Anomalous radon emanation linked to preseismic electromagnetic phenomena

International audienceAnomalous emanation of radon (222Rn) was observed preceding large earthquakes and is considered to be linked to preseismic electromagnetic phenomena (e.g. great changes of atmospheric electric field and ionospheric disturbances). Here we analyze atmospheric radon concentration and estimate changes of electrical conditions in atmosphere due to preseismic radon anomaly. The increase of radon emanation obeys crustal damage evolution, following a power-law of time-to-earthquake. Moreover, the radon emanation decreases the atmospheric electric field by 40%, besides influencing the maximum strength of atmospheric electric field by 104?105 V/m enough to trigger ionospheric disturbances. These changes are within the ranges observed or explaining electromagnetic phenomena associated with large earthquakes

A method for evaluating upper bound of simultaneous switching gates using circuit partition

Abstract: This paper presents a method for evaluating an upper bound of simultaneous switching gates in combinational circuits. In this method, the original circuit is partitioned into subcircuits, and the upper bound is approximately computed as the sum of maximum switching gates for all subcircuits. In order to increase the accuracy, we adopted an evaluation function that takes account of both the interconnections among subcircuits and the number of generated subcircuits. Experimental results for ISCAS circuits show that the method efficiently evaluates the upper bounds of switching gates. 1

Empowerment of Smallholder Women Farmers through Self-Help Groups in South-West India

Though women act as the backbone of world agricultural workforce most of them are economically backward. But, self help group (SHG) movement made some tangible changes in empowering rural women in India. The study was carried out among 120 SHG women farmers and 60 non-SHG women farmers of south west India to analyze the impact of SHGs in empowering rural farm women. Results showed most of SHG women farmers as highly empowered and their economic empowerment found to be prominent compared to control group. However, empowerment score of non-SHG women farmers showed strong correlation with some social and technological indicators. Major factors that favoured sustainable high performance of SHGs were; heterogeneity of the group, proximity of the women’s households, income generation and extension contact. The study confirmed that acquisition of some autonomy by women in social participation and economic decision-making have contributed to overcome many constraints that hamper their overall empowerment

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

BNIP3 and NIX Mediate Mieap-Induced Accumulation of Lysosomal Proteins within Mitochondria

Mieap, a p53-inducible protein, controls mitochondrial quality by repairing unhealthy mitochondria. During repair, Mieap induces the accumulation of intramitochondrial lysosomal proteins (designated MALM for Mieap-induced accumulation of lysosome-like organelles within mitochondria) by interacting with NIX, leading to the elimination of oxidized mitochondrial proteins. Here, we report that an additional mitochondrial outer membrane protein, BNIP3, is also involved in MALM. BNIP3 interacts with Mieap in a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent manner via the BH3 domain of BNIP3 and the coiled-coil domains of Mieap. The knockdown of endogenous BNIP3 expression severely inhibited MALM. Although the overexpression of either BNIP3 or NIX did not cause a remarkable change in the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), the co-expression of all three exogenous proteins, Mieap, BNIP3 and NIX, caused a dramatic reduction in MMP, implying that the physical interaction of Mieap, BNIP3 and NIX at the mitochondrial outer membrane may regulate the opening of a pore in the mitochondrial double membrane. This effect was not related to cell death. These results suggest that two mitochondrial outer membrane proteins, BNIP3 and NIX, mediate MALM in order to maintain mitochondrial integrity. The physical interaction of Mieap, BNIP3 and NIX at the mitochondrial outer membrane may play a critical role in the translocation of lysosomal proteins from the cytoplasm to the mitochondrial matrix

Hypersensitive Response-Like Reaction Is Associated with Hybrid Necrosis in Interspecific Crosses between Tetraploid Wheat and Aegilops tauschii Coss

BACKGROUND: Hybrid speciation is classified into homoploid and polyploid based on ploidy level. Common wheat is an allohexaploid species that originated from a naturally occurring interploidy cross between tetraploid wheat and diploid wild wheat Aegilops tauschii Coss. Aegilops tauschii provides wide naturally occurring genetic variation. Sometimes its triploid hybrids with tetraploid wheat show the following four types of hybrid growth abnormalities: types II and III hybrid necrosis, hybrid chlorosis, and severe growth abortion. The growth abnormalities in the triploid hybrids could act as postzygotic hybridization barriers to prevent formation of hexaploid wheat. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we report on the geographical and phylogenetic distribution of Ae. tauschii accessions inducing the hybrid growth abnormalities and showed that they are widely distributed across growth habitats in Ae. tauschii. Molecular and cytological characterization of the type III necrosis phenotype was performed. The hybrid abnormality causing accessions were widely distributed across growth habitats in Ae. tauschii. Transcriptome analysis showed that a number of defense-related genes such as pathogenesis-related genes were highly up-regulated in the type III necrosis lines. Transmission electron microscope observation revealed that cell death occurred accompanied by generation of reactive oxygen species in leaves undergoing type III necrosis. The reduction of photosynthetic activity occurred prior to the appearance of necrotic symptoms on the leaves exhibiting hybrid necrosis. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Taking these results together strongly suggests that an autoimmune response might be triggered by intergenomic incompatibility between the tetraploid wheat and Ae. tauschii genomes in type III necrosis, and that genetically programmed cell death could be regarded as a hypersensitive response-like cell death similar to that observed in Arabidopsis intraspecific and Nicotiana interspecific hybrids. Only Ae. tauschii accessions without such inhibiting factors could be candidates for the D-genome donor for the present hexaploid wheat