314 research outputs found
The Warty Dory, Allocyttus verrucosus, New to the Fish Fauna of Canada
In April 2010, a Warty Dory, Allocyttus verrucosus (Gilchrist, 1906), was captured during commercial fishing activities in the Labrador Sea. This is the first record for Canada and the northwest Atlantic Ocean
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The Polycomb protein, Bmi1, regulates insulin sensitivity
Objective: The Polycomb Repressive Complexes (PRC) 1 and 2 function to epigenetically repress target genes. The PRC1 component, Bmi1, plays a crucial role in maintenance of glucose homeostasis and beta cell mass through repression of the Ink4a/Arf locus. Here we have explored the role of Bmi1 in regulating glucose homeostasis in the adult animal, which had not been previously reported due to poor postnatal survival of Bmi1−/− mice. Methods: The metabolic phenotype of Bmi1+/− mice was characterized, both in vivo and ex vivo. Glucose and insulin tolerance tests and hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps were performed. The insulin signaling pathway was assessed at the protein and transcript level. Results: Here we report a negative correlation between Bmi1 levels and insulin sensitivity in two models of insulin resistance, aging and liver-specific insulin receptor deficiency. Further, heterozygous loss of Bmi1 results in increased insulin sensitivity in adult mice, with no impact on body weight or composition. Hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp reveals increased suppression of hepatic glucose production and increased glucose disposal rate, indicating elevated glucose uptake to peripheral tissues, in Bmi1+/− mice. Enhancement of insulin signaling, specifically an increase in Akt phosphorylation, in liver and, to a lesser extent, in muscle appears to contribute to this phenotype. Conclusions: Together, these data define a new role for Bmi1 in regulating insulin sensitivity via enhancement of Akt phosphorylation
Testing of a Wireless Sensor System for Instrumented Thermal Protection Systems
Funded by NASA's Constellation Universities Institutes Project (CUIP), we have been developing and testing a system to wirelessly power and collect data from sensors on space platforms in general and, in particular, the harsh environment of spacecraft re-entry. The elimination of wires and associated failures such as chafing, sparking, ageing, and connector issues can increase reliability and design flexibility while reducing costs. These factors present an appealing case for the pursuit of wireless solutions for harsh environments, particularly for their use in space and on spacecraft. We have designed and built a prototype wireless sensor system. The system, with capabilities similar to that of a wired sensor system, was tested in NASA Ames Research Center s Aerodynamic Heating Facility and Interaction Heating Facility. This paper discusses the overall development effort, testing results, as well as future directions
The effect of dietary interventions or patterns on the cardiometabolic health of individuals treated with androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer: A systematic review
Prostate cancer survivors treated with androgen deprivation therapy may be at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Dietary recommendations for the prevention and/or management of cardiovascular disease for these individuals are lacking. This review synthesizes the evidence on the effect of dietary interventions on cardiometabolic biomarkers and cardiovascular disease risk in prostate cancer survivors receiving androgen deprivation therapy. A systematic review was conducted across PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, and Cochrane CENTRAL. Intervention or observational cohort studies evaluating diets, nutrients, or nutraceuticals with or without concurrent exercise interventions on cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular events, or cardiovascular disease biomarkers in those treated with androgen deprivation therapy were included. Confidence in the body of evidence was appraised using Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations. Twelve studies reported across fifteen papers were included. Interventions were heterogenous, with most studies including an exercise co-intervention (n = 8). Few significant findings for the effects of diet on cardiometabolic markers were likely due to weak methodology and sample sizes. Strongest evidence was for the effect of a healthy Western dietary pattern with exercise on improved blood pressure (Confidence: moderate). The healthy Western dietary pattern with exercise may improve high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (Confidence: Low) and flow-mediated dilation. Soy may improve total cholesterol (Confidence: Very low). A low-carbohydrate diet with physical activity may improve high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, incidence of metabolic syndrome, and Framingham cardiovascular disease risk score. Evidence of the effect of dietary interventions on cardiometabolic biomarkers and cardiovascular disease risk of prostate cancer survivors receiving androgen deprivation therapy is insufficient to inform practice. Well-designed dietary interventions aimed at improving cardiometabolic outcomes of this population are warranted to inform future dietary recommendations
A line confusion limited millimeter survey of Orion KL (I): sulfur carbon chains
We perform a sensitive (line confusion limited), single-side band spectral
survey towards Orion KL with the IRAM 30m telescope, covering the following
frequency ranges: 80-115.5 GHz, 130-178 GHz, and 197-281 GHz. We detect more
than 14 400 spectral features of which 10 040 have been identified up to date
and attributed to 43 different molecules, including 148 isotopologues and lines
from vibrationally excited states. In this paper, we focus on the study of OCS,
HCS+, H2CS, CS, CCS, C3S, and their isotopologues. In addition, we map the OCS
J=18-17 line and complete complementary observations of several OCS lines at
selected positions around Orion IRc2 (the position selected for the survey). We
report the first detection of OCS v2 = 1 and v3 = 1 vibrationally excited
