The genomic bases of morphological divergence and reproductive isolation driven by ecological speciation in Senecio(Asteraceae)

Ecological speciation, driven by adaptation to contrasting environments, provides an attractive opportunity to study the formation of distinct species, and the role of selection and genomic divergence in this process. Here, we focus on a particularly clear-cut case of ecological speciation to reveal the genomic bases of reproductive isolation and morphological differences between closely related Senecio species, whose recent divergence within the last ~200 000 years was likely driven by the uplift of Mt. Etna (Sicily). These species form a hybrid zone, yet remain morphologically and ecologically distinct, despite active gene exchange. Here, we report a high-density genetic map of the Senecio genome and map hybrid breakdown to one large and several small quantitative trait loci (QTL). Loci under diversifying selection cluster in three 5 cM regions which are characterized by a significant increase in relative (FST), but not absolute (dXY), interspecific differentiation. They also correspond to some of the regions of greatest marker density, possibly corresponding to ‘cold-spots’ of recombination, such as centromeres or chromosomal inversions. Morphological QTL for leaf and floral traits overlap these clusters. We also detected three genomic regions with significant transmission ratio distortion (TRD), possibly indicating accumulation of intrinsic genetic incompatibilities between these recently diverged species. One of the TRD regions overlapped with a cluster of high species differentiation, and another overlaps the large QTL for hybrid breakdown, indicating that divergence of these species may have occurred due to a complex interplay of ecological divergence and accumulation of intrinsic genetic incompatibilities

Code-division multiple-access in an optical fiber LAN with amplified bus topology: the SLIM bus

A novel optical fiber network with a bus topology and dark signaling (the SLIM bus) using optical code-division multiple-access (CDMA) is proposed. With a new design of delay line correlator the network is shown to eliminate optical beating noise and overcome the main limitations of incoherent optical CDMA in a star topology

Piecewise continuous partition function method in the theory of wave perturbations of inhomogeneous gas

The problem of wave disturbance propagation in rarefied gas in gravity field is explored. The system of hydrodynamic-type equations for a stratified gas in gravity field is derived from BGK equation by method of piecewise continuous partition function. The obtained system of the equations generalizes the Navier-Stokes at arbitrary density (Knudsen numbers). The verification of the model is made for a limiting case of a homogeneous medium. Results are in the good agreement with experiment and former theories at arbitrary Knudsen numbers.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Finite Temperature Wave-Function Renormalization, A Comparative Analysis

We compare two competing theories regarding finite temperature wave-function corrections for the process $H \to e^+e^-$ and for $n+\nu \to p+e^-$ and related processes of interest for primordial nucleosynthesis. Although the two methods are distinct (as shown in $H \to e^+e^-$) they yield the same finite temperature correction for all $n\to p$ and $p \to n$ processes. Both methods yield an increase in the He/H ratio of .01% due to finite temperature renormalization rather than a decrease of .16% as previously predicted.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures. LaTe

Guidance for Restarting Inflammatory Bowel Disease Therapy in Patients Who Withheld Immunosuppressant Medications During COVID-19

Patients with inflammatory bowel diseases [IBD] are frequently treated with immunosuppressant medications. During the coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19] pandemic, recommendations for IBD management have included that patients should stay on their immunosuppressant medications if they are not infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 [SARS-CoV-2], but to temporarily hold these medications if symptomatic with COVID-19 or asymptomatic but have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. As more IBD patients are infected globally, it is important to also understand how to manage IBD medications during convalescence while an individual with IBD is recovering from COVID-19. In this review, we address the differences between a test-based versus a symptoms-based strategy as related to COVID-19, and offer recommendations on when it is appropriate to consider restarting IBD therapy in patients testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 or with clinical symptoms consistent with COVID-19. In general, we recommend a symptoms-based approach, due to the current lack of confidence in the accuracy of available testing and the clinical significance of prolonged detection of virus via molecular testing

An assessment of the resolution limitation due to radiation-damage in x-ray diffraction microscopy

X-ray diffraction microscopy (XDM) is a new form of x-ray imaging that is being practiced at several third-generation synchrotron-radiation x-ray facilities. Although only five years have elapsed since the technique was first introduced, it has made rapid progress in demonstrating high-resolution threedimensional imaging and promises few-nm resolution with much larger samples than can be imaged in the transmission electron microscope. Both life- and materials-science applications of XDM are intended, and it is expected that the principal limitation to resolution will be radiation damage for life science and the coherent power of available x-ray sources for material science. In this paper we address the question of the role of radiation damage. We use a statistical analysis based on the so-called "dose fractionation theorem" of Hegerl and Hoppe to calculate the dose needed to make an image of a lifescience sample by XDM with a given resolution. We conclude that the needed dose scales with the inverse fourth power of the resolution and present experimental evidence to support this finding. To determine the maximum tolerable dose we have assembled a number of data taken from the literature plus some measurements of our own which cover ranges of resolution that are not well covered by reports in the literature. The tentative conclusion of this study is that XDM should be able to image frozen-hydrated protein samples at a resolution of about 10 nm with "Rose-criterion" image quality.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

A feedback microprocessor for hadron colliders

A feedback microprocessor has been built for the TEVATRON. It has been constructed to be applicable to hadron colliders in general. Its inputs are realtime accelerator measurements, data describing the state of the TEVATRON, and ramp tables. The microprocessor software includes a finite state machine. Each state corresponds to a specific TEVATRON operation and has a state-specific TEVATRON model. Transitions between states are initiated by the global TEVATRON clock. Each state includes a cyclic routine which is called periodically and where all calculations are performed. The output corrections are inserted onto a fast TEVATRON-wide link from which the power supplies will read the realtime corrections. We also store all of the input data and output corrections in a set of buffers which can easily be retrieved for diagnostic analysis. In this paper we will describe this device and its use to control the TEVATRON tunes as well as other possible applications