Sample records for abh-le secretor traits

  1. Frequency of ABH secretors and non secretors: A cross sectional study in Karachi.

    PubMed

    Saboor, Muhammad; Ullah, Aman; Qamar, Khansa; Mir, Awal; Moinuddin

    2014-01-01

    ABO blood group and secretor status is valuable in relation to some diseases in clinical and forensic medicine. Across the globe there are geographic and racial differences in the frequency of secretors and non-secretors. Aim of this study was to evaluate the status of ABH blood group secretors and non-secretors in Karachi (Pakistan). Blood and saliva samples were randomly collected from one hundred and one (n=101) healthy adult students (76 male, 25 female) ranging in age from 15 to 40 years. Their ABO and Rhesus blood groups were determined by conventional methods, and their secretor status was studied by hemagglutination inhibition method of saliva. RESULTS showed that 64.4% of the study population were ABH blood group secretors while 35.6% were non-secretors. Frequencies of the secretor status among various ABO blood groups were 71.4% in group A, 79.5% in group B, 45.5% in group AB, and 61.5% in group O. Frequency of ABH secretor is high (64.4%). Blood group B has the highest secretor (79.5%) frequency while Blood group AB has the lowest (45.5%).

  2. ABH secretor status and pulmonary function.

    PubMed

    Haines, A P; Imeson, J D; Meade, T W

    1982-03-01

    Among current cigarette smokers in the Northwick Park Heart Study in N.W. London, England, secretors of ABH antigen had a higher mean peak expiratory flow rate than did nonsecretors. The relationship was independent of other factors known to affect peak expiratory flow rate. No significant differences in peak expiratory flow rate by secretor status were detected in nonsmokers or in pipe and cigar smokers, although a smaller difference was seen among secretors and nonsecretors who were ex-cigarette smokers than among those who were current cigarette smokers. It is concluded that secretion of ABH antigen into the respiratory tract may have a protective effect against pulmonary damage by noxious agents.

  3. Photoacoustic analysis of the solubilization kinetics of pulmonary secretions from cystic fibrosis patients - secretor and non-secretor phenotypes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barja, P. R.; Coelho, C. C.; Paiva, R. F.; Barboza, M. A.; Matos, L. C.; Matos, C. C. B.; Oliveira, L. V. F.

    2010-03-01

    Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive inherited disease that increases viscoelasticity of pulmonary secretions. Affected patients are required to use therapeutic aerosols continuously. The expression of ABH glycoconjugates in exocrine secretions determines the nature of part of the carbohydrates present in these secretions, allowing the classification of individuals into the so-called "secretor" and "non secretor" phenotypes. The aim of this work was to employ photoacoustic (PA) measurements to monitor the solubilization kinetics of pulmonary secretions from CF patients, analyzing the influence of the secretor status in the solubilization kinetics of samples nebulized with different therapeutic aerosols. Sputum samples were obtained by spontaneous expectoration from positive and negative secretor CF patients. Each sample was nebulized with i) tobramycin, ii) alpha dornase, and iii) N-acetylcysteine in a PA cell; fitting of the data with the Boltzmann equation led to the determination of t0 (typical interaction time) and Δt (solubilization interval) for each curve. Differences between the secretor and non-secretor phenotypes were statistically significant in the groups for tobramycin and alpha dornase, but not for N-acetylcysteine. Results show that the secretor status influences the solubilization of pulmonary mucus of CF patients nebulized with tobramycin and alpha dornase.

  4. Regulation of the oncodevelopmental expression of type 1 chain ABH and Lewis(b) blood group antigens in human colon by alpha-2-L-fucosylation.

    PubMed Central

    Orntoft, T F; Greenwell, P; Clausen, H; Watkins, W M

    1991-01-01

    Blood group antigen expression in the distal human colon is related to the development of the organ and is modified by malignant transformation. To elucidate the biochemical basis for these changes, we have (a) analysed the activity of glycosyltransferases coded for by the H, Se, Le, X, and A genes, in tissue biopsy specimens from normal and malignant proximal and distal human colon; (b) characterised the glycosphingolipids expressed in the various regions of normal and malignant colon by immunostaining of high performance thin layer chromatography plates; and (c) located the antigens on tissue sections from the same subjects by immunohistochemistry. In both secretors and non-secretors we found a significantly higher activity of alpha-2-L-fucosyltransferases in carcinomatous rectal tissue than in tissue from normal subjects, whereas the other transferase activities studied showed no significant differences. The acceptor substrate specificity suggested that both the Se and the H gene dependent alpha-2-L-fucosyltransferases are increased in carcinomas. In non-malignant tissue the only enzyme which showed appreciably higher activity in caecum than in rectum was alpha-2-L-fucosyltransferase. Immunochemistry and immunohistochemistry showed alpha-2-L-fucosylated structures in normal caecum from secretors and in tumour tissue from both secretors and non-secretors. We conclude that the alpha-2-L-fucosyltransferases control the expression of ABH, and Lewis(b) structures in normal and malignant colon. Images Figure 4 PMID:1826491

  5. The relationship between oral Candida carriage and the secretor status of blood group antigens in saliva.

    PubMed

    Shin, Eun-Seop; Chung, Sung-Chang; Kim, Young-Ku; Lee, Sung-Woo; Kho, Hong-Seop

    2003-07-01

    The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between oral Candida carriage and the secretor status of blood group antigens. Unstimulated whole saliva and oral rinse samples were obtained from 180 healthy subjects. These samples were plated on Sabouraud's dextrose agar media to determine oral Candida carriage. Sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting were performed on whole saliva samples to determine the secretor status of blood group antigens. The oral Candida carriage rate was found to be 45.0%. The sensitivity of the concentrated rinse culture proved to be superior. Oral Candida carriage was not significantly related to the blood group or secretor status of ABH or Lewis antigens. No significant relationship was found between oral Candida carriage and salivary flow rate. However, smoking affected oral Candida carriage. Oral Candida carriage in healthy individuals is not significantly related to blood group or secretor status.

  6. Two new FUT2 (fucosyltransferase 2 gene) missense polymorphisms, 739G-->A and 839T-->C, are partly responsible for non-secretor status in a Caucasian population from Northern Portugal.

    PubMed

    Serpa, Jacinta; Mendes, Nuno; Reis, Celso A; Santos Silva, Luis F; Almeida, Raquel; Le Pendu, Jacques; David, Leonor

    2004-11-01

    Secretor status is defined by the expression of H type 1 antigen on gastric surface epithelium and external secretions. The H type 1 structure, and other fucosylated carbohydrates (Le(a), sialyl-Le(a), Le(b), Le(x), sialyl-Le(x) and Le(y)), can serve as ligands for several pathogens, including Helicobacter pylori, and are cancer-associated antigens. Secretor individuals are more susceptible to some bacterial and viral infections of the genito-urinary and digestive tracts. The aim of the present study was to examine FUT2 (fucosyltransferase 2 gene) polymorphisms in a Caucasian population of non-secretor individuals (n=36) from northern Portugal and to evaluate the activity of the mutant FUT2 enzymes. The secretor status was determined by UEAI [Ulex europaeus (gorse) lectin] histochemistry in gastric mucosa, and FUT2 polymorphisms were studied by restriction-fragment-length polymorphism and direct sequencing. The majority of non-secretors (88.9%) were homozygous for 428G-->A polymorphism; 5.6% were homozygous for 571C-->T and 5.6% were homozygous for two new missense polymorphisms, 739G-->A (2.8%) and 839T-->C (2.8%). By kinetic studies it was demonstrated that the two new FUT2 mutants (739G-->A and 839T-->C) are almost inactive and are responsible for some non-secretor cases.

  7. Determinants of ABH expression on human blood platelets.

    PubMed

    Cooling, Laura L W; Kelly, Kathleen; Barton, James; Hwang, Debbie; Koerner, Theodore A W; Olson, John D

    2005-04-15

    Platelets express ABH antigens, which can adversely effect platelet transfusion recovery and survival in ABH-incompatible recipients. To date, there has been no large, comprehensive study comparing specific donor factors with ABH expression on platelet membranes and glycoconjugates. We studied ABH expression in 166 group A apheresis platelet donors by flow cytometry, Western blotting, and thin layer chromatography relative to donor age, sex, A1/A2 subgroup, and Lewis phenotype. Overall, A antigen on platelet membranes, glycoproteins, and glycosphingolipids was linked to an A1 red blood cell (RBC) phenotype. Among A1 donors, platelet ABH varied significantly between donors (0%-87%). Intradonor variability, however, was minimal, suggesting that platelet ABH expression is a stable, donor-specific characteristic, with 5% of A1 donors typing as either ABH high- or low-expressers. Group A2 donors, in contrast, possessed a Bombay-like phenotype, lacking both A and H antigens. Unlike RBCs, ABH expression on platelets may be determined primarily by H-glycosyltransferase (FUT1) activity. Identification of A2 and A1 low expressers may increase the availability and selection of crossmatched and HLA-matched platelets. Platelets from group A2 may also be a superior product for patients undergoing A/O major mismatch allogeneic progenitor cell transplantation.

  8. Abh and AbrB Control of Bacillus subtilis Antimicrobial Gene Expression▿

    PubMed Central

    Strauch, Mark A.; Bobay, Benjamin G.; Cavanagh, John; Yao, Fude; Wilson, Angelo; Le Breton, Yoann

    2007-01-01

    The Bacillus subtilis abh gene encodes a protein whose N-terminal domain has 74% identity to the DNA-binding domain of the global regulatory protein AbrB. Strains with a mutation in abh showed alterations in the production of antimicrobial compounds directed against some other Bacillus species and gram-positive microbes. Relative to its wild-type parental strain, the abh mutant was found deficient, enhanced, or unaffected for the production of antimicrobial activity. Using lacZ fusions, we examined the effects of abh upon the expression of 10 promoters known to be regulated by AbrB, including five that transcribe well-characterized antimicrobial functions (SdpC, SkfA, TasA, sublancin, and subtilosin). For an otherwise wild-type background, the results show that Abh plays a negative regulatory role in the expression of four of the promoters, a positive role for the expression of three, and no apparent regulatory role in the expression of the other three promoters. Binding of AbrB and Abh to the promoter regions was examined using DNase I footprinting, and the results revealed significant differences. The transcription of abh is not autoregulated, but it is subject to a degree of AbrB-afforded negative regulation. The results indicate that Abh is part of the complex interconnected regulatory system that controls gene expression during the transition from active growth to stationary phase. PMID:17720793

  9. The sensitivity of Bacillus subtilis to diverse antimicrobial compounds is influenced by Abh.

    PubMed

    Murray, Ewan J; Stanley-Wall, Nicola R

    2010-12-01

    Abh is a transition state regulator of Bacillus subtilis that controls biofilm formation and the production of several diverse antimicrobial compounds. Using a high-throughput non-biased technique, we show for the first time that Abh influences the sensitivity of B. subtilis to diverse antimicrobial compounds. Following up on these findings with a combination of classical genetics and antibiotic susceptibility assays, we demonstrate that Abh influences cellular processes such as the remodelling of the cell wall. We present data demonstrating that the extracytoplasmic function sigma factor σ(X) controls resistance to β-lactam antibiotics by activating abh transcription. Downstream from Abh, activation of slrR expression by Abh is responsible for controlling the sensitivity of B. subtilis to such antibiotics due to the role that SlrR plays in regulating autolysin biosynthesis. The abh mutant additionally exhibits increased resistance to aminoglycoside antimicrobials. We confirm that aminoglycoside killing of B. subtilis is likely to be caused by oxidative damage but rule out the possibility that the increased resistance of the abh mutant to aminoglycosides is due to a general increase in resistance to oxidative stress.

  10. IL-12 Production Induced by Agaricus blazei Fraction H (ABH) Involves Toll-like Receptor (TLR)

    PubMed Central

    2004-01-01

    Agaricus blazei Murill is an edible fungus used in traditional medicine, which has various well-documented medicinal properties. In the present study, we investigated the effects of hemicellulase-derived mycelia extract (Agaricus blazei fraction H: ABH) on the immune system. First, we examined the cytokine-inducing activity of ABH on human peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMC). The results indicated that ABH induced expression of IL-12, a cytokine known to be a critical regulator of cellular immune responses. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated the induction of IL-12 production by the CD14-positive cell population, consisting of monocytes/macrophages (Mo/Mφ). Furthermore, the elimination of Mo/Mφ attenuated IL-12 production in PBMC. ABH-induced IL-12 production was inhibited by anti-CD14 and anti-TLR4 antibodies but not by anti-TLR2 antibody. The activity of ABH was not inhibited by polymyxin B, while the activity of lipopolysaccharide used as a reference was inhibited. Oral administration of ABH enhanced natural killer (NK) activity in the spleen. These findings suggest that ABH activated Mo/Mφ in a manner dependent on CD14/TLR4 and NK activity. PMID:15841259

  11. Norovirus Gastroenteritis Outbreak with a Secretor-independent Susceptibility Pattern, Sweden

    PubMed Central

    Nordgren, Johan; Kindberg, Elin; Lindgren, Per-Eric; Matussek, Andreas

    2010-01-01

    Norovirus (NoV) is recognized as the commonest cause of acute gastroenteritis among adults. Susceptibility to disease has been associated with histo-blood group antigens and secretor status; nonsecretors are almost completely resistant to disease. We report a foodborne outbreak of GI.3 NoV gastroenteritis that affected 33/83 (40%) persons. Symptomatic disease was as likely to develop in nonsecretors as in secretors (odds ratio [OR] 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.46–4.36 vs. OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.23–2.18, p = 0.57). Moreover, no statistical difference in susceptibility was found between persons of different Lewis or ABO phenotypes. The capsid gene of the outbreak strain shares high amino acid homology with the Kashiwa645 GI.3 strain, previously shown to recognize nonsecretor saliva, as well as synthetic Lewis a. This norovirus outbreak affected persons regardless of secretor status or Lewis or ABO phenotypes. PMID:20031047

  12. Association of Lewis and Secretor gene polymorphisms and Helicobacter pylori seropositivity among Japanese-Brazilians.

    PubMed

    Oba-Shinjo, Sueli Mieko; Uno, Miyuki; Ito, Lucy Sayuri; Shinjo, Samuel Katsuyuki; Marie, Suely Kazue Nagahashi; Hamajima, Nobuyuki

    2004-08-01

    Secretor ( Se) and Lewis ( Le) genes are involved in the synthesis of Lewis b (Le(b)) and type I antigens throughout the body, especially in the epithelial cells of gastric mucosa. Helicobacter pylori can attach to the gastric epithelial cells with the blood group antigen-binding adhesin, which binds to Le(b) or H type I carbohydrate structures. In a previous study, a marked association between H. pylori seropositivity and polymorphism of the Se and Le genes was observed among Japanese outpatients of a gastroenterology clinic. The present work aims to investigate the associations between Se and Le gene polymorphisms and H. pylori infection among Japanese-Brazilians. The subjects consisted of 942 healthy volunteer Japanese-Brazilians, who were tested for the presence of anti- H. pylori IgG antibodies and genotyped for Se and Le polymorphisms. The sex-age-adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for H. pylori seropositivity were 0.99 for the Sese genotype relative to the SeSe genotype (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.73-1.33), and 1.03 for sese relative to SeSe (95% CI, 0.71-1.48). On the other hand, the aOR for the subjects with the le allele ( Lele or lele) relative to the LeLe genotype was 1.48 (95% CI, 1.07-1.79). When the Se and Le genotypes were analyzed in combination according to risk group, no statistically significant association was observed. These results are inconsistent with previous work and may have been modulated by an external factor or some other unidentified factor. Japanese-Brazilians are genotypically the same as Japanese, but their lifestyle is adapted to that of Brazil. Further investigations are necessary to clarify this influence on susceptibility to H. pylori infection.

  13. Innate Resistance and Susceptibility to Norovirus Infection

    DOE PAGES

    Nordgren, Johan; Sharma, Sumit; Kambhampati, Anita; ...

    2016-04-26

    The notion that certain individuals appear more or less susceptible to infections or to specific microbes is not new, but, until recently, it was assumed that clinical outcome of an infection was mainly owing to virulence factors of the microorganism. Relatively little attention has been given to host genetic factors involved in innate or adaptive immunity or expression of pathogen receptors. A remarkable example of susceptibility dependence is the strong Mendelian trait resistance to the most common noroviruses among individuals with a nonsense mutation in chromosome 19. Norovirus is recognized as the leading cause of gastroenteritis worldwide, affecting children andmore » adults alike. Noroviruses are highly contagious and genetically diverse RNA viruses, but not all individuals are susceptible to infection to the same norovirus genotypes. Presence of histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs) on gut epithelial surfaces is essential for susceptibility to many norovirus genotypes. The synthesis of these HBGAs, specifically of the ABH and Lewis families, requires the use of several fucosyl and glycosyltransferases encoded by the FUT2, FUT3, and ABH genes. Polymorphisms in these genes vary considerably depending on ethnicity, with a homozygous nonsense mutation (individuals called non-secretors) in the FUT2 gene occurring in approximately 5%–50% of different populations worldwide. Secretor status also affects gut microbiota composition, including HBGA-expressing bacteria and bacteria inducing fucosylation in the gut. These could be intermediary factors that govern norovirus susceptibility.« less

  14. Innate Resistance and Susceptibility to Norovirus Infection

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Nordgren, Johan; Sharma, Sumit; Kambhampati, Anita

    The notion that certain individuals appear more or less susceptible to infections or to specific microbes is not new, but, until recently, it was assumed that clinical outcome of an infection was mainly owing to virulence factors of the microorganism. Relatively little attention has been given to host genetic factors involved in innate or adaptive immunity or expression of pathogen receptors. A remarkable example of susceptibility dependence is the strong Mendelian trait resistance to the most common noroviruses among individuals with a nonsense mutation in chromosome 19. Norovirus is recognized as the leading cause of gastroenteritis worldwide, affecting children andmore » adults alike. Noroviruses are highly contagious and genetically diverse RNA viruses, but not all individuals are susceptible to infection to the same norovirus genotypes. Presence of histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs) on gut epithelial surfaces is essential for susceptibility to many norovirus genotypes. The synthesis of these HBGAs, specifically of the ABH and Lewis families, requires the use of several fucosyl and glycosyltransferases encoded by the FUT2, FUT3, and ABH genes. Polymorphisms in these genes vary considerably depending on ethnicity, with a homozygous nonsense mutation (individuals called non-secretors) in the FUT2 gene occurring in approximately 5%–50% of different populations worldwide. Secretor status also affects gut microbiota composition, including HBGA-expressing bacteria and bacteria inducing fucosylation in the gut. These could be intermediary factors that govern norovirus susceptibility.« less

  15. ABO, Secretor and Lewis histo-blood group systems influence the digestive form of Chagas disease.

    PubMed

    Bernardo, Cássia Rubia; Camargo, Ana Vitória Silveira; Ronchi, Luís Sérgio; de Oliveira, Amanda Priscila; de Campos Júnior, Eumildo; Borim, Aldenis Albaneze; Brandão de Mattos, Cinara Cássia; Bestetti, Reinaldo Bulgarelli; de Mattos, Luiz Carlos

    2016-11-01

    Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, can affect the heart, esophagus and colon. The reasons that some patients develop different clinical forms or remain asymptomatic are unclear. It is believed that tissue immunogenetic markers influence the tropism of T. cruzi for different organs. ABO, Secretor and Lewis histo-blood group systems express a variety of tissue carbohydrate antigens that influence the susceptibility or resistance to diseases. This study aimed to examine the association of ABO, secretor and Lewis histo-blood systems with the clinical forms of Chagas disease. We enrolled 339 consecutive adult patients with chronic Chagas disease regardless of gender (cardiomyopathy: n=154; megaesophagus: n=119; megacolon: n=66). The control group was composed by 488 healthy blood donors. IgG anti-T. cruzi antibodies were detected by ELISA. ABO and Lewis phenotypes were defined by standard hemagglutination tests. Secretor (FUT2) and Lewis (FUT3) genotypes, determined by Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), were used to infer the correct histo-blood group antigens expressed in the gastrointestinal tract. The proportions between groups were compared using the χ2 test with Yates correction and Fisher's exact test and the Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) were calculated. An alpha error of 5% was considered significant with p-values <0.05 being corrected for multiple comparisons (pc). No statistically significant differences were found for the ABO (X 2 : 2.635; p-value=0.451), Secretor (X 2 : 0.056; p-value=0.812) or Lewis (X 2 : 2.092; p-value=0.351) histo-blood group phenotypes between patients and controls. However, B plus AB Secretor phenotypes were prevalent in pooled data from megaesophagus and megacolon patients (OR: 5.381; 95% CI: 1.230-23.529; p-value=0.011; pc=0.022) in comparison to A plus O Secretor phenotypes. The tissue antigen variability resulting from the combined action of ABO and

  16. Assessment of ABO blood grouping and secretor status in the saliva of the patients with oral potentially malignant disorders.

    PubMed

    Rai, Pragati; Acharya, Swetha; Hallikeri, Kaveri

    2015-01-01

    Secretor status may possibly be one of the factors in the etiopathogenesis of oral precancerous lesions and subsequently cancer. Studies have shown the relationship between the pathogenesis of disease and secretor status. They have made known that secretor status is a possible factor influencing disease status. Studies have revealed the association between blood groups and specific diseases. To assess any association of ABO blood grouping with oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) and to examine whether there is any difference in the saliva secretor status in the patients with OPMDs and healthy controls. The study consisted of 90 subjects, with 45 patients assigned to two groups (a) Patients with potentially malignant disorders and (b) healthy controls. ABO blood grouping was done and 1 ml of unstimulated saliva was collected in a sterile test tube. The Wiener agglutination test was performed to analyze the secretor status in both the groups. Chi-square test and odd ratio were used to assess the relationship between ABO blood group and OPMDs. Chi-square test was performed to assess the relationship between secretor status and OPMDs. Probability level was fixed at <0.05. The results demonstrated a statistically significant relation between OPMDs and secretor status (P = 0.00). Eighty-seven percent of patients with OPMDs were nonsecretors, while in the control group sixteen percent of them were nonsecretors. There was no statistically significant relationship between ABO blood groups and OPMDs (P > 0.05). The study confirms the inability to secrete blood group antigens in the saliva of patients with OPMDs which could be regarded as a host risk factor. Results could not propose a relationship between ABO blood group and OPMDs.

  17. Phenotypically heterogeneous deletion of the ABH antigen from the transformed bladder urothelium. A scanning electron microscope study.

    PubMed

    De Harven, E; He, S; Hanna, W; Bootsma, G; Connolly, J G

    1987-10-01

    The deletion of ABH blood group antigens from the luminal surface of the bladder mucosa in cases of well differentiated transitional cell carcinomata, and the formation of pleomorphic microvilli have both been associated with aggressive biological behaviour and invasiveness of the tumors. We have studied cold cup biopsies from 8 normal mucosae and 17 papillary transitional cell carcinomata of the urinary bladder. The aim of our study was to correlate the formation of uniform or pleomorphic microvilli with the extent of deletion of the ABH blood group antigens on the surface of normal and transformed bladder urothelium. Immunogold scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in the backscattered electron (BE) imaging mode was used for this purpose. In the normal urothelium, uniform labeling of the luminal cells was demonstrated. In well differentiated tumors, the superficial cells exhibited uniform microvilli and a heterogeneous expression of the ABH antigens, giving characteristic 'mosaic' patterns of the antigenic labeling across the mucosal surface. These patterns were sharply delimitated at cell junctions when viewed by SEM; these observations were confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. In higher grade tumors, decreased ABH antigen expression, pleomorphic microvilli and/or featureless luminal cells were observed. In the transformed urothelium, the formation of uniform microvilli appeared to precede the loss of ABH antigen in most cases.

  18. [Alkaline phosphatase activity in blood group B or O secretors is fluctuated by the dinner intake of previous night].

    PubMed

    Matsushita, Makoto; Harajiri, Sanae; Tabata, Shiori; Yukimasa, Nobuyasu; Muramoto, Yoshimi; Komoda, Tsugikazu

    2013-04-01

    We previously reported that two intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) isoforms, high molecular mass IAP (HIAP) and normal molecular mass IAP (NIAP), appear in healthy serum with our Triton-PAGE method for determination of ALP isozymes. In addition, HIAP is chiefly present in blood group B or O secretors, and a large amount of NIAP is secreted into the circulation after high-fat meal in blood group B or O secretors. In the present paper, we investigated the relationship between alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in early morning with the patient in a fasted state and the dinner intake of previous night. Two types of dinner were prepared; a low-fat meal (520 kcal), and a high-fat meal (1,040 kcal). Subjects ate the 2 types of dinner on different days. The mean ALP activities at 14 h after high-fat meal ingestion in blood group B or O secretors (n=14) from JSCC and IFCC methods were 8.8% and 5.2% higher than those at 14 h after low-fat meal ingestion in blood group B or O secretors, respectively. The increases in ALP activity between after high-fat meal and low-fat meal were nearly identical to the increases in NIAP activity. These results suggest that a high-fat meal is more likely to affect ALP activity at the early morning with the patient in a fasted state in blood group B or O secretors.

  19. Two new FUT2 (fucosyltransferase 2 gene) missense polymorphisms, 739G→A and 839T→C, are partly responsible for non-secretor status in a Caucasian population from Northern Portugal

    PubMed Central

    2004-01-01

    Secretor status is defined by the expression of H type 1 antigen on gastric surface epithelium and external secretions. The H type 1 structure, and other fucosylated carbohydrates (Lea, sialyl-Lea, Leb, Lex, sialyl-Lex and Ley), can serve as ligands for several pathogens, including Helicobacter pylori, and are cancer-associated antigens. Secretor individuals are more susceptible to some bacterial and viral infections of the genito-urinary and digestive tracts. The aim of the present study was to examine FUT2 (fucosyltransferase 2 gene) polymorphisms in a Caucasian population of non-secretor individuals (n=36) from northern Portugal and to evaluate the activity of the mutant FUT2 enzymes. The secretor status was determined by UEAI [Ulex europaeus (gorse) lectin] histochemistry in gastric mucosa, and FUT2 polymorphisms were studied by restriction-fragment-length polymorphism and direct sequencing. The majority of non-secretors (88.9%) were homozygous for 428G→A polymorphism; 5.6% were homozygous for 571C→T and 5.6% were homozygous for two new missense polymorphisms, 739G→A (2.8%) and 839T→C (2.8%). By kinetic studies it was demonstrated that the two new FUT2 mutants (739G→A and 839T→C) are almost inactive and are responsible for some non-secretor cases. PMID:15250822

  20. Ectopic expression of blood type antigens in inflamed mucosa with higher incidence of FUT2 secretor status in colonic Crohn's disease.

    PubMed

    Miyoshi, Jun; Yajima, Tomoharu; Okamoto, Susumu; Matsuoka, Katsuyoshi; Inoue, Nagamu; Hisamatsu, Tadakazu; Shimamura, Katsuyoshi; Nakazawa, Atsushi; Kanai, Takanori; Ogata, Haruhiko; Iwao, Yasushi; Mukai, Makio; Hibi, Toshifumi

    2011-09-01

    Host-intestinal microbial interaction plays an important role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs). The surface molecules of the intestinal epithelium act as receptors for bacterial adhesion and regulate the intestinal bacteria. Some known receptors are the mucosal blood type antigens, which are regulated by the fucosyltransferase2 (FUT2) gene, and individuals who express these antigens in the gastrointestinal tract are called secretors. Recent research has revealed that the FUT2 gene is associated with Crohn's disease (CD) in western populations. To clarify the contribution of mucosal blood type antigens in IBD, we determined the incidence of five previously reported single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the FUT2 gene in Japanese patients. We also used immunohistochemistry to investigate the antigen expression in mucosal specimens from IBD patients and animal models. Genetic analysis revealed that all of the patients with colonic CD were secretors, whereas the incidence of secretors was 80, 80, 67, and 80%, respectively, for the control, ileocolonic CD, ileal CD, and ulcerative colitis groups (P = 0.036). Abnormal expression of blood type antigens was observed only in colonic CD. Interleukin-10⁻/⁻ mice, but not dextran sulfate sodium colitis mice, had enhanced colonic expression of blood type antigens, and the expression of these antigens preceded the development of colitis in the interleukin-10⁻/⁻ mice. FUT2 secretor status was associated with colonic-type CD. This finding, taken together with the immunohistochemistry data, suggests that the abnormal expression of blood type antigens in the colon may be a unique and essential factor for colonic CD.

  1. Epidemiologic Association Between FUT2 Secretor Status and Severe Rotavirus Gastroenteritis in Children in the United States

    PubMed Central

    Payne, Daniel C.; Currier, Rebecca L.; Staat, Mary A.; Sahni, Leila C.; Selvarangan, Rangaraj; Halasa, Natasha B.; Englund, Janet A.; Weinberg, Geoffrey A.; Boom, Julie A.; Szilagyi, Peter G.; Klein, Eileen J.; Chappell, James; Harrison, Christopher J.; Davidson, Barbara S.; Mijatovic-Rustempasic, Slavica; Moffatt, Mary D.; McNeal, Monica; Wikswo, Mary; Bowen, Michael D.; Morrow, Ardythe L.; Parashar, Umesh D.

    2016-01-01

    IMPORTANCE A genetic polymorphism affecting FUT2 secretor status in approximately one-quarter of humans of European descent affects the expression of histo-blood group antigens on the mucosal epithelia of human respiratory, genitourinary, and digestive tracts. These histo-blood group antigens serve as host receptor sites necessary for attachment and infection of some pathogens, including norovirus. OBJECTIVE We investigated whether an association exists between FUT2 secretor status and laboratory-confirmed rotavirus infections in US children. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Multicenter case-control observational study involving active surveillance at 6 US pediatric medical institutions in the inpatient and emergency department clinical settings. We enrolled 1564 children younger than 5 years with acute gastroenteritis (diarrhea and/or vomiting) and 818 healthy controls frequency matched by age and month, from December 1, 2011, through March 31, 2013. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Paired fecal-saliva specimens were tested for rotavirus and for secretor status. Comparisons were made between rotavirus test–positive cases and healthy controls stratified by ethnicity and vaccination status. Adjusted multivariable analyses assessed the preventive association of secretor status against severe rotavirus gastroenteritis. RESULTS One (0.5%) of 189 rotavirus test–positive cases was a nonsecretor, compared with 188 (23%) of 818 healthy control participants (P < .001). Healthy control participants of Hispanic ethnicity were significantly less likely to be nonsecretors (13%) compared with healthy children who were not of Hispanic ethnicity (25%) (P < .001). After controlling for vaccination and other factors, children with the nonsecretor FUT2 polymorphism appeared statistically protected (98% [95% CI, 84%–100%]) against severe rotavirus gastroenteritis. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Severe rotavirus gastroenteritis was virtually absent among US children who had a genetic

  2. The FhaB/FhaC two-partner secretion system is involved in adhesion of Acinetobacter baumannii AbH12O-A2 strain

    PubMed Central

    Pérez, A.; Merino, M.; Rumbo-Feal, S.; Álvarez-Fraga, L.; Vallejo, J. A.; Beceiro, A.; Ohneck, E. J.; Mateos, J.; Fernández-Puente, P.; Actis, L. A.; Poza, M.; Bou, G.

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Acinetobacter baumannii is a hospital-acquired pathogen that shows an extraordinary capacity to stay in the hospital environment. Adherence of the bacteria to eukaryotic cells or to abiotic surfaces is the first step for establishing an infection. The A. baumannii strain AbH12O-A2 showed an exceptional ability to adhere to A549 epithelial cells. The AbFhaB/FhaC 2-partner secretion (TPS) system involved in adhesion was discovered after the screening of the recently determined A. baumannii AbH12O-A2 strain genome (CP009534.1). The AbFhaB is a large exoprotein which transport to the bacterial surface is mediated by the AbFhaC protein. In the present study, the role of this TPS system in the AbH12O-A2 adherence phenotype was investigated. The functional inactivation of this 2-partner secretion system was addressed by analyzing the outer membrane vesicles (OMV) proteomic profile from the wild-type strain and its derivative mutant AbH12O-A2ΔfhaC demonstrating that AbFhaB is no longer detected in the absence of AbFhaC. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and adhesion experiments demonstrated that inactivation of the AbFhaB/FhaC system significantly decreases bacterial attachment to A549 alveolar epithelial cells. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that this 2-partner secretion system is involved in fibronectin-mediated adherence of the A. baumannii AbH12O-A2 isolate. Finally, we report that the AbFhaB/FhaC system is involved in virulence when tested using invertebrate and vertebrate hosts. These data suggest the potential role that this AbFhaB/FhaC secretion system could play in the pathobiology of A. baumannii. PMID:27858524

  3. The FhaB/FhaC two-partner secretion system is involved in adhesion of Acinetobacter baumannii AbH12O-A2 strain.

    PubMed

    Pérez, A; Merino, M; Rumbo-Feal, S; Álvarez-Fraga, L; Vallejo, J A; Beceiro, A; Ohneck, E J; Mateos, J; Fernández-Puente, P; Actis, L A; Poza, M; Bou, G

    2017-08-18

    Acinetobacter baumannii is a hospital-acquired pathogen that shows an extraordinary capacity to stay in the hospital environment. Adherence of the bacteria to eukaryotic cells or to abiotic surfaces is the first step for establishing an infection. The A. baumannii strain AbH12O-A2 showed an exceptional ability to adhere to A549 epithelial cells. The AbFhaB/FhaC 2-partner secretion (TPS) system involved in adhesion was discovered after the screening of the recently determined A. baumannii AbH12O-A2 strain genome (CP009534.1). The AbFhaB is a large exoprotein which transport to the bacterial surface is mediated by the AbFhaC protein. In the present study, the role of this TPS system in the AbH12O-A2 adherence phenotype was investigated. The functional inactivation of this 2-partner secretion system was addressed by analyzing the outer membrane vesicles (OMV) proteomic profile from the wild-type strain and its derivative mutant AbH12O-A2ΔfhaC demonstrating that AbFhaB is no longer detected in the absence of AbFhaC. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and adhesion experiments demonstrated that inactivation of the AbFhaB/FhaC system significantly decreases bacterial attachment to A549 alveolar epithelial cells. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that this 2-partner secretion system is involved in fibronectin-mediated adherence of the A. baumannii AbH12O-A2 isolate. Finally, we report that the AbFhaB/FhaC system is involved in virulence when tested using invertebrate and vertebrate hosts. These data suggest the potential role that this AbFhaB/FhaC secretion system could play in the pathobiology of A. baumannii.

  4. Future Viability of Title IV Revenue: A Descriptive Study of Perceptions of Select ABHE Institutional Leadership

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Palmer, Kris Russell

    2017-01-01

    There is a looming threat to the economic vitality of the organizational community of intentionally Christian colleges and universities, relevant to the use of Title IV funds. Within the framework of organizational ecology, this qualitative descriptive study investigated and summarized perceptions of the leadership from sample ABHE Bible colleges…

  5. Characterization of the binding specificity of Anguilla anguilla agglutinin (AAA) in comparison to Ulex europaeus agglutinin I (UEA-I).

    PubMed

    Baldus, S E; Thiele, J; Park, Y O; Hanisch, F G; Bara, J; Fischer, R

    1996-08-01

    Using immunochemical and immunohistochemical methods, the binding site of Anguilla anguilla agglutinin (AAA) was characterized and compared with the related fucose-specific lectin from Ulex europaeus (UEA-I). In solid-phase enzyme-linked immunoassays, the two lectins recognized Fuc alpha 1-2Gal beta-HSA. AAA additionally cross-reacted with neoglycolipids bearing lacto-N-fucopentaose (LNFP) I [H type 1] and II [Le(a)] and lactodifucotetraose (LDFT) as glycan moieties. UEA-I, on the other hand, bound to a LDFT-derived neoglycolipid but not to the other neoglycolipids tested. Binding of AAA to gastric mucin was competitively neutralized by Le(a)-specific monoclonal antibodies. UEA-I binding, on the other hand, was reduced after co-incubation with H type 2- and Le(y)-specific monoclonal antibodies. According to our results, AAA reacts with fucosylated type 1 chain antigens, whereas UEA-I binds only to the alpha 1-2-fucosylated LDFT-derived neoglycolipid. In immunohistochemical studies, the reactivity of AAA and UEA-I in normal pyloric mucosa from individuals with known Lewis and secretor status was analysed. AAA showed a broad reaction in the superficial pyloric mucosa from secretors and non-secretors, but AAA reactivity was more pronounced in Le(a+b-) individuals. On the other hand, UEA-I stained the superficial pyloric mucosa only from secretor individuals. A staining of deep mucous glands by the lectins was found in all specimens. Both reacted with most human carcinomas of different origin. Slight differences in their binding pattern were observed and may be explained by the different fine-specificities of the lectins.

  6. Ageing and recurrent episodes of neuroinflammation promote progressive experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in Biozzi ABH mice.

    PubMed

    Peferoen, Laura A N; Breur, Marjolein; van de Berg, Sarah; Peferoen-Baert, Regina; Boddeke, Erik H W G M; van der Valk, Paul; Pryce, Gareth; van Noort, Johannes M; Baker, David; Amor, Sandra

    2016-10-01

    Current therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS) reduce the frequency of relapses by modulating adaptive immune responses but fail to limit the irreversible neurodegeneration driving progressive disability. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in Biozzi ABH mice recapitulates clinical features of MS including relapsing-remitting episodes and secondary-progressive disability. To address the contribution of recurrent inflammatory events and ageing as factors that amplify progressive neurological disease, we examined EAE in 8- to 12-week-old and 12-month-old ABH mice. Compared with the relapsing-remitting (RREAE) and secondary progressive (SPEAE) EAE observed in young mice, old mice developed progressive disease from onset (PEAE) associated with pronounced axonal damage and increased numbers of CD3(+) T cells and microglia/macrophages, but not B cells. Whereas the clinical neurological features of PEAE and SPEAE were comparable, the pathology was distinct. SPEAE was associated with significantly reduced perivascular infiltrates and T-cell numbers in the central nervous system (CNS) compared with PEAE and the acute phase of RREAE. In contrast to perivascular infiltrates that declined during progression from RREAE into SPEAE, the numbers of microglia clusters remained constant. Similar to what is observed during MS, the microglia clusters emerging during EAE were associated with axonal damage and oligodendrocytes expressing heat-shock protein B5, but not lymphocytes. Taken together, our data reveal that the course of EAE is dependent on the age of the mice. Younger mice show a relapsing-remitting phase followed by progressive disease, whereas old mice immediately show progression. This indicates that recurrent episodes of inflammation in the CNS, as well as age, contribute to progressive neurological disease. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. ABH and Lewis histo-blood group antigens, a model for the meaning of oligosaccharide diversity in the face of a changing world.

    PubMed

    Marionneau, S; Cailleau-Thomas, A; Rocher, J; Le Moullac-Vaidye, B; Ruvoën, N; Clément, M; Le Pendu, J

    2001-07-01

    Antigens of the ABH and Lewis histo-blood group family have been known for a long time. Yet their biological meaning is still largely obscure. Based on the available knowledge about the genes involved in their biosynthesis and about their tissue distribution in humans and other mammals, we discuss here the selective forces that may maintain or propagate these oligosaccharide antigens. The ABO, alpha 1,2fucosyltransferase and alpha 1,3fucosyltransferase enzyme families have been generated by gene duplications. Members of these families contribute to biosynthesis of the antigens through epistatic interactions. We suggest that the highly polymorphic genes of each family provide intraspecies diversity that allows coping with diverse and rapidly evolving pathogens. In contrast, the genes of low frequency polymorphism are expected to play roles at the cellular level, although they may be dispensable at the individual level. In addition, some members of these three gene families are expected to be functionally redundant and may either provide a reservoir for additional diversity in the future or become inactivated. We also discuss the role of the ABH and Lewis histo-blood group antigens in pathologies such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases, but argue that it is merely incidental and devoid of evolutionary impact.

  8. Selenoglycosides in silico: ab initio-derived reparameterization of MM4, conformational analysis using histo-blood group ABH antigens and lectin docking as indication for potential of bioactivity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Strino, Francesco; Lii, Jenn-Huei; Koppisetty, Chaitanya A. K.; Nyholm, Per-Georg; Gabius, Hans-Joachim

    2010-12-01

    The identification of glycan epitopes such as the histo-blood group ABH determinants as docking sites for bacterial/viral infections and signals in growth regulation fuels the interest to develop non-hydrolysable mimetics for therapeutic applications. Inevitably, the required substitution of the linkage oxygen atom will alter the derivative's topology. Our study addresses the question of the impact of substitution of oxygen by selenium. In order to characterize spatial parameters and flexibility of selenoglycosides, we first performed ab initio calculations on model compounds to refine the MM4 force field. The following application of the resulting MM4R version appears to reduce the difference to ab initio data when compared to using the MM4 estimator. Systematic conformational searches on the derivatives of histo-blood group ABH antigens revealed increased flexibility with acquisition of additional low-energy conformer(s), akin to the behavior of S-glycosides. Docking analysis using the Glide program for eight test cases indicated potential for bioactivity, giving further experimental investigation a clear direction to testing Se-glycosides as lectin ligands.

  9. Fucosyltransferase 2 (FUT2) non-secretor status and blood group B are associated with elevated serum lipase activity in asymptomatic subjects, and an increased risk for chronic pancreatitis: a genetic association study.

    PubMed

    Weiss, Frank Ulrich; Schurmann, Claudia; Guenther, Annett; Ernst, Florian; Teumer, Alexander; Mayerle, Julia; Simon, Peter; Völzke, Henry; Radke, Dörte; Greinacher, Andreas; Kuehn, Jens-Peter; Zenker, Martin; Völker, Uwe; Homuth, Georg; Lerch, Markus M

    2015-04-01

    Serum lipase activities above the threefold upper reference limit indicate acute pancreatitis. We investigated whether high lipase activity-within the reference range and in the absence of pancreatitis-are associated with genetic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), and whether these identified SNPs are also associated with clinical pancreatitis. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on phenotypes 'serum lipase activity' and 'high serum lipase activity' were conducted including 3966 German volunteers from the population-based Study-of-Health-in-Pomerania (SHIP). Lead SNPs associated on a genome-wide significance level were replicated in two cohorts, 1444 blood donors and 1042 pancreatitis patients. Initial discovery GWAS detected SNPs within or near genes encoding the ABO blood group specifying transferases A/B (ABO), Fucosyltransferase-2 (FUT2), and Chymotrypsinogen-B2 (CTRB2), to be significantly associated with lipase activity levels in asymptomatic subjects. Replication analyses in blood donors confirmed the association of FUT-2 non-secretor status (OR=1.49; p=0.012) and ABO blood-type-B (OR=2.48; p=7.29×10(-8)) with high lipase activity levels. In pancreatitis patients, significant associations were found for FUT-2 non-secretor status (OR=1.53; p=8.56×10(-4)) and ABO-B (OR=1.69, p=1.0×10(-4)) with chronic pancreatitis, but not with acute pancreatitis. Conversely, carriers of blood group O were less frequently affected by chronic pancreatitis (OR=0.62; p=1.22×10(-05)) and less likely to have high lipase activity levels (OR=0.59; p=8.14×10(-05)). These are the first results indicating that ABO blood type-B as well as FUT2 non-secretor status are common population-wide risk factors for developing chronic pancreatitis. They also imply that, even within the reference range, elevated lipase activities may indicate subclinical pancreatic injury in asymptomatic subjects. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already

  10. Simultaneous transgenic suppression of LePG and LeExp1 influences fruit texture and juice viscosity in a fresh market tomato variety.

