Phylogenetic position of the langur genera Semnopithecus and Trachypithecus among Asian colobines, and genus affiliations of their species groups

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The evolutionary history of the Asian colobines is less understood. Although monophyly of the odd-nosed monkeys was recently confirmed, the relationships among the langur genera <it>Presbytis</it>, <it>Semnopithecus </it>and <it>Trachypithecus </it>and their position among Asian colobines remained unclear. Moreover, in <it>Trachypithecus </it>various species groups are recognized, but their affiliations are still disputed. To address these issues, mitochondrial and Y chromosomal sequence data were phylogenetically related and combined with presence/absence analyses of retroposon integrations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The analysed 5 kb fragment of the mitochondrial genome allows no resolution of the phylogenetic relationships among langur genera, but five retroposon integrations were detected which link <it>Trachypithecus </it>and <it>Semnopithecus</it>. According to Y chromosomal data and a 573 bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, a common origin of the species groups <it>T</it>. [<it>cristatus</it>], <it>T</it>. [<it>obscurus</it>] and <it>T</it>. [<it>francoisi</it>] and their reciprocal monophyly is supported, which is also underpinned by an orthologous retroposon insertion. <it>T</it>. [<it>vetulus</it>] clusters within <it>Semnopithecus</it>, which is confirmed by two retroposon integrations. Moreover, this species group is paraphyletic, with <it>T. vetulus </it>forming a clade with the Sri Lankan, and <it>T. johnii </it>with the South Indian form of <it>S. entellus</it>. Incongruence between gene trees was detected for <it>T</it>. [<it>pileatus</it>], in that Y chromosomal data link it with <it>T</it>. [<it>cristatus</it>], <it>T</it>. [<it>obscurus</it>] and <it>T</it>. [<it>francoisi</it>], whereas mitochondrial data affiliates it with the <it>Semnopithecus </it>clade.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Neither relationships among the three langur genera nor their position within Asian colobines can be settled with 5 kb mitochondrial sequence data, but retroposon integrations confirm at least a common origin of <it>Semnopithecus </it>and <it>Trachypithecus</it>. According to Y chromosomal and 573 bp mitochondrial sequence data, <it>T</it>. [<it>cristatus</it>], <it>T</it>. [<it>obscurus</it>] and <it>T</it>. [<it>francoisi</it>] represent true members of the genus <it>Trachypithecus</it>, whereas <it>T</it>. [<it>vetulus</it>] clusters within <it>Semnopithecus</it>. Due to paraphyly of <it>T</it>. [<it>vetulus</it>] and polyphyly of <it>Semnopithecus</it>, a split of the genus into three species groups (<it>S. entellus </it>- North India, <it>S. entellus </it>- South India + <it>T. johnii</it>, <it>S. entellus </it>- Sri Lanka + <it>T. vetulus</it>) seems to be appropriate. T. [<it>pileatus</it>] posses an intermediate position between both genera, indicating that the species group might be the result of ancestral hybridization.</p

Is the New Primate Genus Rungwecebus a Baboon?

BACKGROUND: In 2005, a new primate species from Tanzania, the kipunji, was described and recognized as a member of the mangabey genus Lophocebus. However, molecular investigations based upon a number of papionins, including a limited sample of baboons of mainly unknown geographic origin, identified the kipunji as a sister taxon to Papio and not as a member of Lophocebus. Accordingly, the kipunji was separated into its own monotypic genus, Rungwecebus. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We compare available mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data from the voucher specimen of Rungwecebus to other papionin lineages, including a set of geographically proximal (parapatric) baboon samples. Based on mitochondrial sequence data the kipunji clusters with baboon lineages that lie nearest to it geographically, i.e. populations of yellow and chacma baboons from south-eastern Africa, and thus does not represent a sister taxon to Papio. Nuclear data support a Papio+Rungwecebus clade, but it remains questionable whether Rungwecebus represents a sister taxon to Papio, or whether it is nested within the genus as depicted by the mitochondrial phylogeny. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study clearly supports a close relationship between Rungwecebus and Papio and might indicate that the kipunji is congeneric with baboon species. However, due to its morphological and ecological uniqueness Rungwecebus more likely represents a sister lineage to Papio and experienced later introgressive hybridization. Presumably, male (proto-)kipunjis reproduced with sympatric female baboons. Subsequent backcrossing of the hybrids with kipunjis would have resulted in a population with a nuclear kipunji genome, but which retained the yellow/chacma baboon mitochondrial genome. Since only one kipunji specimen was studied, it remains unclear whether all members of the new genus have been impacted by intergeneric introgression or rather only some populations. Further studies with additional Rungwecebus samples are necessary to elucidate the complete evolutionary history of this newly-described primate genus

Enlarged cerebrospinal fluid spaces in opiate-dependent male patients: A stereological CT study

Computed tomography was performed in 9 male patients with a diagnosis of opiate dependence and in 9 age-matched psychiatric controls (neurotic depression). Patients with a history or diagnosis of another substance dependence (alcohol, cocaine, cannabis) were excluded from the study. The volumes of internal and external components of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were measured with a point-counting stereological method. Analysis of variance with age as a covariate revealed a significant enlargement of external and external CSF spaces in male patients with opiate dependence. There was no significant correlation between the length of opiate dependence and the volumes of internal and external CSF spaces. The present results suggest that opiate dependence is associated with structural brain alterations. However, the relationship between opiate dependence and structural brain changes is complex and still not well understood

