Ecological divergence combined with ancient allopatry in lizard populations from a small volcanic island

Population divergence and speciation are often explained by geographical isolation, but may also be possible under high gene flow due to strong ecology-related differences in selection pressures. This study combines coalescent analyses of genetic data (11 microsatellite loci and 1 Kbp of mtDNA) and ecological modelling to examine the relative contributions of isolation and ecology to incipient speciation in the scincid lizard Chalcides sexlineatus within the volcanic island of Gran Canaria. Bayesian multispecies coalescent dating of within-island genetic divergence of northern and southern populations showed correspondence with the timing of volcanic activity in the north of the island 1.5–3.0 Ma ago. Coalescent estimates of demographic changes reveal historical size increases in northern populations, consistent with expansions from a volcanic refuge. Nevertheless, ecological divergence is also supported. First, the two morphs showed non-equivalence of ecological niches and species distribution modelling associated the northern morph with mesic habitat types and the southern morph with xeric habitat types. It seems likely that the colour morphs are associated with different antipredator strategies in the different habitats. Second, coalescent estimation of gene copy migration (based on microsatellites and mtDNA) suggest high rates from northern to southern morphs demonstrating the strength of ecology-mediated selection pressures that maintain the divergent southern morph. Together, these findings underline the complexity of the speciation process by providing evidence for the combined effects of ecological divergence and ancient divergence in allopatry

The effect of laser power, traverse velocity and spot size on the peel resistance of a polypropylene/adhesive bond

Abstract The mean peel resistance force achieved with respect to variation in the laser power, incident spot traverse velocity and incident spot diameter between linear low density polyethylene film backed by a thin commercial adhesive coating that were bonded to a polypropylene substrate via thermal activation provided by a 27W CO 2 laser is discussed in this work. The results gathered for this work have been used to generate a novel empirical tool that predicts the CO 2 laser power required to achieve a viable adhesive bond for this material combination. This predictive tool will enable the packaging industry to achieve markedly increased financial yield, process efficiency, reduced material waste and process flexibility. A laser spot size dependent linear increase in laser line energy was necessary for this material combination, suggesting the minimal impact of thermal strain rate. Moreover a high level of repeatability around this threshold laser line energy was indicated, suggesting that laser activated adhesive bonding of such polymer films is viable. The adhesion between the material combination trialled here responded linearly to thermal load. In particular, when using the smallest diameter laser spot, it is proposed that the resulting high irradiance caused film or adhesive material damage; thus, resulting in reduced peel resistance force. The experimental work conducted indicated that the processing window of an incident CO 2 laser spot increases with respect to spot diameter, simultaneously yielding greater bond stability in the face of short-term laser variance

Determinants of treatment-related paradoxical reactions during anti-tuberculosis therapy: a case control study

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory response following initial improvement with anti-tuberculosis (TB) treatment has been termed a paradoxical reaction (PR). HIV co-infection is a recognised risk, yet little is known about other predictors of PR, although some biochemical markers have appeared predictive. We report our findings in an ethnically diverse population of HIV-infected and uninfected adults. METHODS: Prospective and retrospective clinical and laboratory data were collected on TB patients seen between January 1999-December 2008 at four UK centres selected to represent a wide ethnic and socio-economic mix of TB patients. Data on ethnicity and HIV status were obtained for all individuals. The associations between other potential risk factors and PR were assessed in a nested case-control study. All PR cases were matched two-to-one to controls by calendar time and centre. RESULTS: Of 1817 TB patients, 82 (4.5 %, 95 % CI 3.6-5.5 %) were identified as having a PR event. The frequency of PR was 14.4 % (18/125; 95 % CI 8.2-20.6 %) and 3.8 % (64/1692; 2.9-4.7) for HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals respectively. There were no differences observed in PR frequency according to ethnicity, although the site was more likely to be pulmonary in those of black and white ethnicity, and lymph node disease in those of Asian ethnicity. In multivariate analysis of the case-control cohort, HIV-positive patients had five times the odds of developing PR (aOR = 5.05; 95 % CI 1.28-19.85, p = 0.028), whilst other immunosuppression e.g. diabetes, significantly reduced the odds of PR (aOR = 0.01; 0.00-0.27, p = 0.002). Patients with positive TB culture had higher odds of developing PR (aOR = 6.87; 1.31-36.04, p = 0.045) compared to those with a negative culture or those in whom no material was sent for culture. Peripheral lymph node disease increased the odds of a PR over 60-fold 4(9.60-431.25, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: HIV was strongly associated with PR. The increased potential for PR in people with culture positive TB suggests that host mycobacterial burden might be relevant. The increased risk with TB lymphadenitis may in part arise from the visibility of clinical signs at this site. Non-HIV immunosuppression may have a protective effect. This study highlights the difficulties in predicting PR using routinely available demographic details, clinical symptoms or biochemical markers

