Caenorhabditis monodelphis sp. n.: defining 1 the stem morphology 2 and genomics of the genus Caenorhabditis

Background: The genus Caenorhabditis has been central to our understanding of metazoan biology. The best-known species, Caenorhabditis elegans, is but one member of a genus with around 50 known species, and knowledge of these species will place the singular example of C. elegans in a rich phylogenetic context. How did the model come to be as it is today, and what are the dynamics of change in the genus? Results: As part of this effort to “put C. elegans in its place”, we here describe the morphology and genome of Caenorhabditis monodelphis sp. n., previously known as Caenorhabditis sp. 1. Like many other Caenorhabditis, C. monodelphis sp. n. has a phoretic association with a transport host, in this case with the fungivorous beetle Cis castaneus. Using genomic data, we place C. monodelphis sp. n. as sister to all other Caenorhabditis for which genome data are available. Using this genome phylogeny, we reconstruct the stemspecies morphological pattern of Caenorhabditis. Conclusions: With the morphological and genomic description of C. monodelphis sp. n., another key species for evolutionary and developmental studies within Caenorhabditis becomes available. The most important characters are its early diverging position, unique morphology for the genus and its similarities with the hypothetical ancestor of Caenorhabditis

Modeling and characterization of PCB coils for inductive wireless charging

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Wireless charging is emerging as a viable technology in many industries, including consumer, medical, and sensor electronics. An investigation of design principles is conducted for a wireless charging platform that is designed to charge devices of different sizes and technologies, using only through vias. It is shown that at a 5 mm separation distance, a coupling coefficient can be achieved which varies from 0.12 to 0.37 when staggered hexagonal transmitter coils (approximately 5 cm across) are used with an unstaggered square receiver coil, which declines to 0.06–0.11 at 2 cm separation. Without design measures, the coupling coefficient will approach zero at certain positions. The quality factors of the coils can be improved by stacking the coils in parallel, enabling the use of only through-vias, while the inductance can be controlled horizontally by increasing the number of turns in the inductor

tert-Butyl N-benzyl-N-[4-(4-fluoro­benzoyl­meth­yl)-2-pyrid­yl]carbamate

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C25H25FN2O3, the pyridine ring makes dihedral angles of 75.1 (3), 39.4 (3) and 74.6 (3)° with the phenyl ring, the carbamate plane and the 4-fluoro­phenyl ring, respectively. The phenyl ring makes dihedral angles of 77.2 (3) and 23.6 (3)° with the carbamate plane and the 4-fluoro­phenyl ring, respectively. The 4-fluoro­phenyl ring is perpendicular to the carbamate plane, the dihedral angle between them being 89.5 (3)°

CAPS facilitates filling of the rapidly releasable pool of large dense-core vesicles

Calcium-activator protein for secretion (CAPS) is a cytosolic protein that associates with large dense-core vesicles and is involved in their secretion. Mammals express two CAPS isoforms, which share a similar domain structure including a Munc13 homology domain that is believed to be involved in the priming of secretory vesicles. A variety of studies designed to perturb CAPS function indicate that CAPS is involved in the secretion of large dense-core vesicles, but where in the secretory pathway CAPS acts is still under debate. Mice in which one allele of the CAPS-1 gene is deleted exhibit a deficit in catecholamine secretion from chromaffin cells. We have examined catecholamine secretion from chromaffin cells in which both CAPS genes were deleted and show that the deletion of both CAPS isoforms causes a strong reduction in the pool of rapidly releasable chromaffin granules and of sustained release during ongoing stimulation. We conclude that CAPS is required for the adequate refilling and/or maintenance of a rapidly releasable granule pool

Haemoptysis as the first presentation of COVID-19 : a case report

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is an ongoing pandemic that profoundly challenges healthcare systems all over the world. Fever, cough and fatigue are the most commonly reported clinical symptoms. Case presentation A 58-year-old man presented at the emergency department with acute onset haemoptysis. On the fifth day after admission, he developed massive haemoptysis. Computed tomography (CT) angiography of the chest revealed alveolar haemorrhage, more prominent in the left lung. Flexible bronchoscopy confirmed bleeding from the left upper lobe, confirmed by a bronchial arteriography, which was successfully embolized. Nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) tested for SARS-CoV-2 using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) repeatedly returned negative. Surprisingly, SARS-CoV-2 was eventually detected in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. Conclusions Life-threatening haemoptysis is an unusual presentation of COVID-19, reflecting alveolar bleeding as a rare but possible complication. This case emphasises the added value of bronchoscopy with BAL in the diagnostic work-up in case of high clinical suspicion and negative serial NPS in patients presenting with severe symptoms

