Higher expression of somatic repair genes in long-lived ant queens than workers

ABSTRACT Understanding why organisms senesce is a fundamental question in biology. One common explanation is that senescence results from an increase in macromolecular damage with age. The tremendous variation in lifespan between genetically identical queen and worker ants, ranging over an order of magnitude, provides a unique system to study how investment into processes of somatic maintenance and macromolecular repair influence lifespan. Here we use RNAseq to compare patterns of expression of genes involved in DNA and protein repair of age-matched queens and workers. There was no difference between queens and workers in 1-day-old individuals, but the level of expression of these genes increased with age and this upregulation was greater in queens than in workers, resulting in significantly queen-biased expression in 2-month-old individuals in both legs and brains. Overall, these differences are consistent with the hypothesis that higher longevity is associated with increased investment into somatic repair

The Role of Eolian-Fluvial Interactions and Dune Dams in Landscape Change, Late Pleistocene-Holocene, Mojave Desert, USA

The formation of the Kelso Dunes in the eastern Mojave Desert, California, was a landscape-changing event triggered by an increase in sediment supply that followed the incision of Afton Canyon by the Mojave River ca. 25 ka. Eastward migration of sand dunes occurred along a well-defined eolian trans­port corridor. Dunes temporarily blocked washes resulting in substantial aggradation of eolian and fluvial sediments. Stratigraphic exposures reveal numerous fining-up sequences with interbedded eolian sands that provide evidence of dune dams and subsequent aggradation. Luminescence ages reveal that dune blocking and aggradation correspond to a regional pulse of alluvial fan sedimentation that occurred ca. 14–9 ka. Meanwhile, relative landscape stability occurred downstream of dune dams, resulting in the formation of a moderately developed soil on abandoned fluvial deposits. The next pulse of alluvial fan activity ca. 6–3 ka likely resulted in the breaching of the dune dams, followed by incision. Eolian system sediment state theory suggests that eolian activity in the Mojave Desert is closely tied to enhanced sediment supply, primarily related to the Mojave River–Lake Mo­jave system. Our data suggests that Intermittent Lake Mojave I, ca. 26–22 ka, triggered a large dune-building event that impounded massive amounts of sediment derived from alluvial fans deposited during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Breaching of dune dams and sediment recycling may have also increased sediment supply that contributed to late Holocene eolian activity. This profound impact on the regional geomorphology highlights the critical importance of eolian-fluvial interactions in desert environments

Tool-free, Cosmetically Hidden Phone Display and Back Cover Disassembly Port

The back cover and/or display displays of many portable devices such as smartphones and tablets are often integrated with the main assembly. If the back cover assembly or the phone display needs to be removed (e.g., to access the battery) or needs to be replaced, the device owner needs to approach a service center for such work since specialized tools are often required for removal. This disclosure describes a mechanism for easy removal of back cover or display of a device without impacting aesthetics of the device. Per the techniques of this disclosure, a slot is machined or molded on the adhesive landing between the display/ back cover and the SIM tray opening. The slot can be accessed easily with the SIM tray tool or a paperclip

Testing General Relativity with Current Cosmological Data

Deviations from general relativity, such as could be responsible for the cosmic acceleration, would influence the growth of large scale structure and the deflection of light by that structure. We clarify the relations between several different model independent approaches to deviations from general relativity appearing in the literature, devising a translation table. We examine current constraints on such deviations, using weak gravitational lensing data of the CFHTLS and COSMOS surveys, cosmic microwave background radiation data of WMAP5, and supernova distance data of Union2. Markov Chain Monte Carlo likelihood analysis of the parameters over various redshift ranges yields consistency with general relativity at the 95% confidence level.Comment: 11 pages; 7 figures; typographical errors corrected; this is the published versio

ASCA and contemporaneous ground-based observations of the BL Lacertae objects 1749+096 and 2200+420 (BL Lac)

