Blood thicker than water: Kinship, disease prevalence and group size drive divergent patterns of infection risk in a social mammal

The importance of social- and kin-structuring of populations for the transmission of wildlife disease is widely assumed but poorly described. Social structure can help dilute risks of transmission for group members, and is relatively easy to measure, but kin-association represents a further level of population sub-structure that is harder to measure, particularly when association behaviours happen underground. Here, using epidemiological and molecular genetic data from a wild, high-density population of the European badger (Meles meles), we quantify the risks of infection with Mycobacterium bovis (the causative agent of tuberculosis) in cubs. The risk declines with increasing size of its social group, but this net dilution effect conceals divergent patterns of infection risk. Cubs only enjoy reduced risk when social groups have a higher proportion of test-negative individuals. Cubs suffer higher infection risk in social groups containing resident infectious adults, and these risks are exaggerated when cubs and infectious adults are closely related. We further identify key differences in infection risk associated with resident infectious males and females. We link our results to parent– offspring interactions and other kin-biased association, but also consider the possibility that susceptibility to infection is heritable. These patterns of infection risk help to explain the observation of a herd immunity effect in badgers following low-intensity vaccination campaigns. They also reveal kinship and kin-association to be important, and often hidden, drivers of disease transmission in social mammals

An exploration of the effectiveness of artificial mini-magnetospheres as a potential solar storm shelter for long term human space missions

If mankind is to explore the solar system beyond the confines of our Earth and Moon the problem of radiation protection must be addressed. Galactic cosmic rays and highly variable energetic solar particles are an ever-present hazard in interplanetary space. Electric and/or magnetic fields have been suggested as deflection shields in the past, but these treated space as an empty vacuum. In fact it is not empty. Space contains a plasma known as the solar wind; a constant flow of protons and electrons coming from the Sun. In this paper we explore the effectiveness of a “mini-magnetosphere” acting as a radiation protection shield. We explicitly include the plasma physics necessary to account for the solar wind and its induced effects. We show that, by capturing/containing this plasma, we enhance the effectiveness of the shield. Further evidence to support our conclusions can be obtained from studying naturally occurring “mini-magnetospheres” on the Moon. These magnetic anomalies (related to “lunar swirls”) exhibit many of the effects seen in laboratory experiments and computer simulations. If shown to be feasible, this technology could become the gateway to manned exploration of interplanetary space

Taxonomic surrogacy in biodiversity assessments, and the meaning of Linnaean ranks

Copyright © 2006 The Natural History MuseumThe majority of biodiversity assessments use species as the base unit. Recently, a series of studies have suggested replacing numbers of species with higher ranked taxa (genera, families, etc.); a method known as taxonomic surrogacy that has an important potential to save time and resources in assesments of biological diversity. We examine the relationships between taxa and ranks, and suggest that species/higher taxon exchanges are founded on misconceptions about the properties of Linnaean classification. Rank allocations in current classifications constitute a heterogeneous mixture of various historical and contemporary views. Even if all taxa were monophyletic, those referred to the same rank would simply denote separate clades without further equivalence. We conclude that they are no more comparable than any other, non-nested taxa, such as, for example, the genus Rattus and the phylum Arthropoda, and that taxonomic surrogacy lacks justification. These problems are also illustrated with data of polychaetous annelid worms from a broad-scale study of benthic biodiversity and species distributions in the Irish Sea. A recent consensus phylogeny for polychaetes is used to provide three different family-level classifications of polychaetes. We use families as a surrogate for species, and present Shannon–Wiener diversity indices for the different sites and the three different classifications, showing how the diversity measures rely on subjective rank allocations.Y. Bertrand, F. Pleijel and G. W. Rous

The taxonomy and anatomy of rauisuchian archosaurs from the Late Triassic of Germany and Poland

The German Late Triassic archosaur Teratosaurus suevicus is a historically important taxon, being the first described rauisuchian. Unfortunately the holotype is a single element, a maxilla, which is poorly preserved and incomplete. We redescribe this maxilla and identify a single potential autapomorphy. The fragmentary type specimen complicates attempts to refer additional material to this taxon, and other unassociated archosaur and rauisuchian specimens from the Mittlerer Stubensandstein of Germany cannot be referred to T. suevicus with any degree of confidence. The stratigraphically older T. silesiacus, from the upper Carnian of Poland, is represented by a much more complete and better preserved specimen. Comparison of the maxillae of T. suevicus and T. silesiacus reveals that the two are distinct taxa, contra recent suggestions, but also that they do not share any synapomorphies or a unique combination of characters relative to Postosuchus kirkpatricki and other rauisuchians. Thus, the Polish material must be transferred to a new genus, Polonosuchus gen. nov. Both Polonosuchus and Teratosaurus are very similar to Postosuchus kirkpatricki, and the three taxa are likely closely related

Structure and chromosomal location of the bovine gene for the heart muscle isoform of cytochrome c oxidase subunit VIII

We have isolated the bovine COX8H gene for the heart/muscle isoform of cytochrome c oxidase (COX) subunit VIII from a library of bovine genomic DNA cloned into lambda EMBL3. Primer extension assays on bovine heart mRNA mapped the 5′ ends of COX8H transcripts to a CA dinucleotide 62-bp upstream from the ATG codon. The gene thus spans 1565-bp and comprises two exons and one large intron of 1227 bp. Exon 1 encodes the 5′ untranslated region, a 24-amino acid presequence, and the first 13 amino acids of the mature COX VIII-H protein. Exon 2 encodes the remainder of the cDNA: amino acids 14 to 46 plus the 66-bp 3′ untranslated region. The exon-intron boundaries matched the consensus splice junction sequences. Two protein polymorphisms were seen: an Ala/Val polymorphism at position-6 in the presequence and the previously noted Lys/Arg polymorphism at residue 7 of the mature protein. A Taq I polymorphism occurs in the intron. The COX8H gene was mapped by bovine x rodent somatic cell hybrid mapping panels to bovine (BTA) Chromosome (Chr) 25 with 100% concordancy. BTA25 is conserved relative to the long arm of human (HSA) Chr 11, which contains COX8, the gene for the single human COX VIII subunit that is homologous to the liver isoform.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47018/1/335_2004_Article_BF00303255.pd

The ecogenetic link between demography and evolution : can we bridge the gap between theory and data?

Calls to understand the links between ecology and evolution have been common for decades. Population dynamics, i.e. the demographic changes in populations, arise from life history decisions of individuals and thus are a product of selection, and selection, on the contrary, can be modified by such dynamical properties of the population as density and stability. It follows that generating predictions and testing them correctly requires considering this ecogenetic feedback loop whenever traits have demographic consequences, mediated via density dependence (or frequency dependence). This is not an easy challenge, and arguably theory has advanced at a greater pace than empirical research. However, theory would benefit from more interaction between related fields, as is evident in the many near-synonymous names that the ecogenetic loop has attracted. We also list encouraging examples where empiricists have shown feasible ways of addressing the question, ranging from advanced data analysis to experiments and comparative analyses of phylogenetic data

Psychosocial Treatment of Children in Foster Care: A Review

A substantial number of children in foster care exhibit psychiatric difficulties. Recent epidemiologi-cal and historical trends in foster care, clinical findings about the adjustment of children in foster care, and adult outcomes are reviewed, followed by a description of current approaches to treatment and extant empirical support. Available interventions for these children can be categorized as either symptom-focused or systemic, with empirical support for specific methods ranging from scant to substantial. Even with treatment, behavioral and emotional problems often persist into adulthood, resulting in poor functional outcomes. We suggest that self-regulation may be an important mediat-ing factor in the appearance of emotional and behavioral disturbance in these children

Research priorities for global food security under extreme events

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