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Spatial epidemiological patterns suggest mechanisms of land-sea transmission for Sarcocystis neurona in a coastal marine mammal.
Sarcocystis neurona was recognised as an important cause of mortality in southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) after an outbreak in April 2004 and has since been detected in many marine mammal species in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Risk of S. neurona exposure in sea otters is associated with consumption of clams and soft-sediment prey and is temporally associated with runoff events. We examined the spatial distribution of S. neurona exposure risk based on serum antibody testing and assessed risk factors for exposure in animals from California, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. Significant spatial clustering of seropositive animals was observed in California and Washington, compared with British Columbia and Alaska. Adult males were at greatest risk for exposure to S. neurona, and there were strong associations with terrestrial features (wetlands, cropland, high human housing-unit density). In California, habitats containing soft sediment exhibited greater risk than hard substrate or kelp beds. Consuming a diet rich in clams was also associated with increased exposure risk. These findings suggest a transmission pathway analogous to that described for Toxoplasma gondii, with infectious stages traveling in freshwater runoff and being concentrated in particular locations by marine habitat features, ocean physical processes, and invertebrate bioconcentration
Landscape drivers of genomic diversity and divergence in woodland Eucalyptus
Spatial genetic patterns are influenced by numerous factors, and they can vary even
among coexisting, closely related species due to differences in dispersal and selection. Eucalyptus (L'Héritier 1789; the “eucalypts”) are foundation tree species that
provide essential habitat and modulate ecosystem services throughout Australia.
Here we present a study of landscape genomic variation in two woodland eucalypt
species, using whole-genome sequencing of 388 individuals of Eucalyptus albens and
Eucalyptus sideroxylon. We found exceptionally high genetic diversity (π ≈ 0.05) and
low genome-wide, interspecific differentiation (FST = 0.15) and intraspecific differentiation between localities (FST ≈ 0.01–0.02). We found no support for strong, discrete
population structure, but found substantial support for isolation by geographic distance (IBD) in both species. Using generalized dissimilarity modelling, we identified
additional isolation by environment (IBE). Eucalyptus albens showed moderate IBD,
and environmental variables have a small but significant amount of additional predictive power (i.e. IBE). Eucalyptus sideroxylon showed much stronger IBD and moderate
IBE. These results highlight the vast adaptive potential of these species and set the
stage for testing evolutionary hypotheses of interspecific adaptive differentiation
across environmentsAustralian Research Council, Grant/Award
Number: CE140100008, DP150103591 and
DE19010032
A Generalized Epidemic Process and Tricritical Dynamic Percolation
The renowned general epidemic process describes the stochastic evolution of a
population of individuals which are either susceptible, infected or dead. A
second order phase transition belonging to the universality class of dynamic
isotropic percolation lies between endemic or pandemic behavior of the process.
We generalize the general epidemic process by introducing a fourth kind of
individuals, viz. individuals which are weakened by the process but not yet
infected. This sensibilization gives rise to a mechanism that introduces a
global instability in the spreading of the process and therefore opens the
possibility of a discontinuous transition in addition to the usual continuous
percolation transition. The tricritical point separating the lines of first and
second order transitions constitutes a new universality class, namely the
universality class of tricritical dynamic isotropic percolation. Using
renormalized field theory we work out a detailed scaling description of this
universality class. We calculate the scaling exponents in an
-expansion below the upper critical dimension for various
observables describing tricritical percolation clusters and their spreading
properties. In a remarkable contrast to the usual percolation transition, the
exponents and governing the two order parameters,
viz. the mean density and the percolation probability, turn out to be different
at the tricritical point. In addition to the scaling exponents we calculate for
all our static and dynamic observables logarithmic corrections to the
mean-field scaling behavior at .Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures, version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Towards a fully automated computation of RG-functions for the 3- O(N) vector model: Parametrizing amplitudes
Within the framework of field-theoretical description of second-order phase
transitions via the 3-dimensional O(N) vector model, accurate predictions for
critical exponents can be obtained from (resummation of) the perturbative
series of Renormalization-Group functions, which are in turn derived
--following Parisi's approach-- from the expansions of appropriate field
correlators evaluated at zero external momenta.
Such a technique was fully exploited 30 years ago in two seminal works of
Baker, Nickel, Green and Meiron, which lead to the knowledge of the
-function up to the 6-loop level; they succeeded in obtaining a precise
numerical evaluation of all needed Feynman amplitudes in momentum space by
lowering the dimensionalities of each integration with a cleverly arranged set
of computational simplifications. In fact, extending this computation is not
straightforward, due both to the factorial proliferation of relevant diagrams
and the increasing dimensionality of their associated integrals; in any case,
this task can be reasonably carried on only in the framework of an automated
environment.
