The small heat shock protein (sHSP) genes in the silkworm, Bombyx mori, and comparative analysis with other insect sHSP genes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) are products of heat shock response and of other stress responses, and ubiquitous in all three domains of life, archaea, bacteria, and eukarya. They mainly function as molecular chaperones to protect proteins from being denatured in extreme conditions. Study on insect sHSPs could provide some insights into evolution of insects that have adapted to diverse niches in the world.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Taking advantage of the newly assembled genome sequence, we performed a genome-wide analysis of the candidate sHSP genes in the silkworm, <it>Bombyx mori</it>. Based on known silkworm sHSP sequences, we identified 16 silkworm sHSP genes. Most of them are distributed on two silkworm chromosomes 5 and 27, respectively. 15 of 16 silkworm sHSPs have expression evidence. The comparative analysis of insect sHSPs from <it>B. mori</it>, <it>Drosophila melanogaster</it>, <it>Apis mellifera</it>, <it>Tribolium castaneum</it>, and <it>Anopheles gambiae </it>revealed that there is only one orthologous cluster whereas remaining clusters are species-specific on the phylogenetic tree. This suggested that most of sHSPs might have diverged in function across insects investigated. In addition, the data presented in this study also revealed that sHSPs in the insect orthologous cluster are highly conserved in both sequence and expression pattern. In sum, insect sHSPs show a completely different evolutionary pattern from that found in vertebrate sHSPs.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p><it>B. mori </it>has the largest number of insect sHSP genes characterized to date, including 16 genes. The inference that most species-specific sHSPs might have diverged in function across insects investigated will help us understand the adaptability of these insects to diverse environments.</p

Semiconductor saturable absorber mirror mode-locked Yb:YAP laser

We report on sub-30 fs pulse generation from a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror mode-locked Yb:YAP laser. Pumping by a spatially single-mode Yb fiber laser at 979 nm, soliton pulses as short as 29 fs were generated at 1091 nm with an average output power of 156 mW and a pulse repetition rate of 85.1 MHz. The maximum output power of the mode-locked Yb:YAP laser amounted to 320 mW for slightly longer pulses (32 fs) at an incident pump power of 1.52 W, corresponding to a peak power of 103 kW and an optical efficiency of 20.5%. To the best of our knowledge, this result represents the shortest pulses ever achieved from any solid-state Yb laser mode-locked by a slow, i.e., physical saturable absorber

Anxiety and depression mediate the relationship between digestive tract conditions and oral health-related quality of life in orthodontic patients

BackgroundAnxiety and depression are common psychological problems in orthodontic patients whose diet habits and oral health status change frequently during treatment. However, relationships between anxiety and depression, digestive tract condition, and impaired oral health-related quality of life remain unknown.Materials and methodsIn this study, clinical assessments, including anxiety, depression, digestive tract condition, and oral health-related quality of life, were collected from 769 outpatients in the orthodontic department using three self-reported questionnaires. Correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationships among different clinical assessments. A chained mediation analysis model was further conducted to explore the direct and indirect effects of these various clinical factors.ResultsChanges in digestive tract conditions were positively correlated with the psychological status and oral health-related quality of life. Anxiety and depression partially mediated the relationship between them, and the indirect effect was 0.68 (30%), of which the mediation effect of anxiety accounted for 56%.ConclusionAnxiety and depression mediate the relationship between gastrointestinal conditions and oral health. In particular, anxiety seems to play a significant mediating role. Our findings indicate that psychological status must be paid more attention to in future clinical practices and supervision for digestive tract symptoms of orthodontic patients

The Hidden Nematic Fluctuations in the Triclinic (Ca0.85La0.15)10(Pt3As8)(Fe2As2)5 Superconductor Revealed by Ultrafast Optical Spectroscopy

We reported the quasiparticle relaxation dynamics of an optimally doped triclinic iron-based superconductor (Ca$_{0.85}$La$_{0.15}$)$_{10}$(Pt$_3$As$_8$)(Fe$_2$As$_2$)$_5$ with bulk $T_c$ = 30 K using polarized ultrafast optical pump-probe spectroscopy. Our results reveal anisotropic transient reflectivity induced by nematic fluctuations develops below $T_{nem}$ $\approx$ 120 K and persists in the superconducting states. Measurements under high pump fluence reveal three distinct, coherent phonon modes at frequencies of 1.6, 3.5, and 4.7 THz, corresponding to $A_{1g}(1)$, $E_g$, and $A_{1g}(2)$ modes, respectively. The high-frequency $A_{1g}(2)$ mode corresponds to the $c$-axis polarized vibrations of FeAs planes with a nominal electron-phonon coupling constant $\lambda _{A_{1g}(2)}$ $\approx$ 0.139 $\pm$ 0.02. Our findings suggest that the superconductivity and nematic state are compatible but competitive at low temperatures, and the $A_{1g}$ phonons play an important role in the formation of Cooper pairs in (Ca$_{0.85}$La$_{0.15}$)$_{10}$(Pt$_3$As$_8$)(Fe$_2$As$_2$)$_5$.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures and Supplemental Material

A simulation study on the measurement of D0-D0bar mixing parameter y at BES-III

We established a method on measuring the \dzdzb mixing parameter $y$ for BESIII experiment at the BEPCII $e^+e^-$ collider. In this method, the doubly tagged $\psi(3770) \to D^0 \overline{D^0}$ events, with one $D$ decays to CP-eigenstates and the other $D$ decays semileptonically, are used to reconstruct the signals. Since this analysis requires good $e/\pi$ separation, a likelihood approach, which combines the $dE/dx$, time of flight and the electromagnetic shower detectors information, is used for particle identification. We estimate the sensitivity of the measurement of $y$ to be 0.007 based on a $20fb^{-1}$ fully simulated MC sample.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure