Evolutionary history influences the salinity preference of bacterial taxa in wetland soils

Salinity is a major driver of bacterial community composition across the globe. Despite growing recognition that different bacterial species are present or active at different salinities, the mechanisms by which salinity structures community composition remain unclear. We tested the hypothesis that these patterns reflect ecological coherence in the salinity preferences of phylogenetic groups using a reciprocal transplant experiment of fresh- and saltwater wetland soils. The salinity of both the origin and host environments affected community composition (16S rRNA gene sequences) and activity (CO2 and CH4 production, and extracellular enzyme activity). These changes in community composition and activity rates were strongly correlated, which suggests the effect of environment on function could be mediated, at least in part, by microbial community composition. Based on their distribution across treatments, each phylotype was categorized as having a salinity preference (freshwater, saltwater, or none) and phylogenetic analyses revealed a significant influence of evolutionary history on these groupings. This finding was corroborated by examining the salinity preferences of high-level taxonomic groups. For instance, we found that the majority of α- and γ-proteobacteria in these wetland soils preferred saltwater, while many β-proteobacteria prefer freshwater. Overall, our results indicate the effect of salinity on bacterial community composition results from phylogenetically-clustered salinity preferences

EMG and Motion Analysis of Swiss Ball Abdominal Exercises and Pilates Multi-Chair Exercises

As the second most common reason for visits to primary care doctors, and a symptom that affects 80% of the general United States population, low back pain and its\u27 treatment is a burdening cost on the American economy every year. Various spinal stabilization exercises have emerged as a means to treat low back pain. One of the most recent fonns of these stabilization exercises used in the physical therapy arena is Pilates, a fonn of dynamic spinal stabilization. Although numerous electromyographic (EMG) studies have been completed on abdominal exercises for spinal stabilization, minimal scientific research can be found on the efficacy of Pilates equipment in this realm. The purpose of this study is to analyze and evaluate the EMG activity in the rectus abdominis, external obliques, and internal obliques using four abdominal exercises: the abdominal crunch on a ball, the abdominal crunch with rotation on a ball, the abdominal crunch on the Pilates Multi-Chair, and the abdominal crunch with rotation on the Pilates Multi-Chair. Fourteen, healthy subjects between the ages of 18 and 45 years of age performed a maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and one trial of each abdominal exercise. Abdominal EMG activity was recorded through surface electrodes and then normalized to percent MVC (%MVC) by comparing the muscle activity in the trial with the muscle activity during the reference MVC. Results of this study showed a significant difference in % MVC among exercises in the left external oblique, upper rectus abdominis, and lower rectus abdominis. There was no significant difference in % MVC among exercises in the right external oblique, and the right and left internal obliques. In general, exercises on the ball produced a higher % MVC in the rectus abdominis and the exercises on the Pilates Multi-Chair produced a higher % MVC in the external obliques

Vaccinia virus immune evasion: mechanisms, virulence and immunogenicity

Virus infection of mammalian cells is sensed by pattern recognition receptors and leads to an innate immune response that restricts virus replication and induces adaptive immunity. In response, viruses have evolved many countermeasures that enable them to replicate and be transmitted to new hosts, despite the host innate immune response. Poxviruses, such as vaccinia virus (VACV), have large DNA genomes and encode many proteins that are dedicated to host immune evasion. Some of these proteins are secreted from the infected cell, where they bind and neutralize complement factors, interferons, cytokines and chemokines. Other VACV proteins function inside cells to inhibit apoptosis or signalling pathways that lead to the production of interferons and pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. In this review, these VACV immunomodulatory proteins are described and the potential to create more immunogenic VACV strains by manipulation of the gene encoding these proteins is discussed

Interaction between Mu and Delta Opioid Receptor Agonists in an Assay of Capsaicin-Induced Thermal Allodynia in Rhesus Monkeys

