SS433's jet trace from ALMA imaging and Global Jet Watch spectroscopy: evidence for post-launch particle acceleration

We present a comparison of Doppler-shifted H-alpha line emission observed by the Global Jet Watch from freshly-launched jet ejecta at the nucleus of the Galactic microquasar SS433 with subsequent ALMA imaging at mm-wavelengths of the same jet ejecta. There is a remarkable similarity between the transversely-resolved synchrotron emission and the prediction of the jet trace from optical spectroscopy: this is an a priori prediction not an a posteriori fit, confirming the ballistic nature of the jet propagation. The mm-wavelength of the ALMA polarimetry is sufficiently short that the Faraday rotation is negligible and therefore that the observed E-vector directions are accurately orthogonal to the projected local magnetic field. Close to the nucleus the B-field vectors are perpendicular to the direction of propagation. Further out from the nucleus, the B-field vectors that are coincident with the jet instead become parallel to the ridge line; this occurs at a distance where the jet bolides are expected to expand into one another. X-ray variability has also been observed at this location; this has a natural explanation if shocks from the expanding and colliding bolides cause particle acceleration. In regions distinctly separate from the jet ridge line, the fractional polarisation approaches the theoretical maximum for synchrotron emission.Comment: To appear in ApJ Letter

Solvable Model of Spiral Wave Chimeras

Spiral waves are ubiquitous in two-dimensional systems of chemical or biological oscillators coupled locally by diffusion. At the center of such spirals is a phase singularity, a topological defect where the oscillator amplitude drops to zero. But if the coupling is nonlocal, a new kind of spiral can occur, with a circular core consisting of desynchronized oscillators running at full amplitude. Here we provide the first analytical description of such a spiral wave chimera, and use perturbation theory to calculate its rotation speed and the size of its incoherent core.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; added reference, figure, further numerical test

The cytochrome P450 family in the parasitic nematode <i>Haemonchus contortus</i>

&lt;i&gt;Haemonchus contortus&lt;/i&gt;, a highly pathogenic and economically important parasitic nematode of sheep, is particularly adept at developing resistance to the anthelmintic drugs used in its treatment and control. The basis of anthelmintic resistance is poorly understood for many commonly used drugs with most research being focused on mechanisms involving drug targets or drug efflux. Altered or increased drug metabolism is a possible mechanism that has yet to receive much attention despite the clear role of xenobiotic metabolism in pesticide resistance in insects. The cytochrome P450s (CYPs) are a large family of drug-metabolising enzymes present in almost all living organisms, but for many years thought to be absent from parasitic nematodes. In this paper, we describe the CYP sequences encoded in the &lt;i&gt;H. Contortus&lt;/i&gt; genome and compare their expression in different parasite life-stages, sexes and tissues. We developed a novel real-time PCR approach based on partially assembled CYP sequences “tags” and confirmed findings in the subsequent draft genome with RNA-seq. Constitutive expression was highest in larval stages for the majority of CYPs, although higher expression was detected in the adult male or female for a small subset of genes. Many CYPs were expressed in the worm intestine. A number of &lt;i&gt;H. Contortus&lt;/i&gt; genes share high identity with &lt;i&gt;Caenorhabditis elegans&lt;/i&gt; CYPs and the similarity in their expression profiles supports their classification as putative orthologues. Notably, &lt;i&gt;H. Contortus&lt;/i&gt; appears to lack the dramatic CYP subfamily expansions seen in &lt;i&gt;C. elegans&lt;/i&gt; and other species, which are typical of CYPs with exogenous roles. However, a small group of &lt;i&gt;H. Contortus&lt;/i&gt; genes cluster with the &lt;i&gt;C. elegans&lt;/i&gt; CYP34 and CYP35 subfamilies and may represent candidate xenobiotic metabolising genes in the parasite

Caenorhabditis elegans as a model for nematode metabolism of the anthelmintic drugs ivermectin and albendazole

