Sheep and wheat domestication in southwest Asia: a meta-trajectory of intensification and loss.

• Biologists since Darwin considered domestication a model for the study of evolution; we argue that domestication may also be a model for the study of globalization. • The long-term history of wheat and sheep domestication exemplifies the intensification of relationships between humans and a small number of species native to southwest Asia, which includes long-term globalizing processes. • Specific indicators are offered for tracking the long-term globalization of sheep and wheat, with reference to production intensity, geographic diffusion, and diversity.Rottenstreich Fellowship of the Israel Council for Higher Education and the Newton International Fellowship of the British Academ

Moth-inspired navigation algorithm in a turbulent odor plume from a pulsating source

Some female moths attract male moths by emitting series of pulses of pheromone filaments propagating downwind. The turbulent nature of the wind creates a complex flow environment, and causes the filaments to propagate in the form of patches with varying concentration distributions. Inspired by moth navigation capabilities, we propose a navigation strategy that enables a flier to locate a pulsating odor source in a windy environment using a single threshold-based detection sensor. The strategy is constructed based on the physical properties of the turbulent flow carrying discrete puffs of odor and does not involve learning, memory, complex decision making or statistical methods. We suggest that in turbulent plumes from a pulsating point source, an instantaneously measurable quantity referred as a "puff crossing time", improves the success rate as compared to the navigation strategy based on "internal counter" that does not use this information. Using computer simulations of fliers navigating in turbulent plumes of the pulsating point source for varying flow parameters: turbulent intensities, plume meandering and wind gusts, we obtained trajectories qualitatively resembling male moths flights towards the pheromone sources. We quantified the probability of a successful navigation as well as the flight parameters such as the time spent searching and the total flight time, with respect to different turbulent intensities, meandering or gusts. The concepts learned using this model may help to design odor-based navigation of miniature airborne autonomous vehicles

Nurturing Medical Professionalism in the Surgical Community

Introduction: The teaching of professionalism worldwide is changing for effectiveness. Our aim was to explore the reflection of the surgical teaching community in a Kenyan context on how professionalism can be effectively inculcated through the socio-cultural concept of activity theory.Methods: A sequential mixed-methods study was conducted among clinicians and students within the surgical community of the University of Nairobi from March to December 2014. . Individual interviews and focusgroup- discussions were conducted using grounded theory methods. A survey of the resultant views was performed through a pre-determined questionnaire which utilized a 4-point Likert scale for response ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. Factor analysis was used to analyze the responses to the survey. Internal reliability was determined by Cronbach’s α.Results: Four themes emerged from the interviews; change of values, regulation, enabling environment and formal curriculum. In the survey, the participants strongly agreed with strengthening mentorship (77.5%) and a teaching facility (74.7%) with a rewarding or recognition (69.5%). The reliability test of the items showed a Cronbach’s α of 0.827.Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the participants would like to see a different and transforming path in inculcating professionalism through changing values and enabling environment among others.Key words: Nurturing, Medical professionalism, Surgical communit

AllSight: A Low-Cost and High-Resolution Round Tactile Sensor with Zero-Shot Learning Capability

Tactile sensing is a necessary capability for a robotic hand to perform fine manipulations and interact with the environment. Optical sensors are a promising solution for high-resolution contact estimation. Nevertheless, they are usually not easy to fabricate and require individual calibration in order to acquire sufficient accuracy. In this letter, we propose AllSight, an optical tactile sensor with a round 3D structure potentially designed for robotic in-hand manipulation tasks. AllSight is mostly 3D printed making it low-cost, modular, durable and in the size of a human thumb while with a large contact surface. We show the ability of AllSight to learn and estimate a full contact state, i.e., contact position, forces and torsion. With that, an experimental benchmark between various configurations of illumination and contact elastomers are provided. Furthermore, the robust design of AllSight provides it with a unique zero-shot capability such that a practitioner can fabricate the open-source design and have a ready-to-use state estimation model. A set of experiments demonstrates the accurate state estimation performance of AllSight

ESTRATEGÍA DE CONTROL MEDIANTE FUNCIÓN DE LYAPUNOV PARA CONVERTIDORES MONOFÁSICOS CD/CA EN SISTEMAS FOTOVILTAICOS (CONTROL STRATEGY BY LYAPUNOV FUNCTION FOR SINGLE-PHASE CD/CA CONVERTERS IN PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS)

ResumenLos convertidores CD/CA se utilizan ampliamente en sistemas de generación fotovoltaica conectados a la red. Normalmente se utilizan sólo para inyectar potencia activa a la red, sin embargo, es posible integrar la función del filtro activo de potencia al mismo sistema, y entonces es posible eliminar los armónicos de corriente generados por cargas no lineales. El convertidor CD/CA tendrá esta capacidad de eliminar las corrientes armónicas mientras también inyecta potencia activa en la red, debido a la energía generada por los paneles solares. Este documento presenta una estrategia de control basada en una función de Lyapunov para un convertidor CD/CA monofásico para sistemas fotovoltaicas que considera la compensación armónica. Se presenta el análisis, diseño y los resultados de simulación.Palabras Clave: Control por función Lyapunov, Filtro Activo de Potencia, Fotovoltaico, Fuente Renovable. AbstractThe DC/AC Converters are being widely used in grid-connected photovoltaic generation systems. Usually they are used only to inject active power to the grid, however, it is possible to integrate the function of the active power filter to the same system, and then to eliminate the current harmonics generated by non-linear loads. So that the DC/AC converter will have the capacity to eliminate the harmonic currents generated by the nonlinear load while it is able to inject active power into the grid generated by the photovoltaic systems. This paper presents a control strategy based on Lyapunov-function for a single-phase DC/AC converter for photovoltaic systems that considers the harmonic compensation. The analysis, design, and simulations results are presented.Keywords: Active Power Filter, Lyapunov-Function Control, Photovoltaic, Renewable Source

