The taxonomic status of the endangered thin-spined porcupine, Chaetomys subspinosus (Olfers, 1818), based on molecular and karyologic data

Background: The thin-spined porcupine, also known as the bristle-spined rat, Chaetomys subspinosus (Olfers, 1818), the only member of its genus, figures among Brazilian endangered species. In addition to being threatened, it is poorly known, and even its taxonomic status at the family level has long been controversial. The genus Chaetomys was originally regarded as a porcupine in the family Erethizontidae, but some authors classified it as a spiny-rat in the family Echimyidae. Although the dispute seems to be settled in favor of the erethizontid advocates, further discussion of its affinities should be based on a phylogenetic framework. In the present study, we used nucleotide-sequence data from the complete mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and karyotypic information to address this issue. Our molecular analyses included one individual of Chaetomys subspinosus from the state of Bahia in northeastern Brazil, and other hystricognaths. Results: All topologies recovered in our molecular phylogenetic analyses strongly supported Chaetomys subspinosus as a sister clade of the erethizontids. Cytogenetically, Chaetomys subspinosus showed 2n = 52 and FN = 76. Although the sexual pair could not be identified, we assumed that the X chromosome is biarmed. The karyotype included 13 large to medium metacentric and submetacentric chromosome pairs, one small subtelocentric pair, and 12 small acrocentric pairs. The subtelocentric pair 14 had a terminal secondary constriction in the short arm, corresponding to the nucleolar organizer region (Ag-NOR), similar to the erethizontid Sphiggurus villosus, 2n = 42 and FN = 76, and different from the echimyids, in which the secondary constriction is interstitial. Conclusion: Both molecular phylogenies and karyotypical evidence indicated that Chaetomys is closely related to the Erethizontidae rather than to the Echimyidae, although in a basal position relative to the rest of the Erethizontidae. The high levels of molecular and morphological divergence suggest that Chaetomys belongs to an early radiation of the Erethizontidae that may have occurred in the Early Miocene, and should be assigned to its own subfamily, the Chaetomyinae.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY AND FUNCTIONAL MATURITY IN FEMALES OF AEGLA FRANCA (DECAPODA: ANOMURA: AEGLIDAE)

We describe the reproductive period. fecundity, and average size at the onset of functional maturity of female Aegla franca, the northernmost distributed aeglid species. The reproductive period is markedly seasonal and takes place front May (austral mid-autumn) to August (late winter). Ovigerous females appear quite abruptly in the population by May, and this condition is observed in all adult females sampled regardless of their size. The average size at the onset of functional maturity in females, at which 50% of the females sampled during the reproductive period were considered adults, was 12.75 mm CL. The smallest post-ovigerous female measured 12.06 mm carapace length (CL). Mean fecundity (+/- S.D.) from 41 females bearing early and intermediate eggs was 129.1 +/- 32.2 and corresponded to a mean female CL of 14.11 mm. The elliptical-shaped eggs exhibited significant increase in size along the development stages. The third pair of pleopods bore higher number of eggs than the others. Compiled information regarding the reproductive period reported for aeglids revealed all increase in the breeding period length with latitude. The reproductive period tends to be shorter in localities under larger rainfall variation and smaller temperature variability than in sites with opposite climate conditions. Eggs tend to be fewer in number and larger in size towards lower latitudes. We present an hypothesis that stream water velocity might act as a major selective pressure during the early life history of fluvial aeglids with direct effect on the reproductive pattern.

ALLOMETRIC GROWTH, SEXUAL MATURITY, AND ADULT MALE CHELAE DIMORPHISM IN AEGLA FRANCA (DECAPODA: ANOMURA: AEGLIDAE)

Allometric growth analysis on chelac dimensions vs. carapace length (CL) was employed to estimate average size at the onset of morphometric maturity (= puberty molt) and sexual dimorphism regarding the pair of chelae in Aegla franca. Males attain morphometric maturity (12.15 mm of CL) at a larger size than females (10.93 mm of CL). After the puberty molt, an additional change in the allometry level regarding chelae dimensions was detected in adult males (average CL = 19.00 mm). As a result, two sequential morphotype groups of adult males, herein designated as morphotype I and morphotype II, were recognized according to the state of development of the pair of claws. We postulate that the second change in this allometry level is related to functional maturity in this sex, based on the following observations: 1) temporal variation in the proportion between the two morphotype groups reveals that morphotype II individuals make up most of adult males in the population at the beginning of the seasonal reproductive period of the species, and 2) morphotype II males show a more robust pair of claws as compared to the predecessor morphotype, which might represent an advantageous trait in reproductive competition. Males and females of Aegla franca are heterochelous with handedness preponderance of the left chela. Claw size is a distinct dimorphic trait in this species, being significantly larger in male specimens.