Resistance to anthelmintics used to treat parasitic nematodes of veterinary importance represents a serious welfare and economic problem for the livestock production industry. Research into the mechanisms by which parasites develop resistance is necessary to prolong the life of the available drugs and to minimise development of resistance to new classes. Metabolism of anthelmintic compounds by parasites is a possible mechanism of resistance that has received little research, despite there being precedence in the case of insecticide resistance. Due to the more advanced molecular tools available and comparative ease of manipulation; we have used the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate the metabolism of two important anthelmintic drugs, ivermectin and albendazole. Whole genome microarrays and RT-QPCR were used to identify clusters of genes, which are significantly up-regulated upon exposure of C. elegans to anthelmintic. The transcriptomic response to albendazole is characterised by genes potentially involved in xenobiotic metabolism. These include members of the cytochrome P450 family and the UDP-glucuronosyl/ glucosyl transferase family. In contrast, the response to ivermectin appears to represent a fasting response caused by the phenotype of drug exposed nematodes. Recombinant worms carrying GFP reporter constructs of several genes of interest demonstrated their expression in the intestine, which is thought to be the main site of xenobiotic detoxification in nematodes. HPLC-MS techniques have definitively shown that C. elegans is able to metabolise albendazole to two glucose conjugates. These metabolites are compatible with the transcriptomic response to the drug and are similar to albendazole metabolites produced by the parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus. No ivermectin metabolites were identified in the current study. The data presented confirms the ability of the nematode C. elegans to respond to and metabolise anthelmintic compounds. In addition, the study validates the use of C. elegans as a model organism for parasitic nematodes and provides a platform upon which to investigate nematode metabolism further

The influence of Pope Innocent III on spiritual and clerical renewal in the Catholic Church during thirteenth century South Western Europe

The struggle between church and state continued during the thirteenth century. The crusades continued in the East with the advance of Islam. Crusades were also called for to put an end to heresies, in particular the Albigensian heresy. Unfortunately the established orders, such as the Cistercians, failed to combat heresy and to solve the problems of corruption in the Church. Scholastic theology developed with the establishment of the universities. These events influenced the thirteenth century. During the thirteenth century spiritual renewal began with Pope Innocent III. Councils like the Fourth Lateran Council defined church teaching and addressed corruption of the clergy. However, one of the most important sources of spiritual renewal came from the mendicant orders who had been given permission by Pope Innocent III to operate in the Church. These orders contributed immensely to education in the universities and through the Catholic laity culture advanced.Die stryd tussen kerk en staat het voortgegaan gedurende die dertiende eeu. Die kruistogte het voortgeduur in die Ooste met die aanruk van Islam. Kruistogte was ook aangeroep om sodoende ‘n einde te maak aan kettery, veral Albiganiese kettery. Ongelukkig die ontwikkelde heerskappye, soos die Cisteriaanse orde, het nie daarin geslaag om probleme soos kettery en korrupsie in die kerk op te los. Skolastiese teologie het ontwikkel met die vestiging van die universiteite. Hierdie gebeure het ‘n kardinale impak gehad op die dertiende eeu. Gedurende die periode, het geestelik hernuwing begin met Pous Innocent III. Owerhede soos die Vierde Laterniese Owerheid het godsdiens onderrig, gedefinieer en korrupsie aangespreek. Tog, was een van die belangrikste bronne van geestelike hernuwing, die Bedelmonnik Orde, wat toestemming van Pous Innocent III gekry het om in die kerk te handel. Hierdie orde het bygedra tot onderig in universiteite en deur Katoliek leke het kultuur voortgespruit.Christian Spirituality, Church History and MissiologyM. Th. (Church History

The influence of increased passive stiffness of the trunk and hips on balance control during reactive stepping

The final publication is available at Elsevier via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2019.05.018. © 2019. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Background Age-related changes, which include increased trunk and hip stiffness, negatively influence postural balance. While previous studies suggest no net-effect of trunk and hip stiffness on initial trip-recovery responses, no study to date has examined potential effects during the dynamic restabilisation phase following foot contact. Research question Does increased trunk and hip stiffness, in isolation from other ageing effects, negatively influence balance during the restabilisation phase of reactive stepping. Methods Balance perturbations were applied using a tether-release paradigm, which required participants to react with a single-forward step. Sixteen young adults completed two blocks of testing: a baseline and an increased stiffness (corset) condition. Whole-body kinematics were utilized to estimate spatial step parameters, center of mass (COM), COM incongruity (peak - final position) and time to restabilisation, in anteroposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) directions. Results In the corset condition, peak COM displacement was increased in both directions (p  0.233). Increased passive stiffness also increased the magnitude and variability of peak shear ground reaction force, COM incongruity, and time to restabilisation in the ML (but not AP) direction (p < 0.027). Significance In contrast to previous literature, increased stiffness resulted in greater peak COM displacement in both directions. Our results suggest increased trunk and hip stiffness have detrimental effects on dynamic stability following a reactive step, particularly in the ML direction. Observed increases in magnitude and variability of COM incongruity suggest the likelihood of a sufficiently large loss of ML stability - requiring additional steps - was increased by stiffening of the hips and trunk. The current findings suggest interventions aiming to mobilize the trunk and hips, in conjunction with strengthening, could improve balance and reduce the risk of falls.This research was funded in part by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (RGPIN-2015-03636), the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (Grant #25351) and the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation (Grant #25351 and ER14-10-236)

