The blood feeding vampire bats emerged from New World leaf-nosed bats that fed on fruit and insects. Plasminogen activator,
a serine protease that regulates blood coagulation, is known to be expressed in the saliva of Desmodus rotundus (common vampire bat) and is thought to be a key enzyme for the emergence of blood feeding in vampire bats. To better understand
the evolution of this biological function, we studied the plasminogen activator (PA) genes from all vampire bat species in
light of their feeding transition to bird and subsequently mammalian blood. We include the rare species Diphylla ecaudata and Diaemus youngi, where plasminogen activator had not previously been studied and demonstrate that PA gene duplication observed in Desmodus is not essential to the vampire phenotype, but relates to the emergence of predominant mammalian blood feeding in this species.
Plasminogen activator has evolved through gene duplication, domain loss, and sequence evolution leading to change in fibrin-specificity
and susceptibility to plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. Before undertaking this study, only the four plasminogen activator
isoforms from Desmodus were known. The evolution of vampire bat plasminogen activators can now be linked phylogenetically to the transition in feeding
behavior among vampire bat species from bird to mammalian blood.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. 相似文献
Adult tabanid flies (horseflies and deerflies) are terrestrial and lay their eggs onto marsh plants near bodies of fresh water
because the larvae develop in water or mud. To know how tabanids locate their host animals, terrestrial rendezvous sites and
egg-laying places would be very useful for control measures against them, because the hematophagous females are primary/secondary
vectors of some severe animal/human diseases/parasites. Thus, in choice experiments performed in the field we studied the
behavior of tabanids governed by linearly polarized light. We present here evidence for positive polarotaxis, i.e., attraction
to horizontally polarized light stimulating the ventral eye region, in both males and females of 27 tabanid species. The novelty
of our findings is that positive polarotaxis has been described earlier only in connection with the water detection of some
aquatic insects ovipositing directly into water. A further particularity of our discovery is that in the order Diptera and
among blood-sucking insects the studied tabanids are the first known species possessing ventral polarization vision and definite
polarization-sensitive behavior with known functions. The polarotaxis in tabanid flies makes it possible to develop new optically
luring traps being more efficient than the existing ones based on the attraction of tabanids by the intensity and/or color
of reflected light. 相似文献
Objective: The lower extremity of the occupant represents the most frequently injured body region in motor vehicle crashes. Knee airbags (KABs) have been implemented as a potential countermeasure to reduce lower extremity injuries. Despite the increasing prevalence of KABs in vehicles, the biomechanical interaction of the human lower extremity with the KAB has not been well characterized. This study uses computational models of the human body and KABs to explore how KAB design may influence the impact response of the occupant's lower extremities.
Methods: The analysis was conducted using a 50th percentile male occupant human body model with deployed KABs in a simplified vehicle interior. The 2 common KAB design types, bottom-deploy KAB (BKAB) and rear-deploy KAB (RKAB), were both included. A state-of-the-art airbag modeling technique, the corpuscular particle method, was adopted to represent the deployment dynamics of the unfolding airbags. Validation of the environment model was performed based on previously reported test results. The kinematic responses of the occupant lower extremities were compared under both KAB designs, 2 seating configurations (in-position and out-of-position), and 3 loading conditions (static, frontal, and oblique impacts). A linear statistical model was used to assess factor significance considering the impact responses of the occupant lower extremities.
Results: The presence of a KAB had a significant influence on the lower extremity kinematics compared to no KAB (P <.05) by providing early restraint and distributing contact force on the legs during airbag deployment. For in-position occupants, the KAB generally tended to decrease tibia loadings. The RKAB led to greater lateral motion of the legs compared to the BKAB, resulting in higher lateral displacement at the knee joint and abduction angle change (51.2 ± 21.7 mm and 15° ± 6.0°) over the dynamic loading conditions. Change in the seating position led to a significant difference in occupant kinematic and kinetic parameters (P <.05). For the out-of-position (forward-seated) occupant, the earlier contact between the lower extremity and the deploying KAB resulted in 28.4° ± 5.8° greater abduction, regardless of crash scenarios. Both KAB types reduced the axial force in the femur relative to no KAB. Overall, the out-of-position occupant sustained a raised axial force and bending moment of the tibia by 0.8 ± 0.2 kN and 21.1 ± 8.7 Nm regardless of restraint use.
Conclusions: The current study provided a preliminary computational examination on KAB designs based on a limited set of configurations in an idealized vehicle interior. Results suggested that the BKAB tended to provide more coverage and less leg abduction compared to the RKAB in oblique impact and/or the selected out-of-position scenario. An out-of-position occupant was associated with larger abduction and lower extremity loads over all occupant configurations. Further investigations are recommended to obtain a full understanding of the KAB performance in a more realistic vehicle environment. 相似文献
This paper describes the MICORE approach to quantify for nine field sites the crucial storm related physical hazards (hydrodynamic as well as morphodynamic) in support of early warning efforts and emergency response.As a first step historical storms that had a significant morphological impact on a representative number of sensitive European coastal stretches were reviewed and analysed in order to understand storm related morphological changes and how often they occur around Europe. Next, an on-line storm prediction system was set up to enable prediction of storm related hydro- and morphodynamic impacts. The system makes use of existing off-the-shelf models as well as a new open-source morphological model. To validate the models at least one year of fieldwork was done at nine pilot sites. The data was safeguarded and stored for future use in an open database that conforms to the OpenEarth protocols.To translate quantitative model results to useful information for Civil Protection agencies the Frame of Reference approach (
[Van Koningsveld et al., 2005]
and
[Van Koningsveld et al., 2007]
) was used to derive Storm Impact Indicators (SIIs) for relevant decision makers. The acquired knowledge is expected to be directly transferred to the civil society trough partnerships with end-users at the end of the MICORE project. 相似文献
To study mitigation and adaptation to climate change, social scientists have drawn on different approaches, particularly sociological approaches to the future and comparative history of past societies. These two approaches frame the social and temporal boundaries of decision-making collectivities in different ways. A consideration of the responses to climate variability in three historical cases, the Classic Maya of Mexico and Central America, the Viking settlements in Greenland, and the US Dust Bowl, shows the value of integrating these two approaches. 相似文献
Lessons learned from more than 150 years of public health research and intervention can provide insights to guide public health
professionals and institutions as they design and implement specific strategies, policies, and measures to increase resilience
to climate variability and change. This paper identifies both some modifications to public health systems that may enhance
adaptive capacity, and lessons drawn from the history of managing environmental and other threats in the public health sector
that may have relevance for other sectors as they design approaches to increase their adaptive capacity to more effectively
cope with climate variability and change.
The views expressed are the author’s own and do not represent official US EPA policy. 相似文献
Climate change effects are becoming evident worldwide, with serious regional and local impacts. The European Union (EU) has launched and developed initiatives and policies that scratch the surface of water resources impacts. This article presents an introduction of the existing environmental policy and more concisely in the areas of climate change and the interactions with water resources. It also addresses main management tools, and plans linked to policies, recent updates on the Science–Policy Interface, highlighting major results from research and development projects. Establishing appropriate policies to tackle climate change impacts on water is essential given the cross-sectorial and flowing nature and the importance of water in all environmental, social and economic sectors. There are still some pending reviews and updates in the current EU policy and its implementation, as well as at the national level in Spain. This article identifies existing gaps, and provides recommendations on how and where reforms could take place and be applied by decision makers in the water policy sector. 相似文献