Differences in Acoustic Measures of Vowels in Ventriloquial and Normal Speech

This study investigated and compared the acoustic properties of vowels in ventriloquial and normal speech. Voice recordings of a 51 year-old male participant producing 10 words containing target vowels, three times each were made in both normal and ventriloquial speech. Standard acoustic measures for frequency were gathered using Tiger Electronics Inc., Dr. Speech Science, Ver.2.0. Fundamental frequency, first, and second formant frequencies were analyzed as compared between the two types of speech. Although the results revealed no statistically significant differences in first and second formant frequencies, slight variations do exist. Statistically significant differences were found for two words in fundamental frequency. The results would seem to suggest that as long as vowel production is within a “range” of variability, vowels may be accurately perceived

Untangling the complex interactions between turtle ants and their microbial partners

Background: To understand the patterns of biodiversity it is important to consider symbiotic interactions as they can shape animal evolution. In several ant genera symbiotic interactions with microbial communities have been shown to have profound impacts for the host. For example, we know that for Camponotini the gut community can upgrade the host\u27s diet and is shaped by development and colony interactions. However, what is true for one ant group may not be true for another. For the microbial communities that have been examined across ants we see variation in the diversity, host factors that structure these communities, and the function these microbes provide for the host. In the herbivorous turtle ants (Cephalotes) their stable symbiotic interactions with gut bacteria have persisted for 50 million years with the gut bacteria synthesizing essential amino acids that are used by the host. Although we know the function for some of these turtle ant-associated bacteria there are still many open questions.Results: In the present study we examined microbial community diversity (16S rRNA and 18S rRNA amplicons) of more than 75 species of turtle ants across different geographic locations and in the context of the host\u27s phylogenetic history. Our results show (1) that belonging to a certain species and biogeographic regions are relevant to structuring the microbial community of turtle ants; (2) both bacterial and eukaryotic communities demonstrated correlations and cooccurrence within the ant host; (3) within the core bacterial community, Burkholderiaceae bacterial lineage were the only group that showed strong patterns of codiversification with the host, which is remarkable since the core bacterial community is stable and persistent.Conclusions: We concluded that for the turtle ants there is a diverse and evolutionarily stable core bacterial community, which leads to interesting questions about what microbial or host factors influence when these partner histories become evolutionarily intertwined

Withdrawal of anticancer therapy in advanced disease: a systematic literature review

Abstract Background Current guidelines set out when to start anticancer treatments, but not when to stop as the end of life approaches. Conventional cytotoxic agents are administered intravenously and have major life-threatening toxicities. Newer drugs include molecular targeted agents (MTAs), in particular, small molecule kinase-inhibitors (KIs), which are administered orally. These have fewer life-threatening toxicities, and are increasingly used to palliate advanced cancer, generally offering additional months of survival benefit. MTAs are substantially more expensive, between £2-8 K per month, and perceived as easier to start than stop. Methods A systematic review of decision-making concerning the withdrawal of anticancer drugs towards the end of life within clinical practice, with a particular focus on MTAs. Nine electronic databases searched. PRISMA guidelines followed. Results Forty-two studies included. How are decisions made? Decision-making was shared and ongoing, including stopping, starting and trying different treatments. Oncologists often experienced ‘professional role dissonance’ between their self-perception as ‘treaters’, and talking about end of life care. Why are decisions made? Clinical factors: disease progression, worsening functional status, treatment side-effects. Non-clinical factors: physicians’ personal experience, values, emotions. Some patients continued treatment to maintain ‘hope’, often reflecting limited understanding of palliative goals. When are decisions made? Limited evidence reveals patients’ decisions based upon quality of life benefits. Clinicians found timing withdrawal particularly challenging. Who makes the decisions? Decisions were based within physician-patient interaction. Conclusions Oncologists report that decisions around stopping chemotherapy treatment are challenging, with limited evidence-based guidance outside of clinical trial protocols. The increasing availability of oral MTAs is transforming the management of incurable cancer; blurring boundaries between active treatment and palliative care. No studies specifically addressing decision-making around stopping MTAs in clinical practice were identified. There is a need to develop an evidence base to support physicians and patients with decision-making around the withdrawal of these high cost treatments

