More extreme swings of the South Pacific convergence zone due to greenhouse warming

The South Pacific convergence zone (SPCZ) is the Southern Hemisphere's most expansive and persistent rain band, extending from the equatorial western Pacific Ocean southeastward towards French Polynesia. Owing to its strong rainfall gradient, a small displacement in the position of the SPCZ causes drastic changes to hydroclimatic conditions and the frequency of extreme weather events--such as droughts, floods and tropical cyclones--experienced by vulnerable island countries in the region. The SPCZ position varies from its climatological mean location with the El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), moving a few degrees northward during moderate El Ni?o events and southward during La Ni?a events. During strong El Ni?o events, however, the SPCZ undergoes an extreme swing--by up to ten degrees of latitude toward the Equator--and collapses to a more zonally oriented structure with commensurately severe weather impacts. Understanding changes in the characteristics of the SPCZ in a changing climate is therefore of broad scientific and socioeconomic interest. Here we present climate modelling evidence for a near doubling in the occurrences of zonal SPCZ events between the periods 1891-1990 and 1991-2090 in response to greenhouse warming, even in the absence of a consensus on how ENSO will change. We estimate the increase in zonal SPCZ events from an aggregation of the climate models in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phases 3 and 5 (CMIP3 and CMIP5) multi-model database that are able to simulate such events. The change is caused by a projected enhanced equatorial warming in the Pacific and may lead to more frequent occurrences of extreme events across the Pacific island nations most affected by zonal SPCZ events.     

PPAR-γ is a major driver of the accumulation and phenotype of adipose tissue Treg cells

Obesity and type-2 diabetes have increased markedly over the past few decades, in parallel. One of the major links between these two disorders is chronic, low-grade inflammation. Prolonged nutrient excess promotes the accumulation and activation of leukocytes in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and ultimately other tissues, leading to metabolic abnormalities such as insulin resistance, type-2 diabetes and fatty-liver disease. Although invasion of VAT by pro-inflammatory macrophages is considered to be a key event driving adipose-tissue inflammation and insulin resistance, little is known about the roles of other immune system cell types in these processes. A unique population of VAT-resident regulatory T (Treg) cells was recently implicated in control of the inflammatory state of adipose tissue and, thereby, insulin sensitivity. Here we identify peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ, the 'master regulator' of adipocyte differentiation, as a crucial molecular orchestrator of VAT Treg cell accumulation, phenotype and function. Unexpectedly, PPAR-γ expression by VAT Treg cells was necessary for complete restoration of insulin sensitivity in obese mice by the thiazolidinedione drug pioglitazone. These findings suggest a previously unknown cellular mechanism for this important class of thiazolidinedione drugs, and provide proof-of-principle that discrete populations of Treg cells with unique functions can be precisely targeted to therapeutic ends.     

Shiga toxin induces tubular membrane invaginations for its uptake into cells

Clathrin seems to be dispensable for some endocytic processes and, in several instances, no cytosolic coat protein complexes could be detected at sites of membrane invagination. Hence, new principles must in these cases be invoked to account for the mechanical force driving membrane shape changes. Here we show that the Gb3 (glycolipid)-binding B-subunit of bacterial Shiga toxin induces narrow tubular membrane invaginations in human and mouse cells and model membranes. In cells, tubule occurrence increases on energy depletion and inhibition of dynamin or actin functions. Our data thus demonstrate that active cellular processes are needed for tubule scission rather than tubule formation. We conclude that the B-subunit induces lipid reorganization that favours negative membrane curvature, which drives the formation of inward membrane tubules. Our findings support a model in which the lateral growth of B-subunit-Gb3 microdomains is limited by the invagination process, which itself is regulated by membrane tension. The physical principles underlying this basic cargo-induced membrane uptake may also be relevant to other internalization processes, creating a rationale for conceptualizing the perplexing diversity of endocytic routes.     

Demonstration and evolution of chorionic gonadotropin in ewes]

Occurrence of ovine Chorionic Gonadotropin (oCG) is demonstrated in placenta and amniotic fluid with the use of a radioreceptor assay (corpus luteum membranes) in ewes. Identification of oCG is possible as early as 15th day of pregnancy. It should be secreted at a constant rate, and its maximum concentration is recorded on the 130th day. This hormonal factor might be one of the major components accountable for high progesteronemia observed during the 100 last days of pregnancy.     

Robust forecasting with exponential and Holt–Winters smoothing

Robust versions of the exponential and Holt–Winters smoothing method for forecasting are presented. They are suitable for forecasting univariate time series in the presence of outliers. The robust exponential and Holt–Winters smoothing methods are presented as recursive updating schemes that apply the standard technique to pre‐cleaned data. Both the update equation and the selection of the smoothing parameters are robustified. A simulation study compares the robust and classical forecasts. The presented method is found to have good forecast performance for time series with and without outliers, as well as for fat‐tailed time series and under model misspecification. The method is illustrated using real data incorporating trend and seasonal effects. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

WNT11 acts as a directional cue to organize the elongation of early muscle fibres

The early vertebrate skeletal muscle is a well-organized tissue in which the primitive muscle fibres, the myocytes, are all parallel and aligned along the antero-posterior axis of the embryo. How myofibres acquire their orientation during development is unknown. Here we show that during early chick myogenesis WNT11 has an essential role in the oriented elongation of the myocytes. We find that the neural tube, known to drive WNT11 expression in the medial border of somites, is necessary and sufficient to orient myocyte elongation. We then show that the specific inhibition of WNT11 function in somites leads to the disorganization of myocytes. We establish that WNT11 mediates this effect through the evolutionary conserved planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway, downstream of the WNT/beta-catenin-dependent pathway, required to initiate the myogenic program of myocytes and WNT11 expression. Finally, we demonstrate that a localized ectopic source of WNT11 can markedly change the orientation of myocytes, indicating that WNT11 acts as a directional cue in this process. All together, these data show that the sequential action of the WNT/PCP and the WNT/beta-catenin pathways is necessary for the formation of fully functional embryonic muscle fibres. This study also provides evidence that WNTs can act as instructive cues to regulate the PCP pathway in vertebrates.     

Influence of iproniazid pretreatment on formation of gastric ulcers by reserpine in the rat

Résumé Chez le rat à pylore lié, la réserpine (5 mg/kg) provoque l'apparition précoce d'ulcérations gastriques. Ce phénomène fait défaut si les rats ont été traités préalablement par l'iproniazide, un inhibiteur de la monoamino-oxydase.      

Contact time of a bouncing drop

When a liquid drop lands on a solid surface without wetting it, it bounces with remarkable elasticity. Here we measure how long the drop remains in contact with the solid during the shock, a problem that was considered by Hertz for a bouncing ball. Our findings could help to quantify the efficiency of water-repellent surfaces (super-hydrophobic solids) and to improve water-cooling of hot solids, which is limited by the rebounding of drops as well as by temperature effects.