On the road towards the creation of such an environment, we here show how a
strategy closely inspired by that of Nickel and coworkers can be stated in
algorithmic form, and successfully implemented on the computer. As an
application, we plot the minimized distributions of residual integrations for
the sets of diagrams needed to obtain RG-functions to the full 7-loop level;
they represent a good evaluation of the computational effort which will be
required to improve the currently available estimates of critical exponents.Comment: 54 pages, 17 figures and 4 table
Landscape drivers of genomic diversity and divergence in woodland Eucalyptus
Spatial genetic patterns are influenced by numerous factors, and they can vary even among coexisting, closely related species due to differences in dispersal and selection. Eucalyptus (L'Héritier 1789; the "eucalypts") are foundation tree species that provide essential habitat and modulate ecosystem services throughout Australia. Here we present a study of landscape genomic variation in two woodland eucalypt species, using whole-genome sequencing of 388 individuals of Eucalyptus albens and Eucalyptus sideroxylon. We found exceptionally high genetic diversity (π ≈ 0.05) and low genome-wide, interspecific differentiation (FST = 0.15) and intraspecific differentiation between localities (FST ≈ 0.01-0.02). We found no support for strong, discrete population structure, but found substantial support for isolation by geographic distance (IBD) in both species. Using generalized dissimilarity modelling, we identified additional isolation by environment (IBE). Eucalyptus albens showed moderate IBD, and environmental variables have a small but significant amount of additional predictive power (i.e. IBE). Eucalyptus sideroxylon showed much stronger IBD and moderate IBE. These results highlight the vast adaptive potential of these species and set the stage for testing evolutionary hypotheses of interspecific adaptive differentiation across environments
An antiangiogenic neurokinin-B/thromboxane A2 regulatory axis
Establishment of angiogenic circuits that orchestrate blood vessel development and remodeling requires an exquisite balance between the activities of pro- and antiangiogenic factors. However, the logic that permits complex signal integration by vascular endothelium is poorly understood. We demonstrate that a “neuropeptide,” neurokinin-B (NK-B), reversibly inhibits endothelial cell vascular network assembly and opposes angiogenesis in the chicken chorioallantoic membrane. Disruption of endogenous NK-B signaling promoted angiogenesis. Mechanistic analyses defined a multicomponent pathway in which NK-B signaling converges upon cellular processes essential for angiogenesis. NK-B−mediated ablation of Ca2+ oscillations and elevation of 3′–5′ cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) reduced cellular proliferation, migration, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor expression and induced the antiangiogenic protein calreticulin. Whereas NK-B initiated certain responses, other activities required additional stimuli that increase cAMP. Although NK-B is a neurotransmitter/ neuromodulator and NK-B overexpression characterizes the pregnancy-associated disorder preeclampsia, NK-B had not been linked to vascular remodeling. These results establish a conserved mechanism in which NK-B instigates multiple activities that collectively oppose vascular remodeling
Critical Exponents of the N-vector model
Recently the series for two RG functions (corresponding to the anomalous
dimensions of the fields phi and phi^2) of the 3D phi^4 field theory have been
extended to next order (seven loops) by Murray and Nickel. We examine here the
influence of these additional terms on the estimates of critical exponents of
the N-vector model, using some new ideas in the context of the Borel summation
techniques. The estimates have slightly changed, but remain within errors of
the previous evaluation. Exponents like eta (related to the field anomalous
dimension), which were poorly determined in the previous evaluation of Le
Guillou--Zinn-Justin, have seen their apparent errors significantly decrease.
More importantly, perhaps, summation errors are better determined. The change
in exponents affects the recently determined ratios of amplitudes and we report
the corresponding new values. Finally, because an error has been discovered in
the last order of the published epsilon=4-d expansions (order epsilon^5), we
have also reanalyzed the determination of exponents from the epsilon-expansion.
The conclusion is that the general agreement between epsilon-expansion and 3D
series has improved with respect to Le Guillou--Zinn-Justin.Comment: TeX Files, 27 pages +2 figures; Some values are changed; references
update
Loss of GPR75 protects against non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and body fat accumulation
Open Access via the Elsevier Agreement L.K.H. designed the experiments with input from F.M., G.S.H.Y., and J.J.R.; F.M. and J.I. created the CRISPR-Cas9-deleted Gpr75 mouse line with input from A.M.; A.L.-P., C.M., B.Y.H.L., G.K.C.D., N.S., P.B.M.d.M., R.C., K.K., E.J.G., J.R.B.P., F.G., J.R.S., and J.J.R. performed experiments and/or data analysis; D.T. provided reagents and intellectual contributions; and L.K.H. and A.L.-P. wrote the manuscript with input from all other authors.Peer reviewe
Moving glass theory of driven lattices with disorder
We study periodic structures, such as vortex lattices, moving in a random
potential. As predicted in [T. Giamarchi, P. Le Doussal Phys. Rev. Lett. 76
3408 (1996)] the periodicity in the direction transverse to motion leads to a
new class of driven systems: the Moving Glasses. We analyse using several RG
techniques the properties at T=0 and : (i) decay of translational long
range order (ii) particles flow along static channels (iii) the channel pattern
is highly correlated (iv) barriers to transverse motion. We demonstrate the
existence of the ``transverse critical force'' at T=0. A ``static random
force'' is shown to be generated by motion. Displacements grow logarithmically
in and algebraically in . The persistence of quasi long range
translational order in at weak disorder, or large velocity leads to
predict a topologically ordered ``Moving Bragg Glass''. This state continues
the static Bragg glass and is stable at , with non linear transverse
response and linear asymptotic behavior. In , or in at intermediate
disorder, another moving glass exist (the Moving Transverse Glass) with smectic
quasi order in the transverse direction. A phase diagram in force and
disorder for static and moving structures is proposed. For correlated disorder
we predict a ``moving Bose glass'' state with anisotropic transverse Meissner
effect and transverse pinning. We discuss experimental consequences such as
anomalous Hall effect in Wigner crystal and transverse critical current in
vortex lattice.Comment: 74 pages, 27 figures, RevTe
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