9,904 research outputs found
DNA Extraction from Dry Museum Beetles without Conferring External Morphological Damage
BACKGROUND: A large number of dry-preserved insect specimens exist in collections around the world that might be useful for genetic analyses. However, until now, the recovery of nucleic acids from such specimens has involved at least the partial destruction of the specimen. This is clearly undesirable when dealing with rare species or otherwise important specimens, such as type specimens. METHODOLOGY: We describe a method for the extraction of PCR-amplifiable mitochondrial and nuclear DNA from dry insects without causing external morphological damage. Using PCR to amplify â220 bp of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase I, and 250â345 bp fragments of the multi-copy, nuclear 28s ribosomal DNA gene, we demonstrate the efficacy of this method on beetles collected up to 50 years ago. CONCLUSIONS: This method offers a means of obtaining useful genetic information from rare insects without conferring external morphological damage
iDNA from terrestrial haematophagous leeches as a wildlife surveying and monitoring tool - prospects, pitfalls and avenues to be developed
Invertebrate-derived DNA (iDNA) from terrestrial haematophagous leeches has recently been proposed as a powerful non-invasive tool with which to detect vertebrate species and thus to survey their populations. However, to date little attention has been given to whether and how this, or indeed any other iDNA-derived data, can be combined with state-of-the-art analytical tools to estimate wildlife abundances, population dynamics and distributions. In this review, we discuss the challenges that face the application of existing analytical methods such as site-occupancy and spatial capture-recapture (SCR) models to terrestrial leech iDNA, in particular, possible violations of key assumptions arising from factors intrinsic to invertebrate parasite biology. Specifically, we review the advantages and disadvantages of terrestrial leeches as a source of iDNA and summarize the utility of leeches for presence, occupancy, and spatial capture-recapture models. The main source of uncertainty that attends species detections derived from leech gut contents is attributable to uncertainty about the spatio-temporal sampling frame, since leeches retain host-blood for months and can move after feeding. Subsequently, we briefly address how the analytical challenges associated with leeches may apply to other sources of iDNA. Our review highlights that despite the considerable potential of leech (and indeed any) iDNA as a new survey tool, further pilot studies are needed to assess how analytical methods can overcome or not the potential biases and assumption violations of the new field of iDNA. Specifically we argue that studies to compare iDNA sampling with standard survey methods such as camera trapping, and those to improve our knowledge on leech (and other invertebrate parasite) physiology, taxonomy, and ecology will be of immense future value
Drift of particles in self-similar systems and its Liouvillian interpretation
We study the dynamics of classical particles in different classes of
spatially extended self-similar systems, consisting of (i) a self-similar
Lorentz billiard channel, (ii) a self-similar graph, and (iii) a master
equation. In all three systems the particles typically drift at constant
velocity and spread ballistically. These transport properties are analyzed in
terms of the spectral properties of the operator evolving the probability
densities. For systems (i) and (ii), we explain the drift from the properties
of the Pollicott-Ruelle resonance spectrum and corresponding eigenvectorsComment: To appear in Phys. Rev.
The lectotype for the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758 (Mammalia, Proboscidea) and comments on âprimary, secondary and tertiary syntypesâ and âvirtual lectotype designationâ
Last November a group of colleagues and ourselves designated a lectotype for the
Asian elephant, Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758, having used morphology and
genetic and proteomic sequencing to confirm that Linnaeusâs syntypes included both
Asian and African elephants. The article was published (Cappellini et al., 2013)
online in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, together with eight items of
Supplementary Information, and appeared on paper in the ZJLS in January 2014.
The paper and SI items are available online at DOI:10.1111/zoj.12084.
The lectotype is a very nearly complete mounted skeleton on display in the Natural
History Museum of the University of Florence. John Ray described the specimen in
1673 and 1693 and Linnaeus cited Rayâs 1693 publication. The lectotype designation
is available and valid. Dubois, Nemésio & Bour, however, have criticised our choice
of selected specimen (published in Bionomina, June 2014; a preview is available online
at http://mapress.com/bionomina/content.htm). We are concerned because they have
demonstrated misunderstanding or ignorance of a number of aspects of the
International Code of Zoological Nomenclatur
Measuring galaxy cluster masses with CMB lensing using a Maximum Likelihood estimator: Statistical and systematic error budgets for future experiments
We develop a Maximum Likelihood estimator (MLE) to measure the masses of
galaxy clusters through the impact of gravitational lensing on the temperature
and polarization anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). We show
that, at low noise levels in temperature, this optimal estimator outperforms
the standard quadratic estimator by a factor of two. For polarization, we show
that the Stokes Q/U maps can be used instead of the traditional E- and B-mode
maps without losing information. We test and quantify the bias in the recovered
lensing mass for a comprehensive list of potential systematic errors. Using
realistic simulations, we examine the cluster mass uncertainties from
CMB-cluster lensing as a function of an experiment's beam size and noise level.
We predict the cluster mass uncertainties will be 3 - 6% for SPT-3G, AdvACT,
and Simons Array experiments with 10,000 clusters and less than 1% for the
CMB-S4 experiment with a sample containing 100,000 clusters. The mass
constraints from CMB polarization are very sensitive to the experimental beam
size and map noise level: for a factor of three reduction in either the beam
size or noise level, the lensing signal-to-noise improves by roughly a factor
of two.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures: figs 2, 3 updated, references added: accepted
for publication in JCA
A longitudinal study of muscle rehabilitation in the lower leg after cast removal using Magnetic Resonance Imaging and strength assessment
Acknowledgements We thank the A&E nurses and plaster technicians for identifying suitable patients, the MRI radiographers for performing the scanning, Dr Scott Semple for invaluable help in some of the pilot studies and Mr E. C. Stevenson for constructing the footrest used in the scanner. We are very grateful to the dedicated patients themselves who gave considerable amounts of time to come in for scanning, exercise and assessment during the course of this study.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
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