Population genomics of a predatory mammal reveals patterns of decline and impacts of exposure to toxic toads

Mammal declines across northern Australia are one of the major biodiversity loss events occurring globally. There has been no regional assessment of the implications of these species declines for genomic diversity. To address this, we conducted a species-wide assessment of genomic diversity in the northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus), an Endangered marsupial carnivore. We used next generation sequencing methods to genotype 10,191 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 352 individuals from across a 3220-km length of the continent, investigating patterns of population genomic structure and diversity, and identifying loci showing signals of putative selection. We found strong heterogeneity in the distribution of genomic diversity across the continent, characterized by (i) biogeographical barriers driving hierarchical population structure through long-term isolation, and (ii) severe reductions in diversity resulting from population declines, exacerbated by the spread of introduced toxic cane toads (Rhinella marina). These results warn of a large ongoing loss of genomic diversity and associated adaptive capacity as mammals decline across northern Australia. Encouragingly, populations of the northern quoll established on toad-free islands by translocations appear to have maintained most of the initial genomic diversity after 16 years. By mapping patterns of genomic diversity within and among populations, and investigating these patterns in the context of population declines, we can provide conservation managers with data critical to informed decision-making. This includes the identification of populations that are candidates for genetic management, the importance of remnant island and insurance/translocated populations for the conservation of genetic diversity, and the characterization of putative evolutionarily significant units

Lineage Divergence and Historical Gene Flow in the Chinese Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus sinicus)

PMCID: PMC3581519This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Comunità cristiane nell’islam arabo. La sfida del futuro

Preesistenti all'islamizzazione del Medio Oriente, le comunità cristiane costituiscono tuttora un importante elemento di pluralismo, sebbene oggi a rischio di sopravvivenza, nelle società arabe a maggioranza musulmana. Il volume presenta il ruolo storico delle comunità cristiane orientali nelle rispettive società arabe, la loro funzione di intermediazione culturale tra Oriente e Occidente e la discriminazione giuridica e sociale subìta con l'avvento dell'islam.- Indice #4- Introduzione, Andrea Pacini #10- Gli arabi cristiani: dalla questione d’Oriente alla recente geopolitica delle minoranze, Joseph Maïla #38- I cristiani arabi dell’Oriente: una prospettiva demografica, Philippe Fargues #64- Le comunità cristiane, soggetti attivi della società araba nel corso della storia, Samir Khalil Samir #84- Le chiese del Medio Oriente: origini e identità, tra radicamento nel passato e apertura al presente, Jean Corbon #110- Il diritto dello stato/nazione e lo status dei non musulmani in Egitto e in Siria, Bernard Botiveau #130- L’emigrazione degli arabi cristiani: dimensioni e cause dell’esodo, Bernard Sabella #148- La produzione culturale dei cristiani arabi oggi: espressione di identità nella società a maggioranza musulmana, Camille Hechaïmé #178- Le dinamiche politiche dei copti: rendere la comunità un protagonista atti, Dina El Khawaga #196- La posizione e il ruolo attuale dei copti nell’economia egiziana: tradizioni e specializzazioni, Adel A. Beshai #216- Le dinamiche dei cristiani libanesi: tra il paradigma delle ‘āmmiyyāt e il paradigma Hwayyek, Elizabeth Picard #226- Le comunità cristiane e la situazione economica e sociale in Libano, Boutros Labaki #250- Dinamiche comunitarie e sociopolitiche dei cristiani arabi in Giordania, in Israele e nei territori palestinesi autonomi, Andrea Pacini #290- I cristiani di Siria, Habib Moussalli #320- I cristiani in Iraq, Yūsuf Habbi #330- Il contributo delle comunità arabo-cristiane al futuro delle società arabe del Medio Oriente: alcune prospettive, Maurice Borrmans #342- I riti delle chiese orientali #356- Glossario #376- Riferimenti bibliografici #40

Glucose and Fatty Acid Metabolism in a 3 Tissue In-Vitro Model Challenged with Normo- and Hyperglycaemia

Nutrient balance in the human body is maintained through systemic signaling between different cells and tissues. Breaking down this circuitry to its most basic elements and reconstructing the metabolic network in-vitro provides a systematic method to gain a better understanding of how cross-talk between the organs contributes to the whole body metabolic profile and of the specific role of each different cell type. To this end, a 3-way connected culture of hepatocytes, adipose tissue and endothelial cells representing a simplified model of energetic substrate metabolism in the visceral region was developed. The 3-way culture was shown to maintain glucose and fatty acid homeostasis in-vitro. Subsequently it was challenged with insulin and high glucose concentrations to simulate hyperglycaemia. The aim was to study the capacity of the 3-way culture to maintain or restore normal circulating glucose concentrations in response to insulin and to investigate the effects these conditions on other metabolites involved in glucose and lipid metabolism. The results show that the system’s metabolic profile changes dramatically in the presence of high concentrations of glucose, and that these changes are modulated by the presence of insulin. Furthermore, we observed an increase in E-selectin levels in hyperglycaemic conditions and increased IL-6 concentrations in insulin-free-hyperglycaemic conditions, indicating, respectively, endothelial injury and proinflammatory stress in the challenged 3-way system

Patterns of Interspecific Variation in the Heart Rates of Embryonic Reptiles

New non-invasive technologies allow direct measurement of heart rates (and thus, developmental rates) of embryos. We applied these methods to a diverse array of oviparous reptiles (24 species of lizards, 18 snakes, 11 turtles, 1 crocodilian), to identify general influences on cardiac rates during embryogenesis. Heart rates increased with ambient temperature in all lineages, but (at the same temperature) were faster in lizards and turtles than in snakes and crocodilians. We analysed these data within a phylogenetic framework. Embryonic heart rates were faster in species with smaller adult sizes, smaller egg sizes, and shorter incubation periods. Phylogenetic changes in heart rates were negatively correlated with concurrent changes in adult body mass and residual incubation period among the lizards, snakes (especially within pythons) and crocodilians. The total number of embryonic heart beats between oviposition and hatching was lower in squamates than in turtles or the crocodilian. Within squamates, embryonic iguanians and gekkonids required more heartbeats to complete development than did embryos of the other squamate families that we tested. These differences plausibly reflect phylogenetic divergence in the proportion of embryogenesis completed before versus after laying

