Spatial variation in the effects of size and age on reproductive dynamics of common coral trout Plectropomus leopardus

The effects of size and age on reproductive dynamics of common coral trout Plectropomus leopardus populations were compared between coral reefs open or closed (no-take marine reserves) to fishing and among four geographic regions of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia. The specific reproductive metrics investigated were the sex ratio, the proportion of vitellogenic females and the spawning fraction of local populations. Sex ratios became increasingly male biased with length and age, as expected for a protogyne, but were more male biased in southern regions of the GBR (Mackay and Storm Cay) than in northern regions (Lizard Island and Townsville) across all lengths and ages. The proportion of vitellogenic females also increased with length and age. Female P. leopardus were capable of daily spawning during the spawning season, but on average spawned every 4·3 days. Mature females spawned most frequently on Townsville reserve reefs (every 2·3 days) and Lizard Island fished reefs (every 3·2 days). Females on Mackay reefs open to fishing showed no evidence of spawning over 4 years of sampling, while females on reserve reefs spawned only once every 2–3 months. No effect of length on spawning frequency was detected. Spawning frequency increased with age on Lizard Island fished reefs, declined with age on Storm Cay fished reefs, and declined with age on reserve reefs in all regions. It is hypothesized that the variation in P. leopardus sex ratios and spawning frequency among GBR regions is primarily driven by water temperature, while no-take management zones influence spawning frequency depending on the region in which the reserve is located. Male bias and lack of spawning activity on southern GBR, where densities of adult P. leopardus are highest, suggest that recruits may be supplied from central or northern GBR. Significant regional variation in reproductive traits suggests that a regional approach to management of P. leopardus is appropriate and highlights the need for considering spatial variation in reproduction where reserves are used as fishery or conservation management tools

Ratios of Elastic Scattering of Pions from 3H and 3He

We have measured the elastic-scattering ratios of normalized yields for charged pions from 3H and 3He in the backward hemisphere. At 180 MeV, we completed the angular distribution begun with our earlier measurements, adding six data points in the angular range of 119 deg to 169 deg in the pi-nucleus center of mass. We also measured an excitation function with data points at 142, 180, 220, and 256 MeV incident pion energy at the largest achievable angle for each energy between 160 deg and 170 deg in the pi-nucleus center of mass. This excitation function corresponds to the energies of our forward-hemisphere studies. The data, taken as a whole, show an apparent role reversal of the two charge-symmetric ratios r1 and r2 in the backward hemisphere. Also, for data > 100 deg we observe a strong dependence on the four-momentum transfer squared (-t) for all of the ratios regardless of pion energy or scattering angle, and we find that the superratio R data match very well with calculations based on the forward-hemisphere data that predicts the value of the difference between the even-nucleon radii of 3H and 3He. Comparisons are also made with recent calculations incorporating different wave functions and double scattering models.Comment: RevTex 8pages, 12 figure file

Precision Pion-Proton Elastic Differential Cross Sections at Energies Spanning the Delta Resonance

A precision measurement of absolute pi+p and pi-p elastic differential cross sections at incident pion laboratory kinetic energies from T_pi= 141.15 to 267.3 MeV is described. Data were obtained detecting the scattered pion and recoil proton in coincidence at 12 laboratory pion angles from 55 to 155 degrees for pi+p, and six angles from 60 to 155 degrees for pi-p. Single arm measurements were also obtained for pi+p energies up to 218.1 MeV, with the scattered pi+ detected at six angles from 20 to 70 degrees. A flat-walled, super-cooled liquid hydrogen target as well as solid CH2 targets were used. The data are characterized by small uncertainties, ~1-2% statistical and ~1-1.5% normalization. The reliability of the cross section results was ensured by carrying out the measurements under a variety of experimental conditions to identify and quantify the sources of instrumental uncertainty. Our lowest and highest energy data are consistent with overlapping results from TRIUMF and LAMPF. In general, the Virginia Polytechnic Institute SM95 partial wave analysis solution describes our data well, but the older Karlsruhe-Helsinki PWA solution KH80 does not.Comment: 39 pages, 22 figures (some with quality reduced to satisfy ArXiv requirements. Contact M.M. Pavan for originals). Submitted to Physical Review

Two phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of the efficacy and safety of Astodrimer 1% Gel for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis

Objective Astodrimer is a dendrimer formulated in a vaginal gel to treat bacterial vaginosis (BV) and prevent recurrence. The objective of these studies was to confirm the efficacy and safety of Astodrimer 1 % Gel for treatment of BV. Study Design Women with bacterial vaginosis were randomized 1:1 to Astodrimer 1 % Gel (Study 1 conducted in the United States, N = 127; Study 2 conducted in the United States, Germany and Belgium, N = 128) or placebo gel (Study 1, N = 123; Study 2, N = 123) at a dose of 5 g vaginally once daily for 7 days. The primary endpoint was clinical cure, defined as i) absence of bacterial vaginosis vaginal discharge; ii) <20 % clue cells; and iii) negative whiff test at day 9–12. Secondary efficacy analyses included clinical cure at day 21–30. Other endpoints at days 9–12 and 21–30 included Nugent cure (Nugent score ≤3), absence of symptoms, and adverse events. The primary analysis in the modified intent-to-treat population used the Cochran Mantel Haenszel test stratified by analysis center with a two-sided significance level of α = .05. Results Astodrimer 1 % Gel was superior to placebo for the primary and selected secondary efficacy measures. Clinical cure rates at day 9–12 were 50.4 % (59/117) vs 16.5 % (19/115, P < .001) (Study 1) and 56.7 % (68/120) vs 21.4 % (25/117, P < .001) (Study 2) for astodrimer vs placebo. At day 21–30, clinical cure results showed a similar trend but the difference to placebo was not statistically significant. Nugent cure rates at day 9–12 were 12.8 % (15/117) vs 2.6 % (3/115, P = .004) (Study 1) and 13.3 % (16/120) vs 5.1 % (6/117, P = .030) (Study 2) for astodrimer vs placebo. A greater proportion of women receiving astodrimer reported absence of vaginal discharge and absence of vaginal odor at day 9–12 and day 21–30 compared with placebo. Adverse events were generally mild and self-limiting. For the combined studies, adverse events potentially related to treatment occurred in 14.7 % (37/252) of astodrimer patients vs 9.4 % (23/244) for placebo, including vulvovaginal candidiasis reported for 2.4 % (6/252) of astodrimer patients. Conclusion These results support a role for Astodrimer 1 % Gel as an effective, safe and well-tolerated treatment for women with bacterial vaginosis

Inflation and Brane Gases

We investigate a new way of realizing a period of cosmological inflation in the context of brane gas cosmology. It is argued that a gas of co-dimension one branes, out of thermal equilibrium with the rest of the matter, has an equation of state which can - after stabilization of the dilaton - lead to power-law inflation of the bulk. The most promising implementation of this mechanism might be in Type IIB superstring theory, with inflation of the three large spatial dimensions triggered by ``stabilized embedded 2-branes''. Possible applications and problems with this proposal are discussed.Comment: 7 pages, uses REVTeX, version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Dermatophylosis in Santa Inês sheep from Distrito Federal

Relataram-se quatro casos de dermatofilose em ovinos da raça Santa Inês, no período de um ano. Microscopicamente observaram-se filamentos na forma de "trilho de bonde" e zoósporos nos quatro casos. A tentativa do isolamento do microrganismo foi realizada por meio do método de Haalstra e em apenas um caso obteve-se sucesso, observando-se colônias de aparência lisa, formato circular, cor amarelada e hemolítica em ágar sangue. O exame direto com coloração de Gram mostrou-se um método bastante eficiente na confirmação da presença do microrganismo afetando a epiderme em razão da morfologia típica do agente.Four cases of dermatophylosis were reported in Santa Inês sheep in a study period of one year. Microscopically, septate filaments and coccoid forms zoospores were observed. Attempts to isolate the microorganisms were accomplished using Haastra's method and it was successful in only one case. Dermatophilus congolensis samples have grown on blood agar, colonies where hemolytic, small, round and pigmentation vary from yellow to orange. The gram staining method was efficient to confirm the presence of the microorganism affecting the epidermis due to typical morphology of the agent

Orbital state and magnetic properties of LiV_2 O_4

LiV_2 O_4 is one of the most puzzling compounds among transition metal oxides because of its heavy fermion like behavior at low temperatures. In this paper we present results for the orbital state and magnetic properties of LiV_2 O_4 obtained from a combination of density functional theory within the local density approximation and dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). The DMFT equations are solved by quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The trigonal crystal field splits the V 3d orbitals such that the a_{1g} and e_{g}^{pi} orbitals cross the Fermi level, with the former being slightly lower in energy and narrower in bandwidth. In this situation, the d-d Coulomb interaction leads to an almost localization of one electron per V ion in the a_{1g} orbital, while the e_{g}^{pi} orbitals form relatively broad bands with 1/8 filling. 2The theoretical high-temperature paramagnetic susceptibility chi(T) follows a Curie-Weiss law with an effective paramagnetic moment p_{eff}=1.65 in agreement with the experimental results.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, 2 table

Measurement of the Proton Spin Structure Function g1p with a Pure Hydrogen Target

A measurement of the proton spin structure function g1p(x,Q^2) in deep-inelastic scattering is presented. The data were taken with the 27.6 GeV longitudinally polarised positron beam at HERA incident on a longitudinally polarised pure hydrogen gas target internal to the storage ring. The kinematic range is 0.021<x<0.85 and 0.8 GeV^2<Q^2<20 GeV^2. The integral Int_{0.021}^{0.85} g1p(x)dx evaluated at Q0^2 of 2.5 GeV^2 is 0.122+/-0.003(stat.)+/-0.010(syst.).Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, RevTeX late