states in space and the first detection of C3S in warm clouds. Most of CCS, and
almost all C3S, line emission arises from the hot core indicating an
enhancement of their abundances in warm and dense gas. Column densities and
isotopic ratios have been calculated using a large velocity gradient (LVG)
excitation and radiative transfer code (for the low density gas components) and
a local thermal equilibrium (LTE) code (appropriate for the warm and dense hot
core component), which takes into account the different cloud components known
to exist towards Orion KL, the extended ridge, compact ridge, plateau, and hot
core. The vibrational temperature derived from OCS v2 = 1 and v3 = 1 levels is
about 210 K, similar to the gas kinetic temperature in the hot core. These OCS
high energy levels are probably pumped by absorption of IR dust photons. We
derive an upper limit to the OC3S, H2CCS, HNCS, HOCS+, and NCS column
densities. Finally, we discuss the D/H abundance ratio and infer the following
isotopic abundances: 12C/13C=45+-20, 32S/34S=20+-6, 32S/33S=75+-29, and
16O/18O=250+-135.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Lyapunov spectral analysis of a nonequilibrium Ising-like transition
By simulating a nonequilibrium coupled map lattice that undergoes an
Ising-like phase transition, we show that the Lyapunov spectrum and related
dynamical quantities such as the dimension correlation length~ are
insensitive to the onset of long-range ferromagnetic order. As a function of
lattice coupling constant~ and for certain lattice maps, the Lyapunov
dimension density and other dynamical order parameters go through a minimum.
The occurrence of this minimum as a function of~ depends on the number of
nearest neighbors of a lattice point but not on the lattice symmetry, on the
lattice dimensionality or on the position of the Ising-like transition. In
one-space dimension, the spatial correlation length associated with magnitude
fluctuations and the length~ are approximately equal, with both
varying linearly with the radius of the lattice coupling.Comment: 29 pages of text plus 15 figures, uses REVTeX macros. Submitted to
Phys. Rev. E
Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) hemocytes and hepatopancreas transcriptomes: identification, validation, and application of immune-relevant biomarkers of exposure to noise
The snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) fishery off the east coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, has been impacted by annual seismic oil and gas surveying in recent decades, and commercial crab harvesters are concerned that it could potentially affect this resource. A laboratory study was performed to investigate the effects of chronic noise exposure on the transcriptomes of snow crab hemocytes and hepatopancreas, which are important in immunity, metabolism and response to environmental stress. Snow crab were held in replicate control or experimental tanks; on alternating days, the experimental tanks were exposed to noise from an underwater speaker which played a recording of a seismic airgun firing every 10 sec in a continuous loop for ~ 22 weeks (chronic noise). RNA sequencing was used to identify candidate noise-responsive molecular biomarkers in both hemocytes and hepatopancreas. The quantified transcripts of individuals (i.e. n=10 from each of the four groups) were compared using DESeq2, identifying over 300 noise-responsive transcripts in each cell/tissue type. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays were designed and run for 61 of these transcripts with significant BLASTx hits. One transcript (rgs2) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher expressed in both hemocytes and hepatopancreas in response to noise; five and seven other transcripts were either significant or showed a non-significant trend of differential expression (0.05 < p ≤ 0.1) in hemocytes (e.g. cfb upregulated, sacs and myof downregulated) and hepatopancreas (e.g. gpx3 and atf3 upregulated, sult1c4 downregulated), respectively. To further investigate the performance and utility of these candidate biomarkers in the field, expression levels of 25 selected transcripts were then examined in the hepatopancreas of snow crab that had been subjected to 2D and 3D seismic surveying using both qPCR and multivariate statistical analyses. Overall, few of these biomarkers showed consistent results in field-collected snow crab, highlighting the need to combine lab and field-based studies to fully evaluate the utility of biomarkers. Nonetheless, our study still identified noise-responsive biomarkers in both settings (including stress and immune relevant genes), providing valuable information for understanding the impact of ocean noise on snow crab physiology and health
A migration-associated supergene reveals loss of biocomplexity in Atlantic cod
Chromosome structural variation may underpin ecologically important intraspecific diversity by reducing recombination within supergenes containing linked, coadapted alleles. Here, we confirm that an ancient chromosomal rearrangement is strongly associated with migratory phenotype and individual genetic structure in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) across the Northwest Atlantic. We reconstruct trends in effective population size over the last century and reveal declines in effective population size matching onset of industrialized harvest (after 1950). We find different demographic trajectories between individuals homozygous for the chromosomal rearrangement relative to heterozygous or homozygous individuals for the noninverted haplotype, suggesting different selective histories across the past 150 years. These results illustrate how chromosomal structural diversity can mediate fine-scale genetic, phenotypic, and demographic variation in a highly connected marine species and show how overfishing may have led to loss of biocomplexity within Northern cod stock.Peer reviewe
Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Conceptual Design Report Volume 2: The Physics Program for DUNE at LBNF
The Physics Program for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) at
the Fermilab Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) is described
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