MORPHOLOGY, REPRODUCTION, SEASONAL ACTIVITY AND HABITAT USE OF A NORTHERN POPULATION OF THE SMOOTH GREENSNAKE (OPHEODRYS VERNALIS)

The Smooth Greensnake (Opheodrys vernalis) is a small, slender, oviparous, colubrid snake that is widely distributed in North America. Nonetheless, there have been few studies on this species, and little is known about Canadian populations. The objective of this study was to examine morphology, reproduction, seasonal activity and habitat use of a northern population of the Smooth Greensnake. Individuals were captured during the summers of 2007-2010 in southwestern Manitoba, Canada. Females were larger and relatively heavier than males, but clutch size did not consistently increase with body size. In addition, 59% (on average) of available adult females were gravid in any given year, suggesting that females may not reproduce each year. Males had relatively longer heads and longer tails than females. Males were more common in early August; otherwise, females were more common. The peak of male activity in August suggests that fall mating might occur in this species, but this was not confirmed. Finally, Smooth Greensnakes were most commonly found in grassland, and there were no differences in habitat use between the sexes. Further research on northern populations of Smooth Greensnakes would provide valuable information on this little-studied species

Blind Demodulation of Pass Band OFDMA Signals and Jamming Battle Damage Assessment Utilizing Link Adaptation

This research focuses on blind demodulation of a pass band OFDMA signal so that jamming effectiveness can be assessed; referred to in this research as BDA. The research extends, modifies and collates work within literature to perform a new method of blindly demodulating of a passband OFDMA signal, which exhibits properties of the 802.16 Wireless MAN OFDMA standard, and presents a novel method for performing BDA via observation of SC LA. Blind demodulation is achieved by estimating the carrier frequency, sampling rate, pulse shaping filter roll off factor, synchronization parameters and CFO. The blind demodulator\u27s performance in AWGN and a perfect channel is evaluated where it improves using a greater number OFDMA DL symbols and increased CP length. Performance in a channel with a single multi-path interferer is also evaluated where the blind demodulator\u27s performance is degraded. BDA is achieved via observing SC LA modulation behavior of the blindly demodulated signal between successive OFDMA DL sub frames in two scenarios. The first is where modulation signaling can be used to observe change of SC modulation. The second assumes modulation signaling is not available and the SC\u27s modulation must be classified. Classification of SC modulation is performed using sixth-order cumulants where performance increases with the number of OFDMA symbols. The SC modulation classi er is susceptible to the CFO caused by blind demodulation. In a perfect channel it is shown that SC modulation can be classified using a variety of OFDMA DL sub frame lengths in symbols. The SC modulation classifier experienced degraded performance in a multi-path channel and it is recommended that it is extended to perform channel equalization in future work

The primary donor of far-red photosystem II: ChlD1 or PD2?

Far-red light (FRL) Photosystem II (PSII) isolated from Chroococcidiopsis thermalis is studied using parallel analyses of low-temperature absorption, circular dichroism (CD) and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopies in conjunction with fluorescence measurements. This extends earlier studies (Nurnberg et al 2018 Science 360 (2018) 1210-1213). We confirm that the chlorophyll absorbing at 726 nm is the primary electron donor. At 1.8 K efficient photochemistry occurs when exciting at 726 nm and shorter wavelengths; but not at wavelengths longer than 726 nm. The 726 nm absorption peak exhibits a 21 ± 4 cm-1 electrochromic shift due to formation of the semiquinone anion, QA-. Modelling indicates that no other FRL pigment is located among the 6 central reaction center chlorins: PD1, PD2 ChlD1, ChlD2, PheoD1 and PheoD2. Two of these chlorins, ChlD1 and PD2, are located at a distance and orientation relative to QA- so as to account for the observed electrochromic shift. Previously, ChlD1 was taken as the most likely candidate for the primary donor based on spectroscopy, sequence analysis and mechanistic arguments. Here, a more detailed comparison of the spectroscopic data with exciton modelling of the electrochromic pattern indicates that PD2 is at least as likely as ChlD1 to be responsible for the 726 nm absorption. The correspondence in sign and magnitude of the CD observed at 726 nm with that predicted from modelling favors PD2 as the primary donor. The pros and cons of PD2 vs ChlD1 as the location of the FRL-primary donor are discussed.We recognize the support of the Australian Research Councilthrough grants DP110104565 and DP150103137 (EK), FT140100834(NC). This work was supported by BBSRC grants BB/L011506/1 andBB/R001383/1 (AWR, AF and DN

