Biogeography and evolution of widespread leafcutting ants, ata spp. (formicidae, attini)

Leafcutter ants (Atta spp.) are Neotropical herbivores that play important ecological roles, but are also notorious pests, causing millions of dollars in annual damage to agriculture across their range. Three species, A. cephalotes, A. sexdens, and A. laevigata, stand out as the most widespread and economically important. Two studies were conducted using these three species to better understand their biogeography and evolutionary history. First, using a maximum entropy niche-based modeling approach, locality information for these three species was used to (1) accurately describe the current geographic range of each species, (2) determine what factors limit their respective ranges, and (3) identify areas where each species is capable of becoming established. By comparing the model's predictions with published records and targeted surveys, a more accurate picture of the current ranges of each species was obtained. Areas in which a species does not currently occur, but that are predicted to be suitable, may reveal the ecological factors limiting the spread of these species. Such areas may also represent potential sites for invasion by these ants, with potentially devastating results. Second, these species were used to test the leading biogeographic hypotheses on the origins of high Amazonian diversity, an issue that remains unresolved despite much research. The hypotheses are the riverine barrier, Pleistocene refugia, and marine incursion hypotheses, each of which has been tested almost exclusively on vertebrates. A comparative, molecular phylogeographic approach was combined for the first time with paleodistribution modeling for the last glacial maximum to test these hypotheses on an insect. All analyses rejected the predictions of the riverine barrier hypothesis for each species. Tests of gene tree topology could not reject the refugia hypothesis for A. sexdens, while population-genetic and historical demography analyses failed to reject both the refugia and marine incursion hypotheses for all three species. However, coalescent-based estimates of population divergences for each species suggest that current population structure formed recently, suggesting that Miocene marine incursions have not promoted diversification in these species. Therefore, of the hypotheses examined, only the Pleistocene refugia hypothesis can explain the current population structure of Amazonian leafcutter ants.Biological Sciences, School o

Detouring the Tax Reform Act of 1976: Tax Shelter Proprietorships

After briefly reviewing the so-called abusive aspects of tax shelters which led Congress to enact the Tax Reform Act of 1976, the authors focus on an unintended loophole-the tax shelter proprietorship. The tax shelter proprietorship remains a viable method of reducing federal income taxes payable by high bracket taxpayers. The business mechanics and tax aspects of a sound recording proprietorship are analyzed and specific suggestions for future reforms to deal with the problem of tax shelter proprietorships are delineated

Deep proteogenomics; high throughput gene validation by multidimensional liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry of proteins from the fungal wheat pathogen Stagonospora nodorum

BACKGROUND: Stagonospora nodorum, a fungal ascomycete in the class dothideomycetes, is a damaging pathogen of wheat. It is a model for necrotrophic fungi that cause necrotic symptoms via the interaction of multiple effector proteins with cultivar-specific receptors. A draft genome sequence and annotation was published in 2007. A second-pass gene prediction using a training set of 795 fully EST-supported genes predicted a total of 10762 version 2 nuclear-encoded genes, with an additional 5354 less reliable version 1 genes also retained. RESULTS: In this study, we subjected soluble mycelial proteins to proteolysis followed by 2D LC MALDI-MS/MS. Comparison of the detected peptides with the gene models validated 2134 genes. 62% of these genes (1324) were not supported by prior EST evidence. Of the 2134 validated genes, all but 188 were version 2 annotations. Statistical analysis of the validated gene models revealed a preponderance of cytoplasmic and nuclear localised proteins, and proteins with intracellularassociated GO terms. These statistical associations are consistent with the source of the peptides used in the study. Comparison with a 6-frame translation of the S. nodorum genome assembly confirmed 905 existing gene annotations (including 119 not previously confirmed) and provided evidence supporting 144 genes with coding exon frameshift modifications, 604 genes with extensions of coding exons into annotated introns or untranslated regions (UTRs), 3 new gene annotations which were supported by tblastn to NR, and 44 potential new genes residing within un-assembled regions of the genome. CONCLUSION: We conclude that 2D LC MALDI-MS/MS is a powerful, rapid and economical tool to aid in the annotation of fungal genomic assemblies

Can Arabidopsis thaliana Seeds Survive Exposure to Extreme Cold?