Var transcription profiling of Plasmodium falciparum 3D7: assignment of cytoadherent phenotypes to dominant transcripts

Background: Cytoadherence of Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells is mediated by var gene-encoded P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein-1 and host receptor preference depends in most cases on which of the 50-60 var genes per genome is expressed. Enrichment of phenotypically homogenous parasites by panning on receptor expressing cells is fundamental for the identification of the corresponding var transcript. Methods: P. falciparum 3D7 parasites were panned on several transfected CHO-cell lines and their var transcripts analysed by i) reverse transcription/PCR/cloning/sequencing using a universal DBL alpha specific oligonucleotide pair and ii) by reverse transcription followed by quantitative PCR using 57 different oligonucleotide pairs. Results: Each cytoadherence selected parasite line also adhered to untransfected CHO-745 cells and upregulation of the var gene PFD995/PFD1000c was consistently associated with cytoadherence to all but one CHO cell line. In addition, parasites panned on different CHO cell lines revealed candidate var genes which reproducibly associated to the respective cytoadherent phenotype. The transcription profile obtained by RT-PCR/cloning/sequencing differed significantly from that of RT-quantitative PCR. Conclusion: Transfected CHO cell lines are of limited use for the creation of monophenotypic cytoadherent parasite lines. Nevertheless, 3D7 parasites can be reproducibly selected for the transcription of different determined var genes without genetic manipulation. Most importantly, var transcription analysis by RT-PCR/cloning/sequencing may lead to erroneous interpretation of var transcription profiles.

Multistability and Self-Similarity in the Parameter-Space of a Vibro-Impact System

The dynamics of a dissipative vibro-impact system called impact-pair is investigated. This system is similar to Fermi-Ulam accelerator model and consists of an oscillating one-dimensional box containing a point mass moving freely between successive inelastic collisions with the rigid walls of the box. In our numerical simulations, we observed multistable regimes, for which the corresponding basins of attraction present a quite complicated structure with smooth boundary. In addition, we characterize the system in a two-dimensional parameter space by using the largest Lyapunov exponents, identifying self-similar periodic sets. Copyright (C) 2009 Silvio L.T. de Souza et al.

Synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy studies on nanocrystalline ZrO(2)-CaO solid solutions

The crystal structure and the local atomic order of a series of nanocrystalline ZrO(2)-CaO solid solutions with varying CaO content were studied by synchrotron radiation X-ray powder diffraction and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. These samples were synthesized by a pH-controlled nitrate-glycine gel-combustion process. For CaO contents up to 8 mol%, the t' form of the tetragonal phase (c/a > 1) was identified, whereas for 10 and 12 mol% CaO, the t '' form (c/a=1; oxygen anions displaced from their ideal positions in the cubic phase) was detected. Finally, the cubic phase was observed for solid solutions with CaO content of 14 mol% CaO or higher. The t'/t '' and t ''/cubic compositional boundaries were determined to be at 9 (1) and 13 (1) mol% CaO, respectively. The EXAFS study demonstrated that this transition is related to a tetragonal-to-cubic symmetry change of the first oxygen coordination shell around the Zr atoms.

Hidden vorticity in binary Bose-Einstein condensates

We consider a binary Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) described by a system of two-dimensional (2D) Gross-Pitaevskii equations with the harmonic-oscillator trapping potential. The intraspecies interactions are attractive, while the interaction between the species may have either sign. The same model applies to the copropagation of bimodal beams in photonic-crystal fibers. We consider a family of trapped hidden-vorticity (HV) modes in the form of bound states of two components with opposite vorticities S(1,2) = +/- 1, the total angular momentum being zero. A challenging problem is the stability of the HV modes. By means of a linear-stability analysis and direct simulations, stability domains are identified in a relevant parameter plane. In direct simulations, stable HV modes feature robustness against large perturbations, while unstable ones split into fragments whose number is identical to the azimuthal index of the fastest growing perturbation eigenmode. Conditions allowing for the creation of the HV modes in the experiment are discussed too. For comparison, a similar but simpler problem is studied in an analytical form, viz., the modulational instability of an HV state in a one-dimensional (1D) system with periodic boundary conditions (this system models a counterflow in a binary BEC mixture loaded into a toroidal trap or a bimodal optical beam coupled into a cylindrical shell). We demonstrate that the stabilization of the 1D HV modes is impossible, which stresses the significance of the stabilization of the HV modes in the 2D setting.

