1,831 research outputs found
By hook or by crook? Morphometry, competition and cooperation in rodent sperm
Background
Sperm design varies enormously across species and sperm competition is thought to be a major factor influencing this variation. However, the functional significance of many sperm traits is still poorly understood. The sperm of most murid rodents are characterised by an apical hook of the sperm head that varies markedly in extent across species. In the European woodmouse Apodemus sylvaticus (Muridae), the highly reflected apical hook of sperm is used to form sperm groups, or βtrains,β which exhibited increased swimming velocity and thrusting force compared to individual sperm.
Methodology/Principal Findings
Here we use a comparative study of murine rodent sperm and demonstrate that the apical hook and sperm cooperation are likely to be general adaptations to sperm competition in rodents. We found that species with relatively larger testes, and therefore more intense sperm competition, have a longer, more reflected apical sperm hook. In addition, we show that sperm groups also occur in rodents other than the European woodmouse.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that in rodents sperm cooperation is more widespread than assumed so far and highlight the importance of diploid versus haploid selection in the evolution of sperm design and function
Reservoir-Excess Pressure Parameters Independently Predicts Cardiovascular Events in Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes.
The parameters derived from reservoir-excess pressure analysis have prognostic utility in several populations. However, evidence in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) remains scarce. We determined if these parameters were associated with T2DM and whether they would predict cardiovascular events in individuals with T2DM. We studied 306 people with T2DM with cardiovascular disease (CVD; DMCVD, 70.4Β±7.8 years), 348 people with T2DM but without CVD (diabetes mellitus, 67.7Β±8.4 years), and 178 people without T2DM or CVD (control group [CTRL], 67.2Β±8.9 years). Reservoir-excess pressure analysis-derived parameters, including reservoir pressure integral, peak reservoir pressure, excess pressure integral, systolic rate constant, and diastolic rate constant, were obtained by radial artery tonometry. Reservoir pressure integral was lower in DMCVD diabetes mellitus and than CTRL. Peak reservoir pressure was lower, and excess pressure integral was greater in DMCVD diabetes mellitus than and CTRL. Systolic rate constant was lower in a stepwise manner among groups (DMCVD< diabetes mellitus <CTRL). Diastolic rate constant was greater in DMCVD than CTRL. In the subgroup of individuals with T2DM (n=642), 14 deaths (6 cardiovascular and 9 noncardiovascular causes), and 108 cardiovascular events occurred during a 3-year follow-up period. Logistic regression analysis revealed that reservoir pressure integral (odds ratio, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.45-0.79]) and diastolic rate constant (odds ratio, 1.60 [95% CI, 1.25-2.06]) were independent predictors of cardiovascular events during follow-up after adjusting for conventional risk factors (both P<0.001). Further adjustments for potential confounders had no influence on associations. These findings demonstrate that altered reservoir-excess pressure analysis-derived parameters are associated with T2DM. Furthermore, baseline values of reservoir pressure integral and diastolic rate constant independently predict cardiovascular events in individuals with T2DM, indicating the potential clinical utility of these parameters for risk stratification in T2DM
A QM/MM approach for the study of monolayer-protected gold clusters
We report the development and implementation of hybrid methods that combine
quantum mechanics (QM) with molecular mechanics (MM) to theoretically
characterize thiolated gold clusters. We use, as training systems, structures
such as Au25(SCH2-R)18 and Au38(SCH2-R)24, which can be readily compared with
recent crystallographic data. We envision that such an approach will lead to an
accurate description of key structural and electronic signatures at a fraction
of the cost of a full quantum chemical treatment. As an example, we demonstrate
that calculations of the 1H and 13C NMR shielding constants with our proposed
QM/MM model maintain the qualitative features of a full DFT calculation, with
an order-of-magnitude increase in computational efficiency.Comment: Journal of Materials Science, 201
Corpus Callosum Morphology in Capuchin Monkeys Is Influenced by Sex and Handedness
Sex differences have been reported in both overall corpus callosum area and its regional subdivisions in humans. Some have suggested this reflects a unique adaptation in humans, as similar sex differences in corpus callosum morphology have not been reported in any other species of primate examined to date. Furthermore, an association between various measurements of corpus callosum morphology and handedness has been found in humans and chimpanzees. In the current study, we report measurements of corpus callosum cross-sectional area from midsagittal MR images collected in vivo from 14 adult capuchin monkeys, 9 of which were also characterized for hand preference on a coordinated bimanual task. Adult females were found to have a significantly larger corpus callosum: brain volume ratio, rostral body, posterior midbody, isthmus, and splenium than adult males. Left-handed individuals had a larger relative overall corpus callosum area than did right-handed individuals. Additionally, a significant sex and handedness interaction was found for anterior midbody, with right-handed males having a significantly smaller area than right-handed females. These results suggest that sex and handedness influences on corpus callosum morphology are not restricted to Homo sapiens
Robot life: simulation and participation in the study of evolution and social behavior.
