The genome of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta.

Ants have evolved very complex societies and are key ecosystem members. Some ants, such as the fire ant Solenopsis invicta, are also major pests. Here, we present a draft genome of S. invicta, assembled from Roche 454 and Illumina sequencing reads obtained from a focal haploid male and his brothers. We used comparative genomic methods to obtain insight into the unique features of the S. invicta genome. For example, we found that this genome harbors four adjacent copies of vitellogenin. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that an ancestral vitellogenin gene first underwent a duplication that was followed by possibly independent duplications of each of the daughter vitellogenins. The vitellogenin genes have undergone subfunctionalization with queen- and worker-specific expression, possibly reflecting differential selection acting on the queen and worker castes. Additionally, we identified more than 400 putative olfactory receptors of which at least 297 are intact. This represents the largest repertoire reported so far in insects. S. invicta also harbors an expansion of a specific family of lipid-processing genes, two putative orthologs to the transformer/feminizer sex differentiation gene, a functional DNA methylation system, and a single putative telomerase ortholog. EST data indicate that this S. invicta telomerase ortholog has at least four spliceforms that differ in their use of two sets of mutually exclusive exons. Some of these and other unique aspects of the fire ant genome are likely linked to the complex social behavior of this species.

Relationship and transaction lending in a crisis

We study how relationship lending and transaction lending varyover the business cycle. We develop a model in which relationshipbanks gather information on their borrowers, which allows them toprovide loans for profitable firms during a crisis. Due to the servicesthey provide, operating costs of relationship-banks are higher thanthose of transaction-banks. In our model, where relationship-bankscompete with transaction-banks, a key result is that relationship-banks charge a higher intermediation spread in normal times, butoffer continuation-lending at more favorable terms than transactionbanks to profitable firms in a crisis. Using detailed credit registerinformation for Italian banks before and after the Lehman Brothers'default, we are able to study how relationship and transaction-banksresponded to the crisis and we test existing theories of relationshipbanking. Our empirical analysis confirms the basic prediction of themodel that relationship banks charged a higher spread before the crisis, offered more favorable continuation-lending terms in response tothe crisis, and suffered fewer defaults, thus confirming the informational advantage of relationship banking.

Meadow Saffron Used as a Spice

Introduction: Intoxications with colchicine usually occur by ingestion of meadow saffron leaves (Colchicum autumnale) which are mistakenly collected for alimentary purposes instead of the leaves of crow garlic (Allium ursinum). Colchicine, the main alkaloid of Colchicum autumnale, is present in all parts of the plant. We report a rarer source of mistake, i.e. between the flowers of Colchicum autumnale and Crocus sativus. The similarity in this case is limited to the appearance of the flowers, but Colchicum autumnale, which is also flowering in autumn, lacks the crimson stigma from which the saffron spice is derived from Crocus sativus. Case report: A 47-year-old woman collected the stamens of a flower resembling Crocus sativus for use as saffron. Her knowledge about Crocus sativus was limited to having seen this plant previously at a museum of saffron (Mund, Switzerland). She prepared a meal with rice using three pinches of ''saffron'' for ten tablespoons of rice. She and her 8-year-old child, both ate the usual amount of rice (6 and 2 tablespoons, respectively). The 2 brothers (4- and 9-years-old) only ate 3 teaspoons of rice each. A slightly bitter taste and the absence of a yellow colouration were peculiar. Three to four hours after the meal, the mother developed nausea and contacted the Swiss Toxicological Information Centre, suspecting a plant misidentification. All family members were referred to the regional university hospital for administration of oral activated charcoal. No other symptoms were reported, notably no symptoms in the 8-year-old boy and his brothers. Colchicine serum concentration (blood sample obtained 15 hours after ingestion) measured by HPLC-mass spectrometry was 0.36 mg/L for the mother, and 0.13 mg/L for the 8-year-old child, respectively (therapeutic levels: 0.30-2.5 mg/L). Conclusion: This report demonstrates that a significant amount of colchicine may be absorbed even after ingestion of very small quantities of Colchicum autumnale, which in this case was confused with Crocus sativus. Serum colchicine concentrations in the sub-/therapeutic range can be quantified by HPLC-mass spectrometry, which allows a very sensitive and specific detection of this alkaloid in blood and urine.

