The Occurrence and Distribution of Heterandria formosa (Teleostei, Poeciliidae) in Lowndes County, Georgia

Heretofore in the literature, Heterandria formosa had not been reported from Lowndes County, Georgia. Based on a survey of Lowndes County; we discovered eight localities from the southeast­ern portion of the county that collectively produced 30 specimens of H. formosa. The southeastern portion of the county is primarily flatwoods with numerous wetlands and low gradient streams compared to the remainder of the county, which is typified by a more upland habitat with greater relief and greater stream gradients. It is postulated that the greater stream gradients inhibited the migration of H. formosa into the southwestern and northern portions of the county

Seismic Risk Analysis for a Site Along the Gorda Segment of the Cascadia Subduction Zone

A seismic risk evaluation was conducted on a site near Eureka, California. The site was subject to potential earthquake loading from a number of sources. These sources were: (1) Mendocino Fracture Zone, (2) Gorda Segment of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, (3) Little Salmon thrust fault under the site, (4) Mad River Fault Zone, and (5) Intra plate west - Gorda Plate. The geology of thrust faults in Northern California is examined along with that of the Mendocino Fracture Zone, and the southern section (Gorda Segment) of the Cascadia subduction zone. A trench log showing a splay of the Little Salmon Fault is presented. A seismic risk analysis of the site was performed using recurrence curves for the various seismic sources estimated from both trench studies and historic seismicity. Using this information the acceleration at the site due to the Maximum Credible Earthquake is estimated to be 0.85g. The corresponding acceleration due to the Maximum Probable Earthquake and assuming that the various fault zones act independently or co-seismically is estimated to be 0.5g

Compressional and Shear Waves Tests Through Upper Sheet of Low Angle Thrust Fault

Compressional and shear wave tests were conducted on the upper thrust sheet of the low angle Little Salmon thrust fault. The study was conducted on the campus of the College of the Redwoods. The campus is located approximately 8 miles south of Eureka and 24 miles north-northeast of Cape Mendocino and the Mendocino Triple Junction (MTJ) in Northern California. The MTJ is the point of transition from strike-slip faulting of the San Andreas transform system to low-angle reverse (thrust) faulting and folding associated with the convergent margin of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The campus is located on the southwest limb of the Humboldt Hill anticline, one of the folds in the fold and thrust belt. The Little Salmon fault zone is a low angle thrust fault that day lights on the south side of the campus and then projects underneath striking northwest and dipping northeast. A boring was drilled down to the fault plane located at a depth of 200 ft. in the upper thrust block to develop a mode1 of the stratification as well as the material properties. The boring also revealed the trunk of a redwood tree located at a depth of 180 feet. Results of compressional and shear wave velocities as a function of depth that were determined using an downhole geophysical technique. Results indicated two shear wave velocity units. Unit 1 was from 0 to 120 ft. with a shear wave velocity ranging from 950- 1400 fps. Unit 2 ranged from 120 to 190 ft. with a shear wave velocity ranging from 2300 to 2600 fps. Compression wave velocity measurements obtained from the same test boring also depict a change in velocity in the 100 to 120 foot range. A response spectra was generated based on this in-situ mode1 using SHARE91 and compared against one developed using the Boore, Joyner and Fumal empirical model

Use of Microzonation to Site Facility on Low Angle Thrust and Associated Fault Bend Folding

