Caveolae are plasma membrane invaginations that may play an important role in numerous cellular processes including transport, signaling, and tumor suppression. By targeted disruption of caveolin-1, ...the main protein component of caveolae, we generated mice that lacked caveolae. The absence of this organelle impaired nitric oxide and calcium signaling in the cardiovascular system, causing aberrations in endothelium-dependent relaxation, contractility, and maintenance of myogenic tone. In addition, the lungs of knockout animals displayed thickening of alveolar septa caused by uncontrolled endothelial cell proliferation and fibrosis, resulting in severe physical limitations in caveolin-1-disrupted mice. Thus, caveolin-1 and caveolae play a fundamental role in organizing multiple signaling pathways in the cell.
The main arterial supply of the facial skin envelope is the facial artery which serves as the main pedicle for a number of facial flaps, including a facial transplant graft. This study explored the ...course of the facial artery and vein, branching patterns, terminations, and anomalous variants. Cadaveric dissections of 201 facial arteries and 198 facial veins were performed. All branches originated from a single facial arterial trunk in 86% of specimens and branching patterns were symmetrical in 53%. The facial artery predominantly terminated as a lateral nasal artery (49%). In 5 cases, the facial artery was undetectable with transverse facial arterial dominance (1 case bilateral). The facial vein was predictable in position except for 2 instances, being replaced by a transverse facial vein (unilateral). Facial arterial dominance in facial blood supply is common but unpredictable. Careful vascular workup prior to facial transplantation and unipedicled flap procedures is therefore essential.
Background
Decades after their first commercial release, many theoretical assumptions are still taken for granted in the deployment of genetically modified (GM) crops. Theoretically, in the case of ...maize, active transcription of the
cry1Ab
transgene would result in dose-dependent production of the insecticidal Cry1Ab protein, which would in turn induce dose-dependent mortality on lepidopteran pests. We produced data to realistically approach this question by using a model that includes two genetic background contexts from two geographical provenances in Brazil and South Africa, and two lepidopteran pests (
Helicoverpa armigera
and
Spodoptera littoralis
). However, in this study, the effect of insect herbivory was superimposed to investigate possible stress-induced effects in transgene expression at three levels: mRNA, protein and bioactivity.
Results
Overall, we found that herbivore damage by
H. armigera
was reflected only at the translational level, with a higher level of Cry1Ab protein measured in the Brazilian crosses under herbivore stress. On the other hand, compared to non-stress growing conditions, the herbivore damage by
S. littoralis
was not directly reflected in mRNA, protein or bioactivity in the South African crosses.
Conclusions
The differences between South African and Brazilian genetic backgrounds, and between the stressor effect of the two herbivores used, highlight the complexity of transgene expression at the agroecological level.
The steady‐state solution of filamentary memristive switching may be derived directly from the heat equation, modelling vertical and radial heat flow. This solution is shown to provide a continuous ...and accurate description of the evolution of the filament radius, composition, heat flow, and temperature during switching, and is shown to apply to a large range of switching materials and experimental time‐scales.
A novel weed has recently emerged, causing serious agronomic damage in one of the most important maize-growing regions of Western Europe, the Northern Provinces of Spain. The weed has morphological ...similarities to a wild relative of maize and has generally been referred to as teosinte. However, the identity, origin or genetic composition of 'Spanish teosinte' was unknown. Here, we present a genome-wide analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data for Spanish teosinte, sympatric populations of cultivated maize and samples of reference teosinte taxa. Our data are complemented with previously published SNP datasets of cultivated maize and two Mexican teosinte subspecies. Our analyses reveal that Spanish teosinte does not group with any of the currently recognized teosinte taxa. Based on Bayesian clustering analysis and hybridization simulations, we infer that Spanish teosinte is of admixed origin, most likely involving Zea mays ssp. mexicana as one parental taxon, and an unidentified cultivated maize variety as the other. Analyses of plants grown from seeds collected in Spanish maize fields and experimental crosses under controlled conditions reveal that hybridization does occur between Spanish teosinte and cultivated maize in Spain, and that current hybridization is asymmetric, favouring the introgression of Spanish teosinte into cultivated maize, rather than vice versa.
