Machine learning techniques to automatically advance slides in a presentation

Slideshow presentations require the presenter or other human to click on a button to go to the next slide, to go back a few slides, to stop presenting, etc. This doesn’t work well in some situations, e.g., if the presenter is differently abled, if there is no remote control available, etc. This disclosure describes machine-learning techniques that automatically advance slides in a presentation (with user permission) based on user-permitted factors such as slide content, sentiment analysis, speech understanding, etc

Exon and junction microarrays detect widespread mouse strain- and sex-bias expression differences

Background: Studies have shown that genetic and sex differences strongly influence gene expression in mice. Given the diversity and complexity of transcripts produced by alternative splicing, we sought to use microarrays to establish the extent of variation found in mouse strains and genders. Here, we surveyed the effect of strain and sex on liver gene and exon expression using male and female mice from three different inbred strains. Results: 71 liver RNA samples from three mouse strains - DBA/2J, C57BL/6J and C3H/HeJ - were profiled using a custom-designed microarray monitoring exon and exon-junction expression of 1,020 genes representing 9,406 exons. Gene expression was calculated via two different methods, using the 3'-most exon probe ("3' gene expression profiling") and using all probes associated with the gene ("whole-transcript gene expression profiling"), while exon expression was determined using exon probes and flanking junction probes that spanned across the neighboring exons ("exon expression profiling"). Widespread strain and sex influences were detected using a two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) regardless of the profiling method used. However, over 90% of the genes identified in 3' gene expression profiling or whole transcript profiling were identified in exon profiling, along with 75% and 38% more genes, respectively, showing evidence of differential isoform expression. Overall, 55% and 32% of genes, respectively, exhibited strain- and sex-bias differential gene or exon expression. Conclusion: Exon expression profiling identifies significantly more variation than both 3' gene expression profiling and whole-transcript gene expression profiling. A large percentage of genes that are not differentially expressed at the gene level demonstrate exon expression variation suggesting an influence of strain and sex on alternative splicing and a need to profile expression changes at sub-gene resolution

A comprehensive transcript index of the human genome generated using microarrays and computational approaches

BACKGROUND: Computational and microarray-based experimental approaches were used to generate a comprehensive transcript index for the human genome. Oligonucleotide probes designed from approximately 50,000 known and predicted transcript sequences from the human genome were used to survey transcription from a diverse set of 60 tissues and cell lines using ink-jet microarrays. Further, expression activity over at least six conditions was more generally assessed using genomic tiling arrays consisting of probes tiled through a repeat-masked version of the genomic sequence making up chromosomes 20 and 22. RESULTS: The combination of microarray data with extensive genome annotations resulted in a set of 28,456 experimentally supported transcripts. This set of high-confidence transcripts represents the first experimentally driven annotation of the human genome. In addition, the results from genomic tiling suggest that a large amount of transcription exists outside of annotated regions of the genome and serves as an example of how this activity could be measured on a genome-wide scale. CONCLUSIONS: These data represent one of the most comprehensive assessments of transcriptional activity in the human genome and provide an atlas of human gene expression over a unique set of gene predictions. Before the annotation of the human genome is considered complete, however, the previously unannotated transcriptional activity throughout the genome must be fully characterized

Social dynamics in nonbreeding flocks of a cooperatively breeding bird: causes and consequences of kin associations

Kin selection is regarded as a key process in the evolution of avian cooperative breeding, and kinship influences helper decisions in many species. However, the effect of kinship on nonbreeding social organization is still poorly understood despite its potential fitness implications. Here, we investigated the origins and consequences of kin associations in nonbreeding flocks of long-tailed tits, Aegithalos caudatus, an atypical cooperative breeder where helpers are failed breeders that redirect care towards relatives living in kin neighbourhoods. We found that kinship is an important factor in initial grouping decisions; all members of a nuclear family initially joined the same flock and failed breeders chose to flock with their relatives. Flocks that merged during the nonbreeding season also contained relatives. In contrast to these findings of positive kin association, when long-tailed tits switched flocks they tended to disperse into flocks with fewer relatives, although such switches often occurred with kin. In a playback experiment, we found no evidence that aggression shown towards members of other flocks was affected by kinship, indicating that kin associations result from a preference to flock with relatives rather than a constraint on flocking with nonrelatives. Finally, using social network analysis, we show that fine-scale nonbreeding associations among individuals were positively related to kinship, and that these nonbreeding associations were reflected in helping decisions in the subsequent breeding season, in addition to the previously reported effects of kinship and proximity. We conclude that long-tailed tits prefer to associate with kin when not breeding, and suggest that by doing so they gain either nepotistic benefits within flocks or future indirect benefits during breeding

