.94(3) ms, respectively. The values obtained for Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters Ω2 and Ω4 support the interaction between the EuIII and the ligands. Furthermore, those with ErIII and HoIII present weak emissions in the visible region. The T-dependent photoluminescence results show that the LM4-1-Dy, LM4-1-Tb and LM4-1-Nd complexes have good temperature sensitivity, demonstrating that the materials have the potential to be used as a sensing element for luminescent thermometers in different temperature ranges

Female sexual preferences toward conspecific and hybrid male mating calls in two species of polygynous deer, Cervus elaphus and C. nippon

The behavioral processes at the basis of hybridization and introgression are understudied in terrestrial mammals. We use a unique model to test the role of sexual signals as a reproductive barrier to introgression by investigating behavioral responses to male sexual calls in estrous females of two naturally allopatric but reproductively compatible deer species, red deer and sika deer. Previous studies demonstrated asymmetries in acoustic species discrimination between these species: most but not all female red deer prefer conspecific over sika deer male calls while female sika deer exhibit no preference differences. Here, we extend this examination of acoustic species discrimination to the role of male sexual calls in introgression between parent species and hybrids. Using two-speaker playback experiments, we compared the preference responses of estrous female red and sika deer to male sexual calls from conspecifics versus red × sika hybrids. These playbacks simulate early secondary contact between previously allopatric species after hybridization has occurred. Based on previous conspecific versus heterospecific playbacks, we predicted that most female red deer would prefer conspecific calls while female sika deer would show no difference in their preference behaviors toward conspecific and hybrid calls. However, results show that previous asymmetries did not persist as neither species exhibited more preferences for conspecific over hybrid calls. Thus, vocal behavior is not likely to deter introgression between these species during the early stages of sympatry. On a wider scale, weak discrimination against hybrid sexual signals could substantially contribute to this important evolutionary process in mammals and other taxa

Accelerated Evolution of Mitochondrial but Not Nuclear Genomes of Hymenoptera: New Evidence from Crabronid Wasps

Mitochondrial genes in animals are especially useful as molecular markers for the reconstruction of phylogenies among closely related taxa, due to the generally high substitution rates. Several insect orders, notably Hymenoptera and Phthiraptera, show exceptionally high rates of mitochondrial molecular evolution, which has been attributed to the parasitic lifestyle of current or ancestral members of these taxa. Parasitism has been hypothesized to entail frequent population bottlenecks that increase rates of molecular evolution by reducing the efficiency of purifying selection. This effect should result in elevated substitution rates of both nuclear and mitochondrial genes, but to date no extensive comparative study has tested this hypothesis in insects. Here we report the mitochondrial genome of a crabronid wasp, the European beewolf (Philanthus triangulum, Hymenoptera, Crabronidae), and we use it to compare evolutionary rates among the four largest holometabolous insect orders (Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera) based on phylogenies reconstructed with whole mitochondrial genomes as well as four single-copy nuclear genes (18S rRNA, arginine kinase, wingless, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase). The mt-genome of P. triangulum is 16,029 bp in size with a mean A+T content of 83.6%, and it encodes the 37 genes typically found in arthropod mt genomes (13 protein-coding, 22 tRNA, and two rRNA genes). Five translocations of tRNA genes were discovered relative to the putative ancestral genome arrangement in insects, and the unusual start codon TTG was predicted for cox2. Phylogenetic analyses revealed significantly longer branches leading to the apocritan Hymenoptera as well as the Orussoidea, to a lesser extent the Cephoidea, and, possibly, the Tenthredinoidea than any of the other holometabolous insect orders for all mitochondrial but none of the four nuclear genes tested. Thus, our results suggest that the ancestral parasitic lifestyle of Apocrita is unlikely to be the major cause for the elevated substitution rates observed in hymenopteran mitochondrial genomes

Variability of Female Responses to Conspecific vs. Heterospecific Male Mating Calls in Polygynous Deer: An Open Door to Hybridization?

Males of all polygynous deer species (Cervinae) give conspicuous calls during the reproductive season. The extreme interspecific diversity that characterizes these vocalizations suggests that they play a strong role in species discrimination. However, interbreeding between several species of Cervinae indicates permeable interspecific reproductive barriers. This study examines the contribution of vocal behavior to female species discrimination and mating preferences in two closely related polygynous deer species known to hybridize in the wild after introductions. Specifically, we investigate the reaction of estrous female red deer (Cervus elaphus) to playbacks of red deer vs. sika deer (Cervus nippon) male mating calls, with the prediction that females will prefer conspecific calls. While on average female red deer preferred male red deer roars, two out of twenty females spent more time in close proximity to the speaker broadcasting male sika deer moans. We suggest that this absence of strict vocal preference for species-specific mating calls may contribute to the permeability of pre-zygotic reproductive barriers observed between these species. Our results also highlight the importance of examining inter-individual variation when studying the role of female preferences in species discrimination and intraspecific mate selection

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

How chip size impacts steam pretreatment effectiveness for biological conversion of poplar wood into fermentable sugars

BACKGROUND: Woody biomass is highly recalcitrant to enzymatic sugar release and often requires significant size reduction and severe pretreatments to achieve economically viable sugar yields in biological production of sustainable fuels and chemicals. However, because mechanical size reduction of woody biomass can consume significant amounts of energy, it is desirable to minimize size reduction and instead pretreat larger wood chips prior to biological conversion. To date, however, most laboratory research has been performed on materials that are significantly smaller than applicable in a commercial setting. As a result, there is a limited understanding of the effects that larger biomass particle size has on the effectiveness of steam explosion pretreatment and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of wood chips. RESULTS: To address these concerns, novel downscaled analysis and high throughput pretreatment and hydrolysis (HTPH) were applied to examine whether differences exist in the composition and digestibility within a single pretreated wood chip due to heterogeneous pretreatment across its thickness. Heat transfer modeling, Simons’ stain testing, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were applied to probe the effects of pretreatment within and between pretreated wood samples to shed light on potential causes of variation, pointing to enzyme accessibility (i.e., pore size) distribution being a key factor dictating enzyme digestibility in these samples. Application of these techniques demonstrated that the effectiveness of pretreatment of Populus tremuloides can vary substantially over the chip thickness at short pretreatment times, resulting in spatial digestibility effects and overall lower sugar yields in subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that rapid decompression pretreatments (e.g., steam explosion) that specifically alter accessibility at lower temperature conditions are well suited for larger wood chips due to the non-uniformity in temperature and digestibility profiles that can result from high temperature and short pretreatment times. Furthermore, this study also demonstrated that wood chips were hydrated primarily through the natural pore structure during pretreatment, suggesting that preserving the natural grain and transport systems in wood during storage and chipping processes could likely promote pretreatment efficacy and uniformity