Delta opioid agonists enhance antinociceptive effects of mu-opioid agonists in many preclinical assays of acute nociception, but delta/mu interactions in preclinical models of inflammation-associated pain have not been examined. This study examined interactions between the delta agonist SNC80 [(+)-4-[(αR)-α-((2S,5R)-4-allyl-2,5-dimethyl-1-piperazinyl)-3-methoxybenzyl]-N,N-diethylbenzamide] and the mu agonist analgesics methadone, morphine, and nalbuphine in an assay of capsaicin-induced thermal allodynia in rhesus monkeys. Thermal allodynia was produced by topical application of capsaicin to the tail. Antiallodynic effects of methadone, morphine, and nalbuphine were evaluated alone or in combination with fixed proportions of SNC80 identical to proportions previously shown to enhance acute thermal antinociceptive effects of these mu agonists in rhesus monkeys (0.9 : 1 SNC80/methadone; 0.29 : 1 SNC80/morphine; 3.6 : 1 SNC80/nalbuphine). Methadone, morphine, and nalbuphine each produced dose-dependent antiallodynia. SNC80 produced partial antiallodynia up to the highest dose tested (5.6 mg/kg). SNC80 produced a modest, enantioselective, and naltrindole-reversible enhancement of methadone-induced antiallodynia. However, SNC80 did not enhance morphine antiallodynia and only weakly enhanced nalbuphine antiallodynia. Overall, SNC80 produced modest or no enhancement of the antiallodynic effects of the three mu agonists evaluated. These results suggest that delta agonist-induced enhancement of mu agonist antiallodynia may be weaker and less reliable than previously demonstrated enhancement of mu agonist acute thermal nociception

Big Data and Research Opportunities Using HRAF Databases

The HRAF databases, eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology, each containing large corpora of curated text subject-indexed at the paragraph-level by anthropologists, were designed to facilitate rapid retrieval of information. The texts describe social and cultural life in past and present societies around the world. As of the spring of 2017, eHRAF contains almost 3 million indexed “paragraph” units from over 8,000 documents describing over 400 societies and archaeological traditions. This chapter first discusses concrete problems of scale resulting from large numbers of complex elements retrieved by any given search. Second, we discuss potential and partial solutions that resolve these problems to advance research, whether based on specific hypotheses, classification or identifying and evaluating embedded patterns of relationships. Third, we discuss new kinds of research possibilities that can be further advanced, have not yet been successfully attempted, or have not even been considered using anthropological data because of scale and complexity of achieving a result

Presence of stolbur phytoplasma in Cixiidae in Hungarian vineyards

Bois Noir (16SrXII-A) phytoplasmas were identified in three viticultural areas of Hungary in 18 % of Hyalesthes obsoletus, and in an asymptomatic nettle sample. The cixiid Reptalus panzeri was found to be infected with 16SrXII-A and with 16SrIII (X-disease) phytoplasmas. The latter pathogen was also detected in symptomatic wild Cirsium spp. and Convolvolus collected inside Bois Noir-infected and R. panzeri-infested vineyards

Mena, a new available marker in tumors of salivary glands?

Mena (mammalian Ena) is an actin regulatory protein involved in cell motility and adhesion. Based on its potential role in malignant transformation revealed in other organs, we analyzed the Mena expression in normal salivary glands (SG) and salivary tumors. Mena expression was determined in normal SG (n=10) and also benign (n=20) and malignant (n=35) lesions of SG. For the immunohistochemical staining we used the anti-Mena antibody. All normal SG and the benign lesions (10 pleomorphic adenomas, 10 Warthin's tumors) were Mena negative. Salivary duct carcinomas (n=5), carcinomas in pleomorphic adenoma (n=5), acinic cell carcinomas (n=5), squamous cell carcinomas (n=10) and high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinomas (n=2) were positive. The lymphomas (n=5) and low-grade mucoepidermoid carcinomas (n=1) were Mena negative. In one case the lymphoblastic cells stained positive for Mena. Some of the endothelial cells, in the peritumoral vessels, were Mena positive. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in the literature about Mena expression in salivary tumors. Our study suggests that Mena protein seems to play a role in malignant transformation and its intensity is correlated with the type and grade of tumor and also with vascular invasion. Its positivity in endothelial cells may suggest its potential role in tumor angiogenesis

