Paternity allocation in a mutant Heliothis virescens colony

Tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens (F.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), females can copulate multiple times creating the possibility for sperm competition. We used a colony lacking wild pigmentation on the wings (albino-type) for an experiment in which females double mated. Females copulated 2 days apart with two, 2-day-old males, one albino-type and one wild-type, or in the opposite sequence. A third of the females produced offspring from the first mate, and this group was significantly biased toward producing albino-type compared to wild-type progeny. A fourth of the females produced offspring from the second male exclusively and within this group was a significant bias toward wild-type compared to albino-type progeny. Almost half of the females produced offspring sired in equal proportions by both males simultaneously or in alternated paternities throughout all the reproductive life. These results suggest that regardless of the order in which moths mated, wild-type sperm had potential superior competitiveness. Therefore, sperm precedence is not the main driving force behind the paternity allocation mechanism in this strain of tobacco budworm

Spontaneous polarisation of the neutral interface for valence asymmetric coulombic systems

In this paper, we discuss the phenomenon of a spontaneous polarisation of a neutral hard planar interface for valence asymmetric coulombic systems. Within a field theoretical description, we account for the existence of non trivial charge density and electric potential profiles. The analysis of the phenomenon shows that the effect is related to combinatorics in relation with the existence of the two independent species cations and anions. This simple and basic feature is related to the quantum mechanical properties of the system. The theoretical results are compared with numerical simulations data and are shown to be in very good agreement, which a fortiori justifies our physical interpretation.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure

A Bayesian Approach for Estimating the Thinning Corrosion Rate of Steel Heat Exchanger in Hydrodesulfurization Plants

Fuel consumption has been increasing in recent years, especially that of diesel and jet fuel. For this reason, the necessity to build new plants to reduce their sulfur content has arisen. Sometimes, just revamping existing plants is feasible, but determining which pieces of equipment are in the appropriate condition to be reused is also necessary. In order to select the equipment, it is essential to have information about the wall thickness of vessels. Sometimes, the information is limited; consequently, the application of advanced statistical techniques is needed. ,e Bayesian Data Analysis (BDA) used in this study has the goal of determining a more accurate, unobserved thinning rate distribution for existing heat exchangers, taking into consideration all the information available about the thinning rate of the heat exchangers that cool down the effluent of the hydrotreating reactors in Mexican oil refineries. ,e information obtained from BDA was compared with existing shell wall thickness obtaining favorable results

Multi-resolution isotropic strain limiting

In this paper we describe a fast strain-limiting method that allows stiff, incompliant materials to be simulated efficiently. Unlike prior approaches, which act on springs or individual strain components, this method acts on the strain tensors in a coordinate-invariant fashion allowing isotropic behavior. Our method applies to both two-and three-dimensional strains, and only requires computing the singular value decomposition of the deformation gradient, either a small 2x2 or 3x3 matrix, for each element. We demonstrate its use with triangular and tetrahedral linear-basis elements. For triangulated surfaces in three-dimensional space, we also describe a complementary edge-angle-limiting method to limit out-of-plane bending. All of the limits are enforced through an iterative, non-linear, Gauss-Seidel-like constraint procedure. To accelerate convergence, we propose a novel multi-resolution algorithm that enforces fitted limits at each level of a non-conforming hierarchy. Compared with other constraint-based techniques, our isotropic multi-resolution strain-limiting method is straightforward to implement, efficient to use, and applicable to a wide range of shell and solid materials. © 2010 ACM

Potential therapeutic implications of new insights into respiratory syncytial virus disease

Viral bronchiolitis is the most common cause of hospitalization in infants under 6 months of age, and 70% of all cases of bronchiolitis are caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Early RSV infection is associated with respiratory problems such as asthma and wheezing later in life. RSV infection is usually spread by contaminated secretions and infects the upper then lower respiratory tracts. Infected cells release proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, including IL-1, tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-6, and IL-8. These activate other cells and recruit inflammatory cells, including macrophages, neutrophils, eosinophils, and T lymphocytes, into the airway wall and surrounding tissues. The pattern of cytokine production by T lymphocytes can be biased toward 'T-helper-1' or 'T-helper-2' cytokines, depending on the local immunologic environment, infection history, and host genetics. T-helper-1 responses are generally efficient in antiviral defense, but young infants have an inherent bias toward T-helper-2 responses. The ideal intervention for RSV infection would be preventive, but the options are currently limited. Vaccines based on protein subunits, live attenuated strains of RSV, DNA vaccines, and synthetic peptides are being developed; passive antibody therapy is at present impractical in otherwise healthy children. Effective vaccines for use in neonates continue to be elusive but simply delaying infection beyond the first 6 months of life might reduce the delayed morbidity associated with infantile disease

Distinguishing Type 2 Diabetes from Type 1 Diabetes in African American and Hispanic American Pediatric Patients