Banana (Musa acuminata) pseudostem cellulose was extracted and acetylated (CA) to prepare membranes with potential use as bio-packages. The CA membrane was embedded by Butia seed (CA-BS) or Butia ...pulp (CA-BP) extracts obtained from Butia catarinenses (Butia). The produced CA, CA-BS, and CA-BP membranes were evaluated for their physical-chemical, mechanical, thermal, and antibacterial properties. The process for obtaining the cellulose yielded a material with about 92.17% cellulose (DS = 2.85). The purity, cellulose degree acetylation, and the incorporation of Butia extracts into the membranes were confirmed by FTIR. The CA-BS and CA-BP membranes showed a smaller contact angle and higher swelling ratio than the CA membrane. Furthermore, Butia seed or pulp extracts reduced the elastic modulus and deformation at break compared to the CA membrane. The DSC analysis suggested the compatibility between sections and the CA matrix, whereas the TGA analysis confirmed the thermal stability of the membranes. Moreover, less than 1% of the Butia seed and pulp extracts were put into a food simulant media from the membrane. Finally, the CA-BS and CA-BP membranes could inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli on their surface, confirming the potential use of these membranes as bio-packaging for food preservation.
•Banana (Musa acuminata) pseudostem cellulose was extracted and acetylated efficiently for the production of membranes.•Hexene provides extracts of Butia catarinensis seed and pulp.•Membranes with extracts have thermally stable for food preservation.•Membranes were able to inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli on their surface.
Whereas the current practice of designing antennas by hand is severely limited because it is both time and labor intensive and requires a significant amount of domain knowledge, evolutionary ...algorithms can be used to search the design space and automatically find novel antenna designs that are more effective than would otherwise be developed. Here we present our work in using evolutionary algorithms to automatically design an X-band antenna for NASA's Space Technology 5 (ST5) spacecraft. Two evolutionary algorithms were used: the first uses a vector of real-valued parameters and the second uses a tree-structured generative representation for constructing the antenna. The highest-performance antennas from both algorithms were fabricated and tested and both outperformed a hand-designed antenna produced by the antenna contractor for the mission. Subsequent changes to the spacecraft orbit resulted in a change in requirements for the spacecraft antenna. By adjusting our fitness function we were able to rapidly evolve a new set of antennas for this mission in less than a month. One of these new antenna designs was built, tested, and approved for deployment on the three ST5 spacecraft, which were successfully launched into space on March 22, 2006. This evolved antenna design is the first computer-evolved antenna to be deployed for any application and is the first computer-evolved hardware in space.
Recent advancements in molecular genetics raise the possibility that therapeutics or a ‘cure’ for Down syndrome (DS) may become available. However, there are no data regarding how parents of children ...with DS perceive the possibility of mitigating specific manifestations such as the intellectual disability (ID) associated with DS, or curing the condition entirely. To explore these issues, we distributed a questionnaire to members of the Lower Mainland Down Syndrome Society in British Columbia, Canada. Questionnaires were completed by 101 parents (response rate = 41%). A majority (61%) viewed the possibility of reversing ID in DS positively, but only 41% said that they would ‘cure’ their child of DS if it were possible. Twenty‐seven percent of respondents said they would not ‘cure’ their child, and 32% were unsure if they would ‘cure’ their child. The most commonly cited motivation for opting for a ‘cure’ was to increase their child's independence. However, parental attitudes' towards a ‘cure’ for DS were complex, affected by ethical issues, perceived societal values, and pragmatic factors such as the age of the individual and long‐term care‐giving burden. These findings could be used by healthcare professionals supporting families who include a member with DS and to direct future research.
Whole genomic sequencing (WGS) promises significant personalized health benefits, and its increasingly low cost makes wide clinical use inevitable. However, a core challenge is "incidental findings" ...(IF). Using focus groups, we explored attitudes about the disclosure of IF in clinical settings from three perspectives: Genetics health-care professionals, the general public, and parents whose children have experienced genetic testing. Analysis was based on a framework approach. All three groups considered practical and ethical considerations. There was consensus that IF presented challenges for disclosure and a pre-test patient-clinician discussion was vital for clarification and agreement. The professionals favored targeted analysis to limit data handling and focus pre-test discussions on medical relevance. Their perspective highlighted ethical concepts of justice and beneficence. The lay groups' standpoint emphasized autonomy and patients' rights to choose what findings they receive, and that patients accept the consequences of any potential anxiety and uncertainty. The lay groups also felt that it was their responsibility to check genomic developments over time with their original test results and saw patient responsibility as an important part of patient choice.
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