Mice do not require auditory input for the normal development of their ultrasonic vocalizations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Transgenic mice have become an important tool to elucidate the genetic foundation of the human language faculty. While learning is an essential prerequisite for the acquisition of human speech, it is still a matter of debate whether auditory learning plays any role in the development of species-specific vocalizations in mice. To study the influence of auditory input on call development, we compared the occurrence and structure of ultrasonic vocalizations from deaf otoferlin-knockout mice, a model for human deafness DFNB9, to those of hearing wild-type and heterozygous littermates.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that the occurrence and structure of ultrasonic vocalizations recorded from deaf otoferlin-knockout mice and hearing wild-type and heterozygous littermates do not differ. Isolation calls from 16 deaf and 15 hearing pups show the same ontogenetic development in terms of the usage and structure of their vocalizations as their hearing conspecifics. Similarly, adult courtship 'songs' produced by 12 deaf and 16 hearing males did not differ in the latency to call, rhythm of calling or acoustic structure.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results indicate that auditory experience is not a prerequisite for the development of species-specific vocalizations in mice. Thus, mouse models are of only limited suitability to study the evolution of vocal learning, a crucial component in the development of human speech. Nevertheless, ultrasonic vocalizations of mice constitute a valuable readout in studies of the genetic foundations of social and communicative behavior.</p

Candidate Vaccine Sequences to Represent Intra- and Inter-Clade HIV-1 Variation

A likely key factor in the failure of a HIV-1 vaccine based on cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) is the natural immunodominance of epitopes that fall in variable regions of the proteome, which both increases the chance of epitope sequence mismatch with the incoming challenge strain and replicates the pathogenesis of early CTL failure due to epitope escape mutation during natural infection. To identify potential vaccine sequences to focus the CTL response on highly conserved epitopes, the whole proteomes of HIV-1 clades A1, B, C, and D were assessed for Shannon entropy at each amino acid position. Highly conserved regions in Gag (cGag-1, Gag 148–214, and cGag-2, Gag 253–331), Env (cEnv, Env 521–606), and Nef (cNef, Nef 106–148) were identified across clades. Inter- and intra-clade variability of amino acids within the regions tended to overlap, suggesting that polyvalent representation of consensus sequences for the four clades would allow broad HIV-1 strain representation. These four conserved regions were rich in both known and predicted CTL epitopes presented by a breadth of HLA types, and screening of 54 persons with chronic HIV-1 infection revealed that these regions are commonly immunogenic in the context of natural infection. These data suggest that vaccine delivery of a 16-valent mixture of these regions could focus the CTL response against conserved epitopes that are broadly representative of circulating HIV-1 strains

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Search for high-mass resonances decaying to dilepton final states in pp collisions at s√=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is used to search for high-mass resonances decaying to an electron-positron pair or a muon-antimuon pair. The search is sensitive to heavy neutral Z′ gauge bosons, Randall-Sundrum gravitons, Z * bosons, techni-mesons, Kaluza-Klein Z/γ bosons, and bosons predicted by Torsion models. Results are presented based on an analysis of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb−1 in the e + e − channel and 5.0 fb−1 in the μ + μ −channel. A Z ′ boson with Standard Model-like couplings is excluded at 95 % confidence level for masses below 2.22 TeV. A Randall-Sundrum graviton with coupling k/MPl=0.1 is excluded at 95 % confidence level for masses below 2.16 TeV. Limits on the other models are also presented, including Technicolor and Minimal Z′ Models

Quantitative Analysis of Viral Load per Haploid Genome Revealed the Different Biological Features of Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Infection in Skin Tumor

Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) has recently been identified in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), an aggressive cancer that occurs in sun-exposed skin. Conventional technologies, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemistry, have produced conflicting results for MCPyV infections in non-MCC tumors. Therefore, we performed quantitative analyses of the MCPyV copy number in various skin tumor tissues, including MCC (n = 9) and other sun exposure-related skin tumors (basal cell carcinoma [BCC, n = 45], actinic keratosis [AK, n = 52], Bowen’s disease [n = 34], seborrheic keratosis [n = 5], primary cutaneous anaplastic large-cell lymphoma [n = 5], malignant melanoma [n = 5], and melanocytic nevus [n = 6]). In a conventional PCR analysis, MCPyV DNA was detected in MCC (9 cases; 100%), BCC (1 case; 2%), and AK (3 cases; 6%). We then used digital PCR technology to estimate the absolute viral copy number per haploid human genome in these tissues. The viral copy number per haploid genome was estimated to be around 1 in most MCC tissues, and there were marked differences between the MCC (0.119–42.8) and AK (0.02–0.07) groups. PCR-positive BCC tissue showed a similar viral load as MCC tissue (0.662). Immunohistochemistry with a monoclonal antibody against the MCPyV T antigen (CM2B4) demonstrated positive nuclear localization in most of the high-viral-load tumor groups (8 of 9 MCC and 1 BCC), but not in the low-viral-load or PCR-negative tumor groups. These results demonstrated that MCPyV infection is possibly involved in a minority of sun-exposed skin tumors, including BCC and AK, and that these tumors display different modes of infection

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for the neutral Higgs bosons of the minimal supersymmetric standard model in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for neutral Higgs bosons of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) is reported. The analysis is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The data were recorded in 2011 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1 to 4.8 fb-1. Higgs boson decays into oppositely-charged muon or τ lepton pairs are considered for final states requiring either the presence or absence of b-jets. No statistically significant excess over the expected background is observed and exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are derived. The exclusion limits are for the production cross-section of a generic neutral Higgs boson, φ, as a function of the Higgs boson mass and for h/A/H production in the MSSM as a function of the parameters mA and tan β in the mhmax scenario for mA in the range of 90GeV to 500 GeV. Copyright CERN

Search for R-parity-violating supersymmetry in events with four or more leptons in sqrt(s) =7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for new phenomena in final states with four or more leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of $\sqrt{s}=7\;\mathrm{TeV}$ proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in two signal regions: one that requires moderate values of missing transverse momentum and another that requires large effective mass. The results are interpreted in a simplified model of R-parity-violating supersymmetry in which a 95% CL exclusion region is set for charged wino masses up to 540 GeV. In an R-parity-violating MSUGRA/CMSSM model, values of m 1/2 up to 820 GeV are excluded for 10 < tan β < 40

Temporal Controls of the Asymmetric Cell Division Cycle in Caulobacter crescentus

The asymmetric cell division cycle of Caulobacter crescentus is orchestrated by an elaborate gene-protein regulatory network, centered on three major control proteins, DnaA, GcrA and CtrA. The regulatory network is cast into a quantitative computational model to investigate in a systematic fashion how these three proteins control the relevant genetic, biochemical and physiological properties of proliferating bacteria. Different controls for both swarmer and stalked cell cycles are represented in the mathematical scheme. The model is validated against observed phenotypes of wild-type cells and relevant mutants, and it predicts the phenotypes of novel mutants and of known mutants under novel experimental conditions. Because the cell cycle control proteins of Caulobacter are conserved across many species of alpha-proteobacteria, the model we are proposing here may be applicable to other genera of importance to agriculture and medicine (e.g., Rhizobium, Brucella)