Problems of the Dual in Soqotri

Problems of the Dual in Soqotripublished or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Method and device for determining bond separation strength using induction heating

An induction heating device includes an induction heating gun which includes a housing, a U-shaped pole piece having two spaced apart opposite ends defining a gap there between, the U-shaped pole piece being mounted in one end of the housing, and a tank circuit including an induction coil wrapped around the pole piece and a capacitor connected to the induction coil. A power source is connected to the tank circuit. A pull test machine is provided having a stationary chuck and a movable chuck, the two chucks holding two test pieces bonded together at a bond region. The heating gun is mounted on the pull test machine in close proximity to the bond region of the two test pieces, whereby when the tank circuit is energized, the two test pieces are heated by induction heating while a tension load is applied to the two test pieces by the pull test machine to determine separation strength of the bond region

Induction heating coupler and annealer

An induction heating device includes a handle having a hollow interior and two opposite ends, a wrist connected to one end of the handle, a U-shaped pole piece having- two spaced apart ends, a tank circuit including an induction coil wrapped around the pole piece and a capacitor connected to the induction coil, a head connected to the wrist and including a housing for receiving the U-shaped pole piece, the two spaced apart ends of the pole piece extending outwardly beyond the housing, and a power source connected to the tank circuit. When the tank circuit is energized and a susceptor is placed in juxtaposition to the ends of the U-shaped pole piece, the susceptor is heated by induction heating due to a magnetic flux passing between the two ends of the pole piece

Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 32

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

Induction heating coupler

An induction heating device includes a handle having a hollow interior and two opposite ends, a wrist connected to one end of the handle, a U-shaped pole piece having two spaced apart ends, a tank circuit including an induction coil wrapped around the pole piece and a capacitor connected to the induction coil, a head connected to the wrist and including a housing for receiving the U-shaped pole piece, the two spaced apart ends of the pole piece extending outwardely beyond the housing, and a power source connected to the tank circuit. When the tank circuit is energized and a susceptor is placed in juxtaposition to the ends of the U-shaped pole piece, the susceptor is heated by induction heating due to magnetic flux passing between the two ends of the pole piece

A multi-organ transcriptome resource for the Burmese Python (Python molurus bivittatus)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Snakes provide a unique vertebrate system for studying a diversity of extreme adaptations, including those related to development, metabolism, physiology, and venom. Despite their importance as research models, genomic resources for snakes are few. Among snakes, the Burmese python is the premier model for studying extremes of metabolic fluctuation and physiological remodelling. In this species, the consumption of large infrequent meals can induce a 40-fold increase in metabolic rate and more than a doubling in size of some organs. To provide a foundation for research utilizing the python, our aim was to assemble and annotate a transcriptome reference from the heart and liver. To accomplish this aim, we used the 454-FLX sequencing platform to collect sequence data from multiple cDNA libraries.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We collected nearly 1 million 454 sequence reads, and assembled these into 37,245 contigs with a combined length of 13,409,006 bp. To identify known genes, these contigs were compared to chicken and lizard gene sets, and to all Genbank sequences. A total of 13,286 of these contigs were annotated based on similarity to known genes or Genbank sequences. We used gene ontology (GO) assignments to characterize the types of genes in this transcriptome resource. The raw data, transcript contig assembly, and transcript annotations are made available online for use by the broader research community.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data should facilitate future studies using pythons and snakes in general, helping to further contribute to the utilization of snakes as a model evolutionary and physiological system. This sequence collection represents a major genomic resource for the Burmese python, and the large number of transcript sequences characterized should contribute to future research in this and other snake species.</p

Mineralogy and geochemistry of atypical reduction spheroids from the Tumblagooda Sandstone, Western Australia

Funding Information: This research was supported by a CSIRO Mineral Resources studentship, a Curtin University student scholarship and a Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia scholarship. The editors of Sedimentology and three anonymous reviewers are acknowledged for their assistance in improving the manuscript. We would also like to thank Mike Paxman and the Parks and Wildlife Service for permission to sample in Kalbarri National Park. Finally, the authors would like to pay tribute to the memory of Professor Nigel Trewin, whose work laid much of the foundation for this study and many others on the Tumblagooda Sandstone.Peer reviewedPostprin

Neurocognitive impairment in type 2 diabetes: evidence for shared genetic aetiology

