The evolutionary history of reproductive strategies in sculpins of the subfamily oligocottinae

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2014The sculpin subfamily Oligocottinae is a group of 17 nearshore species and is noteworthy for the fact that it contains both intertidal and subtidal species, copulating and noncopulating species, and many species with very broad geographic ranges. These factors, as well as the consistency with which the constituent genera have been grouped together historically, make the Oligocottinae an ideal group for the study of the evolution of a reproductive mode known as internal gamete association (IGA), which is unique to sculpins. I conducted a phylogenetic study of the oligocottine sculpins based on an extensive molecular dataset consisting of DNA sequences from eight genomic regions. From the variability present in those sequences, I inferred phylogenetic relationships using parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference. Results of these phylogenetic analyses show that some historical taxonomy and classifications require revision to align taxonomy with evolutionary relatedness. Specifically, the monotypic genus Leiocottus should be synonymized with Clinocottus; membership in the tribe Oligocottini should be reduced to include only the genera Oligocottus, Clinocottus, and Orthonopias; and the genus Sigmistes should be removed from the subfamily Oligocottinae. Using this new phylogenetic framework, I conducted an analysis of the evolution of reproductive behaviors and associated morphological characters in members of Oligocottinae. These traits were obtained through a critical review of the relevant literature and mapped on the phylogeny. Ancestral state reconstruction was used to explore their evolution. The results show that copulation and the presence of an enlarged male genital papilla are likely the ancestral states of Oligocottinae and that these characters were secondarily lost in the lineage composed of Artedius corallinus, A. fenestralis, A. lateralis, and A. notospilotus. The results also show that parental care in the group is split between the Artedius lineage, where males guard egg clutches, and the rest of the group, where egg guarding behavior is not present. I speculate that the differing ecology of these two groups has affected the evolution of reproduction and parental care in the subfamily, where subtidal lineages (i.e., Artedius) engage in parental care but have transitioned away from copulation, while the intertidal lineages maintained copulation but hide their eggs rather than guard them.Chapter 1: General introduction -- Chapter 2: Molecular phylogenetics of sculpins of the subfamily Oligocottinae (Cottidae) -- Chapter 3: Distribution of reproductive traits within Oligocottinae -- Chapter 4: General conclusions

Long-term Outcome after Surgical Closure of Atrial Septal Defect in Childhood with Extensive Assessment Including MRI Measurement of the Ventricles

Surgical closure of the secundum type of atrial septal defect (ASD) in childhood leads to excellent survival. However, relevant morbidity has been reported. Transcatheter closure of these defects has now become an alternative approach. To compare the results of the two different interventions, reliable data are needed on the long-term morbidity after defect closure with both methods. Patients were evaluated after a minimum of 10 years after surgical closure of an ASD in childhood. Assessment included analysis of perioperative data, interview, clinical examination, electrocardiogram, (ECG), 24-hour ECG, ergometry, chest radiograph, echocardiography, and MRI. A total of 66 patients underwent operation between 1971 and 1986 at our institution. Forty-eight of them (73%) were interviewed and 38 (58%) participated fully in the study program. Eighteen (27%) either refused to participate or were lost to follow-up. There were no substantial residual disorders, such as arrhythmias, right-sided heart dilatation, pulmonary hypertension, or reduced work capacity. Surgical closure of an ASD in childhood has an excellent long-term outcome. Surgical closure is thus the standard against which transcatheter closure needs to be measure

Influence of Mindfulness Practice on Counseling Skills Development

This study assessed the impact of mindfulness practice, incorporated alongside a five-week counselor skills training model, on the counseling skills development of master’s-level trainees (N = 59). Three groups of counseling students were studied: those who engaged in no mindfulness practice; those who engaged in a brief amount of mindfulness practice (five mindfulness practice sessions); and those who engaged in an extended amount of mindfulness practice (11 mindfulness practice sessions). The results showed improvements in counseling skills associated with mindfulness practice, although the brief and extended intervention groups did not significantly differ from one another

Simple atomic quantum memory suitable for semiconductor quantum dot single photons

