Predator-driven natural selection on risk-taking behavior in anole lizards

Biologists have long debated the role of behavior in evolution, yet understanding of its role as a driver of adaptation is hampered by the scarcity of experimental studies of natural selection on behavior in nature. After showing that individual Anolis sagrei lizards vary consistently in risk-taking behaviors, we experimentally established populations on eight small islands either with or without Leiocephalus carinatus, a major ground predator. We found that selection predictably favors different risk-taking behaviors under different treatments: Exploratory behavior is favored in the absence of predators, whereas avoidance of the ground is favored in their presence. On predator islands, selection on behavior is stronger than selection on morphology, whereas the opposite holds on islands without predators. Our field experiment demonstrates that selection can shape behavioral traits, paving the way toward adaptation to varying environmental contexts

Representativeness of Eddy-Covariance flux footprints for areas surrounding AmeriFlux sites

Large datasets of greenhouse gas and energy surface-atmosphere fluxes measured with the eddy-covariance technique (e.g., FLUXNET2015, AmeriFlux BASE) are widely used to benchmark models and remote-sensing products. This study addresses one of the major challenges facing model-data integration: To what spatial extent do flux measurements taken at individual eddy-covariance sites reflect model- or satellite-based grid cells? We evaluate flux footprints—the temporally dynamic source areas that contribute to measured fluxes—and the representativeness of these footprints for target areas (e.g., within 250–3000 m radii around flux towers) that are often used in flux-data synthesis and modeling studies. We examine the land-cover composition and vegetation characteristics, represented here by the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), in the flux footprints and target areas across 214 AmeriFlux sites, and evaluate potential biases as a consequence of the footprint-to-target-area mismatch. Monthly 80% footprint climatologies vary across sites and through time ranging four orders of magnitude from 103 to 107 m2 due to the measurement heights, underlying vegetation- and ground-surface characteristics, wind directions, and turbulent state of the atmosphere. Few eddy-covariance sites are located in a truly homogeneous landscape. Thus, the common model-data integration approaches that use a fixed-extent target area across sites introduce biases on the order of 4%–20% for EVI and 6%–20% for the dominant land cover percentage. These biases are site-specific functions of measurement heights, target area extents, and land-surface characteristics. We advocate that flux datasets need to be used with footprint awareness, especially in research and applications that benchmark against models and data products with explicit spatial information. We propose a simple representativeness index based on our evaluations that can be used as a guide to identify site-periods suitable for specific applications and to provide general guidance for data use

Patients' perceptions of the potential of breathing training for asthma: a qualitative study.

Poor symptom control is common in asthma. Breathing training exercises may be an effective adjunct to medication; it is therefore important to understand facilitators and barriers to uptake of breathing training exercises

The draft genome of the C\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e panicoid grass species \u3ci\u3eDichanthelium oligosanthes\u3c/i\u3e

Background: Comparisons between C3 and C4 grasses often utilize C3 species from the subfamilies Ehrhartoideae or Pooideae and C4 species from the subfamily Panicoideae, two clades that diverged over 50 million years ago. The divergence of the C3 panicoid grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes from the independent C4 lineages represented by Setaria viridis and Sorghum bicolor occurred approximately 15 million years ago, which is significantly more recent than members of the Bambusoideae, Ehrhartoideae, and Pooideae subfamilies. D. oligosanthes is ideally placed within the panicoid clade for comparative studies of C3 and C4 grasses. Results: We report the assembly of the nuclear and chloroplast genomes of D. oligosanthes, from high-throughput short read sequencing data and a comparative transcriptomics analysis of the developing leaf of D. oligosanthes, S. viridis, and S. bicolor. Physiological and anatomical characterizations verified that D. oligosanthes utilizes the C3 pathway for carbon fixation and lacks Kranz anatomy. Expression profiles of transcription factors along developing leaves of D. oligosanthes and S. viridis were compared with previously published data from S. bicolor, Zea mays, and Oryza sativa to identify a small suite of transcription factors that likely acquired functions specifically related to C4 photosynthesis. Conclusions: The phylogenetic location of D. oligosanthes makes it an ideal C3 plant for comparative analysis of C4 evolution in the panicoid grasses. This genome will not only provide a better C3 species for comparisons with C4 panicoid grasses, but also highlights the power of using high-throughput sequencing to address questions in evolutionary biology

