11,386 research outputs found

    Digging for gold nuggets : uncovering novel candidate genes for variation in gastrointestinal nematode burden in a wild bird species

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    Acknowledgements This study was funded by a BBSRC studentship (MAWenzel) and NERC grants NE/H00775X/1 and NE/D000602/1 (SB Piertney). The authors are grateful to Marianne James, Mario Roder and Keliya Bai for field-work assistance, Lucy M.I. Webster and Steve Paterson for help during prior development of genetic markers,Heather Ritchie for helpful comments on manuscript drafts and all estate owners, factors and keepers for access to field sites, most particularly MJ Taylor and Mike Nisbet (Airlie), Neil Brown (Allargue), RR Gledson and David Scrimgeour (Delnadamph), Andrew Salvesen and John Hay (Dinnet), Stuart Young and Derek Calder (Edinglassie), Kirsty Donald and DavidBusfield (Glen Dye), Neil Hogbin and Ab Taylor (Glen Muick), Alistair Mitchell (Glenlivet), Simon Blackett, Jim Davidson and Liam Donald (Invercauld), Richard Cooke and Fred Taylor (Invermark), Shaila Rao and Christopher Murphy (Mar Lodge), and Ralph Peters and Philip Astor (Tillypronie)Peer reviewedPostprin

    Isabelle/PIDE as Platform for Educational Tools

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    The Isabelle/PIDE platform addresses the question whether proof assistants of the LCF family are suitable as technological basis for educational tools. The traditionally strong logical foundations of systems like HOL, Coq, or Isabelle have so far been counter-balanced by somewhat inaccessible interaction via the TTY (or minor variations like the well-known Proof General / Emacs interface). Thus the fundamental question of math education tools with fully-formal background theories has often been answered negatively due to accidental weaknesses of existing proof engines. The idea of "PIDE" (which means "Prover IDE") is to integrate existing provers like Isabelle into a larger environment, that facilitates access by end-users and other tools. We use Scala to expose the proof engine in ML to the JVM world, where many user-interfaces, editor frameworks, and educational tools already exist. This shall ultimately lead to combined mathematical assistants, where the logical engine is in the background, without obstructing the view on applications of formal methods, formalized mathematics, and math education in particular.Comment: In Proceedings THedu'11, arXiv:1202.453

    Nonessential role of beta3 and beta5 integrin subunits for efficient clearance of cellular debris after light-induced photoreceptor degeneration

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    PURPOSE: During light-induced photoreceptor degeneration, large amounts of cellular debris are formed that must be cleared from the subretinal space. The integrins alphavbeta5 and alphavbeta3 are involved in the normal physiological process of phagocytosis in the retina. This study was conducted to investigate the question of whether the lack of beta5 and/or beta3 integrin subunits might influence the course of retinal degeneration and/or clearance of photoreceptor debris induced by acute exposure to light. METHODS: Wild-type, beta5(-/-) and beta3(-/-) single-knockout, and beta3(-/-)/beta5(-/-) Ccl2(-/-)/beta5(-/-) double-knockout mice were exposed to 13,000 lux of white light for 2 hours to induce severe photoreceptor degeneration. Real-time PCR and Western blot analysis were used to analyze gene and protein expression, light- and electron microscopy to judge retinal morphology, and immunofluorescence to study retinal distribution of proteins. RESULTS: Individual or combined deletion of beta3 and beta5 integrin subunits did not affect the pattern of photoreceptor cell loss or the clearance of photoreceptor debris in mice compared with that in wild-type mice. Invading macrophages may contribute to efficient phagocytosis. However, ablation of the MCP-1 gene did not prevent macrophage recruitment. Several chemokines in addition to MCP-1 were induced after light-induced damage that may have compensated for the deletion of MCP-1. CONCLUSIONS: Acute clearance of a large amount of cellular debris from the subretinal space involves invading macrophages and does not depend on beta3 and beta5 integrins

    Raman solitons in transient SRS

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    We report the observation of Raman solitons on numerical simulations of transient stimulated Raman scattering (TSRS) with small group velocity dispersion. The theory proceeds with the inverse scattering transform (IST) for initial-boundary value problems and it is shown that the explicit theoretical solution obtained by IST for a semi-infinite medium fits strikingly well the numerical solution for a finite medium. We understand this from the rapid decrease of the medium dynamical variable (the potential of the scattering theory). The spectral transform reflection coefficient can be computed directly from the values of the input and output fields and this allows to see the generation of the Raman solitons from the numerical solution. We confirm the presence of these nonlinear modes in the medium dynamical variable by the use of a discrete spectral analysis.Comment: LaTex file, to appear in Inverse Problem
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