Search for the rare decay K(L)->pi(0)pi(0)gamma

The KTeV E799 experiment has conducted a search for the rare decay K(L)->pi(0)pi(0)gamma via the topology K(L)->pi(0)pi(0)(D)gamma (where pi(0)(D)->gamma e(+)e(-)). Because of Bose statistics of the pi(0) pair and the real nature of the photon, the K(L)->pi(0)pi(0)gamma decay is restricted to proceed at lowest order by the CP conserving direct emission (DE) of an E2 electric quadrupole photon. The rate of this decay is interesting theoretically since chiral perturbation theory predicts that this process vanishes at level O(p(4)). Therefore, this mode probes chiral perturbation theory at O(p(6)). In this paper we report a determination of an upper limit of 2.43x10(-7) (90% CL) for K(L)->pi(0)pi(0)gamma. This is approximately a factor of 20 lower than previous results.

Formation of vortices in a dense Bose-Einstein condensate

A relaxation method is employed to study a rotating dense Bose-Einstein condensate beyond the Thomas-Fermi approximation. We use a slave-boson model to describe the strongly interacting condensate and derive a generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equation with a kinetic term for the rotating condensate. In comparison with previous calculations, based on the Thomas-Fermi approximation, significant improvements are found in regions where the condensate in a trap potential is not smooth. The critical angular velocity of the vortex formation is higher than in the Thomas-Fermi prediction.

Transverse momentum dependence of J/psi polarization at midrapidity in p plus p collisions at root s=200 GeV

We report the measurement of the transverse momentum dependence of inclusive J/psi polarization in p + p collisions at root s = 200 GeV performed by the PHENIX Experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The J/psi polarization is studied in the helicity, Gottfried-Jackson, and Collins-Soper frames for p(T) < 5 GeV/c and vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.35. The polarization in the helicity and Gottfried-Jackson frames is consistent with zero for all transverse momenta, with a slight (1.8 sigma) trend towards longitudinal polarization for transverse momenta above 2 GeV/c. No conclusion is allowed due to the limited acceptance in the Collins-Soper frame and the uncertainties of the current data. The results are compared to observations for other collision systems and center of mass energies and to different quarkonia production models.

Suppression of away-side jet fragments with respect to the reaction plane in Au plus Au collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

Pair correlations between large transverse momentum neutral pion triggers (p(T) = 4-7 GeV/c) and charged hadron partners (p(T) = 3-7 GeV/c) in central (0%-20%) and midcentral (20%-60%) Au + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV are presented as a function of trigger orientation with respect to the reaction plane. The particles are at larger momentum than where jet shape modifications have been observed, and the correlations are sensitive to the energy loss of partons traveling through hot densematter. An out-of-plane trigger particle produces only 26 +/- 20% of the away-side pairs that are observed opposite of an in-plane trigger particle for midcentral (20%-60%) collisions. In contrast, near-side jet fragments are consistent with no suppression or dependence on trigger orientation with respect to the reaction plane. These observations are qualitatively consistent with a picture of little near-side parton energy loss either due to surface bias or fluctuations and increased away-side parton energy loss due to a long path through the medium. The away-side suppression as a function of reaction-plane angle is shown to be sensitive to both the energy loss mechanism and the space-time evolution of heavy-ion collisions.

Photon-hadron jet correlations in p plus p and Au plus Au collisions at s(NN)=200 GeV

We report the observation at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider of suppression of back-to-back correlations in the direct photon+jet channel in Au+Au relative to p+p collisions. Two-particle correlations of direct photon triggers with associated hadrons are obtained by statistical subtraction of the decay photon-hadron (gamma-h) background. The initial momentum of the away-side parton is tightly constrained, because the parton-photon pair exactly balance in momentum at leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics, making such correlations a powerful probe of the in-medium parton energy loss. The away-side nuclear suppression factor, I(AA), in central Au+Au collisions, is 0.32 +/- 0.12(stat)+/- 0.09(syst) for hadrons of 3 < p(T)(h)< 5 in coincidence with photons of 5 < p(T)(gamma)< 15 GeV/c. The suppression is comparable to that observed for high-p(T) single hadrons and dihadrons. The direct photon associated yields in p+p collisions scale approximately with the momentum balance, z(T)equivalent to p(T)(h)/p(T)(gamma), as expected for a measurement of the away-side parton fragmentation function. We compare to Au+Au collisions for which the momentum balance dependence of the nuclear modification should be sensitive to the path-length dependence of parton energy loss.

