A disk of dust and molecular gas around a high-mass protostar

The processes leading to the birth of low-mass stars such as our Sun have been well studied, but the formation of high-mass (over eight times the Sun's mass, M(o)) stars remains poorly understood. Recent studies suggest that high-mass stars may form through accretion of material from a circumstellar disk, in essentially the same way as low-mass stars form, rather than through the merging of several low-mass stars. There is as yet, however, no conclusive evidence. Here we report the presence of a flattened disk-like structure around a massive 15M(o) protostar in the Cepheus A region, based on observations of continuum emission from the dust and line emission from the molecular gas. The disk has a radius of about 330 astronomical units (Au) and a mass of 1 to 8 M(o). It is oriented perpendicular to, and spatially coincident with, the central embedded powerful bipolar radio jet, just as is the case with low-mass stars, from which we conclude that high-mass stars can form through accretion.     

Mutations in SEPT9 cause hereditary neuralgic amyotrophy

Hereditary neuralgic amyotrophy (HNA) is an autosomal dominant recurrent neuropathy affecting the brachial plexus. HNA is triggered by environmental factors such as infection or parturition. We report three mutations in the gene septin 9 (SEPT9) in six families with HNA linked to chromosome 17q25. HNA is the first monogenetic disease caused by mutations in a gene of the septin family. Septins are implicated in formation of the cytoskeleton, cell division and tumorigenesis.     

Senataxin, the ortholog of a yeast RNA helicase, is mutant in ataxia-ocular apraxia 2

Ataxia-ocular apraxia 2 (AOA2) was recently identified as a new autosomal recessive ataxia. We have now identified causative mutations in 15 families, which allows us to clinically define this entity by onset between 10 and 22 years, cerebellar atrophy, axonal sensorimotor neuropathy, oculomotor apraxia and elevated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). Ten of the fifteen mutations cause premature termination of a large DEAxQ-box helicase, the human ortholog of yeast Sen1p, involved in RNA maturation and termination.     

Surprisingly rapid growth in Neanderthals

Life-history traits correlate closely with dental growth, so differences in dental growth within Homo can enable us to determine how somatic development has evolved and to identify developmental shifts that warrant species-level distinctions. Dental growth can be determined from the speed of enamel formation (or extension rate). We analysed the enamel extension rate in Homo antecessor (8 teeth analysed), Homo heidelbergensis (106), Homo neanderthalensis ('Neanderthals'; 146) and Upper Palaeolithic-Mesolithic Homo sapiens (100). Here we report that Upper Palaeolithic-Mesolithic H. sapiens shared an identical dental development pattern with modern humans, but that H. antecessor and H. heidelbergensis had shorter periods of dental growth. Surprisingly, Neanderthals were characterized by having the shortest period of dental growth. Because dental growth is an excellent indicator of somatic development, our results suggest that Neanderthals developed faster even than their immediate ancestor, H. heidelbergensis. Dental growth became longer and brain size increased from the Plio-Pleistocene in hominid evolution. Neanderthals, despite having a large brain, were characterized by a short period of development. This autapomorphy in growth is an evolutionary reversal, and points strongly to a specific distinction between H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis.     

Coupled oscillators control morning and evening locomotor behaviour of Drosophila

Daily rhythms of physiology and behaviour are precisely timed by an endogenous circadian clock. These include separate bouts of morning and evening activity, characteristic of Drosophila melanogaster and many other taxa, including mammals. Whereas multiple oscillators have long been proposed to orchestrate such complex behavioural programmes, their nature and interplay have remained elusive. By using cell-specific ablation, we show that the timing of morning and evening activity in Drosophila derives from two distinct groups of circadian neurons: morning activity from the ventral lateral neurons that express the neuropeptide PDF, and evening activity from another group of cells, including the dorsal lateral neurons. Although the two oscillators can function autonomously, cell-specific rescue experiments with circadian clock mutants indicate that they are functionally coupled.     

Serial time-encoded amplified microscopy for ultrafast imaging based on multi-wavelength laser

In this paper, a serial time-encoded amplified microscopy （STEAM） by employing a multiwavelength laser as the light source is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. This system achieves ultrafast optical imaging with a tunable frame rate. The measuring range depends on the spectrum width of the multiwavelength laser. Through tuning the speed of the modulating signal, the frame rate ranges from 100 to 250 MHz. In addition, the spatial resolution can be improved by increasing the group velocity dispersion and reducing the wavelength spacing. Finally, with the development of photonic integrate circuits （PIC）, the multiwavelength laser source has the potential for integration on a photonic chip and thus the size of the proposed STEAM could be reduced in the future.     

Did Ptolemy make novel predictions? Launching Ptolemaic astronomy into the scientific realism debate

The goal of this paper, both historical and philosophical, is to launch a new case into the scientific realism debate: geocentric astronomy. Scientific realism about unobservables claims that the non-observational content of our successful/justified empirical theories is true, or approximately true. The argument that is currently considered the best in favor of scientific realism is the No Miracles Argument: the predictive success of a theory that makes (novel) observational predictions while making use of non-observational content would be inexplicable unless such non-observational content approximately corresponds to the world “out there”. Laudan's pessimistic meta-induction challenged this argument, and realists reacted by moving to a “selective” version of realism: the approximately true part of the theory is not its full non-observational content but only the part of it that is responsible for the novel, successful observational predictions. Selective scientific realism has been tested against some of the theories in Laudan's list, but the first member of this list, geocentric astronomy, has been traditionally ignored. Our goal here is to defend that Ptolemy's Geocentrism deserves attention and poses a prima facie strong case against selective realism, since it made several successful, novel predictions based on theoretical hypotheses that do not seem to be retained, not even approximately, by posterior theories. Here, though, we confine our work just to the detailed reconstruction of what we take to be the main novel, successful Ptolemaic predictions, leaving the full analysis and assessment of their significance for the realist thesis to future works.     

Aspects of the activity rhythm and population size of troglophilic mygalomorph spiders (Trechona sp., Dipluridae) in a quartzite cave in Minas Gerais,Brazil

Records of mygalomorphs inhabiting caves have increased in the past years. We present data on a population of Trechona sp. spiders, found in a quartizite cave in Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The spiders and their retreats were marked, and this population was followed for 17 months. The population consisted of up to 100 individuals, comprising the worlds’ largest known cave-dwelling population of mygalomophs. The estimated population size (Jolly-Seber model) varied from 50.36 to 853.43, the latter considered much overestimated. We did not find individuals of Trechona sp. in the surrounding epigean areas. The number of spiders was higher in the entrance zone than in the other two zones (twilight and dark zones). We found that individuals at the entrance zone showed similar activity to a nocturnal spider, whereas the other two groups showed conspicuous differences from this pattern, spending longer periods without rest, on the sheet-web as a sit-and-wait predator.     

Phyllostomid bats flying in daylight: a case from the Neotropics

Bats (Chiroptera), one of the most diverse groups in terms of taxonomy, morphology and ecology, are known for their nocturnal behaviour of flight and feeding. Although there is no consensus on the evolution of nocturnality in bats, many authors mention risk of predation, overheating, competition and mobbing by non-competitor species as arguments to justify nocturnal instead of daytime flight in bats. Herein we describe the first records of three genera of phyllostomid bats flying, foraging and drinking water during daytime in the Brazilian Amazon. All taxa were recorded drinking water, and some Phyllostomus sp. individuals were recorded foraging on termites, alongside birds. Risk of dehydration and overheating in roosts, as well as low competition in daytime, may explain the emergence of phyllostomid bats before sunset.