Demography and selection shape transcriptomic divergence in field crickets

Gene flow, demography, and selection can result in similar patterns of genomic variation and disentangling their effects is key to understanding speciation. Here, we assess transcriptomic variation to unravel the evolutionary history of Gryllus rubens and Gryllus texensis, cryptic field cricket species with highly divergent mating behavior. We infer their demographic history and screen their transcriptomes for footprints of selection in the context of the inferred demography. We find strong support for a long history of bidirectional gene flow, which ceased during the late Pleistocene, and a bottleneck in G. rubens consistent with a peripatric origin of this species. Importantly, the demographic history has likely strongly shaped patterns of genetic differentiation (empirical F-ST distribution). Concordantly, F-ST-based selection detection uncovers a large number of outliers, likely comprising many false positives, echoing recent theoretical insights. Alternative genetic signatures of positive selection, informed by the demographic history of the sibling species, highlighted a smaller set of loci; many of these are candidates for controlling variation in mating behavior. Our results underscore the importance of demography in shaping overall patterns of genetic divergence and highlight that examining both demography and selection facilitates a more complete understanding of genetic divergence during speciation

Weighted ergodic theorems for Banach-Kantorovich lattice Lp(∇^,μ^)L_{p}(\hat{\nabla},\hat{\mu})

In the present paper we prove weighted ergodic theorems and multiparameter weighted ergodic theorems for positive contractions acting on $L_p(\hat{\nabla},\hat{\mu})$. Our main tool is the use of methods of measurable bundles of Banach-Kantorovich lattices.Comment: 11 page

Transcriptome profiling of ontogeny in the acridid grasshopper Chorthippus biguttulus

Acridid grasshoppers (Orthoptera:Acrididae) are widely used model organisms for developmental, evolutionary, and neurobiological research. Although there has been recent influx of orthopteran transcriptomic resources, many use pooled ontogenetic stages obscuring information about changes in gene expression during development. Here we developed a de novo transcriptome spanning 7 stages in the life cycle of the acridid grasshopper Chorthippus biguttulus. Samples from different stages encompassing embryonic development through adults were used for transcriptomic profiling, revealing patterns of differential gene expression that highlight processes in the different life stages. These patterns were validated with semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Embryonic development showed a strongly differentiated expression pattern compared to all of the other stages and genes upregulated in this stage were involved in signaling, cellular differentiation, and organ development. Our study is one of the first to examine gene expression during post-embryonic development in a hemimetabolous insect and we found that only the fourth and fifth instars had clusters of genes upregulated during these stages. These genes are involved in various processes ranging from synthesis of biogenic amines to chitin binding. These observations indicate that post-embryonic ontogeny is not a continuous process and that some instars are differentiated. Finally, genes upregulated in the imago were generally involved in aging and immunity. Our study highlights the importance of looking at ontogeny as a whole and indicates promising directions for future research in orthopteran development

The scale, governance, and sustainability of central places in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica

Examinations of the variation and relative successes or failures of past large-scale societies have long involved attempts to reconcile efforts at generalization and the identification of specific factors with explanatory value for regional trajectories. Although historical particulars are critical to understanding individual cases, there are both scholarly and policy rationales for drawing broader implications regarding the growing corpus of cross-cultural data germane to understanding variability in the constitution of human societies, past and present. Archaeologists have recently highlighted how successes and failures in communal-resource management can be studied over the long term through the material record to both engage and enhance transdisciplinary research on cooperation and collective action. In this article we consider frameworks that have been traditionally employed in studies of the rise, diversity, and fall of preindustrial urban aggregations. We suggest that a comparative theoretical perspective that foregrounds collective-action problems, unaligned individual and group interests, and the social mechanisms that promote or hamper cooperation advances our understanding of variability in these early cooperative arrangements. We apply such a perspective to an examination of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican urban centers to demonstrate tendencies for more collective systems to be larger and longer lasting than less collective ones, likely reflecting greater sustainability in the face of the ecological and cultural perturbations specific to the region and era.Accepted manuscrip

Effect of alirocumab on mortality after acute coronary syndromes. An analysis of the ODYSSEY OUTCOMES randomized clinical trial

