Footprints preserve terminal Pleistocene hunt? Human-sloth interactions in North America

Predator-prey interactions revealed by vertebrate trace fossils are extremely rare. We present footprint evidence from White Sands National Monument in New Mexico for the association of sloth and human trackways. Geologically, the sloth and human trackways were made contemporaneously, and the sloth trackways show evidence of evasion and defensive behavior when associated with human tracks. Behavioral inferences from these trackways indicate prey selection and suggest that humans were harassing, stalking, and/or hunting the now-extinct giant ground sloth in the terminal Pleistocene

Ocean chlorofluorocarbon and heat uptake during the twentieth century in the CCSM3

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society 2006. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Climate 19 (2006): 2366–2381, doi:10.1175/JCLI3758.1.An ensemble of nine simulations for the climate of the twentieth century has been run using the Community Climate System Model version 3 (CCSM3). Three of these runs also simulate the uptake of chlorofluorocarbon-11 (CFC-11) into the ocean using the protocol from the Ocean Carbon Model Intercomparison Project (OCMIP). Comparison with ocean observations taken between 1980 and 2000 shows that the global CFC-11 uptake is simulated very well. However, there are regional biases, and these are used to identify where too much deep-water formation is occurring in the CCSM3. The differences between the three runs simulating CFC-11 uptake are also briefly documented. The variability in ocean heat content in the 1870 control runs is shown to be only a little smaller than estimates using ocean observations. The ocean heat uptake between 1957 and 1996 in the ensemble is compared to the recent observational estimates of the secular trend. The trend in ocean heat uptake is considerably larger than the natural variability in the 1870 control runs. The heat uptake down to 300 m between 1957 and 1996 varies by a factor of 2 across the ensemble. Some possible reasons for this large spread are discussed. There is much less spread in the heat uptake down to 3 km. On average, the CCSM3 twentieth-century ensemble runs take up 25% more heat than the recent estimate from ocean observations. Possible explanations for this are that the model heat uptake is calculated over the whole ocean, and not just in the regions where there are many observations and that there is no parameterization of the indirect effects of aerosols in CCSM3.Support provided by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Earth Simulator Center of the Japan Agency for Marine- Earth Science and Technology

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Minimum Information about a Biosynthetic Gene cluster

A wide variety of enzymatic pathways that produce specialized metabolites in bacteria, fungi and plants are known to be encoded in biosynthetic gene clusters. Information about these clusters, pathways and metabolites is currently dispersed throughout the literature, making it difficult to exploit. To facilitate consistent and systematic deposition and retrieval of data on biosynthetic gene clusters, we propose the Minimum Information about a Biosynthetic Gene cluster (MIBiG) data standard.Chemistry and Chemical Biolog

High temperature (up to 1200 °C) thermal-mechanical stability of Si and Ni doped CrN framework coatings

High temperature thermal-mechanical stability of tribological thin coatings is extremely important to a large number of applications in modern industries. DC magnetron sputtering of single metallic element (Cr, Si) and alloy (Ni:Cr) targets formed transition metal nitrides film coatings, CrSiN and CrNiN onto M2 steel. High temperature in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction, in the range 25 °C–700 °C, obtained experimental data for a range of structural and mechanical properties. Furthermore, experimental room temperature Nanoindentation measurements, made before and after the in-situ heating cycle, provided corresponding hardness and shear modulus results. The structural results identified microstructure and phase transformation changes, while the mechanical results identified microstrain, hardness, elastic modulus and deformation resistance properties of the coatings. Density functional theory (DFT) and quasi-harmonic approximation (QHA) modelled the high temperature thermal and mechanical properties such as: Young's modulus, shear modulus and thermal expansion coefficients (populated up to 1200 °C). Estimates of hardness are made by correlating the bulk phase hardness and shear modulus, of the CrN and Ni phases, as a function of temperature. Results indicate that Si doping enhances the hardness of the CrN framework, increasing from 29 to 36 GPa and improves the coatings elastic modulus, and resistance to deformation. However the addition of Ni reduced these properties. Furthermore, formation of (Cr,Si)N and Ni(Cr) solid solutions is inferred from DFT, Rietveld and lattice constant analysis

Genomic evidence for the evolution of Streptococcus equi : host restriction, increased virulence, and genetic exchange with human pathogens

The continued evolution of bacterial pathogens has major implications for both human and animal disease, but the exchange of genetic material between host-restricted pathogens is rarely considered. Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi) is a host-restricted pathogen of horses that has evolved from the zoonotic pathogen Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus). These pathogens share approximately 80% genome sequence identity with the important human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes. We sequenced and compared the genomes of S. equi 4047 and S. zooepidemicus H70 and screened S. equi and S. zooepidemicus strains from around the world to uncover evidence of the genetic events that have shaped the evolution of the S. equi genome and led to its emergence as a host-restricted pathogen. Our analysis provides evidence of functional loss due to mutation and deletion, coupled with pathogenic specialization through the acquisition of bacteriophage encoding a phospholipase A(2) toxin, and four superantigens, and an integrative conjugative element carrying a novel iron acquisition system with similarity to the high pathogenicity island of Yersinia pestis. We also highlight that S. equi, S. zooepidemicus, and S. pyogenes share a common phage pool that enhances cross-species pathogen evolution. We conclude that the complex interplay of functional loss, pathogenic specialization, and genetic exchange between S. equi, S. zooepidemicus, and S. pyogenes continues to influence the evolution of these important streptococci.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Design of Lung Transplant Go (LTGO): A randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of a telerehabilitation behavioral exercise intervention to improve physical activity, physical function, and blood pressure control after lung transplantation

Background: Lung transplantation is an established treatment option for persons with advanced lung disease. After transplantation, lung function typically returns to near normal levels, however exercise capacity remains low due to chronic deconditioning, limited physical function, and inactive lifestyles which undermine the intended benefits of the highly selective, resource-intensive transplant procedure. Pulmonary rehabilitation is recommended to improve fitness and activity tolerance, however due to multiple barriers, lung transplant recipients either never participate, or fail to complete, pulmonary rehabilitation programs. Purpose: To describe the design of Lung Transplant Go (LTGO), a trial modified for the remote environment based on recommendations to preserve trial integrity during COVID. The aims are to evaluate a behavioral exercise intervention to improve physical function, physical activity, and blood pressure control in lung transplant recipients conducted safely and effectively using a telerehabilitation (telerehab) platform, and to explore the role of potential mediators and moderators of the relationship between LTGO and outcomes. Methods: Single-site, 2-group randomized controlled trial with lung transplant recipients randomized 1:1 to either the LTGO intervention (a 2-phased, supervised, telerehab behavioral exercise program), or to enhanced usual care (activity tracking and monthly newsletters). All study activities, including intervention delivery, recruitment, consenting, assessment, and data collection, will be performed remotely. Conclusion: If efficacious, this fully scalable and replicable telerehab intervention could be efficiently translated to reach large numbers of lung recipients to improve and sustain self-management of exercise habits by overcoming barriers to participation in existing, in-person pulmonary rehabilitation programs