Do red deer stags (Cervus elaphus) use roar fundamental frequency (F0) to assess rivals?

It is well established that in humans, male voices are disproportionately lower pitched than female voices, and recent studies suggest that this dimorphism in fundamental frequency (F0) results from both intrasexual (male competition) and intersexual (female mate choice) selection for lower pitched voices in men. However, comparative investigations indicate that sexual dimorphism in F0 is not universal in terrestrial mammals. In the highly polygynous and sexually dimorphic Scottish red deer Cervus elaphus scoticus, more successful males give sexually-selected calls (roars) with higher minimum F0s, suggesting that high, rather than low F0s advertise quality in this subspecies. While playback experiments demonstrated that oestrous females prefer higher pitched roars, the potential role of roar F0 in male competition remains untested. Here we examined the response of rutting red deer stags to playbacks of re-synthesized male roars with different median F0s. Our results show that stags’ responses (latencies and durations of attention, vocal and approach responses) were not affected by the F0 of the roar. This suggests that intrasexual selection is unlikely to strongly influence the evolution of roar F0 in Scottish red deer stags, and illustrates how the F0 of terrestrial mammal vocal sexual signals may be subject to different selection pressures across species. Further investigations on species characterized by different F0 profiles are needed to provide a comparative background for evolutionary interpretations of sex differences in mammalian vocalizations

Percepción de los programas realities y rendimiento académico de estudiantes de Ciencias de la Comunicación de la Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego - 2019

La presente investigación tuvo como objetivo principal determinar la relación que hay entre la percepción de los programas realities y el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes universitarios en la asignatura de Sociología de la Comunicación de la carrera profesional de Ciencias de la Comunicación de la Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego del 2019 - 10. Para lograr el propósito de la misma se procedió al análisis de los programas realities de competencia y el rendimiento académico. Se trabajó con una muestra aleatoria de 56 estudiantes y con el diseño descriptivo correlacional. Se elaboró un cuestionario y una ficha de registro para recoger la información requerida. Los datos fueron organizados en una matriz de resultados por variables e indicadores en hojas de cálculos Excel. Como resultado se observa que la relación encontrada es de -0.67, mostrando que ambas variables se correlacionan inversamente, por lo que podemos concluir que las percepciones posit ivas o de “aceptación” a los programas realit ies de competencia se asocian con menores niveles de rendimiento académico de los estudiantes universitarios de la asignatura de Sociología de la Comunicación de la carrera profesional de Ciencias de la Comunicación.The main objective of this research was to determine the relationship between the perception of realities programs and the academic performance of university students in the Communication Sociology subject of the Communication Sciences professional career of the private university Antenor Orrego from 2019 – 10. In order to achieve its purpose, the analysis of the competing realities and academic performance programs was carried out. We worked with a random sample of 56 students and with the descriptive correlational design. A questionnaire and a registration form were prepared to collect the required information. The data were organized in a matrix of results by variables and indicators in Excel spreadsheets. As a result, it is observed that the relationship found is -0.67, showing that both variables are inversely correlated, so we can conclude that posit ive perceptions or “acceptance” of compet ing realit ies programs are associated with lower levels of academic performance of the college students the Communication Sociology subject of the career of communication sciences.Tesi

Multimodal agent interfaces and system architectures for health and fitness companions

Multimodal conversational spoken dialogues using physical and virtual agents provide a potential interface to motivate and support users in the domain of health and fitness. In this paper we present how such multimodal conversational Companions can be implemented to support their owners in various pervasive and mobile settings. In particular, we focus on different forms of multimodality and system architectures for such interfaces

The Kinematic Evolution of Strong MgII Absorbers

We consider the evolution of strong (W_r(2796) > 0.3A) MgII absorbers, most of which are closely related to luminous galaxies. Using 20 high resolution quasar spectra from the VLT/UVES public archive, we examine 33 strong MgII absorbers in the redshift range 0.3 < z < 2.5. We compare and supplement this sample with 23 strong MgII absorbers at 0.4 < z < 1.4 observed previously with HIRES/Keck. We find that neither equivalent width nor kinematic spread (the optical depth weighted second moment of velocity) of MgII2796 evolve. However, the kinematic spread is sensitive to the highest velocity component, and therefore not as sensitive to additional weak components at intermediate velocities relative to the profile center. The fraction of absorbing pixels within the full velocity range of the system does show a trend of decreasing with decreasing redshift. Most high redshift systems (14/20) exhibit absorption over the entire system velocity range, which differs from the result for low redshift systems (18/36) at the 95% level. This leads to a smaller number of separate subsystems for high redshift systems because weak absorping components tend to connect the stronger regions of absorption. We hypothesize that low redshift MgII profiles are more likely to represent well formed galaxies, many of which have kinematics consistent with a disk/halo structure. High redshift MgII profiles are more likely to show evidence of complex protogalactic structures, with multiple accretion or outflow events. Although these results are derived from measurements of gas kinematics, they are consistent with hierarchical galaxy formation evidenced by deep galaxy surveys.Comment: Accepted to the Astrophysical Journa