Intergalactic Magnetic Fields from Quasar Outflows

Outflows from quasars inevitably pollute the intergalactic medium (IGM) with magnetic fields. The short-lived activity of a quasar leaves behind an expanding magnetized bubble in the IGM. We model the expansion of the remnant quasar bubbles and calculate their distribution as a function of size and magnetic field strength at different redshifts. We generically find that by a redshift z=3, about 5-20% of the IGM volume is filled by magnetic fields with an energy density >10% of the mean thermal energy density of a photo-ionized IGM (at T=10^4 K). As massive galaxies and X-ray clusters condense out of the magnetized IGM, the adiabatic compression of the magnetic field could result in the field strength observed in these systems without a need for further dynamo amplification. The intergalactic magnetic field could also provide a nonthermal contribution to the pressure of the photo-ionized gas that may account for the claimed discrepancy between the simulated and observed Doppler width distributions of the Ly-alpha forest.Comment: 40 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Ap

The transcriptional response of Caenorhabditis elegans to ivermectin exposure identifies novel genes involved in the response to reduced food intake

We have examined the transcriptional response of Caenorhabditis elegans following exposure to the anthelmintic drug ivermectin (IVM) using whole genome microarrays and real-time QPCR. Our original aim was to identify candidate molecules involved in IVM metabolism and/or excretion. For this reason the IVM tolerant strain, DA1316, was used to minimise transcriptomic changes related to the phenotype of drug exposure. However, unlike equivalent work with benzimidazole drugs, very few of the induced genes were members of xenobiotic metabolising enzyme families. Instead, the transcriptional response was dominated by genes associated with fat mobilization and fatty acid metabolism including catalase, esterase, and fatty acid CoA synthetase genes. This is consistent with the reduction in pharyngeal pumping, and consequential reduction in food intake, upon exposure of DA1316 worms to IVM. Genes with the highest fold change in response to IVM exposure, cyp-37B1, mtl-1 and scl-2, were comparably up-regulated in response to short–term food withdrawal (4 hr) independent of IVM exposure, and GFP reporter constructs confirm their expression in tissues associated with fat storage (intestine and hypodermis). These experiments have serendipitously identified novel genes involved in an early response of C. elegans to reduced food intake and may provide insight into similar processes in higher organisms

Annotation of two large contiguous regions from the Haemonchus contortus genome using RNA-seq and comparative analysis with Caenorhabditis elegans

The genomes of numerous parasitic nematodes are currently being sequenced, but their complexity and size, together with high levels of intra-specific sequence variation and a lack of reference genomes, makes their assembly and annotation a challenging task. Haemonchus contortus is an economically significant parasite of livestock that is widely used for basic research as well as for vaccine development and drug discovery. It is one of many medically and economically important parasites within the strongylid nematode group. This group of parasites has the closest phylogenetic relationship with the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, making comparative analysis a potentially powerful tool for genome annotation and functional studies. To investigate this hypothesis, we sequenced two contiguous fragments from the H. contortus genome and undertook detailed annotation and comparative analysis with C. elegans. The adult H. contortus transcriptome was sequenced using an Illumina platform and RNA-seq was used to annotate a 409 kb overlapping BAC tiling path relating to the X chromosome and a 181 kb BAC insert relating to chromosome I. In total, 40 genes and 12 putative transposable elements were identified. 97.5% of the annotated genes had detectable homologues in C. elegans of which 60% had putative orthologues, significantly higher than previous analyses based on EST analysis. Gene density appears to be less in H. contortus than in C. elegans, with annotated H. contortus genes being an average of two-to-three times larger than their putative C. elegans orthologues due to a greater intron number and size. Synteny appears high but gene order is generally poorly conserved, although areas of conserved microsynteny are apparent. C. elegans operons appear to be partially conserved in H. contortus. Our findings suggest that a combination of RNA-seq and comparative analysis with C. elegans is a powerful approach for the annotation and analysis of strongylid nematode genomes