Early Mesozoic Paleotectonic-Paleogeographic Reconstruction of Southern Sierra Nevada Region

A paleotectonic-paleogeographic reconstruction was based on structural, petrologic, and geochronologic studies of pre-Sierra Nevada batholith framework rocks exposed between the San Joaquin River and the Garlock fault. Most available fossil data from roof pendants of this region indicate Late Triassic to Early Jurassic ages. An additional fossil locality from the western wall rocks yields a Late Permian Tethyan fauna. This is a maximum age for the enclosing rocks, for the fossils are in a limestone olistolith. As yet there is no sign of Paleozoic strata in the region except perhaps along the eastern Sierran crest in small metamorphic septa, and in the western foothills where ophiolitic rocks are present

Hemoglobin genotype has minimal influence on the physiological response of juvenile atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) to environmental challenges

Hemoglobin (Hb) polymorphism in cod is associated with temperature‐related differences in biogeographical distribution, and several authors have suggested that functional characteristics of the various hemoglobin isoforms (HbIs) directly influence phenotypic traits such as growth rate. However, no study has directly examined whether Hb genotype translates into physiological differences at the whole animal level. Thus, we generated a family of juvenile Atlantic cod consisting of all three main Hb genotypes (HbI‐1/1, HbI‐2/2, and HbI‐1/2) by crossing a single pair of heterozygous parents, and we compared their metabolic and cortisol responses to an acute thermal challenge (10&deg;C to their critical thermal maximum [CTM] or 22&deg;C, respectively) and tolerance of graded hypoxia. There were no differences in routine metabolism (at 10&deg;C), maximum metabolic rate, metabolic scope, CTM (overall mean 22.9&deg; &plusmn; 0.2&deg;C), or resting and poststress plasma cortisol levels among Hb genotypes. Further, although the HbI‐1/1 fish grew more (by 15%&ndash;30% during the first 9 mo) when reared at 10&deg; &plusmn; 1&deg;C and had a slightly enhanced hypoxia tolerance at 10&deg;C (e.g., the critical O2 levels for HbI‐1/1, HbI‐2/2, and HbI‐1/2 cod were 35.56% &plusmn; 1.24%, and 40.20% &plusmn; 1.99% air saturation, respectively), these results are contradictory to expectations based on HbI functional properties. Thus, our findings (1) do not support previous assumptions that growth rate differences among cod Hb genotypes result from a more efficient use of the oxygen supply&mdash;that is, reduced standard metabolic rates and/or increased metabolic capacity&mdash;and (2) suggest that in juvenile cod, there is no selective advantage to having a particular Hb genotype with regards to the capacity to withstand ecologically relevant environmental challenges.<br /

Unsupervised home spirometry versus supervised clinic spirometry for respiratory disease: a systematic methodology review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The number of patients completing unsupervised home spirometry has recently increased due to more widely available portable technology and the COVID-19 pandemic, despite a lack of solid evidence to support it. This systematic methodology review and meta-analysis explores quantitative differences in unsupervised spirometry compared with spirometry completed under professional supervision. METHODS: We searched four databases to find studies that directly compared unsupervised home spirometry with supervised clinic spirometry using a quantitative comparison (e.g. Bland-Altman). There were no restrictions on clinical condition. The primary outcome was measurement differences in common lung function parameters (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC)), which were pooled to calculate overall mean differences with associated limits of agreement (LoA) and confidence intervals (CI). We used the I2 statistic to assess heterogeneity, the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS-2) tool to assess risk of bias and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to assess evidence certainty for the meta-analyses. The review has been registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021272816). RESULTS: 3607 records were identified and screened, with 155 full texts assessed for eligibility. We included 28 studies that quantitatively compared spirometry measurements, 17 of which reported a Bland-Altman analysis for FEV1 and FVC. Overall, unsupervised spirometry produced lower values than supervised spirometry for both FEV1 with wide variability (mean difference -107 mL; LoA= -509, 296; I2=95.8%; p<0.001; very low certainty) and FVC (mean difference -184 mL, LoA= -1028, 660; I2=96%; p<0.001; very low certainty). CONCLUSIONS: Analysis under the conditions of the included studies indicated that unsupervised spirometry is not interchangeable with supervised spirometry for individual patients owing to variability and underestimation

Covariance systems

We introduce new definitions of states and of representations of covariance systems. The GNS-construction is generalized to this context. It associates a representation with each state of the covariance system. Next, states are extended to states of an appropriate covariance algebra. Two applications are given. We describe a nonrelativistic quantum particle, and we give a simple description of the quantum spacetime model introduced by Doplicher et al.Comment: latex with ams-latex, 23 page

Expanding the Entamoeba Universe: New Hosts Yield Novel Ribosomal Lineages.