    PubMed

    Powell, Ann L T; Kalamaki, Mary S; Kurien, Philip A; Gurrieri, Sergio; Bennett, Alan B

    2003-12-03

    Tomatoes are grown for fresh consumption or for processing of the fruit. Some ripening-associated processes of the fruit can either contribute to or degrade attributes associated with both fresh and processing quality. For example, cell wall disassembly is associated with loss of fresh fruit firmness as well as with loss of processed tomato product viscosity. Several enzymes contribute to cell wall polysaccharide disassembly. Polygalacturonase (PG, poly[1,4-alpha-d-galactouronide] glucanohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.15) is among the most abundant polysaccharide hydrolases in ripening tomato fruit and is the major contributor to pectin depolymerization. Expansin (LeExp1) is also abundant in ripening fruit and is proposed to contribute to cell wall disassembly by nonhydrolytic activity, possibly by increasing substrate accessibility to other enzymes. Suppression of either LePG or LeExp1 expression alone results in altered softening and/or shelf life characteristics. To test whether simultaneous suppression of both LePG and LeExp1 expression influences fruit texture in additive or synergistic ways, transgenic Lycopersicon esculentum var. Ailsa Craig lines with reduced expression of either LePG or LeExp1 were crossed. Fruits from the third generation of progeny, homozygous for both transgenic constructs, were analyzed for firmness and other quality traits during ripening on or off the vine. In field-grown transgenic tomato fruit, suppression of LeExp1 or LePG alone did not significantly increase fruit firmness. However, fruits suppressed for both LePG and LeExp1 expression were significantly firmer throughout ripening and were less susceptible to deterioration during long-term storage. Juice prepared from the transgenic tomato fruit with reduced LePG and LeExp1 expression was more viscous than juice prepared from control fruit.

  11. Social dilemma in the external immune system of the red flour beetle? It is a matter of time.

    PubMed

    Gokhale, Chaitanya S; Traulsen, Arne; Joop, Gerrit

    2017-09-01

    Sociobiology has revolutionized our understanding of interactions between organisms. Interactions may present a social dilemma where the interests of individual actors do not align with those of the group as a whole. Viewed through a sociobiological lens, nearly all interactions can be described regarding their costs and benefits, and a number of them then resemble a social dilemma. Numerous experimental systems, from bacteria to mammals, have been proposed as models for studying such dilemmas. Here, we make use of the external immune system of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum , to investigate how the experimental duration can affect whether the external secretion comprises a social dilemma or not. Some beetles (secretors) produce a costly quinone-rich external secretion that inhibits microbial growth in the surrounding environment, providing the secretors with direct personal benefits. However, as the antimicrobial secretion acts in the environment of the beetle, it is potentially also advantageous to other beetles (nonsecretors), who avoid the cost of producing the secretion. We test experimentally if the secretion qualifies as a public good. We find that in the short term, costly quinone secretion can be interpreted as a public good presenting a social dilemma where the presence of secretors increases the fitness of the group. In the long run, the benefit to the group of having more secretors vanishes and becomes detrimental to the group. Therefore, in such seminatural environmental conditions, it turns out that qualifying a trait as social can be a matter of timing.

  12. Determination of ABO blood grouping from human oral squamous epithelium by the highly sensitive immunohistochemical staining method EnVision+.

    PubMed

    Noda, Hiroshi; Yokota, Makoto; Tatsumi, Shinji; Sugiyama, Shizuyuki

    2002-03-01

    Using the highly sensitive immunohistochemical staining method EnVision+, which employs a dextran polymer reagent for the secondary antibody, the detection of the ABH antigens was attempted in the oral squamous epithelium. This new technique uses monoclonal antibody as a primary antibody and it takes about three hours for staining. The time is much shorter than conventional absorption-elution testing or absorption-inhibition testing for the determination of ABO blood grouping. Secretor saliva samples were stained at strong intensity by the antibody, which corresponded to its blood group and anti-H. On the one hand, nonsecretor saliva samples were stained at strong intensity only by the antibody that corresponded to its blood group, and at weak intensity only by anti-H. Since human oral squamous epithelium antigens were stained specifically by this method, we can examine the ABO blood group of saliva samples and perform cytodiagnosis at the same time. Our research suggested that the EnVision+ Method is a useful technique for ABO blood grouping of saliva in forensic cases.

  13. Lele de l’omalizumab dans le traitement de l’asthme allergique grave

    PubMed Central

    Chapman, Kenneth R; Cartier, André; Hébert, Jacques; McIvor, R Andrew; Schellenberg, R Robert

    2006-01-01

    les patients traités par l’omalizumab que chez les sujets témoins. Des analyses rétrospectives ont permis d’identifier les caractéristiques des patients les plus susceptibles de répondre au traitement par l’omalizumab. RECOMMANDATIONS : L’omalizumab pourrait être envisagé comme traitement d’appoint dans les cas atopiques d’asthme grave non maîtrisé avec des traitements classiques par des doses optimales de CSI et un traitement d’appoint approprié (p. ex. : agonistes bêta-2 à action prolongée). En général, les patients sont classés en fonction de leur recours – traitement court et fréquent ou continu et oral – aux corticostéroïdes. Il ne faut amorcer le traitement qu’après avoir consulté un spécialiste pour confirmer le diagnostic et s’assurer que le traitement classique est optimal.

  14. Genetic analysis of efficiency traits in Austrian dairy cattle and their relationships with body condition score and lameness.

    PubMed

    Köck, A; Ledinek, M; Gruber, L; Steininger, F; Fuerst-Waltl, B; Egger-Danner, C

    2018-01-01

    This study is part of a larger project whose overall objective was to evaluate the possibilities for genetic improvement of efficiency in Austrian dairy cattle. In 2014, a 1-yr data collection was carried out. Data from 6,519 cows kept on 161 farms were recorded. In addition to routinely recorded data (e.g., milk yield, fertility, disease data), data of novel traits [e.g., body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS), lameness score, body measurements] and individual feeding information and feed quality were recorded on each test-day. The specific objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for efficiency (related) traits and to investigate their relationships with BCS and lameness in Austrian Fleckvieh, Brown Swiss, and Holstein cows. The following efficiency (related) traits were considered: energy-corrected milk (ECM), BW, dry matter intake (DMI), energy intake (INEL), ratio of milk output to metabolic BW (ECM/BW 0.75 ), ratio of milk output to DMI (ECM/DMI), and ratio of milk energy output to total energy intake (LE/INEL, LE = energy in milk). For Fleckvieh, the heritability estimates of the efficiency (related) traits ranged from 0.11 for LE/INEL to 0.44 for BW. Heritabilities for BCS and lameness were 0.19 and 0.07, respectively. Repeatabilities were high and ranged from 0.30 for LE/INEL to 0.83 for BW. Heritability estimates were generally lower for Brown Swiss and Holstein, but repeatabilities were in the same range as for Fleckvieh. In all 3 breeds, more-efficient cows were found to have a higher milk yield, lower BW, slightly higher DMI, and lower BCS. Higher efficiency was associated with slightly fewer lameness problems, most likely due to the lower BW (especially in Fleckvieh) and higher DMI of the more-efficient cows. Body weight and BCS were positively correlated. Therefore, when selecting for a lower BW, BCS is required as additional information because, otherwise, no distinction between large animals with low BCS and smaller animals

  15. Effect of long-term salinity on the growth and biomass of two non-secretors mangrove plants Rhizophora apiculata and Ceriops tagal

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Basyuni, M.; Nuryawan, A.; Yunasfi; Putri, L. A. P.; Baba, S.

    2018-02-01

    The present study describes the effect of long-term salinity on morphological character and biomass content of two non-secretors mangrove plants Rhizophora apiculata and Ceriops tagal. Two mangrove seedlings were grown for six months in 0%, 0.5%, 1.5%, 2.0% and 3.0% salt concentration. The growth of R. apiculata was significantly enhanced by salt with maximal stimulus at 1.5% (equal to 50% natural seawater), and this increase appeared to be attenuated by increasing the salinity concentration above 1.5%. By contrast, the growth of C. tagal thrived up to 0.5% salt concentration. Our findings, therefore, suggested that within the range of treatments used, 1.5% and 0.5%, respectively were the optimal salinity of R. apiculata and C. tagal for growth. The highest leaf area of C. tagal was obtained at 1.5% salinity concentrations and, on the other hand, R. apiculata showed much greater extent. The wet and dry weight of the two seedlings was changed in the same manner as the height of plants upon salt treatment. Our results indicated that R. apiculata was more salt tolerant than C. tagal, which may provide valuable information for mangrove rehabilitation in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

  16. Le pompage optique naturel dans le milieu astrophysique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pecker, J.-C.

    The title of this lecture abstracts only a part of it : the importance in astrophysics of the study of non-LTE situations has become considerable, as well in the stellar atmospheres as, still more, in the study of fortuitous coincidences as a mechanism of formation of emission line nebular spectra, or of molecular interstellar « masers ». Another part of this talk underlines the role of Kastler in his time, and describes his warm personality through his public reactions in front of the nuclear armement, of the Viet-Nam and Algerian wars, of the problems of political refugees... Kastler was a great scientist ; he was also a courageous humanist. 1976 : Les accords nucléaires du Brésil : allocution d'ouverture (19 mars). Colloque sur le sujet ci-dessus. 1976 : La promotion de la culture dans le nouvel ordre économique international, allocution à l'occasion d'une table ronde sur ce thème par l'UNESCO (23-27 juin 1976) ; « Sciences et Techniques », octobre 1976. 1979 : La bête immonde (avec J.-C. Pecker), « Le Matin », 20 mars. 1979 : Appel à nos ministres (avec J.-C. Pecker), « Le Monde », 13 décembre. 1979 : Le flou, le ténébreux, l'irrationnel (avec J.-C. Pecker), « Le Monde », 14 septembre. 1980 : Education à la paix, Préface, in : Publ. UNESCO. 1981 : Le vrai danger, « Le Monde », 6 août 1981. 1982 : Nucléaire civil et militaire, « Le Monde », 1er juin 1982. 1982 : Les scientifiques face à la perspective d'holocauste nucléaire (texte inédit). Le titre de cette communication en résume seulement une partie : l'importance prise en astrophysique par l'analyse des situations hors ETL est devenue considérable, qu'il s'agisse des atmosphères stellaires, ou plus encore, des coïncidences fortuites de la formation des spectres d'émission nébulaires, ou des « masers » moléculaires interstellaires. Une autre partie de cet exposé souligne lele de Kastler dans son époque, et décrit sa personnalité généreuse à travers ses r

  17. Le syndrome d’alcoolisme foetal

    PubMed Central

    2002-01-01

    anomalies pouvant être reliées à l’alcool sont soulignées. L’intervention est axée sur l’optimisation du développement, la prise en charge des troubles de comportement et la prestation d’un programme scolaire convenable. Il est capital d’intervenir le plus tôt possible pour prévenir les incapacités secondaires susceptibles de découler d’un délai causé par l’attente d’un diagnostic définitif de SAF. Ce n’est que depuis 1973, lorsque Jones et Smith (1) ont donné des descriptions classiques des malformations reliées à l’exposition du foetus à l’alcool, qu’on a compris toute l’étendue de la dévastation provoquée par la consommation d’alcool pendant la grossesse. Un diagnostic de syndrome d’alcoolisme foetal (SAF) dépend d’un historique de consommation prénatale d’alcool par la mère, combiné à un ensemble de caractéristiques chez le nourrisson : croissance médiocre, traits caractéristiques du visage et anomalies neurodéveloppementales. À l’origine, l’effet de l’alcool sur le foetus (SAF atypique) était décrit comme une exposition à l’alcool accompagnée d’un schéma incomplet de manifestations physiques et psychologiques non spécifiques. Cette nomenclature a largement été remplacée par un système de classification qui précise si les effets sont physiques (anomalies congénitales reliées à l’alcool [ACRA]) ou reliés au développement du système nerveux ou du cerveau (anomalies neurodéveloppementales reliées à l’alcool [ANRA]) (2). Bien que les ACRA et les ANRA n’accompagnent pas nécessairement le SAF complet, leurs effets peuvent être tout aussi graves (3). Récemment, Astley et Clarren (4) ont suggéré de limiter la nomenclature aux termes SAF et SAF atypique.

  18. Le conflit fémoro-acétabulaire et la coxarthrose

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Charlie; Li, Linda; Forster, Bruce B.; Kopec, Jacek A.; Ratzlaff, Charles; Halai, Lalji; Cibere, Jolanda; Esdaile, John M.

    2015-01-01

    Objectif Expliquer la présentation clinique, les observations à l’examen physique, les critères diagnostiques et les options de prise en charge du conflit fémoroacétabulaire (CFA). Sources des données Une recherche documentaire a été effectuée dans PubMed pour trouver des articles pertinents sur la pathogenèse, le diagnostic, le traitement et le pronostic du CFA. Message principal Depuis les dernières années, on reconnaît de plus en plus que le CFA est un précurseur potentiel et une étiologie importante des douleurs à la hanche dans la population adulte et de la coxarthrose idiopathique plus tard dans la vie. Le conflit fémoro-acétabulaire désigne un ensemble d’anomalies morphologiques osseuses de l’articulation de la hanche qui se traduit par un contact anormal durant le mouvement. Le CFA par effet came concerne une proéminence osseuse non sphérique du col fémoral proximal ou de la jonction tête-col. Le CFM par effet tenaille désigne une couverture acétabulaire excessive par-dessus la tête du fémur, qui peut se produire en raison de diverses variantes morphologiques. Les patients qui ont un CFA présentent une douleur inguinale antérieure chronique, profonde ou lancinante, le plus souvent en position assise, durant ou après une activité. Les patients peuvent aussi ressentir des douleurs occasionnelles aiguës durant l’activité. Il faut procéder à une anamnèse approfondie portant notamment sur l’incidence de traumatismes ou la fréquence de l’exercice. Il faut aussi faire un examen physique complet des hanches, de la région lombaire et de l’abdomen pour évaluer d’autres causes de douleurs inguinales antérieures. Le diagnostic de CFA est confirmé par radiographie. Le conflit fémoro-acétabulaire peut être pris en charge selon une approche conservatrice comportant du repos, la modification des activités, des médicaments et de la physiothérapie ou encore être traité par intervention chirurgicale. Conclusion

  19. Comparison of life history traits of Tanais dulongii (Tanaidacea: Tanaididae) in natural and artificial marine environments of the south-western Atlantic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rumbold, Carlos E.; Obenat, Sandra M.; Spivak, Eduardo D.

    2015-06-01

    Tanaidaceans are small benthic crustaceans with a strictly benthic life cycle and low dispersion rates, so they are good candidates to evaluate the effects of environment over life history strategies and reproductive biology. In this work, we studied two populations of Tanais dulongii (Audouin, 1826) that live in two contrasting habitats in order to determine whether they differ in life history traits. The animals were obtained by systematic sampling in a rocky shore with a lower anthropic impact (La Estafeta: LE) and a polluted area (Mar del Plata harbour: MdP) from March 2011 to March 2012. Seawater temperature and salinity did not differ between sites, but MdP showed more acid and hypoxic conditions than LE. Population density was homogeneous and lower in MdP (ca. 20 ind/100 gr) than that in LE where density varied between 250 and 800 ind/100 gr. Reproductive individuals and juveniles were always present, and both populations showed two main recruitment periods: the first in spring in both populations, and the second in summer in MdP but in autumn-winter in LE. In both populations, sex ratio was strongly female-biased. Juveniles, females and males from LE had larger sizes than that from MdP and reached their sexual differentiation at larger sizes. The estimated lifespan was about 9 and 12 months in MdP and LE, respectively. This study suggests that the differences observed between populations of T. dulongii in life history traits are intimately related to environmental differences in pH and dissolved oxygen between habitats, but should not be discarded a synergistic effect of temperature, organic pollution, food availability and predation pressure.

  20. Lacto N Tetraose, Fucosylation, and Secretor Status are Highly Variable in Human Milk Oligosaccharides From Women Delivering Preterm

    PubMed Central

    De Leoz, Maria Lorna A.; Gaerlan, Stephanie C.; Strum, John S.; Dimapasoc, Lauren M.; Mirmiran, Majid; Tancredi, Daniel J.; Smilowitz, Jennifer T.; Kalanetra, Karen M.; Mills, David A.; German, J. Bruce; Lebrilla, Carlito B.; Underwood, Mark A.

    2012-01-01

    Breast milk is the ideal nutrition for term infants but must be supplemented to provide adequate growth for most premature infants. Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are remarkably abundant and diverse in breast milk and yet provide no nutritive value to the infant. HMOs appear to have at least two major functions: prebiotic activity (stimulation of the growth of commensal bacteria in the gut) and protection against pathogens. Investigations of HMOs in milk from women delivering preterm have been limited. We present the first detailed mass spectrometric analysis of the fucosylation and sialylation in HMOs in serial specimens of milk from fifteen women delivering preterm and seven women delivering at term using nano-high performance liquid chromatography chip/time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A mixed-effects model with Levene’s test was used for the statistical analyses. We find that lacto-N-tetraose, a core HMO, is both more abundant and more highly variable in the milk of women delivering preterm. Furthermore, fucosylation in preterm milk is not as well regulated as in term milk, resulting in higher within and between mother variation in women delivering preterm vs. term. Of particular clinical interest, the α1,2-linked fucosylated oligosaccharide 2′-fucosyllactose, an indicator of secretor status, is not consistently present across lactation of several mothers that delivered preterm. The immaturity of HMO production does not appear to resolve over the time of lactation and may have relevance to the susceptibility of premature infants to necrotizing enterocolitis, late onset sepsis, and related neurodevelopmental impairments. PMID:22900748

  1. LeEix1 functions as a decoy receptor to attenuate LeEix2 signaling.

    PubMed

    Bar, Maya; Sharfman, Miya; Avni, Adi

    2011-03-01

    The receptors for the fungal elicitor EIX (LeEix1 and LeEix2) belong to a class of leucine-rich repeat cell-surface glycoproteins with a signal for receptor-mediated endocytosis. Both receptors are able to bind the EIX elicitor while only the LeEix2 receptor mediates defense responses. We show that LeEix1 acts as a decoy receptor and attenuates EIX induced internalization and signaling of the LeEix2 receptor. We demonstrate that BAK1 binds LeEix1 but not LeEix2. In plants where BAK1 was silenced, LeEix1 was no longer able to attenuate plant responses to EIX, indicating that BAK1 is required for this attenuation. We suggest that LeEix1 functions as a decoy receptor for LeEix2, a function which requires the kinase activity of BAK1.

  2. Antithetical effects of hemicellulase-treated Agaricus blazei on the maturation of murine bone-marrow-derived dendritic cells

    PubMed Central

    Kawamura, Masaki; Kasai, Hirotake; He, Limin; Deng, Xuewen; Yamashita, Atsuya; Terunuma, Hiroshi; Horiuchi, Isao; Tanabe, Fuminori; Ito, Masahiko

    2005-01-01

    We report the effects of hemicellulase-treated Agaricus blazei (ABH) on the maturation of bone-marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs). ABH activated immature BMDCs, inducing up-regulation of surface molecules, such as CD40, CD80 and major histocompatibility complex class I antigens, as well as inducing allogeneic T-cell proliferation and T helper type 1 cell development. However, unlike lipopolysaccharide (LPS), ABH did not stimulate the BMDCs to produce proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-12 (IL-12) p40, tumour necrosis factor-α, or IL-1β. In addition, ABH suppressed LPS-induced DC responses. Pretreatment of DCs with ABH markedly reduced the levels of LPS-induced cytokine secretion, while only slightly decreasing up-regulation of the surface molecules involved in maturation. ABH also had a significant impact on peptidoglycan-induced or CpG oligodeoxynucleotide-induced IL-12p40 production in DCs. The inhibition of LPS-induced responses was not associated with a cytotoxic effect of ABH nor with an anti-inflammatory effect of IL-10. However, ABH decreased NF-κB-induced reporter gene expression in LPS-stimulated J774.1 cells. Interestingly, DCs preincubated with ABH and then stimulated with LPS augmented T helper type 1 responses in culture with allogeneic T cells as compared to LPS-stimulated but non-ABH-pretreated DCs. These observations suggest that ABH regulates DC-mediated responses. PMID:15720441

  3. Suivi après le traitement du cancer du sein

    PubMed Central

    Sisler, Jeffrey; Chaput, Geneviève; Sussman, Jonathan; Ozokwelu, Emmanuel

    2016-01-01

    Résumé Objectif Offrir aux médecins de famille un résumé des recommandations fondées sur les données probantes pour guider les soins aux survivantes traitées pour le cancer du sein. Qualité des données Une recherche documentaire a été effectuée dans MEDLINE entre 2000 et 2016 à l’aide des mots-clés anglais suivants : breast cancer, survivorship, follow-up care, aftercare, guidelines et survivorship care plans, en se concentrant sur la revue des lignes directrices publiées récemment par les organismes nationaux de cancérologie. Les données étaient de niveaux I à III. Message principal Les soins aux survivantes comportent 4 facettes : surveillance et dépistage, prise en charge des effets à long terme, promotion de la santé et coordination des soins. La surveillance des récidives ne se traduit que par une mammographie annuelle, et le dépistage d’autres cancers doit suivre les lignes directrices basées sur la population. La prise en charge des effets à long terme du cancer et de son traitement aborde des problèmes courants tels la douleur, la fatigue, le lymphœdème, la détresse et les effets indésirables des médicaments, de même que les préoccupations à long terme comme la santé du cœur et des os. La promotion de la santé met en relief les bienfaits de l’activité chez les survivantes du cancer, avec l’accent mis sur l’activité physique. Les soins aux survivantes sont de meilleure qualité lorsque divers services et professionnels de la santé participent aux soins, et le médecin de famille joue un rôle important dans la coordination des soins. Conclusion Les médecins de famille sont de plus en plus souvent les principaux fournisseurs de soins de suivi après le traitement du cancer du sein. Le cancer du sein doit être considéré comme une affection médicale chronique, même chez les femmes en rémission, et les patientes profitent de la même approche que celle utilisée pour les autres affections chroniques en

  4. Le ciment brûle toujours

    PubMed Central

    Lebreton, T.; Fontaine, M.; Le Floch, R.

    2017-01-01

    Summary Les brûlures chimiques par ciment représentent une cause fréquente de corrosion cutanée en France. Elles nécessitent fréquemment un traitement chirurgical. Notre étude rétrospective concerne tous les patients admis pour une brûlure par ciment dans le service entre 2004 et 2016. Quarante-neuf patients âgés de 21 à 71 ans ont été pris en charge dans le centre des brûlés du Centre Hospitalier Saint Joseph Saint Luc à Lyon entre 2004 et 2016. La population concernée était majoritairement masculine, relativement jeune (44 ans en moyenne) et professionnellement active. Les brûlures survenaient principalement dans le cadre d’accidents domestiques (78%). Elles étaient profondes et atteignaient majoritairement les membres inférieurs, de façon bilatérale. La surface brûlée représentait 3% de la surface cutanée totale. Presque tous les patients (98%) ont nécessité une prise en charge chirurgicale pour excision et autogreffe de peau mince. Un seul patient a bénéficié d’une cicatrisation dirigée. Le délai moyen entre la brûlure et la chirurgie était de 13 jours et la durée moyenne d’hospitalisation de 8 jours. Sept patients ont nécessité une prise en charge en centre de rééducation à leur sortie du service. Cette étude confirme la sévérité des brûlures chimiques par ciment. Elle met également en avant l’impact que peut avoir ce type de brûlure en terme de retentissement socio-économique dans une population de patients majoritairement jeune et active. Elle insiste sur le fait que des mesures doivent être prises afin d’informer cette population rarement professionnelle sur les risques encourus lors du mésusage du ciment. La réglementation actuelle, classant le ciment comme irritant, ne prend pas en compte son caractère corrosif et devrait être amendée. PMID:28592929

  5. Performance du GeneXpert MTB/RIF® dans le diagnostic de la tuberculose extra-pulmonaire à Dakar: 2010-2015

    PubMed Central

    Diallo, Awa Ba; Kollo, Abdoulkader Issifi; Camara, Makhtar; Lo, Seynabou; Ossoga, Gedeon Walbang; Mbow, Moustapha; Karam, Farba; Niang, Mame Yacine Fall; Thiam, Aliou; Diawara, Awa Ndiaye; Mboup, Souleymane; Diallo, Aissatou Gaye

    2016-01-01

    Introduction Le défi des pays en voie de développement est la disponibilité de méthodes de diagnostic rapide et précis pour le management de la tuberculose. Des techniques moléculaires offrent cet avantage et nous avons utilisé le test GeneXpert MTB/RIF dans le diagnostic de la tuberculose extra-pulmonaire pour évaluer sa performance par rapport aux méthodes conventionnelles. Méthodes Entre 2010 et 2015, 544 échantillons cliniques extra-pulmonaires ont été recueillis et traitées par la microscopie, la culture et le GeneXpert. L'étude de la sensibilité aux antituberculeux a été effectué avec le MGIT 960. Le Génotype MTBDRplus a été utilisé pour confirmer les cas de résistance à la rifampicine détectés par le système GX. Résultats La population d'étude de 544 patients incluait 55,15% d'hommes et 44,85% de femmes. L'âge des patients variait entre 1 à 92 avec la majorité dans le groupe d'âge 18-45 ans. La sensibilité et la spécificité globale de la microscopie étaient de 43,86% et 98,36%, et pour le GeneXpert® 94,74% et 97,95% respectivement avec 95% IC. Deux résultats de résistance à la rifampicine discordants ont été trouvées entre le test GeneXpert et la méthode phénotypique. Les résultats du test MTBDRplus ont montré une concordance de 100% avec ceux du MGIT 960 pour les cas discordants de résistance à la rifampicine. Conclusion Cette étude a montré que le test GeneXpert a une plus grande sensibilité pour le diagnostic de routine de la tuberculose extra-pulmonaire et devrait être utilisé à la place de la microscopie. Les cas de résistance à la rifampicine détectés par le GeneXpert doivent être confirmés par d'autres tests moléculaires avant d'initier un traitement. PMID:28292091

  6. Appendicite aigue non compliquée: y a-t- il une place pour le traitement conservateur

    PubMed Central

    El Khader, Ahmed; Lahkim, Mohamed; El Barni, Rachid; Achour, Abdessamad

    2015-01-01

    Le but de cette étude a été d’évaluer l'efficacité de l'antibiothérapie seule dans le traitement des appendicites aigues non compliquées. C'est une étude prospective, intéressant 68 patients ayant eu une appendicite aigue simple, de confirmation radiologique, traités par l'amoxicilline associée à l'acide clavulanique pendant 10 jours. L'appendicectomie a été réalisée en cas d'aggravation ou en cas de non amélioration au bout de 48heures de traitement. Le traitement conservateur a été efficace dans 82,35% avec une résolution complète des symptômes chez 56 patients. Les 12 cas restants (17,65%) ont subit une appendicectomie. l'appendicite a été gangréneuse dans 8 cas et phlegmoneuse dans 4 cas. Cinq des 56 patients, qui ont bien évolué sous traitement conservateur, ont été réadmis et opérés pour récidive, soit 8,9%. Deux cas ont eu une appendicite compliquée. L'appendicectomie reste le traitement de référence pour l'appendicite aigue, mais le traitement antibiotique peut être proposé en première intension à des patients présentant une appendicite aigue non compliquée. PMID:26327981

  7. Delayed Cell Cycle Progression and Apoptosis Induced by Hemicellulase-Treated Agaricus blazei

    PubMed Central

    Kasai, Hirotake

    2007-01-01

    We examined the effects of hemicellulase-treated Agaricus blazei (AB fraction H, ABH) on growth of several tumor cell lines. ABH inhibited the proliferation of some cell lines without cytotoxic effects. It markedly prolonged the S phase of the cell cycle. ABH also induced mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in different cell lines. However, it had no impact on the growth of other cell lines. ABH induced strong activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in the cells in which it evoked apoptosis. On the other hand, ABH showed only a weak p38 activation effect in those cell lines in which it delayed cell cycle progression with little induction of apoptosis. However, p38 MAPK-specific inhibitor inhibited both ABH-induced effects, and ABH also caused apoptosis in the latter cells under conditions of high p38 MAPK activity induced by combined treatment with TNF-α. These results indicate that the responsiveness of p38 MAPK to ABH, which differs between cell lines, determines subsequent cellular responses on cell growth. PMID:17342245

  8. Anoplastie périnéale simple pour le traitement des malformations anorectales basses chez l'adulte, à propos de deux cas

    PubMed Central

    Echchaoui, Abdelmoughit; Benyachou, Malika; Hafidi, Jawad; Fathi, Nahed; Mohammadine, Elhamid; ELmazouz, Samir; Gharib, Nour-eddine; Abbassi, Abdellah

    2014-01-01

    Les malformations anorectales chez l'adulte sont des anomalies congénitales rares du tube digestif qui prédominent chez le sexe féminin. Notre étude porte sur deux observations de malformation anorectale basses vues et traitées au stade adulte par les 2 équipes (plasticiens et viscéralistes) à l'Hôpital Avicenne à Rabat. Il s'agit d'un homme de 24 ans avec une dyschésie anale l'autre cas est une femme de 18 ans avec une malformation anovulvaire Les caractéristiques cliniques combinées avec les imageries radiologiques (lavement baryté, et la manométrie anorectale) ont confirmé qu'il s'agit d'une malfomation anorectale basse. Les deux cas sont corrigés par une reconstruction sphinctérienne, réimplantation anale avec anoplastie périnéale. Les suites opératoires étaient simples, pas de souffrance cutanée ou nécrose, avec changement de pansement gras chaque jour. Le résultat fonctionnel (la continence) était favorable pour les 2 patients. La présentation des MAR à l’âge adulte est rare, d’étiologie mal connu, elles apparaissent selon le mode sporadique. Les caractéristiques cliniques, couplées à l'imagerie (lavement baryté, IRM pelvienne), l'endoscopie et la manométrie anorectale, permettent de confirmer le diagnostic et classer ces anomalies en 3 types: basses, intermédiaires, et hautes. Les formes basses sont traités d'emblée par une réimplantation anale et anoplastie périnéale simple tels nos deux cas, elles peuvent être traités dans certains cas par un abaissement anorectale associé à une plastie V-Y permettant ainsi un emplacement anatomique correct de l'anus; alors que les formes hautes ou intermédiaires relèvent d'une chirurgie complexe avec souvent une dérivation digestive transitoire. Contrairement aux autres formes, Les formes basses ont un pronostic fonctionnel favorable. PMID:25667689

  9. Multiple Antigenic Sites Are Involved in Blocking the Interaction of GII.4 Norovirus Capsid with ABH Histo-Blood Group Antigens

    PubMed Central

    Parra, Gabriel I.; Abente, Eugenio J.; Sandoval-Jaime, Carlos; Sosnovtsev, Stanislav V.; Bok, Karin

    2012-01-01

    Noroviruses are major etiological agents of acute viral gastroenteritis. In 2002, a GII.4 variant (Farmington Hills cluster) spread so rapidly in the human population that it predominated worldwide and displaced previous GII.4 strains. We developed and characterized a panel of six monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against the capsid protein of a Farmington Hills-like GII.4 norovirus strain that was associated with a large hospital outbreak in Maryland in 2004. The six MAbs reacted with high titers against homologous virus-like particles (VLPs) by enzyme-linked immunoassay but did not react with denatured capsid protein in immunoblots. The expression and self-assembly of newly developed genogroup I/II chimeric VLPs showed that five MAbs bound to the GII.4 protruding (P) domain of the capsid protein, while one recognized the GII.4 shell (S) domain. Cross-competition assays and mutational analyses showed evidence for at least three distinct antigenic sites in the P domain and one in the S domain. MAbs that mapped to the P domain but not the S domain were able to block the interaction of VLPs with ABH histo-blood group antigens (HBGA), suggesting that multiple antigenic sites of the P domain are involved in HBGA blocking. Further analysis showed that two MAbs mapped to regions of the capsid that had been associated with the emergence of new GII.4 variants. Taken together, our data map antibody and HBGA carbohydrate binding to proximal regions of the norovirus capsid, showing that evolutionary pressures on the norovirus capsid protein may affect both antigenic and carbohydrate recognition phenotypes. PMID:22532688

  10. Unveiling the functional diversity of the Alpha-Beta hydrolase fold in plants

    PubMed Central

    Mindrebo, Jeffrey T.; Nartey, Charisse M.; Seto, Yoshiya; Burkart, Michael D.; Noel, Joseph P.

    2017-01-01

    The alpha/beta hydrolase (ABH) superfamily is a widespread and functionally malleable protein fold recognized for its diverse biochemical activities across all three domains of life. ABH enzymes possess unexpected catalytic activity in the green plant lineage through selective alterations in active site architecture and chemistry. Furthermore, the ABH fold serves as the core structure for phytohormone and ligand receptors in the gibberellin, strigolactone, and karrikin signaling pathways in plants. Despite recent discoveries, the ABH family is sparsely characterized in plants, a sessile kingdom known to evolve complex and specialized chemical adaptations as survival responses to widely varying biotic and abiotic ecologies. This review calls attention to the ABH superfamily in the plant kingdom to highlight the functional adaptability of the ABH fold. PMID:27662376

  11. Numerical analysis of the vibroacoustic properties of plates with embedded grids of acoustic black holes.

    PubMed

    Conlon, Stephen C; Fahnline, John B; Semperlotti, Fabio

    2015-01-01

    The concept of an Acoustic Black Hole (ABH) has been developed and exploited as an approach for passively attenuating structural vibration. The basic principle of the ABH relies on proper tailoring of the structure geometrical properties in order to produce a gradual reduction of the flexural wave speed, theoretically approaching zero. For practical systems the idealized "zero" wave speed condition cannot be achieved so the structural areas of low wave speed are treated with surface damping layers to allow the ABH to approach the idealized dissipation level. In this work, an investigation was conducted to assess the effects that distributions of ABHs embedded in plate-like structures have on both vibration and structure radiated sound, focusing on characterizing and improving low frequency performance. Finite Element and Boundary Element models were used to assess the vibration response and radiated sound power performance of several plate configurations, comparing baseline uniform plates with embedded periodic ABH designs. The computed modal loss factors showed the importance of the ABH unit cell low order modes in the overall vibration reduction effectiveness of the embedded ABH plates at low frequencies where the free plate bending wavelengths are longer than the scale of the ABH.

  12. Le sevrage de l’allaitement

    PubMed Central

    Grueger, Barbara

    2013-01-01

    RÉSUMÉ L’allaitement exclusif assure une alimentation optimale aux nourrissons jusqu’à l’âge de six mois. Par la suite, les nourrissons ont besoin d’aliments complémentaires pour répondre à leurs besoins nutritionnels. C’est alors que le sevrage commence. Le sevrage désigne le processus graduel d’introduction d’aliments complémentaires au régime du nourrisson, tout en poursuivant l’allaitement. Il n’y a pas de moment universellement accepté ou scientifiquement démontré pour mettre un terme à l’allaitement. Le moment et le processus de sevrage doivent être adaptés par la mère et l’enfant. Le sevrage peut être soudain ou graduel, prendre plusieurs semaines ou plusieurs mois, être dirigé par l’enfant ou par la mère. Les médecins doivent orienter et soutenir les mères tout au long du processus de sevrage. Le présent document remplace le document de principes sur le sevrage qu’a publié la Société canadienne de pédiatrie en 2004.

  13. Le bégaiement

    PubMed Central

    Perez, Hector R.; Stoeckle, James H.

    2016-01-01

    Résumé Objectif Fournir une mise à jour sur l’épidémiologie, l’hérédité, la physiopathologie, le diagnostic et le traitement du bégaiement développemental. Qualité des données Une recherche d’études récentes ou non portant sur l’épidémiologie, l’hérédité, la physiopathologie, le diagnostic et le traitement du bégaiement développemental a été effectuée dans les bases de données MEDLINE et Cochrane. La plupart des recommandations s’appuient sur des études de petite envergure, des données probantes de qualité limitée ou des consensus. Message principal Le bégaiement est un trouble d’élocution fréquent chez les personnes de tous âges, il altère la fluidité verbale normale et l’enchaînement du discours. Le bégaiement a été lié à des différences de l’anatomie, du fonctionnement et de la régulation dopaminergique du cerveau qui seraient de source génétique. Il importe de poser le diagnostic avec attention et de faire les recommandations qui conviennent chez les enfants, car de plus en plus, le consensus veut que l’intervention précoce par un traitement d’orthophonie soit cruciale chez les enfants bègues. Chez les adultes, le bégaiement est lié à une morbidité psychosociale substantielle, dont l’anxiété sociale et une piètre qualité de vie. Les traitements pharmacologiques ont soulevé l’intérêt depuis quelques années, mais les données cliniques sont limitées. Le traitement des enfants et des adultes repose sur l’orthophonie. Conclusion De plus en plus de recherches ont tenté de lever le voile sur la physiopathologie du bégaiement. La meilleure solution pour les enfants et les adultes bègues demeure la recommandation à un traitement d’orthophonie.

  14. Unveiling the functional diversity of the alpha/beta hydrolase superfamily in the plant kingdom.

    PubMed

    Mindrebo, Jeffrey T; Nartey, Charisse M; Seto, Yoshiya; Burkart, Michael D; Noel, Joseph P

    2016-12-01

    The alpha/beta hydrolase (ABH) superfamily is a widespread and functionally malleable protein fold recognized for its diverse biochemical activities across all three domains of life. ABH enzymes possess unexpected catalytic activity in the green plant lineage through selective alterations in active site architecture and chemistry. Furthermore, the ABH fold serves as the core structure for phytohormone and ligand receptors in the gibberellin, strigolactone, and karrikin signaling pathways in plants. Despite recent discoveries, the ABH family is sparsely characterized in plants, a sessile kingdom known to evolve complex and specialized chemical adaptations as survival responses to widely varying biotic and abiotic ecologies. This review calls attention to the ABH superfamily in the plant kingdom to highlight the functional adaptability of the ABH fold. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  15. Griffe cubitale d'origine lépreuse traitée par transfert tendineux de Lasso Zancolli: à propos d'un cas

    PubMed Central

    El Alaoui, Adil; Sbiyaa, Mouhcine; Bah, Aliou; Rabhi, Ilyas; mezzani, Amine; Marzouki, Amine; Boutayeb, Fawzi

    2015-01-01

    La lèpre est une maladie infectieuse due à une mycobactérie (M. Leprae, Bacille de Hansen, ou BH) dont le tropisme nerveux est destructeur pour les cellules de Schwann. La localisation préférentielle des neuropathies tronculaire secondaire à la lèpre restent dominé par les zones ou les troncs nerveux traversent les défilés ostéo-ligamentaires inextensibles comme le défilé rétro-épitrochléen ou passe le nerf ulnaire. De nombreux travaux ont été consacrés à la souffrance nerveuse secondaire à la lèpre et surtout l'atteinte du nerf ulnaire qui se manifeste par une griffe des doigts. Le traitement dans ce cas est palliatif et fait appel à plusieurs techniques décrites dans la littérature. Nous rapportons dans ce travail un cas de griffe cubitale chez un patient lépreux traité par transfert tendineux de Lasso Zancolli. PMID:26985277

  16. Transmission loss of plates with embedded acoustic black holes.

    PubMed

    Feurtado, Philip A; Conlon, Stephen C

    2017-09-01

    In recent years acoustic black holes (ABHs) have been developed and demonstrated as an effective method for developing lightweight, high loss structures for noise and vibration control. ABHs employ a local thickness change to tailor the speed and amplitude of flexural bending waves and create concentrated regions of high strain energy which can be effectively dissipated through conventional damping treatments. These regions act as energy sinks which allow for effective broadband vibration absorption with minimal use of applied damping material. This, combined with the reduced mass from the thickness tailoring, results in a treated structure with higher loss and less mass than the original. In this work, the transmission loss (TL) of plates with embedded ABHs was investigated using experimental and numerical methods in order to assess the usefulness of ABH systems for TL applications. The results demonstrated that damped ABH plates offer improved performance compared to a uniform plate despite having less mass. The result will be useful for applying ABHs and ABH systems to practical noise and vibration control problems.

  17. Freshwater Biological Traits Database (Traits)

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The traits database was compiled for a project on climate change effects on river and stream ecosystems. The traits data, gathered from multiple sources, focused on information published or otherwise well-documented by trustworthy sources.

  18. Snow in Castile-León: trends and variability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Merino, A.; Campos, L.; López, L.; García-Ortega, E.; Sánchez, J. L.; Marcos, J. L.; Guerrero-Higueras, A. M.

    2012-04-01

    The location of Castile and León, inside the Iberian Peninsula, in the Northwestern quadrant, determines, in large measure, the climatic conditions of its territory, granting it very characteristic traits, mostly in the mountainous areas. It is important to note that during a large part of the year, the region is under the influence of Jet Stream, and thus, gives way to very diverse dynamic situations, which turn into different and heterogeneous types of weather. So, in many areas of the region, especially in the most elevated areas, these synoptic and mesoscale situations generate snow precipitation. We should point out that snowfall is one of the principal meteorological risks of Castile and León. Thus, on average, in some mountainous areas there are more than 40 events of snowfall registered annually, with the month of January being the month in which the highest frequency of snowfall appears. The social repercussions of this snowfall are represented in the isolation of places, essentially mountainous, highways being blocked, increase in traffic accidents, etc. As proof of this, it is this type of episode that receives ample coverage by the media, which has a linear relationship with the social perception of risk. As such, the objective of the current work is to analyze the annual trend of days with snow in the different meteorological stations pertaining to AEMET placed in the Community. The period of study is from 1960-2010. Additionally, we have also evaluated trends in annual days of freezing temperature and annual absolute minimum temperature, with the objective of facilitating a meteorological interpretation of the trends obtained on days with snowfall. Finally, the results show that in the majority of stations, a significant negative trend in days with snowfall and annual days with freezing temperatures, and a positive trend in annual absolute minimum temperatures. However, we observed variability in the different regions in the area of study

  19. Mapping quantitative trait loci for traits defined as ratios.

    PubMed

    Yang, Runqing; Li, Jiahan; Xu, Shizhong

    2008-03-01

    Many traits are defined as ratios of two quantitative traits. Methods of QTL mapping for regular quantitative traits are not optimal when applied to ratios due to lack of normality for traits defined as ratios. We develop a new method of QTL mapping for traits defined as ratios. The new method uses a special linear combination of the two component traits, and thus takes advantage of the normal property of the new variable. Simulation study shows that the new method can substantially increase the statistical power of QTL detection relative to the method which treats ratios as regular quantitative traits. The new method also outperforms the method that uses Box-Cox transformed ratio as the phenotype. A real example of QTL mapping for relative growth rate in soybean demonstrates that the new method can detect more QTL than existing methods of QTL mapping for traits defined as ratios.

  20. Impact de la varicocèle sur le volume testiculaire et les paramètres spermatiques

    PubMed Central

    Benazzouz, Mohamed Hicham; Essatara, Younes; El Sayegh, Hachem; Iken, Ali; Benslimane, Lounis; Nouini, Yassine

    2014-01-01

    Introduction La varicocèle est une pathologie masculine fréquente dont l'incidence est encore plus importante dans dans la population des hommes infertiles. Si ses mécanismes sont à ce jour incomplètement expliqués il semble acquis que la varicocèle peut être associée a une dysfonction testiculaire avec diminution du volume testiculaire et de la concentration en spermatozoïde de l’éjaculat. Méthodes Dans un premier temps nous exposons les résultats d'une étude rétrospective sur 5 ans (de Mars 2009 à Mars 2014), réalisée au service d'urologie A de l'hôpital Ibn Sina de Rabat et ayant comme objectif d’évaluer l'impact de la varicocèle palpable sur le volume testiculaire et les paramètres spermatiques. Tous les patients inclus dans notre étude avaient une varicocèle palpable. Dans un deuxième temps, et à travers une revue de la littérature nous discutons l'impact du traitement de la varicocèle sur la fertilité. Résultats 39 patients ont été inclus dans notre étude. L’âge moyen était de 29,71 ans et la varicocèle siégeait dans 89,74% des cas du coté gauche. Une atrophie testiculaire homolatérale à la varicocèle était retrouvée dans 7% des cas alors que des anomalies du spermogramme se voyaient dans 69,23% des cas. Conclusion L'impact de la varicocèle sur l'altération des paramètres spermatiques a été clairement établi bien que sa physio pathogénie ne soit pas bien élucidée. Le traitement chirurgical de la varicocèle semble indiqué chez les hommes infertiles présentant une varicocèle clinique et une altération significative du sperme. PMID:25918574

  1. Beware of ligand efficiency (LE): understanding LE data in modeling structure-activity and structure-economy relationships.

