Molecular characterization of firefly nuptial gifts: a multi-omics approach sheds light on postcopulatory sexual selection

Postcopulatory sexual selection is recognized as a key driver of reproductive trait evolution, including the machinery required to produce endogenous nuptial gifts. Despite the importance of such gifts, the molecular composition of the non-gametic components of male ejaculates and their interactions with female reproductive tracts remain poorly understood. During mating, male Photinus fireflies transfer to females a spermatophore gift manufactured by multiple reproductive glands. Here we combined transcriptomics of both male and female reproductive glands with proteomics and metabolomics to better understand the synthesis, composition and fate of the spermatophore in the common Eastern firefly, Photinus pyralis. Our transcriptome of male glands revealed up-regulation of proteases that may enhance male fertilization success and activate female immune response. Using bottom-up proteomics we identified 208 functionally annotated proteins that males transfer to the female in their spermatophore. Targeted metabolomic analysis also provided the first evidence that Photinus nuptial gifts contain lucibufagin, a firefly defensive toxin. The reproductive tracts of female fireflies showed increased gene expression for several proteases that may be involved in egg production. This study offers new insights into the molecular composition of male spermatophores, and extends our understanding of how nuptial gifts may mediate postcopulatory interactions between the sexes.Tuft University. Faculty Research Fund (FRAC (S.M.L.)Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. Beckman Young InvestigatorPew Scholars Program in the Biomedical SciencesSearle Scholars Progra

The wave of wood : forestry's economic contribution to South Carolina's economy in 2018

The purpose of this study is to update the economic contribution of forestry to South Carolina's economy for 2018 and to show the relative magnitude of forestry's major sectors. This study includes business sectors that have a direct and logical connection to the state's forest resource

Visitor expenditure estimation for grocery store location planning: a case study of Cornwall

Visitor expenditure is an important driver of demand in many local economies, supporting a range of services and facilities which may not be viable based solely on residential demand. In areas where self-catering accommodation is prevalent visitor demand makes up a considerable proportion of sales and revenue within grocery stores, yet this form of visitor consumption is commonly overlooked in supply and demand-side estimates of visitor spend. As such, store location planning in tourist resorts, decisions about local service provision and the local economic impacts of tourism are based on very limited demand-side estimates of visitor spend. Using Cornwall, South West England as a study area, we outline a methodology and data sources to estimate small-area visitor grocery spend. We use self-catering accommodation provision, utilisation and visitor expenditure rates as key factors driving visitor spend. We identify that the use of visitor accommodation accounts for the spatial and temporal complexities of visitor demand that may be overlooked when using alternative approaches, such as the up-scaling of residential demand. Using a spatial interaction model, we demonstrate that our expenditure estimates can be used to generate store level revenue estimation within tourist resorts, and we make a number of recommendations for service provision and store location planning in these areas

Experimental hyperleptinemia in neonatal rats leads to selective leptin responsiveness, hypertension, and altered myocardial function

The prevalence of obesity among pregnant women is increasing. Evidence from human cohort studies and experimental animals suggests that offspring cardiovascular and metabolic function is compromised through early life exposure to maternal obesity. Previously, we reported that juvenile offspring of obese rats develop sympathetically mediated hypertension associated with neonatal hyperleptinemia. We have now addressed the hypothesis that neonatal exposure to raised leptin in the immediate postnatal period plays a causal role. Pups from lean Sprague-Dawley rats were treated either with leptin (3 mg/kg IP) or with saline twice daily from postnatal day 9 to 15 to mimic the exaggerated postnatal leptin surge observed in offspring of obese dams. Cardiovascular function was assessed by radiotelemetry at 30 days, and 2 and 12 months. In juvenile (30 days) leptin-treated rats, hearts were heavier and night-time (active period) systolic blood pressure was raised (mm Hg; mean±SEM: male leptin-treated, 132±1 versus saline-treated, 119±1, n=6, P<0.05; female leptin-treated, 132±2 versus saline-treated, 119±1, n=6, P<0.01), and the pressor response to restraint stress and leptin challenge increased compared with saline-treated rats. Heart rate variability demonstrated an increased low:high frequency ratio in 30-day leptin-treated animals, indicative of heightened sympathetic efferent tone. Echocardiography showed altered left ventricular structure and systolic function in 30-day female leptin versus saline-treated rats. These disorders persisted to adulthood. In isolated hearts, contractile function was impaired at 5 months in male leptin-treated rats. Exogenously imposed hyperleptinemia in neonatal rats permanently influences blood pressure and cardiac structure and function

2013-2014 Lynn Philharmonia Season Program

Wind Ensemble September 15, 2013 at 4:00 PM The Wind Symphony, Movement 2 Kenneth Amis, director and conductor Symphonie Militaire / François Joseph Gossec -- Sinfonietta, op. 188 (1873) / Joseph Joachim Raff -- La Vita Symphony in Three Scenes (1998) / Yasuhide Ito -- Symphony for Winds and Percussion / Donald Grantham Philharmonia No. 1 October 5, 2013 at 7:30 PM and October 6, 2013 at 4:00 PM Jon Robertson, guest conductor Crown Imperial March / William Walton -- Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504 ( Prague ) / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -- Symphony No. 4 in E-flat Major (1888 version) / Anton Bruckner Philharmonia No. 2 October 26, 2013 at 7:30 PM and October 27, 2013 at 4:00 PM Jon Robertson, guest conductor Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 / Johann Sebastian Bach -- Symphony No. 1 in D major, op. 25 ( Classical ) / Sergei Prokofiev -- Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, op. 95 ( From the New World ) / Antonín Dvořák Philharmonia No. 3 November 16, 2013 at 7:30 PM and November 17, 2013 at 4:00 PM 2013 Concerto Competition Winners Guillermo Figueroa, conductor ; Doniyor Zuparov, cello ; Anna Brumbaugh, clarinet ; Vladislav Kosminov, piano ; Timothy Nemzin, trumpet ; Brenton Caldwell, viola Overture to Benvenuto Cellini, op. 23 / Hector Berlioz -- Concerto in E Minor for Violoncello, op. 61 / Edward Elgar -- Concerto Fantasia on Motives from Verdi\u27s Opera Rigoletto / Luigi Bassi, orchestrated by Kenneth Lee Richmond -- Capriccio Espagnol, op. 34 / Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov -- Concerto No. 1 in C Minor for Piano, op. 35 / Dmitri Shostakovich -- Concerto for Viola (1962 version) / William Walton Philharmonia No. 4 January 18, 2014 at 7:30 PM and January 19, 2014 at 4:00 PM Guillermo Figueroa, conductor ; Carol Cole, violin ; David Cole, cello Overture to Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), K. 492 / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -- Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra in A Minor, op. 102 / Johannes Brahms -- Fandangos / Roberto Sierra -- Suite from Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose), op. 59 / Richard Strauss Philharmonia No. 5 February 8, 2014 at 7:30 PM and February 9, 2014 at 4:00 PM Guillermo Figueroa, conductor Overture to Guillaume Tell (William Tell) / Gioachino Rossini -- Don Juan, op. 20 / Richard Strauss -- Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, op. 36 / Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Philharmonia No. 6 March 22, 2014 at 7:30 PM and March 23, 2014 at 4:00 PM Guillermo Figueroa, conductor ; Abigail Santos Villalobos, soprano ; Gabriela García, mezzo-soprano ; Master Chorale of South Florida ; Brett Karlin, artistic director Symphony No. 2 in C minor ( Resurrection ) / Gustav Mahlerhttps://spiral.lynn.edu/conservatory_philharmonia/1017/thumbnail.jp

PrEP as a feature in the optimal landscape of combination HIV prevention in sub-Saharan Africa

