581 research outputs found
True polyandry and pseudopolyandry : Why does a monandrous fly remate?
The authors wish to thank Dr. A. Lizé for giving invaluable advice for working with D. subobscura, and Jordan Smith, Sian Davis, Gwen Cowley, Chris Shirley, Raegan McKay, Steve Parratt and Cheryl Bennett for assisting with the practical work. We thank Dr Stephen Goodwin and two anonymous referees for their comments on the paper. This work was funded by a NERC fellowship to TP (NE/H015604/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD
The impact of female mating strategies on the success of insect control technologies
Attempts to control insect pests and disease vectors have a long history. Recently, new technology has opened a whole new range of possible methods to suppress or transform natural populations. But it has also become clear that a better understanding of the ecology of targeted populations is needed. One key parameter is mating behaviour. Often modified males are released which need to successfully reproduce with females while competing with wild males. Insect control techniques can be affected by target species’ mating ecology, and conversely mating ecology is likely to evolve in response to manipulation attempts. A better understanding of (female) mating behaviour will help anticipate and overcome potential challenges, and thus make desirable outcomes more likely
Controlling invasive rodents via synthetic gene drive and the role of polyandry
House mice are a major ecosystem pest, particularly threatening island ecosystems as a non-native invasive species. Rapid advances in synthetic biology offer new avenues to control pest species for biodiversity conservation. Recently, a synthetic sperm-killing gene drive construct called t-Sry has been proposed as a means to eradicate target mouse populations owing to a lack of females. A factor that has received little attention in the discussion surrounding such drive applications is polyandry. Previous research has demonstrated that sperm-killing drivers are extremely damaging to a male’s sperm competitive ability. Here, we examine the importance of this effect on the t-Sry system using a theoretical model. We find that polyandry substantially hampers the spread of t-Sry such that release efforts have to be increased three- to sixfold for successful eradication. We discuss the implications of our finding for potential pest control programmes, the risk of drive spread beyond the target population, and the emergence of drive resistance. Our work highlights that a solid understanding of the forces that determine drive dynamics in a natural setting is key for successful drive application, and that exploring the natural diversity of gene drives may inform effective gene drive design
The First Two Years of Electromagnetic Follow-Up with Advanced LIGO and Virgo
We anticipate the first direct detections of gravitational waves (GWs) with
Advanced LIGO and Virgo later this decade. Though this groundbreaking technical
achievement will be its own reward, a still greater prize could be observations
of compact binary mergers in both gravitational and electromagnetic channels
simultaneously. During Advanced LIGO and Virgo's first two years of operation,
2015 through 2016, we expect the global GW detector array to improve in
sensitivity and livetime and expand from two to three detectors. We model the
detection rate and the sky localization accuracy for binary neutron star (BNS)
mergers across this transition. We have analyzed a large, astrophysically
motivated source population using real-time detection and sky localization
codes and higher-latency parameter estimation codes that have been expressly
built for operation in the Advanced LIGO/Virgo era. We show that for most BNS
events the rapid sky localization, available about a minute after a detection,
is as accurate as the full parameter estimation. We demonstrate that Advanced
Virgo will play an important role in sky localization, even though it is
anticipated to come online with only one-third as much sensitivity as the
Advanced LIGO detectors. We find that the median 90% confidence region shrinks
from ~500 square degrees in 2015 to ~200 square degrees in 2016. A few distinct
scenarios for the first LIGO/Virgo detections emerge from our simulations.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, 5 tables. For accompanying data, see
http://www.ligo.org/scientists/first2year
An empirical study of aspect-oriented metrics
Metrics for aspect-oriented software have been proposed and used to investigate the benefits and the disadvantages of crosscutting concerns modularisation. Some of these metrics have not been rigorously defined nor analytically evaluated. Also, there are few empirical data showing typical values of these metrics in aspect-oriented software. In this paper, we provide rigorous definitions, usage guidelines, analytical evaluation, and empirical data from ten open source projects, determining the value of six metrics for aspect-oriented software (lines of code, weighted operations in module, depth of inheritance tree, number of children, crosscutting degree of an aspect, and coupling on advice execution). We discuss how each of these metrics can be used to identify shortcomings in existing aspect-oriented software. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.CNPq [140046/06-2]; Project CNPQ-PROSUL [490478/06-9]; Capes-Grices [2051-05-2]; FAPERGS [10/0470-1]; FCT MCTESinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Development of bovine abomasal organoids as a novel in-vitro model to study host-parasite interactions in gastrointestinal nematode infections