Cooperation, collective action, and the archeology of large-scale societies

Archeologists investigating the emergence of large-scale societies in the past have renewed interest in examining the dynamics of cooperation as a means of understanding societal change and organizational variability within human groups over time. Unlike earlier approaches to these issues, which used models designated voluntaristic or managerial, contemporary research articulates more explicitly with frameworks for cooperation and collective action used in other fields, thereby facilitating empirical testing through better definition of the costs, benefits, and social mechanisms associated with success or failure in coordinated group action. Current scholarship is nevertheless bifurcated along lines of epistemology and scale, which is understandable but problematic for forging a broader, more transdisciplinary field of cooperation studies. Here, we point to some areas of potential overlap by reviewing archeological research that places the dynamics of social cooperation and competition in the foreground of the emergence of large-scale societies, which we define as those having larger populations, greater concentrations of political power, and higher degrees of social inequality. We focus on key issues involving the communal-resource management of subsistence and other economic goods, as well as the revenue flows that undergird political institutions. Drawing on archeological cases from across the globe, with greater detail from our area of expertise in Mesoamerica, we offer suggestions for strengthening analytical methods and generating more transdisciplinary research programs that address human societies across scalar and temporal spectra

Identification of Native Defects (Vacancies and Antisites) in CdSiP2 Crystals

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) is used to identify four native defects in single crystals of CdSiP2. This nonlinear optical material is used in optical parametric oscillators to generate tunable output in the mid-infrared. The performance of these frequency-conversion devices is limited when infrared absorption bands associated with native defects overlap a pump wavelength. Cadmium, silicon, and phosphorus vacancies and also silicon-on-cadmium antisites are present in the as-grown undoped CdSiP2 crystals. Using near-band-edge 632.8 nm light from a He-Ne laser, a paramagnetic charge state, and thus an EPR spectrum, is formed at liquid-helium temperatures for three of the four defects. The EPR spectrum from the singly ionized silicon vacancy (V-Si) is present without light and has five hyperfine lines due to equal interactions with the four neighboring 31P nuclei. In contrast, the photoinduced EPR spectrum from the singly ionized cadmium vacancy (V-Cd) has a three-line hyperfine pattern due to equal interactions with only two of its four neighboring 31P nuclei. The light-induced spectrum from the singly ionized silicon-on-cadmium antisite (Si+Cd) also has a three-line hyperfine pattern, thus indicating that the unpaired spin interacts primarily with only two 31P neighbors. For the neutral phosphorus vacancy (V0P), the unpaired spin is primarily localized on the nearest-neighbor silicon ions and the photoinduced EPR spectrum has no resolved 31P hyperfine interactions. The silicon and cadmium vacancies are acceptors, and the silicon-on-cadmium antisite and the phosphorus vacancy are donors

The evolution and ecology of land ownership

Land ownership norms play a central role in social-ecological systems, and have been studied extensively as a component of ethnographies. Yet only recently has the distribution of land ownership norms across cultures been examined from evolutionary and ecological perspectives. Here we incorporate evolutionary and macroecological modelling to test associations between land ownership norms and environmental, subsistence, and cultural contact predictors for societies in the Bantu language family. We find that Bantu land ownership norms likely evolved on a unilinear trajectory, but not necessarily one requiring consistent increase in exclusivity as suggested by prior theory. Our macroecological analyses suggest that Bantu societies are more likely to have some form of ownership when their neighbors also do. We also find an effect of environmental productivity, supporting resource defensibility theory, which posits that land ownership is more likely where productivity is predictable. We find less support for a proposed link between agricultural intensification and land ownership. Overall, we demonstrate the value of combining analytical approaches from evolution and ecology to test diverse hypotheses on land ownership across a range of disciplines.1. Introduction 2. Materials and methods 2.1 Data 2.2 Phylogenetic analyses of evolution of land ownership 2.3 Multi-model inference of drivers of spatial patterns in land ownership 3. Results 3.1 Evolutionary trajectories of land ownership 3.2 Drivers of spatial variation in land ownership 4. Discussio