Search results for "clock"
showing 10 items of 230 documents
Monte Carlo simulation in phylogenies: an application to test the constancy of evolutionary rates.
1994
Monte Carlo simulation has commonly been used in phylogenetic studies to test different tree-reconstruction methods, and consequently, its application for testing evolutionary models can be considered as a natural extension of this usage. Repetitive simulation of a given evolutionary process, under the restrictions imposed by the model to be tested, along a determinate tree topology allow the estimate of probability distributions for the desired parameters. Next, the phylogenetic tree can be reconstructed again without the constraints of the model, and the parameter of interest, derived from this tree, can be compared to the corresponding probability distribution derived from the restricted…
Indoor artificial lighting: Prediction of the circadian effects of different spectral power distributions.
2014
The study presented in this paper aims to evaluate if and how the environment affects the circadian impact of a light source by predicting circadian stimulus (CS) resulting from the exposure to different light scenes, using equations reported in studies by Rea et al. The main findings are: (1) Above 600 lx at eye level the increase of CS is little; (2) Between 50 lx and 200 lx at the eye level an increase of only 50 lx determines a significant increase of CS; (3) Light sources with correlated colour temperatures between 2900 K and 4200 K have similar impacts on the circadian system according to the calculation method used; (4) Even an almost neutral environment affects the circadian impact…
Flies in the north: locomotor behavior and clock neuron organization of Drosophila montana.
2012
The circadian clock plays an important role in adaptation in time and space by synchronizing changes in physiological, developmental, and behavioral traits of organisms with daily and seasonal changes in their environment. We have studied some features of the circadian activity and clock organization in a northern Drosophila species, Drosophila montana, at both the phenotypic and the neuronal levels. In the first part of the study, we monitored the entrained and free-running locomotor activity rhythms of females in different light-dark and temperature regimes. These studies showed that D. montana flies completely lack the morning activity component typical to more southern Drosophila speci…
Photosensitive Alternative Splicing of the Circadian Clock Gene timeless Is Population Specific in a Cold-Adapted Fly, Drosophila montana.
2018
To function properly, organisms must adjust their physiology, behavior and metabolism in response to a suite of varying environmental conditions. One of the central regulators of these changes is organisms' internal circadian clock, and recent evidence has suggested that the clock genes are also important in the regulation of seasonal adjustments. In particular, thermosensitive splicing of the core clock gene <i>timeless</i> in a cosmopolitan fly, <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> , has implicated this gene to be involved in thermal adaptation. To further investigate this link we examined the splicing of <i>timeless</i> in a northern malt fly species, <i&…
Molecular phylogeny of the Notostraca
2012
Abstract We used a combined analysis of one nuclear (28S rDNA) and three mitochondrial markers (COI, 12S rDNA, 16S rDNA) to infer the molecular phylogeny of the Notostraca, represented by samples from the six continents that are inhabited by this group of branchiopod crustaceans. Our results confirm the monophyly of both extant notostracan genera Triops and Lepidurus with good support in model based and maximum parsimony analyses. We used branchiopod fossils as a calibration to infer divergence times among notostracan lineages and accounted for rate heterogeneity among lineages by applying relaxed-clock models. Our divergence date estimates indicate an initial diversification into the gener…
Electron-nuclear decoupling at a spin clock transition
2023
The ability to design quantum systems that decouple from environmental noise sources is highly desirable for development of quantum technologies with optimal coherence. The chemical tunability of electronic states in magnetic molecules combined with advanced electron spin resonance techniques provides excellent opportunities to address this problem. Indeed, so-called clock transitions have been shown to protect molecular spin qubits from magnetic noise, giving rise to significantly enhanced coherence. Here we conduct a spectroscopic and computational investigation of this physics, focusing on the role of the nuclear bath. Away from the clock transition, linear coupling to the nuclear degree…
CLOCK gene variation is associated with incidence of type‑2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in type‑2 diabetic subjects: dietary modulation in t…
2016
Background: Circadian rhythms regulate key biological processes influencing metabolic pathways. Disregulation is associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Circadian rhythms are generated by a transcriptional autoregulatory feedback loop involving core clock genes. CLOCK (circadian locomotor output cycles protein kaput), one of those core genes, is known to regulate glucose metabolism in rodent models. Cross-sectional studies in humans have reported associations between this locus and obesity, plasma glucose, hypertension and T2D prevalence, supporting its role in cardiovascular risk. However, no longitudinal study has investigated the association between CLOCK…
Oscillatory Dynamics Underlying Perceptual Narrowing of Native Phoneme Mapping from 6 to 12 Months of Age
2016
During the first months of life, human infants process phonemic elements from all languages similarly. However, by 12 months of age, as language-specific phonemic maps are established, infants respond preferentially to their native language. This process, known as perceptual narrowing, supports neural representation and thus efficient processing of the distinctive phonemes within the sound environment. Although oscillatory mechanisms underlying processing of native and non-native phonemic contrasts were recently delineated in 6-month-old infants, the maturational trajectory of these mechanisms remained unclear. A group of typically developing infants born into monolingual English families, …
Space representation in children with dyslexia and children without dyslexia: Contribution of line bisection and circle centering tasks
2013
International audience; Line bisection tasks (different space locations and different line lengths) and circle centering tasks (visuo-proprioceptive and proprioceptive explorations, with left or right starting positions) were used to investigate space representation in children with dyslexia and children without dyslexia. In line bisection, children with dyslexia showed a significant rightward bias for central and right-sided locations and a leftward bias for left-sided location. Furthermore, the spatial context processing was asymmetrically more efficient in the left space. In children without dyslexia, no significant bias was observed in central lines but the spatial context processing wa…
Mutual Antagonism between Circadian Protein Period 2 and Hepatitis C Virus Replication in Hepatocytes
2013
BackgroundHepatitis C virus (HCV) infects approximately 3% of the world population and is the leading cause of liver disease, impacting hepatocyte metabolism, depending on virus genotype. Hepatic metabolic functions show rhythmic fluctuations with 24-h periodicity (circadian), driven by molecular clockworks ticking through translational-transcriptional feedback loops, operated by a set of genes, called clock genes, encoding circadian proteins. Disruption of biologic clocks is implicated in a variety of disorders including fatty liver disease, obesity and diabetes. The relation between HCV replication and the circadian clock is unknown.MethodsWe investigated the relationship between HCV core…