April 30, 1927

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia

Local modulation of the Wnt/β‐catenin and bone morphogenic protein (BMP) pathways recapitulates rib defects analogous to cerebro‐costo‐mandibular syndrome

Ribs are seldom affected by developmental disorders, however, multiple defects in rib structure are observed in the spliceosomal disease cerebro‐costo‐mandibular syndrome (CCMS). These defects include rib gaps, found in the posterior part of the costal shaft in multiple ribs, as well as missing ribs, shortened ribs and abnormal costotransverse articulations, which result in inadequate ventilation at birth and high perinatal mortality. The genetic mechanism of CCMS is a loss‐of‐function mutation in SNRPB, a component of the major spliceosome, and knockdown of this gene in vitro affects the activity of the Wnt/β‐catenin and bone morphogenic protein (BMP) pathways. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether altering these pathways in vivo can recapitulate rib gaps and other rib abnormalities in the model animal. Chick embryos were implanted with beads soaked in Wnt/β‐catenin and BMP pathway modulators during somitogenesis, and incubated until the ribs were formed. Some embryos were harvested in the preceding days for analysis of the chondrogenic marker Sox9, to determine whether pathway modulation affected somite patterning or chondrogenesis. Wnt/β‐catenin inhibition manifested characteristic rib phenotypes seen in CCMS, including rib gaps (P < 0.05) and missing ribs (P < 0.05). BMP pathway activation did not cause rib gaps but yielded missing rib (P < 0.01) and shortened rib phenotypes (P < 0.05). A strong association with vertebral phenotypes was also noted with BMP4 (P < 0.001), including scoliosis (P < 0.05), a feature associated with CCMS. Reduced expression of Sox9 was detected with Wnt/β‐catenin inhibition, indicating that inhibition of chondrogenesis precipitated the rib defects in the presence of Wnt/β‐catenin inhibitors. BMP pathway activators also reduced Sox9 expression, indicating an interruption of somite patterning in the manifestation of rib defects with BMP4. The present study demonstrates that local inhibition of the Wnt/β‐catenin and activation of the BMP pathway can recapitulate rib defects, such as those observed in CCMS. The balance of Wnt/β‐catenin and BMP in the somite is vital for correct rib morphogenesis, and alteration of the activity of these two pathways in CCMS may perturb this balance during somite patterning, leading to the observed rib defects

Anisotropic field dependence of the magnetic transition in Cu2Te2O5Br2

We present the results of measurements of the thermal conductivity of Cu2Te2O5Br2, a compound where tetrahedra of Cu^{2+} ions carrying S=1/2 spins form chains along the c-axis of the tetragonal crystal structure. The thermal conductivity kappa was measured along both the c- and the a-direction as a function of temperature between 3 and 300 K and in external magnetic fields H up to 69 kOe, oriented both parallel and perpendicular to the c-axis. Distinct features of kappa(T) were observed in the vicinity of T_N=11.4 K in zero magnetic field. These features are unaltered in external fields which are parallel to the c-axis, but are more pronounced when a field is applied perpendicularly to the c-axis. The transition temperature increases upon enhancing the external field, but only if the field is oriented along the a-axis.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Population-based emergence of unfamiliar climates

Time of emergence, which characterizes when significant signals of climate change will emerge from existing variability, is a useful and increasingly common metric. However, a more useful metric for understanding future climate change in the context of past experience may be the ratio of climate signal to noise (S/N)—a measure of the amplitude of change expressed in terms of units of existing variability. Here, we present S/N projections in the context of emergent climates (termed ‘unusual’, ‘unfamiliar’ and ‘unknown’ by reference to an individual’s lifetime), highlighting sensitivity to future emissions scenarios and geographical and human groupings. We show how for large sections of the world’s population, and for several geopolitical international groupings, mitigation can delay the onset of ‘unknown’ or ‘unfamiliar’ climates by decades, and perhaps even beyond 2100. Our results demonstrate that the benefits of mitigation accumulate over several decades, a key metric of which is reducing S/N, or keeping climate as familiar as possible. A relationship is also identified between cumulative emissions and patterns of emergent climate signals. Timely mitigation will therefore provide the greatest benefits to those facing the earliest impacts, many of whom are alive now

