Preliminary Survey of the Algae of Lake Ahquabi

Forty-one genera of algae are reported from Lake Ahquabi, Warren County, Iowa. The most commonly occurring genera are Cladophora, Spirogyra, Hydrodictyon, Microcystis, Oscillatoria and Aphanizomenon. The latter three contribute to extensive blooms on the lake in late summer and fall

Planets in Mean-Motion Resonances and the System Around HD45364

In some planetary systems, the orbital periods of two of its members present a commensurability, usually known by mean-motion resonance. These resonances greatly enhance the mutual gravitational influence of the planets. As a consequence, these systems present uncommon behaviors, and their motions need to be studied with specific methods. Some features are unique and allow us a better understanding and characterization of these systems. Moreover, mean-motion resonances are a result of an early migration of the orbits in an accretion disk, so it is possible to derive constraints on their formation. Here we review the dynamics of a pair of resonant planets and explain how their orbits evolve in time. We apply our results to the HD 45365 planetary system.Comment: invited review, 17 pages, 6 figure

Pressure induced structural and dynamical changes in liquid Si. An ab-initio study

The static and dynamic properties of liquid Si at high-pressure have been studied using the orbital free ab-initio molecular dynamics method. Four thermodynamic states at pressures 4, 8, 14 and 23 GPa are considered. The calculated static structure shows qualitative agreement with the available experimental data. We analize the remarkable structural changes occurring between 8 and 14 GPa along with its effect on several dynamic properties.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matte

The emerging structure of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis: where does Evo-Devo fit in?

The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) debate is gaining ground in contemporary evolutionary biology. In parallel, a number of philosophical standpoints have emerged in an attempt to clarify what exactly is represented by the EES. For Massimo Pigliucci, we are in the wake of the newest instantiation of a persisting Kuhnian paradigm; in contrast, Telmo Pievani has contended that the transition to an EES could be best represented as a progressive reformation of a prior Lakatosian scientific research program, with the extension of its Neo-Darwinian core and the addition of a brand-new protective belt of assumptions and auxiliary hypotheses. Here, we argue that those philosophical vantage points are not the only ways to interpret what current proposals to ‘extend’ the Modern Synthesis-derived ‘standard evolutionary theory’ (SET) entail in terms of theoretical change in evolutionary biology. We specifically propose the image of the emergent EES as a vast network of models and interweaved representations that, instantiated in diverse practices, are connected and related in multiple ways. Under that assumption, the EES could be articulated around a paraconsistent network of evolutionary theories (including some elements of the SET), as well as models, practices and representation systems of contemporary evolutionary biology, with edges and nodes that change their position and centrality as a consequence of the co-construction and stabilization of facts and historical discussions revolving around the epistemic goals of this area of the life sciences. We then critically examine the purported structure of the EES—published by Laland and collaborators in 2015—in light of our own network-based proposal. Finally, we consider which epistemic units of Evo-Devo are present or still missing from the EES, in preparation for further analyses of the topic of explanatory integration in this conceptual framework

Radio Astronomy

Contains table of contents for Section 4 and reports on eight research projects.National Science Foundation Grant AST 88-19848National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center Grant NAGW-2310SM Systems and Research, IncNational Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center Grant NAG 5-537National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center Grant NAG 5-10Leaders for Manufacturing ProgramNational Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center Grant NAS 5-3079

Seroepidemiologic Study of Human Infections with Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in North Carolina

Increasing entomologic and epidemiologic evidence suggests that spotted fever group rickettsiae (SFGR) other than Rickettsia rickettsii are responsible for spotted fever rickettsioses in the United States. A retrospective seroepidemiologic study was conducted on stored acute- and convalescent-phase sera that had been submitted for Rocky Mountain spotted fever testing to the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health. We evaluated the serologic reactivity of the paired sera to R. rickettsii, Rickettsia parkeri, and Rickettsia amblyommii antigens. Of the 106 eligible pairs tested, 21 patients seroconverted to one or more antigens. Cross-reactivity to multiple antigens was observed in 10 patients, and seroconversions to single antigens occurred in 11 patients, including 1 against R. rickettsii, 4 against R. parkeri, and 6 against R. amblyommii. Cross-absorption of cross-reactive sera and/or Western blots identified two presumptive cases of infection with R. parkeri, two presumptive cases of infection with R. rickettsii, and one presumptive case of infection with R. amblyommii. These findings suggest that species of SFGR other than R. rickettsii are associated with illness among North Carolina residents and that serologic testing using R. rickettsii antigen may miss cases of spotted fever rickettsioses caused by other species of SFGR

Radio Astronomy

Contains table of contents for Section 4 and reports on twelve research projects.National Science Foundation Grant AST 88-19848Jet Propulsion Laboratory Contract 957687National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NAGW 1386National Science Foundation Grant AST 88-19848Annie Jump Cannon AwardSM Systems and Research, Inc.U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research Contract N00014-88-K-2016NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Grant NAG 5-537NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Grant NAG 5-10Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Contract SC-28860Leaders for Manufacturing Progra

Radio Astronomy

Contains table of contents for Section 4 and reports on nine research projects.National Science Foundation Grant AST 88-19848National Science Foundation Grant AST 90-22501Alfred P. Sloan FellowshipNational Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator AwardNational Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NAGW-2310David and Lucile Packard FellowshipSM Systems and Research CorporationNational Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center Contract NAS 5-30791National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center Grant NAG5-10Leaders for Manufacturing Progra

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty