Intra-specific variation in the social behaviour of Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus)

Non-human primates show an impressive behavioural diversity, both across and within species. However, the factors explaining intra-specific behavioural variation across groups and individuals are yet understudied. Here, we aimed to assess how group size and living conditions (i.e. captive, semi-free-ranging, wild) are linked to behavioural variation in 5 groups of Barbary macaques (N=137 individuals). In each group, we collected observational data on the time individuals spent in social interactions and on the group dominance style, along with experimental data on social tolerance over food and neophobia. Our results showed that differences in group size predicted differences in the time spent in social interactions, with smaller groups spending a higher proportion of time in close spatial proximity, but a lower proportion of time grooming. Moreover, group size predicted variation in dominance style, with smaller groups being more despotic. Social tolerance was affected by both group size and living conditions, being higher in smaller groups and in groups living in less natural conditions. Finally, individual characteristics also explained variation in social tolerance and neophobia, with socially integrated individuals having higher access to food sources, and higher-ranking ones being more neophobic. Overall, our results support the view that intra-specific variation is a crucial aspect in primate social behaviour, and call for more comparative studies to better understand the sources of within-species variation

Initial Fitness Recovery of HIV-1 Is Associated with Quasispecies Heterogeneity and Can Occur without Modifications in the Consensus Sequence

BACKGROUND: Fitness recovery of HIV-1 "in vitro" was studied using viral clones that had their fitness decreased as a result of plaque-to-plaque passages. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: After ten large population passages, the viral populations showed an average increase of fitness, although with wide variations among clones. While 5 clones showed significant fitness increases, 3 clones showed increases that were only marginally significant (p<0.1), and 4 clones did not show any change. Fitness recovery was not accompanied by an increase in p24 production, but was associated with an increase in viral titer. Few mutations (an average of 2 mutations per genome) were detected in the consensus nucleotide sequence of the entire genome in all viral populations. Five of the populations did not fix any mutation, and three of them displayed marginally significant fitness increases, illustrating that fitness recovery can occur without detectable alterations of the consensus genomic sequence. The investigation of other possible viral factors associated with the initial steps of fitness recovery, showed that viral quasispecies heterogeneity increased between the initial clones and the passaged populations. A direct statistical correlation between viral heterogeneity and viral fitness was obtained. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, the initial fitness recovery of debilitated HIV-1 clones was mediated by an increase in quasispecies heterogeneity. This observation, together with the invariance of the consensus sequence despite fitness increases demonstrates the relevance of quasispecies heterogeneity in the evolution of HIV-1 in cell culture

Oceanids C2: An Integrated Command, Control, and Data Infrastructure for the Over-the-Horizon Operation of Marine Autonomous Systems

Long-range Marine Autonomous Systems (MAS), operating beyond the visual line-of-sight of a human pilot or research ship, are creating unprecedented opportunities for oceanographic data collection. Able to operate for up to months at a time, periodically communicating with a remote pilot via satellite, long-range MAS vehicles significantly reduce the need for an expensive research ship presence within the operating area. Heterogeneous fleets of MAS vehicles, operating simultaneously in an area for an extended period of time, are becoming increasingly popular due to their ability to provide an improved composite picture of the marine environment. However, at present, the expansion of the size and complexity of these multi-vehicle operations is limited by a number of factors: (1) custom control-interfaces require pilots to be trained in the use of each individual vehicle, with limited cross-platform standardization; (2) the data produced by each vehicle are typically in a custom vehicle-specific format, making the automated ingestion of observational data for near-real-time analysis and assimilation into operational ocean models very difficult; (3) the majority of MAS vehicles do not provide machine-to-machine interfaces, limiting the development and usage of common piloting tools, multi-vehicle operating strategies, autonomous control algorithms and automated data delivery. In this paper, we describe a novel piloting and data management system (C2) which provides a unified web-based infrastructure for the operation of long-range MAS vehicles within the UK's National Marine Equipment Pool. The system automates the archiving, standardization and delivery of near-real-time science data and associated metadata from the vehicles to end-users and Global Data Assembly Centers mid-mission. Through the use and promotion of standard data formats and machine interfaces throughout the C2 system, we seek to enable future opportunities to collaborate with both the marine science and robotics communities to maximize the delivery of high-quality oceanographic data for world-leading science

Alzheimer’s Disease Studies in the Tex-Mex Border: Dissecting a Complex Multifactorial Problem

Purpose: Alzheimer’s Disease (ALZ) is the leading cause of dementia in the aging population, and Latinos have \u3e3 times higher risk to develop dementia than the overall US population. Although several studies have examined for possible causes of this increased risk, lack of comprehensive information plus a reduced number of Latino samples available in each study have hindered the answers. Description: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley has joined two large studies looking for multiple biomarkers associated with ALZ: The South Texas Alzheimer’s Center Clinical Data Repository and Biobank (STAC) and the Texas Alzheimer’s Research and Care Consortium (TARCC). We are now collecting clinical data along with neuroimaging and lab biomarkers from each individual enrolled in these studies, with the aim to enroll a large majority of Latinos in our site sample, which will help to elucidate the differences and risk factors inherent to our population in the border. We are also analyzing data from different Latin-American studies to study specific genetic risks, environmental factors, and their interactions. Partners: UTRGV has partnered with UTHSCSA for the STAC study and with many other academic research institutions at TARCC. We aim to provide experiences of clinical training to our psychology students and residents of medical specialties, as well as analysis opportunities and opening postdoctoral positions related to the development of this field at UTRGV. Looking Ahead: We expect to generate substantial contributions to the knowledge of cognitive decline in underserved populations, which can lead to improved treatments and better clinical care. Postdoctoral positions will be opening soon at the Institute of Neuroscience