Pieces of Iowa���s Past, April 26, 2012

Pieces of Iowa���s Past, published by the Iowa State Capitol Tour Guides weekly during the legislative session, features historical facts about Iowa, the Capitol, and the early workings of state government. All historical publications are reproduced here with the actual spelling, punctuation, and grammar retained. April 26, 2012 THIS WEEK: The Ed Sullivan Show is Broadcast from the USS Iowa BACKGROUND: The Ed Sullivan Show On July 4, 1954, The Ed Sullivan Show was filmed aboard the battleship U.S.S. Iowa, which was docked in the Hudson River. The Ed Sullivan Show, then called Toast of the Town, was in its seventh season. Sullivan featured many celebrities on his show over the years. During this particular show, musical comedy star Dolores Gray was featured along with Bill Kenny of the group the Ink Spots. The Step Brothers were the featured dancers. Les Marcellis led an acrobat performance, Jay Marshall provided a stand-up comedy routine, and Eileen O���Dare performed as an acrobatic dancer surrounded by the navy audience. Sullivan spoke with navy Captain Wayne Loud, who then presented Sullivan with a caricature of Sullivan drawn by famed media layout artist Herb Hazelton, who also appeared.

C'est la plume qui fait le conte : "Die sechs Schw��ne" des fr��res Grimm et "De vilde Svaner" de Hans Christian Andersen

Dans De vilde Svaner (Les cygnes sauvages), conte des Eventyr, fortalte for B��rn (Contes, racont��s aux enfants), H. C. Andersen raconte une histoire tr��s proche de celle de Die sechs Schw��ne (Les six cygnes), des Kinder- und Hausm��rchen (Contes de l'enfance et du foyer) des Grimm. On peut fort justement se demander si l'auteur danois ne r����crit pas le M��rchen de 1812 lorsqu'il publie son eventyr, en 1838. Mais l'��tude de plusieurs r��cits d'enfants transform��s en cygnes - de l'histoire du septi��me sage du Dolopathos de Jean de Haute-Seille, �� la fin du xiie si��cle, et Die sieben Schw��ne, un Feen-M��rchen de 1801, �� De elleve Svaner de Winther, en 1823 - montre qu'Andersen r����crit vraisemblablement ce dernier texte danois et que le dialogue intertextuel avec les Grimm s'effectue sur un autre mode. L'auteur des Eventyr, fortalte for B��rn se positionne par rapport aux Kinder- und Hausm��rchen, d��veloppant ainsi une nouvelle conception du genre qui ressort de la comparaison des mani��res de raconter propres �� chaque auteur, leur plume. It is the pen which makes the tale. the Grimm brothers' Die sechs Schw��ne and Christian Andersen's De vilde Svaner In De vilde Svaner, a tale from Eventyr, fortale for B��rn, H. C. Andersen tells a story that is very close to that of Die sechs Schw��ne from the Grimms' Kinder- und Hausm��rchen. One could legitimately wonder whether the Danish author was inspired by the 1812 M��rchen when he published his own eventyr in 1838. The study of other narratives about children transformed into swans (including the story of the seventh wise man in Jean de Haute-Seille's Dolopathos at the end of the twelth century; Die sieben Schw��ne, a Feen-M��rchen from 1801; and Winther's 1823 De elleve Svaner) shows that Andersen rewrote this last Danish text and that the intertextual dialogue with the Grimms takes place at another level. Andersen distinguishes himself from the Grimms by developing a new conception of the genre, which becomes clear in his very different way of telling a tale.

Failure to thrive in a girl born into a family affected by familial dysalbuminemic hyperthyroxinemia

Autosomal dominant familial dysalbuminemic hyperthyroxinemia (FDH)is characterized by modified human serum albumin (HSA) inducing asubstantially higher affinity for thyroxine (T4). Histidin or prolinsubstitution on residue R218 produces localized conformationalchanges of HSA creating additional room for T4 binding, leadingto 14-20 fold normal total T4 (TT4) levels. Affected individuals areconsidered euthyroid. Our patient is an 18 months-old swiss girl bornto a mother known for the rare R218P mutation in the HSA gene.She presented with severe failure to thrive (height -2.92 SD, weight-3.6 SD), habitual hip dislocation without anatomical anomaly, latefontanelle closing and protruding ears. Psychomotor development isslightly retarded. Thyroid function testing confirmed extremely high TT4(1446.0 nmol/l) levels, which are similar to her brother's values (1534.4nmol/l and 1757.6 nmol/l respectively). Free T4 seems slightly elevated(26 pmol/l), probably due to methodological reasons. TSH (0.92 mU/l),free T3 (4.4 pmol/l) and thyroxin binding globulin (32 mg/l) are withinthe normal range. Her two half-brothers, affected by the samemutation, are now 18.7 (P1) and 16.6 (P2) years old and wereoriginally described by S. Pannain et al. in 2000. Both werecharacterized by growth retardation (-2.1 and -2.2 SD) before the ageof 4 years. P1 has reached a normal adult height (-0.4 SD) and P2has caught up to normal growth (-0.68 SD) with moderate bonematuration delay. Pubertal development and anterior pituitary functionare adequate. Primary growth and developmental retardation in thefirst years of life with adequate catch-up seem to be a distinctcharacteristic in FDH with R218P mutation. Hip dislocation is typicallyseen in other situations associated to thyroid disorders, like Downsyndrome. These findings might be explained by altered early thyroidhormone utilization in children with FDH.