Background: Previous trials of PCSK9 (proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9) inhibitors demonstrated reductions in major adverse cardiovascular events, but not death. We assessed the effects of alirocumab on death after index acute coronary syndrome. Methods: ODYSSEY OUTCOMES (Evaluation of Cardiovascular Outcomes After an Acute Coronary Syndrome During Treatment With Alirocumab) was a double-blind, randomized comparison of alirocumab or placebo in 18 924 patients who had an ACS 1 to 12 months previously and elevated atherogenic lipoproteins despite intensive statin therapy. Alirocumab dose was blindly titrated to target achieved low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) between 25 and 50 mg/dL. We examined the effects of treatment on all-cause death and its components, cardiovascular and noncardiovascular death, with log-rank testing. Joint semiparametric models tested associations between nonfatal cardiovascular events and cardiovascular or noncardiovascular death. Results: Median follow-up was 2.8 years. Death occurred in 334 (3.5%) and 392 (4.1%) patients, respectively, in the alirocumab and placebo groups (hazard ratio [HR], 0.85; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.98; P=0.03, nominal P value). This resulted from nonsignificantly fewer cardiovascular (240 [2.5%] vs 271 [2.9%]; HR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.74 to 1.05; P=0.15) and noncardiovascular (94 [1.0%] vs 121 [1.3%]; HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.59 to 1.01; P=0.06) deaths with alirocumab. In a prespecified analysis of 8242 patients eligible for ≥3 years follow-up, alirocumab reduced death (HR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.65 to 0.94; P=0.01). Patients with nonfatal cardiovascular events were at increased risk for cardiovascular and noncardiovascular deaths (P<0.0001 for the associations). Alirocumab reduced total nonfatal cardiovascular events (P<0.001) and thereby may have attenuated the number of cardiovascular and noncardiovascular deaths. A post hoc analysis found that, compared to patients with lower LDL-C, patients with baseline LDL-C ≥100 mg/dL (2.59 mmol/L) had a greater absolute risk of death and a larger mortality benefit from alirocumab (HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.56 to 0.90; Pinteraction=0.007). In the alirocumab group, all-cause death declined wit h achieved LDL-C at 4 months of treatment, to a level of approximately 30 mg/dL (adjusted P=0.017 for linear trend). Conclusions: Alirocumab added to intensive statin therapy has the potential to reduce death after acute coronary syndrome, particularly if treatment is maintained for ≥3 years, if baseline LDL-C is ≥100 mg/dL, or if achieved LDL-C is low. Clinical Trial Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01663402

Regularity of problems with data in distance-weighted spaces on the boundary via uniform hopf inequality and the duality principle

Cette thèse, comporte deux parties distinctes.Dans la première partie, on étudie l'existence et l'inexistence d'une inégalité qu'on a appelée l'inégalité de Hopf Uniforme (IHU), pour une équation linéaire de la forme Lv = f à coefficients bornés mesurables et sous les conditions de Dirichlet homogènes. L'IHU est une variante du principe de maximum, on l'a appliquée dans la preuve de la régularité W1;p 0 pour un problème semi-linéaire singulier : Lu = F(u) où les coefficients de L sont dans l'espace vmor (fonctions à oscillation moyenne évanescente) et F(u) est singulier en u = 0 F(0) = +∞. De plus, si les coefficients sont lipschitziens, on prouve que la régularité optimale du gradient de la solution u est bmor (fonctions à oscillation moyenne bornée i.e Grad u dans bmor).Dans la seconde partie, on s'intéresse à la régularité du système d'élasticité (équations stationnaires des ondes élastiques) avec une fonction source singulière au sens qu'elle n’est qu'intégrable par rapport à la fonction distance au bord du domaine. Via la dualité, nous montrons, selon ~f , que le problème admet une solution dite très faible dont le gradient n'est pas nécessairement intégrable sur tout le domaine mais uniquement localement. Nous déterminons aussi les fonctions vectorielles ~f pour lesquelles, ~u a son gradient intégrable sur tout l'espace de travail.We discuss the existence and non existence of the so called Hopf uniform Inequality (variant of a maximum principle) for the linear equation Lv = f with measurable coefficients and under the homogeneous Dirichlet Boundary condition. Then we apply such inequality to prove the W1;p 0 -regularity of a semi linear problem Lu = F(u), singular at u = 0, with the coefficients of the main operator of L in the space of vanishing mean oscillation. Moreover, when those coefficients are Lipschitz, we show that the gradient of the solution is at most in the space of bounded mean oscillation : bmor. In the last part of this thesis, we are concerned with the linear easticity system (Stationnary equation of the waves elasticity). But, here the second terms varies with respect to the distance function until the boundary.Using the duality method, we study the regularity of the solution of the elasticity system for the data belonging to various weighted spaces

Effect of instructional guidelines on brain tumors patients’ pain and fatigue levels

One of the most prevalent and severe side effects for patients with brain tumors is pain and fatigue. The aim was to determine the effect of instructional guidelines on brain tumor patients' pain and fatigue levels. Subjects and method: Design: A quasi-experimental research design was used to achieve the aim of this study. Setting: the research was conducted in the neurosurgery department at Beni-Suef University Hospital. Subjects: A purposive sample of 50 adult patients was included. Three tools were used: Tool (I) a structured interview questionnaire (II) a numerical pain rating scale, and (III) a Fatigue assessment scale. Results: The current study revealed that there was a highly statistically significant difference between pain mean scores pre and post-instructional guidelines implementation at (P= &lt;0.05). Also, the study showed that there was a highly statistically significant difference between anxiety scores pre and post-instructional guidelines implementation with (P=&lt;0.001). Conclusion: The instructional guidelines implementation had a positive effect on reducing pain and fatigue levels among patients with brain tumors. Recommendations: The instructional guidelines implementation regarding brain tumors should be provided and discussed in the rehabilitation programs