Atypicalities in Perceptual Adaptation in Autism Do Not Extend to Perceptual Causality

A recent study showed that adaptation to causal events (collisions) in adults caused subsequent events to be less likely perceived as causal. In this study, we examined if a similar negative adaptation effect for perceptual causality occurs in children, both typically developing and with autism. Previous studies have reported diminished adaptation for face identity, facial configuration and gaze direction in children with autism. To test whether diminished adaptive coding extends beyond high-level social stimuli (such as faces) and could be a general property of autistic perception, we developed a child-friendly paradigm for adaptation of perceptual causality. We compared the performance of 22 children with autism with 22 typically developing children, individually matched on age and ability (IQ scores). We found significant and equally robust adaptation aftereffects for perceptual causality in both groups. There were also no differences between the two groups in their attention, as revealed by reaction times and accuracy in a change-detection task. These findings suggest that adaptation to perceptual causality in autism is largely similar to typical development and, further, that diminished adaptive coding might not be a general characteristic of autism at low levels of the perceptual hierarchy, constraining existing theories of adaptation in autism.16 page(s

Comparative Geno-Plasticity Analysis of Mycoplasma bovis HB0801 (Chinese Isolate)

Mycoplasma bovis pneumonia in cattle has been epidemic in China since 2008. To investigate M. bovis pathogenesis, we completed genome sequencing of strain HB0801 isolated from a lesioned bovine lung from Hubei, China. The genomic plasticity was determined by comparing HB0801 with M. bovis strain ATCC® 25523™/PG45 from cow mastitis milk, Chinese strain Hubei-1 from lesioned lung tissue, and 16 other Mycoplasmas species. Compared to PG45, the genome size of HB0801 was reduced by 11.7 kb. Furthermore, a large chromosome inversion (580 kb) was confirmed in all Chinese isolates including HB0801, HB1007, a strain from cow mastitis milk, and Hubei-1. In addition, the variable surface lipoproteins (vsp) gene cluster existed in HB0801, but contained less than half of the genes, and had poor identity to that in PG45, but they had conserved structures. Further inter-strain comparisons revealed other mechanisms of gene acquisition and loss in HB0801 that primarily involved insertion sequence (IS) elements, integrative conjugative element, restriction and modification systems, and some lipoproteins and transmembrane proteins. Subsequently, PG45 and HB0801 virulence in cattle was compared. Results indicated that both strains were pathogenic to cattle. The scores of gross pathological assessment for the control group, and the PG45- and HB0801-infected groups were 3, 13 and 9, respectively. Meanwhile the scores of lung lesion for these three groups were 36, 70, and 69, respectively. In addition, immunohistochemistry detection demonstrated that both strains were similarly distributed in lungs and lymph nodes. Although PG45 showed slightly higher virulence in calves than HB0801, there was no statistical difference between the strains (P>0.05). Compared to Hubei-1, a total of 122 SNP loci were disclosed in HB0801. In conclusion, although genomic plasticity was thought to be an evolutionary advantage, it did not apparently affect virulence of M. bovis strains in cattle

Sequence-Based Analysis Uncovers an Abundance of Non-Coding RNA in the Total Transcriptome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

RNA sequencing provides a new perspective on the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by revealing an extensive presence of non-coding RNA, including long 5’ and 3’ untranslated regions, antisense transcripts, and intergenic small RNA (sRNA) molecules. More than a quarter of all sequence reads mapping outside of ribosomal RNA genes represent non-coding RNA, and the density of reads mapping to intergenic regions was more than two-fold higher than that mapping to annotated coding sequences. Selected sRNAs were found at increased abundance in stationary phase cultures and accumulated to remarkably high levels in the lungs of chronically infected mice, indicating a potential contribution to pathogenesis. The ability of tubercle bacilli to adapt to changing environments within the host is critical to their ability to cause disease and to persist during drug treatment; it is likely that novel post-transcriptional regulatory networks will play an important role in these adaptive responses

Identification and structural characterization of FYVE domain-containing proteins of Arabidopsis thaliana

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>FYVE domains have emerged as membrane-targeting domains highly specific for phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PtdIns(3)<it>P</it>). They are predominantly found in proteins involved in various trafficking pathways. Although FYVE domains may function as individual modules, dimers or in partnership with other proteins, structurally, all FYVE domains share a fold comprising two small characteristic double-stranded β-sheets, and a C-terminal α-helix, which houses eight conserved Zn²⁺ion-binding cysteines. To date, the structural, biochemical, and biophysical mechanisms for subcellular targeting of FYVE domains for proteins from various model organisms have been worked out but plant FYVE domains remain noticeably under-investigated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We carried out an extensive examination of all <it>Arabidopsis </it>FYVE domains, including their identification, classification, molecular modeling and biophysical characterization using computational approaches. Our classification of fifteen <it>Arabidopsis </it>FYVE proteins at the outset reveals unique domain architectures for FYVE containing proteins, which are not paralleled in other organisms. Detailed sequence analysis and biophysical characterization of the structural models are used to predict membrane interaction mechanisms previously described for other FYVE domains and their subtle variations as well as novel mechanisms that seem to be specific to plants.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study contributes to the understanding of the molecular basis of FYVE-based membrane targeting in plants on a genomic scale. The results show that FYVE domain containing proteins in plants have evolved to incorporate significant differences from those in other organisms implying that they play a unique role in plant signaling pathways and/or play similar/parallel roles in signaling to other organisms but use different protein players/signaling mechanisms.</p

Outcomes of obstructed abdominal wall hernia: results from the UK national small bowel obstruction audit

Background: Abdominal wall hernia is a common surgical condition. Patients may present in an emergency with bowel obstruction, incarceration or strangulation. Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a serious surgical condition associated with significant morbidity. The aim of this study was to describe current management and outcomes of patients with obstructed hernia in the UK as identified in the National Audit of Small Bowel Obstruction (NASBO). Methods: NASBO collated data on adults treated for SBO at 131 UK hospitals between January and March 2017. Those with obstruction due to abdominal wall hernia were included in this study. Demographics, co-morbidity, imaging, operative treatment, and in-hospital outcomes were recorded. Modelling for factors associated with mortality and complications was undertaken using Cox proportional hazards and multivariable regression modelling. Results: NASBO included 2341 patients, of whom 415 (17·7 per cent) had SBO due to hernia. Surgery was performed in 312 (75·2 per cent) of the 415 patients; small bowel resection was required in 198 (63·5 per cent) of these operations. Non-operative management was reported in 35 (54 per cent) of 65 patients with a parastomal hernia and in 34 (32·1 per cent) of 106 patients with an incisional hernia. The in-hospital mortality rate was 9·4 per cent (39 of 415), and was highest in patients with a groin hernia (11·1 per cent, 17 of 153). Complications were common, including lower respiratory tract infection in 16·3 per cent of patients with a groin hernia. Increased age was associated with an increased risk of death (hazard ratio 1·05, 95 per cent c.i. 1·01 to 1·10; P = 0·009) and complications (odds ratio 1·05, 95 per cent c.i. 1·02 to 1·09; P = 0·001). Conclusion: NASBO has highlighted poor outcomes for patients with SBO due to hernia, highlighting the need for quality improvement initiatives in this group