11,848 research outputs found
Error Thresholds on Dynamic Fittness-Landscapes
In this paper we investigate error-thresholds on dynamics fitness-landscapes.
We show that there exists both lower and an upper threshold, representing
limits to the copying fidelity of simple replicators. The lower bound can be
expressed as a correction term to the error-threshold present on a static
landscape. The upper error-threshold is a new limit that only exists on dynamic
fitness-landscapes. We also show that for long genomes on highly dynamic
fitness-landscapes there exists a lower bound on the selection pressure needed
to enable effective selection of genomes with superior fitness independent of
mutation rates, i.e., there are distinct limits to the evolutionary parameters
in dynamic environments.Comment: 5 page
Predictive Spatial Dynamics and Strategic Planning for Raccoon Rabies Emergence in Ohio
Rabies is an important public health concern in North America because of recent epidemics of a rabies virus variant associated with raccoons. The costs associated with surveillance, diagnostic testing, and post-exposure treatment of humans exposed to rabies have fostered coordinated efforts to control rabies spread by distributing an oral rabies vaccine to wild raccoons. Authorities have tried to contain westward expansion of the epidemic front of raccoon-associated rabies via a vaccine corridor established in counties of eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Although sporadic cases of rabies have been identified in Ohio since oral rabies vaccine distribution in 1998, the first evidence of a significant breach in this vaccine corridor was not detected until 2004 in Lake County, Ohio. Herein, we forecast the spatial spread of rabies in Ohio from this breach using a stochastic spatial model that was first developed for exploratory data analysis in Connecticut and next used to successfully hind-cast wave-front dynamics of rabies spread across New York. The projections, based on expansion from the Lake County breach, are strongly affected by the spread of rabies by rare, but unpredictable long-distance translocation of rabid raccoons; rabies may traverse central Ohio at a rate 2.5-fold greater than previously analyzed wildlife epidemics. Using prior estimates of the impact of local heterogeneities on wave-front propagation and of the time lag between surveillance-based detection of an initial rabies case to full-blown epidemic, specific regions within the state are identified for vaccine delivery and expanded surveillance effort
The High Time Resolution Universe Pulsar Survey I: System configuration and initial discoveries
We have embarked on a survey for pulsars and fast transients using the
13-beam Multibeam receiver on the Parkes radio telescope. Installation of a
digital backend allows us to record 400 MHz of bandwidth for each beam, split
into 1024 channels and sampled every 64 us. Limits of the receiver package
restrict us to a 340 MHz observing band centred at 1352 MHz. The factor of
eight improvement in frequency resolution over previous multibeam surveys
allows us to probe deeper into the Galactic plane for short duration signals
such as the pulses from millisecond pulsars. We plan to survey the entire
southern sky in 42641 pointings, split into low, mid and high Galactic latitude
regions, with integration times of 4200, 540 and 270 s respectively.
Simulations suggest that we will discover 400 pulsars, of which 75 will be
millisecond pulsars. With ~30% of the mid-latitude survey complete, we have
re-detected 223 previously known pulsars and discovered 27 pulsars, 5 of which
are millisecond pulsars. The newly discovered millisecond pulsars tend to have
larger dispersion measures than those discovered in previous surveys, as
expected from the improved time and frequency resolution of our instrument.Comment: Updated author list. 10 pages, 7 figures. For publication in MNRA
Comparative Composition, Diversity and Trophic Ecology of Sediment Macrofauna at Vents, Seeps and Organic Falls
Sediments associated with hydrothermal venting, methane seepage and large organic falls such as whale, wood and plant detritus create deep-sea networks of soft-sediment habitats fueled, at least in part, by the oxidation of reduced chemicals. Biological studies at deep-sea vents, seeps and organic falls have looked at macrofaunal taxa, but there has yet to be a systematic comparison of the community-level attributes of sediment macrobenthos in various reducing ecosystems. Here we review key similarities and differences in the sediment-dwelling assemblages of each system with the goals of (1) generating a predictive framework for the exploration and study of newly identified reducing habitats, and (2) identifying taxa and communities that overlap across ecosystems. We show that deep-sea seep, vent and organic-fall sediments are highly heterogeneous. They sustain different geochemical and microbial processes that are reflected in a complex mosaic of habitats inhabited by a mixture of specialist (heterotrophic and symbiont-associated) and background fauna. Community-level comparisons reveal that vent, seep and organic-fall macrofauna are very distinct in terms of composition at the family level, although they share many dominant taxa among these highly sulphidic habitats. Stress gradients are good predictors of macrofaunal diversity at some sites, but habitat heterogeneity and facilitation often modify community structure. The biogeochemical differences across ecosystems and within habitats result in wide differences in organic utilization (i.e., food sources) and in the prevalence of chemosynthesis-derived nutrition. In the Pacific, vents, seeps and organic-falls exhibit distinct macrofaunal assemblages at broad-scales contributing to ß diversity. This has important implications for the conservation of reducing ecosystems, which face growing threats from human activities
Metaphoric coherence: Distinguishing verbal metaphor from `anomaly\u27
Theories and computational models of metaphor comprehension generally circumvent the question of metaphor versus “anomaly” in favor of a treatment of metaphor versus literal language. Making the distinction between metaphoric and “anomalous” expressions is subject to wide variation in judgment, yet humans agree that some potentially metaphoric expressions are much more comprehensible than others. In the context of a program which interprets simple isolated sentences that are potential instances of cross‐modal and other verbal metaphor, I consider some possible coherence criteria which must be satisfied for an expression to be “conceivable” metaphorically. Metaphoric constraints on object nominals are represented as abstracted or extended along with the invariant structural components of the verb meaning in a metaphor. This approach distinguishes what is preserved in metaphoric extension from that which is “violated”, thus referring to both “similarity” and “dissimilarity” views of metaphor. The role and potential limits of represented abstracted properties and constraints is discussed as they relate to the recognition of incoherent semantic combinations and the rejection or adjustment of metaphoric interpretations
