Phylogenetics of the Tiger-flower Group (Tigridieae: Iridaceae): Molecular and Morphological Evidence

The phylogenetic relationships among 23 species of the tribe Tigridieae (lridaceae) were inferred using morphological data and nucleotide sequences from nuclear ITS and three intergenic spacers of the cpDNA: psbA-trnH, trnT-trnL, and trnL-trnF. Although all data sets supported a monophyletic Mexican-Guatemalan Tigridiinae including two taxa usually placed in Cipurinae (Cardiostigma longispatha and Nemastylis convoluta), neither morphology, cpDNA, nor ITS resolved phylogenetic relationships within this lineage. A graphical tree of trees analysis showed the cladograms derived from morphology to be the most topologically distinct within the set of all trees examined and to be the set with most divergent trees. Finally, cladistic analysis of the combined data sets supported the recurrent dispersal of Cipurinae from South to North America and a South American origin of the Mexican-Guatemalan subtribe Tigridiinae

Why federal intervention in Portland shouldn’t be a shock

For several months, protests have been ongoing in Portland, Oregon, following the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Aaron Roussell and Gisela Rodriguez Fernandez examine the intentional misconceptions which have developed to delegitimize the protests in Portland and elsewhere, writing that despite sentiments that such tactics are ‘not American’, the use of police violence and federal agents against protests in US cities is nothing new

Is there any genetic variation among native mexican and argentinian populations of Dalbulus maidis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)?.

The corn leafhopper Dalbulus maidis (Delong & Wolcott) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) originated in Mexico, but is found from southeastern and southwestern USA to Argentina. Differences in reproductive and phenotypic traits between Mexican (native) and Argentinian (adventive) populations have been previously reported, but information on their genetic variation is currently unavailable. The objective was to investigate possible genetic variability among D. maidis populations collected in Mexico on maize and maize relatives (annual and perennial teosintes) and on maize in Argentina. A region of the mitochondrial gene coding for the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) and the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) were sequenced and analyzed. We developed the forward and reverse primers for the DNA amplification of COI in D. maidis (dalCOI). Twenty two and 17 sequences for dalCOI and ITS2, respectively, were generated and analyzed. No genetic variation among Mexican and Argentinian populations was found in the ribosomal region and low genetic variation was found in the mitochondrial region. These results could be explained by the short evolutionary time scale, since both maize and the corn leafhopper moved throughout the Americas only in the most recent millenia, or in part to the limited host range, and thus a limited change in the corn leafhopper associated bacteria.Fil: Palomera, Veronica. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Bertin, Sabrina. Universidad de Torino ; ItaliaFil: Rodriguez, Aaron. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Bosco, Domenico. Universidad de Torino; ItaliaFil: Virla, Eduardo Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; ArgentinaFil: Moya-Raygoza, Gustavo. Universidad de Guadalajara; Méxic

Cryptocurrency Price Predictions Using High Performance Computing

Digital currency has recently gained popularity as it has become increasingly dependent on computers and the Internet. New forms of currency have been constantly evolving over the past few years, namely cryptocurrency. Virtual forms of currency have open new doors within the software industry in finance, data storage, and data collection. Cryptocurrency (crypto) is very volatile in terms of market value, which carries a host of unknowns that make it difficult to predict and analyze the future prices of crypto. However, cryptocurrency behaves similarly to stocks, which allows for the use of linear regression models to make predictions about price levels. With the ability to predict crypto prices, one can make a prediction for crypto stocks since the popular coin, Bitcoin, affects stock prices. This paper will discuss the use of two types of linear regression models, least squares and auto regression, as well as predictors such as social media and economic data to calculate the volatility of a given cryptocurrency and its prices. Using high performance computing techniques will allow regression models to predict relatively accurate crypto prices and past available cryptocurrency price data will be used to verify our results

Recharge Uncertainty Analysis of Major Aquifers in Texas

While the reduction of the groundwater available volume in the state of Texas of urban, agricultural, and industrial use has been dealt with in different ways, the first step is to assess the current and future behavior of the aquifers that supply it. For this the Texas Water Development Board created the Groundwater Availability models. This paper studies the recharge data used to build them and how the sensitivity to changes in recharge of each aquifer can affect the available groundwater statewide to point to interest aquifers that need a more in-depth recharge analysis. The reported recharge in the models was variated from 50% to 150% to determine changes in head, stored volume, and overall baseflow. The normalized variations where then compared to select the most and least recharge sensitive aquifers to perform a recharge surge reflecting that of hurricane Harvey (1000% normal recharge) in the Gulf Coast Center (Houston, Texas) to determine the behavior when subjected to atypical recharge events. Given the great geohydrological variability, not only inside the aquifers, but between the analyzed aquifers, the changes in head, volume, and baseflow do not only follow the greatest increase in recharge. The Hueco Mesilla Bolson aquifer experienced the least absolute change in mean head (0.0003% of normal head), paired with the lowest absolute change in recharge (0.004m1 y -1). However, the Edwards Balcones Fault Zone Springs (near San Antonio, Texas) experiences the largest absolute change in recharge (0.370m-1 y -1), but the Gulf Coast North experienced the largest absolute change in mean head (42% of normal head). While the differences in composition and size of the aquifers make a complete comparison difficult, the most sensitive aquifers, determined by the linear model to which head and stored volume were subjected to, were determined to be the Trinity North and the Edwards Trinity Plateau for respectively. These two can be the focus of subsequent and more localized studies to determine the feasibility of the recharge driven strategies to increase the groundwater availability of Texas

El desenlace de un viaje. La expansión de las ciudades distópicas

This document is a journey through imaginary cities, cities that are or were, through pollution, decadence, and the inevitable end of today's society if no action is taken. Starting from Ítalo Calvino's The imaginary Cities, a series of watercolor illustrations are made representing different social and environmental problems. These problems are described and specified, together with the process of making the plastic works.Este documento es un viaje por ciudades imaginadas, urbes que son o que fueron, a través de la contaminación, la decadencia, y el inevitable fin de la sociedad actual si no se actúa al respecto. Partiendo de Las ciudades imaginarias de Ítalo Calvino, se realizan una serie de dibujos en acuarela que representan diferentes problemas sociales y medioambientales. Estos problemas son descritos y especificados, junto con el proceso de realización de las obras plásticas

An Energy-aware, Fault-tolerant, and Robust Deep Reinforcement Learning based approach for Multi-agent Patrolling Problems

Autonomous vehicles are suited for continuous area patrolling problems. However, finding an optimal patrolling strategy can be challenging for many reasons. Firstly, patrolling environments are often complex and can include unknown environmental factors. Secondly, autonomous vehicles can have failures or hardware constraints, such as limited battery life. Importantly, patrolling large areas often requires multiple agents that need to collectively coordinate their actions. In this work, we consider these limitations and propose an approach based on model-free, deep multi-agent reinforcement learning. In this approach, the agents are trained to automatically recharge themselves when required, to support continuous collective patrolling. A distributed homogeneous multi-agent architecture is proposed, where all patrolling agents execute identical policies locally based on their local observations and shared information. This architecture provides a fault-tolerant and robust patrolling system that can tolerate agent failures and allow supplementary agents to be added to replace failed agents or to increase the overall patrol performance. The solution is validated through simulation experiments from multiple perspectives, including the overall patrol performance, the efficiency of battery recharging strategies, and the overall fault tolerance and robustness

Acute hemorrhagic demyelination in a murine model of multiple sclerosis

Acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalomyelitis (AHLE) is a rare neurological condition characterized by the development of acute hemorrhagic demyelination and high mortality. The pathomechanism of AHLE, as well as potential therapeutic approaches, have remained elusive due to the lack of suitable animal models. We report the first murine model of AHLE using a variation of the Theiler's Murine Encephalitis Virus (TMEV) MS model. During acute TMEV infection, C57BL/6 mice do not normally undergo demyelination. However, when 7 day TMEV infected C57BL/6 mice are intravenously administered the immunodominant CD8 T cell peptide, VP2121–130, animals develop characteristics of human AHLE based on pathologic, MRI and clinical features including microhemorrhages, increased blood-brain barrier permeability, and demyelination. The animals also develop severe disability as assessed using the rotarod assay. This study demonstrates the development of hemorrhagic demyelination in TMEV infected C57BL/6 mice within 24 hours of inducing this condition through intravenous administration of CD8 T cell restricted peptide. This study is also the first demonstration of rapid demyelination in a TMEV resistant non-demyelinating strain without transgenic alterations or pharmacologically induced immunosuppression