New verified nonindigenous amphibians and reptiles in Florida, 1976 through 2015, with a summary of over 152 years of introductions

More nonindigenous species occur in Florida, USA, than any other region worldwide and may threaten many of Florida’s natural resources. The frequency of new reports mandates the need for regular updates. Herein, we use photographic and specimen vouchers in addition to literature records to provide updated information on verified nonindigenous amphibians and reptiles in Florida. Between our most recent summary in 2012 and the end of 2015, 38 additional species are known to have been intercepted (n = 2) or introduced (n = 36). We also update the invasion stage of seven species previously reported from Florida and report that five additional taxa are now established. In total, 191 independent known introductions of 180 herpetofaunal taxa led to the establishment of 63 taxa. This suggests that one in three introduced herpetofaunal species becomes established in Florida. The pet trade represents the most  common introduction pathway among these species animal importer in Hollywood, Broward County, is the probable source for introduction of a quarter of all herpetofauna introduced to Florida

New Verified Nonindigenous Amphibians and Reptiles in Florida through 2015, with a Summary of More Than 152 Years of Introductions.

More nonindigenous species occur in Florida, USA, than any other region worldwide and may threaten many of Florida’s natural resources. The frequency of new reports mandates the need for regular updates. Herein, we use photographic and specimen vouchers in addition to literature records to provide updated information on verified nonindigenous amphibians and reptiles in Florida. Between our most recent summary in 2012 and the end of 2015, 38 additional species are known to have been intercepted (n = 2) or introduced (n = 36). We also update the invasion stage of seven species previously reported from Florida and report that five additional taxa are now established. In total, 191 independent known introductions of 180 herpetofaunal taxa led to the establishment of 63 taxa. This suggests that one in three introduced herpetofaunal species becomes established in Florida. The pet trade represents the most common introduction pathway among these species and a single animal importer in Hollywood, Broward County, is the probable source for introduction of a quarter of all herpetofauna introduced to Florida

Academic freedom in Europe: time for a Magna Charta?

This paper is a preliminary attempt to establish a working definition of academic freedom for the European Union states. The paper details why such a definition is required for the European Union and then examines some of the difficulties of defining academic freedom. By drawing upon experience of the legal difficulties beset by the concept in the USA and building on previous analyses of constitutional and legislative protection for academic freedom, and of legal regulations concerning institutional governance and academic tenure, a working definition of academic freedom is then derived. The resultant definition which, it is suggested, could form the basis for a European Magna Charta Libertatis Academicae, goes beyond traditional discussions of academic freedom by specifying not only the rights inherent in the concept but also its accompanying duties, necessary limitations and safeguards. The paper concludes with proposals for how the definition might be tested and carried forward

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Design of the Photon Collimators for the ILC Positron Helical Undulator.

A number of photon collimators are placed inside the helical undulator to protect the cold surfaces of the vacuum vessel from being hit by the photons and thus achieving the baseline pressure requirement. Computer simulations were run in order to determine the energy deposition and instantaneous temperature rise in these collimators and various material candidates were studied. This paper presents the status of the simulation

Construction of a full scale superconducting undulator module for the international linear collider.

The positron source for the International Linear Collider (ILC) is dependent upon a ~200 m long helical undulator to generate a high flux of multi-MeV photons. The undulator system is broken down into a series of 4 m cryomodules, which each contain two superconducting helical undulators. Following a dedicated R&D phase and the construction and measurement of a number of short prototypes a full scale cryomodule has now been manufactured for the first time. This paper reports on the design, manufacture, and test results of this cryomodule

Depolarization and beam-beam effects at the linear collider.

The clean environment of a lepton linear collider allows high-precision measurements for physics analyses. In order to exploit this potential, precise knowledge about the polarization state of the beams is also required. In this paper we concentrate on depolarization effects caused by the intense beam.beam interaction, which is expected to be the dominant source of depolarization. Higher-order effects, as well as critical analyses of the theoretical assumptions used in the past and theoretical improvements in the derivation of suitable equations, are given. Updates on existing simulation programs are reported. Numerical results for the design of the International Linear Collider (ILC) are discusse