55 research outputs found

    An Army of Never-Ending Strength: The Reinforcement of the Canadian Army 1944-1945

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    Abstract: “An Army of Never Ending Strength: The Reinforcement and of the Canadian Army 1944-1945” This dissertation is a study of the Canadian Army’s ability to reconstitute battalion sized combat arms regiments (armour, infantry and artillery) during the last year of the Second World War in North West Europe. The central thesis argues that in combination with tactical and strategic strengths, the Canadian Army Overseas was effective at rebuilding units that had suffered severe personnel and equipment losses in combat. This ability to sustain the strength of its combat units was vitally important in maintaining their offensive capability. Units that had suffered catastrophic losses were rebuilt and re-equipped in a rapid manner that allowed them to be capable of any kind of operation. Without replacement resources at the ready, offensive capability within the Canadian Army would be inhibited, regardless of effective tactics or strategies. In comparison to the Germans, the Canadian Army was a phoenix, continually strengthening its operational units and maintaining their combat capability. By examining the record of Canadian replacements, losses, available resources and overall combat force deployed, a picture emerges of an Army with overpowering organizational, logistic and administrative strengths.

    Ancient DNA and deep population structure in sub-Saharan African foragers

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    Multiple lines of genetic and archaeological evidence suggest that there were major demographic changes in the terminal Late Pleistocene epoch and early Holocene epoch of sub-Saharan Africa(1-4). Inferences about this period are challenging to make because demographic shifts in the past 5,000 years have obscured the structures of more ancient populations(3,5). Here we present genome-wide ancient DNA data for six individuals from eastern and south-central Africa spanning the past approximately 18,000 years (doubling the time depth of sub-Saharan African ancient DNA), increase the data quality for 15 previously published ancient individuals and analyse these alongside data from 13 other published ancient individuals. The ancestry of the individuals in our study area can be modelled as a geographically structured mixture of three highly divergent source populations, probably reflecting Pleistocene interactions around 80-20 thousand years ago, including deeply diverged eastern and southern African lineages, plus a previously unappreciated ubiquitous distribution of ancestry that occurs in highest proportion today in central African rainforest hunter-gatherers. Once established, this structure remained highly stable, with limited long-range gene flow. These results provide a new line of genetic evidence in support of hypotheses that have emerged from archaeological analyses but remain contested, suggesting increasing regionalization at the end of the Pleistocene epoch. DNA analysis of 6 individuals from eastern and south-central Africa spanning the past approximately 18,000 years, and of 28 previously published ancient individuals, provides genetic evidence supporting hypotheses of increasing regionalization at the end of the Pleistocene.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Cross-ancestry genome-wide association analysis of corneal thickness strengthens link between complex and Mendelian eye diseases

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    Central corneal thickness (CCT) is a highly heritable trait associated with complex eye diseases such as keratoconus and glaucoma. We perform a genome-wide association meta-analysis of CCT and identify 19 novel regions. In addition to adding support for known connective tissue-related pathways, pathway analyses uncover previously unreported gene sets. Remarkably, >20% of the CCT-loci are near or within Mendelian disorder genes. These included FBN1, ADAMTS2 and TGFB2 which associate with connective tissue disorders (Marfan, Ehlers-Danlos and Loeys-Dietz syndromes), and the LUM-DCN-KERA gene complex involved in myopia, corneal dystrophies and cornea plana. Using index CCT-increasing variants, we find a significant inverse correlation in effect sizes between CCT and keratoconus (r =-0.62, P = 5.30 × 10-5) but not between CCT and primary open-angle glaucoma (r =-0.17, P = 0.2). Our findings provide evidence for shared genetic influences between CCT and keratoconus, and implicate candidate genes acting in collagen and extracellular matrix regulation

    Cross-ancestry genome-wide association analysis of corneal thickness strengthens link between complex and Mendelian eye diseases.

    Get PDF
    Central corneal thickness (CCT) is a highly heritable trait associated with complex eye diseases such as keratoconus and glaucoma. We perform a genome-wide association meta-analysis of CCT and identify 19 novel regions. In addition to adding support for known connective tissue-related pathways, pathway analyses uncover previously unreported gene sets. Remarkably, >20% of the CCT-loci are near or within Mendelian disorder genes. These included FBN1, ADAMTS2 and TGFB2 which associate with connective tissue disorders (Marfan, Ehlers-Danlos and Loeys-Dietz syndromes), and the LUM-DCN-KERA gene complex involved in myopia, corneal dystrophies and cornea plana. Using index CCT-increasing variants, we find a significant inverse correlation in effect sizes between CCT and keratoconus (r = -0.62, P = 5.30 × 10-5) but not between CCT and primary open-angle glaucoma (r = -0.17, P = 0.2). Our findings provide evidence for shared genetic influences between CCT and keratoconus, and implicate candidate genes acting in collagen and extracellular matrix regulation

    Diffusion of boron in germanium

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    Results are presented of implantation and diffusion study of boron (B) in germanium (Ge). B implantation was carried out in Ge with different energies and to different doses. High-resolution secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) was used to obtain concentration profiles after furnace annealing. The as-implanted profiles show a long tail possibly due to enhanced diffusion. A limited diffusion has been observed after furnace annealing. Using T-SUPREM, diffusivity value of 1.5 (±0.3) X 10-16 cm2/s at 850°C has been extracted. This value is two orders of magnitude lower than previously reported values. The results question the change in diffusion mechanism of B diffusion in SiGe alloys from low Ge leveIs to high Ge leveIs

    The 35th anniversary of Materials Letters

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