Amanda Scott, Bryant Brown, John Solomon's poster about Arabidopsis thaliana seeds and there ability to survive exposure to extreme cold

Applying economic principles to health care.

Applying economic thinking to an understanding of resource use in patient care is challenging given the complexities of delivering health care in a hospital. Health-care markets lack the characteristics needed to determine a "market" price that reflects the economic value of resources used. However, resource allocation in a hospital can be analyzed by using production theory to determine efficient resource use. The information provided by hospital epidemiologists is critical to understanding health-care production processes used by a hospital and developing economic incentives to promote antibiotic effectiveness and infection control

Efficacy of sacubitril/valsartan relative to a prior decompensation: the PARADIGM-HF trial

Objectives: This study assessed whether the benefit of sacubtril/valsartan therapy varied with clinical stability. Background: Despite the benefit of sacubitril/valsartan therapy shown in the PARADIGM-HF (Prospective Comparison of ARNI with ACEI to Determine Impact on Global Mortality and Morbidity in Heart Failure) trial, it has been suggested that switching from an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker should be delayed until occurrence of clinical decompensation. Methods: Outcomes were compared among patients who had prior hospitalization within 3 months of screening (n = 1,611 [19%]), between 3 and 6 months (n = 1,009 [12%]), between 6 and 12 months (n = 886 [11%]), >12 months (n = 1,746 [21%]), or who had never been hospitalized (n = 3,125 [37%]). Results: Twenty percent of patients without prior HF hospitalization experienced a primary endpoint of cardiovascular death or heart failure (HF) hospitalization during the course of the trial. Despite the increased risk associated with more recent hospitalization, the efficacy of sacubitril/valsartan therapy did not differ from that of enalapril according to the occurrence of or time from hospitalization for HF before screening, with respect to the primary endpoint or with respect to cardiovascular or all-cause mortality. Conclusions: Patients with recent HF decompensation requiring hospitalization were more likely to experience cardiovascular death or HF hospitalization than those who had never been hospitalized. Patients who were clinically stable, as shown by a remote HF hospitalization (>3 months prior to screening) or by lack of any prior HF hospitalization, were as likely to benefit from sacubitril/valsartan therapy as more recently hospitalized patients. (Prospective Comparison of ARNI with ACEI to Determine Impact on Global Mortality and Morbidity in Heart Failure [PARADIGM-HF]; NCT01035255)

New Light on the Systematics of Fungi Associated with Attine Ant Gardens and the Description ofﾠEscovopsis kreiseliiﾠsp. nov.

Since the formal description of fungi in the genus Escovopsis in 1990, only a few studies have focused on the systematics of this group. For more than two decades, only two Escovopsis species were described; however, in 2013, three additional Escovopsis species were formally described along with the genus Escovopsioides, both found exclusively in attine ant gardens. During a survey for Escovopsis species in gardens of the lower attine ant Mycetophylax morschi in Brazil, we found four strains belonging to the pink-colored Escovopsis clade. Careful examination of these strains revealed significant morphological differences when compared to previously described species of Escovopsis and Escovopsioides. Based on the type of conidiogenesis (sympodial), as well as morphology of conidiogenous cells (percurrent), non-vesiculated conidiophores, and DNA sequences, we describe the four new strains as a new species, Escovopsis kreiselii sp. nov. Phylogenetic analyses using three nuclear markers (Large subunit RNA; translation elongation factor 1-alpha; and internal transcribed spacer) from the new strains as well as available sequences in public databases confirmed that all known fungi infecting attine ant gardens comprise a monophyletic group within the Hypocreaceae family, with very diverse morphological characteristics. Specifically, Escovopsis kreiselii is likely associated with gardens of lower-attine ants and its pathogenicity remains uncertain