Non-monophyly and intricate morphological evolution within the avian family Cettiidae revealed by multilocus analysis of a taxonomically densely sampled dataset

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The avian family Cettiidae, including the genera <it>Cettia</it>, <it>Urosphena</it>, <it>Tesia</it>, <it>Abroscopus </it>and <it>Tickellia </it>and <it>Orthotomus cucullatus</it>, has recently been proposed based on analysis of a small number of loci and species. The close relationship of most of these taxa was unexpected, and called for a comprehensive study based on multiple loci and dense taxon sampling. In the present study, we infer the relationships of all except one of the species in this family using one mitochondrial and three nuclear loci. We use traditional gene tree methods (Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood bootstrapping, parsimony bootstrapping), as well as a recently developed Bayesian species tree approach (*BEAST) that accounts for lineage sorting processes that might produce discordance between gene trees. We also analyse mitochondrial DNA for a larger sample, comprising multiple individuals and a large number of subspecies of polytypic species.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There are many topological incongruences among the single-locus trees, although none of these is strongly supported. The multi-locus tree inferred using concatenated sequences and the species tree agree well with each other, and are overall well resolved and well supported by the data. The main discrepancy between these trees concerns the most basal split. Both methods infer the genus <it>Cettia </it>to be highly non-monophyletic, as it is scattered across the entire family tree. Deep intraspecific divergences are revealed, and one or two species and one subspecies are inferred to be non-monophyletic (differences between methods).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The molecular phylogeny presented here is strongly inconsistent with the traditional, morphology-based classification. The remarkably high degree of non-monophyly in the genus <it>Cettia </it>is likely to be one of the most extraordinary examples of misconceived relationships in an avian genus. The phylogeny suggests instances of parallel evolution, as well as highly unequal rates of morphological divergence in different lineages. This complex morphological evolution apparently misled earlier taxonomists. These results underscore the well-known but still often neglected problem of basing classifications on overall morphological similarity. Based on the molecular data, a revised taxonomy is proposed. Although the traditional and species tree methods inferred much the same tree in the present study, the assumption by species tree methods that all species are monophyletic is a limitation in these methods, as some currently recognized species might have more complex histories.</p

Effectiveness of a self-managed digital exercise programme to prevent falls in older community-dwelling adults -study protocol for the Safe Step randomized controlled trial

INTRODUCTION: Exercise interventions have a strong evidence base for falls prevention. However, exercise can be challenging to implement and often has limited reach and poor adherence. Digital technology provides opportunities for both increased access to the intervention and support over time. Further knowledge needs to be gained regarding the effectiveness of completely self-managed digital exercise interventions. The main objective of this study is to compare the effectiveness of a self-managed digital exercise programme, Safe Step, in combination with monthly educational videos with educational videos alone, on falls over 1 year in older community-dwelling adults.METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A two-arm parallel randomised controlled trial will be conducted with at least 1400 community-living older adults (70+ years) who experience impaired balance. Participants will be recruited throughout Sweden with enrolment through the project website. They will be randomly allocated to either the Safe Step exercise programme with additional monthly educational videos about healthy ageing and fall prevention, or the monthly education videos alone. Participants receiving the exercise intervention will be asked to exercise at home for at least 30 min, 3 times/week with support of the Safe Step application. The primary outcome will be rate of falls (fall per person year). Participants will keep a fall calendar and report falls at the end of each month through a digital questionnaire. Further assessments of secondary outcomes will be made through self-reported questionnaires and a self-test of 30 s chair stand test at baseline and 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after study start. Data will be analysed according to the intention-to-treat principle.ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was obtained by The Regional Ethical Review Board in Umeå (Dnr 2018/433-31). Findings will be disseminated through the project web-site, peer-reviewed journals, national and international conferences and through senior citizen organisations' newsletters.TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03963570

Outbreak of Puumala Virus Infection, Sweden

An unexpected and large outbreak of Puumala virus infection in Sweden resulted in 313 nephropathia epidemica patients/100,000 persons in Västerbotten County during 2007. An increase in the rodent population, milder weather, and less snow cover probably contributed to the outbreak

Positioning unmanned aerial vehicles as communication relays for surveillance tasks

When unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used to survey distant targets, it is important to transmit sensor information back to a base station. As this communication often requires high uninterrupted bandwidth, the surveying UAV often needs a free line-of-sight to the base station, which can be problematic in urban or mountainous areas. Communication ranges may also be limited, especially for smaller UAVs. Though both problems can be solved through the use of relay chains consisting of one or more intermediate relay UAVs, this leads to a new problem: Where should relays be placed for optimum performance? We present two new algorithms capable of generating such relay chains, one being a dual ascent algorithm and the other a modification of the Bellman-Ford algorithm. As the priorities between the number of hops in the relay chain and the cost of the chain may vary, we calculate chains of different lengths and costs and let the ground operator choose between them. Several different formulations for edge costs are presented. In our test cases, both algorithms are substantially faster than an optimized version of the original Bellman-Ford algorithm, which is used for comparison

Guiding coral reef futures in the Anthropocene

Anthropogenic changes to the Earth now rival those caused by the forces of nature and have shepherded us into a new planetary epoch – the Anthropocene. Such changes include profound and often unexpected alterations to coral reef ecosystems and the services they provide to human societies. Ensuring that reefs and their services endure during the Anthropocene will require that key drivers of coral reef change – fishing, water quality, and anthropogenic climate change – stay within acceptable levels or “safe operating spaces”. The capacity to remain within these safe boundaries hinges on understanding the local, but also the increasingly global and cross-scale, socioeconomic causes of these human drivers of change. Consequently, local and regional management efforts that are successful in the short term may ultimately fail if current decision making and institution-building around coral reef systems remains fragmented, poorly coordinated, and unable to keep pace with the escalating speed of social, technological, and ecological change

ToF-SIMS mediated analysis of human lung tissue reveals increased iron deposition in COPD (GOLD IV) patients

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a debilitating lung disease that is currently the third leading cause of death worldwide. Recent reports have indicated that dysfunctional iron handling in the lungs of COPD patients may be one contributing factor. However, a number of these studies have been limited to the qualitative assessment of iron levels through histochemical staining or to the expression levels of iron-carrier proteins in cells or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. In this study, we have used time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to visualize and relatively quantify iron accumulation in lung tissue sections of healthy donors versus severe COPD patients. An IONTOF 5 instrument was used to perform the analysis, and further multivariate analysis was used to analyze the data. An orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) score plot revealed good separation between the two groups. This separation was primarily attributed to differences in iron content, as well as differences in other chemical signals possibly associated with lipid species. Further, relative quantitative analysis revealed twelve times higher iron levels in lung tissue sections of COPD patients when compared to healthy donors. In addition, iron accumulation observed within the cells was heterogeneously distributed, indicating cellular compartmentalization

Punktlighet i jernbanen - hvert sekund teller

Denne boken gir en innføring i punktlighetsarbeid for jernbane, og er ment som et supplement til annen litteratur som finnes på området. Boken er basert på forsknings‐ og utviklingsarbeid utført ved SINTEF, Norges teknisk‐naturvitenskapelige universitet (NTNU) og Transportøkonomisk institutt (TØI) i samarbeid med de største aktørene i norsk jernbanesektor. Jernbanen er et komplekst og sammensatt trafikksystem der kravene til kvalitet og presisjon er stadig økende. En av de mest sentrale kvalitetsindikatorene ved transport er punktlighet. Gjennom en serie større forskningsprosjekter de siste 10–15 årene har aktører i norsk jernbanesektor i fellesskap utviklet kunnskap og løsninger for å nå målet om god punktlighet og forutsigbarhet i togtrafikken. Jernbaneverket har vært prosjekteier for disse prosjektene, SINTEF, TØI og NTNU har vært utøvende forskningspartnere, mens CargoNet, NSB og Flytoget har deltatt i arbeidet. Prosjektene ble finansiert av Norges forskningsråd og de deltakende organisasjonene. Denne boken bygger på resultatene fra forskningsprosjektene og fokuserer på analyser av punktlighetsdata. Vi vil takke alle som har bidratt til å realisere denne boken; både i utarbeidelsen av boken og gjennom finansiering og gjennomføring av de forutgående forskningsprosjektene. Framtiden er spennende – framtiden går på skinner!publishedVersio

Methane oxidation over Pd supported on ceria–alumina under rich/lean cycling conditions

Catalysts with highly dispersed palladium on alumina, alumina doped with 20 wt% ceria and ceria have been prepared, characterized and examined for net-lean methane oxidation. In particular, the activity and selectivity were investigated during rich/lean cycling of the feed. The ceria content is found to influence both the general and the instantaneous activity responses. The results indicate that the active phase of palladium changes between reduced and oxidised Pd during the rich/lean cycling, and that the process is influenced by the presence of ceria