Introducing and pilot-testing the national guidelines on integrating the management of STIs/RTIs into reproductive health settings in Kenya

This report evaluated a project in ten Kenyan health facilities. It examined the feasibility, acceptability and effect of introducing reproductive tract infection and sexually transmitted infection (RTI/STI) guidelines on the quality of care provided, and the incremental costs of integrating these services into existing reproductive health (RH) services; it also disseminated the results and lessons learnt within Kenya. Overall, the results showed that integration of activities to screen for and manage STIs/RTIs into RH services is feasible, acceptable to clients and providers, and effective in improving the range and quality of services offered to clients

The Informative Process Model as a New Intervention for Attitude Change in Intractable Conflicts: Theory and Empirical Evidence

Peacemaking is especially challenging in situations of intractable conflict. Collective narratives in this context contribute to coping with challenges societies face, but also fuel conflict continuation. We introduce the Informative Process Model (IPM), proposing that informing individuals about the socio-psychological processes through which conflict-supporting narratives develop, and suggesting that they can change via comparison to similar conflicts resolved peacefully, can facilitate unfreezing and change in attitudes. Study 1 established associations between awareness of conflict costs and conflict-supporting narratives, belief in the possibility of resolving the conflict peacefully and support for pursuing peace among Israeli-Jews and Palestinians. Studies 2 and 3 found that exposure to IPM-based original videos (vs. control) led Israeli-Jews to deliberation of the information presented, predicting acceptance of the IPM-based message, which, in turn, predicted support for negotiations. Study 3 also found similar effects across IPM-based messages focusing on different conflict-supporting themes. We discuss the implications to attitude change in intractable conflicts

Quantitative and functional interrogation of parent-of-origin allelic expression biases in the brain

The maternal and paternal genomes play different roles in mammalian brains as a result of genomic imprinting, an epigenetic regulation leading to differential expression of the parental alleles of some genes. Here we investigate genomic imprinting in the cerebellum using a newly developed Bayesian statistical model that provides unprecedented transcript-level resolution. We uncover 160 imprinted transcripts, including 41 novel and independently validated imprinted genes. Strikingly, many genes exhibit parentally biased—rather than monoallelic—expression, with different magnitudes according to age, organ, and brain region. Developmental changes in parental bias and overall gene expression are strongly correlated, suggesting combined roles in regulating gene dosage. Finally, brain-specific deletion of the paternal, but not maternal, allele of the paternally-biased Bcl-x, (Bcl2l1) results in loss of specific neuron types, supporting the functional significance of parental biases. These findings reveal the remarkable complexity of genomic imprinting, with important implications for understanding the normal and diseased brain. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07860.00

Stress-inducible phosphoprotein 1 (HOP/STI1/STIP1) regulates the accumulation and toxicity of α-synuclein in vivo

The predominantly pre-synaptic intrinsically disordered protein α-synuclein is prone to misfolding and aggregation in synucleinopathies, such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Molecular chaperones play important roles in protein misfolding diseases and members of the chaperone machinery are often deposited in Lewy bodies. Here, we show that the Hsp90 co-chaperone STI1 co-immunoprecipitated α-synuclein, and co-deposited with Hsp90 and Hsp70 in insoluble protein fractions in two mouse models of α-synuclein misfolding. STI1 and Hsp90 also co-localized extensively with filamentous S129 phosphorylated α-synuclein in ubiquitin-positive inclusions. In PD human brains, STI1 transcripts were increased, and in neurologically healthy brains, STI1 and α-synuclein transcripts correlated. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) analyses revealed direct interaction of α-synuclein with STI1 and indicated that the STI1 TPR2A, but not TPR1 or TPR2B domains, interacted with the C-terminal domain of α-synuclein. In vitro, the STI1 TPR2A domain facilitated S129 phosphorylation by Polo-like kinase 3. Moreover, mice over-expressing STI1 and Hsp90ß presented elevated α-synuclein S129 phosphorylation accompanied by inclusions when injected with α-synuclein pre-formed fibrils. In contrast, reduced STI1 function decreased protein inclusion formation, S129 α-synuclein phosphorylation, while mitigating motor and cognitive deficits as well as mesoscopic brain atrophy in α-synuclein-over-expressing mice. Our findings reveal a vicious cycle in which STI1 facilitates the generation and accumulation of toxic α-synuclein conformers, while α-synuclein-induced proteostatic stress increased insoluble STI1 and Hsp90