Propagation of thermonuclear flames on rapidly rotating neutron stars: extreme weather during type I X-ray bursts
We analyze the global hydrodynamic flow in the ocean of an accreting, rapidly
rotating, non-magnetic neutron star in an LMXB during a type I X-ray burst. Our
analysis takes into account the rapid rotation of the star and the lift-up of
the burning ocean during the burst. We find a new regime for spreading of a
nuclear burning front, where the flame is carried along a coherent shear flow
across the front. If turbulent viscosity is weak, the speed of flame
propagation is ~20 km/s, while, if turbulent viscosity is dynamically
important, the flame speed increases, and reaches the maximum value, ~300 km/s,
when the eddy overturn frequency is comparable to the Coriolis parameter. We
show that, due to rotationally reduced gravity, the thermonuclear runaway is
likely to begin on the equator. The equatorial belt is ignited first, and the
flame then propagates from the equator to the poles. Inhomogeneous cooling
(equator first, poles second) drives strong zonal currents which may be
unstable to formation of Jupiter-type vortices; we conjecture that these
vortices are responsible for modulation of X-ray flux in the tails of some
bursts. We consider the effect of strong zonal currents on the frequency of
modulation of the X-ray flux and show that the large values of the frequency
drifts observed in some bursts can be accounted for within our model combined
with the model of homogeneous radial expansion. Also, if inhomogeneities are
trapped in the forward zonal flows around the propagating burning front, chirps
with large frequency ranges (~25-500 Hz) may be detectable during the burst
rise. We argue that an MHD dynamo within the burning front can generate a
small-scale magnetic field, which may enforce vertically rigid flow in the
front's wake and can explain the coherence of oscillations in the burst tail.Comment: Submitted to ApJ, 23 pages (including 8 figures), abstract abridge
Patterns of gene recombination shape var gene repertoires in Plasmodium falciparum: comparisons of geographically diverse isolates
BACKGROUND: Var genes encode a family of virulence factors known as PfEMP1 (Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1) which are responsible for both antigenic variation and cytoadherence of infected erythrocytes. Although these molecules play a central role in malaria pathogenesis, the mechanisms generating variant antigen diversification are poorly understood. To investigate var gene evolution, we compared the variant antigen repertoires from three geographically diverse parasite isolates: the 3D7 genome reference isolate; the recently sequenced HB3 isolate; and the IT4/25/5 (IT4) parasite isolate which retains the capacity to cytoadhere in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: These comparisons revealed that only two var genes (var1csa and var2csa) are conserved in all three isolates and one var gene (Type 3 var) has homologs in IT4 and 3D7. While the remaining 50 plus genes in each isolate are highly divergent most can be classified into the three previously defined major groups (A, B, and C) on the basis of 5' flanking sequence and chromosome location. Repertoire-wide sequence comparisons suggest that the conserved homologs are evolving separately from other var genes and that genes in group A have diverged from other groups. CONCLUSION: These findings support the existence of a var gene recombination hierarchy that restricts recombination possibilities and has a central role in the functional and immunological adaptation of var genes
Phase diagram of bismuth in the extreme quantum limit
Elemental bismuth provides a rare opportunity to explore the fate of a
three-dimensional gas of highly mobile electrons confined to their lowest
Landau level. Coulomb interaction, neglected in the band picture, is expected
to become significant in this extreme quantum limit with poorly understood
consequences. Here, we present a study of the angular-dependent Nernst effect
in bismuth, which establishes the existence of ultraquantum field scales on top
of its complex single-particle spectrum. Each time a Landau level crosses the
Fermi level, the Nernst response sharply peaks. All such peaks are resolved by
the experiment and their complex angular-dependence is in very good agreement
with the theory. Beyond the quantum limit, we resolve additional Nernst peaks
signaling a cascade of additional Landau sub-levels caused by electron
interaction
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Design of MARQUIS2: study protocol for a mentored implementation study of an evidence-based toolkit to improve patient safety through medication reconciliation.
BackgroundThe first Multi-center Medication Reconciliation Quality Improvement Study (MARQUIS1) demonstrated that implementation of a medication reconciliation best practices toolkit decreased total unintentional medication discrepancies in five hospitals. We sought to implement the MARQUIS toolkit in more diverse hospitals, incorporating lessons learned from MARQUIS1.MethodsMARQUIS2 is a pragmatic, mentored implementation QI study which collected clinical and implementation outcomes. Sites implemented a revised toolkit, which included interventions from these domains: 1) best possible medication history (BPMH)-taking; 2) discharge medication reconciliation and patient/caregiver counseling; 3) identifying and defining clinician roles and responsibilities; 4) risk stratification; 5) health information technology improvements; 6) improved access to medication sources; 7) identification and correction of real-time discrepancies; and, 8) stakeholder engagement. Eight hospitalists mentored the sites via one site visit and monthly phone calls over the 18-month intervention period. Each site's local QI team assessed opportunities to improve, implemented at least one of the 17 toolkit components, and accessed a variety of resources (e.g. implementation manual, webinars, and workshops). Outcomes to be assessed will include unintentional medication discrepancies per patient.DiscussionA mentored multi-center medication reconciliation QI initiative using a best practices toolkit was successfully implemented across 18 medical centers. The 18 participating sites varied in size, teaching status, location, and electronic health record (EHR) platform. We introduce barriers to implementation and lessons learned from MARQUIS1, such as the importance of utilizing dedicated, trained medication history takers, simple EHR solutions, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and the input of patients and families when improving medication reconciliation
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