A reliable cw Lyman-α\alpha laser source for future cooling of antihydrogen

We demonstrate a reliable continuous-wave (cw) laser source at the 1\,$S$--2\,$P$ transition in (anti)hydrogen at 121.56\,nm (Lyman-$\alpha$) based on four-wave sum-frequency mixing in mercury. A two-photon resonance in the four-wave mixing scheme is essential for a powerful cw Lyman-$\alpha$ source and is well investigated.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of LEAP 201

Secondary contact and admixture between independently invading populations of the Western corn rootworm, diabrotica virgifera virgifera in Europe

The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), is one of the most destructive pests of corn in North America and is currently invading Europe. The two major invasive outbreaks of rootworm in Europe have occurred, in North-West Italy and in Central and South-Eastern Europe. These two outbreaks originated from independent introductions from North America. Secondary contact probably occurred in North Italy between these two outbreaks, in 2008. We used 13 microsatellite markers to conduct a population genetics study, to demonstrate that this geographic contact resulted in a zone of admixture in the Italian region of Veneto. We show that i) genetic variation is greater in the contact zone than in the parental outbreaks; ii) several signs of admixture were detected in some Venetian samples, in a Bayesian analysis of the population structure and in an approximate Bayesian computation analysis of historical scenarios and, finally, iii) allelic frequency clines were observed at microsatellite loci. The contact between the invasive outbreaks in North-West Italy and Central and South-Eastern Europe resulted in a zone of admixture, with particular characteristics. The evolutionary implications of the existence of a zone of admixture in Northern Italy and their possible impact on the invasion success of the western corn rootworm are discussed

Topical Review on "Beta-beams"

Neutrino physics is traversing an exciting period, after the important discovery that neutrinos are massive particles, that has implications from high-energy physics to cosmology. A new method for the production of intense and pure neutrino beams has been proposed recently: the ``beta-beam''. It exploits boosted radioactive ions decaying through beta-decay. This novel concept has been the starting point for a new possible future facility. Its main goal is to address the crucial issue of the existence of CP violation in the lepton sector. Here we review the status and the recent developments with beta-beams. We discuss the original, the medium and high-energy scenarios as well as mono-chromatic neutrino beams produced through ion electron-capture. The issue of the degeneracies is mentioned. An overview of low energy beta-beams is also presented. These beams can be used to perform experiments of interest for nuclear structure, for the study of fundamental interactions and for nuclear astrophysics.Comment: Topical Review for Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics, published version, minor corrections, references adde

MicroRNA enrichment among short ‘ultraconserved’ sequences in insects

MicroRNAs are short (∼22 nt) regulatory RNA molecules that play key roles in metazoan development and have been implicated in human disease. First discovered in Caenorhabditis elegans, over 2500 microRNAs have been isolated in metazoans and plants; it has been estimated that there may be more than a thousand microRNA genes in the human genome alone. Motivated by the experimental observation of strong conservation of the microRNA let-7 among nearly all metazoans, we developed a novel methodology to characterize the class of such strongly conserved sequences: we identified a non-redundant set of all sequences 20 to 29 bases in length that are shared among three insects: fly, bee and mosquito. Among the few hundred sequences greater than 20 bases in length are close to 40% of the 78 confirmed fly microRNAs, along with other non-coding RNAs and coding sequence

An international, multicentre evaluation and description of Burkholderia pseudomallei infection in cystic fibrosis

Several cases of Burkholderia pseudomallei infection in CF have been previously reported. We aimed to identify all cases globally, risk factors for acquisition, clinical consequences, and optimal treatment strategies.We performed a literature search to identify all published cases of B. pseudomallei infection in CF. In addition we hand-searched respiratory journals, and contacted experts in infectious diseases and CF around the world. Supervising clinicians for identified cases were contacted and contemporaneous clinical data was requested.25 culture-confirmed cases were identified. The median age at acquisition was 21 years, mean FEV1 % predicted was 60 %, and mean BMI was 19.5 kg/m(2). The location of acquisition was northern Australia or south-east Asia for most. 19 patients (76 %) developed chronic infection, which was usually associated with clinical decline. Successful eradication strategies included a minimum of two weeks of intravenous ceftazidime, followed by a consolidation phase with trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, and this resulted in a higher chance of success when instituted early. Three cases of lung transplantation have been recorded in the setting of chronic B. pseudomallei infection.Chronic carriage of B. pseudomallei in patients with CF appears common after infection, in contrast to the non-CF population. This is often associated with an accelerated clinical decline. Lung transplantation has been performed in select cases of chronic B. pseudomallei infection.James B. Geake, David W. Reid, Bart J. Currie, Scott C. Bell, and MelioidCF Investigator