    PubMed

    Polanski, Jaroslaw; Tkocz, Aleksandra; Kucia, Urszula

    2017-09-11

    On the one hand, ligand efficiency (LE) and the binding efficiency index (BEI), which are binding properties (B) averaged versus the heavy atom count (HAC: LE) or molecular weight (MW: BEI), have recently been declared a novel universal tool for drug design. On the other hand, questions have been raised about the mathematical validity of the LE approach. In fact, neither the critics nor the advocates are precise enough to provide a generally understandable and accepted chemistry of the LE metrics. In particular, this refers to the puzzle of the LE trends for small and large molecules. In this paper, we explain the chemistry and mathematics of the LE type of data. Because LE is a weight metrics related to binding per gram, its hyperbolic decrease with an increasing number of heavy atoms can be easily understood by its 1/MW dependency. Accordingly, we analyzed how this influences the LE trends for ligand-target binding, economic big data or molecular descriptor data. In particular, we compared the trends for the thermodynamic ∆G data of a series of ligands that interact with 14 different target classes, which were extracted from the BindingDB database with the market prices of a commercial compound library of ca. 2.5 mln synthetic building blocks. An interpretation of LE and BEI that clearly explains the observed trends for these parameters are presented here for the first time. Accordingly, we show that the main misunderstanding of the chemical meaning of the BEI and LE parameters is their interpretation as molecular descriptors that are connected with a single molecule, while binding is a statistical effect in which a population of ligands limits the formation of ligand-receptor complexes. Therefore, LE (BEI) should not be interpreted as a molecular (physicochemical) descriptor that is connected with a single molecule but as a property (binding per gram). Accordingly, the puzzle of the surprising behavior of LE is explained by the 1/MW dependency. This effect

  2. Effects of alcohol-based hand hygiene solutions on breath alcohol detection in the emergency department.

    PubMed

    Emerson, Beth L; Whitfill, Travis; Baum, Carl R; Garlin-Kane, Katherine; Santucci, Karen

    2016-12-01

    This study aimed to investigate the effects of alcohol-based hand hygiene solution (ABHS) use by care providers on point-of-care alcohol breath analyzer interpretation under different clinically relevant conditions. Among each test condition (foam vehicle with immediate testing, gel vehicle with immediate testing, allowing hands to dry after the use of ABHS, and donning gloves after the use of ABHS), alcohol was detected in breath at 1 minute after use of ABHS. Because the use of ABHS by individuals administering breath alcohol detection may result in false-positive detection of alcohol, staff using these devices should consider traditional hand hygiene with soap and water. Copyright © 2016 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Innate Susceptibility to Norovirus Infections Influenced by FUT2 Genotype in a United States Pediatric Population

    PubMed Central

    Currier, Rebecca L.; Payne, Daniel C.; Staat, Mary A.; Selvarangan, Rangaraj; Shirley, S. Hannah; Halasa, Natasha; Boom, Julie A.; Englund, Janet A.; Szilagyi, Peter G.; Harrison, Christopher J.; Klein, Eileen J.; Weinberg, Geoffrey A.; Wikswo, Mary E.; Parashar, Umesh; Vinjé, Jan; Morrow, Ardythe L.

    2015-01-01

    Background. Norovirus is a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE). Noroviruses bind to gut histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs), but only 70%–80% of individuals have a functional copy of the FUT2 (“secretor”) gene required for gut HBGA expression; these individuals are known as “secretors.” Susceptibility to some noroviruses depends on FUT2 secretor status, but the population impact of this association is not established. Methods. From December 2011 to November 2012, active AGE surveillance was performed at 6 geographically diverse pediatric sites in the United States. Case patients aged <5 years were recruited from emergency departments and inpatient units; age-matched healthy controls were recruited at well-child visits. Salivary DNA was collected to determine secretor status and genetic ancestry. Stool was tested for norovirus by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Norovirus genotype was then determined by sequencing. Results. Norovirus was detected in 302 of 1465 (21%) AGE cases and 52 of 826 (6%) healthy controls. Norovirus AGE cases were 2.8-fold more likely than norovirus-negative controls to be secretors (P < .001) in a logistic regression model adjusted for ancestry, age, site, and health insurance. Secretors comprised all 155 cases and 21 asymptomatic infections with the most prevalent norovirus, GII.4. Control children of Meso-American ancestry were more likely than children of European or African ancestry to be secretors (96% vs 74%; P < .001). Conclusions. FUT2 status is associated with norovirus infection and varies by ancestry. GII.4 norovirus exclusively infected secretors. These findings are important to norovirus vaccine trials and design of agents that may block norovirus-HBGA binding. PMID:25744498

  4. Energy levels, wavelengths, and radiative transition probabilities for the Na-like ions with 38 [le] Z [le] 45

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ying Zhang; Qiren Zhu; Shoufu Pan

    1992-11-01

    The investigation by Z.-Q Zhang et al. (Acta Optica Sinica 11, 193, 1991) shows that it is possible to realize soft X-ray lasing in the water window 23.3-43.8 [Angstrom] with the Na-like recombination scheme, which requires a lower pumping power at a high-power laser facility than that with other schemes. The fine-structure levels with n [le] 15 and l [le] 6 in Na-like ions with 38 [le] Z [le] 45 and the probabilities for radiative transitions between these levels are calculated using the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock approach. The calculations show that the wavelengths of the anticipated laser transitions 6 f-4d andmore » 6g-4f in the Na-like ions with 38 [le] Z [le] 43 and 5f-4d and 5g-4f in the Na-like ions with 40 [le] Z [le] 45 lie in the region of the water window.« less

  5. Etat nutritionnel des enfants âgés de 6 à 59 mois infectés par le VIH mais non traités aux ARV à Lubumbashi

    PubMed Central

    Mwadianvita, Costa Kazadi; Kanyenze, Faustin Ngoy; Wembonyama, Cecile Watu; Mutomb, Florence Mujing A; Mupoya, Kalombo; Nkoy, Albert Mwembo–Tambwe A; Mwenze, Prosper Kalenga

    2014-01-01

    Introduction L'infection par le VIH provoque et/ou aggrave les déficits nutritionnels de l'enfant. Ce travail avait pour objectif d'analyser l’état nutritionnel des enfants infectés par le VIH à Lubumbashi. Méthodes Une étude transversale portant sur 83 enfants âgés de 6 à 60 mois s'est déroulée de mai 2010 à mai 2011 dans trois(3) centres de prise en charge des Personnes Vivant avec le VIH(PVV), notamment le Centre d'Excellence(CE) de l'hôpital Sendwe, le Centre Amo-Congo de la Kenya et le Centre de Référence de la Kenya. Les statistiques descriptives usuelles ont été utilisées. Résultats La prévalence de la malnutrition globale était de 60,2% (n = 50) dont 8,4% de malnutrition sévère. Le poids moyen était de 11,6±4,1 kg avec un minimum de 5 kg et un maximum de 22 kg. Le taux d'hémoglobine moyen était d'environ 9,8± 2,0 g/dl avec une prévalence globale de l'anémie (hémoglobine < 11g/dl) à 69,9%. L’émaciation concernait 20,5% des enfants et 8,4% avaient un retard de croissance. Le retard de croissance (p = 0,007), l'insuffisance pondérale (p = 0,002) et l’émaciation (p = 0,046) étaient associés de façon significative à l’état avancé de l'infection à VIH. La survenue de l'anémie n’était pas associée au déficit nutritionnel (p = 0,6). Conclusion Ces résultats révèlent que l'infection à VIH modifie l’état nutritionnel des enfants à Lubumbashi avec 60,2% de malnutrition globale et 8,4% de retard de croissance. Les enfants au stade avancé de l'infection à VIH en sont plus affectés. PMID:25574336

  6. Biomechanical considerations for distraction of the monobloc, Le Fort III, and Le Fort I segments.

    PubMed

    Figueroa, Alvaro A; Polley, John W; Figueroa, Aaron D

    2010-09-01

    Distraction osteogenesis is effective for correction of severe maxillary and midface hypoplasia. The vectors controlling the segment to be moved must be planned. This requires knowledge of the physical characteristics of the osteotomized bone segment, including the location of the center of mass (free body) and the center of resistance (restrained body). The purpose of this study was to determine the center of mass of the osteotomized monobloc, Le Fort III, and Le Fort I bone segments. A dry human skull was used to sequentially isolate three bone segments: monobloc, Le Fort III, and Le Fort I. Each segment was suspended from three different points, and digital photographs were obtained from each suspension. The photographs were digitally superimposed. The center of mass was determined by calculating the intersection of the suspension lines. The center of mass for the monobloc segment was located at a point 43.5 percent of the total height from the occlusal plane to the superior edge of the frontal bone supraorbital osteotomy. For the Le Fort III, it was located 38 percent of the total height from the occlusal plane to the superior edge of the osteotomized base of the nasal bones. For the Le Fort I, it was 53 percent of the total height from the occlusal plane to the superior edge of the osteotomized maxillary bone. Knowledge of the location of the center of mass in the monobloc, Le Fort III, and Le Fort I segments provides a starting point for the clinician when planning vectors for advancement with distraction.

  7. Whole Trait Theory

    PubMed Central

    Fleeson, William; Jayawickreme, Eranda

    2014-01-01

    Personality researchers should modify models of traits to include mechanisms of differential reaction to situations. Whole Trait Theory does so via five main points. First, the descriptive side of traits should be conceptualized as density distributions of states. Second, it is important to provide an explanatory account of the Big 5 traits. Third, adding an explanatory account to the Big 5 creates two parts to traits, an explanatory part and a descriptive part, and these two parts should be recognized as separate entities that are joined into whole traits. Fourth, Whole Trait Theory proposes that the explanatory side of traits consists of social-cognitive mechanisms. Fifth, social-cognitive mechanisms that produce Big-5 states should be identified. PMID:26097268

  8. Investigations on flexural wave propagation and attenuation in a modified one-dimensional acoustic black hole using a laser excitation technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ji, Hongli; Luo, Jing; Qiu, Jinhao; Cheng, Li

    2018-05-01

    Acoustic Black Holes (ABHs), as a new type of passive structure for vibration damping enhancement and noise attenuation, have been drawing increasing attentions of many researchers. Due to the difficulty in manufacturing the sharp edges required by the ABH structures, it is important to understand the wave propagation and attenuation process in the presence of damping layers in non-ideal ABHs with a truncated edge. In this paper, an analytical expression of the wave reflection coefficient in a modified one-dimensional ABH is derived and a time-domain experimental method based on a laser excitation technique is used to visualize the wave propagation. In the experimental studies, the flexural waves in the ABH were excited by a scanning pulse laser and measured by a Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV). The incident wave and reflected wave were separated from the measured original wave field and the decrease of the wave velocity in the ABH was exhibited. The reflection coefficient was calculated from the ratio of the amplitude of the reflected wave to that of the incident wave for different ABH parameters and different thicknesses of the damping layer. The measured reflection coefficients were used to identify the unknown coefficients in the theoretical formula. The results confirm that there exists an optimal thickness for the damping layer, which leads to the minimum wave reflection. Based on the laser-induced visualization technique and various signal processing and feature extraction methods, the entire process of the wave propagation in a non-ideal one-dimensional ABH structure can be visualized and scrutinized.

  9. La Vie Politique sous la Restauration a Travers ’Le Rouge et le Noir’ de Stendahl (The Political Life during the Restauration as Depicted in Le Rouge et le Noir by Stendahl)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1989-01-01

    de la classe dirigeante est le clerg6. M. le vicaire de Frilair est le bras droit de l ’&veque dle Besangon et...sympathique effort de recherche ;la documentation contribue bien A 6clairer lanalyse. INTERPRETATION: L 𔄀tude des aspects de la vie politique sous la...References Ouvrages consultes AXccesion For NTIS CRA&I DTIC TA9 El Unanno ’-,’ 1 : By 442.-. - L -- A, _ojes Aof -d/or * A- Dans l’L*tude des

  10. Le continu contre l'espace

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Salanskis, Jean-Michel

    Disons pour conclure que, en tout état de cause, la façon de concevoir philosophiquement le conflit du continu et de l'espace que nous avons trouvée chez Hegel n'est pas homogène avec le style et les modalités de la pensée mathématique: 1) d'une part, le lien classique, le lien de référence entre continu et espace en mathématiques n'est pas que l'espace serait premier et privé de pensée, et le continu second, venant dissoudre l'espace en apportant la qualité, l'infini et la pensée, mais tout au contraire, il consiste en ce que l'espace est fondé sur l'abîme infinitaire du continu ; 2) d'autre part, l'éventuel divorce entre l'espace et le continu dans l'aire mathématique n'est pas celui d'une réflexivité purement conceptuelle du continu avec un positivisme géométrique, n'équivaut pas à une rupture disciplinaire ; il est plutôt le symptôme de la dérive d'une herméneutique à l'égard d'une autre, au sein d'un continent juridique commun définissant la discipline (la mathématique ensembliste), cette dérive pouvant, à la limite, induire une refonte de ce sol juridique, sans que jamais il soit question pour autant de nier l'unité des mathématiques, à comprendre ici comme l'unité ultime de responsabilité de la communauté mathématique à l'égard des trois questions Qu'est-ce que l'espace?”, “Qu'est-ce que le continu?” et “Qu'est-ce que l'infini?”.

  11. Assessing the Utility of Compound Trait Estimates of Narrow Personality Traits.

    PubMed

    Credé, Marcus; Harms, Peter D; Blacksmith, Nikki; Wood, Dustin

    2016-01-01

    It has been argued that approximations of narrow traits can be made through linear combinations of broad traits such as the Big Five personality traits. Indeed, Hough and Ones ( 2001 ) used a qualitative analysis of scale content to arrive at a taxonomy of how Big Five traits might be combined to approximate various narrow traits. However, the utility of such compound trait approximations has yet to be established beyond specific cases such as integrity and customer service orientation. Using data from the Eugene-Springfield Community Sample (Goldberg, 2008 ), we explore the ability of linear composites of scores on Big Five traits to approximate scores on 127 narrow trait measures from 5 well-known non-Big-Five omnibus measures of personality. Our findings indicate that individuals' standing on more than 30 narrow traits can be well estimated from 3 different types of linear composites of scores on Big Five traits without a substantial sacrifice in criterion validity. We discuss theoretical accounts for why such relationships exist as well as the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners.

  12. FishTraits Database

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Angermeier, Paul L.; Frimpong, Emmanuel A.

    2009-01-01

    The need for integrated and widely accessible sources of species traits data to facilitate studies of ecology, conservation, and management has motivated development of traits databases for various taxa. In spite of the increasing number of traits-based analyses of freshwater fishes in the United States, no consolidated database of traits of this group exists publicly, and much useful information on these species is documented only in obscure sources. The largely inaccessible and unconsolidated traits information makes large-scale analysis involving many fishes and/or traits particularly challenging. FishTraits is a database of >100 traits for 809 (731 native and 78 exotic) fish species found in freshwaters of the conterminous United States, including 37 native families and 145 native genera. The database contains information on four major categories of traits: (1) trophic ecology, (2) body size and reproductive ecology (life history), (3) habitat associations, and (4) salinity and temperature tolerances. Information on geographic distribution and conservation status is also included. Together, we refer to the traits, distribution, and conservation status information as attributes. Descriptions of attributes are available here. Many sources were consulted to compile attributes, including state and regional species accounts and other databases.

  13. Infection par le VIH chez les patientes atteintes de cancer du sein en Guinée (Afrique de l'Ouest)

    PubMed Central

    Traore, Bangaly; Diane, Solomana; Sow, Mamadou Saliou; Keita, Mamady; Conde, Mamoudou; Traore, Fodé Amara; Kourouma, Tidiane

    2015-01-01

    L'objectif était de déterminer la prévalence de l'infection à VIH chez les patientes atteintes de cancer du sein et de comparer les caractéristiques anatomocliques et thérapeutiques de ces cancers du sein par rapports aux patientes non infectées par le VIH. Il s'agissait d'une étude rétrospective et analytique comparant les dossiers de patientes atteintes de cancers du sein histologiquement confirmés, infectées ou non par le VIH à l'unité de chirurgie oncologique de Donka, CHU de Conakry, de 2007 à 2012. Nous avons colligé 278 patientes présentant un cancer du sein dont 14 (5,0%) infectées par le VIH et 264 (95,0%) non infectées par le VIH. Les différences observées entre ces deux groupes de patientes étaient respectivement: âge médian (36,8 vs 49,0 ans), la ménopause (21,4% vs 53,4%), le nombre des patientes traitées (50,0% contre 77,1%) et la survenue de décès (78,6% vs 50,8%). Aucune différence n'a été notée dans la présentation clinique, histologique et le retard de consultation. Dans notre étude, la prévalence de l'infection à VIH chez les patients atteints de cancer du sein est élevée. L’âge jeune des patients, la faible accessibilité au traitement et la mortalité élevée doivent être confirmés par une étude sur un échantillon plus large. PMID:26523196

  14. Enhanced Acoustic Black Hole effect in beams with a modified thickness profile and extended platform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tang, Liling; Cheng, Li

    2017-03-01

    The phenomenon of Acoustics Black Hole (ABH) benefits from the bending wave propagating properties inside a thin-walled structure with power-law thickness variation to achieve zero reflection when the structural thickness approaches zero in the ideal scenario. However, manufacturing an ideally tailored power-law profile of a structure with embedded ABH feature can hardly be achieved in practice. Past research showed that the inevitable truncation at the wedge tip of the structure can significantly weaken the expected ABH effect by creating wave reflections. On the premise of the minimum achievable truncation thickness by the current manufacturing technology, exploring ways to ensure and achieve better ABH effect becomes important. In this paper, we investigate this issue by using a previously developed wavelet-decomposed semi-analytical model on an Euler-Bernoulli beam with a modified power-law profile and an extended platform of constant thickness. Through comparisons with the conventional ABH profile in terms of system loss factor and energy distribution, numerical results show that the modified thickness profile brings about a systematic increase in the ABH effect at mid-to-high frequencies, especially when the truncation thickness is small and the profile parameter m is large. The use of an extended platform further increases the ABH effect to broader the frequency band whilst providing rooms for catering particular low frequency applications.

  15. Aviation Boatswain's Mate H 1 and C: Naval Rate Training Manual and Nonresident Career Course. 1975 Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Naval Education and Training Command, Pensacola, FL.

    The Rate Training Manual is one of a series of training manuals prepared for enlisted personnel of the Navy and Naval Reserve designed to aid Aviation Boatswain's Mate H 2 in preparing for advancement to ABH1 and the ABH1 in preparing for advancement to the rank of ABHC. Chapter 1 discusses the enlisted rating structure, the ABH service ratings,…

  16. The specificity of the cross-reacting antibodies in blood group O sera which produce mixed agglutination

    PubMed Central

    Franks, D.; Liske, Rosemary

    1968-01-01

    γM cross-reacting antibodies in group O sera produce mixed agglutination with secretor buccal cells, but not with non-secretor cells. The mixed agglutination with sera which also contain immune anti-B is produced only with A buccal cells and B indicator red cells, and not with B buccal cells, and is inhibited by B secretor saliva or galactose, but not by A secretor saliva. Mixed agglutination with sera containing immune anti-A is produced only with B buccal cells and A indicator red cells, and is inhibited by A secretor saliva or 2-acetamido-2-deoxygalactose (N-acetyl-D-galactosamine), but not by B secretor saliva. If two sera, one containing immune anti-A and the other containing immune anti-B, are mixed together in equal volumes, mixed agglutination is no longer produced with either A buccal cells (and B indicator red cells) or B buccal cells (and A indicator red cells). These observations are thought to be most readily explicable by the hypothesis that the combining site on the cross-reacting antibody is smaller than on specific anti-A or anti-B, and that it reacts with that part of the antigenic determinant which is common to both A and B antigens. As a consequence of the restricted size of the combining site, it is suggested that cross-reacting antibody will have a lower affinity for A or B antigens than specific anti-A or anti-B does, and competes unsuccessfully with specific anti-A or anti-B for combination with antigen on buccal cells. PMID:5638582

  17. Le LHC, un tunnel cosmique

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Binetruy, Pierre

    2009-09-17

    Et si la lumière au bout du tunnel du LHC était cosmique ? En d’autres termes, qu’est-ce que le LHC peut nous apporter dans la connaissance de l’Univers ? Car la montée en énergie des accélérateurs de particules nous permet de mieux appréhender l’univers primordial, chaud et dense. Mais dans quel sens dit-on que le LHC reproduit des conditions proches du Big bang ? Quelles informations nous apporte-t-il sur le contenu de l’Univers ? La matière noire est-elle détectable au LHC ? L’énergie noire ? Pourquoi l’antimatière accumulée au CERN est-elle si rare dans l’Univers ? Et si le CERNmore » a bâti sa réputation sur l’exploration des forces faibles et fortes qui opèrent au sein des atomes et de leurs noyaux, est-ce que le LHC peut nous apporter des informations sur la force gravitationnelle qui gouverne l’évolution cosmique ? Depuis une trentaine d’années, notre compréhension de l’univers dans ses plus grandes dimensions et l’appréhension de son comportement aux plus petites distances sont intimement liées : en quoi le LHC va-t-il tester expérimentalement cette vision unifiée ? Tout public, entrée libre / Réservations au +41 (0)22 767 76 76« less

  18. L'astronomie dans le monde

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manfroid, J.

    2008-09-01

    Fragmentation et astéroïdes binaires; Astéroïde géocroiseur triple; Rosetta sort de son hibernation; Messenger; Transit lunaire vu par Deep Impact; Titan; Phobos; Phoenix; Einstein avait raison; Le ballet des taches rouges; Le poids des lentilles;

  19. Durcissement superficiel de la fonte grise Ft25 induit par un traitement de surface dans le moule

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bouitna, Mohamed; Boutarek-Zaourar, Naïma; Mansour, Samir; Chentouf, Samir Mourad; Mossang, Eric

    2018-02-01

    L'objectif de cette étude est la consolidation en surface de la fonte grise lamellaire Ft25 par un dépôt riche en manganèse en développant une méthode combinant en une seule opération l'élaboration et le traitement de surface dans le moule. Les effets de la granulométrie du ferro-manganèse (80 % Mn + 20 % Fe), ainsi que l'épaisseur des pièces en fontes sur les couches formées ont été étudiés. On a retenu trois granulométries du ferro-manganèse de 0,18 mm, 0,25 mm et 0,5 mm pour le traitement des pièces en fontes présentant des épaisseurs de 25 mm, 100 mm et 200 mm. Parmi les résultats obtenus, on distingue une consolidation des propriétés en surface induite par la formation d'une couche riche en manganèse continue et homogène. L'effet de la granulométrie du ferro-manganèse sur l'épaisseur de la couche traitée a été mis en évidence. La variation de l'épaisseur des couches formées diminue avec l'augmentation de la granulométrie du ferro-manganèse. Pour une pièce de 100 mm d'épaisseur, la couche formée est estimée à 350 μm pour une granulométrie de 0,18 alors qu'elle n'est que de 180 μm pour une granulométrie de 0,5. L'effet de l'épaisseur de la pièce n'est en revanche pas assez prononcé sur la taille des couches formées. Une amélioration nette de la résistance, à l'usure de la fonte traitée en relation avec les transformations en surface, a été mise en évidence.

  20. A and B antigen levels acquired by group O donor-derived erythrocytes following ABO-non-identical transfusion or minor ABO-incompatible haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

    PubMed

    Hult, A K; Dykes, J H; Storry, J R; Olsson, M L

    2017-06-01

    ABO-incompatible haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) presents a challenge to blood component transfusion. The aim of this study was to investigate the weak blood group A or B antigen expression by donor-derived group O red blood cells (RBC) observed following transfusion or minor ABO-incompatible HSCT. In addition, in vitro experiments were performed to elucidate possible mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. A sensitive flow cytometry assay for the semi-quantification of RBC A/B antigen levels was used to assess patient samples and evaluate in vitro experiments. Analysis of blood samples from patients, originally typed as A, B and AB but recently transplanted or transfused with cells from group O donors, revealed the A antigen expression on donor-derived RBC, ranging from very low levels in non-secretor individuals to almost subgroup A x -like profiles in group A secretors. The B antigen expression was less readily detectable. In vitro experiments, in which group O donor RBC were incubated with (i) group A/B secretor/non-secretor donor plasma or (ii) group A/B donor RBC in the absence of plasma, supported the proposed adsorption of A/B antigen-bearing glycolipids from secretor plasma but also indicated a secretor-independent mechanism for A/B antigen acquisition as well as direct cell-to-cell transfer of ABO antigens. The in vivo conversion of donor-derived blood group O RBC to ABO subgroup-like RBC after transfusion or minor ABO-incompatible HSCT raises the question of appropriate component selection. Based on these data, AB plasma should be transfused following ABO-incompatible HSCT. © 2017 British Blood Transfusion Society.

  1. Entrevue avec le Dr Charley Zeanah

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Le Dr Charles Zeanah est titulaire de la chaire de psychiatrie Mary K. Sellars-Polchow, professeur de pédiatrie clinique et vice-président de la pédopsychiatrie au département de psychiatrie et des sciences du comportement de la faculté de médecine de l’Université Tulane, à la Nouvelle-Orléans. Il est également directeur général de l’institut de la santé mentale des nourrissons et des jeunes enfants de Tulane. Il est récipiendaire de nombreux prix, notamment le prix de prévention Irving Phillips (AACAP), la mention élogieuse présidentielle pour sa recherche et son leadership exceptionnels en santé mentale des nourrissons (American Orthopsychiatric Association), le prix d’excellence clinique Sarah Haley Memorial (International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies), le prix de recherche en pédopsychiatrie Blanche F. Ittelson (APA), et le prix Serge Lebovici Award soulignant les contributions internationales à la santé mentale des nourrissons (World Association for Infant Mental Health). Le Dr Zeanah est fellow distingué de l’AACAP, fellow distingué de l’APA et membre du conseil d’administration de Zero to Three. Il est l’éditeur scientifique de Handbook of Infant Mental Health (3e édition) qui est considéré comme étant le manuel de pointe et la référence de base du domaine de la santé mentale des nourrissons.

  2. Le Laser A Argon Ionise : Applications Therapeutiques

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brunetaud, J. M.; Mosquet, L.; Mordon, S.; Rotteleur, G.

    1984-03-01

    Le laser a argon ionise est un laser a emission continue, reglee en general en multiraies de 487 a 544 nm. Le rayonnement de ce laser est bien absorbe par les tissus vivants, avec une action preferentielle au niveau des pigments rouges (hemoglobine, myoglobine) et noirs (melanine). Le laser a argon est princi-palement utilise en therapeutique pour ses effets thermiques : en fonction du choix des parametres (puissance optique, surface exposee, temps d'exposition) on peut obtenir une coagulation (temperature optimale au niveau des tissus 60° - 80°) ou une volatisation (temperature superieure a 100°). Si la zone volatilisee est tres etroite (inferieure a 0,5 mm) on obtient un effet de coupe. Par rapport aux deux autres lasers egalement utilises pour leurs effets thermiques (CO2 et Nd. YAG) l'argon a des effets intermediaires : la coagulation sera plus superficielle qu'avec le Nd. YAG et la volatisation plus profonde qu'avec le CO2. Lors de la coupe, la necrose sur les berges sera egalement plus importante qu'avec le CO2.

  3. Le Fort Fractures: A Collective Review

    PubMed Central

    Phillips, Bradley J.; Turco, Lauren M.

    2017-01-01

    Le Fort fractures constitute a pattern of complex facial injury that occurs secondary to blunt facial trauma.  The most common mechanisms of injury for these fractures, which are frequently associated with drug and alcohol use, include motor vehicle collisions, assault, and falls. A thorough search of the world’s literature following PRISMA guidelines was conducted through PubMed and EBSCO databases. Search terms included “Le Fort fracture”, “facial”, “craniofacial”, and “intracranial.”  Articles were selected based on relevance and examined regarding etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, complications, and outcomes in adults. The analyzed studies were published between 1980 and 2016. Initial data search yielded 186 results. The search was narrowed to exclude articles lacking in specificity for Le Fort fractures.  Fifty-one articles were selected, the majority of which were large case studies, and collectively reported that Le Fort fractures are most commonly due to high-velocity MVC and that the severity of fracture type sustained occurred with increasing frequency.  It was also found that there is a general lack of published Level I, Level II, and Level III studies regarding Le Fort fracture management, surgical management, and outcomes. The limitation of this study, similar to all PRISMA-guided review articles, is the dependence on previously published research and availability of references as outlined in our methodology. While mortality rates for Le Fort fractures are low, these complex injuries seldom occur in isolation and are associated with other severe injuries to the head and neck. Quick and accurate diagnosis of Le Fort fractures and associated injuries is crucial to the successful management of blunt head trauma. PMID:29177168

  4. Occurrence of oligosaccharides in feces of breast-fed babies in their first six months of life and the corresponding breast milk.

    PubMed

    Albrecht, Simone; Schols, Henk A; van den Heuvel, Ellen G H M; Voragen, Alphons G J; Gruppen, Harry

    2011-11-29

    The characterization of oligosaccharides in the feces of breast-fed babies is a valuable tool for monitoring the gastrointestinal fate of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). In the present study we monitored fecal oligosaccharide profiles together with the HMO-profiles of the respective breast milks up to six months postpartum, by means of capillary electrophoresis-laser induced fluorescence detection and mass spectrometry. Eleven mother/child pairs were included. Mother's secretor- and Lewis-type included all combinations [Le(a-b+), Le(a+b-), Le(a-b-)]. The fecal HMO-profiles in the first few months of life are either predominantly composed of neutral or acidic HMOs and are possibly effected by the HMO-fingerprint in the respective breast milk. Independent of the initial presence of acidic or neutral fecal HMOs, a gradual change to blood-group specific oligosaccharides was observed. Their presence pointed to a gastrointestinal degradation of the feeding-related HMOs, followed by conjugation with blood group specific antigenic determinants present in the gastrointestinal mucus layer. Eleven of these 'hybrid'-oligosaccharides were annotated in this study. When solid food was introduced, no HMOs and their degradation- and metabolization products were recovered in the fecal samples. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Le LHC, un tunnel cosmique

    ScienceCinema

    None

    2017-12-09

    Et si la lumière au bout du tunnel du LHC était cosmique ? En d’autres termes, qu’est-ce que le LHC peut nous apporter dans la connaissance de l’Univers ? Car la montée en énergie des accélérateurs de particules nous permet de mieux appréhender l’univers primordial, chaud et dense. Mais dans quel sens dit-on que le LHC reproduit des conditions proches du Big bang ? Quelles informations nous apporte-t-il sur le contenu de l’Univers ? La matière noire est-elle détectable au LHC ? L’énergie noire ? Pourquoi l’antimatière accumulée au CERN est-elle si rare dans l’Univers ? Et si le CERN a bâti sa réputation sur l’exploration des forces faibles et fortes qui opèrent au sein des atomes et de leurs noyaux, est-ce que le LHC peut nous apporter des informations sur la force gravitationnelle qui gouverne l’évolution cosmique ? Depuis une trentaine d’années, notre compréhension de l’univers dans ses plus grandes dimensions et l’appréhension de son comportement aux plus petites distances sont intimement liées : en quoi le LHC va-t-il tester expérimentalement cette vision unifiée ? Tout public, entrée libre / Réservations au +41 (0)22 767 76 76

  6. The effect of shovel trait on Carabelli's trait in Taiwan Chinese and Aboriginal populations.

    PubMed

    Hsu, J W; Tsai, P L; Hsiao, T H; Chang, H P; Lin, L M; Liu, K M; Yu, H S; Ferguson, D

    1997-09-01

    Chinese and other Mongoloid populations differ from Caucasoids by having a high prevalence of shovel trait and a low prevalence of Carabelli's trait. This study was conducted to compare the association between the shovel and the Carabelli's traits between Chinese and aboriginal Mongoloid populations. The research is designed to sample randomly a Chinese population and an aboriginal population having low admixture with neighboring populations. The Mongoloid aboriginal group was from the Bunun tribe who resides in an isolated alpine area in Taiwan. The effects of sex and age on Carabelli's trait were controlled in this study, as was the association between tooth size and Carabelli's trait. Our results show that males had more Carabelli's trait expressed on teeth than females in both of these two Mongoloid populations. The buccolingual diameter of Carabelli's trait teeth was larger than that of teeth without the trait. After controlling for sex, age, and tooth size, the existence of the shovel trait significantly increased the likelihood of having Carabelli's trait, especially in Chinese, which implies another significant ethnic feature for Mongoloid identification.

  7. Traits as dimensions or categories? Developmental change in the understanding of trait terms.

    PubMed

    Gonzalez, Celia M; Zosuls, Kristina M; Ruble, Diane N

    2010-09-01

    Recent research has suggested that young children have relatively well-developed trait concepts. However, this literature overlooks potential age-related differences in children's appreciation of the fundamentally dimensional nature of traits. In Study 1, we presented 4-, 5-, and 7-year-old children and adults with sets of characters and asked them to indicate the preferences of a target character who shared appearance attributes with one character (appearance match) and shared a common trait with the other character (trait match). Traits were presented in a way that emphasized either their categorical or their dimensional nature. When the dimensional nature of trait terms was emphasized, the youngest children made fewer trait-based inferences, and the use of traits increased with age. In Study 2, we gave 4-year-old children and adults the same task except that the extent to which appearance cues could serve as a meaningful basis of judgment was varied. Results were consistent with the findings of Study 1, although children were more likely to rely on dimensional presentations of traits in the absence of strong appearance cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

  8. Estimation of the genetic correlations between twisted legs and growth or conformation traits in broiler chickens.

    PubMed

    Bihan-Duval, E L; Beaumont, C; Colleau, J J

    1997-01-12

    .01. According to a simulation study these small estimates were unlikely to be due to the negative back effects of severe disorders on growth performances. According to these results, including leg defects in breeding schemes would not delay improvement on growth through unfavourable genetic correlations. Susceptibility to valgus deformity appeared to be genetically independent of conformation traits (genetic correlation was estimated to be -0.06 and -0.08 with BRA and BRM respectively), whereas moderate unfavourable genetic correlations were found for varus (+0.16 and +0.19 with BRA and BRM respectively). Care must be taken when considering the impact of the actual intensive selection for greater conformation on the incidence of varus deformity. RÉSUMÉ: Les corrélations génétiques entre deux types de déformations osseuses, le valgus et le varus, et des caractères de croissance et de conformation ont été estimées dans deux lignées commerciales de poulet de type chair. Dans la lignée "A", 14 264 poulets des deux sexes ont été mesurés pour les problèmes de pattes à 6 semaines, ainsi que pour le poids vif aux âges de 3 et 6 semaines. Ces mêmes mesures ont été faites dans la lignée "B"sur 8 164 poulets; on disposait en plus pour un échantillon des animaux de cette lignée de la mesure de l'angle de poitrine et du rendement en filet à 6 semaines. Des développements du modèle logistique multinomial déjà utilisé pour l'analyse génétique des valgus et varus ont été réalisés pour permettre l'analyse conjointe de plusieurs caractères discrets non ordonnés et d'une variable continue. Le modèle d'analyse fait l'hypothèse d'une compétition entre plusieurs variables sous-jacentes de sensibilité aux déformations, dépendant linéairement de la performance continue. Les paramètres de position pour les sensibilités sous-jacentes et le caractère continu ont été estimés par l'approche bayésienne du "Maximum A Posteriori"et les paramètres de

  9. Logistic analysis of the effects of shovel trait on Carabelli's trait in a Mongoloid population.

    PubMed

    Tsai, P L; Hsu, J W; Lin, L M; Liu, K M

    1996-08-01

    Mongoloid populations differ from Caucasoids by having a high prevalence of shovel trait and a low prevalence of Carabelli's trait. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the shovel trait on Carabelli's trait in a Mongoloid population. The research design sought a population that resides in an isolated area and exhibits low admixture with neighboring populations. The Mongoloid group selected for study was the Bunun tribe of aborigines who inhabit an alpine area in Taiwan. The effects of sex and age on Carabelli's trait were controlled in this investigation, as was the association between tooth size and Carabelli's trait. Results show that males were more likely to have Carabelli's trait expressed on teeth than females. The buccolingual diameter of Carabelli's trait teeth was larger than that of teeth without the trait. After adjusting for sex, age, and tooth size, the existence of the shovel trait increased the likelihood of having Carabelli's trait by a factor of three, an effect that is significant.

  10. Le patrimoine astronomique provençal

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rous, M.; Figon, P.; Guyot, S.

    2012-12-01

    L'OSU OAMP/Institut Pythéas porte les missions de conservation, inventaire et valorisation du patrimoine. Suite à la fusion de l'Observatoire de Marseille et du Laboratoire d'Astronomie Spatiale en 2000 pour créer le Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, le déménagement des équipes sur le site de Château-Gombert en 2008 a soulevé le problème du devenir des collections des deux sites d'origine. Nous ferons le bilan des actions passées en matière de conservation et de valorisation de ce riche patrimoine : versement à l'inventaire général du Ministère de la Culture, classement de 22 instruments au titre des Monuments Historiques, inventaire et numérisation des archives anciennes, montage d'expositions et réalisation du catalogue Telescopium, 400 ans de lunettes et de télescopes. Nous présenterons les actions en cours: mesures de conservation préventive, inventaire des archives et des instruments. Nous parlerons enfin des projets: création d'un espace d'exposition permanente, participation à des expositions temporaires.

  11. Volitional personality trait change: Can people choose to change their personality traits?

    PubMed

    Hudson, Nathan W; Fraley, R Chris

    2015-09-01

    Previous research has found that most people want to change their personality traits. But can people actually change their personalities just because they want to? To answer this question, we conducted 2, 16-week intensive longitudinal randomized experiments. Across both studies, people who expressed goals to increase with respect to any Big Five personality trait at Time 1 tended to experience actual increases in their self-reports of that trait-as well as trait-relevant daily behavior-over the subsequent 16 weeks. Furthermore, we tested 2 randomized interventions designed to help participants attain desired trait changes. Although 1 of the interventions was inefficacious, a second intervention that trained participants to generate implementation intentions catalyzed their ability to attain trait changes. We also tested several theoretical processes through which volitional changes might occur. These studies suggest that people may be able to change their self-reported personality traits through volitional means, and represent a first step toward understanding the processes that enable people to do so. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  12. Le contrôle des infections au cabinet du pédiatre

    PubMed Central

    2008-01-01

    RÉSUMÉ La transmission des infections au cabinet du pédiatre est de plus en plus préoccupante. Le présent document expose les voies de transmission des infections et les principes sous-jacents aux mesures actuelles pour contrôler les infections. Pour prévenir les infections, il faut bien concevoir le cabinet et adopter des politiques administratives et de triage convenables, de même que des pratiques de base pour les soins de tous les patients (p. ex., hygiène des mains, port de gants, de masques, de lunettes de protection et d’une blouse d’hôpital pour des interventions précises; nettoyage, désinfection et stérilisation convenables des surfaces et du matériel, y compris les jouets, et techniques d’asepsie en cas d’interventions effractives) et des précautions additionnelles en cas d’infections précises. Le personnel doit avoir reçu les vaccins pertinents, et les personnes infectées doivent respecter les politiques de restriction au travail.

  13. The use of Spielberger's State-Trait Personality Inventory (trait anxiety subscale) with naval subaquatic specialists.

    PubMed

    Van Wijk, Charles H

    2014-12-01

    Panic behavior poses a particular threat to the health and safety of subaquatic occupational specialists. Trait anxiety has previously been identified as a marker of panic behavior under water, and Spielberger's State-Trait Personality Inventory (trait anxiety subscale) has been previously used to measure trait anxiety among subaquatic specialists. Using archived data, the trait anxiety scores of subaquatic specialists were analyzed to meet 3 objectives: 1stly - to develop a trait anxiety profile of subaquatic specialists; 2ndly - to investigate the predictive value of trait anxiety measures upon entering an occupational field; and 3rdly - to establish the reliability of these scores over time. Archival trait-anxiety data from 322 subjects were analyzed statistically. Analysis of the available scores revealed a highly homogenous as well as a very low trait anxiety profile for the investigated occupational group. Additionally, low trait anxiety was somewhat associated with success during specialist training: fewer candidates with high trait anxiety scores completed their qualification. Moreover, measurement of trait anxiety was stable over time, which suggests that when scores for this occupational group are screened, deviations from previous scores could signify a potential need for referral to an intervention from health professionals. Using the trait anxiety subscale as part of occupational health surveillance of subaquatic specialists could support prevention of accidents by identifying high-risk candidates during their annual health assessments, and referral for timeous intervention.

  14. Components of Young Children's Trait Understanding: Behavior-to-Trait Inferences and Trait-to-Behavior Predictions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liu, David; Gelman, Susan A.; Wellman, Henry M.

    2007-01-01

    Trait attribution is central to people's naive theories of people and their actions. Previous developmental research indicates that young children are poor at predicting behaviors from past trait-relevant behaviors. We propose that the cognitive process of behavior-to-behavior predictions consists of two component processes: (1) behavior-to-trait…

  15. GlobAl Distribution of GEnetic Traits (GADGET) web server: polygenic trait scores worldwide.

    PubMed

    Chande, Aroon T; Wang, Lu; Rishishwar, Lavanya; Conley, Andrew B; Norris, Emily T; Valderrama-Aguirre, Augusto; Jordan, I King

    2018-05-18

    Human populations from around the world show striking phenotypic variation across a wide variety of traits. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are used to uncover genetic variants that influence the expression of heritable human traits; accordingly, population-specific distributions of GWAS-implicated variants may shed light on the genetic basis of human phenotypic diversity. With this in mind, we developed the GlobAl Distribution of GEnetic Traits web server (GADGET http://gadget.biosci.gatech.edu). The GADGET web server provides users with a dynamic visual platform for exploring the relationship between worldwide genetic diversity and the genetic architecture underlying numerous human phenotypes. GADGET integrates trait-implicated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from GWAS, with population genetic data from the 1000 Genomes Project, to calculate genome-wide polygenic trait scores (PTS) for 818 phenotypes in 2504 individual genomes. Population-specific distributions of PTS are shown for 26 human populations across 5 continental population groups, with traits ordered based on the extent of variation observed among populations. Users of GADGET can also upload custom trait SNP sets to visualize global PTS distributions for their own traits of interest.

  16. Transitions de phase dans le oxyde de yttrium vanadium

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Roberge, Benoit

    Dans le mémoire qui suit, les ordres structural, magnétiques et orbital dans le YVO3 sont étudiés avec l'aide de la diffraction des rayons X,de la spectroscopie Raman et de la technique de la cavité résonnante hyperfréquence. L'objectif premier consiste à observer l'évolution de ces ordres en fonction de la température. Le mémoire met ensuite en évidence le couplage entre les différents ordres cohabitants dans le YVO3 . Les mesures effectuées par la diffraction des rayons X permettent de mesurer le caractère polycrystallin des échantillons du YVO 3. Une comparaison de nos mesures avec des mesures de diffraction des rayons X faites sur la poudre de YVO3 indique la faible présence de maclage. Les mesures effectuées avec la technique de résonnance hyperfréquence permettent de suivre l'évolution de la constante diélectrique en fonction de la température. Les changements impliquant l'ordre orbital se manifestent de manière évidente dans la constante diélectrique à 200 K et à 77 K. La transition diélectrique détectée à 77 K est une transition de premier ordre. Un couplage entre les propriétés diélectriques et magnétiques est observable à la température de Néel à 114 K. L'effet d'un champ magnétique fixe sur la température de transition de l'ordre orbital survenant à 77 K est également remarquable. Cela indique un couplage magnétodiélectrique démontrant ainsi le caractère multiferroïque du YVO 3. Finalement, l'observation d'un mécanisme de relaxation pouvant être modélisé par le modèle d'Havriliak-Negami est observé en dessous de 77 K. En utilisant le modèle d'Arrhénius et le modèle d'Havriliak-Negami, on peut caractériser le mécanisme avec son énergie d'activation et son temps de relaxation. Les mesures effectuées en spectroscopie Raman permettent de suivre l'évolution de la structure du YVO3 en fonction de la température. Les deux changements structuraux survenant à 200 K et 77 K sont observés. Le

  17. Validated derivative and ratio derivative spectrophotometric methods for the simultaneous determination of levocetirizine dihydrochloride and ambroxol hydrochloride in pharmaceutical dosage form

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ali, Omnia I. M.; Ismail, Nahla S.; Elgohary, Rasha M.

    2016-01-01

    Three simple, precise, accurate and validated derivative spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the simultaneous determination of levocetirizine dihydrochloride (LCD) and ambroxol hydrochloride (ABH) in bulk powder and in pharmaceutical formulations. The first method is a first derivative spectrophotometric method (1D) using a zero-crossing technique of measurement at 210.4 nm for LCD and at 220.0 nm for ABH. The second method employs a second derivative spectrophotometry (2D) where the measurements were carried out at 242.0 and 224.4 nm for LCD and ABH, respectively. In the third method, the first derivative of the ratio spectra was calculated and the first derivative of the ratio amplitudes at 222.8 and 247.2 nm was selected for the determination of LCD and ABH, respectively. Calibration graphs were established in the ranges of 1.0-20.0 μg mL- 1 for LCD and 4.0-20.0 μg mL- 1 for ABH using derivative and ratio first derivative spectrophotometric methods with good correlation coefficients. The developed methods have been successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of both drugs in commercial tablet dosage form.

  18. Validated derivative and ratio derivative spectrophotometric methods for the simultaneous determination of levocetirizine dihydrochloride and ambroxol hydrochloride in pharmaceutical dosage form.

    PubMed

    Ali, Omnia I M; Ismail, Nahla S; Elgohary, Rasha M

    2016-01-15

    Three simple, precise, accurate and validated derivative spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the simultaneous determination of levocetirizine dihydrochloride (LCD) and ambroxol hydrochloride (ABH) in bulk powder and in pharmaceutical formulations. The first method is a first derivative spectrophotometric method ((1)D) using a zero-crossing technique of measurement at 210.4 nm for LCD and at 220.0 nm for ABH. The second method employs a second derivative spectrophotometry ((2)D) where the measurements were carried out at 242.0 and 224.4 nm for LCD and ABH, respectively. In the third method, the first derivative of the ratio spectra was calculated and the first derivative of the ratio amplitudes at 222.8 and 247.2 nm was selected for the determination of LCD and ABH, respectively. Calibration graphs were established in the ranges of 1.0-20.0 μg mL(-1) for LCD and 4.0-20.0 μg mL(-1) for ABH using derivative and ratio first derivative spectrophotometric methods with good correlation coefficients. The developed methods have been successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of both drugs in commercial tablet dosage form. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Profil anatomopathologique du cancer du sein dans le cap bon tunisien

    PubMed Central

    Sahraoui, Ghada; Khanchel, Fatma; Chelbi, Emna

    2017-01-01

    Le cancer du sein est le cancer le plus fréquent de la femme en Tunisie et dans le monde. Dans le Cap Bon tunisien, les particularités anatomopathologiques de ce cancer n'ont pas été précisées auparavant. Leur connaissance est nécessaire pour l'adaptation des systèmes de prévention et de soins dans la région. Le but de notre étude était de déterminer le profil anatomopathologique des carcinomes mammaires dans l'unique laboratoire d'anatomie pathologique publique de la région. Il s'agissait d'une étude descriptive rétrospective des carcinomes mammaires diagnostiqués chez 116 malades dans notre laboratoire sur une période de 5 ans de Juillet 2010 à Juillet 2015. Notre étude a inclus 116 patientes. L'âge moyen était de 51 ans. La taille tumorale histologique moyenne était de 31 mm. Le diagnostic initial était posé sur pièce de tumorectomie dans 83% des cas. Le carcinome infiltrant de type non spécifique était le type histologique le plus fréquent. Le grade SBR III était majoritaire. L'invasion lympho-vasculaire était présente dans 33% des cas. Le curage axillaire était positif dans 72% des cas. Les récepteurs hormonaux étaient positifs dans 73% des cas. Les récepteurs de l'Her2-Neu étaient surexprimés dans 19% des cas. Le ki67 était ≥ 14% dans 38%. Le sous-type moléculaire le plus fréquent était le luminal A. Le carcinome mammaire dans la région du Cap Bon se caractérise par sa survenue à un âge jeune, son importante taille tumorale et la fréquence de facteurs histopronostiques péjoratifs. PMID:28450990

  20. Lele de métrologie de SOLEIL

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Idir, M.; Brochet, S.; Delmotte, A.; Lagarde, B.; Mercere, P.; Moreno, T.; Polack, F.; Thomasset, M.

    2006-12-01

    Lele de METROLOGIE de SOLEIL a pour objet de créer sur le synchrotron SOLEIL, une plateforme constituée : - une ligne de lumière utilisant le rayonnement synchrotron (métrologie dite à la longueur d'onde) - d'un laboratoire de métrologie associé (métrologie dite ll classique gg ) Ces deux types de Métrologie sont l'une et l'autre indispensables pour soutenir l'activité de recherche instrumentale en optique X et X-UV. Ce projet de pôle de METROLOGIE ne répondra pas seulement aux besoins des groupes chargés de l'équipement du synchrotron SOLEIL en optiques et détecteurs mais aussi pour préparer, tester et mettre au point les postes expérimentaux, ce qui concerne déjà une large communauté d'utilisateurs. Il sera aussi largement ouvert, dès sa mise en service, à l'ensemble de la communauté scientifique concernée par l'instrumentation X et XUV en Ile de France, en France, voire même en Europe si la demande continue de croître plus vite que l'offre dans ce domaine. Ligne de lumière Métrologie à la longueur d'onde La ligne de lumière sera équipée de plusieurs stations permettant de mesurer, dans la plus grande partie du spectre couvert par le synchrotron, les paramètres photométriques qui caractérisent les éléments optiques, tels que : la réflectivité de surfaces, l'efficacité de diffraction des réseaux, la diffusion des surfaces ou l'efficacité des détecteurs X et X-UV et la calibration absolue. Cette installation pourra servir également à développer des instruments et des diagnostics nécessaires à la caractérisation des faisceaux de rayons X (intensité, taille, degré de cohérence, polarisation etc.) Métrologie Classique La métrologie des surfaces optiques est devenue une nécessité critique pour les laboratoires et les industries qui utilisent les photons X et X-UV (synchrotrons, centres laser, etc. .). En effet, les progrès de calcul et de conception des systèmes optiques pour ces longueurs d'onde (optiques

  1. Trait Values, Not Trait Plasticity, Best Explain Invasive Species' Performance in a Changing Environment

    PubMed Central

    Matzek, Virginia

    2012-01-01

    The question of why some introduced species become invasive and others do not is the central puzzle of invasion biology. Two of the principal explanations for this phenomenon concern functional traits: invasive species may have higher values of competitively advantageous traits than non-invasive species, or they may have greater phenotypic plasticity in traits that permits them to survive the colonization period and spread to a broad range of environments. Although there is a large body of evidence for superiority in particular traits among invasive plants, when compared to phylogenetically related non-invasive plants, it is less clear if invasive plants are more phenotypically plastic, and whether this plasticity confers a fitness advantage. In this study, I used a model group of 10 closely related Pinus species whose invader or non-invader status has been reliably characterized to test the relative contribution of high trait values and high trait plasticity to relative growth rate, a performance measure standing in as a proxy for fitness. When grown at higher nitrogen supply, invaders had a plastic RGR response, increasing their RGR to a much greater extent than non-invaders. However, invasive species did not exhibit significantly more phenotypic plasticity than non-invasive species for any of 17 functional traits, and trait plasticity indices were generally weakly correlated with RGR. Conversely, invasive species had higher values than non-invaders for 13 of the 17 traits, including higher leaf area ratio, photosynthetic capacity, photosynthetic nutrient-use efficiency, and nutrient uptake rates, and these traits were also strongly correlated with performance. I conclude that, in responding to higher N supply, superior trait values coupled with a moderate degree of trait variation explain invasive species' superior performance better than plasticity per se. PMID:23119098

  2. Environmental Assessment: Reevaluation of the Le Claire Base Construction Storage Yard, Le Claire, Iowa

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-06-01

    RUYWAT~POF TU LZ CM AU1 CCRSTCTION STOIAGE YARD TS OF CONENT 3. Pupobe wA X 4 for Action EA- I 11. Project DescriptioO EA- 2 III. Alternatives EA- 4 IV...r W - - 3ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT REEVALUATION OF THE LE CLAIRE BASE CONSTRUCTION STORAGE YARD LE CLAIRE, IOWA I . PURPOSE AND NEED FOR...IDNR) boat ramp and the Corps storage yard will be relocated to the downstream (western) end of the new storage yard (see plate I ). The new road

  3. Multiple-trait multiple-country genetic evaluation of Holstein bulls for female fertility and milk production traits.

    PubMed

    Nilforooshan, M A; Jakobsen, J H; Fikse, W F; Berglund, B; Jorjani, H

    2014-06-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of including milk yield data in the international genetic evaluation of female fertility traits to reduce or eliminate a possible bias because of across-country selection for milk yield. Data included two female fertility traits from Great Britain, Italy and the Netherlands, together with milk yield data from the same countries and from the United States, because the genetic trends in other countries may be influenced by selection decisions on bulls in the United States. Potentially, female fertility data had been corrected nationally for within-country selection and management biases for milk yield. Using a multiple-trait multiple across-country evaluation (MT-MACE) for the analysis of female fertility traits with milk yield, across-country selection patterns both for female fertility and milk yield can be considered simultaneously. Four analyses were performed; one single-trait multiple across-country evaluation analysis including only milk yield data, one MT-MACE analysis including only female fertility traits, and one MT-MACE analysis including both female fertility and milk yield traits. An additional MT-MACE analysis was performed including both female fertility and milk yield traits, but excluding the United States. By including milk yield traits to the analysis, female fertility reliabilities increased, but not for all bulls in all the countries by trait combinations. The presence of milk yield traits in the analysis did not considerably change the genetic correlations, genetic trends or bull rankings of female fertility traits. Even though the predicted genetic merits of female fertility traits hardly changed by including milk yield traits to the analysis, the change was not equally distributed to the whole data. The number of bulls in common between the two sets of Top 100 bulls for each trait in the two analyses of female fertility traits, with and without the four milk yield traits and their rank

  4. Are Traits Useful? Explaining Trait Manifestations as Tools in the Pursuit of Goals

    PubMed Central

    McCabe, Kira O.; Fleeson, William

    2015-01-01

    Traits and motivation mainly have been treated separately for almost a century. The purpose of these studies is to test the proposal that traits and motivation are intricately linked. Specifically, that one explanation for traits, at least in terms of their descriptiveness of what people actually do, is the goals people pursue. Study 1 used experience-sampling methodology to show that almost half the variance in extraversion and conscientiousness manifestation was explained by goal pursuit differences. Both why people enacted more of extraversion and/or conscientiousness than others, and why people enacted extraversion and/or conscientiousness at any given moment were explained by the goals people were pursuing at those moments. Study 2 used experimental methodology to show that extraversion and conscientiousness enactment was in fact caused by the goal pursuit. Study 3 employed observer ratings to show that the goal-dependent enactments of traits were observer-verified actual behaviors. In all three studies, different goals affected different traits discriminatively. Thus, these findings provided strong evidence for one explanation of traits, that they are useful for accomplishing goals. These findings provided one answer to long-standing questions about the conceptual relations between traits and motivation. And these findings clarified the meaning and nature of extraversion and conscientiousness by revealing part of what these traits are for. PMID:26280839

  5. Facteurs de risque de l'infection par le VIH dans le district de santé de Meyomessala au Cameroun

    PubMed Central

    Mbopi-Keou, Francois-Xavier; Nguefack-Tsague, Georges; Kalla, Ginette Claude Mireille; Abessolo, Stéphanie Abo'o; Angwafo, Fru; Muna, Walinjom

    2014-01-01

    Introduction L'objectif de ce travail était de déterminer les facteurs de risque de l'infection par le VIH dans le district de santé de Meyomessala (Région du Sud) au Cameroun. Méthodes Il s'agissait d'une étude transversale, descriptive et analytique qui s'est déroulée de Février à Mai 2011. Pour cette étude, nous avons obtenu une clairance éthique. Résultats L’échantillon était constitué de 315 participants dont 181 (57,46%) hommes et 134 (42,54%) femmes. L’âge moyen était de 24,5±8ans (extrême: 15-45ans). Quarante personnes (40) étaient séropositifs, soit une prévalence de l'infection par le VIH de 12,7%. Cette prévalence augmentait significativement (p = 0) avec le nombre de partenaires occasionnels au cours des douze derniers mois, allant de 2,7% chez ceux n'ayant eu aucun partenaire occasionnel à 21,25% chez ceux ayant plus de trois partenaires occasionnels (RC = 9,72; IC = 1,27-74,14; P = 0,03). le fait d’être âgé entre 20 et 24 ans (RC = 4,88; IC = 1,74-13,67; p = 0), avoir plus de trois partenaires sexuels au cours des douze derniers mois (RC = 9,72; IC = 1,27-74,14; p = 0,03), avoir les rapports sexuels avec les prostitués (RC = 2,86; IC = 1,42-5,76; p = 0), avoir eu le chlamydia (RC = 3,00; IC = 1,07-8,39; p = 0,04), avoir eu la syphilis (RC = 3,35; IC = 1,57-7,14; p = 0), avoir des avantages sociaux lors du premier rapport sexuel (RC = 2,57; IC = 1,03-6,43; p = 0,04) constituaient des potentiels facteurs de risque du VIH. Conclusion Il apparait urgent d'intensifier les campagnes de sensibilisation au risque d'infection par le VIH et les maladies sexuellement transmissibles dans le district de santé de Meyomessala PMID:25419299

  6. LeMAPK1, LeMAPK2, and LeMAPK3 are associated with nitric oxide-induced defense response against Botrytis cinerea in the Lycopersicon esculentum fruit.

    PubMed

    Zheng, Yanyan; Hong, Hui; Chen, Lin; Li, Jingyuan; Sheng, Jiping; Shen, Lin

    2014-02-12

    Nitric oxide (NO) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are signal molecules involved in the disease resistance of plants. To investigate the role of tomato MAPKs in the NO-mediated defense response, mature green tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Qian-xi) were treated with a MAPKs inhibitor (1,4-diamino-2,3-dicyano-1,4-bis(o-amino-phenylmercapto) butadiene (U0126)), NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP), and SNP plus U0126. Treatment with U0126 increased the incidence of disease and size of lesion areas in the tomato fruits after being inoculated with Botrytis cinerea. NO enhanced the resistance of the tomato fruits against Botrytis cinerea invasion and the activities of nitric oxide synthase, Chitinase, β-1,3-glucanase, polyphenol oxidase, and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase. However, the effects of NO on disease resistance were weakened by the MAPKs inhibitor. Meanwhile, the relative expression of LeMAPK1, LeMAPK2, and LeMAPK3 in the (SNP + U0126)-treated fruits was lower than that in the SNP-treated fruits. The results suggest that LeMAPK1/2/3 are involved in NO-induced disease resistance of tomato fruits against Botrytis cinerea.

  7. Comparison of the antimicrobial adhesion potential of human body fluid glycoconjugates using fucose-binding lectin (PA-IIL) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Ulex europaeus lectin (UEA-I).

    PubMed

    Lerrer, Batia; Lesman-Movshovich, Efrat; Gilboa-Garber, Nechama

    2005-09-01

    Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces a fucose-binding lectin (PA-IIL) which strongly binds to human cells. This lectin was shown to be highly sensitive to inhibition by fucose-bearing human milk glycoproteins. Since the glycans of these glycoproteins mimic human cell receptors, they may function as decoys in blocking lectin-dependent pathogen adhesion to the host cells. Human saliva and seminal fluid also contain such compounds, and body fluids of individuals who are "secretors" express additional fucosylated (alpha 1,2) residues. The latter are selectively detected by Ulex europaeus lectin UEA-I. The aim of the present research was to compare the PA-IIL and UEA-I interactions with human salivas and seminal fluids of "secretors" and "nonsecretors" with those obtained with the respective milks. Using hemagglutination inhibition and Western blot analyses, we showed that PA-IIL interactions with the saliva and seminal fluid glycoproteins were somewhat weaker than those obtained with the milk and that "nonsecretor" body fluids were not less efficient than those of "secretors" in PA-IIL blocking. UEA-I, which interacted only with the "secretors" glycoproteins, was most sensitive to those of the seminal fluids.

  8. Searching the animal psyche with Charles Le Brun.

    PubMed

    Cohen, Sarah R

    2010-07-01

    Around 1670 the French court painter and Academician Charles Le Brun produced a series of drawings featuring naturalistic animal heads, as well as imaginary heads in which he refashioned various nonhuman animal species to make humanoid physiognomies. What were the purpose and significance of these unusual works? I argue that they show Le Brun's interest in what we today would call animal psychology: focusing upon the sensory organs and their connections with the animal's brain, Le Brun studied his animals as conscious protagonists of the natural realm. One source that may have served him in this project was Marin Cureau de La Chambre's De la Connoissance des bestes of 1645, in which the physician argued that animals possess a conscious soul grounded in the senses. However, Le Brun's animal-humans have no clear place in the artist's taxonomy--nor, indeed, in any seventeenth-century understandings of species. It is rather John Locke, at his most skeptical, who offers the best parallel in the realm of natural philosophy to Le Brun's unsettling animal-humans. Probably without meaning to, Le Brun demonstrated through his eerie, boundary-crossing creatures the limits of visual classification.

  9. Developpement d'un montage simulant l'erosion par la pluie pour l'evaluation des revetements glaciophobes dans le domaine aerospatial

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tremblay, Sarah-Eve

    Ce memoire presente le developpement d’un montage simulant l’erosion par la pluie afin d’effectuer l’evaluation de differents revetements glaciophobes dans le domaine aerospatial. Bien que plusieurs revetements presentent une bonne efficacite a reduire l’adherence et/ou l’accumulation de glace, ils ne repondent pas necessairement aux normes de resistance a l’erosion simulee par les gouttes de pluie les frappant a grande vitesse. Il n’existe qu’une installation en Amerique du Nord offrant un service d’essai qui evalue la resistance a l’erosion par la pluie suivant les normes aerospatiales. Etant l’unique institution pouvant faire la certification de peintures utilisees sur les avions en ce qui a trait a l’erosion par la pluie, ce service est donc difficile d’acces et couteux. Le laboratoire international des materiaux antigivre (LIMA) a developpe un essai plus rapide et moins couteux, facilitant ainsi le developpement de revetements glaciophobes devant resister a l’erosion par la pluie. Dans cette etude, le developpement du montage d’erosion par la pluie effectue au laboratoire des materiaux antigivre (LIMA) est presente. En particulier, des essais sur quatre (4) revetements dont la resistance a l’erosion est connue, et sur trois revetements industriels, ont ete effectues afin d’ajuster les differents parametres du montage comme la pression et la temperature de l’eau ainsi que la robustesse du montage. Ensuite, des essais de sensibilite et de reproductibilite des resultats ont egalement ete effectues pour fin de validation du montage et du protocole experimental. Pour ce faire, le montage de type jet d’eau developpe consiste principalement en une pompe a haute pression qui projette un jet d’eau continu passant par les orifices d’un disque tournant. Cette operation permet de generer une goutte de pluie simulee qui est projetee sur un echantillon de revetement statique. L’essai est base sur la norme standard ASTM (Liquid

  10. Le Chatelier's principle in replicator dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Allahverdyan, Armen E.; Galstyan, Aram

    2011-10-01

    The Le Chatelier principle states that physical equilibria are not only stable, but they also resist external perturbations via short-time negative-feedback mechanisms: a perturbation induces processes tending to diminish its results. The principle has deep roots, e.g., in thermodynamics it is closely related to the second law and the positivity of the entropy production. Here we study the applicability of the Le Chatelier principle to evolutionary game theory, i.e., to perturbations of a Nash equilibrium within the replicator dynamics. We show that the principle can be reformulated as a majorization relation. This defines a stability notion that generalizes the concept of evolutionary stability. We determine criteria for a Nash equilibrium to satisfy the Le Chatelier principle and relate them to mutualistic interactions (game-theoretical anticoordination) showing in which sense mutualistic replicators can be more stable than (say) competing ones. There are globally stable Nash equilibria, where the Le Chatelier principle is violated even locally: in contrast to the thermodynamic equilibrium a Nash equilibrium can amplify small perturbations, though both types of equilibria satisfy the detailed balance condition.

  11. Le Chatelier's principle in replicator dynamics.

    PubMed

    Allahverdyan, Armen E; Galstyan, Aram

    2011-10-01

    The Le Chatelier principle states that physical equilibria are not only stable, but they also resist external perturbations via short-time negative-feedback mechanisms: a perturbation induces processes tending to diminish its results. The principle has deep roots, e.g., in thermodynamics it is closely related to the second law and the positivity of the entropy production. Here we study the applicability of the Le Chatelier principle to evolutionary game theory, i.e., to perturbations of a Nash equilibrium within the replicator dynamics. We show that the principle can be reformulated as a majorization relation. This defines a stability notion that generalizes the concept of evolutionary stability. We determine criteria for a Nash equilibrium to satisfy the Le Chatelier principle and relate them to mutualistic interactions (game-theoretical anticoordination) showing in which sense mutualistic replicators can be more stable than (say) competing ones. There are globally stable Nash equilibria, where the Le Chatelier principle is violated even locally: in contrast to the thermodynamic equilibrium a Nash equilibrium can amplify small perturbations, though both types of equilibria satisfy the detailed balance condition.

  12. Exploring callous and unemotional traits in youth via general personality traits: An eye toward DSM-5.

    PubMed

    Latzman, Robert D; Lilienfeld, Scott O; Latzman, Natasha E; Clark, Lee Anna

    2013-07-01

    The current study aimed at better understanding callous-unemotional (CU) traits in youth within a traditional personality trait/temperament framework as well as in relation to current proposals for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). Participants were 174 mothers and their sons age 11-16 years. Mothers and youth reported on youth CU traits and general personality trait/ temperament dimensions. Overall, analyses revealed significant unique associations of personality trait/temperament dimensions with CU total and subscale scores. Personality trait/temperament dimensions explained 36% to 58% of the variance in CU subscales and total score. Furthermore, specific personality dimensions differentially and uniquely predicted various CU subscales, indicating marked specificity in association such that these traits should be considered separately rather than as a single unit. Taken together, these results confirm the importance of considering traditional personality trait models to understand "callous and unemotional" traits and risk for psychopathy more fully. Additionally, our findings bear implications for the conceptualization and operationalization of these traits in DSM-5.

  13. Le syndrome d'embolie graisseuse post traumatique

    PubMed Central

    Berdai, Adnane Mohamed; Shimi, Abdelkarim; Khatouf, Mohammed

    2014-01-01

    Le syndrome d'embolie graisseuse est une complication grave des fractures des os longs, il est la conséquence de la dissémination des particules graisseuses dans la microcirculation. L'objectif de ce travail est de déterminer le profil épidémiologique, la présentation clinique et paraclinique de ce syndrome et sa prise en charge thérapeutique. Notre étude porte sur 11 cas de syndrome d'embolie graisseuse colligés au service de réanimation A1 au centre hospitalier universitaire Hassan II de Fès, de Janvier 2009 à Juin 2012. Le diagnostic positif est basé sur les critères de Gurd. Les cas collectés se caractérisent par la prédominance du sexe masculin, d'un âge inférieur à 40 ans, présentant une fracture fémorale. Ce syndrome survient souvent dans les 72 heures après le traumatisme. La présentation clinique est dominée par l'hypoxémie et les troubles de conscience. Sur le plan biologique: l'anémie et la thrombopénie sont les manifestations les plus fréquentes. La prise en charge est symptomatique, 63% des patients ont nécessité l'intubation et la ventilation. L’évolution n'est pas toujours bénigne. Nos résultats confirme le polymorphisme de la présentation clinique et paraclinique du syndrome d'embolie graisseuse. Le diagnostic de ce syndrome se base sur des critères cliniques, mais reste essentiellement un diagnostic d’élimination. La prise en charge est symptomatique. La prévention de ce syndrome est essentielle et se base sur une fixation précoce des fractures des os longs. PMID:25452829

  14. Ability of Hand Hygiene Interventions Using Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers and Soap To Reduce Microbial Load on Farmworker Hands Soiled during Harvest.

    PubMed

    de Aceituno, Anna Fabiszewski; Bartz, Faith E; Hodge, Domonique Watson; Shumaker, David J; Grubb, James E; Arbogast, James W; Dávila-Aviña, Jorgé; Venegas, Fabiola; Heredia, Norma; García, Santos; Leon, Juan S

    2015-11-01

    Effective hand hygiene is essential to prevent the spread of pathogens on produce farms and reduce foodborne illness. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act Proposed Rule for Produce Safety recommends the use of soap and running water for hand hygiene of produce handlers. The use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS) may be an effective alternative hygiene intervention where access to water is limited. There are no published data on the efficacy of either soap or ABHS-based interventions to reduce microbial contamination in agricultural settings. The goal of this study was to assess the ability of two soap-based (traditional or pumice) and two ABHS-based (label-use or two-step) hygiene interventions to reduce microbes (coliforms, Escherichia coli, and Enterococcus spp.) and soil (absorbance of hand rinsate at 600 nm [A600]) on farmworker hands after harvesting produce, compared with the results for a no-hand-hygiene control. With no hand hygiene, farmworker hands were soiled (median A600, 0.48) and had high concentrations of coliforms (geometric mean, 3.4 log CFU per hand) and Enterococcus spp. (geometric mean, 5.3 log CFU per hand) after 1 to 2 h of harvesting tomatoes. Differences in microbial loads in comparison to the loads in the control group varied by indicator organism and hygiene intervention (0 to 2.3 log CFU per hand). All interventions yielded lower concentrations of Enterococcus spp. and E. coli (P < 0.05), but not of coliforms, than were found in the control group. The two-step ABHS intervention led to significantly lower concentrations of coliforms and Enterococcus spp. than the pumice soap and label-use ABHS interventions (P < 0.05) and was the only intervention to yield significantly fewer samples with E. coli than were found in the control group (P < 0.05). All interventions removed soil from hands (P < 0.05), soap-based interventions more so than ABHS-based interventions (P < 0.05). ABHS-based interventions were

  15. Le consentement libre et éclairé aux soins en psychiatrie

    PubMed Central

    Neilson, Grainne; Chaimowitz, Gary

    2015-01-01

    Résumé Le patient a le droit d’être informé sur les soins de santé qui lui sont proposés et de participer activement à la prise de décisions relativement à ces soins. Le respect de la dignité et de l’autonomie de la personne passe par le respect de son droit de prendre des décisions à propos de ses soins psychiatriques, notamment de refuser un traitement, pour autant qu’elle soit apte à prendre des décisions. Il importe que le psychiatre connaisse les fondements éthiques du consentement libre et éclairé et les exigences prévues par le droit en cette matière, y compris la jurisprudence. Le consentement n’est pas immuable, pouvant changer avec le temps, au fil de l’évolution des conditions et des circonstances. Par conséquent, le consentement doit être un processus continu.

  16. Sub-threshold autism traits: the role of trait emotional intelligence and cognitive flexibility.

    PubMed

    Gökçen, Elif; Petrides, Konstantinos V; Hudry, Kristelle; Frederickson, Norah; Smillie, Luke D

    2014-05-01

    Theory and research suggests that features of autism are not restricted to individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), and that autism-like traits vary throughout the general population at lower severities. The present research first investigated the relationship of autism traits with trait emotional intelligence and empathy in a sample of 163 adults aged between 18 and 51 years (44% male). It then examined performance on a set of tasks assessing social cognition and cognitive flexibility in 69 participants with either high or low scores on ASD traits. Results confirm that there is pronounced variation within the general population relating to ASD traits, which reflect similar (though less severe) social-cognitive and emotional features to those observed in ASDs. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

  17. Power and Autistic Traits

    PubMed Central

    Overskeid, Geir

    2016-01-01

    Autistic traits can help people gain and sustain power, and has probably done so throughout history, says the present paper. A number of testable claims follow from this assumption. First, the powerful should have more autistic traits than others – which they do appear to have. Among other things, powerful people, and those with many autistic traits, tend to prefer solitary activities and are often aloof. Moreover, they are often rigid and socially insensitive, low on empathy and with low scores on the trait of agreeableness – and as a rule they do not have many friends. Both groups are also more self-centered than others, more honest, less submissive, more sensitive to slights, and with a stronger tendency to engage in abstract thinking. They tend to behave in bossy or dominant ways, and their moral judgment is more based on rules than on feelings. In addition to experimental evidence, I cite biographies showing that a surprising number of presidents, prime ministers and other powerful people seem to have had traits like those in question – and interestingly, in animals, leaders are often rigid and insensitive to group members’ needs and feelings, mostly acting the way they are themselves inclined to, not responding much to others. Problem solving is important in leadership, and people with many autistic traits appear often to be better thinkers than typical subjects with similar IQs. However, these and other congruities could be coincidences. Hence the question of whether traits the two groups have in common also have a common cause constitutes a strong test of the paper’s thesis – and a common cause does appear to exist, in the form of testosterone’s effects on the central nervous system. Finally, there is evidence that, other things equal, powerful men have more reproductive success than others. If men wielding power do indeed have more autistic traits than those less powerful, this will lead to, other things equal, such traits becoming more

  18. Trait Emotional Intelligence and Personality

    PubMed Central

    Furnham, Adrian; Petrides, K. V.

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated if the linkages between trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) and the Five-Factor Model of personality were invariant between men and women. Five English-speaking samples (N = 307-685) of mostly undergraduate students each completed a different measure of the Big Five personality traits and either the full form or short form of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue). Across samples, models predicting global TEIQue scores from the Big Five were invariant between genders, with Neuroticism and Extraversion being the strongest trait EI correlates, followed by Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness. However, there was some evidence indicating that the gender-specific contributions of the Big Five to trait EI vary depending on the personality measure used, being more consistent for women. Discussion focuses on the validity of the TEIQue as a measure of trait EI and its psychometric properties, more generally. PMID:25866439

  19. Microbial Efficacy of Waterless Hand Hygiene in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pickering, A.; Boehm, A.; Davis, J.

    2008-12-01

    Millions of people die from diarrheal and respiratory diseases every year due to lack of proper sanitation, hygiene, and access to clean water. The act of handwashing with soap has been found to effectively reduce both diarrheal and respiratory illness, however, handwashing at critical times (i.e. after using the toilet, before preparing food) remains infrequent around the world. This research investigates the potential for alcohol- based hand sanitizer (ABHS) to be an effective and appropriate hand hygiene option in developing countries. A study was conducted to assess the microbiological effectiveness of ABHS, as compared to handwashing with soap and water, in field conditions in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. A total of 205 participants, including mothers, nurses, students, and teachers, were introduced to ABHS, given a standardized amount (2ml) of product, and instructed on how to use the product correctly. Hand samples were obtained using the hand rinse method before and after the use of ABHS from 152 participants. The other 53 participants were hand sampled before and after handwashing with a non-antimicrobial liquid soap and clean water (prior to using ABHS). Visual inspections of the hands were performed before hand sampling to record the level of dirt on the hands. All hand samples were processed and analyzed by membrane filtration for concentrations of two microbial indicators, enterococci and E. coli. User perceptions of the product and willingness to pay are also documented. The results of this study provide valuable insight on the prospective of promoting ABHS in developing countries and water scarce areas.

  20. Genetic correlations between wool traits and meat quality traits in Merino sheep.

    PubMed

    Mortimer, S I; Hatcher, S; Fogarty, N M; van der Werf, J H J; Brown, D J; Swan, A A; Jacob, R H; Geesink, G H; Hopkins, D L; Edwards, J E Hocking; Ponnampalam, E N; Warner, R D; Pearce, K L; Pethick, D W

    2017-10-01

    Genetic correlations between 29 wool production and quality traits and 25 meat quality and nutritional value traits were estimated for Merino sheep from an Information Nucleus (IN). Genetic correlations among the meat quality and nutritional value traits are also reported. The IN comprised 8 flocks linked genetically and managed across a range of sheep production environments in Australia. The wool traits included over 5,000 yearling and 3,700 adult records for fleece weight, fiber diameter, staple length, staple strength, fiber diameter variation, scoured wool color, and visual scores for breech and body wrinkle. The meat quality traits were measured on samples from the and included over 1,200 records from progeny of over 170 sires for intramuscular fat (IMF), shear force of meat aged for 5 d (SF5), 24 h postmortem pH (pHLL; also measured in the , pHST), fresh and retail meat color and meat nutritional value traits such as iron and zinc levels, and long-chain omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid levels. Estimated heritabilities for IMF, SF5, pHLL, pHST, retail meat color lightness (), myoglobin, iron, zinc and across the range of long-chain fatty acids were 0.58 ± 0.11, 0.10 ± 0.09, 0.15 ± 0.07, 0.20 ± 0.10, 0.59 ± 0.15, 0.31 ± 0.09, 0.20 ± 0.09, 0.11 ± 0.09, and range of 0.00 (eicosapentaenoic, docosapentaenoic, and arachidonic acids) to 0.14 ± 0.07 (linoleic acid), respectively. The genetic correlations between the wool production and meat quality traits were low to negligible and indicate that wool breeding programs will have little or no effect on meat quality. There were moderately favorable genetic correlations between important yearling wool production traits and the omega-3 fatty acids that were reduced for corresponding adult wool production traits, but these correlations are unlikely to be important in wool/meat breeding programs because they have high SE, and the omega-3 traits have little or no genetic variance. Significant genetic

  1. Two-trait-locus linkage analysis: A powerful strategy for mapping complex genetic traits

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Schork, N.J.; Boehnke, M.; Terwilliger, J.D.

    1993-11-01

    Nearly all diseases mapped to date follow clear Mendelian, single-locus segregation patterns. In contrast, many common familial diseases such as diabetes, psoriasis, several forms of cancer, and schizophrenia are familial and appear to have a genetic component but do not exhibit simple Mendelian transmission. More complex models are required to explain the genetics of these important diseases. In this paper, the authors explore two-trait-locus, two-marker-locus linkage analysis in which two trait loci are mapped simultaneously to separate genetic markers. The authors compare the utility of this approach to standard one-trait-locus, one-marker-locus linkage analysis with and without allowance for heterogeneity. Themore » authors also compare the utility of the two-trait-locus, two-marker-locus analysis to two-trait-locus, one-marker-locus linkage analysis. For common diseases, pedigrees are often bilineal, with disease genes entering via two or more unrelated pedigree members. Since such pedigrees often are avoided in linkage studies, the authors also investigate the relative information content of unilineal and bilineal pedigrees. For the dominant-or-recessive and threshold models that the authors consider, the authors find that two-trait-locus, two-marker-locus linkage analysis can provide substantially more linkage information, as measured by expected maximum lod score, than standard one-trait-locus, one-marker-locus methods, even allowing for heterogeneity, while, for a dominant-or-dominant generating model, one-locus models that allow for heterogeneity extract essentially as much information as the two-trait-locus methods. For these three models, the authors also find that bilineal pedigrees provide sufficient linkage information to warrant their inclusion in such studies. The authors discuss strategies for assessing the significance of the two linkages assumed in two-trait-locus, two-marker-locus models. 37 refs., 1 fig., 4 tabs.« less

  2. Genetic Complexity and Quantitative Trait Loci Mapping of Yeast Morphological Traits

    PubMed Central

    Nogami, Satoru; Ohya, Yoshikazu; Yvert, Gaël

    2007-01-01

    Functional genomics relies on two essential parameters: the sensitivity of phenotypic measures and the power to detect genomic perturbations that cause phenotypic variations. In model organisms, two types of perturbations are widely used. Artificial mutations can be introduced in virtually any gene and allow the systematic analysis of gene function via mutants fitness. Alternatively, natural genetic variations can be associated to particular phenotypes via genetic mapping. However, the access to genome manipulation and breeding provided by model organisms is sometimes counterbalanced by phenotyping limitations. Here we investigated the natural genetic diversity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cellular morphology using a very sensitive high-throughput imaging platform. We quantified 501 morphological parameters in over 50,000 yeast cells from a cross between two wild-type divergent backgrounds. Extensive morphological differences were found between these backgrounds. The genetic architecture of the traits was complex, with evidence of both epistasis and transgressive segregation. We mapped quantitative trait loci (QTL) for 67 traits and discovered 364 correlations between traits segregation and inheritance of gene expression levels. We validated one QTL by the replacement of a single base in the genome. This study illustrates the natural diversity and complexity of cellular traits among natural yeast strains and provides an ideal framework for a genetical genomics dissection of multiple traits. Our results did not overlap with results previously obtained from systematic deletion strains, showing that both approaches are necessary for the functional exploration of genomes. PMID:17319748

  3. Genetic parameters for wool traits, live weight, and ultrasound carcass traits in Merino sheep.

    PubMed

    Mortimer, S I; Hatcher, S; Fogarty, N M; van der Werf, J H J; Brown, D J; Swan, A A; Greeff, J C; Refshauge, G; Edwards, J E Hocking; Gaunt, G M

    2017-05-01

    Genetic correlations between 29 wool production and quality traits and live weight and ultrasound fat depth (FAT) and eye muscle depth (EMD) traits were estimated from the Information Nucleus (IN). The IN comprised 8 genetically linked flocks managed across a range of Australian sheep production environments. The data were from a maximum of 9,135 progeny born over 5 yr from 184 Merino sires and 4,614 Merino dams. The wool traits included records for yearling and adult fleece weight, fiber diameter (FD), staple length (SL), fiber diameter CV (FDCV), scoured color, and visual scores for breech and body wrinkle. We found high heritability for the major yearling wool production traits and some wool quality traits, whereas other wool quality traits, wool color, and visual traits were moderately heritable. The estimates of heritability for live weight generally increased with age as maternal effects declined. Estimates of heritability for the ultrasound traits were also higher when measured at yearling age rather than at postweaning age. The genetic correlations for fleece weight with live weights were positive (favorable) and moderate (approximately 0.5 ± 0.1), whereas those with FD were approximately 0.3 (unfavorable). The other wool traits had lower genetic correlations with the live weights. The genetic correlations for FAT and EMD with FD and SL were positive and low, with FDCV low to moderate negative, but variable with wool weight and negligible for the other wool traits. The genetic correlations for FAT and EMD with postweaning weight were positive and high (0.61 ± 0.18 to 0.75 ± 0.14) but were generally moderate with weights at other ages. Selection for increased live weight will result in a moderate correlated increase in wool weight as well as favorable reductions in breech cover and wrinkle, along with some unfavorable increases in FD and wool yellowness but little impact on other wool traits. The ultrasound meat traits, FAT and EMD, were highly positively

  4. Development of vaccines against pertussis caused by Bordetella holmesii using a mouse intranasal challenge model.

    PubMed

    Saito, Momoko; Odanaka, Keita; Otsuka, Nao; Kamachi, Kazunari; Watanabe, Mineo

    2016-09-01

    Bordetella holmesii is recognized as the third causative agent of pertussis (whooping cough) in addition to Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis. Pertussis caused by B. holmesii is not rare around the world. However, to date, there is no effective vaccine against B. holmesii. We examined the protective potency of pertussis vaccines available in Japan and vaccines prepared from B. holmesii. A murine model of respiratory infection was exploited to evaluate protective potency. No Japanese commercial pertussis vaccines were effective against B. holmesii. In contrast, a wBH vaccine and an aBH vaccine prepared from B. holmesii were both protective. Passive immunization with sera from mice immunized with aBH vaccine established protection against B. holmesii, indicating that B. holmesii-specific serum antibodies might play an important role in protection. Immuno-proteomic analysis with sera from mice immunized with aBH vaccine revealed that the sera recognized a BipA-like protein of B. holmesii. An aBH vaccine prepared from a BipA-like protein-deficient mutant strain did not have a protective effect against B. holmesii. Taken together, our results suggest that the BipA-like protein plays an important role in the protective efficacy of aBH vaccine. © 2016 The Societies and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  5. Invasive Plants and Enemy Release: Evolution of Trait Means and Trait Correlations in Ulex europaeus

    PubMed Central

    Hornoy, Benjamin; Tarayre, Michèle; Hervé, Maxime; Gigord, Luc; Atlan, Anne

    2011-01-01

    Several hypotheses that attempt to explain invasive processes are based on the fact that plants have been introduced without their natural enemies. Among them, the EICA (Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability) hypothesis is the most influential. It states that, due to enemy release, exotic plants evolve a shift in resource allocation from defence to reproduction or growth. In the native range of the invasive species Ulex europaeus, traits involved in reproduction and growth have been shown to be highly variable and genetically correlated. Thus, in order to explore the joint evolution of life history traits and susceptibility to seed predation in this species, we investigated changes in both trait means and trait correlations. To do so, we compared plants from native and invaded regions grown in a common garden. According to the expectations of the EICA hypothesis, we observed an increase in seedling height. However, there was little change in other trait means. By contrast, correlations exhibited a clear pattern: the correlations between life history traits and infestation rate by seed predators were always weaker in the invaded range than in the native range. In U. europaeus, the role of enemy release in shaping life history traits thus appeared to imply trait correlations rather than trait means. In the invaded regions studied, the correlations involving infestation rates and key life history traits such as flowering phenology, growth and pod density were reduced, enabling more independent evolution of these key traits and potentially facilitating local adaptation to a wide range of environments. These results led us to hypothesise that a relaxation of genetic correlations may be implied in the expansion of invasive species. PMID:22022588

  6. Invasive plants and enemy release: evolution of trait means and trait correlations in Ulex europaeus.

    PubMed

    Hornoy, Benjamin; Tarayre, Michèle; Hervé, Maxime; Gigord, Luc; Atlan, Anne

    2011-01-01

    Several hypotheses that attempt to explain invasive processes are based on the fact that plants have been introduced without their natural enemies. Among them, the EICA (Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability) hypothesis is the most influential. It states that, due to enemy release, exotic plants evolve a shift in resource allocation from defence to reproduction or growth. In the native range of the invasive species Ulex europaeus, traits involved in reproduction and growth have been shown to be highly variable and genetically correlated. Thus, in order to explore the joint evolution of life history traits and susceptibility to seed predation in this species, we investigated changes in both trait means and trait correlations. To do so, we compared plants from native and invaded regions grown in a common garden. According to the expectations of the EICA hypothesis, we observed an increase in seedling height. However, there was little change in other trait means. By contrast, correlations exhibited a clear pattern: the correlations between life history traits and infestation rate by seed predators were always weaker in the invaded range than in the native range. In U. europaeus, the role of enemy release in shaping life history traits thus appeared to imply trait correlations rather than trait means. In the invaded regions studied, the correlations involving infestation rates and key life history traits such as flowering phenology, growth and pod density were reduced, enabling more independent evolution of these key traits and potentially facilitating local adaptation to a wide range of environments. These results led us to hypothesise that a relaxation of genetic correlations may be implied in the expansion of invasive species.

  7. Mapping quantitative trait loci for binary trait in the F2:3 design.

    PubMed

    Zhu, Chengsong; Zhang, Yuan-Ming; Guo, Zhigang

    2008-12-01

    In the analysis of inheritance of quantitative traits with low heritability, an F(2:3) design that genotypes plants in F(2) and phenotypes plants in F(2:3) progeny is often used in plant genetics. Although statistical approaches for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) in the F(2:3) design have been well developed, those for binary traits of biological interest and economic importance are seldom addressed. In this study, an attempt was made to map binary trait loci (BTL) in the F(2:3) design. The fundamental idea was: the F(2) plants were genotyped, all phenotypic values of each F(2:3) progeny were measured for binary trait, and these binary trait values and the marker genotype informations were used to detect BTL under the penetrance and liability models. The proposed method was verified by a series of Monte-Carlo simulation experiments. These results showed that maximum likelihood approaches under the penetrance and liability models provide accurate estimates for the effects and the locations of BTL with high statistical power, even under of low heritability. Moreover, the penetrance model is as efficient as the liability model, and the F(2:3) design is more efficient than classical F(2) design, even though only a single progeny is collected from each F(2:3) family. With the maximum likelihood approaches under the penetrance and the liability models developed in this study, we can map binary traits as we can do for quantitative trait in the F(2:3) design.

  8. Estimation of genetic parameters of the productive and reproductive traits in Ethiopian Holstein using multi-trait models.