The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism moderates the relationship between cognitive reserve and executive function

The concept of cognitive reserve (CR) has been proposed to account for observed discrepancies between pathology and its clinical manifestation due to underlying differences in brain structure and function. In 433 healthy older adults participating in the Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project, we investigated whether common polymorphic variations in apolipoprotein E (APOE) or brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) influenced the association between CR contributors and cognitive function in older adults. We show that BDNF Val66Met moderates the association between CR and executive function. CR accounted for 8.5% of the variance in executive function in BDNF Val homozygotes, but CR was a nonsignificant predictor in BDNF Met carriers. APOE polymorphisms were not linked to the influence of CR on cognitive function. This result implicates BDNF in having an important role in capacity for building or accessing CR

Reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD): a climate change mitigation strategy on a critical track

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Following recent discussions, there is hope that a mechanism for reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) will be agreed by the Parties of the UNFCCC at their 15th meeting in Copenhagen in 2009 as an eligible action to prevent climate changes and global warming in post-2012 commitment periods. Countries introducing a REDD-regime in order to generate benefits need to implement sound monitoring and reporting systems and specify the associated uncertainties. The principle of conservativeness addresses the problem of estimation errors and requests the reporting of reliable minimum estimates (RME). Here the potential to generate benefits from applying a REDD-regime is proposed with reference to sampling and non-sampling errors that influence the reliability of estimated activity data and emission factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A framework for calculating carbon benefits by including assessment errors is developed. Theoretical, sample based considerations as well as a simulation study for five selected countries with low to high deforestation and degradation rates show that even small assessment errors (5% and less) may outweigh successful efforts to reduce deforestation and degradation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The generation of benefits from REDD is possible only in situations where assessment errors are carefully controlled.</p

BASS. XXXV. The MBH-σ* Relation of 105 Month Swift-BAT Type 1 AGNs

We present two independent measurements of stellar velocity dispersions (sigma(star)) from the Ca II H+K lambda 3969, 3934 and Mg I b lambda 5183, 5172, 5167 region (3880-5550 angstrom) and the calcium triplet region (8350-8750 angstrom) for 173 hard X-ray-selected Type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs; z &lt;= 0.08) from the 105 month Swift-BAT catalog. We construct one of the largest samples of local Type 1 AGNs that have both single-epoch virial black hole mass (M-BH) estimates and sigma(star) measurements obtained from high spectral resolution data, allowing us to test the usage of such methods for supermassive black hole studies. We find that the two independent sigma(star) measurements are highly consistent with each other, with an average offset of only 0.002 +/- 0.001 dex. Comparing M-BH estimates based on broad emission lines and stellar velocity dispersion measurements, we find that the former is systematically lower by approximate to 0.12 dex. Consequently, Eddington ratios estimated through broad-line MBH determinations are similarly biased (but in the opposite way). We argue that the discrepancy is driven by extinction in the broad-line region. We also find an anticorrelation between the offset from the M-BH-sigma(star) relation and the Eddington ratio. Our sample of Type 1 AGNs shows a shallower M-BH-sigma(star) relation (with a power-law exponent of approximate to 3.5) compared with that of inactive galaxies (with a power-law exponent of approximate to 4.5), confirming earlier results obtained from smaller samples

Interoception across Modalities: On the Relationship between Cardiac Awareness and the Sensitivity for Gastric Functions

