Macronutrients mediate the functional relationship between Drosophila and Wolbachia

Wolbachia are maternally inherited bacterial endosymbionts that naturally infect a diverse array of arthropods. They are primarily known for their manipulation of host reproductive biology, and recently, infections with Wolbachia have been proposed as a new strategy for controlling insect vectors and subsequent human-transmissible diseases. Yet, Wolbachia abundance has been shown to vary greatly between individuals and the magnitude of the effects of infection on host life-history traits and protection against infection is correlated to within-host Wolbachia abundance. It is therefore essential to better understand the factors that modulate Wolbachia abundance and effects on host fitness. Nutrition is known to be one of the most important mediators of host-symbiont interactions. Here, we used nutritional geometry to quantify the role of macronutrients on insect-Wolbachia relationships in Drosophila melanogaster. Our results show fundamental interactions between diet composition, host diet selection, Wolbachia abundance and effects on host lifespan and fecundity. The results and methods described here open a new avenue in the study of insect-Wolbachia relationships and are of general interest to numerous research disciplines, ranging from nutrition and life-history theory to public health

The Impact of NLO-Corrections on the Determination of the $\bar{u},\bar{d} Content of Nucleons from Drell-Yan Production

The interpretation of Drell-Yan production in terms of the antiquark densities depends on NLO corrections. Besides the NLO corrections to the familiar annihilation $q\bar{q}\to \gamma^* \to l^+ l^-$, there is a substantial contribution from the QCD Compton subprocesses $gq \to q\gamma^* \to q l^+ l^-$ and $g\bar{q} \to q\gamma^* \to q l^+ l^-$. The beam and target dependence of the two classes of corrections is different. We discuss the impact of this difference on the determination of the $\bar{d}-\bar{u}$ asymmetry in the proton from the comparison of the $pp$ and $pn$ Drell-Yan production.Comment: 4 pages, 1 eps-figure. To be published in Proceedings of DIS'9

Sleep reactivation did not boost suppression-induced forgetting.

Sleep's role in memory consolidation is widely acknowledged, but its role in weakening memories is still debated. Memory weakening is evolutionary beneficial and makes an integral contribution to cognition. We sought evidence on whether sleep-based memory reactivation can facilitate memory suppression. Participants learned pairs of associable words (e.g., DIET-CREAM) and were then exposed to hint words (e.g., DIET) and instructed to either recall ("think") or suppress ("no-think") the corresponding target words (e.g., CREAM). As expected, suppression impaired retention when tested immediately after a 90-min nap. To test if reactivation could selectively enhance memory suppression during sleep, we unobtrusively presented one of two sounds conveying suppression instructions during sleep, followed by hint words. Results showed that targeted memory reactivation did not enhance suppression-induced forgetting. Although not predicted, post-hoc analyses revealed that sleep cues strengthened memory, but only for suppressed pairs that were weakly encoded before sleep. The results leave open the question of whether memory suppression can be augmented during sleep, but suggest strategies for future studies manipulating memory suppression during sleep. Additionally, our findings support the notion that sleep reactivation is particularly beneficial for weakly encoded information, which may be prioritized for consolidation

Sleep reactivation did not boost suppression-induced forgetting.

Sleep's role in memory consolidation is widely acknowledged, but its role in weakening memories is still debated. Memory weakening is evolutionary beneficial and makes an integral contribution to cognition. We sought evidence on whether sleep-based memory reactivation can facilitate memory suppression. Participants learned pairs of associable words (e.g., DIET-CREAM) and were then exposed to hint words (e.g., DIET) and instructed to either recall ("think") or suppress ("no-think") the corresponding target words (e.g., CREAM). As expected, suppression impaired retention when tested immediately after a 90-min nap. To test if reactivation could selectively enhance memory suppression during sleep, we unobtrusively presented one of two sounds conveying suppression instructions during sleep, followed by hint words. Results showed that targeted memory reactivation did not enhance suppression-induced forgetting. Although not predicted, post-hoc analyses revealed that sleep cues strengthened memory, but only for suppressed pairs that were weakly encoded before sleep. The results leave open the question of whether memory suppression can be augmented during sleep, but suggest strategies for future studies manipulating memory suppression during sleep. Additionally, our findings support the notion that sleep reactivation is particularly beneficial for weakly encoded information, which may be prioritized for consolidation

6-De­oxy-6-fluoro-d-galactose

The crystal structure unequivocally confirms the relative stereochemistry of the title compound, C6H11FO5. The absolute stereochemistry was determined by the use of d-galactose as the starting material. The compound exists as a three-dimensional O—H⋯O hydrogen-bonded network with each mol­ecule acting as a donor and acceptor for four hydrogen bonds

8.9 hr rotation in the partly burnt runaway stellar remnant LP 40-365 (GD 492)