Evidence for the classical integrability of the complete AdS(4) x CP(3) superstring

We construct a zero-curvature Lax connection in a sub-sector of the superstring theory on AdS(4) x CP(3) which is not described by the OSp(6|4)/U(3) x SO(1,3) supercoset sigma-model. In this sub-sector worldsheet fermions associated to eight broken supersymmetries of the type IIA background are physical fields. As such, the prescription for the construction of the Lax connection based on the Z_4-automorphism of the isometry superalgebra OSp(6|4) does not do the job. So, to construct the Lax connection we have used an alternative method which nevertheless relies on the isometry of the target superspace and kappa-symmetry of the Green-Schwarz superstring.Comment: 1+26 pages; v2: minor typos corrected, acknowledgements adde

Effect of Zinc Supplementation on Growth of Low Birth Weight Infants Aged 1–6 Mo in Ardabil, Iran

Objective To assess the effect of zinc supplementation on growth of low birth weight (LBW) infants aged 1–6 mo. Methods LBW infants were enrolled at birth and randomly assigned to receive 5 mg elemental Zn per day (n=45) or placebo (n=45) until 6 mo of age. They were followed monthly for information on compliance; anthropometric measurements were performed monthly. Results After randomization, 5 infants from zinc group and 9 from placebo group were excluded. At 6 mo of age, significantly greater weight gains were observed in the zinc than in the placebo group (4995±741g in zinc group vs. 3896±865 g in placebo group, p = 0.036). Length gain during the study period improved in zinc group (16.9±8.2 cm vs. 15.1±4.1 cm, p = 0.039); after zinc supplementation head circumference were increased (8.7±1.4 cm vs.7.4± 1.5 cm p<0.001). In male infants, total weight gain and height and head circumference gain were higher in the zinc than in the placebo group. However, only head circumference change was statistically significant. A similar trend was observed among female infants, but these differences were not statistically significant. There was no significant relation between breast-feeding status and the main outcome variables. Conclusions Infants in the present study showed improve¬ments in growth rate, but more studies are required in this field to confirm this fact

Effective recruitment of participants to a phase I study using the internet and publicity releases through charities and patient organisations: analysis of the adaptive study of IL-2 dose on regulatory T cells in type 1 diabetes (DILT1D).

A barrier to the successful development of new disease treatments is the timely recruitment of participants to experimental medicine studies that are primarily designed to investigate biological mechanisms rather than evaluate clinical efficacy. The aim of this study was to analyse the performance of three recruitment sources and the effect of publicity events during the Adaptive study of IL-2 dose on regulatory T cells in type 1 diabetes (DILT1D).This work is funded by the JDRF (9-2011-253), the Wellcome Trust (091157) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement number 241447 (NAIMIT). The Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) is in receipt of a Wellcome Trust Strategic Award (100140).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from BMC via http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13063-015-0583-

Issues in RF propagation modeling in an urban environment using the Extended Air Defense Simulation (EADSIM) mission level model.

