Boundary Conditions on Internal Three-Body Wave Functions

For a three-body system, a quantum wave function $\Psi^\ell_m$ with definite $\ell$ and $m$ quantum numbers may be expressed in terms of an internal wave function $\chi^\ell_k$ which is a function of three internal coordinates. This article provides necessary and sufficient constraints on $\chi^\ell_k$ to ensure that the external wave function $\Psi^\ell_m$ is analytic. These constraints effectively amount to boundary conditions on $\chi^\ell_k$ and its derivatives at the boundary of the internal space. Such conditions find similarities in the (planar) two-body problem where the wave function (to lowest order) has the form $r^{|m|}$ at the origin. We expect the boundary conditions to prove useful for constructing singularity free three-body basis sets for the case of nonvanishing angular momentum.Comment: 41 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Inclusion of Host Quality Data Improves Predictions of Herbivore Phenology

Understanding the correspondence between ambient temperature and insect development is necessary to forecast insect phenology under novel environments. In the face of climate change, both conservation and pest control efforts require accurate phenological predictions. Here, we compare a suite of degree-day models to assess their ability to predict the phenology of a common, oligophagous butterfly, the silver-spotted skipper, Epargyreus clarus (Cramer) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae). To estimate model parameters, we used development time of eggs and larvae reared in the laboratory at six constant temperatures ranging from 8 to 38 °C and on two host plants of contrasting quality (kudzu and wisteria). We employed three approaches to determine the base temperature to calculate degree days: linear regression, modified reduced major axis regression, and application of a generic base temperature value of 10 °C, which is commonly used in the absence of laboratory data. To calculate the number of degree days required to complete a developmental stage, we used data from caterpillars feeding on high- and low-quality hosts, both in the field and in the laboratory. To test model accuracy, we predicted development time of seven generations of larvae reared in the field on the same host plants across 3 years (2014–2016). To compare performance among models, we regressed predicted vs. observed development time, and found that r2 values were significantly larger when accounting for host plant quality. The accuracy of development time predictions varied across the season, with estimates of the first two generations being more accurate than estimates of the third generation, when ambient temperatures dropped outside the range in which development rate and temperature have a linear relationship. Overall, we show that accounting for variation in host plant quality when calculating development time in the field is more important than the choice of the base temperature for calculating degree days

Psychopathy, anxiety, and resiliency – Psychological hardiness as a mediator of the psychopathy–anxiety relationship in a prison setting

The literature on the association between psychopathy and anxiety is somewhat mixed, but it has been proposed that one possible advantage of psychopathy might be resiliency against anxiety. Another construct related to resiliency is psychological hardiness, and several studies have identified associations between psychological hardiness, anxiety responses, and physical and mental health effects of stress. The aim of the current study is to examine whether characteristics of psychological hardiness mediate the relationship between traits of psychopathy and experienced anxiety in a prison setting. The results showed a divergence in the psychopathy construct, since two underlying factors (the two-factor model of the PCL-R) had divergent relationships with anxiety. Through mediation analyses (PROCESS), we found this relationship to be partly mediated by the commitment dimension of psychological hardiness. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to explore the possible mediating effect of psychological hardiness on the relationship between psychopathy and anxiety. The relative immunity to anxiety previously linked to psychopathy could thus be partly explained by higher levels of hardiness commitment.publishedVersio

A thermostable enzyme as an experimental platform to study properties of less stable homologues.

The structural and functional characterization of proteins is frequently hampered by lack of stability or by insufficient assembly of oligomeric proteins in over-expression systems. Using

Benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithio­phene-4,8-dione

The title mol­ecule, C10H4O2S2, is situated on a crystallographic center of inversion. In the crystal, weak hydrogen bonding contributes to the packing of the mol­ecules

Consequences of continuous ozonation on the health and welfare of Atlantic salmon post-smolts in a brackish water recirculating aquaculture system

