Three divergent lineages within an Australian marsupial ( Petrogale penicillata) suggest multiple major refugia for mesic taxa in southeast Australia

Mesic southeastern Australia represents the continent's ancestral biome and is highly biodiverse, yet its phylogeographic history remains poorly understood. Here, we examine mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region and microsatellite diversity in the brush-tailed rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata; n=279 from 31 sites), to assess historic evolutionary and biogeographic processes in southeastern Australia. Our results (mtDNA, microsatellites) confirmed three geographically discrete and genetically divergent lineages within brush-tailed rock-wallabies, whose divergence appears to date to the mid-Pleistocene. These three lineages had been hypothesized previously but data were limited. While the Northern and Central lineages were separated by a known biogeographic barrier (Hunter Valley), the boundary between the Central and Southern lineages was not. We propose that during particularly cool glacial cycles, the high peaks of the Great Dividing Range and the narrow adjacent coastal plain resulted in a more significant north-south barrier for mesic taxa in southeastern Australia than has been previously appreciated. Similarly, located phylogeographic breaks in codistributed species highlight the importance of these regions in shaping the distribution of biodiversity in southeastern Australia and suggest the existence of three major refuge areas during the Pleistocene. Substructuring within the northern lineage also suggests the occurrence of multiple local refugia during some glacial cycles. Within the three major lineages, most brush-tailed rock-wallaby populations were locally highly structured, indicating limited dispersal by both sexes. The three identified lineages represent evolutionarily significant units and should be managed to maximize the retention of genetic diversity within this threatened species

Prehospital determinants of successful resuscitation after traumatic and non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

BACKGROUND: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is prevalent in the UK. Reported survival is lower than in countries with comparable healthcare systems; a better understanding of outcome determinants may identify areas for improvement. METHODS: An analysis of 9109 OHCA attended in East of England between 1 January 2015 and 31 July 2017. Univariate descriptives and multivariable analysis were used to understand the determinants of survival for non-traumatic cardiac arrest (NTCA) and traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA). Two Utstein outcome variables were used: survival to hospital admission and hospital discharge. RESULTS: The incidence of OHCA was 55.1 per 100 000 population/year. The overall survival to hospital admission was 27.6% (95% CI 26.7% to 28.6%) and the overall survival to discharge was 7.9% (95% CI 7.3% to 8.5%). Survival to hospital admission and survival to hospital discharge were both greater in the NTCA group compared with the TCA group: 27.9% vs 19.3% p=0.001, and 8.0% vs 3.8% p=0.012 respectively.Determinants of NTCA and TCA survival were different, and varied according to the outcome examined. In NTCA, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was associated with survival at discharge but not at admission, and the likelihood of bystander CPR was dependent on geographical socioeconomic status. An air ambulance was associated with increased survival to both hospital admission and discharge in NTCA, but only with survival to admission in TCA. CONCLUSION: NTCA and TCA are clinically distinct entities with different predictors for outcome-future OHCA reports should aim to separate arrest aetiologies. Determinants of survival to hospital admission and discharge differ in a way that likely reflects the determinants of neurological injury. Bystander CPR public engagement may be best focused in more deprived areas

Basal melt of the southern Filchner Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Basal melt of ice shelves is a key factor governing discharge of ice from the Antarctic Ice Sheet as a result of its effects on buttressing. Here, we use radio echo sounding to determine the spatial variability of the basal melt rate of the southern Filchner Ice Shelf, Antarctica, along the inflow of Support Force Glacier. We find moderate melt rates with a maximum of 1.13 m/a about 50 km downstream of the grounding line. The variability of the melt rates over distances of a few kilometres is low (all but one <0.15 m/a at 2 km distance), indicating that measurements on coarse observational grids are able to yield a representative melt rate distribution. A comparison with remote-sensing-based melt rates revealed that, for the study area, large differences were due to inaccuracies in the estimation of vertical strain rates from remote sensing velocity fields. These inaccuracies can be overcome by using modern velocity fields

Measuring Temperature Gradients over Nanometer Length Scales

When a quantum dot is subjected to a thermal gradient, the temperature of electrons entering the dot can be determined from the dot's thermocurrent if the conductance spectrum and background temperature are known. We demonstrate this technique by measuring the temperature difference across a 15 nm quantum dot embedded in a nanowire. This technique can be used when the dot's energy states are separated by many kT and will enable future quantitative investigations of electron-phonon interaction, nonlinear thermoelectric effects, and the effciency of thermoelectric energy conversion in quantum dots.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Setting the stage: social-environmental and motivational predictors of optimal training engagement

In this paper, we will firstly explore the central tenets of SDT. Research that has examined the social-environmental and motivation-related correlates of optimal training, performance and health-related engagement through the theoretical lens of SDT will be reviewed. Drawing from SDT-driven work undertaken in educational, sport and dance settings, we will draw conclusions and suggest future directions from a research and applied perspective

Constraints on the Progenitor of SN 2016gkg From Its Shock-Cooling Light Curve

SN 2016gkg is a nearby Type IIb supernova discovered shortly after explosion. Like several other Type IIb events with early-time data, SN 2016gkg displays a double-peaked light curve, with the first peak associated with the cooling of a low-mass extended progenitor envelope. We present unprecedented intranight-cadence multi-band photometric coverage of the first light-curve peak of SN 2016gkg obtained from the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope network, the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, the Swift satellite and various amateur-operated telescopes. Fitting these data to analytical shock-cooling models gives a progenitor radius of ~25-140 solar radii with ~2-30 x 10^-2 solar masses of material in the extended envelope (depending on the model and the assumed host-galaxy extinction). Our radius estimates are broadly consistent with values derived independently (in other works) from HST imaging of the progenitor star. However, the shock-cooling model radii are on the lower end of the values indicated by pre-explosion imaging. Hydrodynamical simulations could refine the progenitor parameters deduced from the shock-cooling emission and test the analytical models.Comment: Accepted by ApJ

Charge Density Wave-Assisted Tunneling Between Hall Edge States

We study the intra-planar tunneling between quantum Hall samples separated by a quasi one-dimensional barrier, induced through the interaction of edge degrees of freedom with the charge density waves of a Hall crystal defined in a parallel layer. A field theory formulation is set up in terms of bosonic (2+1)-dimensional excitations coupled to (1+1)-dimensional fermions. Parity symmetry is broken at the quantum level by the confinement of soliton-antisoliton pairs near the tunneling region. The usual Peierls argument allows to estimate the critical temperature $T_c$, so that for $T > T_c$ mass corrections due to longitudinal density fluctuations disappear from the edge spectrum. We compute the gap dependence upon the random global phase of the pinned charge density wave, as well as the effects of a voltage bias applied across the tunneling junction.Comment: Additional references + 1 figure + more detailed discussions. To be published in Phys. Rev.

Increased hepatic oxidative metabolism distinguishes the action of Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta from Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma in the ob/ob mouse.

BACKGROUND: The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand-activated transcription factors and members of the nuclear receptor superfamily. The PPAR family consists of three members: PPARalpha, PPARgamma, and PPARdelta. PPARdelta controls the transcription of genes involved in multiple physiological pathways, including cellular differentiation, lipid metabolism and energy homeostasis. The receptor is expressed almost ubiquitously, with high expression in liver and skeletal muscle. Although the physiological ligands of PPARdelta remain undefined, a number of high affinity synthetic ligands have been developed for the receptor as a therapeutic target for type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and the metabolic syndrome. METHODS: In this study, the metabolic role of PPARdelta activation has been investigated in liver, skeletal muscle, blood serum and white adipose tissue from ob/ob mice using a high affinity synthetic ligand and contrasted with PPARgamma activation. To maximize the analytical coverage of the metabolome, (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H-NMR) spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and ultra performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) were used to examine metabolites from tissue extracts. RESULTS: Analysis by multivariate statistics demonstrated that PPARdelta activation profoundly affected glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, the TCA cycle and linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid essential fatty acid pathways. CONCLUSIONS: Although activation of both PPARdelta and PPARgamma lead to increased insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, PPARdelta activation was functionally distinct from PPARgamma activation, and was characterized by increased hepatic and peripheral fatty acid oxidative metabolism, demonstrating the distinctive catabolic role of this receptor compared with PPARgamma

Coulomb Blockade in low mobility nanometer size Si:MOSFETs

We investigate coherent transport in Si:MOSFETs with nominal gate lengths 50 to 100nm and various widths at very low temperature. Independent of the geometry, localized states appear when G=e^{2}/h and transport is dominated by resonant tunnelling through a single quantum dot formed by an impurity potential. We find that the typical size of the relevant impurity quantum dot is comparable to the channel length and that the periodicity of the observed Coulomb blockade oscillations is roughly inversely proportional to the channel length. The spectrum of resonances and the nonlinear I-V curves allow to measure the charging energy and the mean level energy spacing for electrons in the localized state. Furthermore, we find that in the dielectric regime, the variance var(lng) of the logarithmic conductance lng is proportional to its average value consistent with one-electron scaling models.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure