2,453 research outputs found
Relative fat-free mass deficiency and left ventricular adaptation toobesity: The Strong Heart Study.
On the accuracy of language trees
Historical linguistics aims at inferring the most likely language
phylogenetic tree starting from information concerning the evolutionary
relatedness of languages. The available information are typically lists of
homologous (lexical, phonological, syntactic) features or characters for many
different languages.
From this perspective the reconstruction of language trees is an example of
inverse problems: starting from present, incomplete and often noisy,
information, one aims at inferring the most likely past evolutionary history. A
fundamental issue in inverse problems is the evaluation of the inference made.
A standard way of dealing with this question is to generate data with
artificial models in order to have full access to the evolutionary process one
is going to infer. This procedure presents an intrinsic limitation: when
dealing with real data sets, one typically does not know which model of
evolution is the most suitable for them. A possible way out is to compare
algorithmic inference with expert classifications. This is the point of view we
take here by conducting a thorough survey of the accuracy of reconstruction
methods as compared with the Ethnologue expert classifications. We focus in
particular on state-of-the-art distance-based methods for phylogeny
reconstruction using worldwide linguistic databases.
In order to assess the accuracy of the inferred trees we introduce and
characterize two generalizations of standard definitions of distances between
trees. Based on these scores we quantify the relative performances of the
distance-based algorithms considered. Further we quantify how the completeness
and the coverage of the available databases affect the accuracy of the
reconstruction. Finally we draw some conclusions about where the accuracy of
the reconstructions in historical linguistics stands and about the leading
directions to improve it.Comment: 36 pages, 14 figure
By hook or by crook? Morphometry, competition and cooperation in rodent sperm
Background
Sperm design varies enormously across species and sperm competition is thought to be a major factor influencing this variation. However, the functional significance of many sperm traits is still poorly understood. The sperm of most murid rodents are characterised by an apical hook of the sperm head that varies markedly in extent across species. In the European woodmouse Apodemus sylvaticus (Muridae), the highly reflected apical hook of sperm is used to form sperm groups, or “trains,” which exhibited increased swimming velocity and thrusting force compared to individual sperm.
Methodology/Principal Findings
Here we use a comparative study of murine rodent sperm and demonstrate that the apical hook and sperm cooperation are likely to be general adaptations to sperm competition in rodents. We found that species with relatively larger testes, and therefore more intense sperm competition, have a longer, more reflected apical sperm hook. In addition, we show that sperm groups also occur in rodents other than the European woodmouse.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that in rodents sperm cooperation is more widespread than assumed so far and highlight the importance of diploid versus haploid selection in the evolution of sperm design and function
Penile metastasis from primary transitional cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis: first manifestation of systemic spread
BACKGROUND: Almost one-third of all penile metastases are detected at the same time as a primary tumor, whereas the remaining two-thirds are detected a mean of 18 months after the discovery of the primary tumor. Cutaneous metastasis of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) is extremely rare and generally accepted as the late manifestation of a systemic spread. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the first case of simultaneous penile and lung metastases from a primary TCC of the renal pelvis in a 76-year-old man, that occurred 8 years after a left nephroureterectomy. CONCLUSIONS: This case report underscores the importance of physical examinations of the skin of patients who undergo surgical procedures for TCC from bladder as well as from the upper urinary tract, including those seemingly without metastatic disease, because of the possibility of skin and penile metastatic spread
Echocardiographic partition values and prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensive Nigerians
BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a well known independent risk factor for cardiovascular events. It has been shown that combination of left ventricular mass (LVM) and relative wall thickness (RWT) can be used to identify different forms of left ventricular (LV) geometry. Prospective studies have shown that LV geometric patterns have prognostic implications, with the worst prognosis associated with concentric hypertrophy. The methods for the normalization or indexation of LVM have also recently been shown to confer some prognostic value especially in obese population. We sought to determine the prevalence of echocardiographic lLVH using eight different and published cut-off or threshold values in hypertensive subjects seen in a developing country's tertiary centre. METHODS: Echocardiography was performed in four hundred and eighty consecutive hypertensive subjects attending the cardiology clinic of the University college Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria over a two-year period. RESULTS: Complete data was obtained in 457 (95.2%) of the 480 subjects (48.6% women). The prevalence of LVH ranged between 30.9–56.0%. The highest prevalence was when LVM was indexed to the power of 2.7 with a partition value of 49.2 g/ht(2.7 )in men and 46.7 g/ht(2.7 )in women. The lowest prevalence was observed when LVM was indexed to body surface area (BSA) and a partition value of 125 g/m(2 )was used for both sexes. Abnormal LV geometry was present in 61.1%–74.0% of our subjects and commoner in women. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of LVH hypertensive patients is strongly dependent on the cut-off value used to define it. Large-scale prospective study will be needed to determine the prognostic implications of the different LV geometry in native Africans
A Close Nuclear Black Hole Pair in the Spiral Galaxy NGC 3393
The current picture of galaxy evolution advocates co-evolution of galaxies
and their nuclear massive black holes (MBHs), through accretion and merging.
Quasar pairs (6,000-300,000 light-years separation) exemplify the first stages
of this gravitational interaction. The final stages, through binary MBHs and
final collapse with gravitational wave emission, are consistent with the
sub-light-year separation MBHs inferred from optical spectra and
light-variability of two quasars. The double active nuclei of few nearby
galaxies with disrupted morphology and intense star formation (e.g., NGC 6240
and Mkn 463; ~2,400 and ~12,000 light-years separation respectively)
demonstrate the importance of major mergers of equal mass spirals in this
evolution, leading to an elliptical galaxy, as in the case of the double radio
nucleus (~15 light-years separation) elliptical 0402+379. Minor mergers of
galaxies with a smaller companion should be a more common occurrence, evolving
into spiral galaxies with active MBH pairs, but have hitherto not been seen.
Here we report the presence of two active MBHs, separated by ~430 light-years,
in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 3393. The regular spiral morphology and predominantly
old circum-nuclear stellar population of this galaxy, and the closeness of the
MBHs embedded in the bulge, suggest the result of minor merger evolution.Comment: Preprint (not final) version of a paper to appear in Natur
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Urban signals in high-resolution weather and climate simulations: role of urban land-surface characterisation
Two urban schemes within the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator
(JULES) are evaluated offline against multi-year flux observations in the densely
built-up city centre of London and in suburban Swindon (UK): (i) the 1-tile slab
model, used in climate simulations, (ii) the 2-tile canopy model MORUSES (Met
Office–Reading Urban Surface Exchange Scheme), used for numerical weather pre-
diction over the UK. Offline, both models perform better at the suburban site,
where differences between the urban schemes are less pronounced due to larger
vegetation fractions. At both sites, the outgoing short- and longwave radiation is
more accurately represented than the turbulent heat fluxes. The seasonal varia-
tions of model skill are large in London, where the sensible heat flux in autumn and
winter is strongly under-predicted if the large city-centre magnitudes of anthro-
pogenic heat emissions are not represented. The delayed timing of the sensible heat flux in the 1-tile model in London results in large negative bias in the morning.
The partitioning of the urban surface into canyon and roof in MORUSES improves
this as the roof-tile is modelled with a very low thermal inertia, but phase and
amplitude of the gridbox-averaged flux critically depend on accurate knowledge of
the plan-area fractions of streets and buildings. Not representing non-urban land-
cover (e.g. vegetation, inland water) in London results in severely under-predicted
latent heat fluxes. Control runs demonstrate that the skill of both models can be
greatly improved by providing accurate land-cover and morphology information
and using representative anthropogenic heat emissions, which is essential if the
model output is intended to inform integrated urban services
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