Removing the requirement for cell culture has led to a substantial increase in the number of lineages of Entamoeba recognized as distinct. Surveying the range of potential host species for this parasite genus has barely been started and it is clear that additional sampling of the same host in different locations often identifies additional diversity. In this study, using small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, we identify four new lineages of Entamoeba, including the first report of Entamoeba from an elephant, and extend the host range of some previously described lineages. In addition, examination of microbiome data from a number of host animals suggests that substantial Entamoeba diversity remains to be uncovered

Unlocking the potential of geothermal energy in the UK

This report is intended to provide technical information that complement the BGS Science Briefing Note: Deep impact: Unlocking the potential of geothermal energy for affordable low-carbon heating in the UK [1]. It gives a general overview of the deep geothermal opportunities that exist in the UK (although regional geothermal potential is not discussed here) as well as of financial, policy and regulatory actions that are needed to support the effective development and exploitation of deep geothermal resources in the UK. The recommendations are applicable to the UK government and its departments as well as to devolved administrations in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and devolved policy areas, such as heat policy and planning, in the respective nations. Following the introduction, the report is organised in three sections. In Section 1, details are given of the UK’s deep geothermal resources and how and where they could be utilised. Section 2 focuses on the experiences of continental Europe and the policies that have enabled the growth of a geothermal industry. Section 3 considers key policies and regulatory actions identified as necessary to drive the development of the UK geothermal sector from its current status of infancy to a mature technology that is universally recognised and utilised by a wide range of stakeholders, end-users and supported by investors

Full regularity for a C*-algebra of the Canonical Commutation Relations. (Erratum added)

The Weyl algebra,- the usual C*-algebra employed to model the canonical commutation relations (CCRs), has a well-known defect in that it has a large number of representations which are not regular and these cannot model physical fields. Here, we construct explicitly a C*-algebra which can reproduce the CCRs of a countably dimensional symplectic space (S,B) and such that its representation set is exactly the full set of regular representations of the CCRs. This construction uses Blackadar's version of infinite tensor products of nonunital C*-algebras, and it produces a "host algebra" (i.e. a generalised group algebra, explained below) for the \sigma-representation theory of the abelian group S where \sigma(.,.):=e^{iB(.,.)/2}. As an easy application, it then follows that for every regular representation of the Weyl algebra of (S,B) on a separable Hilbert space, there is a direct integral decomposition of it into irreducible regular representations (a known result). An Erratum for this paper is added at the end.Comment: An erratum was added to the original pape

Chromospherically active stars. 6: Giants with compact hot companions and the barium star scenario

We have determined spectroscopic orbits for three chromospherically active giants that have hot compact companions. They are HD 160538 (K0 III + wd, P = 904 days), HD 165141 (G8 III + wd, P approximately 5200 days), and HD 185510 (K0 III + sdB, P = 20.6619 days). By fitting an IUE spectrum with theoretical models, we find the white dwarf companion of HD 165141 has a temperature of about 35000 K. Spectral types and rotational velocities have been determined for the three giants and distances have been estimated. These three systems and 39 Ceti are compared with the barium star mass-transfer scenario. The long-period mild barium giant HD 165141 as well as HD 185510 and 39 Ceti, which have relatively short periods and normal abundance giants, appear to be consistent with this scenario. The last binary, HD 160538, a system with apparently near solar abundances, a white dwarf companion, and orbital characteristics similar to many barium stars, demonstrates that the existence of a white-dwarf companion is insufficient to produce a barium star. The paucity of systems with confirmed white-dwarf companions makes abundance analyses of HD 160538 and HD 165141 of great value in examining the role of metallicity in barium star formation

Unravelling the hidden ancestry of American admixed populations

The movement of people into the Americas has brought different populations into contact, and contemporary American genomes are the product of a range of complex admixture events. Here we apply a haplotype-based ancestry identification approach to a large set of genome-wide SNP data from a variety of American, European and African populations to determine the contributions of different ancestral populations to the Americas. Our results provide a fine-scale characterization of the source populations, identify a series of novel, previously unreported contributions from Africa and Europe and highlight geohistorical structure in the ancestry of American admixed populations

Soil Bacteria and Fungi Respond on Different Spatial Scales to Invasion by the Legume Lespedeza cuneata

The spatial scale on which microbial communities respond to plant invasions may provide important clues as to the nature of potential invader–microbe interactions. Lespedeza cuneata (Dum. Cours.) G. Don is an invasive legume that may benefit from associations with mycorrhizal fungi; however, it has also been suggested that the plant is allelopathic and may alter the soil chemistry of invaded sites through secondary metabolites in its root exudates or litter. Thus, L. cuneata invasion may interact with soil microorganisms on a variety of scales. We investigated L. cuneata-related changes to soil bacterial and fungal communities at two spatial scales using multiple sites from across its invaded N. American range. Using whole-community DNA fingerprinting, we characterized microbial community variation at the scale of entire invaded sites and at the scale of individual plants. Based on permutational multivariate analysis of variance, soil bacterial communities in heavily invaded sites were significantly different from those of uninvaded sites, but bacteria did not show any evidence of responding at very local scales around individual plants. In contrast, soil fungi did not change significantly at the scale of entire sites, but there were significant differences between fungal communities of native versus exotic plants within particular sites. The differential scaling of bacterial and fungal responses indicates that L. cuneata interacts differently with soil bacteria and soil fungi, and these microorganisms may play very different roles in the invasion process of this plant