Instructions for authors
Please provide a short abstract of 100 to 250 words. The abstract should not contain any undefined abbreviations or unspecified references.
Genes and Aging
Genes may be regarded in at least two quite distinct ways in relation to processes of aging. They are units of genetic transmission from parent to offspring and, also, intracellular agents whose products interact with environmental forces to control development, differentiation, metabolism, and degeneration. Much of this chapter will deal with the results of genetic transmission, that is, with genetic similarities and differences between individuals, present throughout their life-spans. I will attempt to demonstrate that the patterns of the aging of individuals carrying an identical array of genes will show greater similarity than will the patterns of the aging of individuals carrying different assortments of genes. To do this, I will have to deal mostly with genetically controlled animals, and I will try to bring home to you why and how these animals with specific genotypes have become important in research on the biology of aging.
How to do a p-descent on an elliptic curve
In this paper, we describe an algorithm that reduces the computation of the (full) p-Selmer group of an elliptic curve E over a number field to standard number field computations such as determining the (p-torsion of) the S-class group and a basis of the S-units modulo pth powers for a suitable set S of primes. In particular, we give a result reducing this set S of 'bad primes' to a very small set, which in many cases only contains the primes above p. As of today, this provides a feasible algorithm for performing a full 3-descent on an elliptic curve over Q, but the range of our algorithm will certainly be enlarged by future improvements in computational algebraic number theory. When the Galois module structure of E[p] is favorable, simplifications are possible and p-descents for larger p are accessible even today. To demonstrate how the method works, several worked examples are included.