Errors on the inverse problem solution for a noisy spherical gravitational wave antenna

A single spherical antenna is capable of measuring the direction and polarization of a gravitational wave. It is possible to solve the inverse problem using only linear algebra even in the presence of noise. The simplicity of this solution enables one to explore the error on the solution using standard techniques. In this paper we derive the error on the direction and polarization measurements of a gravitational wave. We show that the solid angle error and the uncertainty on the wave amplitude are direction independent. We also discuss the possibility of determining the polarization amplitudes with isotropic sensitivity for any given gravitational wave source.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, LaTeX2e, IOP style, submitted to CQ

Lizard thermoregulation revisited after two decades of global warming

CRUE-CSIC (Acuerdos Transformativos 2022)1.Although the effects of global warming on thermoregulation are usually explored using predictions of climate envelop modelling, such effects should best be analysed empirically, studying the same population with the same methods after a long enough period of temperature rise. 2. We used a 30-year long database about body temperatures (Tbs) of field-active Psammodromus algirus lizards inhabiting a well-conserved temperate open forest, and we focused on the summers of 1997 and 2017 to compare Tbs, environmental operative temperatures (Tes), their proximity to the selected thermal range (Tsel), and the selection of sunlit and shaded patches all along the day. From these data, we estimated the precision (standard deviation of Tbs), accuracy (average distance between Tbs and Tsel) and effectiveness (extent to which Tbs are closer to Tsel than Tes) of thermoregulation. 3. Of the highest 5% of all Tbs in the database, 95% were recorded in 2017, when the adjustment to Tsel was much better for Tbs selected in a laboratory thermogradient than for field Tbs (percentages of Tbs above Tsel of 2% and 52% respectively). 4. In 2017, especially after 12:00 h, the selection of shaded patches (87% of lizards in full shade vs. <1% in full sun) was more intense than in 1997, contributed more to overall thermoregulation, and produced a larger difference between Tes and Tbs. In spite of this, Tbs were lower—and closer to Tsel—in 1997 (when most shaded patches offered favourable thermal opportunities, with Tes within or below Tsel) than in 2017 (when only 33% of full shade Tes, and 8% of all Tes, were within or below Tsel). As a consequence, estimates of the accuracy and effectiveness of thermoregulation decreased over the 20-year period examined. 5. We conclude that given the low availability of Tes within or below Tsel, lizards cannot longer prevent the rise of their Tbs above Tsel, at least in hot summer days. Thus, the effects of global warming are already hindering the ability of lizards to buffer environmental change by behavioural means, even in temperate forests with a fine-grained mosaic of sun and shade patches.Depto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y EvoluciónFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)pu

Mediation criteria for interactive serious games aimed at improving learning in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

The PASS intelligence theory (Planning, Attention-Arousal, Simultaneous and Successive) was used together with Feuerstein’s mediation model to develop a system of categories for mediation in educational games. This system was used to analyze and improve the design of interactive games that can enhance mediation in learning, particularly in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To this end, interactive games designed for a tabletop device were evaluated within an educational context. 27 children (3–14 years old), who had been diagnosed with ADHD, took part. The tabletop has an intuitive system that allows children to interact directly with objects with which they are familiar, providing opportunities for play and communication. These games were evaluated by the participant observation of individual and group playing experiences, interviews, and two focus groups. The results show that mediation recommendations can be useful in the design of the games. They also confirm the need to improve the adaptability of the games to enable children with ADHD to mediate, plan, and focus their attention. With the aid of a facilitator, the mediating function of learning-games can therefore be applied in the development of the executive functions that are key to learning

The synzootic potential of common epidemics in chamois populations

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UABSouthern chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica) is a medium-sized and gregarious mountain ungulate with populations affected by periodic outbreaks of border disease virus (BD), infectious keratoconjunctivitis (IKC), and sarcoptic mange (SM). Even though the impact of each disease on chamois populations has been described in detail, there is a lack of information about the potential impact of concomitant epidemics and the synzootic potential (co-occurring enzootic or epizootic processes producing worse health outcomes in wildlife) on chamois populations. Furthermore, whether a specific order of apparition of epidemics is more or less harmful for the host population is practically unknown not only for chamois but also for most mammal populations. Using a population viability analysis (PVA), we studied the consequences of multiple disease outbreaks with synzootic potential on growth rates and probabilities of extinction of virtual populations exposed to hard winters, density dependence, and co-occurring BD, IKC, and SM outbreaks. Such infections are not under cross-immunity nor density-dependent processes and thus are supposed to affect population demography independently. Heavy snowfalls are also likely to occur in our simulated populations. Our simulations showed that a second outbreak, even caused by a low virulent pathogen, causes an increase in the probability of extinction of the host population with regard to the first outbreak. IKC-BD- and SM-BD-affected populations had a higher risk of becoming extinct in 50 years confirming the extra risk of multiple outbreaks on the viability of the affected populations

The combined use of raw and phylogenetically independent methods of outlier detection uncovers genome‐wide dynamics of local adaptation in a lizard

