Allozyme and mitochondrial DNA variability within the New Zealand damselfly genera Xanthocnemis, Austrolestes, and Ischnura (Odonata)

We collected larval damselflies from 17 sites in the North, South and Chatham Islands, and tested the hypotheses that: (1) genetic markers (e.g., allozymes, mtDNA) would successfully ¬discriminate taxa; and (2) the dispersal capabilities of adult damselflies would limit differentiation among locations. Four species from three genera were identified based on available taxonomic keys. Using 11 allozyme loci and the mitochondrial cytochrome c-oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, we confirmed that all taxa were clearly discernible. We found evidence for low to moderate differentiation among locations based on allozyme (mean FST = 0.09) and sequence (COI) divergence (<0.034). No obvious patterns with respect to geographic location were detected, although slight differences were found between New Zealand’s main islands (North Island, South Island) and the Chatham Islands for A. colensonis (sequence divergence 0.030–0.034). We also found limited intraspecific genetic variability based on allozyme data (Hexp < 0.06 in all cases). We conclude that levels of gene flow/dispersal on the main islands may have been sufficient to maintain the observed homogeneous population structure, and that genetic techniques, particularly the COI gene locus, will be a useful aid in future identifications

Defining conservation units with enhanced molecular tools to reveal fine scale structuring among Mediterranean green turtle rookeries

This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordData accessibility: the data associated with this article is avaiable in the Dryad Digital Repository: https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.7db01Understanding the connectivity among populations is a key research priority for species of conservation concern. Genetic tools are widely used for this purpose, but the results can be limited by the resolution of the genetic markers in relation to the species and geographic scale. Here, we investigated natal philopatry in green turtles (Chelonia mydas) from four rookeries within close geographic proximity (~200 km) on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. We genotyped hypervariable mtSTRs, a mtDNA control region sequence (CR) and 13 microsatellite loci to genetically characterise 479 green turtles using markers with different modes of inheritance. We demonstrated matrilineal stock structure for the first time among Mediterranean green turtle rookeries. This result contradicts previous regional assessments and supports a growing body of evidence that green turtles exhibit a more precise level of natal site fidelity than has commonly been recognised. The microsatellites detected weak male philopatry with significant stock structure among three of the six pairwise comparisons. The absence of Atlantic CR haplotypes and mtSTRs amongst these robust sample sizes reaffirms the reproductive isolation of Mediterranean green turtles and supports their status as a subpopulation. A power analysis effectively demonstrated that the mtDNA genetic markers previously employed to evaluate regional stock identity were confounded by an insufficient resolution considering the recent colonisation of this region. These findings improve the regional understanding of stock connectivity and illustrate the importance of using suitable genetic markers to define appropriate units for management and conservation.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spai

A Point-of-Use Quality Assurance Tool for Digital Pathology Remote Working

Pathology services are facing pressures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital pathology has the capability to meet some of these unprecedented challenges by allowing remote diagnoses to be made at home, during periods of social distancing or self-isolation. However, while digital pathology allows diagnoses to be made on standard computer screens, unregulated home environments may not be conducive for optimal viewing conditions. There is also a paucity of experimental evidence available to support the minimum display requirements for digital pathology. This study presents a Point-of-Use Quality Assurance (POUQA) tool for remote assessment of viewing conditions for reporting digital pathology slides. The tool is a psychophysical test combining previous work from successfully implemented quality assurance tools in both pathology and radiology to provide a minimally intrusive display screen validation task, before viewing digital slides. The test is specific to pathology assessment in that it requires visual discrimination between colors derived from hematoxylin and eosin staining, with a perceptual difference of ±1 delta E (dE). This tool evaluates the transfer of a 1 dE signal through the digital image display chain, including the observers’ contrast and color responses within the test color range. The web-based system has been rapidly developed and deployed as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and may be used by anyone in the world to help optimize flexible working conditions at: http://www.virtualpathology.leeds.ac.uk/res earch/systems/pouqa/

Preterm birth a long distance from home and its significant social and financial stress

The present paper reports a retrospective cohort of preterm infants admitted to our hospital who delivered outside the normal geographical catchment area of the mother's local level three neonatal nursery. Nineteen mothers had 21 preterm infants (23.1-34.9 weeks, 500-2330 g born) where 14 infants required ventilation (median 57 h, range 3-428). Eighteen survivors had a median length of stay of 41 days (range 3-91). Twelve of 19 mothers were interviewed: all described isolation, loneliness, poor social support and significant financial hardship related to getting their infants back to a local hospital or home. To avoid these problems, we recommend confining travel to within a short distance from home or local maternity unit after 22 weeks

Energy Density, Portion Size, and Eating Occasions: Contributions to Increased Energy Intake in the United States, 1977–2006

Using data from three surveys, Kiyah Duffey and Barry Popkin found that changes in eating/drinking occasions and portion size consistently account for most of the change in daily total energy intake over a 30-year period