This paper explores the case of using robots to simulate evolution, in particular the case of Hamilton's Law. The uses of robots raises several questions that this paper seeks to address. The first concerns the role of the robots in biological research: do they simulate something (life, evolution, sociality) or do they participate in something? The second question concerns the physicality of the robots: what difference does embodiment make to the role of the robot in these experiments. Thirdly, how do life, embodiment and social behavior relate in contemporary biology and why is it possible for robots to illuminate this relation? These questions are provoked by a strange similarity that has not been noted before: between the problem of simulation in philosophy of science, and Deleuze's reading of Plato on the relationship of ideas, copies and simulacra
Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Precentral Corticospinal System Asymmetry and Handedness: A Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study
Most humans are right handed, and most humans exhibit left-right asymmetries of the precentral corticospinal system. Recent studies indicate that chimpanzees also show a population-level right-handed bias, although it is less strong than in humans.We used in vivo diffusion-weighted and T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the relationship between the corticospinal tract (CST) and handedness in 36 adult female chimpanzees. Chimpanzees exhibited a hemispheric bias in fractional anisotropy (FA, left>right) and mean diffusivity (MD, right>left) of the CST, and the left CST was centered more posteriorly than the right. Handedness correlated with central sulcus depth, but not with FA or MD.These anatomical results are qualitatively similar to those reported in humans, despite the differences in handedness. The existence of a left>right FA, right>left MD bias in the corticospinal tract that does not correlate with handedness, a result also reported in some human studies, suggests that at least some of the structural asymmetries of the corticospinal system are not exclusively related to laterality of hand preference
Giant phonon anomalies and central peak due to charge density wave formation in YBaCuO
The electron-phonon interaction is a major factor influencing the competition
between collective instabilities in correlated-electron materials, but its role
in driving high-temperature superconductivity in the cuprates remains poorly
understood. We have used high-resolution inelastic x-ray scattering to monitor
low-energy phonons in YBaCuO (superconducting
K), which is close to a charge density wave (CDW) instability. Phonons in a
narrow range of momentum space around the CDW ordering vector exhibit extremely
large superconductivity-induced lineshape renormalizations. These results imply
that the electron-phonon interaction has sufficient strength to generate
various anomalies in electronic spectra, but does not contribute significantly
to Cooper pairing. In addition, a quasi-elastic "central peak" due to CDW
nanodomains is observed in a wide temperature range above and below ,
suggesting that the gradual onset of a spatially inhomogeneous CDW domain state
with decreasing temperature is a generic feature of the underdoped cuprates
Computer simulation of syringomyelia in dogs
Syringomyelia is a pathological condition in which fluid-filled cavities (syringes) form and expand in the spinal cord. Syringomyelia is often linked with obstruction of the craniocervical junction and a Chiari malformation, which is similar in both humans and animals. Some brachycephalic toy breed dogs such as Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCS) are particularly predisposed. The exact mechanism of the formation of syringomyelia is undetermined and consequently with the lack of clinical explanation, engineers and mathematicians have resorted to computer models to identify possible physical mechanisms that can lead to syringes. We developed a computer model of the spinal cavity of a CKCS suffering from a large syrinx. The model was excited at the cranial end to simulate the movement of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and the spinal cord due to the shift of blood volume in the cranium related to the cardiac cycle. To simulate the normal condition, the movement was prescribed to the CSF. To simulate the pathological condition, the movement of CSF was blocked
RESERVOIR-PRESSURE ANALYSIS PREDICTS CARDIOVASCULAR EVENTS IN INDIVIDUALS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES: A SINGLE-CENTRE STUDY
Appearance of fluctuating stripes at the onset of the pseudogap in the high-Tc Superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x
Doped Mott insulators have been shown to have a strong propensity to form
patterns of holes and spins often referred to as stripes. In copper-oxides,
doping also gives rise to the pseudogap state, which transforms into a high
temperature superconductor with sufficient doping or by reducing the
temperature. A long standing question has been the interplay between pseudogap,
which is generic to all hole-doped cuprates, and stripes, whose static form
occurs in only one family of cuprates over a narrow range of the phase diagram.
Here we examine the spatial reorganization of electronic states with the onset
of the pseudogap state at T* in the high-temperature superconductor
Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x using spectroscopic mapping with the scanning tunneling
microscope (STM). We find that the onset of the pseudogap phase coincides with
the appearance of electronic patterns that have the predicted characteristics
of fluctuating stripes. As expected, the stripe patterns are strongest when the
hole concentration in the CuO2 planes is close to 1/8 (per Cu). While
demonstrating that the fluctuating stripes emerge with the onset of the
pseudogap state and occur over a large part of the cuprate phase diagram, our
experiments indicate that they are a consequence of pseudogap behavior rather
than its cause.Comment: preprint version, 25 pages including supplementary informatio
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