Symbiont Interactions in a Tripartite Mutualism: Exploring the Presence and Impact of Antagonism between Two Fungus-Growing Ant Mutualists

Mutualistic associations are shaped by the interplay of cooperation and conflict among the partners involved, and it is becoming increasingly clear that within many mutualisms multiple partners simultaneously engage in beneficial interactions. Consequently, a more complete understanding of the dynamics within multipartite mutualism communities is essential for understanding the origin, specificity, and stability of mutualisms. Fungus-growing ants cultivate fungi for food and maintain antibiotic-producing Pseudonocardia actinobacteria on their cuticle that help defend the cultivar fungus from specialized parasites. Within both ant-fungus and ant-bacterium mutualisms, mixing of genetically distinct strains can lead to antagonistic interactions (i.e., competitive conflict), which may prevent the ants from rearing multiple strains of either of the mutualistic symbionts within individual colonies. The success of different ant-cultivar-bacterium combinations could ultimately be governed by antagonistic interactions between the two mutualists, either as inhibition of the cultivar by Pseudonocardia or vice versa. Here we explore cultivar-Pseudonocardia antagonism by evaluating in vitro interactions between strains of the two mutualists, and find frequent antagonistic interactions both from cultivars towards Pseudonocardia and vice versa. To test whether such in vitro antagonistic interactions affect ant colonies in vivo, we performed sub-colony experiments using species of Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants. We created novel ant-fungus-bacterium pairings in which there was antagonism from one, both, or neither of the ants' microbial mutualists, and evaluated the effect of directional antagonism on cultivar biomass and Pseudonocardia abundance on the cuticle of workers within sub-colonies. Despite the presence of frequent in vitro growth suppression between cultivars and Pseudonocardia, antagonism from Pseudonocardia towards the cultivar did not reduce sub-colony fungus garden biomass, nor did cultivar antagonism towards Pseudonocardia reduce bacteria abundance on the cuticle of sub-colony workers. Our findings suggest that inter-mutualist antagonism does not limit what combinations of cultivar and Pseudonocardia strains Acromyrmex fungus-growing ants can maintain within nests

A randomised trial evaluating Bevacizumab as adjuvant therapy following resection of AJCC stage IIB, IIC and III cutaneous melanoma : an update

At present, there are no standard therapies for the adjuvant treatment of malignant melanoma. Patients with primary tumours with a high-Breslow thickness (stages IIB and IIC) or with resected loco-regional nodal disease (stage III) are at high risk of developing metastasis and subsequent disease-related death. Given this, it is important that novel therapies are investigated in the adjuvant melanoma setting. Since angiogenesis is essential for primary tumour growth and the development of metastasis, anti-angiogenic agents are attractive potential therapeutic candidates for clinical trials in the adjuvant setting. Therefore, we initiated a phase II trial in resected high-risk cutaneous melanoma, assessing the efficacy of bevacizumab versus observation. In the interim safety data analysis, we demonstrate that bevacizumab is a safe therapy in the adjuvant melanoma setting with no apparent increase in the surgical complication rate after either primary tumour resection and/or loco-regional lymphadenectomy

