A weak characterization of slow variables in stochastic dynamical systems

We present a novel characterization of slow variables for continuous Markov processes that provably preserve the slow timescales. These slow variables are known as reaction coordinates in molecular dynamical applications, where they play a key role in system analysis and coarse graining. The defining characteristics of these slow variables is that they parametrize a so-called transition manifold, a low-dimensional manifold in a certain density function space that emerges with progressive equilibration of the system's fast variables. The existence of said manifold was previously predicted for certain classes of metastable and slow-fast systems. However, in the original work, the existence of the manifold hinges on the pointwise convergence of the system's transition density functions towards it. We show in this work that a convergence in average with respect to the system's stationary measure is sufficient to yield reaction coordinates with the same key qualities. This allows one to accurately predict the timescale preservation in systems where the old theory is not applicable or would give overly pessimistic results. Moreover, the new characterization is still constructive, in that it allows for the algorithmic identification of a good slow variable. The improved characterization, the error prediction and the variable construction are demonstrated by a small metastable system

Aurora-A/STK15/BTAK overexpression induces centrosome amplification, chromosomal instability, and transformation in human urothelial cells

Aurora-A/STK15/BTAK kinase encoding gene, located on chromosome 20q13, is frequently amplified and overexpressed in human cancers. Sen et al. previously demonstrated that Aurora-A amplification and overexpression are associated with aneuploidy and clinically aggressive bladder cancer (J Natl Cancer Inst (2002) 94, 1320-1329). To examine if this association is the direct result of Aurora-A gene amplification and overexpression, an immortalized human urothelial cell line (SV-HUC) was infected with an adenoviral Aurora-A-green fluorescent protein (Ad-Aurora-A-GFP) fusion construct inducing ectopic expression of the resulting fusion protein. Controls included mock-infected and adenoviral-GFP infected cells. Ectopic expression of transduced Aurora-A did not alter the doubling time of the SV-HUC cells but significantly increased the number of cells with multiple centrosomes displaying aneuploidy and increased colony formation in soft agar. This is the first report demonstrating that overexpression of Aurora-A induces centrosome anomalies together with chromosomal instability and malignant transformation-associated phenotypic changes in immortalized human urothelial cells, thus supporting the hypothesis that this gene plays an important role in the development of aggressive bladder cancer

Impact of environmental factors on the growth and maturation of farmed Arctic charr

Farming of Arctic charr mainly takes place in land‐based farms applying intensive rearing methods with relatively high production costs. Depending on local conditions at each site, it is possible to regulate important environmental factors to improve productivity and well‐being of the fish. Knowledge about how these different environmental factors affect various farming traits is important to reduce production costs. This review shows how rearing temperature, photoperiod, salinity and feeding rate can affect farming traits such as growth rate, maturation and feed conversion efficiency of Arctic charr. High growth rate during juvenile phase when the fish are reared at higher temperatures can result in higher incidence of maturation during the on‐growing period. Overall, more moderate rearing temperature regimes seem to result in better long‐term growth rates. Photoperiod manipulation and feed ration can be used as tools to improve growth and reduce maturation. It is possible to rear Arctic charr successfully up to market size in salinities up to c. 27–28 ppt. However, extended rearing resulted in higher ratio of sexually mature fish at 29 than at 25 possibly linked to higher rearing temperatures in brackish water. Future studies should focus on better preserving the potential high growth rate of Arctic charr during juvenile phase into the on‐growing period and establish protocols to improve the seawater tolerance of Arctic charr