Adam and Eve, Designed Diversity, and Allele Frequencies

Theistic evolutionists present multiple genetic arguments against a literal Adam and Eve. One key argument asserts it would be impossible for a single human couple to give rise to the genetic diversity seen in the modern human population. This implicitly assumes Adam and Eve would have been created without internal genetic diversity. If this were true, all observed variations would have to arise recently via random mutations. This would require incredibly high mutation rates, logically leading to rapid extinction. Yet, Adam and Eve could have been created massively heterozygous. We have argued for over a decade that they could have been created with “designed diversity”. We have previously shown that a vast amount of genetic variation could have been pre-programmed into their genomes. This could logically provide the genetic basis for: 1) our human gifts and talents; 2) the many forms of human beauty; and 3) the various ways people have rapidly adapted to new habitats. It is also claimed that the currently observed human allele frequency patterns could not arise from a single couple. The logic here is that, since there were only four sets of chromosomes in Eden, all variants would have had an initial frequency of either 25%, 50%, or 75%. Today, most allelic variants have frequencies in the range of 0–10%. Therefore, it is claimed that observed human diversity disproves a literal Adam and Eve. In this paper we have critically examined these arguments. Our analyses highlight several genetic mechanisms that can help reconcile a literal Adam and Eve with the human allele frequency distributions seen today. We use numerical simulation to show that two people, if they contain designed alleles, can in fact give rise to allele frequency distributions of the very same type as are now seen in modern man. We cannot know how God created Adam and Eve, nor exactly how Adam and Eve gave rise to the current human population. However, the genetic argument that there is no way that a literal Adam and Eve could have given rise to the observed human allele frequencies is clearly over-reaching and appears to be theologically reckless. There is no compelling reason to reject Adam and Eve based on modern allele frequencies

Closed-Loop, Open-Source Electrophysiology

Multiple extracellular microelectrodes (multi-electrode arrays, or MEAs) effectively record rapidly varying neural signals, and can also be used for electrical stimulation. Multi-electrode recording can serve as artificial output (efferents) from a neural system, while complex spatially and temporally targeted stimulation can serve as artificial input (afferents) to the neuronal network. Multi-unit or local field potential (LFP) recordings can not only be used to control real world artifacts, such as prostheses, computers or robots, but can also trigger or alter subsequent stimulation. Real-time feedback stimulation may serve to modulate or normalize aberrant neural activity, to induce plasticity, or to serve as artificial sensory input. Despite promising closed-loop applications, commercial electrophysiology systems do not yet take advantage of the bidirectional capabilities of multi-electrodes, especially for use in freely moving animals. We addressed this lack of tools for closing the loop with NeuroRighter, an open-source system including recording hardware, stimulation hardware, and control software with a graphical user interface. The integrated system is capable of multi-electrode recording and simultaneous patterned microstimulation (triggered by recordings) with minimal stimulation artifact. The potential applications of closed-loop systems as research tools and clinical treatments are broad; we provide one example where epileptic activity recorded by a multi-electrode probe is used to trigger targeted stimulation, via that probe, to freely moving rodents

A Low-Cost Multielectrode System for Data Acquisition Enabling Real-Time Closed-Loop Processing with Rapid Recovery from Stimulation Artifacts

Commercially available data acquisition systems for multielectrode recording from freely moving animals are expensive, often rely on proprietary software, and do not provide detailed, modifiable circuit schematics. When used in conjunction with electrical stimulation, they are prone to prolonged, saturating stimulation artifacts that prevent the recording of short-latency evoked responses. Yet electrical stimulation is integral to many experimental designs, and critical for emerging brain-computer interfacing and neuroprosthetic applications. To address these issues, we developed an easy-to-use, modifiable, and inexpensive system for multielectrode neural recording and stimulation. Setup costs are less than US$10,000 for 64 channels, an order of magnitude lower than comparable commercial systems. Unlike commercial equipment, the system recovers rapidly from stimulation and allows short-latency action potentials (<1 ms post-stimulus) to be detected, facilitating closed-loop applications and exposing neural activity that would otherwise remain hidden. To illustrate this capability, evoked activity from microstimulation of the rodent hippocampus is presented. System noise levels are similar to existing platforms, and extracellular action potentials and local field potentials can be recorded simultaneously. The system is modular, in banks of 16 channels, and flexible in usage: while primarily designed for in vivo use, it can be combined with commercial preamplifiers to record from in vitro multielectrode arrays. The system's open-source control software, NeuroRighter, is implemented in C#, with an easy-to-use graphical interface. As C# functions in a managed code environment, which may impact performance, analysis was conducted to ensure comparable speed to C++ for this application. Hardware schematics, layout files, and software are freely available. Since maintaining wired headstage connections with freely moving animals is difficult, we describe a new method of electrode-headstage coupling using neodymium magnets

Adaptive feedback analysis and control of programmable stimuli for assessment of cerebrovascular function

