Variation Across Mitochondrial Gene Trees Provides Evidence For Systematic Error: How Much Gene Tree Variation Is Biological?

The use of large genomic data sets in phylogenetics has highlighted extensive topological variation across genes. Much of this discordance is assumed to result from biological processes. However, variation among gene trees can also be a consequence of systematic error driven by poor model fit, and the relative importance of biological vs. methodological factors in explaining gene tree variation is a major unresolved question. Using mitochondrial genomes to control for biological causes of gene tree variation, we estimate the extent of gene tree discordance driven by systematic error and employ posterior prediction to highlight the role of model fit in producing this discordance. We find that the amount of discordance among mitochondrial gene trees is similar to the amount of discordance found in other studies that assume only biological causes of variation. This similarity suggests that the role of systematic error in generating gene tree variation is underappreciated and critical evaluation of fit between assumed models and the data used for inference is important for the resolution of unresolved phylogenetic questions

True blue: Temporal and spatial stability of pelagic wildlife at a submarine canyon

Funding: This research was funded through the Ian Potter Foundation and the First author.In coastal systems, marine-protected areas (MPAs) have been shown to increase the diversity, abundance, and biomass of wildlife assemblages as well as their resilience to climate change. The effectiveness of pelagic MPAs is less clear, with arguments against their establishment typically based on the highly mobile nature of pelagic taxa. We used mid-water stereo-baited remote underwater video systems (stereo-BRUVS) and spatial predictive models to characterize the pelagic wildlife assemblage at the head of the Perth Canyon, one of the largest submarine canyons in Australia, over a 7-yr period (2013–2019). The total number of unique taxa and mean values of taxonomic richness, abundance, fork length, and biomass demonstrated strong interannual stability, although mean taxonomic richness and abundance were significantly lower in 2018 relative to other years. Seasonal variability was absent in 2016, but in 2018, taxonomic richness and abundance were three times greater in the Austral spring than in the autumn. Some mobile megafauna were only recorded at the Perth Canyon Marine Park (PCMP) in the autumn, suggesting a seasonal component to their occurrence. The fine-scale distribution of pelagic taxa at the canyon head was largely stable over time, with many areas of higher relative probability of presence located outside protected zones. Despite a degree of variability that may relate to the effect of the El Niño Southern Oscillation on the Leeuwin Current, the PCMP assemblage demonstrates a relatively high degree of spatiotemporal stability. Stronger protection of the PCMP (IUCN II or higher) would potentially improve conservation outcomes for many species of pelagic wildlife.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Accelerator Design for the CHESS-U Upgrade

During the summer and fall of 2018 the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) is undergoing an upgrade to increase high-energy flux for x-ray users. The upgrade requires replacing one-sixth of the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR), inverting the polarity of half of the CHESS beam lines, and switching to single-beam on-axis operation. The new sextant is comprised of six double-bend achromats (DBAs) with combined-function dipole-quadrupoles. Although the DBA design is widely utilized and well understood, the constraints for the CESR modifications make the CHESS-U lattice unique. This paper describes the design objectives, constraints, and implementation for the CESR accelerator upgrade for CHESS-U

Popular critiques of consultancy and a politics of management learning?

In this short article, I argue that popular business discourse on the role of management consultancy in the promotion and translation of management ideas is often critical, informed by more or less implicit ethical and political concerns with employee security, equity, openness and the transparency and legitimacy of responsibility. These concerns are, in part, ‘sayable’ because their object is seen as a scapegoat for management. Nevertheless, combined with the popular form of their expression, they can support and legitimize critical studies of management learning, a discipline which otherwise has become overly concerned with processual and situational phenomena at the expense of broader political dynamics and of the content and consequences of management and management knowledg

Solid state and sub-cooled liquid vapour pressures of substituted dicarboxylic acids using Knudsen Effusion Mass Spectrometry (KEMS) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry

Solid state vapour pressures of a selection of atmospherically important substituted dicarboxylic acids have been measured using Knudsen Effusion Mass Spectrometry (KEMS) over a range of 20 K (298–318 K). Enthalpies of fusion and melting points obtained using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) were used to obtain sub-cooled liquid vapour pressures. They have been compared to estimation methods used on the E-AIM website. These methods are shown to poorly represent – OH groups in combination with COOH groups. Partitioning calculations have been performed to illustrate the impact of the different estimation methods on organic aerosol mass compared to the use of experimental data

‘He wasn’t nice to our country’: children’s discourses about the ‘glocalized’ nature of political events in the Global North

The accessibility of new media combined with emerging patterns of migration are challenging current definitions of community as we see a shift from close-knit face-to-face interactions to more diverse ‘glocalized’ networks that defines community as a social rather than a spatial dimension. These changes mean that social connections, and fundamentally a person’s sense of belonging, have moved beyond a local neighbourhood to depend upon global networks. This was the case for the children in the current longitudinal ethnographic study that followed one class in a diverse primary school in the north of England every 2 years from their Reception year to Year 6. This article draws upon data collected while the children were in Year 6, aged 10 to 11. It uncovers the range of linguistic and semiotic resources that the children used to communicate with their school peers about two recent political events in the Global North, namely, the United Kingdom’s European Union (EU) Referendum in 2016 that has resulted in Brexit and the US Presidential Election in late 2016 and Donald Trump’s Inauguration in early 2017. Unearthing the ‘glocalized’ discourses in the children’s narratives, this article uncovers the connections that the children made between these political events and their nuclear family’s experiences living in the United Kingdom and their extended family’s experiences in their countries of origin. In providing an account of the children’s discourses surrounding these political events, this article uncovers the ways in which sociopolitical events of global significance become meaningful for this group of children and reveals that the children understand the global as situated, constructed within specific contexts and influenced by local interpretations. As the children orientate themselves to media depictions of these events, their shifting perceptions of global politics alongside their intersecting experiences of racial, national and religious inequalities come to the fore in their peer interactions at school