We present ASCA observations of the radio-selected BL Lacertae objects 1749+096 (z=0.32) and 2200+420 (BL Lac, z=0.069) performed in 1995 Sept and Nov, respectively. The ASCA spectra of both sources can be described as a first approximation by a power law with photon index Gamma ~ 2. This is flatter than for most X-ray-selected BL Lacs observed with ASCA, in agreement with the predictions of current blazar unification models. While 1749+096 exhibits tentative evidence for spectral flattening at low energies, a concave continuum is detected for 2200+420: the steep low-energy component is consistent the high-energy tail of the synchrotron emission responsible for the longer wavelengths, while the harder tail at higher energies is the onset of the Compton component. The spectral energy distributions from radio to gamma-rays are consistent with synchrotron-self Compton emission from a single homogeneous region shortward of the IR/optical wavelengths, with a second component in the radio domain related to a more extended emission region. For 2200+420, comparing the 1995 Nov state with the optical/GeV flare of 1997 July, we find that models requiring inverse Compton scattering of external photons provide a viable mechanism for the production of the highest (GeV) energies during the flare. An increase of the external radiation density and of the power injected in the jet can reproduce the flat gamma-ray continuum observed in 1997 July. A directly testable prediction of this model is that the line luminosity in 2200+420 should vary shortly after (~1 month) a non-thermal synchrotron flare.Comment: 28 pages,6 figures, 5 tables; LaTeX document. accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Characterizing landscape-scale erosion using 10Be in detrital fluvial sediment: Slope-based sampling strategy detects the effect of widespread dams

Concentrations of in situ 10Be measured in detrital fluvial sediment are frequently used to estimate long-term erosion rates of drainage basins. In many regions, basin-averaged erosion rates are positively correlated with basin average slope. The slope dependence of erosion allows model-based erosion rate estimation for unsampled basins and basins where human disturbance may have biased cosmogenic nuclide concentrations in sediment. Using samples collected from southeastern North America, we demonstrate an approach that explicitly considers the relationship between average basin slope and erosion rate. Because dams and reservoirs are ubiquitous on larger channels in the field area, we selected 36 undammed headwater subbasins (average area 10.6 km2) from which we collected river sand samples and measured 10Be concentrations. We used these data to train a predictive model that relates average basin slope and 10Be-inferred erosion rate. Applying our model to 28 basins in the same region previously studied with 10Be, we find that the model successfully predicts erosion rates for basins of different sizes if they are undammed or if samples were collected \u3e25 km downstream of dams. For samples collected closer to dams, measured erosion rates exceed modeled erosion rates for two-thirds of the samples. In three of four cases where paired samples were collected upstream of reservoirs and downstream of the impounding dam, 10Be concentrations were lower downstream. This finding has implications for detrital cosmogenic studies, whether or not samples were collected directly downstream of dams, because dams obstruct most major rivers around the world, effectively trapping sediment that originated upstream

Clypeal patterning in the paper wasp Polistes dominulus: no evidence of adaptive value in the wild

Status signals function in a number of species to communicate competitive ability to conspecific rivals during competition for resources. In the paper wasp Polistes dominulus, variable black clypeal patterns are thought to be important in mediating competition among females. Results of previous behavioral experiments in the lab indicate that P. dominulus clypeal patterns provide information about an individual's competitive ability to rivals during agonistic interactions. To date, however, there has been no detailed examination of the adaptive value of clypeal patterns in the wild. To address this, we looked for correlations between clypeal patterning and various fitness measures, including reproductive success, hierarchical rank, and survival, in a large, free-living population of P. dominulus in southern Spain. Reproductive success over the nesting season was not correlated with clypeal patterning. Furthermore, there was no relationship between a female's clypeal patterning and the rank she achieved within the hierarchy or her survival during nest founding. Overall, we found no evidence that P. dominulus clypeal patterns are related to competitive ability or other aspects of quality in our population. This result is consistent with geographical variation in the adaptive value of clypeal patterns between P. dominulus populations; however, data on the relationship between patterning and fitness from other populations are required to test this hypothesi

Clypeal patterning in the paper wasp Polistes dominulus: no evidence of adaptive value in the wild

Status signals function in a number of species to communicate competitive ability to conspecific rivals during competition for resources. In the paper wasp Polistes dominulus, variable black clypeal patterns are thought to be important in mediating competition among females. Results of previous behavioral experiments in the lab indicate that P. dominulus clypeal patterns provide information about an individual's competitive ability to rivals during agonistic interactions. To date, however, there has been no detailed examination of the adaptive value of clypeal patterns in the wild. To address this, we looked for correlations between clypeal patterning and various fitness measures, including reproductive success, hierarchical rank, and survival, in a large, free-living population of P. dominulus in southern Spain. Reproductive success over the nesting season was not correlated with clypeal patterning. Furthermore, there was no relationship between a female's clypeal patterning and the rank she achieved within the hierarchy or her survival during nest founding. Overall, we found no evidence that P. dominulus clypeal patterns are related to competitive ability or other aspects of quality in our population. This result is consistent with geographical variation in the adaptive value of clypeal patterns between P. dominulus populations; however, data on the relationship between patterning and fitness from other populations are required to test this hypothesi