Functional traits influence patterns in vegetative and reproductive plant phenology – a multi-botanical garden study

1. Phenology has emerged as key indicator of the biological impacts of climate change, yet the role of functional traits constraining variation in herbaceous species’ phenology has received little attention. Botanical gardens are ideal places in which to investigate large numbers of species growing under common climate conditions. We ask whether interspecific variation in plant phenology is influenced by differences in functional traits. 2. We recorded onset, end, duration and intensity of initial growth, leafing out, leaf senescence, flowering and fruiting for 212 species across five botanical gardens in Germany. We measured functional traits, including plant height, absolute and specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf carbon and nitrogen content and seed mass and accounted for species’ relatedness. 3. Closely related species showed greater similarities in timing of phenological events than expected by chance, but species' traits had a high degree of explanatory power, pointing to paramount importance of species’ life-history strategies. Taller plants showed later timing of initial growth, and flowered, fruited and underwent leaf senescence later. Large-leaved species had shorter flowering and fruiting durations. 4. Taller, large-leaved species differ in their phenology and are more competitive than smaller, small-leaved species. We assume climate warming will change plant communities’ competitive hierarchies with consequences for biodiversity

Spatial variability in herbaceous plant phenology is mostly explained by variability in temperature but also by photoperiod and functional traits

Whereas temporal variability of plant phenology in response to climate change has already been well studied, the spatial variability of phenology is not well understood. Given that phenological shifts may affect biotic interactions, there is a need to investigate how the variability in environmental factors relates to the spatial variability in herbaceous species’ phenology by at the same time considering their functional traits to predict their general and species-specific responses to future climate change. In this project, we analysed phenology records of 148 herbaceous species, which were observed for a single year by the PhenObs network in 15 botanical gardens. For each species, we characterised the spatial variability in six different phenological stages across gardens. We used boosted regression trees to link these variabilities in phenology to the variability in environmental parameters (temperature, latitude and local habitat conditions) as well as species traits (seed mass, vegetative height, specific leaf area and temporal niche) hypothesised to be related to phenology variability. We found that spatial variability in the phenology of herbaceous species was mainly driven by the variability in temperature but also photoperiod was an important driving factor for some phenological stages. In addition, we found that early-flowering and less competitive species characterised by small specific leaf area and vegetative height were more variable in their phenology. Our findings contribute to the field of phenology by showing that besides temperature, photoperiod and functional traits are important to be included when spatial variability of herbaceous species is investigated

The PhenObs initiative: A standardised protocol for monitoring phenological responses to climate change using herbaceous plant species in botanical gardens

Changes in phenology induced by climate change occur across the globe with important implications for ecosystem functioning and services, species performance and trophic interactions. Much of the work on phenology, especially leaf out and flowering, has been conducted on woody plant species. Less is known about the responses in phenology of herbaceous species induced by global change even though they represent a large and important part of biodiversity worldwide. A globally coordinated research effort is needed to understand the drivers and implications of such changes and to predict effects of global change on plant species phenology and related ecosystem processes. Here, we present the rationale of the PhenObs initiative-botanical gardens as a global phenological observation network. The initiative aims to collect data on plant phenology in botanical gardens which will be used alongside information on plant traits and site conditions to answer questions related to the consequences of global change: What is the variation in plant phenology in herbaceous species across the growing season and in response to changes in climate? How can plant phenology be predicted from species' trait composition, provenance, position and extent of the distribution range and species' phylogeny? What are the implications of this variation with respect to species performance and assembly, biotic interactions (e.g. plant-pollinator interactions) as well as ecosystem processes and services under changing land use and climate? Here, we lay out the development of a straightforward protocol that is appropriate for monitoring phenology across a vast diversity of growth forms of herbaceous species from various habitats and geographical regions. To focus on a key number of stages necessary to capture all aspects of plant species phenology, we analysed associations between 14 phenological stages. These data were derived from a 2-year study on 199 species in four German botanical gardens. Based on the relationships of the phenological stages, we propose to monitor three vegetative stages ('initial growth', 'leaves unfolding' and 'senescence') and two reproductive stages ('flowers open' and 'ripe fruits') to fully capture herbaceous species phenology. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article

Two distinct secretory vesicle–priming steps in adrenal chromaffin cells

The calcium-dependent activator proteins for secretion, CAPS1 and CAPS2, facilitate syntaxin opening during synaptic vesicle priming