Examining the Role of Environment in a Comprehensive Sample of Compact Groups

(Abridged) Compact groups, with their high number densities, small velocity dispersions, and an interstellar medium that has not been fully processed, provide a local analog to conditions of galaxy interactions in the earlier universe. The frequent and prolonged gravitational encounters that occur in compact groups affect the evolution of the constituent galaxies in a myriad of ways, for example gas processing and star formation. Recently, a statistically significant "gap" has been discovered mid-infrared IRAC colorspace of compact group galaxies. This gap is not seen in field samples and is a new example of how the compact group environment may affect the evolution of member galaxies. In order to investigate the origin and nature of this gap, we have compiled a sample of 49 compact groups. We find that a statistically significant deficit of galaxies in this gap region of IRAC colorspace is persistant in this sample, lending support to the hypothesis that the compact group environment inhibits moderate SSFRs. We note a curvature in the colorspace distribution, which is fully consistent with increasing dust temperature as the activity in a galaxy increases. This full sample of 49 compact groups allows us to subdivide the data according to physical properties of the groups. An analysis of these subsamples indicates that neither projected physical diameter nor density show a trend in colorspace within the values represented by this sample. We hypothesize that the apparent lack of a trend is due to the relatively small range of properties in this sample. Thus, the relative influence of stochastic effects becomes dominant. We analyze spectral energy distributions of member galaxies as a function of their location in colorspace and find that galaxies in different regions of MIR colorspace contain dust with varying temperatures and/or PAH emission.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journa

Mid-Infrared Evidence for Accelerated Evolution in Compact Group Galaxies

We find evidence for accelerated evolution in compact group galaxies from the distribution in mid-infrared colorspace of 42 galaxies from 12 Hickson Compact Groups (HCGs) compared to the the distributions of several other samples including the LVL+SINGS galaxies, interacting galaxies, and galaxies from the Coma Cluster. We find that the HCG galaxies are not uniformly distributed in colorspace, as well as quantitative evidence for a gap. Galaxies in the infall region of the Coma cluster also exhibit a non-uniform distribution and a less well defined gap, which may reflect a similarity with the compact group environment. Neither the Coma Center or interacting samples show evidence of a gap, leading us to speculate that the gap is unique to the environment of high galaxy density where gas has not been fully processed or stripped.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the Galaxy Wars: Stellar Populations and Star Formation in Interacting Galaxies Conferenc

Super-Solar Metallicity in Weak Mg II Absorption Systems at z ~ 1.7

Through photoionization modeling, constraints on the physical conditions of three z ~ 1.7 single-cloud weak Mg II systems (W_r(2796) < 0.3A) are derived. Constraints are provided by high resolution R = 45,000, high signal-to-noise spectra of the three quasars HE0141-3932, HE0429-4091, and HE2243-6031 which we have obtained from the ESO archive of VLT/UVES. Results are as follows: (1) The single-cloud weak Mg II absorption in the three z ~ 1.7 systems is produced by clouds with ionization parameters of -3.8 < logU < -2.0 and sizes of 1-100 pc. (2) In addition to the low-ionization phase Mg II clouds, all systems need an additional 1-3 high-ionization phase C IV clouds within 100 km/s of the Mg II component. The ionization parameters of the C IV phases range from -1.9 < logU < -1.0, with sizes of tens of parsecs to kiloparsecs. (3) Two of the three single-cloud weak Mg II absorbers have near-solar or super-solar metallicities, if we assume a solar abundance pattern. Although such large metallicities have been found for z < 1 weak Mg II absorbers, these are the first high metallicities derived for such systems at higher redshifts. (4) Two of the three weak Mg II systems also need additional low-metallicity, broad Lya absorption lines, offset in velocity from the metal-line absorption, in order to reproduce the full Lya profile. (5) Metallicity in single-cloud weak Mg II systems are more than an order of magnitude larger than those in Damped Lya systems at z ~ 1.7. In fact, there appears to be a gradual decrease in metallicity with increasing N(HI), from these, the most metal-rich Lya forest clouds, to Lyman limit systems, to sub-DLAs, and finally to the DLAs.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, accepted by the Astrophysical Journa

Quantifying stratospheric biases and identifying their potential sources in subseasonal forecast systems

The stratosphere can be a source of predictability for surface weather on timescales of several weeks to months. However, the potential predictive skill gained from stratospheric variability can be limited by biases in the representation of stratospheric processes and the coupling of the stratosphere with surface climate in forecast systems. This study provides a first systematic identification of model biases in the stratosphere across a wide range of subseasonal forecast systems. It is found that many of the forecast systems considered exhibit warm global-mean temperature biases from the lower to middle stratosphere, too strong/cold wintertime polar vortices, and too cold extratropical upper-troposphere/lower-stratosphere regions. Furthermore, tropical stratospheric anomalies associated with the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation tend to decay toward each system's climatology with lead time. In the Northern Hemisphere (NH), most systems do not capture the seasonal cycle of extreme-vortex-event probabilities, with an underestimation of sudden stratospheric warming events and an overestimation of strong vortex events in January. In the Southern Hemisphere (SH), springtime interannual variability in the polar vortex is generally underestimated, but the timing of the final breakdown of the polar vortex often happens too early in many of the prediction systems. These stratospheric biases tend to be considerably worse in systems with lower model lid heights. In both hemispheres, most systems with low-top atmospheric models also consistently underestimate the upward wave driving that affects the strength of the stratospheric polar vortex. We expect that the biases identified here will help guide model development for subseasonal-to-seasonal forecast systems and further our understanding of the role of the stratosphere in predictive skill in the troposphere.publishedVersio

Robust diagnostic genetic testing using solution capture enrichment and a novel variant-filtering interface.

Targeted hybridization enrichment prior to next-generation sequencing is a widespread method for characterizing sequence variation in a research setting, and is being adopted by diagnostic laboratories. However, the number of variants identified can overwhelm clinical laboratories with strict time constraints, the final interpretation of likely pathogenicity being a particular bottleneck. To address this, we have developed an approach in which, after automatic variant calling on a standard unix pipeline, subsequent variant filtering is performed interactively, using AgileExomeFilter and AgilePindelFilter (http://dna.leeds.ac.uk/agile), tools designed for clinical scientists with standard desktop computers. To demonstrate the method's diagnostic efficacy, we tested 128 patients using (1) a targeted capture of 36 cancer-predisposing genes or (2) whole-exome capture for diagnosis of the genetically heterogeneous disorder primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). In the cancer cohort, complete concordance with previous diagnostic data was achieved across 793 variant genotypes. A high yield (42%) was also achieved for exome-based PCD diagnosis, underscoring the scalability of our method. Simple adjustments to the variant filtering parameters further allowed the identification of a homozygous truncating mutation in a presumptive new PCD gene, DNAH8. These tools should allow diagnostic laboratories to expand their testing portfolios flexibly, using a standard set of reagents and techniques

Protocol for an observational cohort study investigating personalised medicine for intensification of treatment in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus: the PERMIT study

INTRODUCTION: For people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who require an antidiabetic drug as an add-on to metformin, there is controversy about whether newer drug classes such as dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP4i) or sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) reduce the risk of long-term complications compared with sulfonylureas (SU). There is widespread variation across National Health Service Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in drug choice for second-line treatment in part because National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines do not specify a single preferred drug class, either overall or within specific patient subgroups. This study will evaluate the relative effectiveness of the three most common second-line treatments in the UK (SU, DPP4i and SGLT2i as add-ons to metformin) and help target treatments according to individual risk profiles. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study includes people with T2DM prescribed one of the second-line treatments-of-interest between 2014 and 2020 within the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink linked with Hospital Episode Statistics and Office of National Statistics. We will use an instrumental variable (IV) method to estimate short-term and long-term relative effectiveness of second-line treatments according to individuals' risk profiles. This method minimises bias from unmeasured confounders by exploiting the natural variation in second-line prescribing across CCGs as an IV for the choice of prescribed treatment. The primary outcome to assess short-term effectiveness will be change in haemoglobin A1c (%) 12 months after treatment initiation. Outcome measures to assess longer-term effectiveness (maximum ~6 years) will include microvascular and macrovascular complications, all-cause mortality and hospital admissions during follow-up. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study was approved by the Independent Scientific Advisory Committee (20-064) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Research Ethics Committee (21395). Results, codelists and other analysis code will be made available to patients, clinicians, policy-makers and researchers