As military operations in urban environments become more numerous, the ability of combat units to communicate, jam enemy communications, or employ RF weapons within this environment must be evaluated. To perform this evaluation in a mission level model requires a capability to evaluate the contributions of both terrain and man-made structures (interior and exterior) to RF propagation. The present study is an analysis of the adequacy of a mission level model (EADSIM) to perform these RF propagation calculations in an urban environment. Three basic environments must be assessed. The first environment consists entirely of terrain, with no man-made features impacting propagation values. The second environment includes terrain, but also includes the contribution of solid structures with abrupt edges, which may obstruct/influence LOS paths. The third environment includes not only terrain and structures, but also contains structures with interior features which must be evaluated to determine the propagation levels within and around these structures. EADSIM was used as the model for evaluation in view of its suite of propagation tools which can be used for analysis of RF propagation between transmitters and receivers including terrain. To assess EADSIM's capability to perform in these environments, flat terrain maps with an obstruction were created to permit comparison of EADSIM's propagation models with analytical calculations and with measurements. Calculations from the Terrain Integrated Rough Earth Model (TIREM) and the Spherical Earth Knife Edge (SEKE) propagation models included within EADSIM showed that the ability of the models to calculate knife-edge diffraction agreed favorably with analytical values. The representation of multipath effects was less encouraging. SEKE only models multipath when Fresnel clearance exists. TIREM models multipath, but the cyclical characteristics of multipath are not represented, and only subtractive path loss is considered. Multipath is only evaluated along a 2-D path in the vertical orientation. This precludes modeling propagation in the urban canyons of metropolitan areas, where horizontal paths are dominant. It also precludes modeling exterior to interior propagation. In view of the apparent inadequacy of urban propagation within mission level models, as evidenced by EADSIM, the study also attempts to address possible solutions to the problem. Correction of the sparsing techniques in both TIREM and SEKE models is recommended. Both SEKE and TIREM are optimized for DTED level 1 data, sparsed at 3 arc seconds resolution. This led to significant errors when map data was sparsed at higher or lower resolution. TIREM's errors would be significantly reduced if the 999 point array limit was eliminated. This would permit using interval sizes equal to the map resolution for larger areas. This same problem could be fixed in SEKE by changing the interval spacing from a fixed 3 arc second resolution ({approx}93 meters) to an interval which is set at the map resolution. Additionally, the cell elevation interpolation method which TIREM uses is inappropriate for the man-made structures encountered in urban environments. Turning this method of determining height off, or providing a selectable switch is desired. In the near term, it appears that further research into ray-tracing models is appropriate. Codes such as RF-ProTEC, which can be dynamically linked to mission level models such as EADSIM, can provide the higher fidelity propagation calculations required, and still permit the dynamic interactions required of the mission level model. Additional research should also be conducted on the best methods of representing man-made structures to determine whether codes other than ray-trace can be used

Thalamic inputs to dorsomedial striatum are involved in inhibitory control: evidence from the five-choice serial reaction time task in rats

Rationale Corticostriatal circuits are widely implicated in the top-down control of attention including inhibitory control and behavioural flexibility. However, recent neurophysiological evidence also suggests a role for thalamic inputs to striatum in behaviours related to salient, reward-paired cues. Objectives Here, we used designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) to investigate the role of parafascicular (Pf) thalamic inputs to the dorsomedial striatum (DMS) using the five-choice serial reaction time task (5CSRTT) in rats. Methods The 5CSRTT requires sustained attention in order to detect spatially and temporally distributed visual cues and provides measures of inhibitory control related to impulsivity (premature responses) and compulsivity (perseverative responses). Rats underwent bilateral Pf injections of the DREADD vector, AAV2-CaMKIIa-HA-hM4D(Gi)-IRES-mCitrine. The DREADD agonist, clozapine N-oxide (CNO; 1 μl bilateral; 3 μM) or vehicle, was injected into DMS 1 h before behavioural testing. Task parameters were manipulated to increase attention load or reduce stimulus predictability respectively. Results We found that inhibition of the Pf-DMS projection significantly increased perseverative responses when stimulus predictability was reduced but had no effect on premature responses or response accuracy, even under increased attentional load. Control experiments showed no effects on locomotor activity in an open field. Conclusions These results complement previous lesion work in which the DMS and orbitofrontal cortex were similarly implicated in perseverative responses and suggest a specific role for thalamostriatal inputs in inhibitory control

Long-term corrosion testing plan.

This document describes the testing and facility requirements to support the Yucca Mountain Project long-term corrosion testing program. The purpose of this document is to describe a corrosion testing program that will (a) reduce model uncertainty and variability, (b) reduce the reliance upon overly conservative assumptions, and (c) improve model defensibility. Test matrices were developed for 17 topical areas (tasks): each matrix corresponds to a specific test activity that is a subset of the total work performed in a task. A future document will identify which of these activities are considered to be performance confirmation activities. Detailed matrices are provided for FY08, FY09 and FY10 and rough order estimates are provided for FY11-17. Criteria for the selection of appropriate test facilities were developed through a meeting of Lead Lab and DOE personnel on October 16-17, 2007. These criteria were applied to the testing activities and recommendations were made for the facility types appropriate to carry out each activity. The facility requirements for each activity were assessed and activities were identified that can not be performed with currently available facilities. Based on this assessment, a total of approximately 10,000 square feet of facility space is recommended to accommodate all future testing, given that all testing is consolidated to a single location. This report is a revision to SAND2008-4922 to address DOE comments