Bilaterian Hox genes play pivotal roles in the specification of positional identities along the anteroposterior axis. Particularly in vertebrates, their regulation is tightly coordinated by tandem arrays of genes [paralogy groups (PGs)] in four gene clusters (HoxA-D). Traditionally, the uninterrupted Hox cluster (Hox1-14) of the invertebrate chordate amphioxus was regarded as an archetype of theve

Background: Whole genome sequences have allowed us to have an overview of the evolution of gene repertoires. The target of the present study, the TGFβ superfamily, contains many genes involved in vertebrate development, and provides an ideal system to explore the relationships between evolution of gene repertoires and that of developmental programs.Results: As a result of a bioinformatic survey of

The functional equivalence of Pax6/eyeless genes across distantly related animal phyla has been one of central findings on which evo-devo studies is based. In this study, we show that Pax4, in addition to Pax6, is a vertebrate ortholog of the fly eyeless gene (and its duplicate, twin of eyeless [toy] gene, unique to Insecta). Molecular phylogenetic trees published to date placed the Pax4 gene outs

We have recently shown that the human Nuclear pore-associated protein (NPAP1)/C15orf2 gene encodes a nuclear pore-associated protein. This gene is one of several paternally expressed imprinted genes in the genomic region 15q11q13. Because the Prader–Willi syndrome is known to be caused by the loss of function of paternally expressed genes in 15q11q13, a phenotypic contribution of NPAP1 cannot be e

The ectodermal neural cortex (ENC) gene family, whose members are implicated in neurogenesis, is part of the kelch repeat superfamily. To date, ENC genes have been identified only in osteichthyans, although other kelch repeat-containing genes are prevalent throughout bilaterians. The lack of elaborate molecular phylogenetic analysis with exhaustive taxon sampling has obscured the possible link of

The discovery of a living coelacanth specimen in 1938 was remarkable, as this lineage of lobe-finned fish was thought to have become extinct 70 million years ago. The modern coelacanth looks remarkably similar to many of its ancient relatives, and its evolutionary proximity to our own fish ancestors provides a glimpse of the fish that first walked on land. Here we report the genome sequence of the

How the patterns of niche occupancy vary from species-poor to species-rich communities is a fundamental question in ecology that has a central bearing on the processes that drive patterns of biodiversity. As species richness increases, habitat filtering should constrain the expansion of total niche volume, while limiting similarity should restrict the degree of niche overlap between species. Here,

Background: Pelvic exenteration for locally recurrent rectal cancer (LRRC) is associated with variable outcomes, with the majority of data from single-centre series. This study analysed data from an international collaboration to determine robust parameters that could inform clinical decision-making. Methods: Anonymized data on patients who had pelvic exenteration for LRRC between 2004 and 2014 we

Due to its element and site specificity, inner-shell photoelectron spectroscopy is a widely used technique to probe the chemical structure of matter. Here, we show that time-resolved inner-shell photoelectron spectroscopy can be employed to observe ultrafast chemical reactions and the electronic response to the nuclear motion with high sensitivity. The ultraviolet dissociation of iodomethane (CH3I

β-Mannanases catalyze the conversion and modification of β-mannans and may, in addition to hydrolysis, also be capable of transglycosylation which can result in enzymatic synthesis of novel glycoconjugates. Using alcohols as glycosyl acceptors (alcoholysis), β-mannanases can potentially be used to synthesize alkyl glycosides, biodegradable surfactants, from renewable β-mannans. In this paper, we i

There has been widespread recognition in the Global South of the role of participatory governance approaches to urban development in responding to citizens’ immediate concerns. However, critiques note that participatory initiatives are often avenues for the political and economic elite to ensure their interests and profits, rather than improving the livelihoods in non- serviced urban peripheries.

In the pp→tt¯ process the angular distributions of top and anti-top quarks are expected to present a subtle difference, which could be enhanced by processes not included in the Standard Model. This Letter presents a measurement of the charge asymmetry in events where the top-quark pair is produced with a large invariant mass. The analysis is performed on 20.3 fb−1 of pp collision data at s=8TeV co

The purpose of this research is to explore how a stakeholder interaction perspective can add to the understanding of the dynamics of the process of corporate social responsibility (CSR) development in retail buyer–supplier relationships. Firstly, we find that interaction with suppliers and other stakeholders seems to have a pivotal role in the development towards sustainable retail supply chains.

This paper discusses various observations on beam-induced and cosmic-ray backgrounds in the ATLAS detector during the LHC 2012 proton-proton run. Building on published results based on 2011 data, the correlations between background and residual pressure of the beam vacuum are revisited. Ghost charge evolution over 2012 and its role for backgrounds are evaluated. New methods to monitor ghost charge

A system for local oscillator (LO) signal generation in 5G millimeter-wave (mmW) multi-antenna transceivers is presented. The system is modular with one phase locked loop (PLL) per antenna element transceiver, and a test circuit implemented in 28-nm fully depleted silicon on insulator (FD-SOI) CMOS features two such PLLs and a 491.52 MHz crystal oscillator (XO) generating a common frequency refere

Abstract: Cellulose gelation in 2 M NaOH aqueous solution was followed by time resolved turbidity and rheology measurements. The kinetics of gelation is observed to change from several hours down to few seconds when the temperature is increased from 25 to 30 °C. The increase of turbidity upon gelation demonstrates the formation of larger cellulose aggregates, while wide angle X-ray scattering data

To capture immediate cellular changes during diet-induced expansion of adipocyte cell volume and number, we characterized mature adipocytes during a short-term high-fat diet (HFD) intervention. Male C57BL6/J mice were fed chow diet, and then switched to HFD for 2, 4, 6 or 14 days. Systemic glucose clearance was assessed by glucose tolerance test. Adipose tissue was dissected for RNA-seq and cell s

Lack of reliable information on the status of species often leads managers to exclusively rely on experiential knowledge, opinions or perceptions, usually derived from personnel associated with natural resource management agencies. Yet, the accuracy of these sources of information remains largely untested. We approached this challenge, which is particularly common for wildlife monitoring programs