Globular Cluster Formation in the Virgo Cluster

Metal poor globular clusters (MPGCs) are a unique probe of the early universe, in particular the reionization era. Systems of globular clusters in galaxy clusters are particularly interesting as it is in the progenitors of galaxy clusters that the earliest reionizing sources first formed. Although the exact physical origin of globular clusters is still debated, it is generally admitted that globular clusters form in early, rare dark matter peaks (Moore et al. 2006; Boley et al. 2009). We provide a fully numerical analysis of the Virgo cluster globular cluster system by identifying the present day globular cluster system with exactly such early, rare dark matter peaks. A popular hypothesis is that that the observed truncation of blue metal poor globular cluster formation is due to reionization (Spitler et al. 2012; Boley et al. 2009; Brodie & Strader 2006); adopting this view, constraining the formation epoch of MPGCs provides a complementary constraint on the epoch of reionization. By analyzing both the line of sight velocity dispersion and the surface density distribution of the present day distribution we are able to constrain the redshift and mass of the dark matter peaks. We find and quantify a dependence on the chosen line of sight of these quantities, whose strength varies with redshift, and coupled with star formation efficiency arguments find a best fitting formation mass and redshift of $\simeq 5 \times 10^8 \rm{M}_\odot$ and $z\simeq 9$. We predict $\simeq 300$ intracluster MPGCs in the Virgo cluster. Our results confirm the techniques pioneered by Moore et al. (2006) when applied to the the Virgo cluster and extend and refine the analytic results of Spitler et al. (2012) numerically.Comment: 13 Pages, 13 Figures, submitted to MNRA

Microarray analysis of spring barley cultivars displaying differing sensitivity to physiological leaf spot (PLS)

peer-reviewedPhysiological leaf spot (PLS) is a disorder of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), which has become more pronounced in recent years. The initial symptoms are small chlorotic/brown spots on the upper four leaves, which may develop into necrotic lesions with an irregular shape. As PLS occurs on leaves that are directly exposed to sunlight, it is thought that high light stress could be a trigger for the condition. This study concentrates on two cultivars, Cooper and Crusader, which display differential sensitivity to PLS. Biochemical measurements and enzyme assays revealed substantial difference in levels of ascorbate, type III peroxidases, and superoxide dismutase between the chosen cultivars during the 2003 growing season. A global gene expression study, using these field samples, was performed by microarray analysis. This supported the biochemical findings and highlighted additional sets of genes differentially expressed between the cultivars. Transcripts of particular interest, which appeared, included calcium signalling genes, cold-responsive genes and those involved in the assembly of Photosystem I. We conclude that susceptibility to PLS is related to levels of expression of genes with a role in countering the effects of oxidative stress.Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Programm

Estudios de acoplamiento molecular de nuevos análogos de quinolonas a la ADN girasa de Escherichia coli

Indexación: Scopus.Chemicals and CAS Registry Numbers: amino acid, 65072-01-7; ciprofloxacin, 85721-33-1; DNA topoisomerase (ATP hydrolysing); gatifloxacin, 112811-59-3, 180200-66-2; levofloxacin, 100986-85-4, 138199-71-0; lomefloxacin, 98079-51-7; moxifloxacin, 151096-09-2; nalidixic acid, 389-08-2; oxolinic acid, 14698-29-4; pipemidic acid, 51940-44-4; rufloxacin, 101363-10-4; sitafloxacin, 127254-12-0, 163253-35-8Context: Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is the inevitable consequence of the use of antimicrobial agents. Thus, quinolones are an important class of antibacterials; these agents generally consist of a 1-subtituted-1,4-dihydro-4-oxopyridine-3-carboxylic acid moiety combined with an aromatic or heteroaromatic ring fused at the 5- and 6-position. Aims: To determine the binding of quinolones to DNA gyrase of Escherichia coli. Methods: An analysis was performed using an in silico approach to determine, by docking calculations and energy descriptors, the conformer of 4‐oxo‐1,4‐dihydroquinoline skeleton that forms the most stable complex with DNA gyrase of E. coli. Results: The complex shows that the pose of the quinolones coincides with the amino acid residues Asp87, Thr88, Arg91 and Met92, which is expected to be critical in the binding of quinolones to DNA gyrase of E. coli. A series of quinolones were computationally designed, and the interactions between the quinolones and the amino acid residues of the DNA gyrase were calculated. Conclusions: Among the designed compounds, compounds 105 and 115 exhibit higher binding energy values and interact with amino acids Asp87, Thr88, Arg91 and Met92. © 2018 Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmacognosy Research.http://jppres.com/jppres/pdf/vol6/jppres18.368_6.5.386.pd

Female impersonation as an alternative reproductive strategy in giant cuttlefish

Out of all the animals, cephalopods possess an unrivalled ability to change their shape and body patterns. Our observations of giant cuttlefish (Sepia apama) suggest this ability has allowed them to evolve alternative mating strategies in which males can switch between the appearance of a female and that of a male in order to foil the guarding attempts of larger males. At a mass breeding aggregation in South Australia, we repeatedly observed single small males accompanying mating pairs. While doing so, the small male assumed the body shape and patterns of a female. Such males were never attacked by the larger mate-guarding male. On more than 20 occasions, when the larger male was distracted by another male intruder, these small males, previously indistinguishable from a female, were observed to change body pattern and behaviour to that of a male in mating display. These small males then attempted to mate with the female, often with success. This potential for dynamic sexual mimicry may have played a part in driving the evolution of the remarkable powers of colour and shape transformation which characterize the cephalopods

50-nm self-aligned and 'standard' T-gate InP pHEMT comparison: the influence of parasitics on performance at the 50-nm node

Continued research into the development of III-V high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), specifically the minimization of the device gate length, has yielded the fastest performance reported for any three terminal devices to date. In addition, more recent research has begun to focus on reducing the parasitic device elements such as access resistance and gate fringing capacitance, which become crucial for short gate length device performance maximization. Adopting a self-aligned T-gate architecture is one method used to reduce parasitic device access resistance, but at the cost of increasing parasitic gate fringing capacitances. As the device gate length is then reduced, the benefits of the self-aligned gate process come into question, as at these ultrashort-gate dimensions, the magnitude of the static fringing capacitances will have a greater impact on performance. To better understand the influence of these issues on the dc and RF performance of short gate length InP pHEMTs, the authors present a comparison between In0.7Ga0.3As channel 50-nm self-aligned and "standard" T-gate devices. Figures of merit for these devices include transconductance greater than 1.9 S/mm, drive current in the range 1.4 A/mm, and fT up to 490 GHz. Simulation of the parasitic capacitances associated with the self-aligned gate structure then leads a discussion concerning the realistic benefits of incorporating the self-aligned gate process into a sub-50-nm HEMT syste

Conjugation of injections by permutations

Let X be a countably infinite set, and let f, g, and h be any three injective self-maps of X, each having at least one infinite cycle. (For instance, this holds if f, g, and h are not bijections.) We show that there are permutations a and b of X such that h=afa^{-1}bgb^{-1} if and only if |X\Xf|+|X\Xg|=|X\Xh|. We also prove a version of this statement that holds for infinite sets X that are not necessarily countable. This generalizes results of Droste and Ore about permutations.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figure

The Porphyromonas gingivalis hemagglutinins HagB and HagC are major mediators of adhesion and biofilm formation

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a bacterium associated with chronic periodontitis that possesses a family of genes encoding hemagglutinins required for heme acquisition. In this study we generated ΔhagB and ΔhagC mutants in strain W83 and demonstrate that both hagB and hagC are required for adherence to oral epithelial cells. Unexpectedly, a double ΔhagB/ΔhagC mutant had less severe adherence defects than either of the single mutants, but was found to exhibit increased expression of the gingipain-encoding genes rgpA and kgp, suggesting that a ΔhagB/ΔhagC mutant is only viable in populations of cells that exhibit increased expression of genes involved in heme acquisition. Disruption of hagB in the fimbriated strain ATCC33277 demonstrated that HagB is also required for stable attachment of fimbriated bacteria to oral epithelial cells. Mutants of hagC were also found to form defective single and multi-species biofilms that had reduced biomass relative to biofilms formed by the wild-type strain. This study highlights the hitherto unappreciated importance of these genes in oral colonization and biofilm formation

Developing a Measure of School-Community Capacity

This exploratory research aimed to develop qualitative and quantitative strategies and means of assessing the relationship between school-community capacity and selected educational outcomes for children. School-community, a delimited way of defining community for the purpose of this study, was a conceptual innovation that emerged during the research process. Rather than a predictive instrument, a diagnostic tool for school-community capacity assessment was developed. Factor analysis results in the validation phase identified 5 to 7 education context-related and data contributor-relevant community capacity dimensions in a pool of 22-item indicators. These dimensions were the following: trust in government leaders and processes of selecting leaders, trust in school-community leaders, trust in community and civil society organizations (may be counted as one dimension altogether or three separate dimensions), civic involvement, access to resources, participation in school, and pride in community (purok [zone] or barangay [village]).Keywords: community capacity; education outcomes; instrument construction; school-community capacit

Genomic Features Of A Bumble Bee Symbiont Reflect Its Host Environment

Here, we report the genome of one gammaproteobacterial member of the gut microbiota, for which we propose the name >Candidatus Schmidhempelia bombi,> that was inadvertently sequenced alongside the genome of its host, the bumble bee, Bombus impatiens. This symbiont is a member of the recently described bacterial order Orbales, which has been collected from the guts of diverse insect species; however, >Ca. Schmidhempelia> has been identified exclusively with bumble bees. Metabolic reconstruction reveals that >Ca. Schmidhempelia> lacks many genes for a functioning NADH dehydrogenase I, all genes for the high-oxygen cytochrome o, and most genes in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. >Ca. Schmidhempelia> has retained NADH dehydrogenase II, the low-oxygen specific cytochrome bd, anaerobic nitrate respiration, mixed-acid fermentation pathways, and citrate fermentation, which may be important for survival in low-oxygen or anaerobic environments found in the bee hindgut. Additionally, a type 6 secretion system, a Flp pilus, and many antibiotic/multidrug transporters suggest complex interactions with its host and other gut commensals or pathogens. This genome has signatures of reduction (2.0 megabase pairs) and rearrangement, as previously observed for genomes of host-associated bacteria. A survey of wild and laboratory B. impatiens revealed that >Ca. Schmidhempelia> is present in 90% of individuals and, therefore, may provide benefits to its host.Center for Insect Science (University of Arizona)National Science Foundation NSF 1046153NIH Director's Pioneer 1DP1OD006416-01NIH R01-HG006677Swiss National Science Foundation 140157, 147881Integrative Biolog