Research Areas: Marine & Freshwater Biology ; ToxicologyThis study investigated the biological consequences of 45-day continuous ozonation on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) post-smolts in a brackish water recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). There was no significant difference in survival, operational welfare indicators, and average weight at termination between the ozone-treated and control groups. Plasma biochemical analyses revealed that the creatinine level was significantly higher in the ozone-treated group than in the control at termination. Histological evaluation of skin health showed no significant difference between the two groups. On the other hand, quantitative histopathology disclosed that the ozone group exhibited a better gill health status than did the control group, particularly at the end of the trial. Mucosal transcriptomics revealed a distinct response profile between the gills and skin. At day 45, there were no differentially expressed genes (DEG) identified in the skin, in contrast to 242 ozone-induced DEGs in the gills. Assessment of the transcriptomic profiles over time revealed that temporal effects were of greater impact in skin compared to gills, regardless of the treatment. The treatment did not result in metabolomic dysregulation and the overall profile lent support to the transcriptomics data that temporal effects had a greater influence on the changes observed. Exposure to handling-confinement stress revealed that ozone treatment did not alter the ability of post-smolts to respond to a secondary stressor. In summary, the suite of health and welfare indicators collectively indicated that continuous ozonation resulted in minimal physiological perturbations in salmon postsmolts. The results are expected to contribute to optimising the rearing conditions for post-smolts in RAS.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Functional Characterization of the Eukaryotic Cysteine Desulfurase Nfs1p from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Previous studies have indicated that the essential protein Nfs1 performs a crucial role in cellular iron-sulfur (Fe/S) protein maturation. The protein is located predominantly in mitochondria, yet low amounts are present in cytosol and nucleus. Here we examined several aspects concerning the molecular function of yeast Nfs1p as a model protein. First, we demonstrated that purified Nfs1p facilitates the in vitro assembly of Fe/S proteins by using cysteine as its specific substrate. Thus, eukaryotic Nfs1 is a functional orthologue of the bacterial cysteine desulfurase IscS. Second, we showed that only the mitochondrial version but not the extramitochondrial version of Nfs1p is functional in generating cytosolic and nuclear Fe/S proteins. Mutation of the nuclear targeting signal of Nfs1p did not affect the maturation of cytosolic and nuclear Fe/S proteins, despite a severe growth defect under this condition. Nfs1p could not assemble an Fe/S cluster on the Isu scaffold proteins when they were located in the yeast cytosol. The lack of function of these central Fe/S cluster assembly components suggests that the maturation of extramitochondrial Fe/S protein does not involve functional copies of the mitochondrial Fe/S cluster assembly machinery in the yeast cytosol. Third, the extramitochondrial version of Nfs1p was shown to play a direct role in the thiomodification of tRNAs. Finally, we identified a highly conserved N-terminal {beta}-sheet of Nfs1p as a functionally essential part of the protein. The implication of these findings for the structural stability of Nfs1p and for its targeting mechanism to mitochondria and cytosol/nucleus will be discussed

An interleukin-1 polymorphism additionally intensified by atopy as prognostic factor for aseptic non-mechanical complications in metal knee and hip arthroplasty

Background: In contrast to infection or mechanical issues joint replacement failure following inflammatory adverse reactions is poorly understood. Objective: To assess the association of IL-1β polymorphisms and history of allergy with aseptic non-mechanical complications following arthroplasty. Methods: In 102 patients with aseptic non-mechanically caused symptomatic knee or hip arthroplasty (SA) and 93 patients with asymptomatic arthroplasty (AA) questionnaire-based history, patch test with at least standard series, lymphocyte transformation test (LTT) with nickel, cobalt and chromium and interleukin-1 polymorphism analysis were done. Three polymorphisms of the IL1B gene [IL-1b -3954 (rs1143634), IL-1b -511 (rs16944) and IL-1b -31 (rs1143627)] and one polymorphism of the IL1RN gene [IL1RN intron 2, variable number of tandem repeats, VNTR (rs2234663)] were assessed by PCR and gel electrophoresis. Results: We found no significant difference in smoking history and atopy but 25% versus 10% of self-reported metal allergy in SA versus AA; the patch test (respective, LTT) for metal sensitivity was more often positive in SA patients. The allele 498 bp of the IL1RN polymorphism occurred significantly more often in the SA group (37% versus 11%; p < 0.0001). Upon additional presence of atopy, the difference was even greater (60% vs 10%) (p < 0.000001). There was no association of IL-1 polymorphisms with metal allergy. Conclusion: The IL1RN VNTR allele 498 bp was strongly associated with SA. In patients with a history of atopy, presence of the IL1RN VNTR allele 498 bp led to a four-fold higher SA prevalence compared to patients without this allele

Automatically extracting functionally equivalent proteins from SwissProt

In summary, FOSTA provides an automated analysis of annotations in UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot to enable groups of proteins already annotated as functionally equivalent, to be extracted. Our results demonstrate that the vast majority of UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot functional annotations are of high quality, and that FOSTA can interpret annotations successfully. Where FOSTA is not successful, we are able to highlight inconsistencies in UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot annotation. Most of these would have presented equal difficulties for manual interpretation of annotations. We discuss limitations and possible future extensions to FOSTA, and recommend changes to the UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot format, which would facilitate text-mining of UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot