Visual Acuity does not Moderate Effect Sizes of Higher-Level Cognitive Tasks.

Background/study contextDeclining visual capacities in older adults have been posited as a driving force behind adult age differences in higher-order cognitive functions (e.g., the "common cause" hypothesis of Lindenberger & Baltes, 1994, Psychology and Aging, 9, 339-355). McGowan, Patterson, and Jordan (2013, Experimental Aging Research, 39, 70-79) also found that a surprisingly large number of published cognitive aging studies failed to include adequate measures of visual acuity. However, a recent meta-analysis of three studies (La Fleur and Salthouse, 2014, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21, 1202-1208) failed to find evidence that visual acuity moderated or mediated age differences in higher-level cognitive processes. In order to provide a more extensive test of whether visual acuity moderates age differences in higher-level cognitive processes, we conducted a more extensive meta-analysis of topic.MethodsUsing results from 456 studies, we calculated effect sizes for the main effect of age across four cognitive domains (attention, executive function, memory, and perception/language) separately for five levels of visual acuity criteria (no criteria, undisclosed criteria, self-reported acuity, 20/80-20/31, and 20/30 or better).ResultsAs expected, age had a significant effect on each cognitive domain. However, these age effects did not further differ as a function of visual acuity criteria.ConclusionThe current meta-analytic, cross-sectional results suggest that visual acuity is not significantly related to age group differences in higher-level cognitive performance-thereby replicating La Fleur and Salthouse (2014). Further efforts are needed to determine whether other measures of visual functioning (e.g., contrast sensitivity, luminance) affect age differences in cognitive functioning

Predictors of placement from a juvenile detention facility

The purpose of this project was to determine whether certain personal, socioeconomic, and court-related factors are significantly related to the differential placement of delinquent and dependent children from the detention facility at the Donald E. Long Home. A stratified random sample was composed of 173 placements of children who were held in detention after a preliminary hearing. The review of literature revealed that little systematic. Information is known regarding the placement process as it is related to differential placement of children from a detention facility. A code sheet was developed for recording the information in the children’s records maintained by the court. Fourteen variables were ultimately selected for analysis of their relationship to differential placement. These variables were subjected to three statistical approaches; a descriptive analysis of the random sample, testing of the significance of each variable to the alternatives in placement by either Chi square or analyses of variance, and testing of several variables in combination by discriminant function. This study was limited by the fact that only demographic variables were tested. Although three individual variables were found to have a high degree of significance in relation to placement, the data as produced within the scope of this research project does not provide an effective placement profile. The need for additional research in the area of the differential placement process is clearly indicated. Suggestions are made for future research

Disease ontogeny overshadows effects of climate and species interactions on population dynamics in a nonnative forest disease complex

Biotic threats to trees often arise from interactions among two or more species, frequency insects and fungi, that function together to defeat host defenses, secure resources and colonize new hosts. Feedbacks among plant enemies can have large positive feedbacks that can destabilize populations and permit outbreaks. Feedbacks can be rapid and direct (e.g. within trees or among years) or can arise from slowly developing changes in host resource quantity or quality at the scale of forest stands or landscapes. Climate may also influence system dynamics by altering feedbacks within or among species or through density independent effects. We evaluated major drivers of population dynamics of beech bark disease (BBD), an important forest disease in eastern deciduous forests of North America, using data from 28 study sites in the eastern United States monitored for up to 14 yr between 1979 and 1992. Both primary causal agents of BBD – the introduced felted beech scale. Cryptococcus fagisuga and native fungi Neonectria spp. – Showed strong simple density dependence in all study populations. Surprisingly, densities of scale insects and fungi had little or no effects on population growth rates of the other, despite their habit of living in close physical relationships. For both insects and fungi, ecologically important features of the density dependent functions (slope, carrying capacity and density independent variance ) were variable across sites. Climatic effects on density-dependent functions (and scatter around them) were evident but generally weak and variable. The most striking predictor of patterns in density dependence was duration since establishment of BBD in the region. Apparently BBD alters forests over decades in ways that strengthen self-regulation among causal agents without eliminating or even dramatically reducing host populations.This work was partially supported by the USDA Forest Service Northeastern Research Station, grant 04-JV-11242328- 122.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1600-0587ab201

Analysis of electromagnetic scattering by nearly periodic structures: an LDRD report.