The causes and consequences of inbreeding avoidance and tolerance in cooperatively breeding vertebrates

Cooperative breeders provide a particularly interesting scenario for studying inbreeding. Such populations are viscous due to delayed dispersal and short dispersal distances, resulting in the build-up of relatives in the local population. This leads to a high risk of inbreeding, and consequently of inbreeding depression. This has driven the evolution of an array of inbreeding avoidance mechanisms resulting in a relatively low level of close inbreeding in the majority of cooperative breeders. However, there are a number of species where inbreeding occurs relatively frequently. The presence of regular inbreeding (in cases where inbreeding is not a result of recent population declines), suggests that inbreeding tolerance and even preference can evolve under some circumstances. Both inbreeding and inbreeding avoidance mechanisms have enormous downstream fitness consequences for cooperative breeding species. For example, they can influence reproductive dynamics leading to a monopolisation of breeding opportunities by dominant individuals. Inbreeding and its avoidance are also likely to impact on the evolution of cooperative breeding itself through influencing levels of relatedness between potential cooperators. Finally, in some cooperative breeders, a high degree of inbreeding avoidance can be detrimental to population viability, and hence is of particular concern to conservationists. In this review, I discuss these issues in detail and also briefly consider recent advances in the methods available for the study of inbreeding in natural populations

Fluid release from the subducted Cocos plate and partial melting of the crust deduced from magnetotelluric studies in southern Mexico: implications for the generation of volcanism and subduction dynamics

In order to study electrical conductivity phenomena that are associated with subduction related fluid release and melt production, magnetotelluric (MT) measurements were carried out in southern Mexico along two coast to coast profiles. The conductivity-depth distribution was obtained by simultaneous two-dimensional inversion of the transverse magnetic and transverse electric modes of the magnetotelluric transfer functions. The MT models demonstrate that the plate southern profile shows enhanced conductivity in the deep crust. The northern profile is dominated by an elongated conductive zone extending >250 km below the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB). The isolated conductivity anomalies in the southern profile are interpreted as slab fluids stored in the overlying deep continental crust. These fluids were released by progressive metamorphic dehydration of the basaltic oceanic crust. The conductivity anomalies may be related to the main dehydration reactions at the zeolite → blueschist → eclogite facies transitions and the breakdown of chlorite. This relation allows the estimation of a geothermal gradient of ∼8.5°C/km for the top of the subducting plate. The same dehydration reactions may be recognized along the northern profile at the same position relative to the depth of the plate, but more inland due to a shallower dip, and merge near the volcanic front due to steep downbending of the plate. When the oceanic crust reaches a depth of 80–90 km, ascending fluids produce basaltic melts in the intervening hot subcontinental mantle wedge that give rise to the volcanic belt. Water-rich basalts may intrude into the lower continental crust leading to partial melting. The elongated highly conductive zone below the TMVB may therefore be caused by partial melts and fluids of various origins, ongoing migmatization, ascending basaltic and granitic melts, growing plutons as well as residual metamorphic fluids. Zones of extremely high conductance (>8000 S) in the continental crust on either MT profile might indicate extinct magmatism

Assessing the feasibility of density estimation methodologies for African forest elephant at large spatial scales:estimating density of forest elephants using spatial capture-recapture

Effective wildlife management requires information on population status and distribution. Survey methods that provide estimates of these population parameters can vary greatly in effort required, area covered, precision of estimates, and cost. Trade-offs are required, because increasing precision and area coverage generally requires increasing field effort and incurs a higher cost. We compare DNA- and camera trap based-spatial capture-recapture approaches (DNA-SCR and CT-SCR) to the widely-used, dung-based line transect distance sampling (LTDS) method to assess their performance when applied to three relatively large populations of forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis (>500 individuals), in order to evaluate their feasibility for future use at national and regional scales. Six of the nine surveys had a coefficient of variation below 20%; area coverage via DNA-SCR and LTDS was comparable and greatly exceeded that of the CT-SCR as applied; overall cost was highest for the LTDS surveys compared to the other two methods. We designed a new metric with which to compare survey methods: an integrated feasibility index (IFI). This combines three typical survey components: total area covered, level of precision achieved, and cost. The IFI suggests that DNA-SCR and LTDS are equally acceptable in terms of the combination of the three survey components, and that either survey method is suitable for large (national or regional) spatial scales for forest elephant density estimation. CT-SCR provides more precise estimates, but has double the IFI, due to the high cost per km2. DNA-SCR in particular, given the improvements highlighted in this study, is now being used at a national scale in Gabon. In conclusion, we recommend that the use of these spatial capture-recapture (SCR) methods, and their development, continue. Future findings and improvements should be compiled across studies to ensure their robust evolution as an option for monitoring the African forest elephant across its range and inform strategies and action for its conservation