Quantum memories matched to single photon sources will form an important cornerstone of future quantum network technology. We demonstrate such a memory in warm Rb vapor with on-demand storage and retrieval, based on electromagnetically induced transparency. With an acceptance bandwidth of $\delta f$ = 0.66~GHz the memory is suitable for single photons emitted by semiconductor quantum dots. In this regime, vapor cell memories offer an excellent compromise between storage efficiency, storage time, noise level, and experimental complexity, and atomic collisions have negligible influence on the optical coherences. Operation of the memory is demonstrated using attenuated laser pulses on the single photon level. For 50 ns storage time we measure $\eta_{\textrm{e2e}}^{\textrm{50ns}} = 3.4(3)\%$ \emph{end-to-end efficiency} of the fiber-coupled memory, with an \emph{total intrinsic efficiency} $\eta_{\textrm{int}} = 17(3)\%$. Straightforward technological improvements can boost the end-to-end-efficiency to $\eta_{\textrm{e2e}} \approx 35\%$; beyond that increasing the optical depth and exploiting the Zeeman substructure of the atoms will allow such a memory to approach near unity efficiency. In the present memory, the unconditional readout noise level of $9\cdot 10^{-3}$ photons is dominated by atomic fluorescence, and for input pulses containing on average $\mu_{1}=0.27(4)$ photons the signal to noise level would be unity

Creating a difference – a role for the arts in addressing child wellbeing in conflict-affected areas

Background Details findings from a project on the potential for arts activities and art therapy to support the mental health and wellbeing of children living in Kashmir. Methods The intervention engaged 30 school children over the course of one year who produced various forms of artwork and performances. In this paper, we report on project impacts, drawing on some of our qualitative measures including observations and interviews. Results Our research details impacts and improvements in areas of emotional expression, belonging, and agency. We also found an important role for schools to create safe, secure, and caring spaces to allow students to express themselves and work through traumatic feelings in a non-judgemental way. Conclusions School-based arts interventions can play an important role in the mental health and wellbeing of children. Critical here, however, are dedicated space, time, and resources to provide a supportive environment and to sustain activity in long-term

M-grid: Using Ubiquitous Web Technologies to create a Computational Grid

There are many potential users and uses for grid computing. However, the concept of sharing computing resources excites security concerns and, whilst being powerful and flexible, at least for novices, existing systems are complex to install and use. Together these represent a significant barrier to potential users who are interested to see what grid computing can do. This paper describes m-grid, a system for building a computational grid which can accept tasks from any user with access to a web browser and distribute them to almost any machine with access to the internet and manages to do this without the installation of additional software or interfering with existing security arrangements

State preparation and measurement in a quantum simulation of the O(3) sigma model

Recently, Singh and Chandrasekharan showed that fixed points of the non-linear O(3) sigma model can be reproduced near a quantum phase transition of a spin model with just two qubits per lattice site. In a paper by the NuQS collaboration, the proposal is made to simulate such field theories on a quantum computer using the universal properties of a similar model. In this paper, following that direction, we demonstrate how to prepare the ground state of the model from and measure a dynamical quantity of interest, the O(3) Noether charge, on a quantum computer. In particular, we apply Trotter methods to obtain results for the complexity of adiabatic ground state preparation in both the weak-coupling and quantum-critical regimes and use shadow tomography to measure the dynamics of local observables. We then present and analyze a quantum algorithm based on non-unitary randomized simulation methods that may yield an approach suitable for intermediate-term noisy quantum devices.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures. Rev. 3: Corrected typos, updated title, revised abstract and introductio

Ringing the eigenmodes from compact manifolds

We present a method for finding the eigenmodes of the Laplace operator acting on any compact manifold. The procedure can be used to simulate cosmic microwave background fluctuations in multi-connected cosmological models. Other applications include studies of chaotic mixing and quantum chaos.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, IOP format. To be published in the proceedings of the Cleveland Cosmology and Topology Workshop 17-19 Oct 1997. Submitted to Class. Quant. Gra