The campus of the College of the Redwoods is located completely within the Little Salmon Fault Zone, designated by the State of California as an active fault. The College has been extensively investigated for fault rupture and other seismic hazards in 1989, 1993, 1997, 1998, and 1999. The Little Salmon Fault Zone bounds the College and consists of two main northwest-striking, northeastdipping, low-angle thrusts. The west splay daylights along the southwest edge of the campus and projects beneath it. A recurrence interval of 268 years and slip rate of 5+/-3 mm/yr is estimated by CDMG. Individual dip-slip displacements along the west trace are reported to be 12 to 15 feet (3.6 to 4.5 m). Movement on the Little Salmon fault (LSF) is accompanied by growth of broad asymmetric folds in the upper thrust sheet resulting in surface rupture, localized uplift and discreet fault-bend fold axial surfaces. College of the Redwoods is located approximately 8 miles (13 km) south of Eureka and 25 miles (40 km) north-northeast of Cape Mendocino and the Mendocino Triple Junction (MTJ) in northern California. The \u27MTJ is the point of transition fi-om strike-slip faulting of the San Andreas transform system to low-angle thrust faulting and folding associated with the convergent margin of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Campus infrastructure is located along the base of the Humboldt Hill Anticline (HHA), a major faultbend fold of the Cascadia fold and thrust belt. A new learning resource center (LRC) is proposed for a location 400 feet (120 m) northeast of where the west trace of the LSF daylights and 200 feet (60 m) above the low-angle fault plane. Building setback and design recommendations to mitigate for both fault rupture hazards and fault-generated folding hazards are presented

Viral dynamics of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and applications to diagnostic and public health strategies.

SARS-CoV-2 infections are characterized by viral proliferation and clearance phases and can be followed by low-level persistent viral RNA shedding. The dynamics of viral RNA concentration, particularly in the early stages of infection, can inform clinical measures and interventions such as test-based screening. We used prospective longitudinal quantitative reverse transcription PCR testing to measure the viral RNA trajectories for 68 individuals during the resumption of the 2019-2020 National Basketball Association season. For 46 individuals with acute infections, we inferred the peak viral concentration and the duration of the viral proliferation and clearance phases. According to our mathematical model, we found that viral RNA concentrations peaked an average of 3.3 days (95% credible interval [CI] 2.5, 4.2) after first possible detectability at a cycle threshold value of 22.3 (95% CI 20.5, 23.9). The viral clearance phase lasted longer for symptomatic individuals (10.9 days [95% CI 7.9, 14.4]) than for asymptomatic individuals (7.8 days [95% CI 6.1, 9.7]). A second test within 2 days after an initial positive PCR test substantially improves certainty about a patient's infection stage. The effective sensitivity of a test intended to identify infectious individuals declines substantially with test turnaround time. These findings indicate that SARS-CoV-2 viral concentrations peak rapidly regardless of symptoms. Sequential tests can help reveal a patient's progress through infection stages. Frequent, rapid-turnaround testing is needed to effectively screen individuals before they become infectious

Performance of the Center-Of-Curvature Optical Assembly During Cryogenic Testing of the James Webb Space Telescope

Cryogenic testing of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) included center-of-curvature metrology of the 18-segment primary mirror (PM). The Center-of-Curvature Optical Assembly (COCOA) consisted of a multiple-wavelength interferometer, a reflective null, coarse and fine alignment systems, and two displacement measuring interferometer systems. The COCOA enabled alignment and phasing of the segments from millimeter-level errors down to the nanometer level. This paper describes the COCOA, the test setup, the testing performed, and the performance of the COCOA in aligning the PM segments and measuring the final PM wavefront error

Accelerated SARS-CoV-2 Intrahost Evolution Leading to Distinct Genotypes During Chronic Infection

The chronic infection hypothesis for novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant emergence is increasingly gaining credence following the appearance of Omicron. Here, we investigate intrahost evolution and genetic diversity of lineage B.1.517 during a SARS-CoV-2 chronic infection lasting for 471 days (and still ongoing) with consistently recovered infectious virus and high viral genome copies. During the infection, we find an accelerated virus evolutionary rate translating to 35 nucleotide substitutions per year, approximately 2-fold higher than the global SARS-CoV-2 evolutionary rate. This intrahost evolution results in the emergence and persistence of at least three genetically distinct genotypes, suggesting the establishment of spatially structured viral populations continually reseeding different genotypes into the nasopharynx. Finally, we track the temporal dynamics of genetic diversity to identify advantageous mutations and highlight hallmark changes for chronic infection. Our findings demonstrate that untreated chronic infections accelerate SARS-CoV-2 evolution, providing an opportunity for the emergence of genetically divergent variants