Aims/hypothesis: Type 2 diabetes is associated with cognitive impairments, but it is unclear whether common genetic factors influence both type 2 diabetes risk and cognition. Methods: Using data from 1892 Mexican-American individuals from extended pedigrees, including 402 with type 2 diabetes, we examined possible pleiotropy between type 2 diabetes and cognitive functioning, as measured by a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. Results: Negative phenotypic correlations (ρp) were observed between type 2 diabetes and measures of attention (Continuous Performance Test [CPT d\u27]: ρp = -0.143, p = 0.001), verbal memory (California Verbal Learning Test [CVLT] recall: ρp = -0.111, p = 0.004) and face memory (Penn Face Memory Test [PFMT]: ρp = -0.127, p = 0.002; PFMT Delayed: ρp = -0.148, p = 2 × 10-4), replicating findings of cognitive impairment in type 2 diabetes. Negative genetic correlations (ρg) were also observed between type 2 diabetes and measures of attention (CPT d\u27: ρg = -0.401, p = 0.001), working memory (digit span backward test: ρg = -0.380, p = 0.005), and face memory (PFMT: ρg = -0.476, p = 2 × 10-4; PFMT Delayed: ρg = -0.376, p = 0.005), suggesting that the same genetic factors underlying risk for type 2 diabetes also influence poor cognitive performance in these domains. Performance in these domains was also associated with type 2 diabetes risk using an endophenotype ranking value approach. Specifically, on measures of attention (CPT d\u27: β = -0.219, p = 0.005), working memory (digit span backward: β = -0.326, p = 0.035), and face memory (PFMT: β = -0.171, p = 0.023; PFMT Delayed: β = -0.215, p = 0.005), individuals with type 2 diabetes showed the lowest performance, while unaffected/unrelated individuals showed the highest performance, and those related to an individual with type 2 diabetes performed at an intermediate level. Conclusions/interpretation: These findings suggest that cognitive impairment may be a useful endophenotype of type 2 diabetes and, therefore, help to elucidate the pathophysiological underpinnings of this chronic disease. Data availability: The data analysed in this study is available in dbGaP: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/gap/cgi-bin/study.cgi?study_id=phs001215.v2.p2

Cocktail-party listening and cognitive abilities show strong pleiotropy

Introduction: The cocktail-party problem refers to the difficulty listeners face when trying to attend to relevant sounds that are mixed with irrelevant ones. Previous studies have shown that solving these problems relies on perceptual as well as cognitive processes. Previously, we showed that speech-reception thresholds (SRTs) on a cocktail-party listening task were influenced by genetic factors. Here, we estimated the degree to which these genetic factors overlapped with those influencing cognitive abilities. Methods: We measured SRTs and hearing thresholds (HTs) in 493 listeners, who ranged in age from 18 to 91 years old. The same individuals completed a cognitive test battery comprising 18 measures of various cognitive domains. Individuals belonged to large extended pedigrees, which allowed us to use variance component models to estimate the narrow-sense heritability of each trait, followed by phenotypic and genetic correlations between pairs of traits. Results: All traits were heritable. The phenotypic and genetic correlations between SRTs and HTs were modest, and only the phenotypic correlation was significant. By contrast, all genetic SRT-cognition correlations were strong and significantly different from 0. For some of these genetic correlations, the hypothesis of complete pleiotropy could not be rejected. Discussion: Overall, the results suggest that there was substantial genetic overlap between SRTs and a wide range of cognitive abilities, including abilities without a major auditory or verbal component. The findings highlight the important, yet sometimes overlooked, contribution of higher-order processes to solving the cocktail-party problem, raising an important caveat for future studies aiming to identify specific genetic factors that influence cocktail-party listening

A single generation of domestication heritably alters the expression of hundreds of genes

The genetic underpinnings associated with the earliest stages of plant and animal domestication have remained elusive. Because a genome-wide response to selection can take many generations, the earliest detectable changes associated with domestication may first manifest as heritable changes to global patterns of gene expression. Here, to test this hypothesis, we measured differential gene expression in the offspring of wild and first-generation hatchery steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) reared in a common environment. Remarkably, we find that there were 723 genes differentially expressed between the two groups of offspring. Reciprocal crosses reveal that the differentially expressed genes could not be explained by maternal effects or by chance differences in the background levels of gene expression among unrelated families. Gene-enrichment analyses reveal that adaptation to the novel hatchery environment involved responses in wound healing, immunity and metabolism. These findings suggest that the earliest stages of domestication may involve adaptation to highly crowded conditions.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the author(s) and published by Nature Publishing Group. The published article can be found at: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160217/ncomms10676/full/ncomms10676.html#supplementary-informatio