    PubMed

    Ayalew, Wondossen; Aliy, Mohammed; Negussie, Enyew

    2017-11-01

    This study estimated the genetic parameters for productive and reproductive traits. The data included production and reproduction records of animals that have calved between 1979 and 2013. The genetic parameters were estimated using multivariate mixed models (DMU) package, fitting univariate and multivariate mixed models with average information restricted maximum likelihood algorithm. The estimates of heritability for milk production traits from the first three lactation records were 0.03±0.03 for lactation length (LL), 0.17±0.04 for lactation milk yield (LMY), and 0.15±0.04 for 305 days milk yield (305-d MY). For reproductive traits the heritability estimates were, 0.09±0.03 for days open (DO), 0.11±0.04 for calving interval (CI), and 0.47±0.06 for age at first calving (AFC). The repeatability estimates for production traits were 0.12±0.02, for LL, 0.39±0.02 for LMY, and 0.25±0.02 for 305-d MY. For reproductive traits the estimates of repeatability were 0.19±0.02 for DO, and to 0.23±0.02 for CI. The phenotypic correlations between production and reproduction traits ranged from 0.08±0.04 for LL and AFC to 0.42±0.02 for LL and DO. The genetic correlation among production traits were generally high (>0.7) and between reproductive traits the estimates ranged from 0.06±0.13 for AFC and DO to 0.99±0.01 between CI and DO. Genetic correlations of productive traits with reproductive traits were ranged from -0.02 to 0.99. The high heritability estimates observed for AFC indicated that reasonable genetic improvement for this trait might be possible through selection. The h2 and r estimates for reproductive traits were slightly different from single versus multi-trait analyses of reproductive traits with production traits. As single-trait method is biased due to selection on milk yield, a multi-trait evaluation of fertility with milk yield is recommended.

  9. Effets du stress familial lié au diabète sur le contrôle glycémique chez les jeunes diabétiques de type 1

    PubMed Central

    Tsiouli, Elina; Alexopoulos, Evangelos C.; Stefanaki, Charikleia; Darviri, Christina; Chrousos, George P.

    2013-01-01

    Objectif Examiner la façon dont le stress familial influence le contrôle glycémique chez les patients diabétiques de moins de 18 ans. Sources des données Une recherche des études pertinentes publiées depuis 1990 a été réalisée dans PubMed et Scopus à l'aide des mots-clés suivants en anglais: diabetes type 1, glycemic control, family stress, family conflict et family function. Sélection des études La recension initiale a permis de cerner un total de 1 478 articles. La synthèse finale portrait sur 6 études de cohortes, 3 études transversales et 1 étude qualitative dans lesquelles le stress familial était évalué à l'aide d'instruments de mesure des conflits spécifiquement reliés au diabète et le contrôle glycémique était mesuré en fonction de l'hémoglobine glycosylée. Synthèse Dans la plupart des études, il existait une corrélation négative entre le stress familial et le contrôle glycémique des patients. Le bon fonctionnement familial était fortement relié à un bon contrôle glycémique des patients, tandis que les conflits familiaux étaient associés à un mauvais contrôle glycémique. Les familles dont la situation socioéconomique était défavorisée, celles ayant des adolescents atteints de diabète et les familles monoparentales étaient plus enclines à vivre un stress relié au diabète et étaient, par conséquent, plus susceptibles de connaître un moins bon contrôle glycémique. Conclusion Les interventions psychologiques thérapeutiques et les programmes éducatifs peuvent aider à atténuer le stress familial relié au diabète et amélioreront probablement le contrôle glycémique.

  10. FishTraits: a database of ecological and life-history traits of freshwater fishes of the United States

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Angermeier, Paul L.; Frimpong, Emmanuel A.

    2011-01-01

    The need for integrated and widely accessible sources of species traits data to facilitate studies of ecology, conservation, and management has motivated development of traits databases for various taxa. In spite of the increasing number of traits-based analyses of freshwater fishes in the United States, no consolidated database of traits of this group exists publicly, and much useful information on these species is documented only in obscure sources. The largely inaccessible and unconsolidated traits information makes large-scale analysis involving many fishes and/or traits particularly challenging. We have compiled a database of > 100 traits for 809 (731 native and 78 nonnative) fish species found in freshwaters of the conterminous United States, including 37 native families and 145 native genera. The database, named Fish Traits, contains information on four major categories of traits: (1) trophic ecology; (2) body size, reproductive ecology, and life history; (3) habitat preferences; and (4) salinity and temperature tolerances. Information on geographic distribution and conservation status was also compiled. The database enhances many opportunities for conducting research on fish species traits and constitutes the first step toward establishing a central repository for a continually expanding set of traits of North American fishes.

  11. Agression sexuelle et violence dans les relations amoureuses : Lele médiateur du stress post-traumatique

    PubMed Central

    Hébert, Martine; Daspe, Marie-Ève; Blais, Martin; Lavoie, Francine; Guerrier, Mireille

    2017-01-01

    Résumé Cette étude vise à documenter lele médiateur des symptômes de stress post-traumatique (SSPT) dans le lien entre l’agression sexuelle et différentes formes de victimisation vécues dans le contexte de relations amoureuses. L’étude se fonde sur l’Enquête sur les parcours amoureux des jeunes (PAJ), réalisée au sein de 34 écoles secondaires du Québec. Les jeunes ont rempli un questionnaire portant sur leurs expériences de victimisation, y compris l’agression sexuelle vécue pendant l’enfance et la violence psychologique, physique et sexuelle vécue au sein de leurs relations amoureuses dans les 12 derniers mois. Les SSPT ont été évalués à l’aide du UCLA PTSD Index. Sur un total de 8 194 adolescents, 15% des filles et 4% des garçons ont rapporté avoir vécu une agression sexuelle. Les résultats des analyses acheminatoires semblent indiquer que le fait d’avoir été victime d’agression sexuelle est associé à davantage de SSPT et qu’en retour, les SSPT sont positivement associés à la violence psychologique, physique et sexuelle subie de la part d’un partenaire amoureux. Cette étude comporte des implications pratiques pour la prévention et l’intervention sur le plan de la violence dans les relations amoureuses chez les victimes d’agression sexuelle. PMID:29321695

  12. Quatrième conférence consensuelle sur le diagnostic et le traitement de la démence

    PubMed Central

    Moore, Ainsley; Patterson, Christopher; Lee, Linda; Vedel, Isabelle; Bergman, Howard

    2014-01-01

    Résumé Objectif Revoir les stratégies diagnostiques de la maladie d’Alzheimer, actualiser les recommandations concernant le traitement des symptômes de démence et proposer une approche thérapeutique à la démence d’apparition précoce et d’évolution rapide. Composition du comité Des spécialistes et des délégués de diverses régions du Canada et représentant diverses disciplines pertinentes ont discuté et se sont mis d’accord sur les révisions à apporter aux lignes directrices de 2006. Méthodologie On a eu recours au système GRADE (grading of recommendations, assessment, development, and evaluation) pour évaluer le consensus concernant les recommandations, lequel était défini comme suit : lorsque 80 % ou plus des participants ont voté en faveur de la recommandation. La cote des données probantes est rapportée lorsque cela est possible. Rapport important pour les médecins de famille, malgré les progrès effectués dans les domaines des biomarqueurs liquidiens et de la neuro-imagerie, le diagnostic de démence au Canada demeure fondamentalement clinique. De nouveaux critères cliniques essentiels de diagnostic de la maladie d’Alzheimer en reconnaissent dorénavant les formes moins fréquentes et non amnestiques. La démence précoce, une affection rare, mais importante, devrait inciter les médecins à aiguiller les patients vers un spécialiste ayant accès à des conseillers en génétique. La démence d’évolution rapide, mal définie dans la littérature, faciliterait le dépistage de cette affection rare, mais importante. Les inhibiteurs de la cholinestérase sont maintenant indiqués pour le traitement d’affections autres que la maladie d’Alzheimer. Des lignes directrices concernant l’arrêt du traitement, lesquelles n’existaient pas auparavant, sont également apparues. De nouvelles données probantes sur le recours à la mémantine, aux antidépresseurs et à d’autres agents psychotropes dans le traitement de la

  13. LHC, le Big Bang en éprouvette

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    None

    Notre compréhension de l’Univers est en train de changer… Bar des Sciences - Tout public Débat modéré par Marie-Odile Montchicourt, journaliste de France Info. Evenement en vidéoconférence entre le Globe de la science et de l’innovation, le bar le Baloard de Montpellier et la Maison des Métallos à Paris. Intervenants au CERN : Philippe Charpentier et Daniel Froideveaux, physiciens au CERN. Intervenants à Paris : Vincent Bontemps, philosophe et chercheur au CEA ; Jacques Arnould, philosophe, historien des sciences et théologien, Jean-Jacques Beineix, réalisateur, producteur, scénariste de cinéma. Intervenants à Montpellier (LPTA) : André Neveu, physicien théoricien et directeur demore » recherche au CNRS ; Gilbert Moultaka, physicien théoricien et chargé de recherche au CNRS. Partenariat : CERN, CEA, IN2P3, Université MPL2 (LPTA) Dans le cadre de la Fête de la science 2008.« less

  14. Le surpoids, l’obésité et le contrôle glycémique chez les diabétiques du centre de référence provincial de diabète (CRD), Kénitra, Maroc

    PubMed Central

    Lotfi, Zeghari; Aboussaleh, Youssef; Sbaibi, Rachid; Achouri, Imane; Benguedour, Rachid

    2017-01-01

    Introduction Le diabète est définit comme un trouble de l'assimilation, de l'utilisation et du stockage des sucres apportés par l'alimentation, sa prise en charge est assurée par le suivi du surpoids et l'obésité et le contrôle glycémique régulier. L'objectif de ce travail était l'étude du surpoids, l'obésité et le contrôle glycémique chez 2227 diabétiques de différent type (type 1, 2 et gestationnel), consultants le centre de référence provincial de diabète (CRD), Kénitra-Maroc. Méthodes L'étude s'est déroulée sur une période d'une année du mois janvier au mois décembre 2015, L'évaluation du surpoids et l'obésité a été effectuée par le calcul de l'Indice de Masse Corporelle (IMC=Poids/Taille2 (Kg/m2)), elles sont définit respectivement par IMC > 25 Kg/m2, et IMC > 30 Kg/m2, le poids et la taille ont été mesurés selon les recommandations de l'organisation mondiale de santé (OMS), Le contrôle glycémique a été effectué par l'analyse sanguine de l'Hémoglobine glycosylée et de la Glycémie à jeun. Les normes sont 7% pour l'Hémoglobine glycosylée et 0,70g/l à 1,10g/l pour la Glycémie à jeun. Résultats L'intervalle d'âges des patients est compris entre 8 mois et 80 ans, avec une dominance des diabétiques provenant du milieu urbain (74%) par rapport à ceux provenant du milieu rural (26%). Le surpoids touche l'ensemble de cette population. L'IMC moyen des femmes tends vers l'obésité (IMC≈30): (29,21 Kg/m2 ± 3,1) pour le diabète gestationnel et (29,15 Kg/m2 ± 3,2) pour le diabète de type 2. Les valeurs du contrôle glycémique sont supérieures aux normes: avec 8,5% ± 2,6 > 7% pour l'hémoglobine glycosylée et 1,5 g/l ± 1,3 > 1,10g/l pour la Glycémie à jeun. La différence entre les valeurs de l'hémoglobine glycosylée entre les hommes (8,5 7% ± 2,6) et les femmes (8,1% ± 2,3) n'est pas significative (P > 0,05), même chose pour la Glycémie capillaire à jeun: pour les hommes (1,44 g/l ± 1,1) et les

  15. The Effect of Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizer Vapors on Evidential Breath Alcohol Test Results.

    PubMed

    Strawsine, Ellen; Lutmer, Brian

    2017-11-16

    This study was undertaken to determine if the application of alcohol-based hand sanitizers (ABHSs) to the hands of a breath test operator will affect the results obtained on evidential breath alcohol instruments (EBTs). This study obtained breath samples on three different EBTs immediately after application of either gel or foam ABHS to the operator's hands. A small, but significant, number of initial analyses (13 of 130, 10%) resulted in positive breath alcohol concentrations, while 41 samples (31.5%) resulted in a status code. These status codes were caused by ethanol vapors either in the room air or their inhalation by the subject, thereby causing a mouth alcohol effect. Replicate subject samples did not yield any consecutive positive numeric results. As ABHS application can cause a transitory mouth alcohol effect via inhalation of ABHS vapors, EBT operators should forego the use of ABHS in the 15 min preceding subject testing. © 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

  16. Identification of Marker-Trait Associations for Lint Traits in Cotton

    PubMed Central

    Iqbal, Muhammad A.; Rahman, Mehboob-ur-

    2017-01-01

    Harvesting high quality lint, a long-awaited breeding goal—accomplished partly, can be achieved by identifying DNA markers which could be used for diagnosing cotton plants containing the desired traits. In the present studies, a total of 185 cotton genotypes exhibiting diversity for lint traits were selected from a set of 546 genotypes evaluated for fiber traits in 2009. These genotypes were extensively studied for three consecutive years (2011–2013) at three different locations. Significant genetic variations were found for average boll weight, ginning out turn (GOT), micronaire value, staple length, fiber bundle strength, and uniformity index. IR-NIBGE-3701 showed maximum GOT (43.63%). Clustering of genotypes using Ward's method was found more informative than that of the clusters generated by principal component analysis. A total of 382 SSRs were surveyed on 10 Gossypium hirsutum genotypes exhibiting contrasting fiber traits. Out of these, 95 polymorphic SSR primer pairs were then surveyed on 185 genotypes. The gene diversity averaged 0.191 and the polymorphic information content (PIC) averaged 0.175. Unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA), principal coordinate analysis (PCoA), and STRUCTURE software grouped these genotypes into four major clusters each. Genetic distance within the clusters ranged from 0.0587 to 0.1030. A total of 47 (25.41%) genotypes exhibited shared ancestry. In total 6.8% (r2 ≥ 0.05) and 4.4% (r2 ≥ 0.1) of the marker pairs showed significant linkage disequilibrium (LD). A number of marker-trait associations (in total 75) including 13 for average boll weight, 18 for GOT percentage, eight for micronaire value, 18 for staple length, three for fiber bundle strength, and 15 for uniformity index were calculated. Out of these, MGHES-51 was associated with all the traits. Most of the marker-trait associations were novel while few validated the associations reported in the previous studies. High frequency of favorable

  17. Freshwater Biological Traits Database (Data Sources)

    EPA Science Inventory

    When EPA release the final report, Freshwater Biological Traits Database, it referenced numerous data sources that are included below. The Traits Database report covers the development of a database of freshwater biological traits with additional traits that are relevan...

  18. Le genre Tunga Jarocki, 1838 (Siphonaptera : Tungidae). I – Taxonomie, phylogénie, écologie, rôle pathogène

    PubMed Central

    Beaucournu, J.-C.; Degeilh, B.; Mergey, T.; Muñoz-Leal, S.; González-Acuña, D.

    2012-01-01

    Pour la première fois, les 12 espèces actuellement décrites dans le genre Tunga sont étudiées sur le plan de la taxonomie et de la répartition. Divers aspects de leur biologie et leur rôle pathogène sont également envisagés, et en particulier leur phylogénie, leur chorologie, leur phénologie, leur sexe-ratio et leurs dermecos. PMID:23193514

  19. Genetic Characterization of Dog Personality Traits.

    PubMed

    Ilska, Joanna; Haskell, Marie J; Blott, Sarah C; Sánchez-Molano, Enrique; Polgar, Zita; Lofgren, Sarah E; Clements, Dylan N; Wiener, Pamela

    2017-06-01

    The genetic architecture of behavioral traits in dogs is of great interest to owners, breeders, and professionals involved in animal welfare, as well as to scientists studying the genetics of animal (including human) behavior. The genetic component of dog behavior is supported by between-breed differences and some evidence of within-breed variation. However, it is a challenge to gather sufficiently large datasets to dissect the genetic basis of complex traits such as behavior, which are both time-consuming and logistically difficult to measure, and known to be influenced by nongenetic factors. In this study, we exploited the knowledge that owners have of their dogs to generate a large dataset of personality traits in Labrador Retrievers. While accounting for key environmental factors, we demonstrate that genetic variance can be detected for dog personality traits assessed using questionnaire data. We identified substantial genetic variance for several traits, including fetching tendency and fear of loud noises, while other traits revealed negligibly small heritabilities. Genetic correlations were also estimated between traits; however, due to fairly large SEs, only a handful of trait pairs yielded statistically significant estimates. Genomic analyses indicated that these traits are mainly polygenic, such that individual genomic regions have small effects, and suggested chromosomal associations for six of the traits. The polygenic nature of these traits is consistent with previous behavioral genetics studies in other species, for example in mouse, and confirms that large datasets are required to quantify the genetic variance and to identify the individual genes that influence behavioral traits. Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.

  20. The Lewis A phenotype is a restriction factor for Rotateq and Rotarix vaccine-take in Nicaraguan children.

    PubMed

    Bucardo, Filemón; Nordgren, Johan; Reyes, Yaoska; Gonzalez, Fredman; Sharma, Sumit; Svensson, Lennart

    2018-01-24

    Histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs) and the Lewis and secretor antigens are associated with susceptibility to rotavirus infection in a genotype-dependent manner. Nicaraguan children were prospectively enrolled in two cohorts vaccinated with either RotaTeq RV5 (n = 68) or Rotarix RV1 (n = 168). Lewis and secretor antigens were determined by saliva phenotyping and genotyping. Seroconversion was defined as a 4-fold increase in plasma IgA antibody titer 1 month after administration of the first dose of the vaccine. Regardless of the vaccine administered, significantly fewer of the children with Lewis A phenotype (0/14) seroconverted after receiving the first vaccine dose compared to 26% (45/175) of those with the Lewis B phenotype and 32% (15/47) of the Lewis negative individuals (P < 0.01). Furthermore, following administration of the RV1 vaccine, secretor-positive ABO blood group B children seroconverted to a significantly lesser extent (5%) compared to secretor-positive children with ABO blood groups A (26%) and O (27%) (P < 0.05). Other factors such as pre-vaccination titers, sex, breastfeeding, and calprotectin levels did not influence vaccine-take. Differences in HBGA expression appear to be a contributing factor in the discrepancy in vaccine-take and thus, in vaccine efficacy in different ethnic populations.

  1. The Coral Trait Database, a curated database of trait information for coral species from the global oceans

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Madin, Joshua S.; Anderson, Kristen D.; Andreasen, Magnus Heide; Bridge, Tom C. L.; Cairns, Stephen D.; Connolly, Sean R.; Darling, Emily S.; Diaz, Marcela; Falster, Daniel S.; Franklin, Erik C.; Gates, Ruth D.; Hoogenboom, Mia O.; Huang, Danwei; Keith, Sally A.; Kosnik, Matthew A.; Kuo, Chao-Yang; Lough, Janice M.; Lovelock, Catherine E.; Luiz, Osmar; Martinelli, Julieta; Mizerek, Toni; Pandolfi, John M.; Pochon, Xavier; Pratchett, Morgan S.; Putnam, Hollie M.; Roberts, T. Edward; Stat, Michael; Wallace, Carden C.; Widman, Elizabeth; Baird, Andrew H.

    2016-03-01

    Trait-based approaches advance ecological and evolutionary research because traits provide a strong link to an organism’s function and fitness. Trait-based research might lead to a deeper understanding of the functions of, and services provided by, ecosystems, thereby improving management, which is vital in the current era of rapid environmental change. Coral reef scientists have long collected trait data for corals; however, these are difficult to access and often under-utilized in addressing large-scale questions. We present the Coral Trait Database initiative that aims to bring together physiological, morphological, ecological, phylogenetic and biogeographic trait information into a single repository. The database houses species- and individual-level data from published field and experimental studies alongside contextual data that provide important framing for analyses. In this data descriptor, we release data for 56 traits for 1547 species, and present a collaborative platform on which other trait data are being actively federated. Our overall goal is for the Coral Trait Database to become an open-source, community-led data clearinghouse that accelerates coral reef research.

  2. The Coral Trait Database, a curated database of trait information for coral species from the global oceans

    PubMed Central

    Madin, Joshua S.; Anderson, Kristen D.; Andreasen, Magnus Heide; Bridge, Tom C.L.; Cairns, Stephen D.; Connolly, Sean R.; Darling, Emily S.; Diaz, Marcela; Falster, Daniel S.; Franklin, Erik C.; Gates, Ruth D.; Hoogenboom, Mia O.; Huang, Danwei; Keith, Sally A.; Kosnik, Matthew A.; Kuo, Chao-Yang; Lough, Janice M.; Lovelock, Catherine E.; Luiz, Osmar; Martinelli, Julieta; Mizerek, Toni; Pandolfi, John M.; Pochon, Xavier; Pratchett, Morgan S.; Putnam, Hollie M.; Roberts, T. Edward; Stat, Michael; Wallace, Carden C.; Widman, Elizabeth; Baird, Andrew H.

    2016-01-01

    Trait-based approaches advance ecological and evolutionary research because traits provide a strong link to an organism’s function and fitness. Trait-based research might lead to a deeper understanding of the functions of, and services provided by, ecosystems, thereby improving management, which is vital in the current era of rapid environmental change. Coral reef scientists have long collected trait data for corals; however, these are difficult to access and often under-utilized in addressing large-scale questions. We present the Coral Trait Database initiative that aims to bring together physiological, morphological, ecological, phylogenetic and biogeographic trait information into a single repository. The database houses species- and individual-level data from published field and experimental studies alongside contextual data that provide important framing for analyses. In this data descriptor, we release data for 56 traits for 1547 species, and present a collaborative platform on which other trait data are being actively federated. Our overall goal is for the Coral Trait Database to become an open-source, community-led data clearinghouse that accelerates coral reef research. PMID:27023900

  3. The Coral Trait Database, a curated database of trait information for coral species from the global oceans.

    PubMed

    Madin, Joshua S; Anderson, Kristen D; Andreasen, Magnus Heide; Bridge, Tom C L; Cairns, Stephen D; Connolly, Sean R; Darling, Emily S; Diaz, Marcela; Falster, Daniel S; Franklin, Erik C; Gates, Ruth D; Harmer, Aaron; Hoogenboom, Mia O; Huang, Danwei; Keith, Sally A; Kosnik, Matthew A; Kuo, Chao-Yang; Lough, Janice M; Lovelock, Catherine E; Luiz, Osmar; Martinelli, Julieta; Mizerek, Toni; Pandolfi, John M; Pochon, Xavier; Pratchett, Morgan S; Putnam, Hollie M; Roberts, T Edward; Stat, Michael; Wallace, Carden C; Widman, Elizabeth; Baird, Andrew H

    2016-03-29

    Trait-based approaches advance ecological and evolutionary research because traits provide a strong link to an organism's function and fitness. Trait-based research might lead to a deeper understanding of the functions of, and services provided by, ecosystems, thereby improving management, which is vital in the current era of rapid environmental change. Coral reef scientists have long collected trait data for corals; however, these are difficult to access and often under-utilized in addressing large-scale questions. We present the Coral Trait Database initiative that aims to bring together physiological, morphological, ecological, phylogenetic and biogeographic trait information into a single repository. The database houses species- and individual-level data from published field and experimental studies alongside contextual data that provide important framing for analyses. In this data descriptor, we release data for 56 traits for 1547 species, and present a collaborative platform on which other trait data are being actively federated. Our overall goal is for the Coral Trait Database to become an open-source, community-led data clearinghouse that accelerates coral reef research.

  4. A cybernetic model of global personality traits.

    PubMed

    Van Egeren, Lawrence F

    2009-05-01

    Neurobehavioral studies of human and animal temperament have shed light on how individual personality traits influence human actions. This approach, however, leaves open questions about how the entire system of traits and temperaments function together to exercise control. To address this key issue, I describe a cybernetic model of control and then apply it to the Big Five (B5) personality traits. Employing evidence from descriptive trait terms, temperamental behavioral processes associated with traits, and empirical correlates of traits, I relate distinct cybernetic processes of self-regulation to the B5 traits. The B5 traits broadly parallel basic cybernetic self-regulation processes. For example, the core behavior activation property of the B5 Extraversion trait can be mapped onto the device output function of automated cybernetic control systems. Implications and limitations of interpreting personality traits in self-regulation terms are discussed.

  5. Evaluating simulated functional trait patterns and quantifying modelled trait diversity effects on simulated ecosystem fluxes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pavlick, R.; Schimel, D.

    2014-12-01

    Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVMs) typically employ only a small set of Plant Functional Types (PFTs) to represent the vast diversity of observed vegetation forms and functioning. There is growing evidence, however, that this abstraction may not adequately represent the observed variation in plant functional traits, which is thought to play an important role for many ecosystem functions and for ecosystem resilience to environmental change. The geographic distribution of PFTs in these models is also often based on empirical relationships between present-day climate and vegetation patterns. Projections of future climate change, however, point toward the possibility of novel regional climates, which could lead to no-analog vegetation compositions incompatible with the PFT paradigm. Here, we present results from the Jena Diversity-DGVM (JeDi-DGVM), a novel traits-based vegetation model, which simulates a large number of hypothetical plant growth strategies constrained by functional tradeoffs, thereby allowing for a more flexible temporal and spatial representation of the terrestrial biosphere. First, we compare simulated present-day geographical patterns of functional traits with empirical trait observations (in-situ and from airborne imaging spectroscopy). The observed trait patterns are then used to improve the tradeoff parameterizations of JeDi-DGVM. Finally, focusing primarily on the simulated leaf traits, we run the model with various amounts of trait diversity. We quantify the effects of these modeled biodiversity manipulations on simulated ecosystem fluxes and stocks for both present-day conditions and transient climate change scenarios. The simulation results reveal that the coarse treatment of plant functional traits by current PFT-based vegetation models may contribute substantial uncertainty regarding carbon-climate feedbacks. Further development of trait-based models and further investment in global in-situ and spectroscopic plant trait observations

  6. A trait database for marine copepods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brun, Philipp; Payne, Mark R.; Kiørboe, Thomas

    2017-02-01

    The trait-based approach is gaining increasing popularity in marine plankton ecology but the field urgently needs more and easier accessible trait data to advance. We compiled trait information on marine pelagic copepods, a major group of zooplankton, from the published literature and from experts and organized the data into a structured database. We collected 9306 records for 14 functional traits. Particular attention was given to body size, feeding mode, egg size, spawning strategy, respiration rate, and myelination (presence of nerve sheathing). Most records were reported at the species level, but some phylogenetically conserved traits, such as myelination, were reported at higher taxonomic levels, allowing the entire diversity of around 10 800 recognized marine copepod species to be covered with a few records. Aside from myelination, data coverage was highest for spawning strategy and body size, while information was more limited for quantitative traits related to reproduction and physiology. The database may be used to investigate relationships between traits, to produce trait biogeographies, or to inform and validate trait-based marine ecosystem models. The data can be downloaded from PANGAEA, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.862968.

  7. Within-species patterns challenge our understanding of the causes and consequences of trait variation with implications for trait-based models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anderegg, L. D.; Berner, L. T.; Badgley, G.; Hillerislambers, J.; Law, B. E.

    2017-12-01

    Functional traits could facilitate ecological prediction by provide scale-free tools for modeling ecosystem function. Yet much of their utility lies in three key assumptions: 1) that global patterns of trait covariation are the result of universal trade-offs independent of taxonomic scale, so empirical trait-trait relationships can be used to constrain vegetation models 2) that traits respond predictably to environmental gradients and can therefore be reliably quantified to parameterize models and 3) that well sampled traits influence productivity. We use an extensive dataset of within-species leaf trait variation in North American conifers combined with global leaf trait datasets to test these assumptions. We examine traits central to the `leaf economics spectrum', and quantify patterns of trait variation at multiple taxonomic scales. We also test whether site environment explains geographic trait variation within conifers, and ask whether foliar traits explain geographic variation in relative growth rates. We find that most leaf traits vary primarily between rather than within species globally, but that a large fraction of within-PFT trait variation is within-species. We also find that some leaf economics spectrum relationships differ in sign within versus between species, particularly the relationship between leaf lifespan and LMA. In conifers, we find weak and inconsistent relationships between site environment and leaf traits, making it difficult capture within-species leaf trait variation for regional model parameterization. Finally, we find limited relationships between tree relative growth rate and any foliar trait other than leaf lifespan, with leaf traits jointly explaining 42% of within-species growth variation but environmental factors explaining 77% of variation. We suggest that additional traits, particularly whole plant allometry/allocation traits may be better than leaf traits for improving vegetation model performance at smaller taxonomic and

  8. La prévention des infections par le virus respiratoire syncytial

    PubMed Central

    Robinson, JL

    2011-01-01

    RÉSUMÉ L’infection par le virus respiratoire syncytial (VRS) est la principale cause d’infections des voies respiratoires inférieures chez les jeunes enfants. Le palivizumab, un anticorps monoclonal anti-VRS, réduit le taux d’hospitalisation des enfants à haut risque mais est très coûteux. Le présent document de principes remplace les trois précédents documents de principes de la Société canadienne de pédiatrie sur le sujet et est mis à jour principalement pour traiter des récentes modifications aux lignes directrices de l’American Academy of Pediatrics dans le contexte canadien. Il contient une analyse des publications ainsi que des recommandations au sujet de l’utilisation du palivizumab chez les enfants à haut risque

  9. Leaf traits within communities: context may affect the mapping of traits to function.

    PubMed

    Funk, Jennifer L; Cornwell, William K

    2013-09-01

    The leaf economics spectrum (LES) has revolutionized the way many ecologists think about quantifying plant ecological trade-offs. In particular, the LES has connected a clear functional trade-off (long-lived leaves with slow carbon capture vs. short-lived leaves with fast carbon capture) to a handful of easily measured leaf traits. Building on this work, community ecologists are now able to quickly assess species carbon-capture strategies, which may have implications for community-level patterns such as competition or succession. However, there are a number of steps in this logic that require careful examination, and a potential danger arises when interpreting leaf-trait variation among species within communities where trait relationships are weak. Using data from 22 diverse communities, we show that relationships among three common functional traits (photosynthetic rate, leaf nitrogen concentration per mass, leaf mass per area) are weak in communities with low variation in leaf life span (LLS), especially communities dominated by herbaceous or deciduous woody species. However, globally there are few LLS data sets for communities dominated by herbaceous or deciduous species, and more data are needed to confirm this pattern. The context-dependent nature of trait relationships at the community level suggests that leaf-trait variation within communities, especially those dominated by herbaceous and deciduous woody species, should be interpreted with caution.

  10. Trait-based perspectives of leadership.

    PubMed

    Zaccaro, Stephen J

    2007-01-01

    The trait-based perspective of leadership has a long but checkered history. Trait approaches dominated the initial decades of scientific leadership research. Later, they were disdained for their inability to offer clear distinctions between leaders and nonleaders and for their failure to account for situational variance in leadership behavior. Recently, driven by greater conceptual, methodological, and statistical sophistication, such approaches have again risen to prominence. However, their contributions are likely to remain limited unless leadership researchers who adopt this perspective address several fundamental issues. The author argues that combinations of traits and attributes, integrated in conceptually meaningful ways, are more likely to predict leadership than additive or independent contributions of several single traits. Furthermore, a defining core of these dominant leader trait patterns reflects a stable tendency to lead in different ways across disparate organizational domains. Finally, the author summarizes a multistage model that specifies some leader traits as having more distal influences on leadership processes and performance, whereas others have more proximal effects that are integrated with, and influenced by, situational parameters. ((c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)

  11. Le stéréorestituteur Kelsh

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kelsh, H.T.

    1949-01-01

    Le ste??re??orestituteur Kelsh est un appareil de restitution a?? double projection base?? sur le principe des anaglyphes, comme le Multiplex par exemple, mais il a une plus grande pre??cision que ce dernier, vu que les ne??gatifs sont utilise??s directement pour la restitution, sans que l'on soit oblige?? de les re??duire au pre??alable. Une telle solution devient possible lorsque l'e??chelle de l'image plastique (mode??le) est au moins 7 fois plus grande que celle des cliche??s. L'appareil comprend un support reposant par 4 pieds sur la table a?? dessin. Sa partie supe??rieure porte, par l'interme??diaire de trois vis calantes, un cadre dans lequel les deux chambres de projection sont suspendues. Des leviers de commande, agissant sur les chambres, permettent d'introduire la base, le de??versement et les inclinaisons transversale et longitudinale. Les cliche??s conjugue??s ou des diapositifs sont directement place??s dans les chambres de projection munies d'objectifs. En projetant les deux cliche??s au moyen de couleurs comple??mentaires, l'observateur - muni de lunettes a?? verres colore??s (couleurs comple??mentaires) - observe l'image plastique audessus de la table a?? dessin, l'orientation relative des chambres ayant e??te?? e??tablie au pre??alable. Pour le report des points de l'image plastique sur la minute, l'ope??rateur dispose d'une tablette amovible a?? marque-repe??re lumineuse qu'il de??place a?? la main et dont la hauteur au-dessus de la table a?? dessin peut e??tre commande??e par une molette. Pour e??tablir l'orientation absolue de l'image plastique, il suffit d'incliner convenablement le cadre de suspension a?? l'aide des vis calantes, l'orientation relative n'e??tant pas de??truite par cette ope??ration. Les deux cliche??s sont e??claire??s par des projecteurs munis d'une suspension a?? la cardan et relie??s a?? la tablette de restitution par des tiges te??lescopiques. Moyennant ce dispositif, l'e??clairage est concentre?? sur deux petites re

  12. Causes de décès des patients infectés par le VIH dans le Centre tunisien

    PubMed Central

    Chelli, Jihène; Bellazreg, Foued; Aouem, Abir; Hattab, Zouhour; Mesmia, Hèla; Lasfar, Nadia Ben; Hachfi, Wissem; Masmoudi, Tasnim; Chakroun, Mohamed; Letaief, Amel

    2016-01-01

    La trithérapie antirétrovirale a contribué à une baisse considérable de la mortalité liée au VIH. Les causes de décès sont dominées par les infections opportunistes dans les pays en voie de développement et par les maladies cardiovasculaires et les cancers dans les pays développés. L’objectif était de déterminer les causes et les facteurs de risque de décès des patients infectés par le VIH dans le Centre Tunisien. Une étude transversale auprès des patients infectés par le VIH âgés de plus de 15 ans suivis à Sousse et à Monastir entre 2000 et 2014. Le décès était considéré lié au VIH si la cause était un évènement classant SIDA ou s’il était la conséquence d’une infection opportuniste d’étiologie indéterminée avec des CD4 < 50/mm3, non lié au VIH si la cause n’était pas un évènement classant SIDA, et de cause inconnue si aucune information n’était disponible. Deux cents treize patients, 130 hommes (61%) et 83 femmes (39%), d’âge moyen 40±11 ans ont été inclus. Cinquante quatre patients sont décédés, avec une mortalité de 5,4/100 patients-années. La mortalité annuelle a baissé de 5,8% en 2000-2003 à 2,3% en 2012-2014. La survie était de 72% à 5 ans et de 67% à 10 ans. Les décès étaient liés au VIH dans 70,4% des cas. Les causes de décès les plus fréquentes étaient la pneumocystose pulmonaire et la cryptococcose neuroméningée dans 6 cas (11%) chacune. Les facteurs de risque de décès étaient les antécédents d’infections opportunistes, la durée de la trithérapie antirétrovirale < 12 mois et le tabagisme. Le renforcement du dépistage, l’initiation précoce de la trithérapie antirétrovirale, et la lutte contre le tabagisme sont nécessaires afin de réduire la mortalité chez les patients infectés par le VIH en Tunisie. PMID:28292068

  13. Le Châtelier reciprocal relations and the mechanical analog

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gilmore, Robert

    1983-08-01

    Le Châtelier's principle is discussed carefully in terms of two sets of simple thermodynamic examples. The principle is then formulated quantitatively for general thermodynamic systems. The formulation is in terms of a perturbation-response matrix, the Le Châtelier matrix [L]. Le Châtelier's principle is contained in the diagonal elements of this matrix, all of which exceed one. These matrix elements describe the response of a system to a perturbation of either its extensive or intensive variables. These response ratios are inverses of each other. The Le Châtelier matrix is symmetric, so that a new set of thermodynamic reciprocal relations is derived. This quantitative formulation is illustrated by a single simple example which includes the original examples and shows the reciprocities among them. The assumptions underlying this new quantitative formulation of Le Châtelier's principle are general and applicable to a wide variety of nonthermodynamic systems. Le Châtelier's principle is formulated quantitatively for mechanical systems in static equilibrium, and mechanical examples of this formulation are given.

  14. Absolute Quantitation of Human Milk Oligosaccharides Reveals Phenotypic Variations during Lactation123

    PubMed Central

    Xu, Gege; Davis, Jasmine CC; Goonatilleke, Elisha; Smilowitz, Jennifer T; German, J Bruce; Lebrilla, Carlito B

    2017-01-01

    Background: The quantitation of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) is challenging because of the structural complexity and lack of standards. Objective: The objective of our study was to rapidly measure the absolute concentrations of HMOs in milk using LC-mass spectrometry (MS) and to determine the phenotypic secretor status of the mothers. Methods: This quantitative method for measuring HMO concentration was developed by using ultraperformance LC multiple reaction monitoring MS. It was validated and applied to milk samples from Malawi (88 individuals; 88 samples from postnatal month 6) and the United States (Davis, California; 45 individuals, mean age: 32 y; 103 samples collected on postnatal days 10, 26, 71, or 120, repeated measures included). The concentrations of α(1,2)-fucosylated HMOs were used to determine the mothers’ phenotypic secretor status with high sensitivity and specificity. We used Friedman’s test and Wilcoxon’s signed rank test to evaluate the change in HMO concentration during the course of lactation, and Student’s t test was used to compare secretors and nonsecretors. Results: A decrease (P < 0.05) in HMO concentration was observed during the course of lactation for the US mothers, corresponding to 19.3 ± 2.9 g/L for milk collected on postnatal day 10, decreasing to 8.53 ± 1.18 g/L on day 120 (repeated measures; n = 14). On postnatal day 180, the total concentration of HMOs in Malawi milk samples from secretors (6.46 ± 1.74 mg/mL) was higher (P < 0.05) than that in samples from nonsecretors (5.25 ± 2.55 mg/mL ). The same trend was observed for fucosylated species; the concentration was higher in Malawi milk samples from secretors (4.91 ± 1.22 mg/mL) than from nonsecretors (3.42 ± 2.27 mg/mL) (P < 0.05). Conclusions: HMOs significantly decrease during the course of lactation. Secretor milk contains higher concentrations of total and fucosylated HMOs than does nonsecretor milk. These HMO concentrations can be correlated to the

  15. Absolute Quantitation of Human Milk Oligosaccharides Reveals Phenotypic Variations during Lactation.

    PubMed

    Xu, Gege; Davis, Jasmine Cc; Goonatilleke, Elisha; Smilowitz, Jennifer T; German, J Bruce; Lebrilla, Carlito B

    2017-01-01

    The quantitation of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) is challenging because of the structural complexity and lack of standards. The objective of our study was to rapidly measure the absolute concentrations of HMOs in milk using LC-mass spectrometry (MS) and to determine the phenotypic secretor status of the mothers. This quantitative method for measuring HMO concentration was developed by using ultraperformance LC multiple reaction monitoring MS. It was validated and applied to milk samples from Malawi (88 individuals; 88 samples from postnatal month 6) and the United States (Davis, California; 45 individuals, mean age: 32 y; 103 samples collected on postnatal days 10, 26, 71, or 120, repeated measures included). The concentrations of α(1,2)-fucosylated HMOs were used to determine the mothers' phenotypic secretor status with high sensitivity and specificity. We used Friedman's test and Wilcoxon's signed rank test to evaluate the change in HMO concentration during the course of lactation, and Student's t test was used to compare secretors and nonsecretors. A decrease (P < 0.05) in HMO concentration was observed during the course of lactation for the US mothers, corresponding to 19.3 ± 2.9 g/L for milk collected on postnatal day 10, decreasing to 8.53 ± 1.18 g/L on day 120 (repeated measures; n = 14). On postnatal day 180, the total concentration of HMOs in Malawi milk samples from secretors (6.46 ± 1.74 mg/mL) was higher (P < 0.05) than that in samples from nonsecretors (5.25 ± 2.55 mg/mL ). The same trend was observed for fucosylated species; the concentration was higher in Malawi milk samples from secretors (4.91 ± 1.22 mg/mL) than from nonsecretors (3.42 ± 2.27 mg/mL) (P < 0.05). HMOs significantly decrease during the course of lactation. Secretor milk contains higher concentrations of total and fucosylated HMOs than does nonsecretor milk. These HMO concentrations can be correlated to the health of breastfed infants in order to investigate the protective

  16. Spontaneous trait inference and spontaneous trait transference are both unaffected by prior evaluations of informants.

    PubMed

    Zengel, Bettina; Ambler, James K; McCarthy, Randy J; Skowronski, John J

    2017-01-01

    This article reports results from a study in which participants encountered either (a) previously known informants who were positive (e.g. Abraham Lincoln), neutral (e.g., Jay Leno), or negative (e.g., Adolf Hitler), or (b) previously unknown informants. The informants ostensibly described either a trait-implicative positive behavior, a trait-implicative negative behavior, or a neutral behavior. These descriptions were framed as either the behavior of the informant or the behavior of another person. Results yielded evidence of informant-trait linkages for both self-informants and for informants who described another person. These effects were not moderated by informant type, behavior valence, or the congruency or incongruency between the prior knowledge of the informant and the behavior valence. Results are discussed in terms of theories of Spontaneous Trait Inference and Spontaneous Trait Transference.

  17. Le Figaro. Revised.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crawford, Linda

    These instructional materials are designed for students with some French reading skills and vocabulary in late beginning or early intermediate senior high school French. The objectives are to introduce students to a French newspaper, "Le Figaro," and develop reading skills for skimming, gathering specific information, and relying on cognates. The…

  18. Linking Tropical Forest Function to Hydraulic Traits in a Size-Structured and Trait-Based Model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Christoffersen, B. O.; Gloor, M.; Fauset, S.; Fyllas, N.; Galbraith, D.; Baker, T. R.; Rowland, L.; Fisher, R.; Binks, O.; Sevanto, S.; Xu, C.; Jansen, S.; Choat, B.; Mencuccini, M.; McDowell, N. G.; Meir, P.

    2015-12-01

    A major weakness of forest ecosystem models is their inability to capture the diversity of responses to changes in water availability, severely hampering efforts to predict the fate of tropical forests under climate change. Such models often prescribe moisture sensitivity using heuristic response functions that are uniform across all individuals and lack important knowledge about trade-offs in hydraulic traits. We address this weakness by implementing a process representation of plant hydraulics into an individual- and trait-based model (Trait Forest Simulator; TFS) intended for application at discrete sites where community-level distributions of stem and leaf trait spectra (wood density, leaf mass per area, leaf nitrogen and phosphorus content) are known. The model represents a trade-off in the safety and efficiency of water conduction in xylem tissue through hydraulic traits, while accounting for the counteracting effects of increasing hydraulic path length and xylem conduit taper on whole-plant hydraulic resistance with increasing tree size. Using existing trait databases and additional meta-analyses from the rich literature on tropical tree ecophysiology, we obtained all necessary hydraulic parameters associated with xylem conductivity, vulnerability curves, pressure-volume curves, and hydraulic architecture (e.g., leaf-to-sapwood area ratios) as a function of the aforementioned traits and tree size. Incorporating these relationships in the model greatly improved the diversity of tree response to seasonal changes in water availability as well as in response to drought, as determined by comparison with field observations and experiments. Importantly, this individual- and trait-based framework provides a testbed for identifying both critical processes and functional traits needed for inclusion in coarse-scale Dynamic Global Vegetation Models, which will lead to reduced uncertainty in the future state of tropical forests.

