University of Vienna

About: University of Vienna is a education organization based out in Vienna, Austria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Stars. The organization has 44686 authors who have published 95840 publications receiving 2907492 citations.

The “Domestication Syndrome” in Mammals: A Unified Explanation Based on Neural Crest Cell Behavior and Genetics

Abstract: Charles Darwin, while trying to devise a general theory of heredity from the observations of animal and plant breeders, discovered that domesticated mammals possess a distinctive and unusual suite of heritable traits not seen in their wild progenitors. Some of these traits also appear in domesticated birds and fish. The origin of Darwin's "domestication syndrome" has remained a conundrum for more than 140 years. Most explanations focus on particular traits, while neglecting others, or on the possible selective factors involved in domestication rather than the underlying developmental and genetic causes of these traits. Here, we propose that the domestication syndrome results predominantly from mild neural crest cell deficits during embryonic development. Most of the modified traits, both morphological and physiological, can be readily explained as direct consequences of such deficiencies, while other traits are explicable as indirect consequences. We first show how the hypothesis can account for the multiple, apparently unrelated traits of the syndrome and then explore its genetic dimensions and predictions, reviewing the available genetic evidence. The article concludes with a brief discussion of some genetic and developmental questions raised by the idea, along with specific predictions and experimental tests.

The Yin and Yang of type I interferon activity in bacterial infection

Abstract: Interferons (IFNs) are cytokines that are important for immune responses, particularly to intracellular pathogens. They are divided into two structurally and functionally distinct types that interact with different cell-surface receptors. Classically, type I IFNs are potent antiviral immunoregulators, whereas the type II IFN enhances antibacterial immunity. However, as outlined here, type I IFNs are also produced in response to infection with other pathogens, and an increasing body of work shows that type I IFNs have an important role in the host response to bacterial infection. Strikingly, their activity can be either favourable or detrimental, and can influence various immune effector mechanisms.

De Broglie wavelength of a non-local four-photon state

Abstract: Superposition is one of the most distinctive features of quantum theory and has been demonstrated in numerous single-particle interference experiments. Quantum entanglement, the coherent superposition of states in multi-particle systems, yields more complex phenomena. One important type of multi-particle experiment uses path-entangled number states, which exhibit pure higher-order interference and the potential for applications in metrology and imaging; these include quantum interferometry and spectroscopy with phase sensitivity at the Heisenberg limit, or quantum lithography beyond the classical diffraction limit. It has been generally understood that in optical implementations of such schemes, lower-order interference effects always decrease the overall performance at higher particle numbers. Such experiments have therefore been limited to two photons. Here we overcome this limitation, demonstrating a four-photon interferometer based on linear optics. We observe interference fringes with a periodicity of one-quarter of the single-photon wavelength, confirming the presence of a four-particle mode-entangled state. We anticipate that this scheme should be extendable to arbitrary photon numbers, holding promise for realizable applications with entanglement-enhanced performance.