A 42.3-43.6 GHz spectral survey of Orion BN/KL: First detection of the v=0 J=1-0 line from the isotopologues 29SiO and 30SiO

We have surveyed molecular line emission from Orion BN/KL from 42.3 to 43.6 GHz with the Green Bank Telescope. Sixty-seven lines were identified and ascribed to 13 different molecular species. The spectrum at 7 mm is dominated by SiO, SO2, CH3OCH3, and C2H5CN. Five transitions have been detected from the SiO isotopologues 28SiO, 29SiO, and 30SiO. We report here for the first time the spectra of the 29SiO and 30SiO v=0 J=1-0 emission in Orion BN/KL, and we show that they have double-peaked profiles with velocity extents similar to the main isotopologue. The main motivation for the survey was the search of high-velocity (100-1000 km/s) outflows in the BN/KL region as traced by SiO Doppler components. Some of the unidentified lines in principle could be high-velocity SiO features, but without imaging data their location cannot be established. Wings of emission are present in the v=0 28SiO, 29SiO and 30SiO profiles, and we suggest that the v=0 emission from the three isotopologues might trace a moderately high-velocity (~30-50 km/s) component of the flows around the high-mass protostar Source I in the Orion BN/KL region. We also confirm the 7 mm detection of a complex oxygen-bearing species, acetone (CH3COCH3), which has been recently observed towards the hot core at 3 mm, and we have found further indications of the presence of long cyanopolyynes (HC5N and HC7N) in the quiescent cold gas of the extended ridge.Comment: 27 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Ap

Eye tracking and visualization. Introduction to the Special Thematic Issue

There is a growing interest in eye tracking technologies applied to support traditional visualization techniques like diagrams, charts, maps, or plots, either static, animated, or interactive ones. More complex data analyses are required to derive knowledge and meaning from the data. Eye tracking systems serve that purpose in combination with biological and computer vision, cognition, perception, visualization,  human-computer-interaction, as well as usability and user experience research. The 10 articles collected in this thematic special issue provide interesting examples how sophisticated methods of data analysis and representation enable researchers to discover and describe fundamental spatio-temporal regularities in the data. The human visual system, supported by appropriate visualization tools, enables the human operator to solve complex tasks, like understanding and interpreting three-dimensional medical images, controlling air traffic by radar displays, supporting instrument flight tasks, or interacting with virtual realities. The development and application of new visualization techniques is of major importance for future technological progress

Using agent-based modelling to predict the role of wild refugia in the evolution of resistance of sea lice to chemotherapeutants

A major challenge for Atlantic salmon farming in the northern hemisphere is infestation by the sea louse parasite Lepeophtheirus salmonis. The most frequent method of controlling these sea louse infestations is through the use of chemical treatments. However, most major salmon farming areas have observed resistance to common chemotherapeutants. In terrestrial environments, many strategies employed to manage the evolution of resistance involve the use of refugia, where a portion of the population is left untreated to maintain susceptibility. While refugia have not been deliberately used in Atlantic salmon farming, wild salmon populations that migrate close to salmon farms may act as natural refugia. In this paper we describe an agent-based model that explores the influence of different sizes of wild salmon populations on resistance evolution in sea lice on a salmon farm. Using the model, we demonstrate that wild salmon populations can act as refugia that limit the evolution of resistance in the sea louse populations. Additionally, we demonstrate that an increase in the size of the population of wild salmon results in an increased effect in slowing the evolution of resistance. We explore the effect of a population fitness cost associated with resistance, finding that in some cases it substantially reduces the speed of evolution to chemical treatments

ASYMMETRIC LEAVES1 regulates abscission zone placement in Arabidopsis flowers

BACKGROUND: The sepals, petals and stamens of Arabidopsis flowers detach via abscission zones formed at their boundaries with the underlying receptacle. The ASYMMETRIC LEAVES1 (AS1) MYB transcription factor plays a critical role in setting boundaries between newly formed leaf primordia and the shoot meristem. By repressing expression of a set of KNOTTED1-LIKE HOMEODOMAIN (KNOX) genes from developing leaf primordia, AS1 and its partner ASYMMETRIC LEAVES2 allow the patterning and differentiation of leaves to proceed. Here we show a unique role for AS1 in establishing the positions of the sepal and petal abscission zones in Arabidopsis flowers. RESULTS: In as1 mutant flowers, the sepal abscission zones are displaced into inverted V-shaped positions, leaving behind triangular stubs of tissue when the organs abscise. Movement of the petal abscission zones is also apparent. Abscission of the medial sepals is delayed in as1 flowers; loss of chlorophyll in the senescing sepals contrasts with proximal zones that remain green. AS1 has previously been shown to restrict expression of the KNOX gene, BREVIPEDICELLUS (BP), from the sepals. We show here that loss of BP activity in as1 flowers is sufficient to restore the positions of the sepal and petal abscission zones, the sepal-receptacle boundary of the medial sepals and the timing of their abscission. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that AS1 activity is critical for the proper placement of the floral organ abscission zones, and influences the timing of organ shedding

Mate limitation in sea lice infesting wild salmon hosts : the influence of parasite sex ratio and aggregation

Mate limitation in dioecious parasite species has the potential to impact parasite population growth. Our focus of interest was the influence of parasite sex distribution among hosts on parasite reproduction and transmission dynamics for populations of ectoparasitic sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis Krøyer) establishing on wild juvenile salmon hosts. The data included more than 139,000 out-migrating juvenile pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha (Walbaum)) and chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta (Walbaum)) in British Columbia, Canada, sampled over nine years. For almost all years, the sex ratio of the reproductive stages of the sea lice was female-biased. The probability of a female being able to mate (i.e., of being attached to a fish also carrying a male louse) increased with increasing parasite abundance and parasite aggregation. We compared, with expected modeling predictions, the observed prevalence of pairs of sea lice (i.e., one reproductive louse of each sex) on a given fish and the observed probability of a female being able to mate. These comparisons showed that male and female sea lice tend to be distributed together rather than separately on hosts. Distribution together means that sea lice are distributed randomly on hosts according to a common negative binomial distribution, whereas distribution separately means that males are distributed according to a negative binomial and females are distributed in their own negative binomial among hosts. Despite the tendency for distribution together we found that, in every year, at least 30% of reproductive female sea lice experience mate limitation. This Allee effect will result in submaximal rates of parasite reproduction at low parasite abundances and may limit parasite transmission. The work has important implications for salmon parasite management and the health both of captive farm salmon populations and migratory wild stocks. More broadly, these results demonstrate the potential impact of mate limitation as a constraint to the establishment and spread of wild ectoparasite populations

CCSD(T) Study of CD3-O-CD3 and CH3-O-CD3 Far-Infrared Spectra

From a vibrationally corrected 3D potential energy surface determined with highly correlated ab initio calculations (CCSD(T)), the lowest vibrational energies of two dimethyl-ether isotopologues, 12CH3–16O–12CD3 (DME-d3) and 12CD3–16O–12CD3 (DME-d6), are computed variationally. The levels that can be populated at very low temperatures correspond to the COC-bending and the two methyl torsional modes. Molecular symmetry groups are used for the classification of levels and torsional splittings. DME-d6 belongs to the G36 group, as the most abundant isotopologue 12CH3–16O–12CH3 (DME-h6), while DME-d3 is a G18 species. Previous assignments of experimental Raman and far-infrared spectra are discussed from an effective Hamiltonian obtained after refining the ab initio parameters. Because a good agreement between calculated and experimental transition frequencies is reached, new assignments are proposed for various combination bands corresponding to the two deuterated isotopologues and for the 020 → 030 transition of DME-d6. Vibrationally corrected potential energy barriers, structural parameters, and anharmonic spectroscopic parameters are provided. For the 3N – 9 neglected vibrational modes, harmonic and anharmonic fundamental frequencies are obtained using second-order perturbation theory by means of CCSD and MP2 force fields. Fermi resonances between the COC-bending and the torsional modes modify DME-d3 intensities and the band positions of the torsional overtones

RUNX/AML and C/EBP factors regulate CD11a integrin expression in myeloid cells through overlapping regulatory elements

10 Figures. The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. Therefore, and solely to indicate this fact, this article is hereby marked ‘‘advertisement’’ in accordance with 18 U.S.C. section 1734.The CD11a/CD18 (leukocyte function-associated antigen 1 [LFA-1]) integrin mediates critical leukocyte adhesive interactions during immune and inflammatory responses. The CD11a promoter directs CD11a/CD18 integrin expression, and its activity in lymphoid cells depends on a functional RUNX1/AML-1–binding site (AML-110) within the MS7 sequence. We now report that MS7 contains a C/EBP-binding site (C/EBP-100), which overlaps with AML-110 and is bound by C/EBP factors in myeloid cells. C/EBP and RUNX/AML factors compete for binding to their respective cognate elements and bind to the CD11a promoter MS7 sequence in a cell lineage- and differentiation-dependent manner. In myeloid cells MS7 is primarily recognized by C/EBP factors in proliferating cells whereas RUNX/AML factors (especially RUNX3/AML-2) bind to MS7 in differentiated cells. RUNX3/AML-2 binding to the CD11a promoter correlates with increased RUNX3/AML-2 protein levels and enhanced CD11a/CD18 cell surface expression. The relevance of the AML-110 element is underscored by the ability of AML-1/ETO to inhibit CD11a promoter activity, thus explaining the low CD11a/CD18 expression in t(8;21)–containing myeloid leukemia cells. Therefore, the expression of the CD11a/CD18 integrin in myeloid cells is determined through the differential occupancy of the CD11a proximal promoter by transcription factors implicated in the pathogenesis of myeloid leukemia.From the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain; Clínica Universitaria, Universidad de Navarra, Spain; Institute of Human Genetics, Aarhus, Denmark; Hospital Universitario Gregorio Maranón, Madrid, Spain; University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver; and Department of Molecular Genetics, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot Israel. Supported by grants 08.3/0026/2000.1 from Comunidad Auto´noma de Madrid, 01/0063-01 from Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, and SAF2002-04615- C02-01 from Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (A.L.C.). We gratefully acknowledge Drs Ana Aranda and Aurora Sánchez-Pacheco for their very generous help with ChIP assays.Peer reviewe

The application of eye-tracking in music research

Though eye-tracking is typically a methodology applied in the visual research domain, recent studies suggest its relevance in the context of music research. There exists a community of researchers interested in this kind of research from varied disciplinary backgrounds scattered across the globe. Therefore, in August 2017, an international conference was held at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt, Germany, to bring this research community together. The conference was dedicated to the topic of music and eye-tracking, asking the question: what do eye movements, pupil dilation, and blinking activity tell us about musical processing? This special issue is constituted of top-scoring research from the conference and spans a range of music-related topics. From tracking the gaze of performers in musical trios to basic research on how eye movements are affected by background music, the contents of this special issue highlight a variety of experimental approaches and possible applications of eye-tracking in music research

First radial velocity results from the MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA)

The MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA) is a dedicated observatory of four 0.7m robotic telescopes fiber-fed to a KiwiSpec spectrograph. The MINERVA mission is to discover super-Earths in the habitable zones of nearby stars. This can be accomplished with MINERVA's unique combination of high precision and high cadence over long time periods. In this work, we detail changes to the MINERVA facility that have occurred since our previous paper. We then describe MINERVA's robotic control software, the process by which we perform 1D spectral extraction, and our forward modeling Doppler pipeline. In the process of improving our forward modeling procedure, we found that our spectrograph's intrinsic instrumental profile is stable for at least nine months. Because of that, we characterized our instrumental profile with a time-independent, cubic spline function based on the profile in the cross dispersion direction, with which we achieved a radial velocity precision similar to using a conventional "sum-of-Gaussians" instrumental profile: 1.8 m s$^{-1}$ over 1.5 months on the RV standard star HD 122064. Therefore, we conclude that the instrumental profile need not be perfectly accurate as long as it is stable. In addition, we observed 51 Peg and our results are consistent with the literature, confirming our spectrograph and Doppler pipeline are producing accurate and precise radial velocities.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, submitted to PASP, Peer-Reviewed and Accepte

STAT3 Induction of miR-146b Forms a Feedback Loop to Inhibit the NF-kB to IL-6 Signaling Axis and STAT3-Driven Cancer Phenotypes

Interleukin-6 (IL-6)–mediated activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a mechanism by which chronic inflammation can contribute to cancer and is a common oncogenic event. We discovered a pathway, the loss of which is associated with persistent STAT3 activation in human cancer. We found that the gene encoding the tumor suppressor microRNA miR-146b is a direct STAT3 target gene, and its expression was increased in normal breast epithelial cells but decreased in tumor cells. Methylation of the miR-146b promoter, which inhibited STAT3-mediated induction of expression, was increased in primary breast cancers. Moreover, we found that miR-146b inhibited nuclear factor kB (NF-kB)–dependent production of IL-6, subsequent STAT3 activation, and IL-6/STAT3–driven migration and invasion in breast cancer cells, thereby establishing a negative feedback loop. In addition, higher expression of miR-146b was positively correlated with patient survival in breast cancer subtypes with increased IL6 expression and STAT3 phosphorylation. Our results identify an epigenetic mechanism of crosstalk between STAT3 and NF-kB relevant to constitutive STAT3 activation in malignancy and the role of inflammation in oncogenesis