  19. Le dermatofibrosarcome de Darier et Ferrand, une tumeur cutanée particulière: à propos de 32 cas et revue de la littérature

    PubMed Central

    Elamrani, Driss; Droussi, Hatim; Boukind, Samira; Elatiqi, Keltoum; Dlimi, Meriem; Benchamkha, Yassine; Ettalbi, Saloua

    2014-01-01

    Le dermatofibrosarcome (DFS) est une tumeur fibreuse de la peau, de croissance lente, à très haut risque de récidive locale, mais à potentiel métastatique faible. A partir d'une étude rétrospective étalée sur une période de 5 ans (décembre 2008 - décembre 2013), nous avons analysé les caractéristiques épidémiologiques et cliniques, le délai de diagnostic, le type de thérapeutique et le devenir de 32 patients présentant des tumeurs de Darier et Ferrand histologiquement prouvées. Parmi les 32 patients, 10 se sont présentés initialement au service pour une récidive tumorale. Une discrète prédominance masculine a été notée. Les DFS touchent préférentiellement l'adulte jeune. Le délai diagnostique observé est en moyenne de 4 ans. Le tronc est la localisation préférentielle (60%), suivi par les extrémités proximales (30%). Les 32 patients ont été traités par exérèse chirurgicale avec une marge de 5cm en surface, emportant en profondeur une barrière anatomique saine. La couverture de la perte de substance (PDS) a été réalisée après confirmation anatomopathologique du caractère carcinologique de l'exérèse, et a fait appel à différents moyens allant de la greffe cutanée aux lambeaux musculo –cutanés libres. L’évolution a été marquée par la survenue d'une récidive tumorale chez 8 patients (3 cas parmi les tumeurs vues en première intention et 5 cas parmi les tumeurs vues en récidive) et les résultats ont été jugés satisfaisants sur le plan esthétique et fonctionnel. Le DFS de Darier et Ferrand est une tumeur dont le pronostic et le risque évolutif sont principalement liés au délai diagnostic et la qualité de la première exérèse. Le diagnostic tardif, rend difficile la chirurgie d'exérèse et de reconstruction Les possibilités de guérison en cas de chirurgie primaire bien conduite sont significativement supérieures à celles d'une chirurgie de rattrapage. L'amélioration du pronostic passe par

  20. Personality traits and virtual reality performance.

    PubMed

    Rosenthal, Rachel; Schäfer, Juliane; Hoffmann, Henry; Vitz, Martina; Oertli, Daniel; Hahnloser, Dieter

    2013-01-01

    Surgeons' personalities have been described as different from those of the general population, but this was based on small descriptive studies limited by the choice of evaluation instrument. Furthermore, although the importance of the human factor in team performance has been recognized, the effect of personality traits on technical performance is unknown. This study aimed to compare surgical residents' personality traits with those of the general population and to evaluate whether an association exists between their personality traits and technical performance using a virtual reality (VR) laparoscopy simulator. In this study, 95 participants (54 residents with basic, 29 with intermediate laparoscopic experience, and 12 students) underwent personality assessment using the NEO-Five Factor Inventory and performed five VR tasks of the Lap Mentor™ basic tasks module. The residents' personality traits were compared with those of the general population, and the association between VR performance and personality traits was investigated. Surgical residents showed personality traits different from those of the general population, demonstrating lower neuroticism, higher extraversion and conscientiousness, and male residents showed greater openness. In the multivariable analysis, adjusted for gender and surgical experience, none of the personality traits was found to be an independent predictor of technical performance. Surgical residents present distinct personality traits that differ from those of the general population. These traits were not found to be associated with technical performance in a virtual environment. The traits may, however, play an important role in team performance, which in turn is highly relevant for optimal surgical performance.

  1. Efficacy of alcohol-based hand sanitizer on hands soiled with dirt and cooking oil.

    PubMed

    Pickering, Amy J; Davis, Jennifer; Boehm, Alexandria B

    2011-09-01

    Handwashing education and promotion are well established as effective strategies to reduce diarrhea and respiratory illness in countries around the world. However, access to reliable water supplies has been identified as an important barrier to regular handwashing in low-income countries. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS) is an effective hand hygiene method that does not require water, but its use is not currently recommended when hands are visibly soiled. This study evaluated the efficacy of ABHS on volunteers' hands artificially contaminated with Escherichia coli in the presence of dirt (soil from Tanzania) and cooking oil. ABHS reduced levels of E. coli by a mean of 2.33 log colony forming units (CFU) per clean hand, 2.32 log CFU per dirt-covered hand, and 2.13 log CFU per oil-coated hand. No significant difference in efficacy was detected between hands that were clean versus dirty or oily. ABHS may be an appropriate hand hygiene method for hands that are moderately soiled, and an attractive option for field settings in which access to water and soap is limited.

  2. Multiple-trait estimates of genetic parameters for metabolic disease traits, fertility disorders, and their predictors in Canadian Holsteins.

    PubMed

    Jamrozik, J; Koeck, A; Kistemaker, G J; Miglior, F

    2016-03-01

    Producer-recorded health data for metabolic disease traits and fertility disorders on 35,575 Canadian Holstein cows were jointly analyzed with selected indicator traits. Metabolic diseases included clinical ketosis (KET) and displaced abomasum (DA); fertility disorders were metritis (MET) and retained placenta (RP); and disease indicators were fat-to-protein ratio, milk β-hydroxybutyrate, and body condition score (BCS) in the first lactation. Traits in first and later (up to fifth) lactations were treated as correlated in the multiple-trait (13 traits in total) animal linear model. Bayesian methods with Gibbs sampling were implemented for the analysis. Estimates of heritability for disease incidence were low, up to 0.06 for DA in first lactation. Among disease traits, the environmental herd-year variance constituted 4% of the total variance for KET and less for other traits. First- and later-lactation disease traits were genetically correlated (from 0.66 to 0.72) across all traits, indicating different genetic backgrounds for first and later lactations. Genetic correlations between KET and DA were relatively strong and positive (up to 0.79) in both first- and later-lactation cows. Genetic correlations between fertility disorders were slightly lower. Metritis was strongly genetically correlated with both metabolic disease traits in the first lactation only. All other genetic correlations between metabolic and fertility diseases were statistically nonsignificant. First-lactation KET and MET were strongly positively correlated with later-lactation performance for these traits due to the environmental herd-year effect. Indicator traits were moderately genetically correlated (from 0.30 to 0.63 in absolute values) with both metabolic disease traits in the first lactation. Smaller and mostly nonsignificant genetic correlations were among indicators and metabolic diseases in later lactations. The only significant genetic correlations between indicators and fertility

  3. The interplay of trait worry and trait anxiety in determining episodic retrieval: The role of cognitive control.

    PubMed

    Pajkossy, Péter; Keresztes, Attila; Racsmány, Mihály

    2017-11-01

    Worrying is a key concept in describing the complex relationship between anxiety and cognitive control. On the one hand, cognitive control processes might underlie the specific tendency to engage in worrying (i.e., trait worry), conceptualized as a future-oriented mental problem-solving activity. On the other hand, the general tendency to experience the signs and symptoms of anxiety (i.e., trait anxiety) is suggested to impair cognitive control because worrisome thoughts interfere with task-relevant processing. Based on these opposing tendencies, we predicted that the effect of the two related constructs, trait anxiety and trait worry, might cancel out one another. In statistics, such instances have been termed suppressor situations. In four experiments, we found evidence for such a suppressor situation: When their shared variance was controlled, trait worry was positively whereas trait anxiety was negatively related to performance in a memory task requiring strategic, effortful retrieval. We also showed that these opposing effects are related to temporal context reinstatement. Our results suggest that trait worry and trait anxiety possess unique sources of variance, which differently relate to performance in memory tasks requiring cognitive control.

  4. Linking imaging spectroscopy and trait data to better understand spatial and temporal variability in functional traits

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Townsend, Philip; Kruger, Eric; Wang, Zhihui; Singh, Aditya

    2017-04-01

    Imaging spectroscopy exhibits great potential for mapping foliar functional traits that are impractical or expensive to regularly measure on the ground, and are essentially impossible to characterize comprehensively across space. Specifically, the high information content in spectroscopic data enables us to identify narrow spectral feature that are associated with vegetation primary and secondary biochemistry (nutrients, pigments, defensive compounds), leaf structure (e.g., leaf mass per area), canopy structure, and physiological capacity. Ultimately, knowledge of the variability in such traits is critical to understanding vegetation productivity, as well as responses to climatic variability, disturbances, pests and pathogens. The great challenge to the use of imaging spectroscopy to supplement trait databases is the development of trait retrieval approaches that are broadly applicable within and between ecosystem types. Here, we outline how we are using the US National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) to prototype the scaling and comparison of trait distributions derived from field measurements and imagery. We find that algorithms to map traits from imagery are robust across ecosystem types, when controlling for physiognomy and vegetation percent cover, and that among all vegetation types, the chemometric algorithms utilize similar features for mapping of traits.

  5. Ethnic Association of Cusp of Carabelli Trait and Shoveling Trait in an Indian Population

    PubMed Central

    Manju, M; Praveen, R; Umesh, W

    2016-01-01

    Introduction Variations in the structure of teeth have always been of great interest to the dentist from the scientific as well as practical point of view. Additionally, ever since decades inter trait relationships have been a useful means to categorize populations to which an individual belongs. Aim To determine the association between Cusp of Carabelli and Shoveling Trait in a selected Indian population native of Bangalore city, Karnataka, India. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out in 1885 children aged between 7-10 years. Casts of the study subjects were made to study the presence of Cusp of Carabelli of right maxillary permanent molar and shoveling trait of right maxillary permanent central incisor using the Dahlberg’s classification and Hrdliucka’s classification respectively. Linear regression was used to assess the association of cusp of carabelli trait with the tooth dimensions and logistic regression was used to evaluate the association of the carabelli trait with gender and presence/absence of shoveling. Results A 40.5% of subjects had Cusp of Carabelli on first molar and 68.2% had shoveling on upper central incisor. The study revealed positive association between the two traits studied in the population. A significant difference was also found with presence of Cusp of Carabelli and the buccolingual tooth dimension of the maxillary molar (p<0.05). Conclusion There is an association between the Cusp of Carabelli and the shoveling trait in the present study population, and this will be valuable in the determination of ethnic origin of an individual. PMID:27135008

  6. Three Nightmare Traits in Leaders

    PubMed Central

    de Vries, Reinout E.

    2018-01-01

    This review offers an integration of dark leadership styles with dark personality traits. The core of dark leadership consists of Three Nightmare Traits (TNT)—leader dishonesty, leader disagreeableness, and leader carelessness—that are conceptualized as contextualized personality traits aligned with respectively (low) honesty-humility, (low) agreeableness, and (low) conscientiousness. It is argued that the TNT, when combined with high extraversion and low emotionality, can have serious (“explosive”) negative consequences for employees and their organizations. A Situation-Trait-Outcome Activation (STOA) model is presented in which a description is offered of situations that are attractive to TNT leaders (situation activation), situations that activate TNT traits (trait activation), and the kinds of outcomes that may result from TNT behaviors (outcome activation). Subsequently, the TNT and STOA models are combined to offer a description of the organizational actions that may strengthen or weaken the TNT during six career stages: attraction, selection, socialization, production, promotion, and attrition. Except for mainly negative consequences of the TNT, possible positive consequences of TNT leadership are also explored, and an outline of a research program is offered that may provide answers to the most pressing questions in dark leadership research. PMID:29915552

  7. Spondylodiscite granulomateuse: surtout la tuberculose mais ne pas omettre le lymphome

    PubMed Central

    Zinebi, Ali; Rkiouak, Adil; Akhouad, Yousef; Reggad, Ahmed; Kasmy, Zohour; Boudlal, Mostafa; Lho, Abdelhamid Nait; Rabhi, Moncef; Sinaa, Mohamed; Ennibi, Khalid; Chaari, Jilali

    2016-01-01

    Les douleurs lombaires relèvent d'étiologies multiples dont le diagnostic peut être source de grandes difficultés. Le lymphome rachidien primitif est rare et son diagnostic nécessite une biopsie souvent scanoguidée. Un homme de 30 ans, était hospitalisé pour lombalgies inflammatoires évoluant dans un contexte d'altération de l'état général avec à l'examen des douleurs à la palpation des apophyses épineux L2L3, sans syndrome tumoral périphérique. Le bilan biologique montrait un syndrome inflammatoire. Le bilan morphologique était en faveur d'une spondylodiscite. La première biopsie montrait une ostéite granulomateuse. L'aggravation clinique et radiologique sous anti bacillaire a mené à reconsidérer le diagnostic et la deuxième biopsie confirme le diagnostic du lymphome. Le diagnostic de tuberculose osseuse en particulier vertébrale nécessite une confirmation bactériologique et ou histologique pour ne pas méconnaître un lymphome osseux primitif. PMID:28292061

  8. Inconsistencies in spontaneous and intentional trait inferences.

    PubMed

    Ma, Ning; Vandekerckhove, Marie; Baetens, Kris; Van Overwalle, Frank; Seurinck, Ruth; Fias, Wim

    2012-11-01

    This study explores the fMRI correlates of observers making trait inferences about other people under conflicting social cues. Participants were presented with several behavioral descriptions involving an agent that implied a particular trait. The last behavior was either consistent or inconsistent with the previously implied trait. This was done under instructions that elicited either spontaneous trait inferences ('read carefully') or intentional trait inferences ('infer a trait'). The results revealed that when the behavioral descriptions violated earlier trait implications, regardless of instruction, the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) was more strongly recruited as well as the domain-general conflict network including the posterior medial frontal cortex (pmFC) and the right prefrontal cortex (rPFC). These latter two areas were more strongly activated under intentional than spontaneous instructions. These findings suggest that when trait-relevant behavioral information is inconsistent, not only is activity increased in the mentalizing network responsible for trait processing, but control is also passed to a higher level conflict monitoring network in order to detect and resolve the contradiction.

  9. Anatomy of the Le Fort I segment: Are arterial variations a potential risk factor for avascular bone necrosis in Le Fort I osteotomies?

    PubMed

    Bruneder, Simon; Wallner, Jürgen; Weiglein, Andreas; Kmečová, Ĺudmila; Egger, Jan; Pilsl, Ulrike; Zemann, Wolfgang

    2018-05-02

    Osteotomies of the Le Fort I segment are routine operations with low complication rates. Ischemic complications are rare, but can have severe consequences that may lead to avascular bone necrosis of the Le Fort I segment. Therefore the aim of this study was to investigate the blood supply and special arterial variants of the Le Fort I segment responsible for arterial hypoperfusion or ischemic avascular necrosis after surgery. The arterial anatomy of the Le Fort I segment's blood supply using 30 halved human cadaver head specimens was analyzed after complete dissection until the submicroscopic level. In all specimens the arterial variants of the Le Fort I segment and also the arterial diameters measured at two points were evaluated. The typical known vascularization pattern was apparent in 90% of all specimens, in which the ascending palatine (D1: 1,2 mm ± 0,34 mm; D2: 0,8 mm ± 0,34 mm) and ascending pharyngeal artery (D1: 1,3 mm ± 0,58 mm; D2: <0,4 mm) were both supplying the Le Fort I segment. However in 10% of all specimens, the Le Fort I segment was dependent on the ascending pharyngeal artery alone and the missing ascending palatine artery was replaced with the anterior branch of the ascending pharyngeal artery (D1: 1,9 mm ± 0,32; D2: 1,0 mm ± 0,3 mm). This study is the first description of a special type of arterial variation of the Le Fort I segment. The type of this arterial variation, its clinical relevance and potential consequences are explained. Individuals with this special arterial anatomy may clinically be at a high risk for hypoperfusion and avascular segment necrosis after surgery. An individualized operation plan may prevent ischemic complications in at-risk patients. Copyright © 2018 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Seasonality and phenology alter functional leaf traits.

    PubMed

    McKown, Athena D; Guy, Robert D; Azam, M Shofiul; Drewes, Eric C; Quamme, Linda K

    2013-07-01

    In plant ecophysiology, functional leaf traits are generally not assessed in relation to phenological phase of the canopy. Leaf traits measured in deciduous perennial species are known to vary between spring and summer seasons, but there is a knowledge gap relating to the late-summer phase marked by growth cessation and bud set occurring well before fall leaf senescence. The effects of phenology on canopy physiology were tested using a common garden of over 2,000 black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) individuals originating from a wide geographical range (44-60ºN). Annual phenological events and 12 leaf-based functional trait measurements were collected spanning the entire summer season prior to, and following, bud set. Patterns of seasonal trait change emerged by synchronizing trees using their date of bud set. In particular, photosynthetic, mass, and N-based traits increased substantially following bud set. Most traits were significantly different between pre-bud set and post-bud set phase trees, with many traits showing at least 25% alteration in mean value. Post-bud set, both the significance and direction of trait-trait relationships could be modified, with many relating directly to changes in leaf mass. In Populus, these dynamics in leaf traits throughout the summer season reflected a shift in whole plant physiology, but occurred long before the onset of leaf senescence. The marked shifts in measured trait values following bud set underscores the necessity to include phenology in trait-based ecological studies or large-scale phenotyping efforts, both at the local level and larger geographical scale.

  11. Freshwater Biological Traits Database (Final Report)

    EPA Science Inventory

    EPA announced the release of the final report, Freshwater Biological Traits Database. This report discusses the development of a database of freshwater biological traits. The database combines several existing traits databases into an online format. The database is also...

  12. Multi-trait, multi-breed conception rate evaluations

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Heifer and cow conception rates (HCR and CCR) were evaluated with multi-trait, multi-breed models including crossbred cows instead of the previous single-trait, single-breed models. Fertility traits benefit from multi-trait processing because of high genetic correlations and many missing observation...

  13. Chemical Basis for Qualitative and Quantitative Differences Between ABO Blood Groups and Subgroups: Implications for Organ Transplantation.

    PubMed

    Jeyakanthan, M; Tao, K; Zou, L; Meloncelli, P J; Lowary, T L; Suzuki, K; Boland, D; Larsen, I; Burch, M; Shaw, N; Beddows, K; Addonizio, L; Zuckerman, W; Afzali, B; Kim, D H; Mengel, M; Shapiro, A M J; West, L J

    2015-10-01

    Blood group ABH(O) carbohydrate antigens are carried by precursor structures denoted type I-IV chains, creating unique antigen epitopes that may differ in expression between circulating erythrocytes and vascular endothelial cells. Characterization of such differences is invaluable in many clinical settings including transplantation. Monoclonal antibodies were generated and epitope specificities were characterized against chemically synthesized type I-IV ABH and related glycans. Antigen expression was detected on endomyocardial biopsies (n = 50) and spleen (n = 11) by immunohistochemical staining and on erythrocytes by flow cytometry. On vascular endothelial cells of heart and spleen, only type II-based ABH antigens were expressed; type III/IV structures were not detected. Type II-based ABH were expressed on erythrocytes of all blood groups. Group A1 and A2 erythrocytes additionally expressed type III/IV precursors, whereas group B and O erythrocytes did not. Intensity of A/B antigen expression differed among group A1 , A2 , A1 B, A2 B and B erythrocytes. On group A2 erythrocytes, type III H structures were largely un-glycosylated with the terminal "A" sugar α-GalNAc. Together, these studies define qualitative and quantitative differences in ABH antigen expression between erythrocytes and vascular tissues. These expression profiles have important implications that must be considered in clinical settings of ABO-incompatible transplantation when interpreting anti-ABO antibodies measured by hemagglutination assays with reagent erythrocytes. © Copyright 2015 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

  14. Mapping of quantitative trait loci controlling adaptive traits in coastal Douglas-fir

    Treesearch

    Nicholas C. Wheeler; Kathleen D. Jermstad; Konstantin V. Krutovsky; Sally N. Aitken; Glenn T. Howe; Jodie Krakowski; David B. Neale

    2005-01-01

    Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analyses are used by geneticists to characterize the genetic architecture of quantitative traits, provide a foundation for marker-aided-selection (MAS), and provide a framework for positional selection of candidate genes. The most useful QTL for breeding applications are those that have been verified in time, space, and/or genetic...

  15. Les fluctuations supraconductrices dans le compose praseodyme-cerium-oxyde de cuivre

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Renaud, Jacques

    Ce travail etudie les fluctuations supraconductrices dans le compose supraconducteur a haute temperature critique dope aux electrons Pr2-xCe xCuO4+delta. La technique utilisee pour sonder ces fluctuations est le transport electrique DC dans le plan ab. Il s'agit, a notre connaissance, de la premiere etude de ce type dans la classe generale des supraconducteurs a haute temperature critique dopes aux electrons et, plus particulierement, dans Pr2-xCe xCuO4+delta. De plus, l'etude est effectuee pour trois regimes de dopage, soit sous-dope x = 0.135, dopage optimal x = 0.15 et surdope x = 0.17. Les echantillons etudies sont des couches minces d'epaisseur plus grande que 100 nm crues par ablation laser. Les mesures electriques DC effectuees dans ce travail sont la resistance en reponse lineaire et les courbes IV en reponse non lineaire en fonction de la temperature. La mise en oeuvre experimentale de ces mesures a necessite une grande attention au filtrage et aux effets de chauffage a haut courant. Nous montrons que, sans cette attention, les donnees experimentales sont toujours erronees dans le regime pertinent pour nos echantillons. Les resultats pour le dopage optimal x = 0.15 sont expliques de facon tres convaincante dans le cadre de fluctuations purement 2D. D'abord, le regime des fluctuations gaussiennes est tres bien decrit par le modele d'Aslamazov-Larkin en deux dimensions. Ensuite, le regime de fluctuations critiques, se trouvant a plus basse temperature que le regime gaussien, est tres bien decrit par la physique 2D de Kosterlitz-Thouless. Dans cette analyse, les deux regimes ont des temperatures critiques coherentes entre elles, ce qui semble confirmer ce scenario 2D. Une analyse des donnees dans le cadre de fluctuations 3D est exploree mais donne des conclusions incoherentes. Les resultats pour les autres dopages sont qualitativement equivalents avec le dopage optimal et permettent donc une explication purement 2D. Par contre, contrairement au dopage optimal

  16. Prévalence de l’hypotension orthostatique et ses facteurs favorisants chez les hypertendus noirs africains traités

    PubMed Central

    Baragou, Soodougoua; Pio, Machiude; Pessinaba, Soulemane; Redah, Datouda

    2012-01-01

    Introduction Le but de cette étude était de déterminer la prévalence de l’hypotension orthostatique (HO) chez les hypertendus noirs africains traités, et rechercher ses facteurs favorisants. Méthodes Il s’est agi d’une étude prospective transversale menée du 1er février 2007 au 31 janvier 2009 à la clinique cardiologique du CHU Campus de Lomé, incluant des patients régulièrement traités pour hypertension artérielle. La pression artérielle et la fréquence cardiaque étaient mesurées en décubitus dorsal puis immédiatement en orthostatisme (1ère et 3ème minutes). Résultats Sur une population de 394 patients hypertendus traités, 81 cas d’HO (20,5%) ont été observés dont 53 (65,4 %) étaient symptomatiques. Il s’agissait de 188 femmes (49,2%) et de 206 hommes (50,8%). L’âge moyen des hypertendus était de 53,4 ans ± 11,2 avec des extrêmes de 26 ans et de 81ans. Les patients ayant présenté une HO avaient un âge moyen significativement plus élevé : 60 ans contre 51 ans chez les autres (p= 0,01). L’HO était plus fréquente chez les patients traités par antihypertenseurs centraux, les patients ayant présenté un accident vasculaire cérébral, les diabétiques, les obèses. Conclusion L’hypotension orthostatique est fréquente chez les hypertendus noirs africains traités. Il faut la rechercher systématiquement chez tous les hypertendus surtout mal contrôlés car elle peut être non seulement un facteur de mauvaise observance thérapeutique, mais aussi un facteur de risque cardiovasculaire indépendant. PMID:22368755

  17. Genetic parameters estimation for preweaning traits and their relationship with reproductive, productive and morphological traits in alpaca.

    PubMed

    Cruz, A; Cervantes, I; Burgos, A; Morante, R; Gutiérrez, J P

    2017-05-01

    The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters for preweaning traits and their relationship with reproductive, productive and morphological traits in alpacas. The data were collected from 2001 to 2015 in the Pacomarca experimental farm. The data set contained data from 4330 females and 3788 males corresponding to 6396 and 1722 animals for Huacaya and Suri variants, respectively. The number of records for Huacaya and Suri variants were 5494 and 1461 for birth weight (BW), 5429 and 1431 for birth withers height (BH), 3320 and 896 for both weaning weight (WW) and average daily gain (DG) from birth to weaning, 3317 and 896 for weaning withers height (WH), and 5514 and 1474 for survival to weaning. The reproductive traits analyzed were age at first calving and calving interval. The fiber traits were fiber diameter (FD), standard deviation of FD (SD), comfort factor and coefficient of variation of FD and the morphological traits studied were density, crimp in Huacaya and lock structure in Suri, head, coverage and balance. Regarding preweaning traits, model of analysis included additive, maternal and residual random effects for all traits, with sex, coat color, number of calving, month-year and contemporary group as systematic effects, and age at weaning as linear covariate for WW and WH. The most relevant direct heritabilities for Huacaya and Suri were 0.50 and 0.34 for WW, 0.36 and 0.66 for WH, 0.45 and 0.20 for DG, respectively. Maternal heritabilities were 0.25 and 0.38 for BW, 0.18 and 0.32 for BH, 0.29 and 0.39 for WW, 0.19 and 0.26 for WH, 0.27 and 0.36 for DG, respectively. Direct genetic correlations within preweaning traits were high and favorable and lower between direct and maternal genetic effects. The genetic correlations of preweaning traits with fiber traits were moderate and unfavorable. With morphological traits they were high and positive for Suri but not for Huacaya and favorable for direct genetic effect but unfavorable for maternal

  18. Les Hemorragies Gastroduodenales de Stress Chez le Brule Grave

    PubMed Central

    Siah, S.; Fouadi, F.E.; Ababou, K.; Nassim Sabah, T.; Ihrai, I.

    2008-01-01

    Summary Les Auteurs rapportent trois observations d'hémorragies gastroduodénales de stress chez le brûlé grave. Ils rappellent l'importance des mesures thérapeutiques qui doivent être prises chez le brûlé grave, comme le traitement du choc, du sepsis, des plaies et de la douleur, la nutrition entérale précoce et l'oxygénothérapie. Tout cela permet de réduire les facteurs de risque de survenue d'une hémorragie gastroduodénale de stress. PMID:21991137

  19. Automated Verification of Design Patterns with LePUS3

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nicholson, Jonathan; Gasparis, Epameinondas; Eden, Ammon H.; Kazman, Rick

    2009-01-01

    Specification and [visual] modelling languages are expected to combine strong abstraction mechanisms with rigour, scalability, and parsimony. LePUS3 is a visual, object-oriented design description language axiomatized in a decidable subset of the first-order predicate logic. We demonstrate how LePUS3 is used to formally specify a structural design pattern and prove ( verify ) whether any JavaTM 1.4 program satisfies that specification. We also show how LePUS3 specifications (charts) are composed and how they are verified fully automatically in the Two-Tier Programming Toolkit.

  20. Linking hydraulic traits to tropical forest function in a size-structured and trait-driven model (TFS v.1-Hydro)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Christoffersen, Bradley O.; Gloor, Manuel; Fauset, Sophie; Fyllas, Nikolaos M.; Galbraith, David R.; Baker, Timothy R.; Kruijt, Bart; Rowland, Lucy; Fisher, Rosie A.; Binks, Oliver J.; Sevanto, Sanna; Xu, Chonggang; Jansen, Steven; Choat, Brendan; Mencuccini, Maurizio; McDowell, Nate G.; Meir, Patrick

    2016-11-01

    Forest ecosystem models based on heuristic water stress functions poorly predict tropical forest response to drought partly because they do not capture the diversity of hydraulic traits (including variation in tree size) observed in tropical forests. We developed a continuous porous media approach to modeling plant hydraulics in which all parameters of the constitutive equations are biologically interpretable and measurable plant hydraulic traits (e.g., turgor loss point πtlp, bulk elastic modulus ɛ, hydraulic capacitance Cft, xylem hydraulic conductivity ks,max, water potential at 50 % loss of conductivity for both xylem (P50,x) and stomata (P50,gs), and the leaf : sapwood area ratio Al : As). We embedded this plant hydraulics model within a trait forest simulator (TFS) that models light environments of individual trees and their upper boundary conditions (transpiration), as well as providing a means for parameterizing variation in hydraulic traits among individuals. We synthesized literature and existing databases to parameterize all hydraulic traits as a function of stem and leaf traits, including wood density (WD), leaf mass per area (LMA), and photosynthetic capacity (Amax), and evaluated the coupled model (called TFS v.1-Hydro) predictions, against observed diurnal and seasonal variability in stem and leaf water potential as well as stand-scaled sap flux. Our hydraulic trait synthesis revealed coordination among leaf and xylem hydraulic traits and statistically significant relationships of most hydraulic traits with more easily measured plant traits. Using the most informative empirical trait-trait relationships derived from this synthesis, TFS v.1-Hydro successfully captured individual variation in leaf and stem water potential due to increasing tree size and light environment, with model representation of hydraulic architecture and plant traits exerting primary and secondary controls, respectively, on the fidelity of model predictions. The plant

  1. A trait-based approach to community assembly: partitioning of species trait values into within- and among-community components.

    PubMed

    Ackerly, D D; Cornwell, W K

    2007-02-01

    Plant functional traits vary both along environmental gradients and among species occupying similar conditions, creating a challenge for the synthesis of functional and community ecology. We present a trait-based approach that provides an additive decomposition of species' trait values into alpha and beta components: beta values refer to a species' position along a gradient defined by community-level mean trait values; alpha values are the difference between a species' trait values and the mean of co-occurring taxa. In woody plant communities of coastal California, beta trait values for specific leaf area, leaf size, wood density and maximum height all covary strongly, reflecting species distributions across a gradient of soil moisture availability. Alpha values, on the other hand, are generally not significantly correlated, suggesting several independent axes of differentiation within communities. This trait-based framework provides a novel approach to integrate functional ecology and gradient analysis with community ecology and coexistence theory.

  2. Le Fort I Maxillary Advancement Using Distraction Osteogenesis

    PubMed Central

    Combs, Patrick D.; Harshbarger, Raymond J.

    2014-01-01

    Treatment of maxillary hypoplasia has traditionally involved conventional Le Fort I osteotomies and advancement. Advancements of greater than 10 mm risk significant relapse. This risk is greater in the cleft lip and palate population, whose anatomy and soft tissue scarring from prior procedures contributes to instability of conventional maxillary advancement. Le Fort I advancement with distraction osteogenesis has emerged as viable, stable treatment modality correction of severe maxillary hypoplasia in cleft, syndromic, and noncleft patients. In this article, the authors provide a review of current data and recommendations concerning Le Fort I advancement with distraction osteogenesis. In addition, they outline their technique for treating severe maxillary hypoplasia with distraction osteogenesis using internal devices. PMID:25383054

  3. Spontaneous Trait Inferences on Social Media.

    PubMed

    Levordashka, Ana; Utz, Sonja

    2017-01-01

    The present research investigates whether spontaneous trait inferences occur under conditions characteristic of social media and networking sites: nonextreme, ostensibly self-generated content, simultaneous presentation of multiple cues, and self-paced browsing. We used an established measure of trait inferences (false recognition paradigm) and a direct assessment of impressions. Without being asked to do so, participants spontaneously formed impressions of people whose status updates they saw. Our results suggest that trait inferences occurred from nonextreme self-generated content, which is commonly found in social media updates (Experiment 1) and when nine status updates from different people were presented in parallel (Experiment 2). Although inferences did occur during free browsing, the results suggest that participants did not necessarily associate the traits with the corresponding status update authors (Experiment 3). Overall, the findings suggest that spontaneous trait inferences occur on social media. We discuss implications for online communication and research on spontaneous trait inferences.

  4. Juvenile hormone mediates developmental integration between exaggerated traits and supportive traits in the horned flour beetle Gnatocerus cornutus.

    PubMed

    Okada, Yasukazu; Gotoh, Hiroki; Miura, Toru; Miyatake, Takahisa; Okada, Kensuke

    2012-07-01

    Sexually selected exaggerated traits are often coupled with modifications in other nontarget traits. In insects with weapons, enlargements of nontarget characters that functionally support the weapon often occur (i.e. supportive traits). The support of sexual traits requires developmental coordination among functionally related multiple traits-an explicit example of morphological integration. The genetic theory predicts that developmental integration among different body modules, for which development is regulated via different sets of genes, is likely to be coordinated by pleiotropic factors. However, the developmental backgrounds of morphological integrations are largely unknown. We tested the hypothesis that the juvenile hormone (JH), as a pleiotropic factor, mediates the integration between exaggerated and supportive traits in an armed beetle Gnatocerus cornutus. During combat, males of this beetle use exaggerated mandibles to lift up their opponents with the supportive traits, that is, the head and prothoracic body parts. Application of methoprene, a JH analog (JHA), during the larval to prepupal period, induced the formation of large mandibles relative to the body sizes in males. Morphometric examination of nontarget traits elucidated an increase in the relative sizes of supportive traits, including the head and prothoracic body parts. In addition, reductions in the hind wing area and elytra length, which correspond to flight and reproductive abilities, were detected. Our findings are consistent with the genetic theory and support the idea that JH is a key pleiotropic factor that coordinates the developmental integration of exaggerated traits and supportive characters, as well as resource allocation trade-offs. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. Mapping of quantitative trait loci controlling adaptive traits in coastal Douglas-fir. III

    Treesearch

    Kathleen D. Jermstad; Daniel L. Bassoni; Keith S. Jech; Gary A. Ritchie; Nicholas C. Wheeler; David B. Neale

    2003-01-01

    Quantitative trait loci (QTL) were mapped in the woody perennial Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) for complex traits controlling the timing of growth initiation and growth cessation. QTL were estimated under controlled environmental conditions to identify QTL interactions with photoperiod, moisture stress, winter chilling, and spring...

  6. Specific role of LeMAN2 in the control of seed germination exposed by overexpression of the LeMAN3 gene in tomato plants.

    PubMed

    Belotserkovsky, Harel; Berger, Yael; Shahar, Ron; Wolf, Shmuel

    2007-12-01

    Endo-beta-mannanase is one of the key enzymes involved in the hydrolysis of the mannan-rich cell walls of tomato (Solanum lycopersicon) seeds. Two isoforms of endo-beta-mannanase have been characterized in tomato seeds: LeMAN2 is active in the micropylar area prior to germination and LeMAN1 is active after germination in all endosperm cells surrounding the cotyledons. To explore whether general mannanase activity in the endosperm cap is sufficient to promote germination, the gene encoding LeMAN3 was inserted into transgenic tomato plants under the control of a CaMV-35S promoter. Expression of LeMAN3 was evident in the endosperm cap and in the lateral endosperm of the transgenic seeds 10 min after imbibition. An activity test indicated increased activity of endo-beta-mannanase in the transgenic lines relative to the control line in all seed parts, during the first 20 h of imbibition. However, overexpression of LeMAN3 in transgenic seeds inhibited seed germination at both optimal and suboptimal temperatures. Detailed RT-PCR analyses revealed the transcription patterns of the genes encoding the various mannanase isoforms, and indicated a delay in LeMAN2 transcription in the endosperm cap of the transgenic seeds. Interestingly, tissue-print assays indicated similar mannanase activity in the micropylar areas for both transgenic and control seeds. These results indicate that overexpression of active endo-beta-mannanase in the endosperm cap is not sufficient to enable hydrolysis of the cell walls or to promote germination of tomato seeds. Cell-wall hydrolysis in these endosperm cells is under tight control and requires the specific activity of LeMAN2.

  7. Are trait-growth models transferable? Predicting multi-species growth trajectories between ecosystems using plant functional traits

    PubMed Central

    Vesk, Peter A.

    2017-01-01

    Plant functional traits are increasingly used to generalize across species, however few examples exist of predictions from trait-based models being evaluated in new species or new places. Can we use functional traits to predict growth of unknown species in different areas? We used three independently collected datasets, each containing data on heights of individuals from non-resprouting species over a chronosquence of time-since-fire sites from three ecosystems in south-eastern Australia. We examined the influence of specific leaf area, woody density, seed size and leaf nitrogen content on three aspects of plant growth; maximum relative growth rate, age at maximum growth and asymptotic height. We tested our capacity to perform out-of-sample prediction of growth trajectories between ecosystems using species functional traits. We found strong trait-growth relationships in one of the datasets; whereby species with low SLA achieved the greatest asymptotic heights, species with high leaf-nitrogen content achieved relatively fast growth rates, and species with low seed mass reached their time of maximum growth early. However these same growth-trait relationships did not hold across the two other datasets, making accurate prediction from one dataset to another unachievable. We believe there is evidence to suggest that growth trajectories themselves may be fundamentally different between ecosystems and that trait-height-growth relationships may change over environmental gradients. PMID:28486535

  8. The co-occurrence of autistic traits and borderline personality disorder traits is associated to increased suicidal ideation in nonclinical young adults.

    PubMed

    Chabrol, Henri; Raynal, Patrick

    2018-04-01

    The co-occurrence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is not rare and has been linked to increased suicidality. Despite this significant comorbidity between ASD and BPD, no study had examined the co-occurrence of autistic traits and borderline personality disorder traits in the general population. The aim of the present study was to examine the co-occurrence of autistic and borderline traits in a non-clinical sample of young adults and its influence on the levels of suicidal ideation and depressive symptomatology. Participants were 474 college students who completed self-report questionnaires. Data were analysed using correlation and cluster analyses. Borderline personality traits and autistic traits were weakly correlated. However, cluster analysis yielded four groups: a low traits group, a borderline traits group, an autistic traits group, and a group characterized by high levels of both traits. Cluster analysis revealed that autistic and borderline traits can co-occur in a significant proportion of young adults. The high autistic and borderline traits group constituted 17% of the total sample and had higher level of suicidal ideation than the borderline traits group, despite similar levels of depressive symptoms. This result suggests that the higher suicidality observed in patients with comorbid ASD and BPD may extent to non-clinical individuals with high levels of co-occurrent autistic and borderline traits. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. An Investigation into Good Teaching Traits

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Korte, Leon; Lavin, Angeline; Davies, Thomas

    2013-01-01

    Undergraduate and graduate students at an AACSB International accredited Midwestern business school were surveyed about their perceptions of traits that might contribute to good teaching. Thirty-five traits were presented for evaluation. Students scored each trait and identified the items they perceived as the five most important and the five…

  10. The scope of the LeChatelier Principle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    George M., Lady; Quirk, James P.

    2007-07-01

    LeChatelier [Comptes Rendus 99 (1884) 786; Ann. Mines 13 (2) (1888) 157] showed that a physical system's “adjustment” to a disturbance to its equilibrium tended to be smaller as constraints were added to the adjustment process. Samuelson [Foundations of Economic Analysis, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1947] applied this result to economics in the context of the comparative statics of the actions of individual agents characterized as the solutions to optimization problems; and later (1960), extended the application of the Principle to a stable, multi-market equilibrium and the case of all commodities gross substitutes [e.g., L. Metzler, Stability of multiple markets: the hicks conditions. Econometrica 13 (1945) 277-292]. Refinements and alternative routes of derivation have appeared in the literature since then, e.g., Silberberg [The LeChatelier Principle as a corollary to a generalized envelope theorem, J. Econ. Theory 3 (1971) 146-155; A revision of comparative statics methodology in economics, or, how to do comparative statics on the back of an envelope, J. Econ. Theory 7 (1974) 159-172], Milgrom and Roberts [The LeChatelier Principle, Am. Econ. Rev. 86 (1996) 173-179], W. Suen, E. Silberberg, P. Tseng [The LeChatelier Principle: the long and the short of it, Econ. Theory 16 (2000) 471-476], and Chavas [A global analysis of constrained behavior: the LeChatelier Principle ‘in the large’, South. Econ. J. 72 (3) (2006) 627-644]. In this paper, we expand the scope of the Principle in various ways keyed to Samuelson's proposed means of testing comparative statics results (optimization, stability, and qualitative analysis). In the optimization framework, we show that the converse LeChatelier Principle also can be found in constrained optimization problems and for not initially “conjugate” sensitivities. We then show how the Principle and its converse can be found through the qualitative analysis of any linear system. In these terms, the Principle and

  11. Ultrafast intramolecular charge transfer with N-(4-cyanophenyl)carbazole. Evidence for a LE precursor and dual LE + ICT fluorescence.

    PubMed

    Galievsky, Victor A; Druzhinin, Sergey I; Demeter, Attila; Mayer, Peter; Kovalenko, Sergey A; Senyushkina, Tamara A; Zachariasse, Klaas A

    2010-12-09

    The photophysics of N-(4-cyanophenyl)carbazole (NP4CN) was investigated by using absorption and fluorescence spectra, picosecond fluorescence decays, and femtosecond transient absorption. In the nonpolar n-hexane as well as in the polar solvent acetonitrile (MeCN), a locally excited (LE) state is detected, as a precursor for the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) state. A LE → ICT reaction time τ(2) at 22 °C of 0.95 ps in ethyl cyanide (EtCN) and 0.32 ps in MeCN is determined from the decay of the LE excited state absorption (ESA) maximum around 620 nm. In the ESA spectrum of NP4CN in n-hexane at a pump-probe delay time of 100 ps, an important contribution of the LE band remains alongside the ICT band, in contrast to what is observed in EtCN and MeCN. This shows that a LE ⇄ ICT equilibrium is established in this solvent and the ICT reaction time of 0.5 ps is equal to the reciprocal of the sum of the forward and backward ICT rate constants 1/(k(a) + k(d)). In the photostationary S(0) → S(n) absorption spectrum of NP4CN in n-hexane and MeCN, an additional CT absorption band appears, absent in the sum of the spectra of its electron donor (D) and acceptor (A) subgroups carbazole and benzonitrile. This CT band is located at an energy of ∼4000 cm(-1) lower than for N-phenylcarbazole (NPC), due to the larger electron affinity of the benzonitrile moiety of NP4CN than the phenyl subunit of NPC. The fluorescence spectrum of NP4CN in n-hexane at 25 °C mainly consists of a structured LE emission, with a small ICT admixture, indicating that a LE → ICT reaction just starts to occur under these conditions. In di-n-pentyl ether (DPeE) and di-n-butyl ether (DBE), a LE emission is found upon cooling at the high-energy edge of the ICT fluorescence band, caused by the onset of dielectric solvent relaxation. This is not the case in more polar solvents, such as diethyl ether (DEE) and MeCN, in which a structureless ICT emission band fully overlaps the strongly quenched LE

  12. Traits as Dimensions or Categories? Developmental Change in the Understanding of Trait Terms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gonzalez, Celia M.; Zosuls, Kristina M.; Ruble, Diane N.