In this LDRD we examine techniques to analyze the electromagnetic scattering from structures that are nearly periodic. Nearly periodic could mean that one of the structure's unit cells is different from all the others--a defect. It could also mean that the structure is truncated, or butted up against another periodic structure to form a seam. Straightforward electromagnetic analysis of these nearly periodic structures requires us to grid the entire structure, which would overwhelm today's computers and the computers in the foreseeable future. In this report we will examine various approximations that allow us to continue to exploit some aspects of the structure's periodicity and thereby reduce the number of unknowns required for analysis. We will use the Green's Function Interpolation with a Fast Fourier Transform (GIFFT) to examine isolated defects both in the form of a source dipole over a meta-material slab and as a rotated dipole in a finite array of dipoles. We will look at the numerically exact solution of a one-dimensional seam. In order to solve a two-dimensional seam, we formulate an efficient way to calculate the Green's function of a 1d array of point sources. We next formulate ways of calculating the far-field due to a seam and due to array truncation based on both array theory and high-frequency asymptotic methods. We compare the high-frequency and GIFFT results. Finally, we use GIFFT to solve a simple, two-dimensional seam problem

Inferring controls on the epidemiology of beech bark disease from spatial patterning of disease organisms

1 Spatial pattern in the distribution and abundance of organisms is an emergent property of collective rates of reproduction, survival and movement of individuals in a heterogeneous environment. 2 The form, intensity and scale of spatial patterning can be used to test hypotheses regarding the relative importance of candidate processes to population dynamics. 3 Using 84 plots across eastern North America, we studied populations of two associated plant parasites, the invasive felted beech scale Cryptococcus fagisuga Lind. and the native Neonectria fungi, which together cause beech bark disease (BBD). 4 We evaluated spatial patterns at the scales of trees within stands, stands within the forest and forests within the landscape to examine four hypothetically important factors in the ecology of the disease: (i) local contagion within stands; (ii) regional contagion, or among patch infection–reinfection dynamics; (iii) variation in host susceptibility linked to genetic and/or environmental heterogeneity; and (iv) climate effects on population growth of BBD organisms. 5 Analyses revealed an unexpected lack of spatial aggregation in BBD populations among trees, stands and forests. This implies that propagule pressure is generally sufficiently high throughout the infested region of North America such that neither trees nor stands are spared from the disease by dispersal limitations of the disease agents. Furthermore, variation in tree and stand level susceptibility has minimal impact on BBD dynamics and climate is not a conspicuous driver of abundance within the core range of BBD.This work was partially supported by the USDA Forest Service Northeastern Research Station, grant 04-JV-11242328-122.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1461-9563/hb2013ab201

Permeation of CO2 and N2 through glassy poly(dimethyl phenylene) oxide under steady- and presteady-state conditions

Glassy polymers are often used for gas separations because of their high selectivity. Although the dual-mode permeation model correctly fits their sorption and permeation isotherms, its physical interpretation is disputed, and it does not describe permeation far from steady state, a condition expected when separations involve intermittent renewable energy sources. To develop a more comprehensive permeation model, we combine experiment, molecular dynamics, and multiscale reaction–diffusion modeling to characterize the time-dependent permeation of N2 and CO2 through a glassy poly(dimethyl phenylene oxide) membrane, a model system. Simulations of experimental time-dependent permeation data for both gases in the presteady-state and steady-state regimes show that both single- and dual-mode reaction–diffusion models reproduce the experimental observations, and that sorbed gas concentrations lag the external pressure rise. The results point to environment-sensitive diffusion coefficients as a vital characteristic of transport in glassy polymers

