Fecundity and longevity of houseflies after space flight

Summary After 7 days of space flight house flies,Musca domestica, exhibited similar longevity, but a reduction in reproductive output as compared to earthbound controls. This reduction was not observed in later generations. These data suggest that space flight directly alters the rate of ovarian development, but that this effect is not genetically transmitted.Acknowledgment. We thank Todd E. Nelson, student participant in the Space Shuttle Student Involvement Project, John T. Jackson, NASA/Johnson Space Center, and James R. Peterson, Honeywell, Inc. for providing us with the flies and information related to the in-flight experiments.     

EphrinB2 is the entry receptor for Nipah virus, an emergent deadly paramyxovirus

Nipah virus (NiV) is an emergent paramyxovirus that causes fatal encephalitis in up to 70 percent of infected patients, and there is evidence of human-to-human transmission. Endothelial syncytia, comprised of multinucleated giant-endothelial cells, are frequently found in NiV infections, and are mediated by the fusion (F) and attachment (G) envelope glycoproteins. Identification of the receptor for this virus will shed light on the pathobiology of NiV infection, and spur the rational development of effective therapeutics. Here we report that ephrinB2, the membrane-bound ligand for the EphB class of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), specifically binds to the attachment (G) glycoprotein of NiV. Soluble Fc-fusion proteins of ephrinB2, but not ephrinB1, effectively block NiV fusion and entry into permissive cell types. Moreover, transfection of ephrinB2 into non-permissive cells renders them permissive for NiV fusion and entry. EphrinB2 is expressed on endothelial cells and neurons, which is consistent with the known cellular tropism for NiV. Significantly, we find that NiV-envelope-mediated infection of microvascular endothelial cells and primary cortical rat neurons is inhibited by soluble ephrinB2, but not by the related ephrinB1 protein. Cumulatively, our data show that ephrinB2 is a functional receptor for NiV.     

Dynamics of Drosophila embryonic patterning network perturbed in space and time using microfluidics

Biochemical networks are perturbed both by fluctuations in environmental conditions and genetic variation. These perturbations must be compensated for, especially when they occur during embryonic pattern formation. Complex chemical reaction networks displaying spatiotemporal dynamics have been controlled and understood by perturbing their environment in space and time. Here, we apply this approach using microfluidics to investigate the robust network in Drosophila melanogaster that compensates for variation in the Bicoid morphogen gradient. We show that the compensation system can counteract the effects of extremely unnatural environmental conditions--a temperature step--in which the anterior and posterior halves of the embryo are developing at different temperatures and thus at different rates. Embryonic patterning was normal under this condition, suggesting that a simple reciprocal gradient system is not the mechanism of compensation. Time-specific reversals of the temperature step narrowed down the critical period for compensation to between 65 and 100 min after onset of embryonic development. The microfluidic technology used here may prove useful to future studies, as it allows spatial and temporal regulation of embryonic development.     

Design of a 3-tier smart middleware system for ubiquitous sensor networks

As ubiquitous sensor networks (USN) technologies and its middleware are still at its early stages, the system of the USN relies on the middleware and applications. The past sensor networks are assumed to be designed for specific applications, having data communication protocols tightly coupled to applications. To avoid these problems, several kinds of USN middleware have been researched and developed. However, most middleware of USN are still restricted by its own infrastructure so far. This paper proposes appropriate 3 tier Smart Middleware System (3SMS) for USN.     

Organization of microtubules in dendrites and axons is determined by a short hydrophobic zipper in microtubule-associated proteins MAP2 and tau

Here we report that the microtubule-associated proteins MAP2 and tau share two separable functional domains. One is the microtubule-binding site which serves to nucleate microtubule assembly; the second is a short C-terminal alpha-helical sequence which can crosslink microtubules by means of a hydrophobic zipper interaction into dense stable parallel arrays characteristic of axons or dendrites. Thus, interactions between molecules of a single type are capable of drastically reorganizing microtubules and completely suppressing their dynamic properties.     

The landscape of cancer genes and mutational processes in breast cancer

All cancers carry somatic mutations in their genomes. A subset, known as driver mutations, confer clonal selective advantage on cancer cells and are causally implicated in oncogenesis, and the remainder are passenger mutations. The driver mutations and mutational processes operative in breast cancer have not yet been comprehensively explored. Here we examine the genomes of 100 tumours for somatic copy number changes and mutations in the coding exons of protein-coding genes. The number of somatic mutations varied markedly between individual tumours. We found strong correlations between mutation number, age at which cancer was diagnosed and cancer histological grade, and observed multiple mutational signatures, including one present in about ten per cent of tumours characterized by numerous mutations of cytosine at TpC dinucleotides. Driver mutations were identified in several new cancer genes including AKT2, ARID1B, CASP8, CDKN1B, MAP3K1, MAP3K13, NCOR1, SMARCD1 and TBX3. Among the 100 tumours, we found driver mutations in at least 40 cancer genes and 73 different combinations of mutated cancer genes. The results highlight the substantial genetic diversity underlying this common disease.     

A terahertz metamaterial with unnaturally high refractive index

Controlling the electromagnetic properties of materials, going beyond the limit that is attainable with naturally existing substances, has become a reality with the advent of metamaterials. The range of various structured artificial 'atoms' has promised a vast variety of otherwise unexpected physical phenomena, among which the experimental realization of a negative refractive index has been one of the main foci thus far. Expanding the refractive index into a high positive regime will complete the spectrum of achievable refractive index and provide more design flexibility for transformation optics. Naturally existing transparent materials possess small positive indices of refraction, except for a few semiconductors and insulators, such as lead sulphide or strontium titanate, that exhibit a rather high peak refractive index at mid- and far-infrared frequencies. Previous approaches using metamaterials were not successful in realizing broadband high refractive indices. A broadband high-refractive-index metamaterial structure was theoretically investigated only recently, but the proposed structure does not lend itself to easy implementation. Here we demonstrate that a broadband, extremely high index of refraction can be realized from large-area, free-standing, flexible terahertz metamaterials composed of strongly coupled unit cells. By drastically increasing the effective permittivity through strong capacitive coupling and decreasing the diamagnetic response with a thin metallic structure in the unit cell, a peak refractive index of 38.6 along with a low-frequency quasi-static value of over 20 were experimentally realized for a single-layer terahertz metamaterial, while maintaining low losses. As a natural extension of these single-layer metamaterials, we fabricated quasi-three-dimensional high-refractive-index metamaterials, and obtained a maximum bulk refractive index of 33.2 along with a value of around 8 at the quasi-static limit.     

北宋明州高丽使行馆

明州(即宁波)地处中国大陆东海之滨，航道四通八达，海外交通便利，是开展海外贸易较早的城市之一，和世界各国进行通商贸易已有一、二千年的历史．到了宋代，明州和世界各国(如：高丽、东南亚、阿拉伯等)的交往达到繁盛的阶段．特别是到了北宋时期，明州与高丽的交往有了显著的增加．北宋时，由于与高丽的交往日益频繁，高丽来明州的人日益增加，北宋政府为了接待高丽使者和商人，在明州兴建了“高丽使行馆”．为了了解北宋和高丽的交往情况，中韩两国历史学界和建筑学界提供了许多重要的线索，高丽使行馆作为两国交往的重要场所有很高的研究价值．本文尝试了解、研究有关高丽使行馆的情况．