Role of noise in population dynamics cycles

Noise is an intrinsic feature of population dynamics and plays a crucial role in oscillations called phase-forgetting quasicycles by converting damped into sustained oscillations. This function of noise becomes evident when considering Langevin equations whose deterministic part yields only damped oscillations. We formulate here a consistent and systematic approach to population dynamics, leading to a Fokker-Planck equation and the associate Langevin equations in accordance with this conceptual framework, founded on stochastic lattice-gas models that describe spatially structured predator-prey systems. Langevin equations in the population densities and predator-prey pair density are derived in two stages. First, a birth-and-death stochastic process in the space of prey and predator numbers and predator-prey pair number is obtained by a contraction method that reduces the degrees of freedom. Second, a van Kampen expansion in the inverse of system size is then performed to get the Fokker-Planck equation. We also study the time correlation function, the asymptotic behavior of which is used to characterize the transition from the cyclic coexistence of species to the ordinary coexistence.

The isotropic nuclear magnetic shielding constants of acetone in supercritical water: A sequential Monte Carlo/quantum mechanics study including solute polarization

The nuclear isotropic shielding constants sigma((17)O) and sigma((13)C) of the carbonyl bond of acetone in water at supercritical (P=340.2 atm and T=673 K) and normal water conditions have been studied theoretically using Monte Carlo simulation and quantum mechanics calculations based on the B3LYP/6-311++G(2d,2p) method. Statistically uncorrelated configurations have been obtained from Monte Carlo simulations with unpolarized and in-solution polarized solute. The results show that solvent effects on the shielding constants have a significant contribution of the electrostatic interactions and that quantitative estimates for solvent shifts of shielding constants can be obtained modeling the water molecules by point charges (electrostatic embedding). In supercritical water, there is a decrease in the magnitude of sigma((13)C) but a sizable increase in the magnitude of sigma((17)O) when compared with the results obtained in normal water. It is found that the influence of the solute polarization is mild in the supercritical regime but it is particularly important for sigma((17)O) in normal water and its shielding effect reflects the increase in the average number of hydrogen bonds between acetone and water. Changing the solvent environment from normal to supercritical water condition, the B3LYP/6-311++G(2d,2p) calculations on the statistically uncorrelated configurations sampled from the Monte Carlo simulation give a (13)C chemical shift of 11.7 +/- 0.6 ppm for polarized acetone in good agreement with the experimentally inferred result of 9-11 ppm. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Dihadron azimuthal correlations in Au+Au collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

Azimuthal angle (Delta phi) correlations are presented for a broad range of transverse momentum (0.4 < p(T) < 10 GeV/c) and centrality (0-92%) selections for charged hadrons from dijets in Au+Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV. With increasing p(T), the away-side Delta phi distribution evolves from a broad and relatively flat shape to a concave shape, then to a convex shape. Comparisons with p + p data suggest that the away-side distribution can be divided into a partially suppressed ""head"" region centered at Delta phi similar to pi, and an enhanced ""shoulder"" region centered at Delta phi similar to pi +/- 1.1. The p(T) spectrum for the associated hadrons in the head region softens toward central collisions. The spectral slope for the shoulder region is independent of centrality and trigger p(T). The properties of the near-side distributions are also modified relative to those in p + p collisions, reflected by the broadening of the jet shape in Delta phi and Delta eta, and an enhancement of the per-trigger yield. However, these modifications seem to be limited to p(T)less than or similar to 4 GeV/c, above which both the hadron pair shape and per-trigger yield become similar to p + p collisions. These observations suggest that both the away- and near-side distributions contain a jet fragmentation component which dominates for p(T) greater than or similar to 5 GeV/c and a medium-induced component which is important for p(T) less than or similar to 4 GeV/c. We also quantify the role of jets at intermediate and low p(T) through the yield of jet-induced pairs in comparison with binary scaled p + p pair yield. The yield of jet-induced pairs is suppressed at high pair proxy energy (sum of the p(T) magnitudes of the two hadrons) and is enhanced at low pair proxy energy. The former is consistent with jet quenching; the latter is consistent with the enhancement of soft hadron pairs due to transport of lost energy to lower p(T).