Borrowed alleles and convergence in serpentine adaptation

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank members of the L.Y. and K.B. laboratories for helpful discussions. This work was supported through the European Research Council Grant StG CA629F04E (to L.Y.); a Harvard University Milton Fund Award (to K.B.); Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award 1 F32 GM096699 from the NIH (to L.Y.); National Science Foundation Grant IOS-1146465 (to K.B.); NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences Grant 2R01GM078536 (to D.E.S.); and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Grant BB/L000113/1 (to D.E.S.)Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Losses in the Post-Collision Extraction Line

The CLIC beam delivery system focuses 1.5 TeV electron and positron beams to a nanometre-sized cross section when colliding them at the interaction point (IP). The intense focusing leads to large beam-beam effects, causing the production of beamstrahlung photons, coherent and incoherent e+e− pairs, as well as a significant disruption of the main beam. The transport of the post-collision beams requires a minimal loss extraction line, with high acceptance for energy deviation and divergence. The current design includes vertical bends close to the IP in order to separate the charged particles with a sign opposite to the main beam into a diagnostic-equipped intermediate dump, whilst transporting the photons and the main beam to the final dump. Photon and charged particle losses on magnet masks and dumps result in a complex radiation field and IP background particle fluxes. In this paper, the electromagnetic backgrounds at the IP arising from the losses occurring closest to the collision point are calculated

Photon backgrounds at the CLIC interaction point due to losses in the post-collision extraction line

The CLIC beam delivery system focuses 1.5~TeV electron and positron beams to a nanometre-sized cross section when colliding them at the interaction point (IP). The intense focusing leads to large beam-beam effects, causing the production of beamstrahlung photons, coherent and incoherent $e^+e^-$ pairs, as well as a significant disruption of the main beam. The transport of the post-collision beams requires a minimal loss extraction line, with high acceptance for energy deviation and divergence. The current design includes vertical bends close to the IP in order to separate the charged particles with a sign opposite to the main beam into a diagnostic-equipped intermediate dump, whilst transporting the photons and the main beam to the final dump. Photon and charged particle losses on magnet masks and dumps result in a complex radiation field and IP background particle fluxes. In this paper, the electromagnetic backgrounds at the IP arising from the losses occurring closest to the collision point are calculated

Vegetarianism

Ethical vegetarians maintain that vegetarianism is morally required. The principal reasons offered in support of ethical vegetarianism are: (i) concern for the welfare and well-being of the animals being eaten, (ii) concern for the environment, (iii) concern over global food scarcity and the just distribution of resources, and (iv) concern for future generations. Each of these reasons is explored in turn, starting with a historical look at ethical vegetarianism and the moral status of animals

The evolution of gregariousness in parasitoid wasps

Data are assembled on the clutch-size strategies adopted by extant species of parasitoid wasp. These data are used to reconstruct the history of clutch-size evolution in the group using a series of plausible evolutionary assumptions. Extant families are either entirely solitary, both solitary and gregarious, or else clutch size is unknown. Parsimony analysis suggests that the ancestors of most families were solitary, a result which is robust to different phylogenetic relationships and likely data inadequacies. This implies that solitariness was ubiquitous throughout the initial radiation of the group, and that transitions to gregariousness have subsequently occurred a minimum of 43 times in several, but not all lineages. Current data suggest that species-rich and small-bodied lineages are more likely to have evolved gregariousness, and contain more species with small gregarious brood sizes. I discuss the implications of these data for clutch-size theory

High fat diet attenuates the anticontractile activity of aortic PVAT via a mechanism involving AMPK and reduced adiponectin secretion

Background and aim: Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) positively regulates vascular function through production of factors such as adiponectin but this effect is attenuated in obesity. The enzyme AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is present in PVAT and is implicated in mediating the vascular effects of adiponectin. In this study, we investigated the effect of an obesogenic high fat diet (HFD) on aortic PVAT and whether any changes involved AMPK. Methods: Wild type Sv129 (WT) and AMPKα1 knockout (KO) mice aged 8 weeks were fed normal diet (ND) or HFD (42% kcal fat) for 12 weeks. Adiponectin production by PVAT was assessed by ELISA and AMPK expression studied using immunoblotting. Macrophages in PVAT were identified using immunohistochemistry and markers of M1 and M2 macrophage subtypes evaluated using real time-qPCR. Vascular responses were measured in endothelium-denuded aortic rings with or without attached PVAT. Carotid wire injury was performed and PVAT inflammation studied 7 days later. Key results: Aortic PVAT from KO and WT mice was morphologically indistinct but KO PVAT had more infiltrating macrophages. HFD caused an increased infiltration of macrophages in WT mice with increased expression of the M1 macrophage markers Nos2 and Il1b and the M2 marker Chil3. In WT mice, HFD reduced the anticontractile effect of PVAT as well as reducing adiponectin secretion and AMPK phosphorylation. PVAT from KO mice on ND had significantly reduced adiponectin secretion and no anticontractile effect and feeding HFD did not alter this. Wire injury induced macrophage infiltration of PVAT but did not cause further infiltration in KO mice. Conclusions: High-fat diet causes an inflammatory infiltrate, reduced AMPK phosphorylation and attenuates the anticontractile effect of murine aortic PVAT. Mice lacking AMPKα1 phenocopy many of the changes in wild-type aortic PVAT after HFD, suggesting that AMPK may protect the vessel against deleterious changes in response to HFD

