Ectoparasitic Arthropods Collected From Some Northern Ohio Mammals

Ectoparasitic arthropods were collected from some fur-bearing mammals in northern Ohio. Specimens representing seven mammalian species were examined and found to collectively harbor acarines, fleas, and biting lice. Species determinations were made and new host and state records noted

The spatial temporal regime of stream flow of the conterminous U.S. in connection with indices of global atmospheric circulation

Long-term stream flow records (1929-1988) from seventy one U.S. Geological Survey gauging stations with drainage area in range 1000-10000 sq mi were analyzed using multivariate statistics. Factor analysis of average annual flow revealed seven patterns of river runoff within seven distinct regions of the territory. This factor model reflected 69% variance of the initial matrix. The second set of stream flow records (1939-1972) from ninety-seven gauging stations was used as control. This set contains all seventy one from first one and additional stations with shorter observation period. Factor analysis of this expended set again yielded seven factors (69% variance of the initial matrix) with very similar spatial distribution of gauging stations.

Every group of watersheds obtained as a factor was presented by one gauging station with time series of annual discharges (1- 05474000, 2- 14321000, 3- 07019000, 4- 0815000, 5- 11186001, 6- 01666000, 7- 06800500) as the most typical for group. For the same time interval, streams represented by all patterns have increasing values (i. e. the positive difference between two time subintervals); but only the positive linear trend for patterns 1 and 7 are statistically significant. 

For the seven typical flow records, monthly average values were obtained from three to five seasons composed from different ensembles of months. 

For each annual time series of the typical seven stream flow patterns, regression equations were obtained from indices of global atmospheric circulation (AO, NAO, NPO and AAO). The equations contain from one to five variables (predictors) and have coefficients of correlation from 32% to 73%. 
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The clustering of radio galaxies at z~0.55 from the 2SLAQ LRG survey

We examine the clustering properties of low-power radio galaxies at redshift 0.4<z<0.8, using data from the 2SLAQ Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) survey. We find that radio-detected LRGs (with optical luminosities of 3-5L* and 1.4GHz radio powers between 1e24 and 1e26 W/Hz) are significantly more clustered than a matched sample of radio-quiet LRGs with the same distribution in optical luminosity and colour. The measured scale length of the 2pt auto-correlation function, r0, is 12.3+/-1.2 1/h Mpc and 9.02+/-0.52 1/h Mpc for the radio-detected and radio-quiet samples respectively. Using the halo model framework we demonstrate that the radio-loud LRGs have typical halo masses of 10.1+/-1.4 x10^13 1/h M_sun compared to 6.44+/-0.32 x10^13 1/h M_sun for the radio-quiet sample. A model in which the radio-detected LRGs are almost all central galaxies within haloes provides the best fit, and we estimate that at least 30% of LRGs with the same clustering amplitude as the radio-detected LRGs are currently radio-loud. Our results imply that radio-loud LRGs typically occupy more massive haloes than other LRGs of the same optical luminosity, so the probability of finding a radio-loud AGN in a massive galaxy at z~0.55 is influenced by the halo mass in addition to the dependence on optical luminosity. If we model the radio-loud fraction of LRGs, F_rad, as a function of halo mass M, then the data are well-fitted by a power law of the form F_rad \propto M^(0.65+/-0.23). The relationship between radio emission and clustering strength could arise either through a higher fuelling rate of gas onto the central black holes of galaxies in the most massive haloes (producing more powerful radio jets) or through the presence of a denser IGM (providing a more efficient working surface for the jets, thus boosting their radio luminosity).Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

A survey of factors influencing career preference in new-entrant and exiting medical students from four UK medical schools

Our thanks to Professor Gillian Needham and Dr Murray Lough for their encouragement and support, and their comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. Our thanks also to NHS Education for Scotland [NES] for funding, and the Scottish Medical Deans Education Group [SMDEG] for supporting this project. We are grateful to all the students who gave their time to complete the survey questionnaire and to those who helped organise and carry out data collection.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The DUB/USP17 deubiquitinating enzymes: A gene family within a tandemly repeated sequence, is also embedded within the copy number variable Beta-defensin cluster

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The DUB/USP17 subfamily of deubiquitinating enzymes were originally identified as immediate early genes induced in response to cytokine stimulation in mice (DUB-1, DUB-1A, DUB-2, DUB-2A). Subsequently we have identified a number of human family members and shown that one of these (DUB-3) is also cytokine inducible. We originally showed that constitutive expression of DUB-3 can block cell proliferation and more recently we have demonstrated that this is due to its regulation of the ubiquitination and activity of the 'CAAX' box protease RCE1.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we demonstrate that the human DUB/USP17 family members are found on both chromosome 4p16.1, within a block of tandem repeats, and on chromosome 8p23.1, embedded within the copy number variable beta-defensin cluster. In addition, we show that the multiple genes observed in humans and other distantly related mammals have arisen due to the independent expansion of an ancestral sequence within each species. However, it is also apparent when sequences from humans and the more closely related chimpanzee are compared, that duplication events have taken place prior to these species separating.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The observation that the DUB/USP17 genes, which can influence cell growth and survival, have evolved from an unstable ancestral sequence which has undergone multiple and varied duplications in the species examined marks this as a unique family. In addition, their presence within the beta-defensin repeat raises the question whether they may contribute to the influence of this repeat on immune related conditions.</p