Global disparities in SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance

Genomic sequencing is essential to track the evolution and spread of SARS-CoV-2, optimize molecular tests, treatments, vaccines, and guide public health responses. To investigate the global SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance, we used sequences shared via GISAID to estimate the impact of sequencing intensity and turnaround times on variant detection in 189 countries. In the first two years of the pandemic, 78% of high-income countries sequenced >0.5% of their COVID-19 cases, while 42% of low- and middle-income countries reached that mark. Around 25% of the genomes from high income countries were submitted within 21 days, a pattern observed in 5% of the genomes from low- and middle-income countries. We found that sequencing around 0.5% of the cases, with a turnaround time <21 days, could provide a benchmark for SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance. Socioeconomic inequalities undermine the global pandemic preparedness, and efforts must be made to support low- and middle-income countries improve their local sequencing capacity

Amplification and demultiplexing in insulin-regulated Akt protein kinase pathway in adipocytes.

Akt plays a major role in insulin regulation of metabolism in muscle, fat, and liver. Here, we show that in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, Akt operates optimally over a limited dynamic range. This indicates that Akt is a highly sensitive amplification step in the pathway. With robust insulin stimulation, substantial changes in Akt phosphorylation using either pharmacologic or genetic manipulations had relatively little effect on Akt activity. By integrating these data we observed that half-maximal Akt activity was achieved at a threshold level of Akt phosphorylation corresponding to 5-22% of its full dynamic range. This behavior was also associated with lack of concordance or demultiplexing in the behavior of downstream components. Most notably, FoxO1 phosphorylation was more sensitive to insulin and did not exhibit a change in its rate of phosphorylation between 1 and 100 nm insulin compared with other substrates (AS160, TSC2, GSK3). Similar differences were observed between various insulin-regulated pathways such as GLUT4 translocation and protein synthesis. These data indicate that Akt itself is a major amplification switch in the insulin signaling pathway and that features of the pathway enable the insulin signal to be split or demultiplexed into discrete outputs. This has important implications for the role of this pathway in disease

Limitations of Water Resources Infrastructure for Reducing Community Vulnerabilities to Extremes and Uncertainty of Flood and Drought

Debate and deliberation surrounding climate change has shifted from mitigation toward adaptation, with much of the adaptation focus centered on adaptive practices, and infrastructure development. However, there is little research assessing expected impacts, potential benefits, and design challenges that exist for reducing vulnerability to expected climate impacts. The uncertainty of design requirements and associated government policies, and social structures that reflect observed and projected changes in the intensity, duration, and frequency of water-related climate events leaves communities vulnerable to the negative impacts of potential flood and drought. The results of international research into how agricultural infrastructure features in current and planned adaptive capacity of rural communities in Argentina, Canada, and Colombia indicate that extreme hydroclimatic events, as well as climate variability and unpredictability are important for understanding and responding to community vulnerability. The research outcomes clearly identify the need to deliberately plan, coordinate, and implement infrastructures that support community resiliency.Fil: McMartin, Dena W.. University of Regina; CanadáFil: Hernani Merino, Bruno H.. University of Regina; CanadáFil: Bonsal, Barrie. Environment Canada; CanadáFil: Hurlbert, Margot. University of Regina; CanadáFil: Villalba, Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Cientifícas y Tecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Ocampo, Olga L.. Universidad Autónoma de Manizales; ColombiaFil: Upegui, Jorge Julián Vélez. Universidad Nacional de Colombia; ColombiaFil: Poveda, Germán. Universidad Nacional de Colombia; ColombiaFil: Sauchyn, David J.. University of Regina; Canad