Environment-assisted quantum transport in a 10-qubit network

The way in which energy is transported through an interacting system governs fundamental properties in many areas of physics, chemistry, and biology. Remarkably, environmental noise can enhance the transport, an effect known as environment-assisted quantum transport (ENAQT). In this paper, we study ENAQT in a network of coupled spins subject to engineered static disorder and temporally varying dephasing noise. The interacting spin network is realized in a chain of trapped atomic ions and energy transport is represented by the transfer of electronic excitation between ions. With increasing noise strength, we observe a crossover from coherent dynamics and Anderson localization to ENAQT and finally a suppression of transport due to the quantum Zeno effect. We found that in the regime where ENAQT is most effective the transport is mainly diffusive, displaying coherences only at very short times. Further, we show that dephasing characterized by non-Markovian noise can maintain coherences longer than white noise dephasing, with a strong influence of the spectral structure on the transport effciency. Our approach represents a controlled and scalable way to investigate quantum transport in many-body networks under static disorder and dynamic noise.Comment: Mai

Successful delivery after vaginal occlusion in addition to cerclage in a trachelectomy patient with recurrent second trimester pregnancy loss:a case report

KEY CLINICAL MESSAGE: Pregnancy outcome after trachelectomy has high risk of complications such as second trimester pregnancy loss and preterm birth. We report beneficial effect of a simple procedure of vaginal occlusion in addition to cerclage in a patient with trachelectomy and two prior second trimester pregnancy losses

A Nietzschean Account of Human Flourishing: Affirming the Will to Power inside the Contours of Friendship

In this dissertation, I examine Friedrich Nietzsche\u27s notion of the will to power, his account of friendship and his understanding of human flourishing. Through textual analysis, I offer a new way of interpreting the will to power, as the achieving of self-realization. The process of achieving self-realization is undergirded by the satisfaction of seven existential needs that are rooted in the paradoxical human conflict between instincts and consciousness. The existential needs are the need for a frame of orientation, the need for devotion, the need for unity, the need for rootedness, the need for stimulation, the need for effectiveness and the need for self-love. While there are a variety of ways in which these needs can be satisfied, I propose a norm of satisfaction: beauty. I appropriate the ancient Greek concept of to kalon and claim that this notion of action for the sake of the beautiful is the primary normative standard that Nietzsche would advocate for how an individual ought to satisfy his existential needs. I then turn to an analysis of friendship in order to demonstrate its supportive role in self-realization. I claim that Nietzsche does in fact have an account of friendship, albeit one that must be pieced together from various middle works and that he presents genuine friendship as a mean condition existing between various sets of excessive and deficient vices that are constantly in tension. Friendship is the virtue that, if authentic, can bear a mutually supportive relation with the will to power. I argue that the will to power and the virtue of friendship are two primary elements that constitute human flourishing, but a particular kind of human flourishing that includes both happiness and unhappiness as siblings

Observation of Entangled States of a Fully Controlled 20-Qubit System

We generate and characterise entangled states of a register of 20 individually controlled qubits, where each qubit is encoded into the electronic state of a trapped atomic ion. Entanglement is generated amongst the qubits during the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of an Ising-type Hamiltonian, engineered via laser fields. Since the qubit-qubit interactions decay with distance, entanglement is generated at early times predominantly between neighbouring groups of qubits. We characterise entanglement between these groups by designing and applying witnesses for genuine multipartite entanglement. Our results show that, during the dynamical evolution, all neighbouring qubit pairs, triplets, most quadruplets, and some quintuplets simultaneously develop genuine multipartite entanglement. Witnessing genuine multipartite entanglement in larger groups of qubits in our system remains an open challenge.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure

The effect of different running shoes on treadmill running mechanics and muscle activity assessed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM)

Differences in joint mechanics between running shoes are commonly assessed using discrete parameters, yet statistically significant differences in these parameters between shoes are often scarce with small effect sizes. Statistical parametric mapping (SPM) has been suggested as suitable method for analyzing one-dimensional data such as kinematic, kinetic or muscle intensity time series.; The purpose of this study was to determine differences in treadmill running mechanics between novel running shoes using SPM.; Joint kinematics, muscle activity and ground reaction force were assessed in 19 rearfoot runners in their own shoes and in two test shoes during treadmill running (test shoe 1: 13 distinct rubber elements in the outer sole, springboard within EVA midsole with posterior elements shifted anteriorly by approximately 1.5 cm; test shoe 2: 17 distinct EVA elements with conventional heel geometry). Joint kinematics were measured using an inertial sensor system, and ground reaction force was measured using an instrumented treadmill.; SPM analysis with repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant reductions in the ankle angle and in tibialis anterior, peroneus longus, vastus medialis and lateralis muscle activity during weight acceptance and in peroneus longus muscle activity during early and late swing and in semitendinosus muscle activity during late swing for the test shoes. Significant differences in muscle activity were observed in the interval of the main activity of the respective muscle. SPM on individual data revealed statistically significant and relevant within-subject differences between conditions in kinematic, muscle activity and ground reaction force patterns.; Inertial sensor systems and SPM may provide an efficient way of detecting changes in joint mechanics between running shoes within runners. Detecting within-subject differences in running mechanics between conditions not only requires statistical criteria but also criteria on the relevance of the magnitude of differences