    2010-01-01

    Recent research has suggested that young children have relatively well-developed trait concepts. However, this literature overlooks potential age-related differences in children's appreciation of the fundamentally dimensional nature of traits. In Study 1, we presented 4-, 5-, and 7-year-old children and adults with sets of characters and asked…

  13. TRY – a global database of plant traits

    PubMed Central

    Kattge, J; Díaz, S; Lavorel, S; Prentice, I C; Leadley, P; Bönisch, G; Garnier, E; Westoby, M; Reich, P B; Wright, I J; Cornelissen, J H C; Violle, C; Harrison, S P; Van Bodegom, P M; Reichstein, M; Enquist, B J; Soudzilovskaia, N A; Ackerly, D D; Anand, M; Atkin, O; Bahn, M; Baker, T R; Baldocchi, D; Bekker, R; Blanco, C C; Blonder, B; Bond, W J; Bradstock, R; Bunker, D E; Casanoves, F; Cavender-Bares, J; Chambers, J Q; Chapin, F S; Chave, J; Coomes, D; Cornwell, W K; Craine, J M; Dobrin, B H; Duarte, L; Durka, W; Elser, J; Esser, G; Estiarte, M; Fagan, W F; Fang, J; Fernández-Méndez, F; Fidelis, A; Finegan, B; Flores, O; Ford, H; Frank, D; Freschet, G T; Fyllas, N M; Gallagher, R V; Green, W A; Gutierrez, A G; Hickler, T; Higgins, S I; Hodgson, J G; Jalili, A; Jansen, S; Joly, C A; Kerkhoff, A J; Kirkup, D; Kitajima, K; Kleyer, M; Klotz, S; Knops, J M H; Kramer, K; Kühn, I; Kurokawa, H; Laughlin, D; Lee, T D; Leishman, M; Lens, F; Lenz, T; Lewis, S L; Lloyd, J; Llusià, J; Louault, F; Ma, S; Mahecha, M D; Manning, P; Massad, T; Medlyn, B E; Messier, J; Moles, A T; Müller, S C; Nadrowski, K; Naeem, S; Niinemets, Ü; Nöllert, S; Nüske, A; Ogaya, R; Oleksyn, J; Onipchenko, V G; Onoda, Y; Ordoñez, J; Overbeck, G; Ozinga, W A; Patiño, S; Paula, S; Pausas, J G; Peñuelas, J; Phillips, O L; Pillar, V; Poorter, H; Poorter, L; Poschlod, P; Prinzing, A; Proulx, R; Rammig, A; Reinsch, S; Reu, B; Sack, L; Salgado-Negret, B; Sardans, J; Shiodera, S; Shipley, B; Siefert, A; Sosinski, E; Soussana, J-F; Swaine, E; Swenson, N; Thompson, K; Thornton, P; Waldram, M; Weiher, E; White, M; White, S; Wright, S J; Yguel, B; Zaehle, S; Zanne, A E; Wirth, C

    2011-01-01

    Plant traits – the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants and their organs – determine how primary producers respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, influence ecosystem processes and services and provide a link from species richness to ecosystem functional diversity. Trait data thus represent the raw material for a wide range of research from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology to biogeography. Here we present the global database initiative named TRY, which has united a wide range of the plant trait research community worldwide and gained an unprecedented buy-in of trait data: so far 93 trait databases have been contributed. The data repository currently contains almost three million trait entries for 69 000 out of the world's 300 000 plant species, with a focus on 52 groups of traits characterizing the vegetative and regeneration stages of the plant life cycle, including growth, dispersal, establishment and persistence. A first data analysis shows that most plant traits are approximately log-normally distributed, with widely differing ranges of variation across traits. Most trait variation is between species (interspecific), but significant intraspecific variation is also documented, up to 40% of the overall variation. Plant functional types (PFTs), as commonly used in vegetation models, capture a substantial fraction of the observed variation – but for several traits most variation occurs within PFTs, up to 75% of the overall variation. In the context of vegetation models these traits would better be represented by state variables rather than fixed parameter values. The improved availability of plant trait data in the unified global database is expected to support a paradigm shift from species to trait-based ecology, offer new opportunities for synthetic plant trait research and enable a more realistic and empirically grounded representation of terrestrial

  14. Le schwannome malin du nerf grand sciatique chez l'enfant

    PubMed Central

    Lechqar, Maryem; Elbiache, Imad; Atarraf, Karima; Bouabdellah, Youssef; Afifi, My Abderahman

    2012-01-01

    Le schwannome malin est une tumeur très rare chez l'enfant (1 à 2% des tumeurs des tissus mous), elle se développe au dépend des cellules de schwanne. Dans ce travail, les auteurs rapportent un cas de schwannome malin développé au dépend du nerf grand sciatique. La radiographie de la cuisse de face et de profil était normale. L'imagerie par résonance magnétique a identifié une lésion le long du trajet du nerf grand sciatique. La tumeur a été réséquée en totalité emportant le nerf grand sciatique. L'examen anatomo-pathologique a confirmé le diagnostic. PMID:23133710

  15. Personality Traits, Learning and Academic Achievements

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jensen, Mikael

    2015-01-01

    There has been an increased interest in personality traits (especially the five-factor model) in relation to education and learning over the last decade. Previous studies have shown a relation between personality traits and learning, and between personality traits and academic achievement. The latter is typically described in terms of Grade Point…

  16. A functional trait perspective on plant invasion

    PubMed Central

    Drenovsky, Rebecca E.; Grewell, Brenda J.; D'Antonio, Carla M.; Funk, Jennifer L.; James, Jeremy J.; Molinari, Nicole; Parker, Ingrid M.; Richards, Christina L.

    2012-01-01

    Background and Aims Global environmental change will affect non-native plant invasions, with profound potential impacts on native plant populations, communities and ecosystems. In this context, we review plant functional traits, particularly those that drive invader abundance (invasiveness) and impacts, as well as the integration of these traits across multiple ecological scales, and as a basis for restoration and management. Scope We review the concepts and terminology surrounding functional traits and how functional traits influence processes at the individual level. We explore how phenotypic plasticity may lead to rapid evolution of novel traits facilitating invasiveness in changing environments and then ‘scale up’ to evaluate the relative importance of demographic traits and their links to invasion rates. We then suggest a functional trait framework for assessing per capita effects and, ultimately, impacts of invasive plants on plant communities and ecosystems. Lastly, we focus on the role of functional trait-based approaches in invasive species management and restoration in the context of rapid, global environmental change. Conclusions To understand how the abundance and impacts of invasive plants will respond to rapid environmental changes it is essential to link trait-based responses of invaders to changes in community and ecosystem properties. To do so requires a comprehensive effort that considers dynamic environmental controls and a targeted approach to understand key functional traits driving both invader abundance and impacts. If we are to predict future invasions, manage those at hand and use restoration technology to mitigate invasive species impacts, future research must focus on functional traits that promote invasiveness and invader impacts under changing conditions, and integrate major factors driving invasions from individual to ecosystem levels. PMID:22589328

  17. Linking hydraulic traits to tropical forest function in a size-structured and trait-driven model (TFS v.1-Hydro)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Christoffersen, Bradley O.; Gloor, Manuel; Fauset, Sophie

    Forest ecosystem models based on heuristic water stress functions poorly predict tropical forest response to drought partly because they do not capture the diversity of hydraulic traits (including variation in tree size) observed in tropical forests. We developed a continuous porous media approach to modeling plant hydraulics in which all parameters of the constitutive equations are biologically interpretable and measurable plant hydraulic traits (e.g., turgor loss point π tlp, bulk elastic modulus ε, hydraulic capacitance C ft, xylem hydraulic conductivity k s,max, water potential at 50 % loss of conductivity for both xylem ( P 50,x) and stomata ( Pmore » 50,gs), and the leaf : sapwood area ratio A l: A s). We embedded this plant hydraulics model within a trait forest simulator (TFS) that models light environments of individual trees and their upper boundary conditions (transpiration), as well as providing a means for parameterizing variation in hydraulic traits among individuals. We synthesized literature and existing databases to parameterize all hydraulic traits as a function of stem and leaf traits, including wood density (WD), leaf mass per area (LMA), and photosynthetic capacity ( A max ), and evaluated the coupled model (called TFS v.1-Hydro) predictions, against observed diurnal and seasonal variability in stem and leaf water potential as well as stand-scaled sap flux. Our hydraulic trait synthesis revealed coordination among leaf and xylem hydraulic traits and statistically significant relationships of most hydraulic traits with more easily measured plant traits. Using the most informative empirical trait–trait relationships derived from this synthesis, TFS v.1-Hydro successfully captured individual variation in leaf and stem water potential due to increasing tree size and light environment, with model representation of hydraulic architecture and plant traits exerting primary and secondary controls, respectively, on the fidelity of model

  18. Linking hydraulic traits to tropical forest function in a size-structured and trait-driven model (TFS v.1-Hydro)

    DOE PAGES

    Christoffersen, Bradley O.; Gloor, Manuel; Fauset, Sophie; ...

    2016-11-24

    Forest ecosystem models based on heuristic water stress functions poorly predict tropical forest response to drought partly because they do not capture the diversity of hydraulic traits (including variation in tree size) observed in tropical forests. We developed a continuous porous media approach to modeling plant hydraulics in which all parameters of the constitutive equations are biologically interpretable and measurable plant hydraulic traits (e.g., turgor loss point π tlp, bulk elastic modulus ε, hydraulic capacitance C ft, xylem hydraulic conductivity k s,max, water potential at 50 % loss of conductivity for both xylem ( P 50,x) and stomata ( Pmore » 50,gs), and the leaf : sapwood area ratio A l: A s). We embedded this plant hydraulics model within a trait forest simulator (TFS) that models light environments of individual trees and their upper boundary conditions (transpiration), as well as providing a means for parameterizing variation in hydraulic traits among individuals. We synthesized literature and existing databases to parameterize all hydraulic traits as a function of stem and leaf traits, including wood density (WD), leaf mass per area (LMA), and photosynthetic capacity ( A max ), and evaluated the coupled model (called TFS v.1-Hydro) predictions, against observed diurnal and seasonal variability in stem and leaf water potential as well as stand-scaled sap flux. Our hydraulic trait synthesis revealed coordination among leaf and xylem hydraulic traits and statistically significant relationships of most hydraulic traits with more easily measured plant traits. Using the most informative empirical trait–trait relationships derived from this synthesis, TFS v.1-Hydro successfully captured individual variation in leaf and stem water potential due to increasing tree size and light environment, with model representation of hydraulic architecture and plant traits exerting primary and secondary controls, respectively, on the fidelity of model

  19. Une cryptococcose disséminée compliquant un traitement par prednisone et azathioprime d'un pemphigus vulgaire

    PubMed Central

    Wafa, Ammouri; Hicham, Harmouche; Yassir, Afifi; Zoubida, Tazi Mezalek; Mohamed, Adnaoui; Mohamed, Aouni; Amine, Hassani; Abdelaziz, Maaouni

    2011-01-01

    L'infection à cryptocoque est une complication redoutable chez les patients traités par immunosuppresseurs et dont l’évolution peut être rapidement fatal en cas de retard diagnostic. Nous rapportons le cas d'une patiente âgée de 70 ans, ayant des antécédents de pemphigus vulgaire traité par prednisone et azathioprime et admise dans le service de médecine Interne pour des nodules sous cutanés atypiques. Le diagnostic retenu était celui d'une cryptococcose disséminée. L’évolution était rapidement fatale malgré le traitement antifongique. PMID:22187617

  20. Fear inhibition in high trait anxiety.

    PubMed

    Kindt, Merel; Soeter, Marieke

    2014-01-01

    Trait anxiety is recognized as an individual risk factor for the development of anxiety disorders but the neurobiological mechanisms remain unknown. Here we test whether trait anxiety is associated with impaired fear inhibition utilizing the AX+/BX- conditional discrimination procedure that allows for the independent evaluation of startle fear potentiation and inhibition of fear. Sixty undergraduate students participated in the study--High Trait Anxious: n = 28 and Low Trait Anxious: n = 32. We replicated earlier findings that a transfer of conditioned inhibition for startle responses requires contingency awareness. However, contrary to the fear inhibition hypothesis, our data suggest that high trait anxious individuals show a normal fear inhibition of conditioned startle responding. Only at the cognitive level the high trait anxious individuals showed evidence for impaired inhibitory learning of the threat cue. Together with other findings where impaired fear inhibition was only observed in those PTSD patients who were either high on hyperarousal symptoms or with current anxiety symptoms, we question whether impaired fear inhibition is a biomarker for the development of anxiety disorders.

  1. How are personality trait and profile agreement related?

    PubMed Central

    Allik, Jüri; Borkenau, Peter; Hřebíčková, Martina; Kuppens, Peter; Realo, Anu

    2015-01-01

    It is argued that if we compute self-other agreement on some personality traits then we possess no or very little information about the individuals who are the targets of this judgment. This idea is largely based on two separate ways of computing self-other agreement: trait agreement (rT) and profile agreement (rP), which are typically associated with two different trait-centered and person-centered approaches in personality research. Personality traits of 4115 targets from Czech, Belgian, Estonian, and German samples were rated by themselves and knowledgeable informants. We demonstrate that trait agreement can be partialled into individual contributions so that it is possible to show how much each individual pair of judges contributes to agreement on a particular trait. Similarly, it is possible to decompose agreement between two personality profiles into the individual contributions of traits from which these profiles are assembled. If normativeness is separated from distinctiveness of personality scores and individual profiles are ipsatized, then mean profile agreement rP becomes identical to mean trait agreement rT. The views that trait-by-trait analysis does not provide information regarding accuracy level of a particular pair of judges and profile analysis does not permit assessment of the relative contributions of traits to overall accuracy are not supported. PMID:26106356

  2. Biological and ecological traits of marine species

    PubMed Central

    Claus, Simon; Dekeyzer, Stefanie; Vandepitte, Leen; Tuama, Éamonn Ó; Lear, Dan; Tyler-Walters, Harvey

    2015-01-01

    This paper reviews the utility and availability of biological and ecological traits for marine species so as to prioritise the development of a world database on marine species traits. In addition, the ‘status’ of species for conservation, that is, whether they are introduced or invasive, of fishery or aquaculture interest, harmful, or used as an ecological indicator, were reviewed because these attributes are of particular interest to society. Whereas traits are an enduring characteristic of a species and/or population, a species status may vary geographically and over time. Criteria for selecting traits were that they could be applied to most taxa, were easily available, and their inclusion would result in new research and/or management applications. Numerical traits were favoured over categorical. Habitat was excluded as it can be derived from a selection of these traits. Ten traits were prioritized for inclusion in the most comprehensive open access database on marine species (World Register of Marine Species), namely taxonomic classification, environment, geography, depth, substratum, mobility, skeleton, diet, body size and reproduction. These traits and statuses are being added to the database and new use cases may further subdivide and expand upon them. PMID:26312188

  3. Global Land Carbon Uptake from Trait Distributions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Butler, E. E.; Datta, A.; Flores-Moreno, H.; Fazayeli, F.; Chen, M.; Wythers, K. R.; Banerjee, A.; Atkin, O. K.; Kattge, J.; Reich, P. B.

    2016-12-01

    Historically, functional diversity in land surface models has been represented through a range of plant functional types (PFTs), each of which has a single value for all of its functional traits. Here we expand the diversity of the land surface by using a distribution of trait values for each PFT. The data for these trait distributions is from a sub-set of the global database of plant traits, TRY, and this analysis uses three leaf traits: mass based nitrogen and phosphorus content and specific leaf area, which influence both photosynthesis and respiration. The data are extrapolated into continuous surfaces through two methodologies. The first, a categorical method, classifies the species observed in TRY into satellite estimates of their plant functional type abundances - analogous to how traits are currently assigned to PFTs in land surface models. Second, a Bayesian spatial method which additionally estimates how the distribution of a trait changes in accord with both climate and soil covariates. These two methods produce distinct patterns of diversity which are incorporated into a land surface model to estimate how the range of trait values affects the global land carbon budget.

  4. Quantitative trait loci for energy balance traits in an advanced intercross line derived from mice divergently selected for heat loss

    PubMed Central

    Nielsen, Merlyn K.; Thorn, Stephanie R.; Valdar, William; Pomp, Daniel

    2014-01-01

    Obesity in human populations, currently a serious health concern, is considered to be the consequence of an energy imbalance in which more energy in calories is consumed than is expended. We used interval mapping techniques to investigate the genetic basis of a number of energy balance traits in an F11 advanced intercross population of mice created from an original intercross of lines selected for increased and decreased heat loss. We uncovered a total of 137 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for these traits at 41 unique sites on 18 of the 20 chromosomes in the mouse genome, with X-linked QTLs being most prevalent. Two QTLs were found for the selection target of heat loss, one on distal chromosome 1 and another on proximal chromosome 2. The number of QTLs affecting the various traits generally was consistent with previous estimates of heritabilities in the same population, with the most found for two bone mineral traits and the least for feed intake and several body composition traits. QTLs were generally additive in their effects, and some, especially those affecting the body weight traits, were sex-specific. Pleiotropy was extensive within trait groups (body weights, adiposity and organ weight traits, bone traits) and especially between body composition traits adjusted and not adjusted for body weight at sacrifice. Nine QTLs were found for one or more of the adiposity traits, five of which appeared to be unique. The confidence intervals among all QTLs averaged 13.3 Mb, much smaller than usually observed in an F2 cross, and in some cases this allowed us to make reasonable inferences about candidate genes underlying these QTLs. This study combined QTL mapping with genetic parameter analysis in a large segregating population, and has advanced our understanding of the genetic architecture of complex traits related to obesity. PMID:24918027

  5. The China Plant Trait Database: toward a comprehensive regional compilation of functional traits for land plants.

    PubMed

    Wang, Han; Harrison, Sandy P; Prentice, Iain C; Yang, Yanzheng; Bai, Fan; Togashi, Henrique F; Wang, Meng; Zhou, Shuangxi; Ni, Jian

    2018-02-01

    Plant functional traits provide information about adaptations to climate and environmental conditions, and can be used to explore the existence of alternative plant strategies within ecosystems. Trait data are also increasingly being used to provide parameter estimates for vegetation models. Here we present a new database of plant functional traits from China. Most global climate and vegetation types can be found in China, and thus the database is relevant for global modeling. The China Plant Trait Database contains information on morphometric, physical, chemical, and photosynthetic traits from 122 sites spanning the range from boreal to tropical, and from deserts and steppes through woodlands and forests, including montane vegetation. Data collection at each site was based either on sampling the dominant species or on a stratified sampling of each ecosystem layer. The database contains information on 1,215 unique species, though many species have been sampled at multiple sites. The original field identifications have been taxonomically standardized to the Flora of China. Similarly, derived photosynthetic traits, such as electron-transport and carboxylation capacities, were calculated using a standardized method. To facilitate trait-environment analyses, the database also contains detailed climate and vegetation information for each site. The data set is released under a Creative Commons BY license. When using the data set, we kindly request that you cite this article, recognizing the hard work that went into collecting the data and the authors' willingness to make it publicly available. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

  6. LHC, le Big Bang en éprouvette

    ScienceCinema

    None

    2017-12-09

    Notre compréhension de l’Univers est en train de changer… Bar des Sciences - Tout public Débat modéré par Marie-Odile Montchicourt, journaliste de France Info. Evenement en vidéoconférence entre le Globe de la science et de l’innovation, le bar le Baloard de Montpellier et la Maison des Métallos à Paris. Intervenants au CERN : Philippe Charpentier et Daniel Froideveaux, physiciens au CERN. Intervenants à Paris : Vincent Bontemps, philosophe et chercheur au CEA ; Jacques Arnould, philosophe, historien des sciences et théologien, Jean-Jacques Beineix, réalisateur, producteur, scénariste de cinéma. Intervenants à Montpellier (LPTA) : André Neveu, physicien théoricien et directeur de recherche au CNRS ; Gilbert Moultaka, physicien théoricien et chargé de recherche au CNRS. Partenariat : CERN, CEA, IN2P3, Université MPL2 (LPTA) Dans le cadre de la Fête de la science 2008

  7. A peptide-binding motif for I-A(g7), the class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecule of NOD and Biozzi AB/H mice.

    PubMed

    Harrison, L C; Honeyman, M C; Trembleau, S; Gregori, S; Gallazzi, F; Augstein, P; Brusic, V; Hammer, J; Adorini, L

    1997-03-17

    The class II major histocompatibility complex molecule I-A(g7) is strongly linked to the development of spontaneous insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) in non obese diabetic mice and to the induction of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in Biozzi AB/H mice. Structurally, it resembles the HLA-DQ molecules associated with human IDDM, in having a non-Asp residue at position 57 in its beta chain. To identify the requirements for peptide binding to I-A(g7) and thereby potentially pathogenic T cell epitopes, we analyzed a known I-A(g7)-restricted T cell epitope, hen egg white lysozyme (HEL) amino acids 9-27. NH2- and COOH-terminal truncations demonstrated that the minimal epitope for activation of the T cell hybridoma 2D12.1 was M12-R21 and the minimum sequence for direct binding to purified I-A(g7) M12-Y20/K13-R21. Alanine (A) scanning revealed two primary anchors for binding at relative positions (p) 6 (L) and 9 (Y) in the HEL epitope. The critical role of both anchors was demonstrated by incorporating L and Y in poly(A) backbones at the same relative positions as in the HEL epitope. Well-tolerated, weakly tolerated, and nontolerated residues were identified by analyzing the binding of peptides containing multiple substitutions at individual positions. Optimally, p6 was a large, hydrophobic residue (L, I, V, M), whereas p9 was aromatic and hydrophobic (Y or F) or positively charged (K, R). Specific residues were not tolerated at these and some other positions. A motif for binding to I-A(g7) deduced from analysis of the model HEL epitope was present in 27/30 (90%) of peptides reported to be I-A(g7)-restricted T cell epitopes or eluted from I-A(g7). Scanning a set of overlapping peptides encompassing human proinsulin revealed the motif in 6/6 good binders (sensitivity = 100%) and 4/13 weak or non-binders (specificity = 70%). This motif should facilitate identification of autoantigenic epitopes relevant to the pathogenesis and immunotherapy of IDDM.

  8. Cerebellum and personality traits.

    PubMed

    Petrosini, Laura; Cutuli, Debora; Picerni, Eleonora; Laricchiuta, Daniela

    2015-02-01

    Personality traits are multidimensional traits comprising cognitive, emotional, and behavioral characteristics, and a wide array of cerebral structures mediate individual variability. Differences in personality traits covary with brain morphometry in specific brain regions. A cerebellar role in emotional and affective processing and on personality characteristics has been suggested. In a large sample of healthy subjects of both sexes and differently aged, the macro- and micro-structural variations of the cerebellum were correlated with the scores obtained in the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) by Cloninger. Cerebellar volumes were associated positively with Novelty Seeking scores and negatively with Harm Avoidance scores. Given the cerebellar contribution in personality traits and emotional processing, we investigated the cerebellar involvement even in alexithymia, construct of personality characterized by impairment in cognitive, emotional, and affective processing. Interestingly, the subjects with high alexithymic traits had larger volumes in the bilateral Crus 1. The cerebellar substrate for some personality dimensions extends the relationship between personality and brain areas to a structure up to now thought to be involved mainly in motor and cognitive functions, much less in emotional processes and even less in personality individual differences. The enlarged volumes of Crus 1 in novelty seekers and alexithymics support the tendency to action featuring both personality constructs. In fact, Novelty Seeking and alexithymia are rooted in behavior and inescapably have a strong action component, resulting in stronger responses in the structures more focused on action and embodiment, as the cerebellum is.

  9. Genetic Consideration of Schizotypal Traits: A Review

    PubMed Central

    Walter, Emma E.; Fernandez, Francesca; Snelling, Mollie; Barkus, Emma

    2016-01-01

    Schizotypal traits are of interest and importance in their own right and also have theoretical and clinical associations with schizophrenia. These traits comprise attenuated psychotic symptoms, social withdrawal, reduced cognitive capacity, and affective dysregulation. The link between schizotypal traits and psychotic disorders has long since been debated. The status of knowledge at this point is such schizotypal traits are a risk for psychotic disorders, but in and of themselves only confer liability, with other risk factors needing to be present before a transition to psychosis occurs. Investigation of schizotypal traits also has the possibility to inform clinical and research pursuits concerning those who do not make a transition to psychotic disorders. A growing body of literature has investigated the genetic underpinnings of schizotypal traits. Here, we review association, family studies and describe genetic disorders where the expression of schizotypal traits has been investigated. We conducted a thorough review of the existing literature, with multiple search engines, references, and linked articles being searched for relevance to the current review. All articles and book chapters in English were sourced and reviewed for inclusion. Family studies demonstrate that schizotypal traits are elevated with increasing genetic proximity to schizophrenia and some chromosomal regions have been associated with schizotypy. Genes associated with schizophrenia have provided the initial start point for the investigation of candidate genes for schizotypal traits; neurobiological pathways of significance have guided selection of genes of interest. Given the chromosomal regions associated with schizophrenia, some genetic disorders have also considered the expression of schizotypal traits. Genetic disorders considered all comprise a profile of cognitive deficits and over representation of psychotic disorders compared to the general population. We conclude that genetic

  10. Relating Stomatal Conductance to Leaf Functional Traits.

    PubMed

    Kröber, Wenzel; Plath, Isa; Heklau, Heike; Bruelheide, Helge

    2015-10-12

    Leaf functional traits are important because they reflect physiological functions, such as transpiration and carbon assimilation. In particular, morphological leaf traits have the potential to summarize plants strategies in terms of water use efficiency, growth pattern and nutrient use. The leaf economics spectrum (LES) is a recognized framework in functional plant ecology and reflects a gradient of increasing specific leaf area (SLA), leaf nitrogen, phosphorus and cation content, and decreasing leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and carbon nitrogen ratio (CN). The LES describes different strategies ranging from that of short-lived leaves with high photosynthetic capacity per leaf mass to long-lived leaves with low mass-based carbon assimilation rates. However, traits that are not included in the LES might provide additional information on the species' physiology, such as those related to stomatal control. Protocols are presented for a wide range of leaf functional traits, including traits of the LES, but also traits that are independent of the LES. In particular, a new method is introduced that relates the plants' regulatory behavior in stomatal conductance to vapor pressure deficit. The resulting parameters of stomatal regulation can then be compared to the LES and other plant functional traits. The results show that functional leaf traits of the LES were also valid predictors for the parameters of stomatal regulation. For example, leaf carbon concentration was positively related to the vapor pressure deficit (vpd) at the point of inflection and the maximum of the conductance-vpd curve. However, traits that are not included in the LES added information in explaining parameters of stomatal control: the vpd at the point of inflection of the conductance-vpd curve was lower for species with higher stomatal density and higher stomatal index. Overall, stomata and vein traits were more powerful predictors for explaining stomatal regulation than traits used in the LES.

  11. Towards a reference plant trait ontology for modeling knowledge of plant traits and phenotypes

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Ontology engineering and knowledge modeling for the plant sciences is expected to contribute to the understanding of the basis of plant traits that determine phenotypic expression in a given environment. Several crop- or clade-specific plant trait ontologies have been developed to describe plant tr...

  12. SCRaMbLE generates designed combinatorial stochastic diversity in synthetic chromosomes.

    PubMed

    Shen, Yue; Stracquadanio, Giovanni; Wang, Yun; Yang, Kun; Mitchell, Leslie A; Xue, Yaxin; Cai, Yizhi; Chen, Tai; Dymond, Jessica S; Kang, Kang; Gong, Jianhui; Zeng, Xiaofan; Zhang, Yongfen; Li, Yingrui; Feng, Qiang; Xu, Xun; Wang, Jun; Wang, Jian; Yang, Huanming; Boeke, Jef D; Bader, Joel S

    2016-01-01

    Synthetic chromosome rearrangement and modification by loxP-mediated evolution (SCRaMbLE) generates combinatorial genomic diversity through rearrangements at designed recombinase sites. We applied SCRaMbLE to yeast synthetic chromosome arm synIXR (43 recombinase sites) and then used a computational pipeline to infer or unscramble the sequence of recombinations that created the observed genomes. Deep sequencing of 64 synIXR SCRaMbLE strains revealed 156 deletions, 89 inversions, 94 duplications, and 55 additional complex rearrangements; several duplications are consistent with a double rolling circle mechanism. Every SCRaMbLE strain was unique, validating the capability of SCRaMbLE to explore a diverse space of genomes. Rearrangements occurred exclusively at designed loxPsym sites, with no significant evidence for ectopic rearrangements or mutations involving synthetic regions, the 99% nonsynthetic nuclear genome, or the mitochondrial genome. Deletion frequencies identified genes required for viability or fast growth. Replacement of 3' UTR by non-UTR sequence had surprisingly little effect on fitness. SCRaMbLE generates genome diversity in designated regions, reveals fitness constraints, and should scale to simultaneous evolution of multiple synthetic chromosomes. © 2016 Shen et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

  13. SCRaMbLE generates designed combinatorial stochastic diversity in synthetic chromosomes

    PubMed Central

    Shen, Yue; Stracquadanio, Giovanni; Wang, Yun; Yang, Kun; Mitchell, Leslie A.; Xue, Yaxin; Cai, Yizhi; Chen, Tai; Dymond, Jessica S.; Kang, Kang; Gong, Jianhui; Zeng, Xiaofan; Zhang, Yongfen; Li, Yingrui; Feng, Qiang; Xu, Xun; Wang, Jun; Wang, Jian; Yang, Huanming; Boeke, Jef D.; Bader, Joel S.

    2016-01-01

    Synthetic chromosome rearrangement and modification by loxP-mediated evolution (SCRaMbLE) generates combinatorial genomic diversity through rearrangements at designed recombinase sites. We applied SCRaMbLE to yeast synthetic chromosome arm synIXR (43 recombinase sites) and then used a computational pipeline to infer or unscramble the sequence of recombinations that created the observed genomes. Deep sequencing of 64 synIXR SCRaMbLE strains revealed 156 deletions, 89 inversions, 94 duplications, and 55 additional complex rearrangements; several duplications are consistent with a double rolling circle mechanism. Every SCRaMbLE strain was unique, validating the capability of SCRaMbLE to explore a diverse space of genomes. Rearrangements occurred exclusively at designed loxPsym sites, with no significant evidence for ectopic rearrangements or mutations involving synthetic regions, the 99% nonsynthetic nuclear genome, or the mitochondrial genome. Deletion frequencies identified genes required for viability or fast growth. Replacement of 3′ UTR by non-UTR sequence had surprisingly little effect on fitness. SCRaMbLE generates genome diversity in designated regions, reveals fitness constraints, and should scale to simultaneous evolution of multiple synthetic chromosomes. PMID:26566658

  14. Compositional profile of α / β-hydrolase fold proteins in mangrove soil metagenomes: prevalence of epoxide hydrolases and haloalkane dehalogenases in oil-contaminated sites.

    PubMed

    Jiménez, Diego Javier; Dini-Andreote, Francisco; Ottoni, Júlia Ronzella; de Oliveira, Valéria Maia; van Elsas, Jan Dirk; Andreote, Fernando Dini

    2015-05-01

    The occurrence of genes encoding biotechnologically relevant α/β-hydrolases in mangrove soil microbial communities was assessed using data obtained by whole-metagenome sequencing of four mangroves areas, denoted BrMgv01 to BrMgv04, in São Paulo, Brazil. The sequences (215 Mb in total) were filtered based on local amino acid alignments against the Lipase Engineering Database. In total, 5923 unassembled sequences were affiliated with 30 different α/β-hydrolase fold superfamilies. The most abundant predicted proteins encompassed cytosolic hydrolases (abH08; ∼ 23%), microsomal hydrolases (abH09; ∼ 12%) and Moraxella lipase-like proteins (abH04 and abH01; < 5%). Detailed analysis of the genes predicted to encode proteins of the abH08 superfamily revealed a high proportion related to epoxide hydrolases and haloalkane dehalogenases in polluted mangroves BrMgv01-02-03. This suggested selection and putative involvement in local degradation/detoxification of the pollutants. Seven sequences that were annotated as genes for putative epoxide hydrolases and five for putative haloalkane dehalogenases were found in a fosmid library generated from BrMgv02 DNA. The latter enzymes were predicted to belong to Actinobacteria, Deinococcus-Thermus, Planctomycetes and Proteobacteria. Our integrated approach thus identified 12 genes (complete and/or partial) that may encode hitherto undescribed enzymes. The low amino acid identity (< 60%) with already-described genes opens perspectives for both production in an expression host and genetic screening of metagenomes. © 2014 The Authors. Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for Applied Microbiology.

  15. Compositional profile of α/β-hydrolase fold proteins in mangrove soil metagenomes: prevalence of epoxide hydrolases and haloalkane dehalogenases in oil-contaminated sites

    PubMed Central

    Jiménez, Diego Javier; Dini-Andreote, Francisco; Ottoni, Júlia Ronzella; de Oliveira, Valéria Maia; van Elsas, Jan Dirk; Andreote, Fernando Dini

    2015-01-01

    The occurrence of genes encoding biotechnologically relevant α/β-hydrolases in mangrove soil microbial communities was assessed using data obtained by whole-metagenome sequencing of four mangroves areas, denoted BrMgv01 to BrMgv04, in São Paulo, Brazil. The sequences (215 Mb in total) were filtered based on local amino acid alignments against the Lipase Engineering Database. In total, 5923 unassembled sequences were affiliated with 30 different α/β-hydrolase fold superfamilies. The most abundant predicted proteins encompassed cytosolic hydrolases (abH08; ∼ 23%), microsomal hydrolases (abH09; ∼ 12%) and Moraxella lipase-like proteins (abH04 and abH01; < 5%). Detailed analysis of the genes predicted to encode proteins of the abH08 superfamily revealed a high proportion related to epoxide hydrolases and haloalkane dehalogenases in polluted mangroves BrMgv01-02-03. This suggested selection and putative involvement in local degradation/detoxification of the pollutants. Seven sequences that were annotated as genes for putative epoxide hydrolases and five for putative haloalkane dehalogenases were found in a fosmid library generated from BrMgv02 DNA. The latter enzymes were predicted to belong to Actinobacteria, Deinococcus-Thermus, Planctomycetes and Proteobacteria. Our integrated approach thus identified 12 genes (complete and/or partial) that may encode hitherto undescribed enzymes. The low amino acid identity (< 60%) with already-described genes opens perspectives for both production in an expression host and genetic screening of metagenomes. PMID:25171437

  16. Structure post-flambée pour la locomotion d'un microrobot intratubulaire: comparaison modèle-expérience de l'effort de serrage dans le tube

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Libersa, C.; Arsicault, M.; Lallemand, J.-P.

    2002-12-01

    Ces travaux entrent dans le cadre des études nécessaires à la mise au point d'une structure déformable actionnée par fils en alliage à mémoire de forme. L'application visée est son utilisation comme module de locomotion d'un microrobot intratubulaire autonome de type “ lombric ”. Un module est constitué d'un cadre élastique carré forcé en post-flambement sur un squelette rigide, de manière à obtenir deux configurations symétriques d'équilibre stable correspondant au premier mode de flambage. Le passage d'un état d'équilibre à l'autre est obtenu par la contraction de fils AMF éduqués disposés sur le cadre post-flambé. Un assemblage par juxtaposition de cinq modules identiques compose le corps du microrobot. Suivant un cycle de locomotion adéquat, chacun de ces actionneurs “ tout ou rien ” permet la prise d'appui sur les parois du tube ou l'allongement local nécessaire à l'avance du microrobot. Nous présentons ici les résultats obtenus lors d'un chargement transversal d'un module, et en particulier les courbes reliant l'effort de réaction et le déplacement du point en contact avec le tube. L'influence du serrage subit par le module sur le maintien du microrobot dans un tube vertical est déterminée. Les résultats expérimentaux obtenus sont comparés avec les résultats numériques.

  17. Profil comparatif et évolutif des personnes infectées par le virus de l'immunodéficience humaine traitées aux antirétroviraux à Kinshasa, République Démocratique du Congo

    PubMed Central

    Koy, Tshingani; Mukumbi, Henri; Malandala, Ghislain Lubangi Muteba; Donnen, Philippe; Wilmet–Dramaix, Michèle

    2014-01-01

    Introduction A trithérapie (ARV) introduite en R.D.Congo en 1996, a permis l′amélioration substantielle de la qualité de vie des PVVIH et a réduit la morbimortalité liée au sida en R.D. Congo. L'objectif de cette étude est de présenter le profil épidémiologique comparatif, clinique, ainsi que l’évolution anthropométrique des PVVIH sous ARV à Kinshasa. Méthodes Etude de cohorte sur 438 PVVIH, de 18 ans et plus, suivies entre mai 2010 à 2011 à Amo Congo à Kinshasa. Une comparaison a été faite entre les patients suivis pendant un an et ceux perdus de vue. Le Chi carré de Mc Nemar et l'analyse de variance pour mesures répétées ont été appliqués pour étudier l’évolution. Résultats Près 12 mois de suivi, 11,4% de patients ont été perdus de vue. Parmi eux, on observait des proportions significativement plus élevées de personnes de niveau socioéconomique bas, d'indice de masse corporelle (IMC) bas, présentant de l'anorexie, des affections opportunistes. Les proportions de patients aux stades OMS 3 & 4 et naïfs étaient également significativement plus élevées et la durée sous ARV plus courte. Les gains moyens des paramètres anthropométriques au 12ème mois, étaient importants: de 3,6 [3,2 - 4,0] kg pour le poids, 1,8 (1,4 - 2,3) cm pour le périmètre abdominal, 0,9 (0,8 - 1,2) cm pour le périmètre brachial, 1,4 (1,2 - 1,5) kg/m2 pour l'IMC. La proportion de patients avec un IMC <18,5 kg/m2 a significativement plus baissé entre l'admission et le 12ème mois parmi les patients sans stomatite que parmi ceux avec stomatite. L'IMC moyen évoluait significativement différemment entre l'admission et le 12ème mois selon l’âge et la taille de ménage. Conclusion Les facteurs fragilisant la rétention des patients sous antirétroviraux et une évolution progressive de l’état nutritionnel ont été observés. PMID:25995784

  18. Genetic relationships between detailed reproductive traits and performance traits in Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle.

    PubMed

    Carthy, T R; Ryan, D P; Fitzgerald, A M; Evans, R D; Berry, D P

    2016-02-01

    The objective of the study was to estimate the genetic relationships between detailed reproductive traits derived from ultrasound examination of the reproductive tract and a range of performance traits in Holstein-Friesian dairy cows. The performance traits investigated included calving performance, milk production, somatic cell score (i.e., logarithm transformation of somatic cell count), carcass traits, and body-related linear type traits. Detailed reproductive traits included (1) resumed cyclicity at the time of examination, (2) multiple ovulations, (3) early ovulation, (4) heat detection, (5) ovarian cystic structures, (6) embryo loss, and (7) uterine score, measured on a 1 (little or no fluid with normal tone) to 4 (large quantity of fluid with a flaccid tone) scale, based on the tone of the uterine wall and the quantity of fluid present in the uterus. (Co)variance components were estimated using a repeatability animal linear mixed model. Genetic merit for greater milk, fat, and protein yield was associated with a reduced ability to resume cyclicity postpartum (genetic correlations ranged from -0.25 to -0.15). Higher genetic merit for milk yield was also associated with a greater genetic susceptibility to multiple ovulations. Genetic predisposition to elevated somatic cell score was associated with a decreased likelihood of cyclicity postpartum (genetic correlation of -0.32) and a greater risk of both multiple ovulations (genetic correlation of 0.25) and embryo loss (genetic correlation of 0.32). Greater body condition score was genetically associated with an increased likelihood of resumption of cyclicity postpartum (genetic correlation of 0.52). Genetically heavier, fatter carcasses with better conformation were also associated with an increased likelihood of resumed cyclicity by the time of examination (genetic correlations ranged from 0.24 to 0.41). Genetically heavier carcasses were associated with an inferior uterine score as well as a greater

  19. Neurological soft signs in adolescents with borderline personality traits.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Jinqiang; Cai, Lin; Zhu, Xiongzhao; Yi, Jinyao; Yao, Shuqiao; Hu, Muli; Bai, Mei; Li, Lingyan; Wang, Yuping

    2015-03-01

    This study investigated the prevalence and severity of neurological soft signs (NSS), and their relationships with borderline personality (BP) traits in adolescents. Eighty-nine adolescents with BP traits (BP-trait group), and 89 adolescents without traits of any personality disorder (control group), were recruited in China. BP traits were diagnosed by the BPD subscale of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire for the DSM-IV (PDQ-4+). The soft sign subscales of the Cambridge Neurological Inventory were administered to all participants. The group differences in prevalence of soft signs and in NSS scores were analyzed, as well as the associations between the NSS scale and borderline personality traits. Five soft signs were significantly more frequent in adolescents with BP traits. A total of 59.6% of adolescents with BP traits exhibited at least 1 NSS, whereas only 34.8% of adolescents without BP traits did (p < 0.01). A total of 42.7% of adolescents in the BP-trait group exhibited at least 2 NSS, while only 16.9% of adolescents without BP traits did (p < 0.001). Moreover, adolescents with BP traits showed more sensory integration, disinhibition, total neurological soft signs, left-side soft signs, and right-side soft signs, than adolescents without BP traits. Sensory integration and disinhibition were positively associated with BP traits. These findings suggest that adolescents with BP traits may have a nonfocal abnormality of the central nervous system.

  20. Functional trait values, not trait plasticity, drive the invasiveness of Rosa sp. in response to light availability.

    PubMed

    Murphy, Jennifer E; Burns, Jean H; Fougère-Danezan, Marie; Drenovsky, Rebecca E

    2016-12-01

    Functional trait plasticity in resource capture traits has been suggested as an underlying mechanism promoting invasive species establishment and spread. Earlier studies on this mechanism treat invasiveness as a discrete characteristic (i.e., invasive vs. noninvasive) and do not consider the potential impacts of evolutionary history. In the present study, we used a continuous measure of invasiveness and a phylogenetic framework to quantify the relationship between functional trait expression, plasticity, and invasiveness in Rosa. In a manipulative greenhouse experiment, we evaluated how light availability affects functional traits and their plasticity in Rosa sp. and the out-group species, Potentilla recta, which vary in their invasiveness. Across functional traits, we found no significant relationship between plasticity and invasiveness. However, more invasive roses demonstrated an ability to produce a more branched plant architecture, promoting optimal light capture. Invasiveness also was linked with lower photosynthetic and stomatal conductance rates, leading to increased water-use efficiency (WUE) in more invasive roses. Our results suggest that functional trait values, rather than plasticity, promote invasive rose success, counter to earlier predictions about the role of plasticity in invasiveness. Furthermore, our study indicates that invasive roses demonstrate key functional traits, such as increased WUE, to promote their success in the high-light, edge habitats they commonly invade. © 2016 Botanical Society of America.

  1. Breeding for cuticle-associated traits in crop species: traits, targets, and strategies.

    PubMed

    Petit, Johann; Bres, Cécile; Mauxion, Jean-Philippe; Bakan, Bénédicte; Rothan, Christophe

    2017-11-09

    Improving crop productivity and quality while promoting sustainable agriculture have become major goals in plant breeding. The cuticle is a natural film covering the aerial organs of plants and consists of lipid polyesters covered and embedded with wax. The cuticle protects plants against water loss and pathogens and affects traits with strong impacts on crop quality such as, for horticultural crops, fruit brightness, cracking, russeting, netting, and shelf life. Here we provide an overview of the most important cuticle-associated traits that can be targeted for crop improvement. To date, most studies on cuticle-associated traits aimed at crop breeding have been done on fleshy fruits. Less information is available for staple crops such as rice, wheat or maize. Here we present new insights into cuticle formation and properties resulting from the study of genetic resources available for the various crop species. Our review also covers the current strategies and tools aimed at exploiting available natural and artificially induced genetic diversity and the technologies used to transfer the beneficial alleles affecting cuticle-associated traits to commercial varieties. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. Cultural traits as units of analysis.

    PubMed

    O'Brien, Michael J; Lyman, R Lee; Mesoudi, Alex; VanPool, Todd L

    2010-12-12

    Cultural traits have long been used in anthropology as units of transmission that ostensibly reflect behavioural characteristics of the individuals or groups exhibiting the traits. After they are transmitted, cultural traits serve as units of replication in that they can be modified as part of an individual's cultural repertoire through processes such as recombination, loss or partial alteration within an individual's mind. Cultural traits are analogous to genes in that organisms replicate them, but they are also replicators in their own right. No one has ever seen a unit of transmission, either behavioural or genetic, although we can observe the effects of transmission. Fortunately, such units are manifest in artefacts, features and other components of the archaeological record, and they serve as proxies for studying the transmission (and modification) of cultural traits, provided there is analytical clarity over how to define and measure the units that underlie this inheritance process.

  3. Personality traits and leptin.

    PubMed

    Sutin, Angelina R; Zonderman, Alan B; Uda, Manuela; Deiana, Barbara; Taub, Dennis D; Longo, Dan L; Ferrucci, Luigi; Schlessinger, David; Cucca, Francesco; Terracciano, Antonio

    2013-06-01

    Personality traits related to high neuroticism and low conscientiousness are consistently associated with obesity. Hormones implicated in appetite and metabolism, such as leptin, may also be related to personality and may contribute to the association between these traits and obesity. The present research examined the association between leptin and Five Factor Model personality traits. A total of 5214 participants (58% women; mean [standard deviation] age = 44.42 [15.93] years; range, 18-94 years) from the SardiNIA project completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, a comprehensive measure of personality traits, and their blood samples were assayed for leptin. As expected, lower conscientiousness was associated with higher circulating levels of leptin (r = -0.05, p < .001), even after controlling for body mass index, waist circumference, or inflammatory markers (r = -0.05, p < .001). Neuroticism, in contrast, was unrelated to leptin (r = 0.01, p = .31). Individuals who are impulsive and lack discipline (low conscientiousness) may develop leptin resistance, which could be one factor that contributes to obesity, whereas the relation between a proneness to anxiety and depression (high neuroticism) and obesity may be mediated through other physiological and/or behavioral pathways.