The assessment of cerebrovascular regulatory mechanisms often requires flexibly controlled and precisely timed changes in arterial blood pressure (ABP) and/or inspired CO2. In this study, a new system for inducing variations in mean ABP was designed, implemented and tested using programmable sequences and programmable controls to induce pressure changes through bilateral thigh cuffs. The system is also integrated with a computer-controlled switch to select air or a CO2/air mixture to be provided via a face mask. Adaptive feedback control of a pressure generator was required to meet stringent specifications for fast changes, and accuracy in timing and pressure levels applied by the thigh cuffs. The implemented system consists of a PC-based signal analysis/control unit, a pressure control unit and a CO2/air control unit. Initial evaluations were carried out to compare the cuff pressure control performances between adaptive and non-adaptive control configurations. Results show that the adaptive control method can reduce the mean error in sustaining target pressure by 99.57 % and reduce the transient time in pressure increases by 45.21 %. The system has proven a highly effective tool in ongoing research on brain blood flow control

Detection of impaired cerebral autoregulation improves by increasing arterial blood pressure variability

Although the assessment of dynamic cerebral autoregulation (CA) based on measurements of spontaneous fluctuations in arterial blood pressure (ABP) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) is a convenient and much used method, there remains uncertainty about its reliability. We tested the effects of increasing ABP variability, provoked by a modification of the thigh cuff method, on the ability of the autoregulation index to discriminate between normal and impaired CA, using hypercapnia as a surrogate for dynamic CA impairment. In 30 healthy volunteers, ABP (Finapres) and CBF velocity (CBFV, transcranial Doppler) were recorded at rest and during 5% CO(2) breathing, with and without pseudo-random sequence inflation and deflation of bilateral thigh cuffs. The application of thigh cuffs increased ABP and CBFV variabilities and was not associated with a distortion of the CBFV step response estimates for both normocapnic and hypercapnic conditions (P=0.59 and P=0.96, respectively). Sensitivity and specificity of CA impairment detection were improved with the thigh cuff method, with the area under the receiver-operator curve increasing from 0.746 to 0.859 (P=0.031). We conclude that the new method is a safe, efficient, and appealing alternative to currently existing assessment methods for the investigation of the status of CA

Volcanic Stratigraphy and Age Model of the Kimama Deep Borehole (Project Hotspot): Evidence for 5.8 Million Years of Continuous Basalt Volcanism, Central Snake River Plain, Idaho

The Snake River Plain of central Idaho represents the world’s best example of a mantle hotspot track impinging upon continental crust and provides a record of bimodal volcanism extending over 12 Ma to the present. Project Hotspot recovered almost 2 km of continuous drill core from the Kimama borehole, located in central Idaho on the axial volcanic zone. The Kimama drill core represents the most complete record of mafic volcanism along the Yellowstone–Snake River Plain hotspot track. A total of 432 basalt flow units, representing 183 basalt flows, 78 basalt flow groups, and 34 super groups, along with 42 sediment interbeds are recognized using volcanic facies observations, stratigraphic relationships, borehole geophysical logs, and paleosecular variation in magnetostratigraphy. Rhyolite and other non-basaltic volcanic materials were not encountered in the drill core. Ages for six basalt lava flows were determined by 40Ar/39Ar using incremental heating experiments. Paleomagnetic inclination was measured on over 1200 samples collected at roughly 2-m-depth intervals, yielding mean values of paleosecular variation between ±50° to ±70° in Kimama flow groups, close to the expected 61° axial dipole average for the Kimama borehole location. Twenty-three magnetic reversals were identified and correlated to dated geomagnetic chrons and subchrons and compared with the 40Ar/39Ar radiometric ages. A linear fit to 40Ar/39Ar dates, geomagnetic chron and subchron boundaries, and volcanogenic zircon U-Pb ages defines a mean accumulation rate of ∼320 m/m.y. and extrapolates to a bottom hole age of 6.3 Ma. Average thicknesses of lithologic units increase from 2.7 m (sediment), 4 m (flow units), 10 m (flows), 23 m (flow groups), to 53 m (super groups). On average, one lava flow inundated the Kimama borehole location every 33 k.y. Intercalated sediments, ranging from 0.06 to 24.5 m thick, make up roughly 6% of the drill core and indicate lulls in local volcanic activity that may have lasted up to 77 k.y. Neutron and gamma-ray logs supplement observations from the drill cores: neutron logs document individual flow units through the contrast between massive flow interiors and more porous flow surfaces, and gamma-ray logs document the depth and thickness of sedimentary interbeds and high–K-Fe basalts. The 5.8 m.y. duration of basaltic volcanism in the Kimama drill core implies a steady rate of volcanism, indicating a relatively stable rate of mantle upflow along the lithosphere-mantle boundary in the wake of Yellowstone–Snake River Plain plume volcanism

Warning – Taboo Words Ahead! Avoiding Attentional Capture by Spoken Taboo Distractors

We examine whether the disruption of serial short-term memory (STM) by spoken taboo distractors is due to attentional diversion and unrelated to the underlying disruptive effect of sound on serial STM more generally, which we have argued is due to order cues arising from the automatic pre-categorical processing of acoustic changes in the sound conflicting with serial–order processing within the memory task (interferenceby-process). We test whether the taboo-distractor effect is, unlike effects attributable to interference-by-process, amenable to top-down control. Experiment 1 replicated the taboo-distractor effect and showed that it is not merely a valence effect. However, promoting cognitive control by increasing focal task-load did not attenuate the effect. However, foreknowledge of the distractors did eliminate the taboo-distractor effect while having no effect on disruption by neutral words (Experiment 2). We conclude that the taboo-distractor effect results from a controllable attentional-diversion mechanism distinct from the effect of any acoustically-changing sound

Restoration of Aspen-Dominated Ecosystems in the Lake States

A reserve tree method (RTM) of harvesting was installed in six 70 to 75 year old aspen dominated stands to determine if retaining 10 to 15 dominant aspen per acre would decrease sucker density to facilitate restoration of a conifer component. A reserve shelterwood cut was applied to three additional stands to evaluate performance of white pine planted under 50% crown cover. After the first full growing season following harvest, 96% of the RTM harvested areas were stocked; sucker density averaged 27000 per acre versus 38.2 k per acre on a clearcut control, 41% greater. Basal diameter of dominant suckers averaged 0.45 inch, 28% greater than the control, and mean height was 60 inches, 33% greater. The control site had 3.1k stems per acre of associated commercial species versus 5.8 k on the RTM sites, an 87% difference. Four of the nine stands have been planted; first-year survival ranged from 75% to near 100%. The RTM shows promise for reducing sucker density, increasing their early growth, maintaining species diversity, and providing abundant regeneration of commercial species on a high proportion of the areas harvested. Early results indicate that both the RTM and shelterwood methods can facilitate restoring a component of native conifer species in these ecosystems

Comparison of boreal ecosystem model sensitivity to variability in climate and forest site parameters

Ecosystem models are useful tools for evaluating environmental controls on carbon and water cycles under past or future conditions. In this paper we compare annual carbon and water fluxes from nine boreal spruce forest ecosystem models in a series of sensitivity simulations. For each comparison, a single climate driver or forest site parameter was altered in a separate sensitivity run. Driver and parameter changes were prescribed principally to be large enough to identify and isolate any major differences in model responses, while also remaining within the range of variability that the boreal forest biome may be exposed to over a time period of several decades. The models simulated plant production, autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration, and evapotranspiration (ET) for a black spruce site in the boreal forest of central Canada (56°N). Results revealed that there were common model responses in gross primary production, plant respiration, and ET fluxes to prescribed changes in air temperature or surface irradiance and to decreased precipitation amounts. The models were also similar in their responses to variations in canopy leaf area, leaf nitrogen content, and surface organic layer thickness. The models had different sensitivities to certain parameters, namely the net primary production response to increased CO2 levels, and the response of soil microbial respiration to precipitation inputs and soil wetness. These differences can be explained by the type (or absence) of photosynthesis-CO2 response curves in the models and by response algorithms of litter and humus decomposition to drying effects in organic soils of the boreal spruce ecosystem. Differences in the couplings of photosynthesis and soil respiration to nitrogen availability may also explain divergent model responses. Sensitivity comparisons imply that past conditions of the ecosystem represented in the models\u27 initial standing wood and soil carbon pools, including historical climate patterns and the time since the last major disturbance, can be as important as potential climatic changes to prediction of the annual ecosystem carbon balance in this boreal spruce forest

Prevalence and correlates of psychotic experiences amongst children of depressed parents

Psychotic experiences in young people are substantially more common than psychotic disorders, and are associated with distress and functional impairment. Family history of depression as well as of schizophrenia increases risk for psychotic experiences, but the prevalence of such experiences and their clinical relevance in offspring of depressed parents is unknown. Our objectives were to explore i) the prevalence of psychotic experiences amongst offspring of parents with recurrent unipolar depression and ii) the relationship between psychotic experiences and other psychopathology. Data were drawn from the ‘Early Prediction of Adolescent Depression’ longitudinal study of high-risk offspring (aged 9–17 years at baseline) of 337 parents with recurrent depression. Three assessments were conducted over four years. Psychopathology was assessed using the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment. Seventy-eight percent of families (n=262) had complete data on psychotic experiences at each of the three time points. During the study, 8.4% (n=22; 95% CI 5.0%, 11.8%) of offspring reported psychotic experiences on at least one occasion, and these were associated with psychiatric disorder, specifically mood and disruptive disorders, and suicidal thoughts/behaviour. Psychotic experiences amongst offspring of depressed parents index a range of psychopathology. Further research is needed to examine their clinical significance and long-term consequences