To test the hypothesis that clinical observations made at patient presentation can distinguish type 2 diabetes (T2D) from type 1 diabetes (T1D) in pediatric patients aged 2 to 18.Medical records of 227 African American and 112 Hispanic American pediatric patients diagnosed as T1D or T2D were examined to compare parameters in the two diseases. Age at presentation, BMI z-score, and gender were the variables used in logistic regression analysis to create models for T2D prediction.The regression-based model created from African American data had a sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 89%; testing of a replication cohort showed 91% sensitivity and 93% specificity. A model based on the Hispanic American data showed 92% sensitivity and 90% specificity. Similarities between African American and Hispanic American patients include: (1) age at onset for both T1D and T2D decreased from the 1980s to the 2000s; (2) risk of T2D increased markedly with obesity. Racial/ethnic-specific observations included: (1) in African American patients, the proportion of females was significantly higher than that of males for T2D compared to T1D (p<0.0001); (2) in Hispanic Americans, the level of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was significantly higher in T1D than in T2D (p<0.002) at presentation; (3) the strongest contributor to T2D risk was female gender in African Americans, while the strongest contributor to T2D risk was BMI z-score in Hispanic Americans.Distinction of T2D from T1D at patient presentation was possible with good sensitivity and specificity using only three easily-assessed variables: age, gender, and BMI z-score. In African American pediatric diabetes patients, gender was the strongest predictor of T2D, while in Hispanic patients, BMI z-score was the strongest predictor. This suggests that race/ethnic specific models may be useful to optimize distinction of T1D from T2D at presentation

Whither Magnetic Hyperthermia? A Tentative Roadmap

The scientific community has made great efforts in advancing magnetic hyperthermia for the last two decades after going through a sizeable research lapse from its establishment. All the progress made in various topics ranging from nanoparticle synthesis to biocompatibilization and in vivo testing have been seeking to push the forefront towards some new clinical trials. As many, they did not go at the expected pace. Today, fruitful international cooperation and the wisdom gain after a careful analysis of the lessons learned from seminal clinical trials allow us to have a future with better guarantees for a more definitive takeoff of this genuine nanotherapy against cancer. Deliberately giving prominence to a number of critical aspects, this opinion review offers a blend of state-of-the-art hints and glimpses into the future of the therapy, considering the expected evolution of science and technology behind magnetic hyperthermia.This work was supported by the NoCanTher project, which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 685795. The authors acknowledge support from the COST Association through the COST actions "RADIOMAG" (TD1402) and "MyWAVE" (CA17115). D.O., A.S.-O. and I.R.-R. acknowledge financial support from the Community of Madrid under Contracts No. PEJD-2017-PRE/IND-3663 and PEJ-2018-AI/IND-11069, from the Spanish Ministry of Science through the Ramon y Cajal grant RYC2018-025253-I and Research Networks RED2018-102626-T, as well as the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the grants MAT2017-85617-R, MAT2017-88148R and the "Severo Ochoa" Program for Centers of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2016-0686). M.B. and N.T.K.T. would like to thank EPSRC for funding (grant EP/K038656/1 and EP/M015157/1) and AOARD (FA2386-171-4042) award. This work was additionally supported by the EMPIR program co-financed by the Participating States and from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, grant no. 16NRM04 "MagNaStand". The work was further supported by the DFG grant CRC "Matrix in Vision" (SFB 1340/1 2018, no 372486779, project A02)

Dpr Acts as a Molecular Switch, Inhibiting Wnt Signaling when Unphosphorylated, but Promoting Wnt Signaling when Phosphorylated by Casein Kinase Iδ/ε

The Wnt pathway is a key regulator of development and tumorigenesis. Dpr (Dact/Frodo) influences Wnt signaling in part through the interaction of its PDZ-B domain with Dsh's PDZ domain. Studies have shown that XDpr1a and its close relative, Frodo, are involved in multiple steps of the Wnt pathway in either inhibitory or activating roles. We found that XDpr1a is phosphorylated by casein kinase Iδ/ε (CKIδ/ε), an activator of Wnt signaling, in the presence of XDsh. Abrogating XDpr1a's ability to bind XDsh through mutation of XDpr1a's PDZ-B domain blocks CK1δ/ε's phosphorylation of XDpr1a. Conversely, XDsh possessing a mutation in its PDZ domain that is unable to bind XDpr1a does not promote XDpr1a phosphorylation. Phosphorylation of XDpr1a and XDsh by CKIδ/ε decreases their interaction. Moreover, the phosphorylation of XDpr1a by CKIδ/ε not only abrogates XDpr1a's promotion of β-catenin degradation but blocks β-catenin degradation. Our data suggest that XDpr1a phosphorylation by CKIδ/ε is dependent on the interaction of XDpr1a's PDZ-B domain with XDsh's PDZ domain, and that the phosphorylation state of XDpr1a determines whether it inhibits or activates Wnt signaling

Spintronics: Fundamentals and applications

Spintronics, or spin electronics, involves the study of active control and manipulation of spin degrees of freedom in solid-state systems. This article reviews the current status of this subject, including both recent advances and well-established results. The primary focus is on the basic physical principles underlying the generation of carrier spin polarization, spin dynamics, and spin-polarized transport in semiconductors and metals. Spin transport differs from charge transport in that spin is a nonconserved quantity in solids due to spin-orbit and hyperfine coupling. The authors discuss in detail spin decoherence mechanisms in metals and semiconductors. Various theories of spin injection and spin-polarized transport are applied to hybrid structures relevant to spin-based devices and fundamental studies of materials properties. Experimental work is reviewed with the emphasis on projected applications, in which external electric and magnetic fields and illumination by light will be used to control spin and charge dynamics to create new functionalities not feasible or ineffective with conventional electronics.Comment: invited review, 36 figures, 900+ references; minor stylistic changes from the published versio