The C9ORF72 mutation brings more answers and more questions.

The clinical, neuropsychiatric and neuroimaging features of patients who carry the important new C9ORF72 mutation are discussed in this special series of Alzheimer's Research & Therapy. First reported in November 2011, the C9ORF72 mutation is the most common mutation associated with both frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the Western hemisphere and Europe. It is a gene with strong penetrance, and the vast majority of subjects with the C9ORF72 mutation die from a neurodegenerative condition. The most common clinical manifestation of disease in gene carriers is behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia. An extremely long hexanucleotide repeat (usually greater than 400), appears to lead to ribonucleic acid aggregates within the nucleus and suppression of gene expression. Finding therapies for C9ORF72 will be difficult and require novel therapeutic approaches that involve suppression of the expression of the C9ORF72 repeat

Lyapunov spectra of Coulombic and gravitational periodic systems

We compute Lyapunov spectra for Coulombic and gravitational versions of the one-dimensional systems of parallel sheets with periodic boundary conditions. Exact time evolution of tangent-space vectors are derived and are utilized toward computing Lypaunov characteristic exponents using an event-driven algorithm. The results indicate that the energy dependence of the largest Lyapunov exponent emulates that of Kolmogorov-entropy density for each system at different degrees of freedom. Our approach forms an effective and approximation-free tool toward studying the dynamical properties exhibited by the Coulombic and gravitational systems and finds applications in investigating indications of thermodynamic transitions in large versions of the spatially periodic systems.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures (8 total subfigures

Defining the Social Dimension of Triple Bottom Line for the Australian Dairy Industry: Challenges, Priorities and Opportunities

Understanding the social impact the dairy industry has on employees and local communities is part of Dairy Australia’s commitment to the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework, which emphasises that businesses have social, environmental and economic impacts and responsibilities. This social impact assessment project, currently underway, aims to identify and quantify the social value of the dairy industry, whilst proactively identifying areas for improvements. Through an online survey for employees and a random postal survey of 15,000 dairy community residents, the project investigates how Australians perceive the Dairy Industry, as well as their wellbeing, quality of life, community involvement and work experiences. This paper provides an overview of the study, outlining why developing quantifiable indicators for the social dimension of TBL that are designed to be as rigorous as current financial reporting is a business priority. Examples of how the findings will contribute to the identification and management of issues, measures of industry sustainability and future strategy are discussed

A Note on Adult Overwintering of Dasymutilla Nigripes in Michigan (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae)

Excerpt: Although Dasymutilla nigripes (Fabricius) is one of the more common Michigan velvet ant species, little is known about its life cycle. In his summary of mutillid life cycles, Michel (1928) indicated that mutillids of northern latitudes probably overwinter in the prepupal stage within the subterranean cells of their hymenopterous hosts. Bohart and McSwain (1939) cited prepupal overwintering as normal for Dasymutilla sackenii (Cresson) in California. However, Potts and Smith (1944), also working in California, collected overwintering adult female Dasymutilla aureola pacifica (Cresson)