Babylonian solar theory on the Antikythera mechanism

This article analyzes the angular spacing of the degree marks on the zodiac scale of the Antikythera mechanism and demonstrates that over the entire preserved 88° of the zodiac, the marks are systematically placed too close together to be consistent with a uniform distribution over 360°. Thus, in some other part of the zodiac scale (not preserved), the degree marks have been spaced farther apart. By contrast, the day marks on the Egyptian calendar scale are spaced uniformly, apart from minor errors. A solar equation of center is apparent which rises by nearly 2.7° over the preserved portion of the zodiac. The placement of the degree marks indicates that, in the preserved portion of the zodiac, the Sun was considered to run at a uniform pace of about 30° per synodic month, which is consistent with the Sun’s speed in the fast zone of the Babylonian solar theory of System A.

     

The FHIT gene product: tumor suppressor and genome “caretaker”

The FHIT gene at FRA3B is one of the earliest and most frequently altered genes in the majority of human cancers. It was recently discovered that the FHIT gene is not the most fragile locus in epithelial cells, the cell of origin for most Fhit-negative cancers, eroding support for past claims that deletions at this locus are simply passenger events that are carried along in expanding cancer clones, due to extreme vulnerability to DNA damage rather than to loss of FHIT function. Indeed, recent reports have reconfirmed FHIT as a tumor suppressor gene with roles in apoptosis and prevention of the epithelial–mesenchymal transition. Other recent works have identified a novel role for the FHIT gene product, Fhit, as a genome “caretaker.” Loss of this caretaker function leads to nucleotide imbalance, spontaneous replication stress, and DNA breaks. Because Fhit loss-induced DNA damage is “checkpoint blind,” cells accumulate further DNA damage during subsequent cell cycles, accruing global genome instability that could facilitate oncogenic mutation acquisition and expedite clonal expansion. Loss of Fhit activity therefore induces a mutator phenotype. Evidence for FHIT as a mutator gene is discussed in light of these recent investigations of Fhit loss and subsequent genome instability.     

Eustigmaeus floridensis sp. nov., a new mite species of the genus Eustigmaeus Berlese, 1910 (Acari: Stigmaeidae) from citrus in Florida

Eustigmaeus floridensis sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on female specimens collected from citrus trees in Florida, USA. The new species is closely related to Eustigmaeus arcuata, Eustigmaeus segnis and Eustigmaeus microsegnis, all known to occur in Florida. Eustigmaeus floridensis sp. nov. can be distinguished by larger dimples associated with setae sce, d₂ and e₁ containing at least four or more vacuoles centrally; dorsal body setae broadly lanceolate and feather-like, except c₂, which is slender; anogenital area with striae and one pair of serrated aggenital (ag1) and three pairs of serrated pseudanal (ps_1?3) setae. A key to the Eustigmaeus species known to occur across USA is also provided.     

Erratum to: Hesperomyces virescens (Fungi,Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales) attacking Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera,Coccinellidae) in its native range

正Published online:14 March 2014óScience China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014Erratum to:Chin.Sci.Bull.(2014)59(5–6):528–532DOI 10.1007/s11434-013-0060-1In the original publication of this paper,the first name and the last name of the first author has been documented     

Phospholipid flippases attenuate LPS-induced TLR4 signaling by mediating endocytic retrieval of Toll-like receptor 4

P4-ATPases are lipid flippases that catalyze the transport of phospholipids to create membrane phospholipid asymmetry and to initiate the biogenesis of transport vesicles. Here we show, for the first time, that lipid flippases are essential to dampen the inflammatory response and to mediate the endotoxin-induced endocytic retrieval of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in human macrophages. Depletion of CDC50A, the β-subunit that is crucial for the activity of multiple P4-ATPases, resulted in endotoxin-induced hypersecretion of proinflammatory cytokines, enhanced MAP kinase signaling and constitutive NF-κB activation. In addition, CDC50A-depleted THP-1 macrophages displayed reduced tolerance to endotoxin. Moreover, endotoxin-induced internalization of TLR4 was strongly reduced and coincided with impaired endosomal MyD88-independent signaling. The phenotype of CDC50A-depleted cells was also induced by separate knockdown of two P4-ATPases, namely ATP8B1 and ATP11A. We conclude that lipid flippases are novel elements of the innate immune response that are essential to attenuate the inflammatory response, possibly by mediating endotoxin-induced internalization of TLR4.     

Electric charge in hyperbolic motion: the early history

The study of an electric charge in hyperbolic motion is an important aspect of Minkowski’s geometrical formulation of electrodynamics. In “Space and Time”, his last publication before his premature death, Minkowski gives a brief geometrical recipe for calculating the four-force with which an electric charge acts on another electric charge. The subsequent work of Born, Sommerfeld, Laue, and Pauli filled in the missing derivation details. Here, we bring together these early contributions, in an effort to provide a more modern, accessible, and unified exposition of the early history of the electric charge in hyperbolic motion.

     

Adaptation in the innate immune system and heterologous innate immunity

The innate immune system recognizes deviation from homeostasis caused by infectious or non-infectious assaults. The threshold for its activation seems to be established by a calibration process that includes sensing of microbial molecular patterns from commensal bacteria and of endogenous signals. It is becoming increasingly clear that adaptive features, a hallmark of the adaptive immune system, can also be identified in the innate immune system. Such adaptations can result in the manifestation of a primed state of immune and tissue cells with a decreased activation threshold. This keeps the system poised to react quickly. Moreover, the fact that the innate immune system recognizes a wide variety of danger signals via pattern recognition receptors that often activate the same signaling pathways allows for heterologous innate immune stimulation. This implies that, for example, the innate immune response to an infection can be modified by co-infections or other innate stimuli. This “design feature” of the innate immune system has many implications for our understanding of individual susceptibility to diseases or responsiveness to therapies and vaccinations. In this article, adaptive features of the innate immune system as well as heterologous innate immunity and their implications are discussed.     

On-chip natural assembly of silicon photonic bandgap crystals.

Photonic bandgap crystals can reflect light for any direction of propagation in specific wavelength ranges. This property, which can be used to confine, manipulate and guide photons, should allow the creation of all-optical integrated circuits. To achieve this goal, conventional semiconductor nanofabrication techniques have been adapted to make photonic crystals. A potentially simpler and cheaper approach for creating three-dimensional periodic structures is the natural assembly of colloidal microspheres. However, this approach yields irregular, polycrystalline photonic crystals that are difficult to incorporate into a device. More importantly, it leads to many structural defects that can destroy the photonic bandgap. Here we show that by assembling a thin layer of colloidal spheres on a silicon substrate, we can obtain planar, single-crystalline silicon photonic crystals that have defect densities sufficiently low that the bandgap survives. As expected from theory, we observe unity reflectance in two crystalline directions of our photonic crystals around a wavelength of 1.3 micrometres. We also show that additional fabrication steps, intentional doping and patterning, can be performed, so demonstrating the potential for specific device applications.