Internship and audit expectation gap among undergraduate students in Universiti Utara Malaysia

The accounting profession has long faced the issue of an audit expectation gap: being the gap between the quality of the profession's performance,its objectives and results, and that which the society expects.Studies have been carried out worldwide to determine the effect of education in narrowing the audit expectation gap.Extending the knowledge acquired, this paper investigates whether intership program could reduce the audit expectation gap in Malaysia.Using a pre-post method, the research instrument adapted from Ferguson el al. (2000) is administered to the UUM's accounting students before and after completing an internship program.The results show a significant change in their perceptions after the internship program.However changes in perceptions may not warrant an internship program as a means of reducing the audit expectation gap as misperceptions abaut the duties of auditors for fraud prevention and detection are still found among respondents. Nevertheless, an internship can still be used to complement audit education as it is an ideal way to expose students to professional issues and enables them to have a better insight of the actual performance and duties of auditors

An Accurate Definition of the Status of Inactive Hepatitis B Virus Carrier by a Combination of Biomarkers (FibroTest-ActiTest) and Viral Load

BACKGROUND: The combination of transaminases (ALT), biopsy, HBeAg and viral load have classically defined the inactive status of carriers of chronic hepatitis B. The use of FibroTest (FT) and ActiTest (AT), biomarkers of fibrosis and necroinflammatory activity, has been previously validated as alternatives to biopsy. We compared the 4-year prognostic value of combining FT-AT and viral load for a better definition of the inactive carrier status. METHODS AND FINDINGS: 1,300 consecutive CHB patients who had been prospectively followed since 2001 were pre-included. The main endpoint was the absence of liver-related complications, transplantation or death. We used the manufacturers' definitions of normal FT (< = 0.27), normal AT (< = 0.29) and 3 standard classes for viral load. The adjustment factors were age, sex, HBeAg, ethnic origin, alcohol consumption, HIV-Delta-HCV co-infections and treatment. RESULTS: 1,074 patients with baseline FT-AT and viral load were included: 41 years old, 47% African, 27% Asian, 26% Caucasian. At 4 years follow-up, 50 complications occurred (survival without complications 93.4%), 36 deaths occurred (survival 95.0%), including 27 related to HBV (survival 96.1%). The prognostic value of FT was higher than those of viral load or ALT when compared using area under the ROC curves [0.89 (95%CI 0.84-0.93) vs 0.64 (0.55-0.71) vs 0.53 (0.46-0.60) all P<0.001], survival curves and multivariate Cox model [regression coefficient 5.2 (3.5-6.9; P<0.001) vs 0.53 (0.15-0.92; P = 0.007) vs -0.001 (-0.003-0.000;P = 0.052)] respectively. A new definition of inactive carriers was proposed with an algorithm combining "zero" scores for FT-AT (F0 and A0) and viral load classes. This new algorithm provides a 100% negative predictive value for the prediction of liver related complications or death. Among the 275 patients with the classic definition of inactive carrier, 62 (23%) had fibrosis presumed with FT, and 3 died or had complications at 4 year. CONCLUSION: In patients with chronic hepatitis B, a combination of FibroTest-ActiTest and viral load testing accurately defined the prognosis and the inactive carrier status

Variation in Phenotype, Parasite Load and Male Competitive Ability across a Cryptic Hybrid Zone

BackgroundMolecular genetic studies are revealing an increasing number of cryptic lineages or species, which are highly genetically divergent but apparently cannot be distinguished morphologically. This observation gives rise to three important questions: 1) have these cryptic lineages diverged in phenotypic traits that may not be obvious to humans; 2) when cryptic lineages come into secondary contact, what are the evolutionary consequences: stable co-existence, replacement, admixture or differentiation and 3) what processes influence the evolutionary dynamics of these secondary contact zones?Methodology/principal findingsTo address these questions, we first tested whether males of the Iberian lizard Lacerta schreiberi from two highly genetically divergent, yet morphologically cryptic lineages on either side of an east-west secondary contact could be differentiated based on detailed analysis of morphology, coloration and parasite load. Next, we tested whether these differences could be driven by pre-copulatory intra-sexual selection (male-male competition). Compared to eastern males, western males had fewer parasites, were in better body condition and were more intensely coloured. Although subtle environmental variation across the hybrid zone could explain the differences in parasite load and body condition, these were uncorrelated with colour expression, suggesting that the differences in coloration reflect heritable divergence. The lineages did not differ in their aggressive behaviour or competitive ability. However, body size, which predicted male aggressiveness, was positively correlated with the colour traits that differed between genetic backgrounds.Conclusions/significanceOur study confirms that these cryptic lineages differ in several aspects that are likely to influence fitness. Although there were no clear differences in male competitive ability, our results suggest a potential indirect role for intra-sexual selection. Specifically, if lizards use the colour traits that differ between genetic backgrounds to assess the size of potential rivals or mates, the resulting fitness differential favouring western males could result in net male-mediated gene flow from west to east across the current hybrid zone.Devi Stuart-Fox, Raquel Godinho, Joëlle Goüy de Bellocq, Nancy R. Irwin, José Carlos Brito, Adnan Moussalli, Pavel Široký, Andrew F. Hugall and Stuart J. E. Bair