Molt Migration of Scoters at Cape Peirce, Alaska

There is presently little specific information on the molt migrations of scoters in the Nearctic. We conducted migration watches from 21 June to 31 July 1984 (total of 96 h) and from 5 to 15 July 1985 (total of 36 h) during daylight hours to estimate abundance and species composition of scoters engaged in a molt migration at Cape Peirce, southeast Bering Sea, Alaska. We counted 22,897 scoters moving west past the observation site in 1984, the year in which we probably made observations over most of the migration period. Allowing for daylight hours without watches, an estimated 66,500 scoters passed in 1984. Peak passage occurred on 11 July in both years. Species composition of migrants in 1984 was approximately 77% white-winged scoters (Melanitta fusca), 12% surf scoters (M. perspicillata), and 11% black scoters (M. nigra). Most of the migrants were adult males, probably migrating from breeding grounds in Interior Alaska. Our findings suggest that a large and presently undescribed molting area of white-winged scoters exists somewhere in the waters of western Alaska or eastern Siberia.Key words: scoters, seaducks, molt migration, Cape Peirce, Togiak National Wildlife Refuge, Bering Sea, AlaskaMots cl&eacute;s: macreuses, canards de mer, migration d&rsquo;oiseaux ayant effectu&eacute; la mue, Cape Peirce, Togiak National Wildlife Refuge, mer de B&eacute;ring, Alask

The Large Area Radio Galaxy Evolution Spectroscopic Survey (LARGESS): survey design, data catalogue and GAMA/WiggleZ spectroscopy

© 2016 The Authors. We present the Large Area Radio Galaxy Evolution Spectroscopic Survey (LARGESS), a spectroscopic catalogue of radio sources designed to include the full range of radio AGN populations out to redshift z ~ 0.8. The catalogue covers ~800 deg 2 of sky, and provides optical identifications for 19 179 radio sources from the 1.4 GHz Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm (FIRST) survey down to an optical magnitude limit of i mod < 20.5 in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) images. Both galaxies and point-like objects are included, and no colour cuts are applied. In collaboration with the WiggleZ and Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) spectroscopic survey teams, we have obtained new spectra for over 5000 objects in the LARGESS sample. Combining these new spectra with data from earlier surveys provides spectroscopic data for 12 329 radio sources in the survey area, of which 10 856 have reliable redshifts. 85 per cent of the LARGESS spectroscopic sample are radio AGN (median redshift z = 0.44), and 15 per cent are nearby star-forming galaxies (median z = 0.08). Low-excitation radio galaxies (LERGs) comprise the majority (83 per cent) of LARGESS radio AGN at z < 0.8, with 12 per cent being high-excitation radio galaxies (HERGs) and 5 per cent radioloud QSOs. Unlike the more homogeneous LERG and QSO sub-populations, HERGs are a heterogeneous class of objects with relatively blue optical colours and a wide dispersion in mid-infrared colours. This is consistent with a picture in which most HERGs are hosted by galaxies with recent or ongoing star formation as well as a classical accretion disc

Dynamical Confirmation of SDSS Weak Lensing Scaling Laws

Galaxy masses can be estimated by a variety of methods; each applicable in different circumstances, and each suffering from different systematic uncertainties. Confirmation of results obtained by one technique with analysis by another is particularly important. Recent SDSS weak lensing measurements of the projected-mass correlation function reveal a linear relation between galaxy luminosities and the depth of their dark matter halos (measured on 260 \hinv kpc scales). In this work we use an entirely independent dynamical method to confirm these results. We begin by assembling a sample of 618 relatively isolated host galaxies, surrounded by a total of 1225 substantially fainter satellites. We observe the mean dynamical effect of these hosts on the motions of their satellites by assembling velocity difference histograms. Dividing the sample by host properties, we find significant variations in satellite velocity dispersion with host luminosity. We quantify these variations using a simple dynamical model, measuring \mtsd a dynamical mass within 260 \hinv kpc. The appropriateness of this mass reconstruction is checked by conducting a similar analysis within an N-body simulation. Comparison between the dynamical and lensing mass-to-light scalings shows reasonable agreement, providing some quantitative confirmation for the lensing results.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Dis/comforting shelfies: travelling literacies other-wise in disrupted times.

COVID-19 is reshaping working arrangements in traditionally office-based professions. For scholars, these disruptions emphasise the need to examine how literacies travel other-wise (Lemieux et al., forthcoming) through Zoom meetings, shelfie tweets, and bookshelf photographs. Here, we evoke the altered paths that bodies, objects, and ideas are travelling as workers curate, negotiate, and become implicated in ‘zoomentities’. This posthuman, trioethnographic (Breault et al., 2012) piece attempts to map these altered paths

Genomes and geography: genomic insights into the evolution and phylogeography of the genus Schistosoma

Blood flukes within the genus 'Schistosoma' still remain a major cause of disease in the tropics and subtropics and the study of their evolution has been an area of major debate and research. With the advent of modern molecular and genomic approaches deeper insights have been attained not only into the divergence and speciation of these worms, but also into the historic movement of these parasites from Asia into Africa, via migration and dispersal of definitive and snail intermediate hosts. This movement was subsequently followed by a radiation of Schistosoma species giving rise to the S. mansoni and S. haematobium groups, as well as the S. indicum group that reinvaded Asia. Each of these major evolutionary events has been marked by distinct changes in genomic structure evident in differences in mitochondrial gene order and nuclear chromosomal architecture between the species associated with Asia and Africa. Data from DNA sequencing, comparative molecular genomics and karyotyping are indicative of major constitutional genomic events which would have become fixed in the ancestral populations of these worms. Here we examine how modern genomic techniques may give a more in depth understanding of the evolution of schistosomes and highlight the complexity of speciation and divergence in this group