Relacions especials entre germans

Aquest projecte tracta sobre la relaci�� entre germans quan un d���ells ��s discapacitat. Podr��em dir que la relaci�� que s���estableix entre ells ��s ���especial���? Aquesta ha estat la pregunta que m���ha portat a estudiar els diferents factors que influeixen en una relaci�� d���aquest tipus. Per tal de poder comprovar el que diuen els estudis fets fins al moment, he analitzat dos casos, tots dos amb contextos molt diferenciats, i n���he tret unes conclusions amb la finalitat de respondre a la pregunta inicial. Quan hi ha un fill amb discapacitat a la fam��lia, l���atenci�� que aquest requereix ��s tan gran que sovint els germans tenen la sensaci�� de sentir-se inferiors, culpables, etc. A tots aquests sentiments cal prestar-hi certa atenci�� de manera que la situaci�� no els sigui negativa. Els tallers de germans, organitzats per associacions i escoles especialitzades amb el tema, contribueixen a treballar amb tots aquests germans, els sentiments i les emocions i aix�� enfortir el vincle entre germans.

Dots i llegats dels Baldrich de Valls (1768-1863)

Aquest article presenta les dificultats que van haver d���afrontar entre 1768 i 1863 els hereus de la casa Baldrich de Valls per liquidar els dots i les deixes testament��ries. Anton Baldrich Janer va nomenar hereu el fill gran del primer matrimoni amb l���obligaci�� de pagar als seus germans i especialment als seus germanastres unes quantitats molt elevades de diners atorgats en un moment de grans expectatives econ��miques, gr��cies al comer�� amb Am��rica i el nord d���Europa. Durant la primera meitat del segle XIX, alguns anys de males collites, les cont��nues guerres i la independ��ncia de les col��nies americanes feren minvar els recursos i van afeblir la hisenda familiar. Els successius hereus maldaven per pagar les cont��nues reclamacions dels cabalers i les cabaleres de les diferents generacions, fet que els impedia invertir en noves empreses per tal d���ampliar i modernitzar els seus negocis. L���any 1863, el darrer hereu Baldrich va morir sense descend��ncia, havent pagat els darrers deutes familiars per�� sense haver creat nous horitzons per als seus successors.

Asphalt Emulsions for Highway Construction (Emulsion Seal Coat), HR-1028, 1980

For the past several year Kossuth County has had a scheduled maintenance program of bituminous seal coating. This program has been used to maintain the 467 miles of asphaltic concrete surfaced roads in Kossuth County. Since most of the experience that Kossuth County had in seal coating was with cutback asphalt, it was decided to include the use of emulsified asphalt in Kossuth County's 1980 seal coat program. Federal Demonstration Project Funds were requested from the Federal Highway Administration to study the use of emulsified asphalt and funding was granted under Demonstration Project No. 55,:Asphalt Emulsions for Highway Construction." Items studied were design and construction procedure cost of alternate material, energy consumption and environmental considerations. A construction contract was awarded to Everds Brothers, Inc. of Algona, Iowa, on July 1, 1980. There were four bidders on the 54.5 miles of seal coating that was let. A map showing the location of the seal coating projects is shown in Appendix A, and a copy of the contract is shown in Appendix B. The contractor started the project on July 11, 1980 and completed the project on August 1, 1980. Construction inspection and follow-up inspections of the project were conducted by personnel of the Kossuth County Engineer's Office and testing of the materials, friction testing and road rater testing were conducted by the Material's Department of the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Seitsem��n veljeksen pid��telty kansakunta

Suspending the nation in Aleksis Kivi's Seven brothers

Sex allocation conflict in ants: when the queen rules.