Gastro-intestinal nematode (GIN) parasites are a major cause of production losses in grazing cattle, primarily through reduced growth rates in young animals. Control of these parasites relies heavily on anthelmintic drugs; however, with growing reports of resistance to currently available anthelmintics, alternative methods of control are required. A major hurdle in this work has been the lack of physiologically relevant in vitro infection models that has made studying precise interactions between the host and the GINs difficult. Such mechanistic insights into the infection process will be valuable for the development of novel targets for drugs, vaccines, or other interventions. Here we created bovine gastric epithelial organoids from abomasal gastric tissue and studied their application as in vitro models for understanding host invasion by GIN parasites. Transcriptomic analysis of gastric organoids across multiple passages and the corresponding abomasal tissue showed conserved expression of tissue-specific genes across samples, demonstrating that the organoids are representative of bovine gastric tissue from which they were derived. We also show that self-renewing and self-organising three-dimensional organoids can also be serially passaged, cryopreserved, and resuscitated. Using Ostertagia ostertagi, the most pathogenic gastric parasite in cattle in temperate regions, we show that cattle gastric organoids are biologically relevant models for studying GIN invasion in the bovine abomasum. Within 24 h of exposure, exsheathed larvae rapidly and repeatedly infiltrated the lumen of the organoids. Prior to invasion by the parasites, the abomasal organoids rapidly expanded, developing a ‘ballooning’ phenotype. Ballooning of the organoids could also be induced in response to exposure to parasite excretory/secretory products. In summary, we demonstrate the power of using abomasal organoids as a physiologically relevant in vitro model system to study interactions of O. ostertagi and other GIN with bovine gastrointestinal epithelium
The MOSDEF survey: a stellar mass-SFR-metallicity relation exists at
We investigate the nature of the relation among stellar mass, star-formation
rate, and gas-phase metallicity (the M-SFR-Z relation) at high redshifts
using a sample of 260 star-forming galaxies at from the MOSDEF
survey. We present an analysis of the high-redshift M-SFR-Z relation based
on several emission-line ratios for the first time. We show that a M-SFR-Z
relation clearly exists at . The strength of this relation is similar
to predictions from cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. By performing a
direct comparison of stacks of and galaxies, we find that
galaxies have dex lower metallicity at fixed M and
SFR. In the context of chemical evolution models, this evolution of the
M-SFR-Z relation suggests an increase with redshift of the mass-loading
factor at fixed M, as well as a decrease in the metallicity of infalling
gas that is likely due to a lower importance of gas recycling relative to
accretion from the intergalactic medium at high redshifts. Performing this
analysis simultaneously with multiple metallicity-sensitive line ratios allows
us to rule out the evolution in physical conditions (e.g., N/O ratio,
ionization parameter, and hardness of the ionizing spectrum) at fixed
metallicity as the source of the observed trends with redshift and with SFR at
fixed M at . While this study highlights the promise of
performing high-order tests of chemical evolution models at high redshifts,
detailed quantitative comparisons ultimately await a full understanding of the
evolution of metallicity calibrations with redshift.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, accepted to Ap
The MOSDEF Survey: Kinematic and Structural Evolution of Star-Forming Galaxies at
We present ionized gas kinematics for 681 galaxies at from
the MOSFIRE Deep Evolution Field survey, measured using models which account
for random galaxy-slit misalignments together with structural parameters
derived from CANDELS Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging. Kinematics and sizes
are used to derive dynamical masses. Baryonic masses are estimated from stellar
masses and inferred gas masses from dust-corrected star formation rates (SFRs)
and the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation. We measure resolved rotation for 105
galaxies. For the remaining 576 galaxies we use models based on HST imaging
structural parameters together with integrated velocity dispersions and
baryonic masses to statistically constrain the median ratio of intrinsic
ordered to disordered motion, . We find that
increases with increasing stellar mass and decreasing specific SFR (sSFR).
These trends may reflect marginal disk stability, where systems with higher gas
fractions have thicker disks. For galaxies with detected rotation we assess
trends between their kinematics and mass, sSFR, and baryon surface density
(). Intrinsic dispersion correlates most with
and velocity correlates most with mass. By comparing
dynamical and baryonic masses, we find that galaxies at are
baryon dominated within their effective radii (), with Mdyn/Mbaryon
increasing over time. The inferred baryon fractions within ,
, decrease over time, even at fixed mass, size, or surface
density. At fixed redshift, does not appear to vary with
stellar mass but increases with decreasing and increasing
. For galaxies at , the median inferred baryon
fractions generally exceed 100%. We discuss possible explanations and future
avenues to resolve this tension.Comment: Accepted to ApJ. Added Figure 9, corrected sample size (main results
unchanged). 28 pages, 13 figure
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