Phylogeny of Geomydoecus and Thomomydoecus pocket gopher lice (phthiraptera, trichodectidae) inferred from cladistic analysis of adult and first instar morphology

The phylogeny for all 122 species and subspecies of chewing lice of the genera Geomydoecus and Thomomydoecus (Phthiraptera: Trichodectidae) hosted by pocket gophers (Rodentia: Geomyidae) is estimated by a cladistic analysis of fifty-eight morphological characters obtained from adults and first instars. The data set has considerable homoplasy, but still contains phylogenetic information. The phylogeny obtained is moderately resolved and, with some notable exceptions, supports the species complexes proposed by Hellenthal and Price over the the last two decades. The subgenera G. (Thaelerius) and T. (Thomomydoecus) are both shown to be monophyletic, but the monophly of subgenus T. (Jamespattonius) could not be confirmed, perhaps due to the lack of first-instar data for one of its component species. The nominate subgenus of Geomydoecus may be monophyletic, but our cladogram was insufficiently resolved to corroborate this. Mapping the pocket gopher hosts onto the phylogeny reveals a consistent pattern of louse clades being restricted to particular genera or subgenera of gophers, but the history of the host-parasite association appears complex and will require considerable effort to resolve

The trans-ancestral genomic architecture of glycemic traits

Glycemic traits are used to diagnose and monitor type 2 diabetes and cardiometabolic health. To date, most genetic studies of glycemic traits have focused on individuals of European ancestry. Here we aggregated genome-wide association studies comprising up to 281,416 individuals without diabetes (30% non-European ancestry) for whom fasting glucose, 2-h glucose after an oral glucose challenge, glycated hemoglobin and fasting insulin data were available. Trans-ancestry and single-ancestry meta-analyses identified 242 loci (99 novel; P < 5 x 10(-8)), 80% of which had no significant evidence of between-ancestry heterogeneity. Analyses restricted to individuals of European ancestry with equivalent sample size would have led to 24 fewer new loci. Compared with single-ancestry analyses, equivalent-sized trans-ancestry fine-mapping reduced the number of estimated variants in 99% credible sets by a median of 37.5%. Genomic-feature, gene-expression and gene-set analyses revealed distinct biological signatures for each trait, highlighting different underlying biological pathways. Our results increase our understanding of diabetes pathophysiology by using trans-ancestry studies for improved power and resolution.A trans-ancestry meta-analysis of GWAS of glycemic traits in up to 281,416 individuals identifies 99 novel loci, of which one quarter was found due to the multi-ancestry approach, which also improves fine-mapping of credible variant sets.Diabetes mellitus: pathophysiological changes and therap

Axisymmetric indentation of curved elastic membranes by a convex rigid indenter

Motivated by applications to seed germination, we consider the transverse deflection that results from the axisymmetric indentation of an elastic membrane by a rigid body. The elastic membrane is fixed around its boundary, with or without an initial pre-stretch, and may be initially curved prior to indentation. General indenter shapes are considered, and the load–indentation curves that result for a range of spheroidal tips are obtained for both flat and curved membranes. Wrinkling may occur when the membrane is initially curved, and a relaxed strain-energy function is used to calculate the deformed profile in this case. Applications to experiments designed to measure the mechanical properties of seed endosperms are discussed

Supporting innovation through HR policy: evidence from the UK

This paper focuses on the relationship between the importance of innovation for organizations and their human resources policy. Drawing on survey findings, we examine the coherence of organizations’ utilization of HR recruitment, training and performance management policies to support and enhance firms’ innovation performance. Through a social–psychological perspective, we situate our findings in two diverse areas: the psychological literature, exploring the measurement of innovation, and second, with regard to the internal (with each other) and external (with broader organizational objectives) integration of distinct HR policy elements. Our surveyed organizations indicate that, whilst attaching importance to innovation, they fail to consistently translate this importance into coherent HR policies. Typically, HR policy rewarded non-managerial employees for innovation, whilst managerial staff were expected to do so as a matter of course. This inconsistency is one source of resistance which blocks the generation of new ideas, and their implementation, organization-wide

Mobile Computing from a Developer's Perspective: A 10-Year Review, 1999-2008

This review has examined research in mobile computing from a developer's perspective. The review was underpinned by the assumption that mobile computing has accentuated factors compared to stationary computing that ought to be managed to harness the possibilities of mobile computing. Applying a developer's perspective rendered a certain interest in design-oriented research, i.e. prescriptive research. Articles were categorised in three dimensions; the first dimension was developmental factors accentuated by mobile computing. The second dimension regarded the approach, if it was descriptive or prescriptive. The third dimension regarded the organisational settings, if the user were a member of the mobile workforce or not. The purpose of this study was to identify areas of inquiry in mobile computing from a design-oriented perspective. The findings revealed that research among accentuated factors of mobility is unevenly distributed and that research on the mobile workforce is under-represented. However, design-oriented research has a reasonable representation in the set of publications. The under-representation of research concerning the mobile workforce ought to have relevance for business informatics research. In conjunction with these findings some thoughts on future research areas are presented