a variational approach to niche construction

In evolutionary biology, niche construction is sometimes described as a genuine evolutionary process whereby organisms, through their activities and regulatory mechanisms, modify their environment such as to steer their own evolutionary trajectory, and that of other species. There is ongoing debate, however, on the extent to which niche construction ought to be considered a bona fide evolutionary force, on a par with natural selection. Recent formulations of the variational free-energy principle as applied to the life sciences describe the properties of living systems, and their selection in evolution, in terms of variational inference. We argue that niche construction can be described using a variational approach. We propose new arguments to support the niche construction perspective, and to extend the variational approach to niche construction to current perspectives in various scientific fields

Public Health Service. Read at the Midwinter National Meeting of the Association for Research in Ophthalmology

J_ he possibility seemed worthy of exploration that changes in phosphate concentration in intraocular fluids might be used as an indicator of the partial suppression of aqueous humor secretion by inhibitors of carbonic anhydrase. Such partial suppression of secretion has been shown to alter the concentrations of ascorbate o

Estimation of allele-specific Ace-1 duplication in insecticide-resistant Anopheles mosquitoes from West Africa

Background: Identification of variation in Ace-1 copy number and G119S mutation genotype from samples of Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles coluzzii across West Africa are important diagnostics of carbamate and organophosphate resistance at population and individual levels. The most widespread and economical method, PCR–RFLP, suffers from an inability to discriminate true heterozygotes from heterozygotes with duplication. Methods: In addition to PCR–RFLP, in this study three different molecular techniques were applied on the same mosquito specimens: TaqMan qPCR, qRTPCR and ddPCR. To group heterozygous individuals recorded from the PCR–RFLP analysis into different assumptive genotypes K-means clustering was applied on the Z-scores of data obtained from both the TaqMan and ddPCR methods. The qRTPCR analysis was used for absolute quantification of copy number variation. Results: The results indicate that most heterozygotes are duplicated and that G119S mutation must now be regarded as a complex genotype ranging from primarily single-copy susceptible Glycine homozygotes to balanced and imbalanced heterozygotes, and multiply-amplified resistant Serine allele homozygotes. Whilst qRTPCR-based gene copy analysis suffers from some imprecision, it clearly illustrates differences in copy number among genotype groups identified by TaqMan or ddPCR. Based on TaqMan method properties, and by coupling TaqMan and ddPCR methods simultaneously on the same type of mosquito specimens, it demonstrated that the TaqMan genotype assays associated with the K-means clustering algorithm could provide a useful semi-quantitative estimate method to investigate the level of allele-specific duplication in mosquito populations. Conclusions: Ace-1 gene duplication is evidently far more complex in An. gambiae and An. coluzzii than the better studied mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus, which consequently can no longer be considered an appropriate model for prediction of phenotypic consequences. These require urgent further evaluation in Anopheles. To maintain the sustained effectiveness carbamates and organophosphates as alternative products to pyrethroids for malaria vector control, monitoring of duplicated resistant alleles in natural populations is essential to guide the rational use of these insecticides

Ars musice

Ars musice, composed in Paris during the late thirteenth century, reflects Johannes de Grocheio\u27s awareness of the complexity of the task of describing music. As the editors note in their introduction, Grocheio is aware of the enormous range of types of music performed in different ways in different places. How can he impose order on this enormous subject matter? He decided to resolve this question by structuring his discussion around the practice of music that he observed in the city of Paris, organized into three main \u27branches\u27: music of the people (musica vulgalis), composite or regular, \u27which they call measured music\u27 (musica mensurata), and ecclesiastical music (musica ecclesiastica), which he claims derives from the other two (AM 6.2). The originality of Grocheio\u27s treatise has attracted considerable scholarly interest. It has long been recognized as a unique source of information about musical life in medieval Paris. Through his treatise, Grocheio enables a modern reader to become aware of the complex auditory environment of that city in the late thirteenth century as well as of its intellectual vitality at a particularly vibrant moment in its history.https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/mip_teamsvaria/1003/thumbnail.jp

Convertir le Trésor de la Langue Française en Ontolex-Lemon : un zeste de données liées

National audienceIn this paper, we report our efforts to convert one of the most comprehensive lexicographic resources of French, the Trésor de la Langue Française, into the Ontolex-Lemon model. Despite the widespread usage of this resource, the original XML format seems to impede its integration in language technology tools. In order to breathe new life into this resource, we examine the usage and the conversion to more interoperable formats, primarily those based on the linguistic linked data, to provide this resource to a broader range of applications and users.Nous présentons dans ce papier les travaux que nous avons réalisés pour convertir dans le modèle Ontolex-Lemon l'une des plus importantes ressources lexicographiques pour le français : le Trésor de la Langue Française. En effet, malgré l'utilisation généralisée de cette ressource, son format actuel, basé sur XML, ne respecte pas les standards les plus récents de la représentation des données lexicographiques, notamment ceux basés sur les données liées. Nos travaux mettent en lumière la nécessité d'établir des mécanismes permettant d'augmenter l'inter-opérabilité des ressources et des technologies pour créer et maintenir des ressources lexicographiques

Venous injection of a triphasic calcium-based implant in a sheep model of pulmonary embolism demonstrates minimal acute systemic effects.