Activation of Phospholipase C-ε by Heterotrimeric G Protein βγ-Subunits

PLC-epsilon was identified recently as a phosphoinositide-hydrolyzing phospholipase C (PLC) containing catalytic domains (X, Y, and C2) common to all PLC isozymes as well as unique CDC25- and Ras-associating domains. Novel regulation of this PLC isozyme by the Ras oncoprotein and alpha-subunits (Galpha(12)) of heterotrimeric G proteins was illustrated. Sequence analyses of PLC-epsilon revealed previously unrecognized PH and EF-hand domains in the amino terminus. The known interaction of Gbetagamma subunits with the PH domains of other proteins led us to examine the capacity of Gbetagamma to activate PLC-epsilon. Co-expression of Gbeta(1)gamma(2) with PLC-epsilon in COS-7 cells resulted in marked stimulation of phospholipase C activity. Gbeta(2) and Gbeta(4) in combination with Ggamma(1), Ggamma(2), Ggamma(3), or Ggamma(13) also activated PLC-epsilon to levels similar to those observed with Gbeta(1)-containing dimers of these Ggamma-subunits. Gbeta(3) in combination with the same Ggamma-subunits was less active, and Gbeta(5)-containing dimers were essentially inactive. Gbetagamma-promoted activation of PLC-epsilon was blocked by cotransfection with either of two Gbetagamma-interacting proteins, Galpha(i1) or the carboxyl terminus of G protein receptor kinase 2. Pharmacological inhibition of PI3-kinase-gamma had no effect on Gbeta(1)gamma(2)-promoted activation of PLC-epsilon. Similarly, activation of Ras in the action of Gbetagamma is unlikely, because a mutation in the second RA domain of PLC-epsilon that blocks Ras activation of PLC failed to alter the stimulatory activity of Gbeta(1)gamma(2). Taken together, these results reveal the presence of additional functional domains in PLC-epsilon and add a new level of complexity in the regulation of this novel enzyme by heterotrimeric G proteins

Lifespan and age, but not residual reproductive value or condition, are related to behaviour in wild field crickets

Natural Environment Research Council. Grant Numbers: NE/H02249X/1, NE/H02364X/1Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Development and validation of a high density SNP genotyping array for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

BackgroundDense single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping arrays provide extensive information on polymorphic variation across the genome of species of interest. Such information can be used in studies of the genetic architecture of quantitative traits and to improve the accuracy of selection in breeding programs. In Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), these goals are currently hampered by the lack of a high-density SNP genotyping platform. Therefore, the aim of the study was to develop and test a dense Atlantic salmon SNP array. ResultsSNP discovery was performed using extensive deep sequencing of Reduced Representation (RR-Seq), Restriction site-Associated DNA (RAD-Seq) and mRNA (RNA-Seq) libraries derived from farmed and wild Atlantic salmon samples (n = 283) resulting in the discovery of > 400 K putative SNPs. An Affymetrix Axiom® myDesign Custom Array was created and tested on samples of animals of wild and farmed origin (n = 96) revealing a total of 132,033 polymorphic SNPs with high call rate, good cluster separation on the array and stable Mendelian inheritance in our sample. At least 38% of these SNPs are from transcribed genomic regions and therefore more likely to include functional variants. Linkage analysis utilising the lack of male recombination in salmonids allowed the mapping of 40,214 SNPs distributed across all 29 pairs of chromosomes, highlighting the extensive genome-wide coverage of the SNPs. An identity-by-state clustering analysis revealed that the array can clearly distinguish between fish of different origins, within and between farmed and wild populations. Finally, Y-chromosome-specific probes included on the array provide an accurate molecular genetic test for sex. ConclusionsThis manuscript describes the first high-density SNP genotyping array for Atlantic salmon. This array will be publicly available and is likely to be used as a platform for high-resolution genetics research into traits of evolutionary and economic importance in salmonids and in aquaculture breeding programs via genomic selection