Inferring Phylogenies from RAD Sequence Data

Reduced-representation genome sequencing represents a new source of data for systematics, and its potential utility in interspecific phylogeny reconstruction has not yet been explored. One approach that seems especially promising is the use of inexpensive short-read technologies (e.g., Illumina, SOLiD) to sequence restriction-site associated DNA (RAD) – the regions of the genome that flank the recognition sites of restriction enzymes. In this study, we simulated the collection of RAD sequences from sequenced genomes of different taxa (Drosophila, mammals, and yeasts) and developed a proof-of-concept workflow to test whether informative data could be extracted and used to accurately reconstruct “known” phylogenies of species within each group. The workflow consists of three basic steps: first, sequences are clustered by similarity to estimate orthology; second, clusters are filtered by taxonomic coverage; and third, they are aligned and concatenated for “total evidence” phylogenetic analysis. We evaluated the performance of clustering and filtering parameters by comparing the resulting topologies with well-supported reference trees and we were able to identify conditions under which the reference tree was inferred with high support. For Drosophila, whole genome alignments allowed us to directly evaluate which parameters most consistently recovered orthologous sequences. For the parameter ranges explored, we recovered the best results at the low ends of sequence similarity and taxonomic representation of loci; these generated the largest supermatrices with the highest proportion of missing data. Applications of the method to mammals and yeasts were less successful, which we suggest may be due partly to their much deeper evolutionary divergence times compared to Drosophila (crown ages of approximately 100 and 300 versus 60 Mya, respectively). RAD sequences thus appear to hold promise for reconstructing phylogenetic relationships in younger clades in which sufficient numbers of orthologous restriction sites are retained across species.</p

Assessing the Diversity of Endogenous Viruses Throughout Ant Genomes

Endogenous viral elements (EVEs) can play a significant role in the evolution of their hosts and have been identified in animals, plants, and fungi. Additionally, EVEs potentially provide an important snapshot of the evolutionary frequency of viral infection. The purpose of this study is to take a comparative host-centered approach to EVE discovery in ant genomes to better understand the relationship of EVEs to their ant hosts. Using a comprehensive bioinformatic pipeline, we screened all nineteen published ant genomes for EVEs. Once the EVEs were identified, we assessed their phylogenetic relationships to other closely related exogenous viruses. A diverse group of EVEs were discovered in all screened ant host genomes and in many cases are similar to previously identified exogenous viruses. EVEs similar to ssRNA viral proteins are the most common viral lineage throughout the ant hosts, which is potentially due to more chronic infection or more effective endogenization of certain ssRNA viruses in ants. In addition, both EVEs similar to viral glycoproteins and retrovirus-derived proteins are also abundant throughout ant genomes, suggesting their tendency to endogenize. Several of these newly discovered EVEs are found to be potentially functional within the genome. The discovery and analysis of EVEs is essential in beginning to understand viral–ant interactions over evolutionary time

Nonlinear Relaxation Dynamics in Elastic Networks and Design Principles of Molecular Machines

Analyzing nonlinear conformational relaxation dynamics in elastic networks corresponding to two classical motor proteins, we find that they respond by well-defined internal mechanical motions to various initial deformations and that these motions are robust against external perturbations. We show that this behavior is not characteristic for random elastic networks. However, special network architectures with such properties can be designed by evolutionary optimization methods. Using them, an example of an artificial elastic network, operating as a cyclic machine powered by ligand binding, is constructed.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure

Investigating the Diversity of Wolbachia across the Spiny Ants (Polyrhachis)

Among insects, Wolbachia is an exceedingly common bacterial endosymbiont with a range of consequences of infection. Despite the frequency of Wolbachia infection, very little is known about this bacteria\u27s diversity and role within hosts, especially within ant hosts. In this study, we analyze the occurrence and diversity of Wolbachia across the spiny ants (Polyrhachis), a large and geographically diverse genus. Polyrhachis samples from throughout the host genus\u27 phylogenetic and biogeographical range were first screened for single infections of Wolbachia using the wsp gene and Sanger sequencing. The multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme was then used on these singly infected samples to identify the Wolbachia strains. A Wolbachia phylogeny was inferred from the Polyrhachis samples analyzed in this study as well as other Formicidae MLST profiles from the MLST online database. We hypothesized that three key host factors were impacting Wolbachia diversity within the Polyrhachis genus: biogeography, phylogeny, and species level. The results suggest that the phylogeny and biogeography of Polyrhachis hosts have no impact on Wolbachia diversity; however, species level may have some limited influence. Additionally, Wolbachia strains appear to group according to being either Old World or New World strains. Among the taxa able to form complete MLST allelic profiles, all twenty are seemingly new strains