Evapotranspiration of two vegetation communities in a high-elevation riparian meadow at Hart Prairie, Arizona

Hart Prairie, Arizona, has the largest Bebb willow (Salix bebbiana) community in the United States; however, greater than 95% of willows are older than 80 years and regeneration by seed is not occurring. This study examined the evapotranspiration of two herbaceous communities that dominate the Hart Prairie watershed: (1) a mixture of bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) and graminoids and (2) dominantly graminoids. Transpiration during premonsoon and postmonsoon dry periods of 2000, 2001, and 2002 was estimated for each community by the difference in volumetric soil-water content (0-30 cm soil depth) between replicated plots that were clipped of all vegetation and control, unclipped plots. Transpiration rates estimated under conditions of minimal soil drainage varied between 0.63 and 2.4 mm/d for the fern-graminoid community and 0.57 and 1.1 mm/d for the graminoid community over the study. The fern-graminoid community produced more biomass than the graminoid community in all years, but generally had lower transpiration rates. Severe drought in year 2002 reduced growth and transpiration of the fern-graminoid community more than the graminoid community. Evaporation rates were estimated by temporal changes in soil-water content in clipped plots during dry periods, and were 54 to 474% of transpiration rates estimated under conditions of minimal soil drainage because of the dry and windy conditions that occur at the study site. Based on this study and a study of transpiration of scattered trees invading the meadow, transpiration by the herbaceous understorey was higher than transpiration by trees during similar seasons

B cell–deficient NOD.H-2h4 mice have CD4+CD25+ T regulatory cells that inhibit the development of spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis

Wild-type (WT) NOD.H-2h4 mice develop spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis (SAT) when given 0.05% NaI in their drinking water, whereas B cell–deficient NOD.H-2h4 mice are SAT resistant. To test the hypothesis that resistance of B cell–deficient mice to SAT was due to the activity of regulatory CD4+CD25+ T (T reg) cells activated if autoantigen was initially presented on non–B cells, CD25+ T reg cells were transiently depleted in vivo using anti-CD25. B cell–deficient NOD.H-2h4 mice given three weekly injections of anti-CD25 developed SAT 8 wk after NaI water. Thyroid lesions were similar to those in WT mice except there were no B cells in thyroid infiltrates. WT and B cell–deficient mice had similar numbers of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ cells. Mice with transgenic nitrophenyl-specific B cells unable to secrete immunoglobulin were also resistant to SAT, and transient depletion of T reg cells resulted in severe SAT with both T and B cells in thyroid infiltrates. T reg cells that inhibit SAT were eliminated by day 3 thymectomy, indicating they belong to the subset of naturally occurring T reg cells. However, T reg cell depletion did not increase SAT severity in WT mice, suggesting that T reg cells may be nonfunctional when effector T cells are activated; i.e., by autoantigen-presenting B cells

Detectability of Plasmodium falciparum clones

BACKGROUND: In areas of high transmission people often harbour multiple clones of Plasmodium falciparum, but even PCR-based diagnostic methods can only detect a fraction (the detectability, q) of all clones present in a host. Accurate measurements of detectability are desirable since it affects estimates of multiplicity of infection, prevalence, and frequency of breakthrough infections in clinical drug trials. Detectability can be estimated by typing repeated samples from the same host but it has been unclear what should be the time interval between the samples and how the data should be analysed. METHODS: A longitudinal molecular study was conducted in the Kassena-Nankana district in northern Ghana. From each of the 80 participants, four finger prick samples were collected over a period of 8 days, and tested for presence of different Merozoite Surface Protein (msp) 2 genotypes. Implications for estimating q were derived from these data by comparing the fit of statistical models of serial dependence and over-dispersion. RESULTS: The distribution of the frequencies of detection for msp2 genotypes was close to binomial if the time span between consecutive blood samples was at least 7 days. For shorter intervals the probabilities of detection were positively correlated, i.e. the shorter the interval between two blood collections, the more likely the diagnostic results matched for a particular genotype. Estimates of q were rather insensitive to the statistical model fitted. CONCLUSIONS: A simple algorithm based on analysing blood samples collected 7 days apart is justified for generating robust estimates of detectability. The finding of positive correlation of detection probabilities for short time intervals argues against imperfect detection being directly linked to the 48-hour periodicity of P. falciparum. The results suggest that the detectability of a given parasite clone changes over time, at an unknown rate, but fast enough to regard blood samples taken one week apart as statistically independent

The Monarch Initiative in 2024: an analytic platform integrating phenotypes, genes and diseases across species.

Bridging the gap between genetic variations, environmental determinants, and phenotypic outcomes is critical for supporting clinical diagnosis and understanding mechanisms of diseases. It requires integrating open data at a global scale. The Monarch Initiative advances these goals by developing open ontologies, semantic data models, and knowledge graphs for translational research. The Monarch App is an integrated platform combining data about genes, phenotypes, and diseases across species. Monarch\u27s APIs enable access to carefully curated datasets and advanced analysis tools that support the understanding and diagnosis of disease for diverse applications such as variant prioritization, deep phenotyping, and patient profile-matching. We have migrated our system into a scalable, cloud-based infrastructure; simplified Monarch\u27s data ingestion and knowledge graph integration systems; enhanced data mapping and integration standards; and developed a new user interface with novel search and graph navigation features. Furthermore, we advanced Monarch\u27s analytic tools by developing a customized plugin for OpenAI\u27s ChatGPT to increase the reliability of its responses about phenotypic data, allowing us to interrogate the knowledge in the Monarch graph using state-of-the-art Large Language Models. The resources of the Monarch Initiative can be found at monarchinitiative.org and its corresponding code repository at github.com/monarch-initiative/monarch-app

RNA G-Quadruplexes in the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana: prevalence and possible functional roles

Tandem stretches of guanines can associate in hydrogen-bonded arrays to form G-quadruplexes, which are stabilized by K+ ions. Using computational methods, we searched for G-Quadruplex Sequence (GQS) patterns in the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana. We found ∼1200 GQS with a G3 repeat sequence motif, most of which are located in the intergenic region. Using a Markov modeled genome, we determined that GQS are significantly underrepresented in the genome. Additionally, we found ∼43 000 GQS with a G2 repeat sequence motif; notably, 80% of these were located in genic regions, suggesting that these sequences may fold at the RNA level. Gene Ontology functional analysis revealed that GQS are overrepresented in genes encoding proteins of certain functional categories, including enzyme activity. Conversely, GQS are underrepresented in other categories of genes, notably those for non-coding RNAs such as tRNAs and rRNAs. We also find that genes that are differentially regulated by drought are significantly more likely to contain a GQS. CD-detected K+ titrations performed on representative RNAs verified formation of quadruplexes at physiological K+ concentrations. Overall, this study indicates that GQS are present at unique locations in Arabidopsis and that folding of RNA GQS may play important roles in regulating gene expression

Mammal responses to global changes in human activity vary by trophic group and landscape

Wildlife must adapt to human presence to survive in the Anthropocene, so it is critical to understand species responses to humans in different contexts. We used camera trapping as a lens to view mammal responses to changes in human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across 163 species sampled in 102 projects around the world, changes in the amount and timing of animal activity varied widely. Under higher human activity, mammals were less active in undeveloped areas but unexpectedly more active in developed areas while exhibiting greater nocturnality. Carnivores were most sensitive, showing the strongest decreases in activity and greatest increases in nocturnality. Wildlife managers must consider how habituation and uneven sensitivity across species may cause fundamental differences in human–wildlife interactions along gradients of human influence.Peer reviewe

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo

Meeting Abstracts: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo Clearwater Beach, FL, USA. 9-11 June 201