Architectural Features of Streetscapes and Aging in Cameron County, Texas: Preliminary Results

The impact of architectural features in urban settings reveals priorities for its residents and the integration of social and natural environments. It has been estimated that 23% of global deaths to the environments in which people live. We aim to characterize the most prevalent architectural features of Cameron County, Texas streetscapes and analyze their role in health promotion and healthy aging

Towards autonomy: A recommender system for the determination of trim and flight parameters for Seagliders

Currently, pilots maximise the performance of Seaglider underwater gliders by manually selecting their set-up parameters. Building on existing procedures based on the assumption of steady-state motions, a recommender system for the trim and flight parameters has been developed to aid trainee pilots and enable round-the-clock operations. The system has been validated with data from 12 missions run in waters off the United Kingdom and Australia, representative of a range of oceanographic conditions. The recommended trim parameters present a maximum difference of 14% from the values selected by the pilots, whereas pilots are found not to change the flight parameters. Additionally, suggestions are made to improve operational practices to further improve the accuracy of the recommender system. As a result, the developed system is expected to greatly help trainee pilots achieve expertise in a much smaller time frame than standard practice. Additionally, thanks to its high precision, the recommender system can be used to autonomously select the trim and flight parameters of Seagliders for night operations in the future

Developing a re-configurable architecture for the remote operation of marine autonomous systems

In this experience report, we explain how we take advantage of microservices’ inherent modular nature to accomplish a highly adaptable software architecture that can deal with the trials and tribulations often occurring in marine research environments. We will show the National Oceanography Centre’s journey to develop a web system to remotely operate marine autonomous vehicles from anywhere in the world with an internet connection and how, due to new unforeseen requirements, we took the microservice pattern into a new direction to allow for standalone offline operations of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) from research ships in some of the most challenging environments in the world

A solution for autonomous, adaptive monitoring of coastal ocean ecosystems: Integrating ocean robots and operational forecasts

This study presents a proof-of-concept for a fully automated and adaptive observing system for coastal ocean ecosystems. Such systems present a viable future observational framework for oceanography, reducing the cost and carbon footprint of marine research. An autonomous ocean robot (an ocean glider) was deployed for 11 weeks in the western English Channel and navigated by exchanging information with operational forecasting models. It aimed to track the onset and development of the spring phytoplankton bloom in 2021. A stochastic prediction model combined the real-time glider data with forecasts from an operational numerical model, which in turn assimilated the glider observations and other environmental data, to create high-resolution probabilistic predictions of phytoplankton and its chlorophyll signature. A series of waypoints were calculated at regular time intervals, to navigate the glider to where the phytoplankton bloom was most likely to be found. The glider successfully tracked the spring bloom at unprecedented temporal resolution, and the adaptive sampling strategy was shown to be feasible in an operational context. Assimilating the real-time glider data clearly improved operational biogeochemical forecasts when validated against independent observations at a nearby time series station, with a smaller impact at a more distant neighboring station. Remaining issues to be addressed were identified, for instance relating to quality control of near-real time data, accounting for differences between remote sensing and in situ observations, and extension to larger geographic domains. Based on these, recommendations are made for the development of future smart observing systems

Autosub Long Range 1500: A continuous 2000 km field trial

Long Range Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (LRAUVs) offer the potential to monitor the ocean at higher spatial and temporal resolutions compared to conventional ship-based techniques. The multi-week to multi-month endurance of LRAUVs enables them to operate independently of a support vessel, creating novel opportunities for ocean observation. The National Oceanography Centre’s Autosub Long Range is one of a small number of vehicles designed for a multi-month endurance. The latest iteration, Autosub Long Range 1500 (ALR1500), is a 1500 m depth-rated LRAUV developed for ocean science in coastal and shelf seas or in the epipelagic and meteorologic regions of the ocean. This paper presents the design of the ALR1500 and results from a five week continuous deployment from Plymouth, UK, to the continental shelf break and back again, a distance of approximately 2000km which consumed half of the installed energy. The LRAUV was unaccompanied throughout the mission and operated continuously beyond visual line of sight

Les droits disciplinaires des fonctions publiques : « unification », « harmonisation » ou « distanciation ». A propos de la loi du 26 avril 2016 relative à la déontologie et aux droits et obligations des fonctionnaires

The production of tt‾ , W+bb‾ and W+cc‾ is studied in the forward region of proton–proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98±0.02 fb−1 . The W bosons are reconstructed in the decays W→ℓν , where ℓ denotes muon or electron, while the b and c quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions.The production of $t\overline{t}$, $W+b\overline{b}$ and $W+c\overline{c}$ is studied in the forward region of proton-proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98 $\pm$ 0.02 \mbox{fb}^{-1}. The $W$ bosons are reconstructed in the decays $W\rightarrow\ell\nu$, where $\ell$ denotes muon or electron, while the $b$ and $c$ quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions