Spatial gene drives and pushed genetic waves

Gene drives have the potential to rapidly replace a harmful wild-type allele with a gene drive allele engineered to have desired functionalities. However, an accidental or premature release of a gene drive construct to the natural environment could damage an ecosystem irreversibly. Thus, it is important to understand the spatiotemporal consequences of the super-Mendelian population genetics prior to potential applications. Here, we employ a reaction-diffusion model for sexually reproducing diploid organisms to study how a locally introduced gene drive allele spreads to replace the wild-type allele, even though it possesses a selective disadvantage $s>0$. Using methods developed by N. Barton and collaborators, we show that socially responsible gene drives require $0.5<s<0.697$, a rather narrow range. In this "pushed wave" regime, the spatial spreading of gene drives will be initiated only when the initial frequency distribution is above a threshold profile called "critical propagule", which acts as a safeguard against accidental release. We also study how the spatial spread of the pushed wave can be stopped by making gene drives uniquely vulnerable ("sensitizing drive") in a way that is harmless for a wild-type allele. Finally, we show that appropriately sensitized drives in two dimensions can be stopped even by imperfect barriers perforated by a series of gaps

Helping Mothers and Children Bond: Sharing Children’s Literature After Domestic Violence Experiences

This qualitative study explores how mothers attempt to bond with their children after the trauma of family domestic violence. This study was based on the use of two psychoeducational focus groups with women who are mothers and victims of domestic violence. Focus groups based on a semi-structured interview guide were held before and after a shared book experience with the group participants. Women from two Minnesota domestic violence agencies (Group A=five and Group B =eight) comprised the study sample. Findings indicated that mothers are working to create bonds with their children but have a number of roadblocks. Participants were empowered to try the practice of reading with their children to repair the damaged mother/child dyad through the process of spending time reading with their children

Helping Mothers and Children Bond: Sharing Children’s Literature After Domestic Violence Experiences

This qualitative study explores how mothers attempt to bond with their children after the trauma of family domestic violence. This study was based on the use of two psychoeducational focus groups with women who are mothers and victims of domestic violence. Focus groups based on a semi-structured interview guide were held before and after a shared book experience with the group participants. Women from two Minnesota domestic violence agencies (Group A=five and Group B =eight) comprised the study sample. Findings indicated that mothers are working to create bonds with their children but have a number of roadblocks. Participants were empowered to try the practice of reading with their children to repair the damaged mother/child dyad through the process of spending time reading with their children

High-density SNP association study of the 17q21 chromosomal region linked to autism identifies CACNA1G as a novel candidate gene.

Chromosome 17q11-q21 is a region of the genome likely to harbor susceptibility to autism (MIM(209850)) based on earlier evidence of linkage to the disorder. This linkage is specific to multiplex pedigrees containing only male probands (MO) within the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE). Earlier, Stone et al.(1) completed a high-density single nucleotide polymorphism association study of 13.7 Mb within this interval, but common variant association was not sufficient to account for the linkage signal. Here, we extend this single nucleotide polymorphism-based association study to complete the coverage of the two-LOD support interval around the chromosome 17q linkage peak by testing the majority of common alleles in 284 MO trios. Markers within an interval containing the gene, CACNA1G, were found to be associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder at a locally significant level (P=1.9 × 10(-5)). While establishing CACNA1G as a novel candidate gene for autism, these alleles do not contribute a sufficient genetic effect to explain the observed linkage, indicating that there is substantial genetic heterogeneity despite the clear linkage signal. The region thus likely harbors a combination of multiple common and rare alleles contributing to the genetic risk. These data, along with earlier studies of chromosomes 5 and 7q3, suggest few if any major common risk alleles account for Autism Spectrum Disorder risk under major linkage peaks in the AGRE sample. This provides important evidence for strategies to identify Autism Spectrum Disorder genes, suggesting that they should focus on identifying rare variants and common variants of small effect

Constraints on resonant-trapping for two planets embedded in a protoplanetary disc

We investigate the evolution of two-planet systems embedded in a protoplanetary disc, which are composed of a Jupiter-mass planet plus another body located further out in the disc. We consider outermost planets with masses ranging from 10 earth masses to 1 M_J. We also examine the case of outermost bodies with masses < 10 earth masses (M_E). Differential migration of the planets due to disc torques leads to different evolution outcomes depending on the mass of the outer protoplanet. For planets with mass < 3.5 M_E the type II migration rate of the giant exceeds the type I migration rate of the outer body, resulting in divergent migration. Outer bodies with masses in the range 3.5 < m_o < 20 M_E become trapped at the edge of the gap formed by the giant planet, because of corotation torques. Higher mass planets are captured into resonance with the inner planet. If 30 < m_o < 40 M_E or m_o=1 M_J, then the 2:1 resonance is established. If 80 < m_o < 100 M_E, the 3:2 resonance is favoured. Simulations of gas-accreting protoplanets of mass m_o > 20 M_E, trapped initially at the edge of the gap, or in the 2:1 resonance, also result in eventual capture in the 3:2 resonance as the planet mass grows to become close to the mass of Saturn. Our results suggest that there is a theoretical lower limit to the mass of an outer planet that can be captured into resonance with an inner Jovian planet, which is relevant to observations of extrasolar multiplanet systems. Furthermore, capture of a Saturn-like planet into the 3:2 resonance with a Jupiter-like planet is a very robust outcome of simulations. This result is relevant to recent scenarios of early Solar System evolution which require Saturn to have existed interior to the 2:1 resonance with Jupiter prior to the onset of the Late Heavy Bombardment.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in A&

Global MHD simulations of stratified and turbulent protoplanetary discs. I. Model properties

We present the results of global 3-D MHD simulations of stratified and turbulent protoplanetary disc models. The aim of this work is to develop thin disc models capable of sustaining turbulence for long run times, which can be used for on-going studies of planet formation in turbulent discs. The results are obtained using two codes written in spherical coordinates: GLOBAL and NIRVANA. Both are time--explicit and use finite differences along with the Constrained Transport algorithm to evolve the equations of MHD. In the presence of a weak toroidal magnetic field, a thin protoplanetary disc in hydrostatic equilibrium is destabilised by the magnetorotational instability (MRI). When the resolution is large enough (25 vertical grid cells per scale height), the entire disc settles into a turbulent quasi steady-state after about 300 orbits. Angular momentum is transported outward such that the standard alpha parameter is roughly 4-6*10^{-3}. We find that the initial toroidal flux is expelled from the disc midplane and that the disc behaves essentially as a quasi-zero net flux disc for the remainder of the simulation. As in previous studies, the disc develops a dual structure composed of an MRI--driven turbulent core around its midplane, and a magnetised corona stable to the MRI near its surface. By varying disc parameters and boundary conditions, we show that these basic properties of the models are robust. The high resolution disc models we present in this paper achieve a quasi--steady state and sustain turbulence for hundreds of orbits. As such, they are ideally suited to the study of outstanding problems in planet formation such as disc--planet interactions and dust dynamics.Comment: 19 pages, 29 figures, accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Edge helicons and repulsion of fundamental edge magnetoplasmons in the quantum Hall regime

A quasi-microscopic treatment of edge magnetoplasmons (EMP) is presented for very low temperatures and confining potentials smooth on the scale of the magnetic length $\ell_{0}$ but sufficiently steep at the edges such that Landau level (LL) flattening can be discarded. The profile of the unperturbed electron density is sharp and the dissipation taken into account comes only from electron intra-edge and intra-LL transitions due to scattering by acoustic phonons. For wide channels and filling factors $\nu =1$ and 2, there exist independent EMP modes spatially symmetric and antisymmetric with respect to the edge. Some of these modes, named edge helicons, can propagate nearly undamped even when the dissipation is strong. Their density profile changes qualitatively during propagation and is given by a rotation of a complex vector function. For $\nu >2,$ the Coulomb coupling between the LLs leads to a repulsion of the uncoupled fundamental LL modes: the new modes have very different group velocities and are nearly undamped. The theory accounts well for the experimentally observed plateau structure of the delay times as well as for the EMP's period and decay rates.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Simulating planet migration in globally evolving disks

Numerical simulations of planet-disk interactions are usually performed with hydro-codes that -- because they consider only an annulus of the disk, over a 2D grid -- can not take into account the global evolution of the disk. However, the latter governs planetary migration of type II, so that the accuracy of the planetary evolution can be questioned. To develop an algorithm that models the local planet-disk interactions together with the global viscous evolution of the disk, we surround the usual 2D grid with a 1D grid ranging over the real extension of the disk. The 1D and 2D grids are coupled at their common boundaries via ghost rings, paying particular attention to the fluxes at the interface, especially the flux of angular momentum carried by waves. The computation is done in the frame centered on the center of mass to ensure angular momentum conservation. The global evolution of the disk and the local planet-disk interactions are both well described and the feedback of one on the other can be studied with this algorithm, for a negligible additional computing cost with respect to usual algorithms.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Development and Validation of a Miniaturized Ball-on-Three-Ball Test for Biaxial Flexure Strength of Technical Ceramics

Miniaturized (~3 mm diameter) advanced technology nuclear fuels are of interest for their ability to simulate mechanical properties of their larger counterparts in a fraction of the time (2 years compared to 25 years). However, understanding the mechanical properties of these miniaturized samples is an important aspect of their development and qualification. In this study, a miniaturized ball-on-3-ball (B3B) fixture was designed to determine the traverse rupture strength (TRS) of right-cylindrical ceramics. Fixture revisions led to an optimal final design. Three technical ceramics were tested to validate the miniaturized B3B fixture, including high purity alumina (Al2O3), magnesia partially stabilized zirconia (MSZ), and yttria partially stabilized zirconia (YTPZ). Two different sample preparation methods and fixture geometries were to optimize testing conditions. Grain size and distribution analysis was also conducted via thermal etching and imaging to verify the grain structure of each material used in testing. The TRS and Weibull data for alumina and MSZ obtained in this study yielded comparable results to prior results to a B3B fixture for larger volume samples. A validated miniaturized B3B fixture will have the potential to become a primary method of obtaining mechanical properties of miniaturized advanced technology fuels

Path integrals for spinning particles, stationary phase and the Duistermaat-Heckman theorem

We examine the problem of the evaluation of both the propagator and of the partition function of a spinning particle in an external field at the classical as well as the quantum level, in connection with the asserted exactness of the saddle point approximation (SPA) for this problem. At the classical level we argue that exactness of the SPA stems from the fact that the dynamics (on the two--sphere $S^2$) of a classical spinning particle in a magnetic field is the reduction from \br^4 to $S^2$ of a linear dynamical system on \br^4. At the quantum level, however, and within the path integral approach, the restriction, inherent to the use of the SPA, to regular paths clashes with the fact that no regulators are present in the action that enters the path integral. This is shown to lead to a prefactor for the path integral that is strictly divergent except in the classical limit. A critical comparison is made with the various approaches to the same problem that have been presented in the literature. The validity of a formula given in literature for the spin propagator is extended to the case of motion in an arbitrary magnetic field.Comment: 29 pages, Late