INTRODUCTION: The new WHO guidelines recommend offering pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to people who are at substantial risk of HIV infection. However, where PrEP should be prioritised, and for which population groups, remains an open question. The HIV landscape in sub-Saharan Africa features limited prevention resources, multiple options for achieving cost saving, and epidemic heterogeneity. This paper examines what role PrEP should play in optimal prevention in this complex and dynamic landscape. METHODS: We use a model that was previously developed to capture subnational HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa. With this model, we can consider how prevention funds could be distributed across and within countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa to enable optimal HIV prevention (that is, avert the greatest number of infections for the lowest cost). Here, we focus on PrEP to elucidate where, and to whom, it would optimally be offered in portfolios of interventions (alongside voluntary medical male circumcision, treatment as prevention, and behaviour change communication). Over a range of continental expenditure levels, we use our model to explore prevention patterns that incorporate PrEP, exclude PrEP, or implement PrEP according to a fixed incidence threshold. RESULTS: At low-to-moderate levels of total prevention expenditure, we find that the optimal intervention portfolios would include PrEP in only a few regions and primarily for female sex workers (FSW). Prioritisation of PrEP would expand with increasing total expenditure, such that the optimal prevention portfolios would offer PrEP in more subnational regions and increasingly for men who have sex with men (MSM) and the lower incidence general population. The marginal benefit of including PrEP among the available interventions increases with overall expenditure by up to 14% (relative to excluding PrEP). The minimum baseline incidence for the optimal offer of PrEP declines for all population groups as expenditure increases. We find that using a fixed incidence benchmark to guide PrEP decisions would incur considerable losses in impact (up to 7%) compared with an approach that uses PrEP more flexibly in light of prevailing budget conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that, for an optimal distribution of prevention resources, choices of whether to implement PrEP in subnational regions should depend on the scope for impact of other possible interventions, local incidence in population groups, and total resources available. If prevention funding were to become restricted in the future, it may be suboptimal to use PrEP according to a fixed incidence benchmark, and other prevention modalities may be more cost-effective. In contrast, expansions in funding could permit PrEP to be used to its full potential in epidemiologically driven prevention portfolios and thereby enable a more cost-effective HIV response across Africa

Measuring the context of care in an Australian acute care hospital: a nurse survey

BACKGROUND: This study set out to achieve three objectives: to test the application of a context assessment tool in an acute hospital in South Australia; to use the tool to compare context in wards that had undergone an evidence implementation process with control wards; and finally to test for relationships between demographic variables (in particular experience) of nurses being studied (n = 422) with the dimensions of context. METHODS: The Alberta Context Tool (ACT) was administered to all nursing staff on six control and six intervention wards. A total of 217 (62%) were returned (67% from the intervention wards and 56% from control wards). Data were analysed using Stata (v9). The effect of the intervention was analysed using nested (hierarchical) analysis of variance; relationships between nurses' experience and context was examined using canonical correlation analysis. RESULTS: Results confirmed the adaptation and fit of the ACT to one acute care setting in South Australia. There was no difference in context scores between control and intervention wards. However, the tool identified significant variation between wards in many of the dimensions of context. Though significant, the relationship between nurses' experience and context was weak, suggesting that at the level of the individual nurse, few factors are related to context. CONCLUSIONS: Variables operating at the level of the individual showed little relationship with context. However, the study indicated that some dimensions of context (e.g., leadership, culture) vary at the ward level, whereas others (e.g., structural and electronic resources) do not. The ACT also raised a number of interesting speculative hypotheses around the relationship between a measure of context and the capability and capacity of staff to influence it.Timothy J. Schultz and Alison L. Kitso

Developing and applying a disaggregated retail location model with extended retail demand estimations

The spatial interaction model (SIM) is an important tool for retail location analysis and store revenue estimation, particularly within the grocery sector. However, there are few examples of SIM development within the literature that capture the complexities of consumer behavior or discuss model developments and extensions necessary to produce models which can predict store revenues to a high degree of accuracy. This article reports a new disaggregated model with more sophisticated demand terms which reflect different types of retail consumer (by income or social class), with different shopping behaviors in terms of brand choice. We also incorporate seasonal fluctuations in demand driven by tourism, a major source of non-residential demand, allowing us to calibrate revenue predictions against seasonal sales fluctuations experienced at individual stores. We demonstrate that such disaggregated models need empirical data for calibration purposes, without which model extensions are likely to remain theoretical only. Using data provided by a major grocery retailer, we demonstrate that statistically, spatially, and in terms of revenue estimation, models can be shown to produce extremely good forecasts and predictions concerning store patronage and store revenues, including much more realistic behavior regarding store selection. We also show that it is possible to add a tourist demand layer, which can make considerable forecasting improvements relative to models built only with residential demand