Reading the Complex Skipper Butterfly Fauna of One Tropical Place

BACKGROUND: An intense, 30-year, ongoing biodiversity inventory of Lepidoptera, together with their food plants and parasitoids, is centered on the rearing of wild-caught caterpillars in the 120,000 terrestrial hectares of dry, rain, and cloud forest of Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG) in northwestern Costa Rica. Since 2003, DNA barcoding of all species has aided their identification and discovery. We summarize the process and results for a large set of the species of two speciose subfamilies of ACG skipper butterflies (Hesperiidae) and emphasize the effectiveness of barcoding these species (which are often difficult and time-consuming to identify). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Adults are DNA barcoded by the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, Guelph, Canada; and they are identified by correlating the resulting COI barcode information with more traditional information such as food plant, facies, genitalia, microlocation within ACG, caterpillar traits, etc. This process has found about 303 morphologically defined species of eudamine and pyrgine Hesperiidae breeding in ACG (about 25% of the ACG butterfly fauna) and another 44 units indicated by distinct barcodes (n = 9,094), which may be additional species and therefore may represent as much as a 13% increase. All but the members of one complex can be identified by their DNA barcodes. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Addition of DNA barcoding to the methodology greatly improved the inventory, both through faster (hence cheaper) accurate identification of the species that are distinguishable without barcoding, as well as those that require it, and through the revelation of species "hidden" within what have long been viewed as single species. Barcoding increased the recognition of species-level specialization. It would be no more appropriate to ignore barcode data in a species inventory than it would be to ignore adult genitalia variation or caterpillar ecology

Biophysical models of persistent connectivity and barriers on the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge

A precautionary approach to protecting biodiversity on mid-ocean ridges, while permitting seabed mining, is to design and implement a network of areas protected from the effects of mining. Such a network should capture representative populations of vent endemic fauna within regions of connectivity and across persistent barriers, but determining where such connectivity and barriers exist is challenging. A promising approach is to use biophysical modeling to infer the spatial scale of dispersal and the positions where breaks in hydrographic connectivity occur. We use results from a deep-sea biophysical model driven by data from the global array of Argo probes for depths of 1000 m to estimate biophysical connectivity among fragmented hydrothermal vent habitats along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, from the equator northward to the Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone surrounding the Azores. The spatial scale of dispersal varies along the ridge axis, with median dispersal distances for planktonic larval durations (PLDs) of 75 d ranging from 67 km to 304 km. This scale of dispersal leads to considerable opportunities for connectivity through mid-water dispersal. A stable pattern of five regions of biophysical connectivity was obtained for PLDs of 100 d or more. Connectivity barriers between these regions can persist even when planktonic larval duration extends beyond 200 d. For a 50 d PLD, one connectivity barrier coincides with the region of the genetic hybrid zone for northern and southern vent mussel species at the Broken Spur vent field. Additional barriers suggest potential for genetic differentiation that so far has not been detected for any taxon. The locations of persistent zones of connectivity and barriers to dispersal suggest that there may be multiple biogeographic subunits along the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge that should be taken into account in planning for effective environmental management of human activities

Steady State Solutions of a Mass-Conserving Bistable Equation with a Saturating Flux

We consider a mass-conserving bistable equation with a saturating flux on an interval. This is the quasilinear analogue of the Rubinstein-Steinberg equation, suitable for description of order parameter conserving solid-solid phase transitions in the case of large spatial gradients in the order parameter. We discuss stationary solutions and investigate the change in bifurcation diagrams as the mass constraint and the length of the interval are varied.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figure

Predictive Factors for and Complications of Bronchiectasis in Common Variable Immunodeficiency Disorders

Bronchiectasis is a frequent complication of common variable immunodeficiency disorders (CVID). In a cohort of patients with CVID, we sought to identify predictors of bronchiectasis. Secondly, we sought to describe the impact of bronchiectasis on lung function, infection risk, and quality of life. We conducted an observational cohort study of 110 patients with CVID and an available pulmonary computed tomography scan. The prevalence of bronchiectasis was 53%, with most of these patients (54%) having mild disease. Patients with bronchiectasis had lower median serum immunoglobulin (Ig) concentrations, especially long-term IgM (0 vs 0.25 g/l; p < 0.01) and pre-treatment IgG (1.3 vs 3.7 g/l; p < 0.01). CVID patients with bronchiectasis had worse forced expiratory volume in one second (2.10 vs 2.99 l; p < 0.01) and an annual decline in forced expiratory volume in one second of 25 ml/year (vs 8 ml/year in patients without bronchiectasis; p = 0.01). Patients with bronchiectasis also reported more annual respiratory tract infections (1.77 vs 1.25 infections/year, p = 0.04) and a poorer quality of life (26 vs 14 points in the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire; p = 0.02). Low serum immunoglobulin M concentration identifies patients at risk for bronchiectasis in CVID and may play a role in pathogenesis. Bronchiectasis is relevant because it is associated with frequent respiratory tract infections, poorer lung function, a greater rate of lung function decline, and a lower quality of life

Dual labeling of neural crest cells and blood vessels within chicken embryos using chickGFP neural tube grafting and carbocyanine dye DiI injection

All developing organs need to be connected to both the nervous system (for sensory and motor control) as well as the vascular system (for gas exchange, fluid and nutrient supply). Consequently both the nervous and vascular systems develop alongside each other and share striking similarities in their branching architecture. Here we report embryonic manipulations that allow us to study the simultaneous development of neural crest-derived nervous tissue (in this case the enteric nervous system), and the vascular system. This is achieved by generating chicken chimeras via transplantation of discrete segments of the neural tube, and associated neural crest, combined with vascular DiI injection in the same embryo. Our method uses transgenic chickGFP embryos for intraspecies grafting, making the transplant technique more powerful than the classical quail-chick interspecies grafting protocol used with great effect since the 1970s. ChickGFP-chick intraspecies grafting facilitates imaging of transplanted cells and their projections in intact tissues, and eliminates any potential bias in cell development linked to species differences. This method takes full advantage of the ease of access of the avian embryo (compared with other vertebrate embryos) to study the co-development of the enteric nervous system and the vascular system

A timeband framework for modelling real-time systems

Complex real-time systems must integrate physical processes with digital control, human operation and organisational structures. New scientific foundations are required for specifying, designing and implementing these systems. One key challenge is to cope with the wide range of time scales and dynamics inherent in such systems. To exploit the unique properties of time, with the aim of producing more dependable computer-based systems, it is desirable to explicitly identify distinct time bands in which the system is situated. Such a framework enables the temporal properties and associated dynamic behaviour of existing systems to be described and the requirements for new or modified systems to be specified. A system model based on a finite set of distinct time bands is motivated and developed in this paper

Outcomes of total hip arthroplasty, as a salvage procedure, following failed internal fixation of intracapsular fractures of the femoral neck: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIMS: The optimal management of intracapsular fractures of the femoral neck in independently mobile patients remains open to debate. Successful fixation obviates the limitations of arthroplasty for this group of patients. However, with fixation failure rates as high as 30%, the outcome of revision surgery to salvage total hip arthroplasty (THA) must be considered. We carried out a systematic review to compare the outcomes of salvage THA and primary THA for intracapsular fractures of the femoral neck. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) compliant systematic review, using the PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane libraries databases. A meta-analysis was performed where possible, and a narrative synthesis when a meta-analysis was not possible. RESULTS: Our analyses revealed a significantly increased risk of complications including deep infection, early dislocation and peri-prosthetic fracture with salvage THA when compared with primary THA for an intracapsular fracture of the femoral neck (overall risk ratio of 3.15). Functional outcomes assessment using EuroQoL (EQ)-5D were not significantly different (p = 0.3). CONCLUSION: Salvage THA carries a significantly higher risk of complications than primary THA for intracapsular fractured neck of femur. Current literature is still lacking well designed studies to provide a full answer to the question. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Salvage THA is associated with more complications than primary THA for intracapsular neck of femur fractures

Spin Discrimination in Three-Body Decays

The identification of the correct model for physics beyond the Standard Model requires the determination of the spin of new particles. We investigate to which extent the spin of a new particle $X$ can be identified in scenarios where it decays dominantly in three-body decays $X\to f\bar{f} Y$. Here we assume that $Y$ is a candidate for dark matter and escapes direct detection at a high energy collider such as the LHC. We show that in the case that all intermediate particles are heavy, one can get information on the spins of $X$ and $Y$ at the LHC by exploiting the invariant mass distribution of the two standard model fermions. We develop a model-independent strategy to determine the spins without prior knowledge of the unknown couplings and test it in a series of Monte Carlo studies.Comment: 31+1 pages, 4 figures, 8 tables, JHEP.cls include

Quantification of the performance of chaotic micromixers on the basis of finite time Lyapunov exponents

Chaotic micromixers such as the staggered herringbone mixer developed by Stroock et al. allow efficient mixing of fluids even at low Reynolds number by repeated stretching and folding of the fluid interfaces. The ability of the fluid to mix well depends on the rate at which "chaotic advection" occurs in the mixer. An optimization of mixer geometries is a non trivial task which is often performed by time consuming and expensive trial and error experiments. In this paper an algorithm is presented that applies the concept of finite-time Lyapunov exponents to obtain a quantitative measure of the chaotic advection of the flow and hence the performance of micromixers. By performing lattice Boltzmann simulations of the flow inside a mixer geometry, introducing massless and non-interacting tracer particles and following their trajectories the finite time Lyapunov exponents can be calculated. The applicability of the method is demonstrated by a comparison of the improved geometrical structure of the staggered herringbone mixer with available literature data.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

New Symmetries in Crystals and Handed Structures

For over a century, the structure of materials has been described by a combination of rotations, rotation-inversions and translational symmetries. By recognizing the reversal of static structural rotations between clockwise and counterclockwise directions as a distinct symmetry operation, here we show that there are many more structural symmetries than are currently recognized in right- or left-handed handed helices, spirals, and in antidistorted structures composed equally of rotations of both handedness. For example, though a helix or spiral cannot possess conventional mirror or inversion symmetries, they can possess them in combination with the rotation reversal symmetry. Similarly, we show that many antidistorted perovskites possess twice the number of symmetry elements as conventionally identified. These new symmetries predict new forms for "roto" properties that relate to static rotations, such as rotoelectricity, piezorotation, and rotomagnetism. They also enable symmetry-based search for new phenomena, such as multiferroicity involving a coupling of spins, electric polarization and static rotations. This work is relevant to structure-property relationships in all material structures with static rotations such as minerals, polymers, proteins, and engineered structures.Comment: 15 Pages, 4 figures, 3 Tables; Fig. 2b has error