Migrations and habitat use of the smooth hammerhead shark (Sphyrna zygaena) in the Atlantic Ocean

The smooth hammerhead shark, Sphyrna zygaena, is a cosmopolitan semipelagic shark captured as bycatch in pelagic oceanic fisheries, especially pelagic longlines targeting swordfish and/or tunas. From 2012 to 2016, eight smooth hammerheads were tagged with Pop-up Satellite Archival Tags in the inter-tropical region of the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, with successful transmissions received from seven tags (total of 319 tracking days). Results confirmed the smooth hammerhead is a highly mobile species, as the longest migration ever documented for this species (> 6600 km) was recorded. An absence of a diel vertical movement behavior was noted, with the sharks spending most of their time at surface waters (0-50 m) above 23 degrees C. The operating depth of the pelagic long-line gear was measured with Minilog Temperature and Depth Recorders, and the overlap with the species vertical distribution was calculated. The overlap is taking place mainly during the night and is higher for juveniles (similar to 40% of overlap time). The novel information presented can now be used to contribute to the provision of sustainable management tools and serve as input for Ecological Risk Assessments for smooth hammerheads caught in Atlantic pelagic longline fisheries.Oceanario de Lisboa through Project "SHARK-TAG: Migrations and habitat use of the smooth hammerhead shark in the Atlantic Ocean"; Investigador-FCT from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia) [Ref: IF/00253/2014]; EU European Social Fund; Programa Operacional Potencial Human

Variations in Stress Sensitivity and Genomic Expression in Diverse S. cerevisiae Isolates

Interactions between an organism and its environment can significantly influence phenotypic evolution. A first step toward understanding this process is to characterize phenotypic diversity within and between populations. We explored the phenotypic variation in stress sensitivity and genomic expression in a large panel of Saccharomyces strains collected from diverse environments. We measured the sensitivity of 52 strains to 14 environmental conditions, compared genomic expression in 18 strains, and identified gene copy-number variations in six of these isolates. Our results demonstrate a large degree of phenotypic variation in stress sensitivity and gene expression. Analysis of these datasets reveals relationships between strains from similar niches, suggests common and unique features of yeast habitats, and implicates genes whose variable expression is linked to stress resistance. Using a simple metric to suggest cases of selection, we found that strains collected from oak exudates are phenotypically more similar than expected based on their genetic diversity, while sake and vineyard isolates display more diverse phenotypes than expected under a neutral model. We also show that the laboratory strain S288c is phenotypically distinct from all of the other strains studied here, in terms of stress sensitivity, gene expression, Ty copy number, mitochondrial content, and gene-dosage control. These results highlight the value of understanding the genetic basis of phenotypic variation and raise caution about using laboratory strains for comparative genomics

The use of phylogeny to interpret cross-cultural patterns in plant use and guide medicinal plant discovery: an example from Pterocarpus (Leguminosae)

The study of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants has led to discoveries that have helped combat diseases and improve healthcare. However, the development of quantitative measures that can assist our quest for new medicinal plants has not greatly advanced in recent years. Phylogenetic tools have entered many scientific fields in the last two decades to provide explanatory power, but have been overlooked in ethnomedicinal studies. Several studies show that medicinal properties are not randomly distributed in plant phylogenies, suggesting that phylogeny shapes ethnobotanical use. Nevertheless, empirical studies that explicitly combine ethnobotanical and phylogenetic information are scarce.In this study, we borrowed tools from community ecology phylogenetics to quantify significance of phylogenetic signal in medicinal properties in plants and identify nodes on phylogenies with high bioscreening potential. To do this, we produced an ethnomedicinal review from extensive literature research and a multi-locus phylogenetic hypothesis for the pantropical genus Pterocarpus (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae). We demonstrate that species used to treat a certain conditions, such as malaria, are significantly phylogenetically clumped and we highlight nodes in the phylogeny that are significantly overabundant in species used to treat certain conditions. These cross-cultural patterns in ethnomedicinal usage in Pterocarpus are interpreted in the light of phylogenetic relationships.This study provides techniques that enable the application of phylogenies in bioscreening, but also sheds light on the processes that shape cross-cultural ethnomedicinal patterns. This community phylogenetic approach demonstrates that similar ethnobotanical uses can arise in parallel in different areas where related plants are available. With a vast amount of ethnomedicinal and phylogenetic information available, we predict that this field, after further refinement of the techniques, will expand into similar research areas, such as pest management or the search for bioactive plant-based compounds

Divergence of the Yeast Transcription Factor FZF1 Affects Sulfite Resistance

Changes in gene expression are commonly observed during evolution. However, the phenotypic consequences of expression divergence are frequently unknown and difficult to measure. Transcriptional regulators provide a mechanism by which phenotypic divergence can occur through multiple, coordinated changes in gene expression during development or in response to environmental changes. Yet, some changes in transcriptional regulators may be constrained by their pleiotropic effects on gene expression. Here, we use a genome-wide screen for promoters that are likely to have diverged in function and identify a yeast transcription factor, FZF1, that has evolved substantial differences in its ability to confer resistance to sulfites. Chimeric alleles from four Saccharomyces species show that divergence in FZF1 activity is due to changes in both its coding and upstream noncoding sequence. Between the two closest species, noncoding changes affect the expression of FZF1, whereas coding changes affect the expression of SSU1, a sulfite efflux pump activated by FZF1. Both coding and noncoding changes also affect the expression of many other genes. Our results show how divergence in the coding and promoter region of a transcription factor alters the response to an environmental stress

Search for Charged Higgs Bosons in e+e- Collisions at \sqrt{s} = 189 GeV

A search for pair-produced charged Higgs bosons is performed with the L3 detector at LEP using data collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 188.6 GeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 176.4 pb^-1. Higgs decays into a charm and a strange quark or into a tau lepton and its associated neutrino are considered. The observed events are consistent with the expectations from Standard Model background processes. A lower limit of 65.5 GeV on the charged Higgs mass is derived at 95 % confidence level, independent of the decay branching ratio Br(H^{+/-} -> tau nu)

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Mechanics of the exceptional anuran ear

The anuran ear is frequently used for studying fundamental properties of vertebrate auditory systems. This is due to its unique anatomical features, most prominently the lack of a basilar membrane and the presence of two dedicated acoustic end organs, the basilar papilla and the amphibian papilla. Our current anatomical and functional knowledge implies that three distinct regions can be identified within these two organs. The basilar papilla functions as a single auditory filter. The low-frequency portion of the amphibian papilla is an electrically tuned, tonotopically organized auditory end organ. The high-frequency portion of the amphibian papilla is mechanically tuned and tonotopically organized, and it emits spontaneous otoacoustic emissions. This high-frequency portion of the amphibian papilla shows a remarkable, functional resemblance to the mammalian cochlea