Systematics of Microhylid Frogs, Genus Oreophryne, from the North Coast Region of New Guinea

Fig. 4. Regression of internarial span on snout­vent length in two samples of Oreophryne biroi from Papua New Guinea. Squares, specimens from Madang Prov.; crosses, specimens from East Sepik Prov.Published as part of <i>ZWEIFEL, RICHARD G., MENZIES, JAMES I. & PRICE, DAVID, 2003, Systematics of Microhylid Frogs, Genus Oreophryne, from the North Coast Region of New Guinea, pp. 1-32 in American Museum Novitates 3415</i> on page 10, DOI: 10.1206/0003-0082(2003)415<0001:SOMFGO>2.0.CO;2, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10111440">http://zenodo.org/record/10111440</a&gt

Spatial distribution of podoconiosis in relation to environmental factors in Ethiopia: a historical review

BACKGROUND An up-to-date and reliable map of podoconiosis is needed to design geographically targeted and cost-effective intervention in Ethiopia. Identifying the ecological correlates of the distribution of podoconiosis is the first step for distribution and risk maps. The objective of this study was to investigate the spatial distribution and ecological correlates of podoconiosis using historical and contemporary survey data. METHODS Data on the observed prevalence of podoconiosis were abstracted from published and unpublished literature into a standardized database, according to strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. In total, 10 studies conducted between 1969 and 2012 were included, and data were available for 401,674 individuals older than 15 years of age from 229 locations. A range of high resolution environmental factors were investigated to determine their association with podoconiosis prevalence, using logistic regression. RESULTS The prevalence of podoconiosis in Ethiopia was estimated at 3.4% (95% CI 3.3%-3.4%) with marked regional variation. We identified significant associations between mean annual Land Surface Temperature (LST), mean annual precipitation, topography of the land and fine soil texture and high prevalence of podoconiosis. The derived maps indicate both widespread occurrence of podoconiosis and a marked variability in prevalence of podoconiosis, with prevalence typically highest at altitudes >1500 m above sea level (masl), with >1500 mm annual rainfall and mean annual LST of 19-21°C. No (or very little) podoconiosis occurred at altitudes 24°C. CONCLUSION Podoconiosis remains a public health problem in Ethiopia over considerable areas of the country, but exhibits marked geographical variation associated in part with key environmental factors. This is work in progress and the results presented here will be refined in future work

Geodynamic implications for zonal and meridional isotopic patterns across the northern Lau and North Fiji Basins

We present new Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf-He isotopic data for sixty-five volcanic samples from the northern Lau and North Fiji Basin. This includes forty-seven lavas obtained from forty dredge sites spanning an east-west transect across the Lau and North Fiji basins, ten ocean island basalt (OIB)-type lavas collected from seven Fijian islands, and eight OIB lavas sampled on Rotuma. For the first time we are able to map clear north-south and east-west geochemical gradients in 87Sr/86Sr across the northern Lau and North Fiji Basins: lavas with the most geochemically enriched radiogenic isotopic signatures are located in the northeast Lau Basin, while signatures of geochemical enrichment are diminished to the south and west away from the Samoan hotspot. Based on these geochemical patterns and plate reconstructions of the region, these observations are best explained by the addition of Samoa, Rurutu, and Rarotonga hotspot material over the past 4 Ma. We suggest that underplated Samoan material has been advected into the Lau Basin over the past ∼4 Ma. As the slab migrated west (and toward the Samoan plume) via rollback over time, younger and hotter (and therefore less viscous) underplated Samoan plume material was entrained. Thus, entrainment efficiency of underplated plume material was enhanced, and Samoan plume signatures in the Lau Basin became stronger as the trench approached the Samoan hotspot. The addition of subducted volcanoes to the Cook-Austral Volcanic Lineament material, first from the Rarotonga hotspot, then followed by the Rurutu hotspot, contributes to the extreme geochemical signatures observed in the northeast Lau Basin

Cerebrospinal fluid signs of neuronal damage after antiretroviral treatment interruption in HIV-1 infection

BACKGROUND: The neurofilament is a major structural component of myelinated axons. Increased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of the light chain of the neurofilament protein (NFL) can serve as a sensitive indicator of central nervous system (CNS) injury. To assess whether interrupting antiretroviral treatment of HIV infection might have a deleterious effect on the CNS, we measured NFL levels in HIV-infected subjects interrupting therapy. We identified subjects who had CSF HIV RNA concentrations below 50 copies/mL at the time combination antiretroviral therapy was interrupted, and for whom CSF samples were available before and after the interruption. RESULTS: A total of 8 subjects were studied. The median (range) CSF NFL level at baseline was <125 (<125–220) ng/L (normal <250 ng/L). All 8 subjects exhibited an increase in CSF and plasma HIV RNA after stopping therapy, accompanied by intrathecal immunoactivation as evidenced by CSF lymphocytic pleocytosis (7/8 patients) and increased CSF neopterin concentration (5/6 patients). Three subjects showed a consistent increase in CSF NFL, rising from <125 ng/L to a maximum of 880 (at day 148), 1,010 (day 58) and 10,930 ng/L (day 101). None exhibited new neurological symptoms or signs, or experienced functional deterioration during the period off treatment; of 5 who underwent brief quantitative neurological testing, none showed worsening performance. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that resurgence of active HIV replication may result in measurable, albeit subclinical, CNS injury. Further studies are needed to define the frequency and pathobiological importance of the increase in CSF NFL

Embedding initial data for black hole collisions

We discuss isometric embedding diagrams for the visualization of initial data for the problem of the head-on collision of two black holes. The problem of constructing the embedding diagrams is explicitly presented for the best studied initial data, the Misner geometry. We present a partial solution of the embedding diagrams and discuss issues related to completing the solution.Comment: (27pp text, 11 figures

The collision of boosted black holes: second order close limit calculations

We study the head-on collision of black holes starting from unsymmetrized, Brill--Lindquist type data for black holes with non-vanishing initial linear momentum. Evolution of the initial data is carried out with the ``close limit approximation,'' in which small initial separation and momentum are assumed, and second-order perturbation theory is used. We find agreement that is remarkably good, and that in some ways improves with increasing momentum. This work extends a previous study in which second order perturbation calculations were used for momentarily stationary initial data, and another study in which linearized perturbation theory was used for initially moving holes. In addition to supplying answers about the collisions, the present work has revealed several subtle points about the use of higher order perturbation theory, points that did not arise in the previous studies. These points include issues of normalization, and of comparison with numerical simulations, and will be important to subsequent applications of approximation methods for collisions.Comment: 20 pages, RevTeX, 6 figures included with psfi