Figure-ground modulation in awake primate thalamus

[Abstract] Figure-ground discrimination refers to the perception of an object, the figure, against a nondescript background. Neural mechanisms of figure-ground detection have been associated with feedback interactions between higher centers and primary visual cortex and have been held to index the effect of global analysis on local feature encoding. Here, in recordings from visual thalamus of alert primates, we demonstrate a robust enhancement of neuronal firing when the figure, as opposed to the ground, component of a motion-defined figure-ground stimulus is located over the receptive field. In this paradigm, visual stimulation of the receptive field and its near environs is identical across both conditions, suggesting the response enhancement reflects higher integrative mechanisms. It thus appears that cortical activity generating the higher-order percept of the figure is simultaneously reentered into the lowest level that is anatomically possible (the thalamus), so that the signature of the evolving representation of the figure is imprinted on the input driving it in an iterative process.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (United Kingdom); G022305/1Medical Research Council, (United Kingdom); G070153

Effects of aspect ratio on the mode couplings of thin-film bulk acoustic wave resonators

We studied mode couplings in thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators of a piezoelectric film on a dielectric layer operating with the fundamental thickness-extensional mode. A system of plate equations derived in our previous paper was used which includes the couplings to the unwanted in-plane extension, flexure, fundamental and second-order thickness shear modes. It was shown that the couplings depend strongly on the plate length/thickness ratio. For a relatively clean operating mode with weak couplings to unwanted modes, a series of discrete values of the plate length/thickness ratio should be avoided and these values were determined in the present paper. The results can be of great significance to the design and optimization of film bulk acoustic wave resonators

Foliar lead uptake by lettuce exposed to atmospheric fallouts

Metal uptake by plants occurs by soil−root transfer but also by direct transfer of contaminants from the atmosphere to the shoots. This second pathway may be particularly important in kitchen gardens near industrial plants. The mechanisms of foliar uptake of lead by lettuce (Lactuca sativa) exposed to the atmospheric fallouts of a lead-recycling plant were studied. After 43 days of exposure, the thoroughly washed leaves contained 335 ± 50 mg Pb kg−1 (dry weight). Micro-X-ray fluorescence mappings evidenced Pb-rich spots of a few hundreds of micrometers in diameter located in necrotic zones. These spots were more abundant at the base of the central nervure. Environmental scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis showed that smaller particles (a few micrometers in diameter) were also present in other regions of the leaves, often located beneath the leaf surface. In addition, submicrometric particles were observed inside stomatal openings. Raman microspectrometry analyses of the leaves identified smelter-originated Pb minerals but also secondary phases likely resulting from the weathering of original particles. On the basis of these observations, several pathways for foliar lead uptake are discussed. A better understanding of these mechanisms may be of interest for risk assessment of population exposure to atmospheric metal contamination

Photonic bandgaps for grating-coupled waveguide modes with a silver tunnel barrier

Copyright © 2007 IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. This is the published version of an article published in New Journal of Physics Vol. 9, article 251. DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/9/8/251The optical properties of a periodically modulated photoresist waveguide structure has been explored using the Kretschmann–Raether configuration with a thin silver tunnel barrier. A detailed experimental study of how wavelength-scale periodic texture modifies the dispersion of the guided modes in the visible range for a wide range of azimuthal angles is presented. Fitting the observed in-plane momenta of the modes to predictions from a multilayer, multishape differential grating theory model allows the identities of each of the modes to be confirmed. In addition, the intensities obtained experimentally are compared favourably with those predicted from a theoretical model. Such a waveguide structure can produce not only the photonic bandgaps at the Brillouin zone boundary, but also bandgaps within the Brillouin zone caused by the Bragg scattered guided modes anti-crossing with the unscattered modes. All of these photonic bandgaps have potential applications controlling spontaneous emission in devices