The individual sensitivity for ones internal bodily signals (“interoceptive awareness”) has been shown to be of relevance for a broad range of cognitive and affective functions. Interoceptive awareness has been primarily assessed via measuring the sensitivity for ones cardiac signals (“cardiac awareness”) which can be non-invasively measured by heartbeat perception tasks. It is an open question whether cardiac awareness is related to the sensitivity for other bodily, visceral functions. This study investigated the relationship between cardiac awareness and the sensitivity for gastric functions in healthy female persons by using non-invasive methods. Heartbeat perception as a measure for cardiac awareness was assessed by a heartbeat tracking task and gastric sensitivity was assessed by a water load test. Gastric myoelectrical activity was measured by electrogastrography (EGG) and subjective feelings of fullness, valence, arousal and nausea were assessed. The results show that cardiac awareness was inversely correlated with ingested water volume and with normogastric activity after water load. However, persons with good and poor cardiac awareness did not differ in their subjective ratings of fullness, nausea and affective feelings after drinking. This suggests that good heartbeat perceivers ingested less water because they subjectively felt more intense signals of fullness during this lower amount of water intake compared to poor heartbeat perceivers who ingested more water until feeling the same signs of fullness. These findings demonstrate that cardiac awareness is related to greater sensitivity for gastric functions, suggesting that there is a general sensitivity for interoceptive processes across the gastric and cardiac modality

BASS. XXXIV. A Catalog of the Nuclear Millimeter-wave Continuum Emission Properties of AGNs Constrained on Scales ≤ 100-200 pc

We present a catalog of the millimeter-wave (mm-wave) continuum properties of 98 nearby (z &lt; 0.05) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) selected from the 70 month Swift/BAT hard-X-ray catalog that have precisely determined X-ray spectral properties and subarcsecond-resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 6 (211-275 GHz) observations as of 2021 April. Due to the hard-X-ray (&gt;10 keV) selection, the sample is nearly unbiased for obscured systems at least up to Compton-thick-level obscuration, and provides the largest number of AGNs with high-physical-resolution mm-wave data (less than or similar to 100-200 pc). Our catalog reports emission peak coordinates, spectral indices, and peak fluxes and luminosities at 1.3 mm (230 GHz). Additionally, high-resolution mm-wave images are provided. Using the images and creating radial surface brightness profiles of mm-wave emission, we identify emission extending from the central sources and isolated blob-like emission. Flags indicating the presence of these emission features are tabulated. Among 90 AGNs with significant detections of nuclear emission, 37 AGNs (approximate to 41%) appear to have both or one of extended or blob-like components. We, in particular, investigate AGNs that show well-resolved mm-wave components and find that these seem to have a variety of origins (i.e., a jet, radio lobes, a secondary AGN, stellar clusters, a narrow-line region, galaxy disk, active star formation regions, or AGN-driven outflows), and some components have currently unclear origins

The Pioneer Anomaly

Radio-metric Doppler tracking data received from the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft from heliocentric distances of 20-70 AU has consistently indicated the presence of a small, anomalous, blue-shifted frequency drift uniformly changing with a rate of ~6 x 10^{-9} Hz/s. Ultimately, the drift was interpreted as a constant sunward deceleration of each particular spacecraft at the level of a_P = (8.74 +/- 1.33) x 10^{-10} m/s^2. This apparent violation of the Newton's gravitational inverse-square law has become known as the Pioneer anomaly; the nature of this anomaly remains unexplained. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the physical properties of the anomaly and the conditions that led to its detection and characterization. We review various mechanisms proposed to explain the anomaly and discuss the current state of efforts to determine its nature. A comprehensive new investigation of the anomalous behavior of the two Pioneers has begun recently. The new efforts rely on the much-extended set of radio-metric Doppler data for both spacecraft in conjunction with the newly available complete record of their telemetry files and a large archive of original project documentation. As the new study is yet to report its findings, this review provides the necessary background for the new results to appear in the near future. In particular, we provide a significant amount of information on the design, operations and behavior of the two Pioneers during their entire missions, including descriptions of various data formats and techniques used for their navigation and radio-science data analysis. As most of this information was recovered relatively recently, it was not used in the previous studies of the Pioneer anomaly, but it is critical for the new investigation.Comment: 165 pages, 40 figures, 16 tables; accepted for publication in Living Reviews in Relativit