PURPOSE Implant leakage is the most common complication of vertebral augmentation. Alternative injectable materials must demonstrate intravascular safety comparable to or better than polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). This study assessed the systemic effects of a triphasic calcium-based implant or PMMA injected directly into the femoral vein in a large animal model designed to mimic severe intravascular implant leakage. METHODS Six skeletally mature female sheep were randomly assigned (n = 3) to either the PMMA or the triphasic implant (AGN1, composition: calcium sulfate, β-tricalcium phosphate, brushite) treatment group. Femoral veins of each sheep were directly injected with 0.5 mL of implant material to mimic leakage volumes reported during PMMA vertebroplasty. To compare acute systemic effects of the materials, cardiovascular parameters, laboratory coagulation markers, and calcium and sulfate serum levels were monitored for 60 min after implant injection. Thrombotic and embolic events were evaluated by radiologic imaging, necropsy, and histopathology. RESULTS Heart rate, systemic arterial blood pressure, arterial oxygenation, arterial carbon dioxide content, and coagulation markers remained within physiological range after either AGN1 or PMMA injection. No blood flow interruption in the larger pulmonary vessels was observed in either group. Lung histopathology revealed that the severity of thrombotic changes after AGN1 injection was minimal to slight, while changes after PMMA injection were minimal to massive. CONCLUSION Acute systemic effects of intravascular AGN1 appeared to be comparable to or less than that of intravascular PMMA. Furthermore, in this preliminary study, the severity and incidence of pulmonary histological changes were lower for AGN1 compared to PMMA

Nematode Symbiont for Photorhabdus asymbiotica

Photorhabdus asymbiotica is an emerging bacterial pathogen that causes locally invasive soft tissue and disseminated bacteremic infections in the United States and Australia. Although the source of infection was previously unknown, we report that the bacterium is found in a symbiotic association with an insect-pathogenic soil nematode of the genus Heterorhabditis

The evolution of multiple-insecticide resistance in UK populations of tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta

BACKGROUND The tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta, is an economically important pest of tomatoes in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. In the UK this species is controlled using an integrated pest management (IPM) programme which incorporates the insecticides spinosad and chlorantraniliprole. In response to UK grower concerns of loss of efficacy of these compounds at certain sites, insecticide bioassays were performed on five populations collected from four commercial glasshouses and potential mechanisms of resistance investigated. RESULTS We observed high levels of resistance to spinosad in four of the strains, and in two of these tolerance to chlorantraniliprole. Selection of one of these strains with chlorantraniliprole rapidly resulted in a line exhibiting potent resistance to this compound. Sequencing of messenger RNA encoding the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) alpha 6 subunit, target of spinosad, revealed Ta alpha 6 transcripts in the spinosad-resistant strains that lack exon 4 and encode a highly truncated protein, or contain a triplet deletion in the predicted first transmembrane domain resulting in the loss of a highly conserved amino acid. Sequencing of the ryanodine receptor gene, encoding the target of diamide insecticides, of the chlorantraniliprole-selected line revealed an amino acid substitution (G4903V) that has been previously linked to diamide resistance in populations of T. absoluta in the Mediterranean and South America. CONCLUSION Taken together our results reveal emerging resistance in UK populations of T. absoluta to two of the most important insecticides used as part of IPM, with significant implications for the control of this species in the UK. (c) 2019 Society of Chemical IndustryThis work was funded by PhD studentship awards from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) (CP 162) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) (grant number: 1096240). ER was supported by funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under the STomP project, grant agreement no. 219262 (ARIMNet)

Evaluation of shoulder disability questionnaires used for the assessment of shoulder disability after neck dissection for head and neck cancer

Background Several questionnaires have been used to evaluate shoulder disability after neck dissection. The purpose of this study was to review these measures and highlight their strengths and weaknesses. Methods A literature review was performed to identify measures of shoulder disability after head and neck cancer surgery. These measures were evaluated in terms of their methods of development and assessment of their psychometric properties. Results Seven questionnaires were identified. Several of the other questionnaires have been well developed but have not had their psychometric properties assessed in the head and neck cancer population. Each questionnaire has its strengths and weaknesses. Conclusion The strengths and weaknesses of the shoulder disability questionnaires should be considered when deciding which questionnaire to use. Efforts should be focused on using well‐designed questionnaires that have been assessed in this patient population rather than developing or using other questionnaires. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck , 36: 1453–1458, 2014Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108616/1/hed23490.pd