New Caledonian crows rapidly solve a collaborative problem without cooperative cognition

There is growing comparative evidence that the cognitive bases of cooperation are not unique to humans. However, the selective pressures that lead to the evolution of these mechanisms remain unclear. Here we show that while tool-making New Caledonian crows can produce collaborative behavior, they do not understand the causality of cooperation nor show sensitivity to inequity. Instead, the collaborative behavior produced appears to have been underpinned by the transfer of prior experience. These results suggest that a number of possible selective pressures, including tool manufacture and mobbing behaviours, have not led to the evolution of cooperative cognition in this species. They show that causal cognition can evolve in a domain specific manner-understanding the properties and flexible uses of physical tools does not necessarily enable animals to grasp that a conspecific can be used as a social tool

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 3663 population-based studies with 222 million participants that measured height and weight in representative samples of the general population. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in the prevalence of different BMI categories, separately for adults (age ≥20 years) and school-aged children and adolescents (age 5–19 years), from 1990 to 2022 for 200 countries and territories. For adults, we report the individual and combined prevalence of underweight (BMI <18·5 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). For schoolaged children and adolescents, we report thinness (BMI <2 SD below the median of the WHO growth reference) and obesity (BMI >2 SD above the median). Findings From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity in adults decreased in 11 countries (6%) for women and 17 (9%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 that the observed changes were true decreases. The combined prevalence increased in 162 countries (81%) for women and 140 countries (70%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. In 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity was highest in island nations in the Caribbean and Polynesia and Micronesia, and countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Obesity prevalence was higher than underweight with posterior probability of at least 0·80 in 177 countries (89%) for women and 145 (73%) for men in 2022, whereas the converse was true in 16 countries (8%) for women, and 39 (20%) for men. From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of thinness and obesity decreased among girls in five countries (3%) and among boys in 15 countries (8%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80, and increased among girls in 140 countries (70%) and boys in 137 countries (69%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. The countries with highest combined prevalence of thinness and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents in 2022 were in Polynesia and Micronesia and the Caribbean for both sexes, and Chile and Qatar for boys. Combined prevalence was also high in some countries in south Asia, such as India and Pakistan, where thinness remained prevalent despite having declined. In 2022, obesity in school-aged children and adolescents was more prevalent than thinness with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 among girls in 133 countries (67%) and boys in 125 countries (63%), whereas the converse was true in 35 countries (18%) and 42 countries (21%), respectively. In almost all countries for both adults and school-aged children and adolescents, the increases in double burden were driven by increases in obesity, and decreases in double burden by declining underweight or thinness. Interpretation The combined burden of underweight and obesity has increased in most countries, driven by an increase in obesity, while underweight and thinness remain prevalent in south Asia and parts of Africa. A healthy nutrition transition that enhances access to nutritious foods is needed to address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the increase in obesit

The importance of the altricial – precocial spectrum for social complexity in mammals and birds:A review

Various types of long-term stable relationships that individuals uphold, including cooperation and competition between group members, define social complexity in vertebrates. Numerous life history, physiological and cognitive traits have been shown to affect, or to be affected by, such social relationships. As such, differences in developmental modes, i.e. the ‘altricial-precocial’ spectrum, may play an important role in understanding the interspecific variation in occurrence of social interactions, but to what extent this is the case is unclear because the role of the developmental mode has not been studied directly in across-species studies of sociality. In other words, although there are studies on the effects of developmental mode on brain size, on the effects of brain size on cognition, and on the effects of cognition on social complexity, there are no studies directly investigating the link between developmental mode and social complexity. This is surprising because developmental differences play a significant role in the evolution of, for example, brain size, which is in turn considered an essential building block with respect to social complexity. Here, we compiled an overview of studies on various aspects of the complexity of social systems in altricial and precocial mammals and birds. Although systematic studies are scarce and do not allow for a quantitative comparison, we show that several forms of social relationships and cognitive abilities occur in species along the entire developmental spectrum. Based on the existing evidence it seems that differences in developmental modes play a minor role in whether or not individuals or species are able to meet the cognitive capabilities and requirements for maintaining complex social relationships. Given the scarcity of comparative studies and potential subtle differences, however, we suggest that future studies should consider developmental differences to determine whether our finding is general or whether some of the vast variation in social complexity across species can be explained by developmental mode. This would allow a more detailed assessment of the relative importance of developmental mode in the evolution of vertebrate social systems