We report the detection of 8.914 hr variability in both optical and ultraviolet light curves of LP 40-365 (also known as GD 492), the prototype for a class of partly burnt runaway stars that have been ejected from a binary due to a thermonuclear supernova event. We first detected this 1.0% amplitude variation in optical photometry collected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Reanalysis of observations from the Hubble Space Telescope at the TESS period and ephemeris reveal a 5.8% variation in the ultraviolet of this 9800 K stellar remnant. We propose that this 8.914 hr photometric variation reveals the current surface rotation rate of LP 40-365, and is caused by some kind of surface inhomogeneity rotating in and out of view, though a lack of observed Zeeman splitting puts an upper limit on the magnetic field of <20 kG. We explore ways in which the present rotation period can constrain progenitor scenarios if angular momentum was mostly conserved, which suggests that the survivor LP 40-365 was not the donor star but was most likely the bound remnant of a mostly disrupted white dwarf that underwent advanced burning from an underluminous (Type Iax) supernova.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Labour not land constrains agricultural production and food self-sufficiency in maize-based smallholder farming systems in Mozambique

Despite abundant land and favourable climatic conditions, Mozambique remains food insecure. We investigated the diversity, constraints and opportunities to increase smallholder productivity and achieve food self-sufficiency in maize-based farming systems in two Posts in central Mozambique. We identified four farm types in each village based on cultivated area and labour. Farm type 1 cultivated relatively large areas, owned cattle and hired in labour. Farm type 2 cultivated moderate areas and both hired in and hired out labour. Farms of type 3a and 3b cultivated the smallest areas. Farm type 3a shared labour while Farm type 3b only hired out labour. For each farm type, we calculated land and labour productivities of maize, sunflower and sesame and assessed maize self-sufficiency. Access to labour during weeding was the main constraint. The hiring out of labour by small farms caused severe reductions in both land and labour productivity. Yield reductions on these farms were due to delayed weeding in own fields. In one Post, Farm type 3b was not maize self-sufficient. Labour quality was probably impaired by excess alcohol consumption among the poorer farmers (both men and women). Our results showed that production can be increased based on current agricultural practices. Farmers did not cultivate all of their land, suggesting that lack of labour constrained intensification by smallholder farmers

Effect of applied field and rate of voltage rise on surface breakdown of oil-immersed polymers

In sub-systems of high-voltage, pulsed-power machines, the introduction of a solid into bulk liquid insulation located between two conductors is often necessary to provide mechanical support. Breakdown events on or around the surface of the solid can result in permanent damage to the insulation system. Described in the present paper are experimental results pertaining to surface breakdown of five different solid dielectrics held between plane-parallel electrodes immersed in mineral oil. The effect of varying level of peak applied field from 200 kV/cm (dV/dt 70 kV/µs) to 1 MV/cm (dV/dt 350 kV/µs) is investigated, and the breakdown voltages and times to breakdown are compared to those for an open oil gap. The time to breakdown is shown to be reduced by the introduction of a solid spacer into the gap. Rexolite and Torlon samples suffered significant mechanical damage, and consistently showed lower breakdown voltage than the other materials - average streamer propagation velocity up to 125 km/s was implied by the short times to breakdown. Although ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene yielded the longest times to breakdown of the five types of liquid-solid gap, breakdown events could be initiated at lower levels of applied field for spacers of this material than those with permittivity closely matched to that of the surrounding mineral oil. Polypropylene and low-density polyethylene are concluded to provide the most stable performance in mineral oil. Due to the similarity of the applied voltage wave-shape (1/6.5 µs) to short-tail lightning impulses, the results may also be of interest to high-voltage system designers in the power industry

Field theory simulation of Abelian-Higgs cosmic string cusps

We have performed a lattice field theory simulation of cusps in Abelian-Higgs cosmic strings. The results are in accord with the theory that the portion of the strings which overlaps near the cusp is released as radiation. The radius of the string cores which must touch to produce the evaporation is approximately $r = 1$ in natural units. In general, the modifications to the string shape due to the cusp may produce many cusps later in the evolution of a string loop, but these later cusps will be much smaller in magnitude and more closely resemble kinks.Comment: 9 pages, RevTeX, 13 figures with eps

Modifications to the von Laue statistical distribution of the times to breakdown at a polymer-oil interface

A statistical analysis has been undertaken to determine the statistical and formative times associated with breakdowns along a polymer-oil interface under impulse conditions. Early analysis was based on an assumption that the breakdown data followed the von Laue Distribution. However, it was found that in the Laue plots there were deviations from the expected straight line behavior at short times to breakdown, which may be due to a normal distribution in values of the formative times. In addition, the plots showed multiple straight line sections, which suggested that changes were occurring to the breakdown processes during the experimental run, or that more than one mechanism of breakdown was occurring. Values of the statistical time ts and the formative time tf were determined from the data by making choices on the straight line section to be considered, and ignoring the effects of the normal distribution on the derived values of ts and tf. The present paper is focused on further development of this statistical method, including a rigorous analysis of the experimental data, taking into account the effect that a normal distribution of the formative times has on the derived values of ts and tf. Optimal fits in terms of three parameters: ts, tf, and f (the standard deviation of the formative time) have been derived using Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistics to quantify the quality of fit. The quality of these fits and the applicability of this approach is discussed