Variation in Aggressive Behavior in Sally Lightfoot Crabs (Grapsus grapsus) Relative to Age Class

Three beach locations in San Cristóbal, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador were examined to observe aggressive behavior of Grapsus grapsus. Sally lightfoot crabs play a significant role in the intertidal ecosystem, so understanding factors that influence population dynamics is necessary to ensure equilibrium. With regards to age, it is hypothesized that variation in aggressive behavior is present between age groups of Sally lightfoot crabs. It is predicted that intermediate-aged crabs will display aggressive acts most often. Also, crab distribution by age varies with distance from water, and it is predicted that larger crabs will be more prevalent in the wet zones. Further, we hypothesize that aggression in Sally lightfoot crabs varies with level of activity by outside factors, and it is predicted the crabs inhabiting beaches of higher activity levels will display more acts of aggression. Three beach locations were analyzed one hour before and one hour after low tide for aggressive behavior such as chasing or physical contact between two or more crabs. A Chi-square test was used to determine significance of data collected. The majority of acts of aggression were initiated by intermediate crabs (58%). Juvenile and intermediate crabs were most often found in the zone of observation furthest from the water, while more adults were found in the moist zone. Across all age categories, the number of acts of aggression increased in beaches with more activity from outside factors. Age, food availability, and hormonal changes are all possible contributors to aggressive behavior in the G. grapsus

Multidirectional leveraging for computational morphology and language documentation and revitalization

St. Lawrence Island Yupik is an endangered language of the Bering Strait region. In this paper, we describe our work on Yupik jointly leveraging computational morphology and linguistic fieldwork, outlining the multilayer virtuous cycle that we continue to refine in our work to document and build tools for the language. After developing a preliminary morphological analyzer from an existing pedagogical grammar of Yupik, we used it to help analyze new word forms gathered through fieldwork. While in the field, we augmented the analyzer to include insights into the lexicon, phonology, and morphology of the language as they were gained during elicitation sessions and subsequent data analysis. The analyzer and other tools we have developed are improved by a corpus that continues to grow through our digitization and documentation efforts, and the computational tools in turn allow us to improve and speed those same efforts. Through this process, we have successfully identified previously undescribed lexical, morphological, and phonological processes in Yupik while simultaneously increasing the coverage of the morphological analyzer. Given the polysynthetic nature of Yupik, a high-coverage morphological analyzer is a necessary prerequisite for the development of other high-level computational tools that have been requested by the Yupik community.National Foreign Language Resource Cente

The Scikit HEP Project -- overview and prospects

Scikit-HEP is a community-driven and community-oriented project with the goal of providing an ecosystem for particle physics data analysis in Python. Scikit-HEP is a toolset of approximately twenty packages and a few "affiliated" packages. It expands the typical Python data analysis tools for particle physicists. Each package focuses on a particular topic, and interacts with other packages in the toolset, where appropriate. Most of the packages are easy to install in many environments; much work has been done this year to provide binary "wheels" on PyPI and conda-forge packages. The Scikit-HEP project has been gaining interest and momentum, by building a user and developer community engaging collaboration across experiments. Some of the packages are being used by other communities, including the astroparticle physics community. An overview of the overall project and toolset will be presented, as well as a vision for development and sustainability.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics (CHEP 2019), Adelaide, Australia, 4-8 November 201

Depression and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Objective: To assess the cross-sectional association between depression and glucose tolerance status. Methods: We conducted a study of 6754 White, Black, Hispanic, and Chinese men and women aged 45 to 84 years in the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Depression was defined as Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale score of 16 and/or antidepressant use. Glucose tolerance status was defined as normal, impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or Type 2 diabetes mellitus (untreated and treated). Results: In the minimally adjusted model, although depression was not associated with a greater odds of IFG (odds ratio (OR) = 1.01; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.87–1.18) or untreated diabetes (OR = 1.03; 95% CI: 0.74–1.45), it was associated with a greater odds of treated diabetes (OR = 1.57; 95% CI: 1.27–1.96). This persisted following adjustment for body mass index (OR = 1.52; 95% CI: 1.22–1.90), metabolic (OR = 1.54; 95% CI: 1.23–1.93), and inflammatory (OR=1.53; 95% CI: 1.21–1.92) factors, daily caloric intake and smoking (OR = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.16–1.88), and socioeconomic markers (OR = 1.47; 95% CI: 1.17–1.85). Among individuals with treated diabetes, median depression scores were higher in those with microalbuminuria compared with those without microalbuminuria (median = 7; interquartile range: 3–13 versus median = 6; interquartile range: 2–11; p = .046). Depression scores were not associated with homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance among individuals without diabetes. Conclusions: In MESA, depression was significantly associated with treated diabetes. Further studies are needed to determine the temporality of this association.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57784/1/Depression and Type 2 Diabetes MellitusThe Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.pd

The impact of colectomy on the course of extraintestinal manifestations in Swiss inflammatory bowel disease cohort study patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Extraintestinal manifestations are reported to occur in up to 45% of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients during the course of disease. It is unknown whether colectomy reduces the rate of de novo extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs) or impacts on severity of EIMs following a parallel versus independent disease course from underlying IBD. METHODS Using data from the Swiss Inflammatory Bowel Disease Cohort Study we aimed to analyse the course of EIMs in ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) patients undergoing colectomy during the cohort's prospective follow-up. RESULTS One hundred and twenty-one IBD patients (33 CD, 81 UC and seven unclassified) underwent colectomy during prospective follow-up in the Swiss Inflammatory Bowel Disease Cohort Study. Within the 114 patients with UC or CD any EIM was reported in 40 (nine CD and 31 UC) patients. Activity of EIMs ceased entirely after colectomy in 21 patients (52.5%). Complete cessation of EIM after colectomy was higher in patients with UC versus CD with 58.1% versus 33.3%. After colectomy, 29 out of the 114 patients (25.4%) experienced any EIM. Two thirds of these (19 patients) represented persisting EIMs, while in one third (10 patients) EIM represented a de-novo event after colectomy. Overall, 13.5% of IBD patients developed a de-novo EIM after colectomy. CONCLUSIONS In IBD patients undergoing colectomy, EIMs present prior to surgery will persist in about half of patients. Complete cessation of EIM after colectomy may be less common in CD than in UC. In patients who never experienced EIMs prior to colectomy de-novo manifestations thereafter should be expected in up to one in seven patients

Using 3D epigenomic maps of primary olfactory neuronal cells from living individuals to understand gene regulation

As part of PsychENCODE, we developed a three-dimensional (3D) epigenomic map of primary cultured neuronal cells derived from olfactory neuroepithelium (CNON). We mapped topologically associating domains and high-resolution chromatin interactions using Hi-C and identified regulatory elements using chromatin immunoprecipitation and nucleosome positioning assays. Using epigenomic datasets from biopsies of 63 living individuals, we found that epigenetic marks at distal regulatory elements are more variable than marks at proximal regulatory elements. By integrating genotype and metadata, we identified enhancers that have different levels corresponding to differences in genetic variation, gender, smoking, and schizophrenia. Motif searches revealed that many CNON enhancers are bound by neuronal-related transcription factors. Last, we combined 3D epigenomic maps and gene expression profiles to predict enhancer-target gene interactions on a genome-wide scale. This study not only provides a framework for understanding individual epigenetic variation using a primary cell model system but also contributes valuable data resources for epigenomic studies of neuronal epithelium

miRNA contributions to pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis inferred from GWAS.

ObjectiveOnset of multiple sclerosis (MS) occurs in childhood for approximately 5% of cases (pediatric MS, or ped-MS). Epigenetic influences are strongly implicated in MS pathogenesis in adults, including the contribution from microRNAs (miRNAs), small noncoding RNAs that affect gene expression by binding target gene mRNAs. Few studies have specifically examined miRNAs in ped-MS, but individuals developing MS at an early age may carry a relatively high burden of genetic risk factors, and miRNA dysregulation may therefore play a larger role in the development of ped-MS than in adult-onset MS. This study aimed to look for evidence of miRNA involvement in ped-MS pathogenesis.MethodsGWAS results from 486 ped-MS cases and 1362 controls from the U.S. Pediatric MS Network and Kaiser Permanente Northern California membership were investigated for miRNA-specific signals. First, enrichment of miRNA-target gene network signals was evaluated using MIGWAS software. Second, SNPs in miRNA genes and in target gene binding sites (miR-SNPs) were tested for association with ped-MS, and pathway analysis was performed on associated target genes.ResultsMIGWAS analysis showed that miRNA-target gene signals were enriched in GWAS (P = 0.038) and identified 39 candidate biomarker miRNA-target gene pairs, including immune and neuronal signaling genes. The miR-SNP analysis implicated dysregulation of miRNA binding to target genes in five pathways, mainly involved in immune signaling.InterpretationEvidence from GWAS suggests that miRNAs play a role in ped-MS pathogenesis by affecting immune signaling and other pathways. Candidate biomarker miRNA-target gene pairs should be further studied for diagnostic, prognostic, and/or therapeutic utility