Identification of compounds with cytotoxic activity from the leaf of the Nigerian medicinal plant, Anacardium occidentale L. (Anacardiaceae)

Cancer is now the second-leading cause of mortality and morbidity, behind only heart disease, necessitating urgent development of (chemo)therapeutic interventions to stem the growing burden of cancer cases and cancer death. Plants represent a credible source of promising drug leads in this regard, with a long history of proven use in the indigenous treatment of cancer. This study therefore investigated Anacardium occidentale, one of the plants in a Nigerian Traditional Medicine formulation commonly used to manage cancerous diseases, for cytotoxic activity. Bioassay-guided fractionation, spectroscopy, Alamar blue fluorescence-based viability assay in cultured HeLa cells and microscopy were used. Four compounds, zoapatanolide A (1), agathisflavone (2), 1,2-bis(2,6-dimethoxy-4-methoxycarbonylphenyl)ethane (anacardicin, 3) and methyl gallate (4), were isolated, with the most potent being zoapatanolide A with an IC50 value of 36.2 ± 9.8 µM in the viability assay. To gain an insight into the likely molecular basis of their observed cytotoxic effects, Autodock Vina binding free energies of each of the isolated compounds with seven molecular targets implicated in cancer development (MAPK8, MAPK10, MAP3K12, MAPK3, MAPK1, MAPK7 and VEGF), were calculated. Pearson correlation coefficients were obtained with experimentally-determined IC50 in the Alamar blue viability assay. While these compounds were not as potent as a standard anticancer compound, doxorubicin, the results provide reasonable evidence that the plant species contains compounds with cytotoxic activity. This study provides some evidence of why this plant is used ethnobotanically in anticancer herbal formulations and justifies investigating Nigerian medicinal plants highlighted in recent ethnobotanical surveys

Introduction: Ideology, propaganda, and political discourse in the Xi Jinping era

The ideology, propaganda, and political discourse of the Communist Party of China (CPC) have continued to function as key elements of the political system of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the post-Maoist period since 1978. In the first term of the Xi Jinping leadership (2012–2017), the CPC, for instance, elaborated on its guiding ideological concepts, devised inventive ideational framings of phenomena usually perceived as tangible (such as the BNew Normal^), engaged in complex intellectual debates on crucial topics (such as Beco-civilization^), intensified and diversified its argumentation patterns and discursive strategies, and consolidated ideational governance over some citizens’ individual values, beliefs, and loyalties. Furthermore, it is often no longer possible to differentiate between the CPC’s internal and external propaganda, as seemingly exclusively domestic ideational and discursive issues increasingly correlate with international phenomena. However, the trends in the Xi era do not present paradigmatic shifts, but rather an overall reassertion-cuminnovation of previous Maoist and post-Maoist uses of ideology, propaganda, and political discourse, primarily aiming at strengthening one-party rule

Resolving issues with environmental impact assessment of marine renewable energy installations

ArticleThis Document is Protected by copyright and was first published by Frontiers. All rights reserved. it is reproduced with permission.Growing concerns about climate change and energy security have fueled a rapid increase in the development of marine renewable energy installations (MREIs). The potential ecological consequences of increased use of these devices emphasizes the need for high quality environmental impact assessment (EIA). We demonstrate that these processes are hampered severely, primarily because ambiguities in the legislation and lack of clear implementation guidance are such that they do not ensure robust assessment of the significance of impacts and cumulative effects. We highlight why the regulatory framework leads to conceptual ambiguities and propose changes which, for the most part, do not require major adjustments to standard practice. We emphasize the importance of determining the degree of confidence in impacts to permit the likelihood as well as magnitude of impacts to be quantified and propose ways in which assessment of population-level impacts could be incorporated into the EIA process. Overall, however, we argue that, instead of trying to ascertain which particular developments are responsible for tipping an already heavily degraded marine environment into an undesirable state, emphasis should be placed on better strategic assessment.Technology Strategy Boar

Comparison of 5-year progression of retinitis pigmentosa involving the posterior pole among siblings by means of SD-OCT: a retrospective study

The blockchain technology promises to transform finance, money and evengovernments. However, analyses of blockchain applicability and robustness typicallyfocus on isolated systems whose actors contribute mainly by running the consensusalgorithm. Here, we highlight the importance of considering trustless platformswithin the broader ecosystem that includes social and communication networks. Asan example, we analyse the flash-crash observed on 21st June 2017 in the Ethereumplatform and show that a major phenomenon of social coordination led to acatastrophic cascade of events across several interconnected systems. We proposethe concept of “emergent centralisation” to describe situations where a single systembecomes critically important for the functioning of the whole ecosystem, and arguethat such situations are likely to become more and more frequent in interconnectedsocio-technical systems. We anticipate that the systemic approach we propose willhave implications for future assessments of trustless systems and call for the attentionof policy-makers on the fragility of our interconnected and rapidly changing world