115 research outputs found
Getting shot of elves: healing, witchcraft and fairies in the Scottish witchcraft trials
This paper re-examines the evidence of the Scottish witchcraft trials for beliefs associated by scholars with "elf-shot." Some supposed evidence for elf-shot is dismissed, but other material illuminates the interplay between illness, healing and fairy-lore in early modern Scotland, and the relationship of these beliefs to witchcraft itself
The Bostrichidae of the Maltese Islands (Coleoptera)
The Bostrichidae of the Maltese Islands are reviewed. Ten species are recorded with certainty from this Archipelago, of which 6 namely, Trogoxylon impressum (Comolli, 1837), Amphicerus bimaculatus (A.G. Olivier, 1790), Heterobostrychus aequalis (Waterhouse, 1884), Sinoxylon unidentatum (Fabricius, 1801), Xyloperthella picea (A.G. Olivier, 1790) and Apate monachus Fabricius, 1775 are recorded for the first time. Two of the mentioned species (H. aequalis and S. unidentatum) are alien and recorded only on the basis of single captures and the possible establishment of these species is discussed. Earlier records of Scobicia pustulata (Fabricius, 1801) from Malta are incorrect and should be attributed to S. chevrieri (A. Villa & J.B. Villa, 1835). A zoogeographical analysis and an updated checklist of the 12 species of Bostrichidae recorded from the Maltese Islands and neighbouring Sicilian islands (Pantelleria, Linosa and Lampedusa) are also provided.
Rhizopertha dominica (Fabricius, 1792) form granulipennis Lesne in Beeson & Bhatia, 1937 from Uttarakhand (northern India) was overlooked by almost all subsequent authors. Its history is summarized and the following new synonymy is established: Rhizopertha dominica (Fabricius, 1792) form granulipennis Lesne in Beeson & Bhatia, 1937 = Rhyzopertha dominica (Fabricius, 1792), syn. n.
Finally, records of Amphicerus bimaculatus from Azerbaijan, of Bostrichus capucinus (Linnaeus, 1758) from Jordan and Syria, of Scobicia chevrieri from Jordan and Italy, of Xyloperthella picea from Italy, and of Apate monachus from Corsica (France) and Italy, are also provided.peer-reviewe
Hot dust in normal star-forming galaxies: JHKL' photometry of the ISO Key Project sample
We present JHK and 3.8-micron photometry of 26 galaxies in the Infrared Space
Observatory (ISO) Normal Galaxy Key Project (KP) sample and of seven normal
ellipticals with the aim of investigating the origin of the 4-micron emission.
The majority of the KP galaxies, and all the ellipticals, have K-L<~1.0,
consistent with stellar photospheres plus moderate dust extinction. Ten of the
26 KP galaxies have K-L>~1.0, corresponding to a flat or rising 4-micron
continuum, consistent with significant emission from hot dust at 600-1000K. K-L
is anticorrelated with ISO flux ratio F_{6.75}/F_{15}, weakly correlated with
line ratio [OI]/[CII], but not with [CII]/FIR or IRAS ratio F_{60}/F_{100}.
Photodissociation-region models for these galaxies show that the hot dust
responsible for red K-L resides in regions of high pressure and intense
far-ultraviolet radiation field. Taken together, these results suggest that
star formation in normal star-forming galaxies can assume two basic forms: an
``active'', relatively rare, mode characterized by hot dust, suppressed
Aromatic Features in Emission (AFEs), high pressure, and intense radiation
field; and the more common ``passive'' mode that occurs under more quiescent
physical conditions, with AFEs, and without hot dust. The occurrence of these
modes appears to only weakly depend on the star-formation rate per unit area.
Passive star formation over large scales makes up the bulk of star-forming
activity locally, while the ``active'' regime may dominate at high redshifts.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures: A&A, in press (replaced 30/09/02 for error with
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Estrogen receptor alpha drives proliferation in PTEN-deficient prostate carcinoma by stimulating survival signaling, MYC expression and altering glucose sensitivity
While high doses of estrogen, in combination with androgens, can initiate
prostate cancer (PCa) via activation of the estrogen receptor α (ERα), the role of
ERα in PCa cells within established tumors is largely unknown. Here we show that
expression of ERα is increased in high grade human PCa. Similarly, ERα is elevated
in mouse models of aggressive PCa driven by MYC overexpression or deletion of
PTEN. Within the prostate of PTEN-deficient mice, there is a progressive pattern of
ERα expression: low in benign glands, moderate in tumors within the dorsal, lateral
and ventral lobes, and high in tumors within the anterior prostate. This expression
significantly correlates with the proliferation marker Ki67. Furthermore, in vitro
knockdown of ERα in cells derived from PTEN-deficient tumors causes a significant
and sustained decrease in proliferation. Depletion of ERα also reduces the activity
of the PI3K and MAPK pathways, both downstream targets of non-genomic ERα
action. Finally, ERα knockdown reduces the levels of the MYC protein and lowers
the sensitivity of cellular proliferation to glucose withdrawal, which correlates with
decreased expression of the glucose transporter GLUT1. Collectively, these results
demonstrate that ERα orchestrates proliferation and metabolism to promote the
neoplastic growth of PCa cells
The genome, transcriptome, and proteome of the nematode Steinernema carpocapsae: Evolutionary signatures of a pathogenic lifestyle
The entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae has been widely used for the biological control of insect pests. It shares a symbiotic relationship with the bacterium Xenorhabdus nematophila, and is emerging as a genetic model to study symbiosis and pathogenesis. We obtained a high-quality draft of the nematode’s genome comprising 84,613,633 bp in 347 scaffolds, with an N50 of 1.24 Mb. To improve annotation, we sequenced both short and long RNA and conducted shotgun proteomic analyses. S. carpocapsae shares orthologous genes with other parasitic nematodes that are absent in the free-living nematode C. elegans, it has ncRNA families that are enriched in parasites, and expresses proteins putatively associated with parasitism and pathogenesis, suggesting an active role for the nematode during the pathogenic process. Host and parasites might engage in a co-evolutionary arms-race dynamic with genes participating in their interaction showing signatures of positive selection. Our analyses indicate that the consequence of this arms race is better characterized by positive selection altering specific functions instead of just increasing the number of positively selected genes, adding a new perspective to these co-evolutionary theories. We identified a protein, ATAD-3, that suggests a relevant role for mitochondrial function in the evolution and mechanisms of nematode parasitism
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