Local adaptation is a dynamic process by which different allele combinations are se-lected in different populations at different times, and whose genetic signature can be inferred by genome-wide outlier analyses. We combined gene flow estimates with two methods of outlier detection, one of them independent of population coances-try (CIOA) and the other one not (ROA), to identify genetic variants favored when ecology promotes phenotypic convergence. We analyzed genotyping-by-sequencing data from five populations of a lizard distributed over an environmentally heteroge-neous range that has been changing since the split of eastern and western lineages ca. 3 mya. Overall, western lizards inhabit forest habitat and are unstriped, whereas eastern ones inhabit shrublands and are striped. However, one population (Lerma) has unstriped phenotype despite its eastern ancestry. The analysis of 73,291 SNPs confirmed the east–west division and identified nonoverlapping sets of outliers (12 identified by ROA and 9 by CIOA). ROA revealed ancestral adaptive variation in the uncovered outliers that were subject to divergent selection and differently fixed for eastern and western populations at the extremes of the environmental gradient. Interestingly, such variation was maintained in Lerma, where we found high levels of heterozygosity for ROA outliers, whereas CIOA uncovered innovative variants that were selected only there. Overall, it seems that both the maintenance of ancestral variation and asymmetric migration have counterbalanced adaptive lineage split-ting in our model species. This scenario, which is likely promoted by a changing and heterogeneous environment, could hamper ecological speciation of locally adapted populations despite strong genetic structure between lineages

Low genome‐wide divergence between two lizard populations with high adaptive phenotypic differentiation

Usually, adaptive phenotypic differentiation is paralleled by genetic divergence between locally adapted populations. However, adaptation can also happen in a scenario of nonsignificant genetic divergence due to intense gene flow and/or recent differentiation. While this phenomenon is rarely published, findings on incipient ecologically driven divergence or isolation by adaptation are relatively common, which could confound our understanding about the frequency at which they actually occur in nature. Here, we explore genome-wide traces of divergence between two populations of the lacertid lizard Psammodromus algirus separated by a 600 m elevational gradient. These populations seem to be differentially adapted to their environments despite showing low levels of genetic differentiation (according to previously studies of mtDNA and microsatellite data). We performed a search for outliers (i.e., loci subject to selection) trying to identify specific loci with FST statistics significantly higher than those expected on the basis of overall, genome-wide estimates of genetic divergence. We find that local phenotypic adaptation (in terms of a wide diversity of characters) was not accompanied by genome-wide differentiation, even when we maximized the chances of unveiling such differentiation at particular loci with FSTbased outlier detection tests. Instead, our analyses confirmed the lack of genomewide differentiation on the basis of more than 70,000 SNPs, which is concordant with a scenario of local adaptation without isolation by environment. Our results add evidence to previous studies in which local adaptation does not lead to any kind of isolation (or early stages of ecological speciation), but maintains phenotypic divergence despite the lack of a differentiated genomic background

Different lesion distribution in calves orally or intratracheally challenged with Mycobacterium bovis: implications for diagnosis

[EN] Animal tuberculosis (TB) remains a major problem in some countries despite the existence of control programmes focused mainly on cattle. In this species, aerogenous transmission is accepted as the most frequent infection route, affecting mainly the respiratory system. Under the hypothesis that the oral route could be playing a more relevant role in transmission, diagnosis and disease persistence than previously thought, this study was performed to assess the course of TB infection in cattle and its effects on diagnosis depending on the route of entry of Mycobacterium bovis. Two groups of five calves each were either endotracheally (EC) or orally (OC) challenged. Necropsies were carried out 12 weeks after challenge except for three OC calves slaughtered 8 weeks later. All animals reacted to the tuberculin skin test and the entire EC group was positive to the interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) 2 weeks after challenge and thereafter. The first positive IGRA results for OC calves (3/5) were recorded 4 weeks after challenge. Group comparison revealed significant differences in lesion and positive culture location and scoring. TB-compatible gross lesions and positive cultures were more frequently found in the thorax (p < 0.001) and lung (p < 0.05) of EC animals, whereas OC animals presented lesions (p = 0.23) and positive cultures (p < 0.05) mainly located in the abdomen. These results indicate that the infection route seems to be a determining factor for both the distribution and the time needed for the development of visible lesions. Our study suggests that confirmation of TB infection in some skin reactor animals can be problematic if current post-mortem examination and diagnostics are not improvedSIThis study was supported with funds from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Research Project AGL2014-56305-C3-3-R) and the Department of Economic Development and Competitiveness of the Basque Government. MS holds a fellowship from the Department of Education of the Basque Government (PRE_2017_2_0043

Tuberculosis detection in paratuberculosis vaccinated calves:New alternatives against interference

Paratuberculosis vaccination in cattle has been restricted due to its possible interference with the official diagnostic methods used in tuberculosis eradication programs. To overcome this drawback, new possibilities to detect Mycobacterium bovis infected cattle in paratuberculosis vaccinated animals were studied under experimental conditions. Three groups of 5 calves each were included in the experiment: one paratuberculosis vaccinated group, one paratuberculosis vaccinated and M. bovis infected group and one M. bovis infected group. The performance of the IFN-gamma release assay (IGRA) and the skin test using conventional avian and bovine tuberculins (A- and B-PPD) but also other more specific antigens (ESAT-6/CFP10 and Rv3615c) was studied under official and new diagnostic criteria. Regarding the IGRA of vaccinated groups, when A- and B-PPD were used the sensitivity reached 100% at the first post-challenge sampling, dropping down to 40-80% in subsequent samplings. The sensitivity for the specific antigens was 80-100% and the specificity was also improved. After adapting the diagnostic criteria for the conventional antigens in the skin test, the ability to differentiate between M. bovis infected and non-infected animals included in paratuberculosis vaccinated groups was enhanced. Taking for positive a relative skin thickness increase of at least 100%, the single intradermal test specificity and sensitivity yielded 100%. The comparative intradermal test was equally accurate considering a B-PPD relative skin increase of at least 100% and greater than or equal to that produced by A-PPD. Using the specific antigens as a proteic cocktail, the specificity and sensitivity reached 100% considering the new relative and absolute cut-offs in all experimental groups (Δ≥30% and Δmm ≥ 2, respectively). Results suggest that the interference caused by paratuberculosis vaccination in cattle could be completely overcome by applying new approaches to the official tuberculosis diagnostic tests