Maximum and minimum monthly mean sea surface temperatures charted from the World Atlas of Sea Surface Temperatures

Maximum and minimum water temperatures are of interest in oceanography in many connections. Among their more important uses, they afford the most valuable simple index of temperature conditions for analyses of the distributions of marine organisms

Spontaneous fission modes and lifetimes of super-heavy elements in the nuclear density functional theory

Lifetimes of super-heavy (SH) nuclei are primarily governed by alpha decay and spontaneous fission (SF). Here we study the competing decay modes of even-even SH isotopes with 108 <= Z <= 126 and 148 <= N <= 188 using the state-of-the-art self-consistent nuclear density functional theory framework capable of describing the competition between nuclear attraction and electrostatic repulsion. The collective mass tensor of the fissioning superfluid nucleus is computed by means of the cranking approximation to the adiabatic time-dependent Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach. Along the path to fission, our calculations allow for the simultaneous breaking of axial and space inversion symmetries; this may result in lowering SF lifetimes by more than seven orders of magnitude in some cases. We predict two competing SF modes: reflection-symmetric and reflection-asymmetric.The shortest-lived SH isotopes decay by SF; they are expected to lie in a narrow corridor formed by $^{280}$Hs, $^{284}$Fl, and $^{284}_{118}$Uuo that separates the regions of SH nuclei synthesized in "cold fusion" and "hot fusion" reactions. The region of long-lived SH nuclei is expected to be centered on $^{294}$Ds with a total half-life of ?1.5 days.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

The ATPase activity of MLH1 is required to orchestrate DNA double-strand breaks and end processing during class switch recombination.

PublishedJournal ArticleResearch Support, N.I.H., ExtramuralResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tAntibody diversification through somatic hypermutation (SHM) and class switch recombination (CSR) are similarly initiated in B cells with the generation of U:G mismatches by activation-induced cytidine deaminase but differ in their subsequent mutagenic consequences. Although SHM relies on the generation of nondeleterious point mutations, CSR depends on the production of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and their adequate recombination through nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ). MLH1, an ATPase member of the mismatch repair (MMR) machinery, is emerging as a likely regulator of whether a U:G mismatch progresses toward mutation or DSB formation. We conducted experiments on cancer modeled ATPase-deficient MLH1G67R knockin mice to determine the function that the ATPase domain of MLH1 mediates in SHM and CSR. Mlh1(GR/GR) mice displayed a significant decrease in CSR, mainly attributed to a reduction in the generation of DSBs and diminished accumulation of 53BP1 at the immunoglobulin switch regions. However, SHM was normal in these mice, which distinguishes MLH1 from upstream members of the MMR pathway and suggests a very specific role of its ATPase-dependent functions during CSR. In addition, we show that the residual switching events still taking place in Mlh1(GR/GR) mice display unique features, suggesting a role for the ATPase activity of MLH1 beyond the activation of the endonuclease functions of its MMR partner PMS2. A preference for switch junctions with longer microhomologies in Mlh1(GR/GR) mice suggests that through its ATPase activity, MLH1 also has an impact in DNA end processing, favoring canonical NHEJ downstream of the DSB. Collectively, our study shows that the ATPase domain of MLH1 is important to transmit the CSR signaling cascade both upstream and downstream of the generation of DSBs.Spanish Ministry of Education and ScienceNIHNational Women’s Division of the Albert Einstein College of Medicin

Reformulating the Schrodinger equation as a Shabat-Zakharov system

We reformulate the second-order Schrodinger equation as a set of two coupled first order differential equations, a so-called "Shabat-Zakharov system", (sometimes called a "Zakharov-Shabat" system). There is considerable flexibility in this approach, and we emphasise the utility of introducing an "auxiliary condition" or "gauge condition" that is used to cut down the degrees of freedom. Using this formalism, we derive the explicit (but formal) general solution to the Schrodinger equation. The general solution depends on three arbitrarily chosen functions, and a path-ordered exponential matrix. If one considers path ordering to be an "elementary" process, then this represents complete quadrature, albeit formal, of the second-order linear ODE.Comment: 18 pages, plain LaTe

The genome of a songbird

The zebra finch is an important model organism in several fields1,2 with unique relevance to human neuroscience3,4. Like other songbirds, the zebra finch communicates through learned vocalizations, an ability otherwise documented only in humans and a few other animals and lacking in the chicken5—the only bird with a sequenced genome until now6. Here we present a structural, functional and comparative analysis of the genome sequence of the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), which is a songbird belonging to the large avian order Passeriformes7. We find that the overall structures of the genomes are similar in zebra finch and chicken, but they differ in many intrachromosomal rearrangements, lineage-specific gene family expansions, the number of long-terminal-repeat-based retrotransposons, and mechanisms of sex chromosome dosage compensation. We show that song behaviour engages gene regulatory networks in the zebra finch brain, altering the expression of long non-coding RNAs, microRNAs, transcription factors and their targets. We also show evidence for rapid molecular evolution in the songbird lineage of genes that are regulated during song experience. These results indicate an active involvement of the genome in neural processes underlying vocal communication and identify potential genetic substrates for the evolution and regulation of this behaviour

Whither Critical Masculinity Studies? Notes on Inclusive Masculinity Theory, Postfeminism, and Sexual Politics

Inclusive masculinity theory has recently been proposed as a new approach to theo- rizing contemporary masculinities. Focusing particularly on the work of the theory’s key exponent, Eric Anderson, this article offers a critical reading of inclusive masculinity theory in relation to the context of contemporary postfeminism. Building on feminist scholarship that analyzes the emergence of a distinctive postfeminist sensibility within the academy, I consider how inclusive masculinity theory both reflects and reproduces certain logics of postfeminism. My central concern is the manner in which this scho- larship deemphasizes key issues of sexual politics and promotes a discourse of optimism about men, masculinities, and social change. Against this view, I argue that critical masculinity studies must foreground the analysis of gendered power relations and posit that the interrogation of contemporary postfeminism is critical to this endeavor