Improving the lens design and performance of a contemporary electromagnetic shock wave lithotripter.

The efficiency of shock wave lithotripsy (SWL), a noninvasive first-line therapy for millions of nephrolithiasis patients, has not improved substantially in the past two decades, especially in regard to stone clearance. Here, we report a new acoustic lens design for a contemporary electromagnetic (EM) shock wave lithotripter, based on recently acquired knowledge of the key lithotripter field characteristics that correlate with efficient and safe SWL. The new lens design addresses concomitantly three fundamental drawbacks in EM lithotripters, namely, narrow focal width, nonidealized pulse profile, and significant misalignment in acoustic focus and cavitation activities with the target stone at high output settings. Key design features and performance of the new lens were evaluated using model calculations and experimental measurements against the original lens under comparable acoustic pulse energy (E+) of 40 mJ. The -6-dB focal width of the new lens was enhanced from 7.4 to 11 mm at this energy level, and peak pressure (41 MPa) and maximum cavitation activity were both realigned to be within 5 mm of the lithotripter focus. Stone comminution produced by the new lens was either statistically improved or similar to that of the original lens under various in vitro test conditions and was significantly improved in vivo in a swine model (89% vs. 54%, P = 0.01), and tissue injury was minimal using a clinical treatment protocol. The general principle and associated techniques described in this work can be applied to design improvement of all EM lithotripters

Good Genes and Sexual Selection in Dung Beetles (Onthophagus taurus): Genetic Variance in Egg-to-Adult and Adult Viability

Whether species exhibit significant heritable variation in fitness is central for sexual selection. According to good genes models there must be genetic variation in males leading to variation in offspring fitness if females are to obtain genetic benefits from exercising mate preferences, or by mating multiply. However, sexual selection based on genetic benefits is controversial, and there is limited unambiguous support for the notion that choosy or polyandrous females can increase the chances of producing offspring with high viability. Here we examine the levels of additive genetic variance in two fitness components in the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus. We found significant sire effects on egg-to-adult viability and on son, but not daughter, survival to sexual maturity, as well as moderate coefficients of additive variance in these traits. Moreover, we do not find evidence for sexual antagonism influencing genetic variation for fitness. Our results are consistent with good genes sexual selection, and suggest that both pre- and postcopulatory mate choice, and male competition could provide indirect benefits to females

Kinetic Characterisation of a Single Chain Antibody against the Hormone Abscisic Acid: Comparison with Its Parental Monoclonal

A single-chain Fv fragment antibody (scFv) specific for the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) has been expressed in the bacterium Escherichia coli as a fusion protein. The kinetics of ABA binding have been measured using surface plasmon resonance spectrometry (BIAcore 2000) using surface and solution assays. Care was taken to calculate the concentration of active protein in each sample using initial rate measurements under conditions of partial mass transport limitation. The fusion product, parental monoclonal antibody and the free scFv all have low nanomolar affinity constants, but there is a lower dissociation rate constant for the parental monoclonal resulting in a three-fold greater affinity. Analogue specificity was tested and structure-activity binding preferences measured. The biologically-active (+)-ABA enantiomer is recognised with an affinity three orders of magnitude higher than the inactive (-)-ABA. Metabolites of ABA including phaseic acid, dihydrophaseic acid and deoxy-ABA have affinities over 100-fold lower than that for (+)-ABA. These properties of the scFv make it suitable as a sensor domain in bioreporters specific for the naturally occurring form of ABA

The Evolution of Bat Vestibular Systems in the Face of Potential Antagonistic Selection Pressures for Flight and Echolocation

PMCID: PMC3634842This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Risk factors for type 2 diabetes in groups stratified according to metabolic syndrome: a 10-year follow-up of The Tromsø Study

Many incident cases of type 2 diabetes do not fulfil the metabolic syndrome, which accordingly has been questioned both as a research and clinical tool. The aim of this study was to determine differences in risk factors for type 2 diabetes between groups with high or low metabolic score. The study population were 26,093 men and women attending the Tromsø Study in 1994, followed through 2005, and who did not have diabetes when entering the study. A total of 492 incident cases of type 2 diabetes were registered. A metabolic score was defined according to a modified version of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. For those fulfilling ≥ 3 metabolic score criteria, increasing age, body mass index (BMI), triglycerides and a family history of diabetes were independent predictors. Age, BMI, and triglycerides predicted type 2 diabetes more strongly in subjects with low metabolic score, whereas high HDL cholesterol was not protective in this low risk group. The risk associated with a positive family history was unaffected by level of metabolic score. In addition smoking, low education and in men also physical inactivity were independent risk factors only in those with low metabolic score. Adding these non-metabolic risk factors increased correct classification from an ROC area of 77.2 to 87.1% (P value < 0.0001). One half of the incident cases of type 2 diabetes were missed by using high metabolic score for risk prediction

Range Expansion Drives Dispersal Evolution In An Equatorial Three-Species Symbiosis

A-09-14International audienceBackground Recurrent climatic oscillations have produced dramatic changes in species distributions. This process has been proposed to be a major evolutionary force, shaping many life history traits of species, and to govern global patterns of biodiversity at different scales. During range expansions selection may favor the evolution of higher dispersal, and symbiotic interactions may be affected. It has been argued that a weakness of climate fluctuation-driven range dynamics at equatorial latitudes has facilitated the persistence there of more specialized species and interactions. However, how much the biology and ecology of species is changed by range dynamics has seldom been investigated, particularly in equatorial regions. Methodology/Principal Findings We studied a three-species symbiosis endemic to coastal equatorial rainforests in Cameroon, where the impact of range dynamics is supposed to be limited, comprised of two species-specific obligate mutualists –an ant-plant and its protective ant– and a species-specific ant parasite of this mutualism. We combined analyses of within-species genetic diversity and of phenotypic variation in a transect at the southern range limit of this ant-plant system. All three species present congruent genetic signatures of recent gradual southward expansion, a result compatible with available regional paleoclimatic data. As predicted, this expansion has been accompanied by the evolution of more dispersive traits in the two ant species. In contrast, we detected no evidence of change in lifetime reproductive strategy in the tree, nor in its investment in food resources provided to its symbiotic ants. Conclusions/Significance Despite the decreasing investment in protective workers and the increasing investment in dispersing females by both the mutualistic and the parasitic ant species, there was no evidence of destabilization of the symbiosis at the colonization front. To our knowledge, we provide here the first evidence at equatorial latitudes that biological traits associated with dispersal are affected by the range expansion dynamics of a set of interacting species

General Three-Point Functions in 4D CFT

We classify and compute, by means of the six-dimensional embedding formalism in twistor space, all possible three-point functions in four dimensional conformal field theories involving bosonic or fermionic operators in irreducible representations of the Lorentz group. We show how to impose in this formalism constraints due to conservation of bosonic or fermionic currents. The number of independent tensor structures appearing in any three-point function is obtained by a simple counting. Using the Operator Product Expansion (OPE), we can then determine the number of structures appearing in 4-point functions with arbitrary operators. This procedure is independent of the way we take the OPE between pairs of operators, namely it is consistent with crossing symmetry, as it should be. An analytic formula for the number of tensor structures for three-point correlators with two symmetric and an arbitrary bosonic (non-conserved) operators is found, which in turn allows to analytically determine the number of structures in 4-point functions of symmetric traceless tensors

Analyzing the Impacts of Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) Trails on Watershed Processes in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska

Trails created by off-road vehicles (ORV) in boreal lowlands are known to cause local impacts, such as denuded vegetation, soil erosion, and permafrost thaw, but impacts on stream and watershed processes are less certain. In Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST), Alaska, ORV trails have caused local resource damage in intermountain lowlands with permafrost soils and abundant wetlands and there is a need to know whether these impacts are more extensive. Comparison of aerial photography from 1957, 1981, and 2004 coupled with ground surveys in 2009 reveal an increase in trail length and number and show an upslope expansion of a trail system around points of stream channel initiation. We hypothesized that these impacts could also cause premature initiation and headward expansion of channels because of lowered soil resistance and greater runoff accumulation as trails migrate upslope. Soil monitoring showed earlier and deeper thaw of the active layer in and adjacent to trails compared to reference sites. Several rainfall-runoff events during the summer of 2009 showed increased and sustained flow accumulation below trail crossings and channel shear forces sufficient to cause headward erosion of silt and peat soils. These observations of trail evolution relative to stream and wetland crossings together with process studies suggest that ORV trails are altering watershed processes. These changes in watershed processes appear to result in increasing drainage density and may also alter downstream flow regimes, water quality, and aquatic habitat. Addressing local land-use disturbances in boreal and arctic parklands with permafrost soils, such as WRST, where responses to climate change may be causing concurrent shifts in watershed processes, represents an important challenge facing resource managers