Insect societies are paramount examples of cooperation, yet they also harbor internal conflicts whose resolution depends on the power of the opponents. The male-haploid, female-diploid sex-determining system of ants causes workers to be more related to sisters than to brothers, whereas queens are equally related to daughters and sons. Workers should thus allocate more resources to females than to males, while queens should favor an equal investment in each sex. Female-biased sex allocation and manipulation of the sex ratio during brood development suggest that workers prevail in many ant species. Here, we show that queens of Formica selysi strongly influenced colony sex allocation by biasing the sex ratio of their eggs. Most colonies specialized in the production of a single sex. Queens in female-specialist colonies laid a high proportion of diploid eggs, whereas queens in male-specialist colonies laid almost exclusively haploid eggs, which constrains worker manipulation. However, the change in sex ratio between the egg and pupae stages suggests that workers eliminated some male brood, and the population sex-investment ratio was between the queens' and workers' equilibria. Altogether, these data provide evidence for an ongoing conflict between queens and workers, with a prominent influence of queens as a result of their control of egg sex ratio.

La vie "fantastique" des fr��res Grimm: une biographie fictive par Terry Gilliam

�� The Brothers Grimm �� (2005) n'est pas un biopic de Terry Gilliam sur Jacob et Wilhelm Grimm, auteurs du c��l��bre livre Contes de l'enfance et du foyer (Kinder- und Hausm��rchen, 1812), mais un film fantastique s'inspirant du monde merveilleux associ�� �� leurs noms. Cet article ��tudie la mani��re dont les auteurs allemands et leurs textes sont repr��sent��s dans le film, souvent au travers de ph��nom��nes de r��ception dus en grande partie aux adaptations pour enfants, �� l'instar des dessins anim��s de Walt Disney. Il analyse ensuite la fa��on dont l'intrigue convoque le genre du conte de f��es tout en exploitant les codes du film fantastique, et d��crit la mise en sc��ne de l'��criture et de l'objet livre qui fait de The Brothers Grimm une sorte de r��cit de la gen��se des Contes de l'enfance et du foyer.

Arquitectura y urbanismo en la conturbaci��n barcelonesa. Ramon Puig Gairalt arquitecto municipal de l'Hospitalet de Llobregat (1912-1937)

[spa]En este art��culo planteamos que significaron los trabajos de los arquitectos Ramon y Antoni Puig Gairalt, que abarcan desde la primera d��cada del siglo XX hasta el a��o 1937 y que a��n perviven en muchas de las localidades del territorio catal��n donde intervinieron. Hablamos en plural de los Puig Gairalt porque fueron dos hermanos, Ramon y Antoni, aunque en L'Hospitalet de Llobregat las intervencions corresponden mayoritariamente a Ramon Puig Gairalt. En la actualidad muchas de las obras perduran y, como valores patrimoniales, han llegado hasta nosotros. Como es bien sabido, el patrimonio de muchas poblaciones y ciudades forma parte de la memoria con la que una colectividad se identifica. A lo largo del tiempo, han ido conformando su paisaje urbano y cualquier colectividad que transita por su territorio, establece un v��nculo muy directo sea ��ste o no de car��cter monumental porque de hecho se ha convertido en signo de su identidad.

Dysfunctional SEMA3E signaling underlies gonadotropin-releasing hormone neuron deficiency in Kallmann syndrome.

Individuals with an inherited deficiency in gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) have impaired sexual reproduction. Previous genetic linkage studies and sequencing of plausible gene candidates have identified mutations associated with inherited GnRH deficiency, but the small number of affected families and limited success in validating candidates have impeded genetic diagnoses for most patients. Using a combination of exome sequencing and computational modeling, we have identified a shared point mutation in semaphorin 3E (SEMA3E) in 2 brothers with Kallmann syndrome (KS), which causes inherited GnRH deficiency. Recombinant wild-type SEMA3E protected maturing GnRH neurons from cell death by triggering a plexin D1-dependent (PLXND1-dependent) activation of PI3K-mediated survival signaling. In contrast, recombinant SEMA3E carrying the KS-associated mutation did not protect GnRH neurons from death. In murine models, lack of either SEMA3E or PLXND1 increased apoptosis of GnRH neurons in the developing brain, reducing innervation of the adult median eminence by GnRH-positive neurites. GnRH neuron deficiency in male mice was accompanied by impaired testes growth, a characteristic feature of KS. Together, these results identify SEMA3E as an essential gene for GnRH neuron development, uncover a neurotrophic function for SEMA3E in the developing brain, and elucidate SEMA3E/PLXND1/PI3K signaling as a mechanism that prevents GnRH neuron deficiency.