  4. How Do Le Fort-Type Fractures Present in a Pediatric Cohort?

    PubMed

    Macmillan, Alexandra; Lopez, Joseph; Luck, J D; Faateh, Muhammad; Manson, Paul; Dorafshar, Amir H

    2018-05-01

    Le Fort-type fractures are very rare in children, and there is a paucity of literature presenting their frequency and characteristics. The purpose of this study was to determine the etiology, frequency, and fracture patterns of children with severe facial trauma associated with pterygoid plate fractures in a pediatric cohort. We performed a retrospective cohort study of all children aged younger than 16 years with pterygoid plate and facial fractures who presented to our institute between 1990 and 2010. Patient charts and radiologic records were reviewed for demographic and fracture characteristics. Patients were categorized into 2 groups as per facial fracture pattern: non-Le Fort-type fractures (group A) and Le Fort-type fractures (group B). Other variables including dentition age, frontal sinus development, mechanism of injury, injury severity, and concomitant injuries were recorded. Univariate methods were used to compare groups. We identified 24 children; 25% were girls, and 20.8% were of nonwhite race. Most presented with Le Fort-type fracture patterns (group B, 66.7%). Age was significantly different between group A and group B (mean, 5.9 years and 9.9 years, respectively; P = .009). No significant differences in Injury Severity Score, rate of operative repair, and length of stay were found between groups. Most children with severe facial fractures and pterygoid plate fractures presented with Le Fort-type fracture patterns in our cohort. The mean age of children with Le Fort-type fractures was greater than in those with non-Le Fort-type patterns. However, Le Fort-type fractures did occur in younger children with deciduous and mixed dentition. Copyright © 2017 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. La tuberculose pulmonaire et le tabac: à propos de 100 cas

    PubMed Central

    Janah, Hicham; Souhi, Hicham; Kouissmi, Hatim; Marc, Karima; Zahraoui, Rachida; Benamor, Jouda; Soualhi, Mona; Bourkadi, Jamal Eddine

    2014-01-01

    Le tabagisme et la tuberculose sont deux enjeux majeurs de santé publique au niveau mondial, en particulier dans les pays émergents. Pour déterminer les particularités cliniques, radiologiques, bactériologiques et thérapeutiques de la tuberculose pulmonaire chez les sujets tabagiques nous avons mené une étude prospective au service de phtisiologie de l'hôpital Moulay Youssef sur une période de 10 mois, portant sur 100 nouveaux cas de tuberculose pulmonaire, répartis en 2 groupes, 50 patients tabagiques: Groupe A et 50 patients non tabagiques: Groupe B. Tous nos patients étaient de sexe masculin, l’âge moyen était de 41 ans ± 12 chez le groupe A et de 36 ans ± 16 chez le groupe B. Le délai de consultation était plus long chez les tabagiques, la médiane était de 60j (30; 98) contre 40j (30; 60), la symptomatologie clinique était variable chez les deux groupes, dominée par les expectorations chez les tabagiques 96% contre 60%. Les lésions radiologiques étaient similaires chez les deux groupes ainsi que la charge bacillaire. Tous les patients ont été mis sous traitement antituberculeux. Après un mois du traitement, la Bacilloscopie était négative chez 50% du groupe A contre 66% chez le groupe B. la régression des lésions radiologiques était similaire chez les deux groupes. Le retard diagnostique et le retard de négativation des frottis sont les principales particularités de la tuberculose pulmonaire du sujet tabagique. Le sevrage tabagique doit faire partie intégrante de la prise en charge des patients atteints de tuberculose. PMID:25821545

  6. La Recherche du Quark Top dans le Canal $e$ + Jets a D0 (in French)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lebrat, Jean-Francois

    1996-05-01

    Le travail de thèse qui est résumé ici a débuté en 1993, alors que l'existence du quark top n'avait pas encore été mise en évidence expérimentalement. Il se concentre sur la recherche du top dans l'un de ses modes de désintégration, le canal e + jets, et utilise l'ensemble des outils d'identication des particules et d'analyse développés par la collaboration DØ. L'analyse présentée ici est la première à utiliser le TRD (le Détecteur à Rayonnement de Transition, qui a été mis au point et fabriqué à Saclay) pour une meilleure identication de l'électron.Nous présenterons tout d'abord le quark top, enmore » décrivant la place qu'il occupe dans le modèle utilisé par les physiciens des particules, le Modèle Standard. Nous montrerons ainsi que l'existence du quark top était prédite par le modèle bien avant sa découverte, et indiquerons ainsi les raisons qui ont motivé notre analyse....« less

  7. Functional traits explain ecosystem function through opposing mechanisms.

    PubMed

    Cadotte, Marc W

    2017-08-01

    The ability to explain why multispecies assemblages produce greater biomass compared to monocultures, has been a central goal in the quest to understand biodiversity effects on ecosystem function. Species contributions to ecosystem function can be driven by two processes: niche complementarity and a selection effect that is influenced by fitness (competitive) differences, and both can be approximated with measures of species' traits. It has been hypothesised that fitness differences are associated with few, singular traits while complementarity requires multidimensional trait measures. Here, using experimental data from plant assemblages, I show that the selection effect was strongest when trait dissimilarity was low, while complementarity was greatest with high trait dissimilarity. Selection effects were best explained by a single trait, plant height. Complementarity was correlated with dissimilarity across multiple traits, representing above and below ground processes. By identifying the relevant traits linked to ecosystem function, we obtain the ability to predict combinations of species that will maximise ecosystem function. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  8. "Autistic" Traits in Non-Autistic Japanese Populations: Relationships with Personality Traits and Cognitive Ability

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kunihira, Yura; Senju, Atsushi; Dairoku, Hitoshi; Wakabayashi, Akio; Hasegawa, Toshikazu

    2006-01-01

    We explored the relationships between "autistic" traits as measured by the AQ (Autism-Spectrum Quotient; Baron-Cohen et al., J. Autism Develop. Disord. (2001b) 31 5) and various personality traits or cognitive ability, which usually coincide with autistic symptoms, for general populations. Results showed the AQ was associated with…

  9. Primary Attraction of Ips latidens (LeConte) and Hylastes Gracilis LeConte (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) to High-Girdled Lodgepole Pine, Pinus Contorta var. Latifolia Engelmann

    Treesearch

    D.R. Miller; J.L. Madden; J.H. Borden

    1986-01-01

    In the absence of secondary attraction, 2 species of Scolytidae, Ips latidens (LeConte) and Hylastes gracilis LeConte, showed significant preference while in flight for high-girdled over non-girdled lodgepole pines, Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelmann. In contrast, beetles in 2 genera...

  10. Autism traits in the RASopathies.

    PubMed

    Adviento, Brigid; Corbin, Iris L; Widjaja, Felicia; Desachy, Guillaume; Enrique, Nicole; Rosser, Tena; Risi, Susan; Marco, Elysa J; Hendren, Robert L; Bearden, Carrie E; Rauen, Katherine A; Weiss, Lauren A

    2014-01-01

    Mutations in Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (Ras/MAPK) pathway genes lead to a class of disorders known as RASopathies, including neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), Noonan syndrome (NS), Costello syndrome (CS), and cardio-facio-cutaneous syndrome (CFC). Previous work has suggested potential genetic and phenotypic overlap between dysregulation of Ras/MAPK signalling and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although the literature offers conflicting evidence for association of NF1 and autism, there has been no systematic evaluation of autism traits in the RASopathies as a class to support a role for germline Ras/MAPK activation in ASDs. We examined the association of autism traits with NF1, NS, CS and CFC, comparing affected probands with unaffected sibling controls and subjects with idiopathic ASDs using the qualitative Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) and the quantitative Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Each of the four major RASopathies showed evidence for increased qualitative and quantitative autism traits compared with sibling controls. Further, each RASopathy exhibited a distinct distribution of quantitative social impairment. Levels of social responsiveness show some evidence of correlation between sibling pairs, and autism-like impairment showed a male bias similar to idiopathic ASDs. Higher prevalence and severity of autism traits in RASopathies compared to unaffected siblings suggests that dysregulation of Ras/MAPK signalling during development may be implicated in ASD risk. Evidence for sex bias and potential sibling correlation suggests that autism traits in the RASopathies share characteristics with autism traits in the general population and clinical ASD population and can shed light on idiopathic ASDs.

  11. Insights: Simple Models for Teaching Equilibrium and Le Chatelier's Principle.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Russell, Joan M.

    1988-01-01

    Presents three models that have been effective for teaching chemical equilibrium and Le Chatelier's principle: (1) the liquid transfer model, (2) the fish model, and (3) the teeter-totter model. Explains each model and its relation to Le Chatelier's principle. (MVL)

  12. Trait valence and the better-than-average effect.

    PubMed

    Gold, Ron S; Brown, Mark G

    2011-12-01

    People tend to regard themselves as having superior personality traits compared to their average peer. To test whether this "better-than-average effect" varies with trait valence, participants (N = 154 students) rated both themselves and the average student on traits constituting either positive or negative poles of five trait dimensions. In each case, the better-than-average effect was found, but trait valence had no effect. Results were discussed in terms of Kahneman and Tversky's prospect theory.

  13. Plant traits and trait-based vegetation modeling in the Arctic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, C.; Sevanto, S.; Iversen, C. M.; Salmon, V. G.; Rogers, A.; Wullschleger, S.; Wilson, C. J.

    2017-12-01

    Arctic tundra environments are characterized by extremely cold temperatures, strong winds, short growing season and thin, nutrient-poor soil layer impacted by permafrost. To survive in this environment vascular plants have developed traits that simultaneously promote high productivity under favorable environments, and survival in harsh conditions. To improve representation of Arctic tundra vegetation in Earth System Models we surveyed plant trait data bases for key trait parameters that influence modeled ecosystem carbon balance, and compared the traits within plant families occurring in the boreal, temperate and arctic zones. The parameters include photosynthetic carbon uptake efficiency (Vcmax and Jmax), root:shoot ratio, and root and leaf nitrogen content, and we focused on woody shrubs. Our results suggest that root nitrogen content in non-nitrogen fixing tundra shrubs is lower than in representatives of the same families in the boreal or temperate zone. High tissue nitrogen concentrations have been related to high vulnerability to drought. The low root nitrogen concentrations in tundra shrubs may thus be an indication of acclimation to shallow soils, and frequent freezing that has a similar impact on the plant conductive tissue as drought. With current nitrogen availability, nitrogen limitation reduces the benefits of increased temperatures and longer growing seasons to the tundra ecosystem carbon balance. Thawing of permafrost will increase nitrogen availability, and promote plant growth and carbon uptake, but it could also make the shrubs more vulnerable to freeze-thaw cycles, with the overall result of reduced shrub coverage. The final outcome of warming temperatures and thawing of permafrost on tundra shrubs will thus depend on the relative speed of warming and plant acclimation.

  14. Variation in heading date conceals quantitative trait loci for other traits of importance in breeding selection of rice

    PubMed Central

    Hori, Kiyosumi; Kataoka, Tomomori; Miura, Kiyoyuki; Yamaguchi, Masayuki; Saka, Norikuni; Nakahara, Takahiro; Sunohara, Yoshihiro; Ebana, Kaworu; Yano, Masahiro

    2012-01-01

    To identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with the primary target traits for selection in practical rice breeding programs, backcross inbred lines (BILs) derived from crosses between temperate japonica rice cultivars Nipponbare and Koshihikari were evaluated for 50 agronomic traits at six experimental fields located throughout Japan. Thirty-three of the 50 traits were significantly correlated with heading date. Using a linkage map including 647 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), a total of 122 QTLs for 38 traits were mapped on all rice chromosomes except chromosomes 5 and 9. Fifty-eight of the 122 QTLs were detected near the heading date QTLs Hd16 and Hd17 and the remaining 64 QTLs were found in other chromosome regions. QTL analysis of 51 BILs having homozygous for the Koshihikari chromosome segments around Hd16 and Hd17 allowed us to detect 40 QTLs associated with 27 traits; 23 of these QTLs had not been detected in the original analysis. Among the 97 QTLs for the 30 traits measured in multiple environments, the genotype-by-environment interaction was significant for 44 QTLs and not significant for 53 QTLs. These results led us to propose a new selection strategy to improve agronomic performance in temperate japonica rice cultivars. PMID:23226082

  15. Cultural traits as units of analysis

    PubMed Central

    O'Brien, Michael J.; Lyman, R. Lee; Mesoudi, Alex; VanPool, Todd L.

    2010-01-01

    Cultural traits have long been used in anthropology as units of transmission that ostensibly reflect behavioural characteristics of the individuals or groups exhibiting the traits. After they are transmitted, cultural traits serve as units of replication in that they can be modified as part of an individual's cultural repertoire through processes such as recombination, loss or partial alteration within an individual's mind. Cultural traits are analogous to genes in that organisms replicate them, but they are also replicators in their own right. No one has ever seen a unit of transmission, either behavioural or genetic, although we can observe the effects of transmission. Fortunately, such units are manifest in artefacts, features and other components of the archaeological record, and they serve as proxies for studying the transmission (and modification) of cultural traits, provided there is analytical clarity over how to define and measure the units that underlie this inheritance process. PMID:21041205

  16. Trait Affectivity and Nonreferred Adolescent Conduct Problems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Loney, Bryan R.; Lima, Elizabeth N.; Butler, Melanie A.

    2006-01-01

    This study examined for profiles of positive trait affectivity (PA) and negative trait affectivity (NA) associated with adolescent conduct problems. Prior trait affectivity research has been relatively biased toward the assessment of adults and internalizing symptomatology. Consistent with recent developmental modeling of antisocial behavior, this…

  17. PHENOTYPIC DIFFERENTIATION AT SOUTHERN LIMIT BORDERS: THE CASE STUDY OF TWO FUCOID MACROALGAL SPECIES WITH DIFFERENT LIFE-HISTORY TRAITS1.

    PubMed

    Araújo, Rita; Serrão, Ester A; Sousa-Pinto, Isabel; Åberg, Per

    2011-06-01

    Marginal populations are often geographically isolated, smaller, and more fragmented than central populations and may frequently have to face suboptimal local environmental conditions. Persistence of these populations frequently involves the development of adaptive traits at phenotypic and genetic levels. We compared population structure and demographic variables in two fucoid macroalgal species contrasting in patterns of genetic diversity and phenotypic plasticity at their southern distribution limit with a more central location. Models were Ascophyllum nodosum (L.) Le Jol. (whose extreme longevity and generation overlap may buffer genetic loss by drift) and Fucus serratus L. (with low genetic diversity at southern margins). At edge locations, both species exhibited trends in life-history traits compatible with population persistence but by using different mechanisms. Marginal populations of A. nodosum had higher reproductive output in spite of similar mortality rates at all life stages, making edge populations denser and with smaller individuals. In F. serratus, rather than demographic changes, marginal populations differed in habitat, occurring restricted to a narrower vertical habitat range. We conclude that persistence of both A. nodosum and F. serratus at the southern-edge locations depends on different strategies. Marginal population persistence in A. nodosum relies on a differentiation in life-history traits, whereas F. serratus, putatively poorer in evolvability potential, is restricted to a narrower vertical range at border locations. These results contribute to the general understanding of mechanisms that lead to population persistence at distributional limits and to predict population resilience under a scenario of environmental change. © 2011 Phycological Society of America.

  18. Detection de la fin de la compaction des anodes par le son

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sanogo, Bazoumana

    L'objectif de ce projet etait de developper un outil de controle en temps reel du temps de compaction en se servant du son genere par le vibrocompacteur pendant le formage des anodes crues. Ainsi, une application a ete developpee pour l'analyse des sons enregistres. Des essais ont ete realises avec differents microphones pour une meilleure qualite des mesures et un a ete choisi pour la suite du projet. De meme, differents tests ont ete realises sur des anodes de laboratoire ainsi que des anodes a l'echelle industrielle afin de mettre en place une methode pour la detection du temps optimal necessaire au formage des anodes. Les travaux au laboratoire de carbone a l'Universite du Quebec a Chicoutimi (UQAC) ont consiste a l'enregistrement de son des anodes fabriquees sur place avec differentes configurations; et a la caracterisation de certaines anodes de l'usine. Les anodes fabriquees au laboratoire sont reparties en deux groupes. Le premier regroupe les anodes pour la validation de notre methode. Ce sont des anodes produites avec des temps de compaction differents. Le laboratoire de carbone a l'UQAC est unique et il est possible de produire des anodes avec les memes proprietes que celles des anodes industrielles. Par consequent, la validation initialement prevue a l'usine a ete effectuee avec les anodes de laboratoire. Le deuxieme groupe a servi a etudier les effets des matieres premieres sur le temps de compaction. Le type de coke et le type de brai ont constitue les differentes variations dans ce deuxieme groupe. Quant aux tests et mesures a l'usine, ils ont ete realises en trois campagnes de mesure. La premiere campagne en juin 2014 a servi a standardiser et a trouver le meilleur positionnement des appareils pour les mesures, a regler le logiciel et a faire les premieres mesures. Une deuxieme campagne en mai 2015 a fait l'objet d'enregistrement de son en classant les anodes selon differents temps de compaction. La troisieme et derniere campagne en decembre 2015 a

  19. Developmental pathways of childhood dark traits.

    PubMed

    De Clercq, Barbara; Hofmans, Joeri; Vergauwe, Jasmine; De Fruyt, Filip; Sharp, Carla

    2017-10-01

    The dark triad of personality has traditionally been defined by 3 interrelated constructs, defined as Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy. Although the content of each of these constructs is clearly represented in childhood maladaptive trait measures, no studies have jointly addressed the prospective developmental course of this core set of maladaptive characteristics throughout childhood and adolescence. The current study uses latent growth modeling to explore how early dark traits develop over time, relying on a selected set of 6 childhood maladaptive traits that conceptually cover the adult dark triad. Across a 5-wave multi-informant design spanning 10 years of childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood (Nwave 1 = 717, 54.4% girls, age range T1 = 8-14.7 years, mean age = 10.73), results indicate that childhood dark traits show to some extent shared growth across time, although notable unique growth variance was also observed. Early dark traits further demonstrate significant association patterns with an adult dark triad measure across informants and are increasingly able to discriminate among more and less prototypical profiles of adult dark triad scores. Findings are discussed from a developmental psychopathology framework, underscoring that the proposed set of childhood dark traits represents a meaningful developmental precursor of the adult dark triad. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  20. Le domaine des co-infections et des maladies concomitantes du Réseau canadien pour les essais VIH des IRSC : lignes directrices canadiennes pour la prise en charge et le traitement de la co-infection par le VIH et l’hépatite C chez les adultes

    PubMed Central

    Hull, Mark; Giguère, Pierre; Klein, Marina; Shafran, Stephen; Tseng, Alice; Côté, Pierre; Poliquin, Marc; Cooper, Curtis

    2014-01-01

    HISTORIQUE : De 20 % à 30 % des Canadiens qui vivent avec le VIH sont co-infectés par le virus de l’hépatite C (VHC), lequel est responsable d’une morbidité et d’une mortalité importantes. La prise en charge du VIH et du VHC est plus complexe en raison de l’évolution accélérée de la maladie hépatique, du choix et des critères d’initiation de la thérapie antirétrovirale et du traitement anti-VHC, de la prise en charge de la santé mentale et des toxicomanies, des obstacles socioéconomiques et des interactions entre les nouvelles thérapies antivirales à action directe du VHC et les antirétroviraux OBJECTIF : Élaborer des normes nationales de prise en charge des adultes co-infectés par le VHC et le VIH dans le contexte canadien. MÉTHODOLOGIE : Le Réseau canadien pour les essais VIH des Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada a réuni un groupe d’experts possédant des compétences cliniques en co-infection par le VIH et le VHC pour réviser les publications à jour ainsi que les lignes directrices et les protocoles en place. Après une vaste sollicitation afin d’obtenir des points de vue, le groupe de travail a approuvé des recommandations consensuelles, qu’il a caractérisées au moyen d’une échelle de qualité des preuves fondée sur la classe (bienfaits par rapport aux préjudices) et sur la catégorie (degré de certitude). RÉSULTATS : Toutes les personnes co-infectées par le VIH et le VHC devraient subir une évaluation en vue de recevoir un traitement du VHC. Les personnes qui ne sont pas en mesure d’entreprendre un traitement du VHC devraient être soignées pour le VIH afin de ralentir l’évolution de la maladie hépatique. La norme de traitement du VHC de génotype 1 est un régime comprenant de l’interféron pégylé et de la ribavirine dosée en fonction du poids, associés à un inhibiteur de la protéase du VHC. Pour les génotypes 2 ou 3, une bithérapie classique est recommandée pendant 24 semaines s

  1. le de l'hydrogène dans le procédé de purification du silicium par plasma thermique inductif

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Erin, J.; Morvan, D.; Amouroux, J.

    1993-03-01

    The use of the thermal process for purification of silicon led to a material with the chemical purity required for phototovoltaic applications. In this paper, the various properties of ArH2 plasma mixtures are briefly reviewed and the effect of hydrogen percentage in an argon plasma used for melting and purifying silicon is pointed out. Physico-chemical analysis of the purified silicon showed that hydrogen diffused in the material and could passivate crystal defects by formation of stable chemical bonds such as Si-H. La technique de purification du silicium sous plasma thermique permet d'aboutir à un matériau de pureté chimique requise pour l'industrie photovoltaïque. Dans ce travail, nous soulignerons lele de l'hydrogène intervenant dans les propriétés du plasma en rappelant les caractéristiques des plasmas Ar-H2 utilisés pour fondre et purifier le silicium. Les caractéristiques physico-chimiques du silicium purifié montrent que l'hydrogène diffuse dans le matériau et est en mesure de cicatriser les défauts cristallins par formation de liaisons chimiques stables de type Si-H.

  2. Influencing agent group behavior by adjusting cultural trait values.

    PubMed

    Tuli, Gaurav; Hexmoor, Henry

    2010-10-01

    Social reasoning and norms among individuals that share cultural traits are largely fashioned by those traits. We have explored predominant sociological and cultural traits. We offer a methodology for parametrically adjusting relevant traits. This exploratory study heralds a capability to deliberately tune cultural group traits in order to produce a desired group behavior. To validate our methodology, we implemented a prototypical-agent-based simulated test bed for demonstrating an exemplar from intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance scenario. A group of simulated agents traverses a hostile territory while a user adjusts their cultural group trait settings. Group and individual utilities are dynamically observed against parametric values for the selected traits. Uncertainty avoidance index and individualism are the cultural traits we examined in depth. Upon the user's training of the correspondence between cultural values and system utilities, users deliberately produce the desired system utilities by issuing changes to trait. Specific cultural traits are without meaning outside of their context. Efficacy and timely application of traits in a given context do yield desirable results. This paper heralds a path for the control of large systems via parametric cultural adjustments.

  3. Family functioning and trait emotional intelligence among youth.

    PubMed

    Alavi, Masoumeh; Mehrinezhad, Seyed Abolghasem; Amini, Mansour; Parthaman Singh, Minder Kaur A/P

    2017-01-01

    This study explored the relationship between family functioning and trait emotional intelligence among 547 respondents, between the age of 16 and 24 years from Malaysia, Iran, China, Sudan, Somalia, Morocco, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands. The questionnaires were Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III and Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form. Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between family functioning and trait emotional intelligence. The higher the family functioning, the higher the trait emotional intelligence among youths. The findings provide a deeper understanding in the field of family functioning and trait emotional intelligence and have implications for parents, administrators and child relationships dealing with trait emotional intelligence.

  4. La prise en charge d’une clientèle

    PubMed Central

    Roy, Andréanne; Breton, Mylaine; Loslier, Julie

    2016-01-01

    Résumé Objectif Analyser les facteurs qui incitent les médecins de famille nouvellement autorisés à faire de la prise en charge d’une clientèle en première ligne. Type d’étude Devis mixte séquentiel : questionnaire en ligne auto-administré auprès de médecins de famille, suivi d’entrevues individuelles. Contexte La Montérégie, qui est la deuxième région la plus populeuse du Québec, et qui présente des zones rurales et urbaines. Participants Tous les médecins de famille détenant un poste en Montérégie et ayant moins de 10 années d’expérience ont été sollicités, soit 366 médecins. Parmi eux, 118 ont complété le questionnaire en ligne (taux de réponse de 32,2 %). Parmi les répondants, 10 médecins ayant des profils de prise en charge variés ont été sélectionnés pour les entrevues individuelles. Principaux paramètres à l’étude Le pourcentage de temps de travail consacré à la prise en charge, analysé en parallèle avec différents facteurs facilitants et barrières à la prise en charge aux niveaux contextuel, organisationnel, du médecin de famille et de la clientèle. Résultats Les principaux facteurs facilitant la prise en charge sont la relation médecin-patient, l’intérêt pour les activités cliniques liées à la prise en charge, les modèles de rôles positifs, la collaboration avec une infirmière et l’accès adéquat aux ressources, notamment en santé mentale. Les principales barrières sont l’ampleur des tâches administratives, l’intérêt pour une pratique polyvalente, l’expérience négative de la prise en charge lors de la formation, un sentiment n’inaptitude à l’égard de la prise en charge, la lourdeur de la clientèle et le manque de soutien en début de pratique. Conclusion Certaines pistes de solution pour inciter les nouveaux médecins de famille à prendre en charge une clientèle sont proposées. Des points d’amélioration au niveau de la formation médicale, du soutien

  5. Evaluating Callous-Unemotional Traits as a Personality Construct.

    PubMed

    Frick, Paul J; Ray, James V

    2015-12-01

    We evaluate the importance of callous-unemotional (CU) traits as a personality construct in isolation from other facets of psychopathy. Specifically, we review research suggesting that these traits are useful for designating a subgroup of youth with serious conduct problems who differ from other antisocial youth on important biological, emotional, cognitive, and social characteristics. In addition, the temperamental features related to CU traits are risk factors for impairments in conscience development in young children. Thus, these traits could advance theoretical models explaining the development of severe antisocial behavior and psychopathy. CU traits also have important clinical utility because they designate a particularly severe and impaired subgroup of antisocial youth, leading to their inclusion in the DSM-5. As a result of this inclusion in diagnostic classification, there has been an increased focus on how to best assess CU traits, and we discuss several key issues in their assessment, highlighting several limitations in existing measures. Finally, the increased use of CU traits, separately from other facets of psychopathy, makes it important to determine how these traits relate to other personality constructs. Thus, we examine how measures of CU traits relate to the broader construct of psychopathy and to other basic personality dimensions. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. Model-Based Linkage Analysis of a Quantitative Trait.

    PubMed

    Song, Yeunjoo E; Song, Sunah; Schnell, Audrey H

    2017-01-01

    Linkage Analysis is a family-based method of analysis to examine whether any typed genetic markers cosegregate with a given trait, in this case a quantitative trait. If linkage exists, this is taken as evidence in support of a genetic basis for the trait. Historically, linkage analysis was performed using a binary disease trait, but has been extended to include quantitative disease measures. Quantitative traits are desirable as they provide more information than binary traits. Linkage analysis can be performed using single-marker methods (one marker at a time) or multipoint (using multiple markers simultaneously). In model-based linkage analysis the genetic model for the trait of interest is specified. There are many software options for performing linkage analysis. Here, we use the program package Statistical Analysis for Genetic Epidemiology (S.A.G.E.). S.A.G.E. was chosen because it also includes programs to perform data cleaning procedures and to generate and test genetic models for a quantitative trait, in addition to performing linkage analysis. We demonstrate in detail the process of running the program LODLINK to perform single-marker analysis, and MLOD to perform multipoint analysis using output from SEGREG, where SEGREG was used to determine the best fitting statistical model for the trait.

  7. Retour vers le futur: l'expérience des patients et le lien avec la qualité, la sécurité et le rendement financier.

    PubMed

    Cochrane, Bonnie S; Hagins, Mitch; King, John A; Picciano, Gino; McCafferty, Maureen M; Nelson, Brian

    2015-11-01

    Au Canada, l'amélioration de l'expérience des patients est devenue une priorité des politiques de santé. Le perfectionnement et la normalisation des outils et systèmes pour surveiller les mesures de l'expérience des patients augmentent, tandis que la tendance vers une plus grande reddition de compte sur des améliorations durables et abordables se confirme. Pour de nombreux professionnels de la santé, ce phénomène fait foi d'un intérêt renouvelé pour les besoins et priorités fondamentaux des patients, après des décennies où les changements structurels et technologiques ont dominé les programmes de santé. Pour les leaders en santé canadiens, l'amélioration de l'expérience des patients comporte actuellement de grands défis et de belles possibilités. À cet égard, l'expérience des organisations partenaires du groupe Studer au Canada est à la fois pertinente et instructive. Ces organisations ont adopté un modèle, du nom de Evidence-Based Leadership (EBL, ou leadership fondé sur des données probantes), qui favorise et soutient l'harmonisation de l'ensemble des activités et des comportements, conformément à des objectifs organisationnels précis, y compris des améliorations mesurables de l'expérience des patients. Le présent article expose des études de cas d'organisations qui ont adopté l'EBL. Ces organisations ont réalisé des progrès rapides en matière d'indicateurs de l'expérience des patients, ainsi que dans des secteurs essentiels comme les résultats cliniques, la sécurité et le rendement financier. Les données émergentes sur les facteurs et processus qui sous-tendent ces améliorations sont également abordées. © 2015 Collège canadien des leaders en santé

  8. INVESTIGATIONS ON THE OCCURRENCE OF Rh SUBSTANCES IN AMNIOTIC FLUID

    PubMed Central

    Witebsky, Ernest; Mohn, James F.

    1945-01-01

    1. Rh substances are found in amniotic fluid. Not all anti-Rh sera seem to be suitable for the detection of Rh substances in amniotic fluid. Careful selection of Rh antisera, as well as quantitative considerations, determine success or failure of their demonstration. 2. The baby's Rh type and not the mother's determines the occurrence of Rh substances in amniotic fluid. 3. There are Rh secretors and Rh non-secretors. At least four out of five individuals are secretors. 4. The secretion of Rh substance into the amniotic fluid would seem to be entirely independent of the secretion of the blood group specific substances. 5. The majority of Rh-positive amniotic fluids seem to contain both Rh1 and Rh2 substances. However, in certain instances fluids belonging to the pure Rh1 type or pure Rh2 type were found. 6. Three cases of erythroblastosis were described. All three came from Rh-negative mothers with Rh-positive babies. The amniotic fluids of all three failed to reveal the presence of Rh substances. PMID:19871489

  9. NGEE Arctic Plant Traits: Plant Biomass and Traits, Kougarok Road Mile Marker 64, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, beginning 2016

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Verity Salmon; Colleen Iversen; Amy Breen

    Data includes aboveground biomass and plant traits for destructive harvests performed at the Kougarok hill slope located at Kougarok Road, Mile Marker 64. Data collection began in July 2016. Aboveground biomass and aboveground plant traits are available for shrub and understory species found in vegetation plots. Paired observations of aboveground and belowground plant traits are available for select shrub species.

  10. Affective Traits in Schizophrenia and Schizotypy

    PubMed Central

    Horan, William P.; Blanchard, Jack J.; Clark, Lee Anna; Green, Michael F.

    2008-01-01

    This article reviews empirical studies of affective traits in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, population-based investigations of vulnerability to psychosis, and genetic and psychometric high-risk samples. The review focuses on studies that use self-report trait questionnaires to assess Negative Affectivity (NA) and Positive Affectivity (PA), which are conceptualized in contemporary models of personality as broad, temperamentally-based dispositions to experience corresponding emotional states. Individuals with schizophrenia report a pattern of stably elevated NA and low PA throughout the illness course. Among affected individuals, these traits are associated with variability in several clinically important features, including functional outcome, quality of life, and stress reactivity. Furthermore, evidence that elevated NA and low PA (particularly the facet of anhedonia) predict the development of psychosis and are detectable in high-risk samples suggests that these traits play a role in vulnerability to schizophrenia, though they are implicated in other forms of psychopathology as well. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for treatment, etiological models, and future research to advance the study of affective traits in schizophrenia and schizotypy. PMID:18667393

  11. Genetic correlations between wool traits and carcass traits in Merino sheep.

    PubMed

    Mortimer, S I; Hatcher, S; Fogarty, N M; van der Werf, J H J; Brown, D J; Swan, A A; Jacob, R H; Geesink, G H; Hopkins, D L; Edwards, J E Hocking; Ponnampalam, E N; Pearce, K L; Pethick, D W

    2017-06-01

    Genetic correlations between 29 wool production and quality traits and 14 whole carcass measures and carcass component traits were estimated from the Information Nucleus of 8 flocks managed across a range of Australian sheep production environments and genetically linked. Wool data were from over 5,000 Merino progeny born over 5 yr, whereas carcass data were from over 1,200 wether progeny of over 176 sires, slaughtered at about 21 kg carcass weight, on average. Wool traits included yearling and adult records for wool weight, fiber diameter, fiber diameter variation, staple strength, scoured color, and visual scores for breech and body wrinkle. Whole carcass measures included HCW, dressing percentage (DP), and various measures of fat depth and eye muscle dimensions. Carcass components were obtained by dissection, and lean meat yield (LMY) was predicted. Heritability estimates for whole carcass measures ranged from 0.12 ± 0.08 to 0.35 ± 0.10 and ranged from 0.17 ± 0.10 to 0.46 ± 0.10 for carcass dissection traits, with no evidence of important genotype × environment interactions. Genetic correlations indicated that selection for increased clean wool weight will result in reduced carcass fat (-0.17 to -0.34) and DP (-0.48 ± 0.15), with little effect on carcass muscle. Selection for lower fiber diameter will reduce HCW (-0.48 ± 0.15) as well as carcass fat (0.14 to 0.27) and muscle (0.21 to 0.50). There were high genetic correlations between live animal measures of fat and muscle depth and the carcass traits (generally greater than 0.5 in size). Selection to increase HCW (and DP) will result in sheep with fewer wrinkles on the body (-0.57 ± 0.10) and barer breeches (-0.74 ± 0.12, favorable), with minor deterioration in scoured wool color (reduced brightness and increased yellowness). Selection for reduced fat will also result in sheep with fewer body wrinkles (-0.42 to -0.79). Increasing LMY in Merinos through selection would result in a large reduction in

  12. Construction of Artificial miRNAs to Prevent Drought Stress in Solanum tuberosum.

    PubMed

    Wyrzykowska, Anna; Pieczynski, Marcin; Szweykowska-Kulinska, Zofia

    2016-01-01

    The use of artificial microRNAs (amiRNAs) is still a relatively new technique in molecular biology with a wide range of applications in life sciences. Here, we describe the silencing of the CBP80/ABH1 gene in Solanum tuberosum with the use of amiRNA. The CBP80/ABH1 protein is part of the Cap Binding Complex (CBC), which is involved in plant responses to drought stress conditions. Transformed plants with a decreased level of CBP80/ABH1 display increased tolerance to water shortage conditions. We describe how to design amiRNA with the Web MicroRNA Designer platform in detail. Additionally, we explain how to perform all steps of a procedure aiming to obtain transgenic potato plants with the use of designed amiRNA, through callus tissue regeneration and Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 as a transgene carrier.

  13. Early-life origins of schizotypal traits in adulthood.

    PubMed

    Lahti, Jari; Raïkkönen, Katri; Sovio, Ulla; Miettunen, Jouko; Hartikainen, Anna-Liisa; Pouta, Anneli; Taanila, Anja; Joukamaa, Matti; Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Veijola, Juha

    2009-08-01

    Although schizotypal traits, such as anhedonia and aberrant perceptions, may increase the risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, little is known about early-life characteristics that predict more pronounced schizotypal traits. To examine whether birth size or several other early-life factors that have been previously linked with schizophrenia predict schizotypal traits in adulthood. Participants of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study (n = 4976) completed a questionnaire on positive and negative schizotypal traits at the age of 31 years. Lower placental weight, lower birth weight and smaller head circumference at 12 months predicted elevated positive schizotypal traits in women after adjusting for several confounders (P<0.02). Moreover, higher gestational age, lower childhood family socioeconomic status, undesirability of pregnancy, winter/autumn birth, higher birth order and maternal smoking during pregnancy predicted some augmented schizotypal traits in women, some in men and some in both genders. The results point to similarities in the aetiology of schitzotypal traits and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.

  14. Plant trait detection with multi-scale spectrometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gamon, J. A.; Wang, R.

    2017-12-01

    Proximal and remote sensing using imaging spectrometry offers new opportunities for detecting plant traits, with benefits for phenotyping, productivity estimation, stress detection, and biodiversity studies. Using proximal and airborne spectrometry, we evaluated variation in plant optical properties at various spatial and spectral scales with the goal of identifying optimal scales for distinguishing plant traits related to photosynthetic function. Using directed approaches based on physiological vegetation indices, and statistical approaches based on spectral information content, we explored alternate ways of distinguishing plant traits with imaging spectrometry. With both leaf traits and canopy structure contributing to the signals, results exhibit a strong scale dependence. Our results demonstrate the benefits of multi-scale experimental approaches within a clear conceptual framework when applying remote sensing methods to plant trait detection for phenotyping, productivity, and biodiversity studies.

  15. Trait-specific dependence in romantic relationships.

    PubMed

    Ellis, Bruce J; Simpson, Jeffry A; Campbell, Lorne

    2002-10-01

    Informed by three theoretical frameworks--trait psychology, evolutionary psychology, and interdependence theory--we report four investigations designed to develop and test the reliability and validity of a new construct and accompanying multiscale inventory, the Trait-Specific Dependence Inventory (TSDI). The TSDI assesses comparisons between present and alternative romantic partners on major dimensions of mate value. In Study 1, principal components analyses revealed that the provisional pool of theory-generated TSDI items were represented by six factors: Agreeable/Committed, Resource Accruing Potential, Physical Prowess, Emotional Stability, Surgency, and Physical Attractiveness. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis replicated these results on a different sample and tested how well different structural models fit the data. Study 3 provided evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of the six TSDI scales by correlating each one with a matched personality trait scale that did not explicitly incorporate comparisons between partners. Study 4 provided further validation evidence, revealing that the six TSDI scales successfully predicted three relationship outcome measures--love, time investment, and anger/upset--above and beyond matched sets of traditional personality trait measures. These results suggest that the TSDI is a reliable, valid, and unique construct that represents a new trait-specific method of assessing dependence in romantic relationships. The construct of trait-specific dependence is introduced and linked with other theories of mate value.

  16. Phenotypic and genetic structure of traits delineating personality disorder.

    PubMed

    Livesley, W J; Jang, K L; Vernon, P A

    1998-10-01

    The evidence suggests that personality traits are hierarchically organized with more specific or lower-order traits combining to form more generalized higher-order traits. Agreement exists across studies regarding the lower-order traits that delineate personality disorder but not the higher-order traits. This study seeks to identify the higher-order structure of personality disorder by examining the phenotypic and genetic structures underlying lower-order traits. Eighteen lower-order traits were assessed using the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Disorder-Basic Questionnaire in samples of 656 personality disordered patients, 939 general population subjects, and a volunteer sample of 686 twin pairs. Principal components analysis yielded 4 components, labeled Emotional Dysregulation, Dissocial Behavior, Inhibitedness, and Compulsivity, that were similar across the 3 samples. Multivariate genetic analyses also yielded 4 genetic and environmental factors that were remarkably similar to the phenotypic factors. Analysis of the residual heritability of the lower-order traits when the effects of the higher-order factors were removed revealed a substantial residual heritable component for 12 of the 18 traits. The results support the following conclusions. First, the stable structure of traits across clinical and nonclinical samples is consistent with dimensional representations of personality disorders. Second, the higher-order traits of personality disorder strongly resemble dimensions of normal personality. This implies that a dimensional classification should be compatible with normative personality. Third, the residual heritability of the lower-order traits suggests that the personality phenotypes are based on a large number of specific genetic components.

  17. The G428A Nonsense Mutation in FUT2 Provides Strong but Not Absolute Protection against Symptomatic GII.4 Norovirus Infection

    PubMed Central

    Buesa, Javier; Rydell, Gustaf E.; Lidón, Marta Fos; Montava, Rebeca; Mallouh, Reem Abu; Grahn, Ammi; Rodríguez-Díaz, Jesús; Bellido, Juan; Arnedo, Alberto; Larson, Göran; Svensson, Lennart

    2009-01-01

    In November 2004, 116 individuals in an elderly nursing home in El Grao de Castellón, Spain were symptomatically infected with genogroup II.4 (GII.4) norovirus. The global attack rate was 54.2%. Genotyping of 34 symptomatic individuals regarding the FUT2 gene revealed that one patient was, surprisingly, a non-secretor, hence indicating secretor-independent infection. Lewis genotyping revealed that Lewis-positive and negative individuals were susceptible to symptomatic norovirus infection indicating that Lewis status did not predict susceptibility. Saliva based ELISA assays were used to determine binding of the outbreak virus to saliva samples. Saliva from a secretor-negative individual bound the authentic outbreak GII.4 Valencia/2004/Es virus, but did not in contrast to secretor-positive saliva bind VLP of other strains including the GII.4 Dijon strain. Amino acid comparison of antigenic A and B sites located on the external loops of the P2 domain revealed distinct differences between the Valencia/2004/Es and Dijon strains. All three aa in each antigenic site as well as 10/11 recently identified evolutionary hot spots, were unique in the Valencia/2004/Es strain compared to the Dijon strain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of symptomatic GII.4 norovirus infection of a Lea+b− individual homozygous for the G428A nonsense mutation in FUT2. Taken together, our study provides new insights into the host genetic susceptibility to norovirus infections and evolution of the globally dominating GII.4 viruses. PMID:19440360

  18. Trait conscientiousness and the personality meta-trait stability are associated with regional white matter microstructure.

    PubMed

    Lewis, Gary J; Cox, Simon R; Booth, Tom; Muñoz Maniega, Susana; Royle, Natalie A; Valdés Hernández, Maria; Wardlaw, Joanna M; Bastin, Mark E; Deary, Ian J

    2016-08-01

    Establishing the neural bases of individual differences in personality has been an enduring topic of interest. However, while a growing literature has sought to characterize grey matter correlates of personality traits, little attention to date has been focused on regional white matter correlates of personality, especially for the personality traits agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness. To rectify this gap in knowledge we used a large sample (n > 550) of older adults who provided data on both personality (International Personality Item Pool) and white matter tract-specific fractional anisotropy (FA) from diffusion tensor MRI. Results indicated that conscientiousness was associated with greater FA in the left uncinate fasciculus (β = 0.17, P < 0.001). We also examined links between FA and the personality meta-trait 'stability', which is defined as the common variance underlying agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism/emotional stability. We observed an association between left uncinate fasciculus FA and stability (β = 0.27, P < 0.001), which fully accounted for the link between left uncinate fasciculus FA and conscientiousness. In sum, these results provide novel evidence for links between regional white matter microstructure and key traits of human personality, specifically conscientiousness and the meta-trait, stability. Future research is recommended to replicate and address the causal directions of these associations. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press.

  19. Genome Informed Trait-Based Models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Karaoz, U.; Cheng, Y.; Bouskill, N.; Tang, J.; Beller, H. R.; Brodie, E.; Riley, W. J.

    2013-12-01

    Trait-based approaches are powerful tools for representing microbial communities across both spatial and temporal scales within ecosystem models. Trait-based models (TBMs) represent the diversity of microbial taxa as stochastic assemblages with a distribution of traits constrained by trade-offs between these traits. Such representation with its built-in stochasticity allows the elucidation of the interactions between the microbes and their environment by reducing the complexity of microbial community diversity into a limited number of functional ';guilds' and letting them emerge across spatio-temporal scales. From the biogeochemical/ecosystem modeling perspective, the emergent properties of the microbial community could be directly translated into predictions of biogeochemical reaction rates and microbial biomass. The accuracy of TBMs depends on the identification of key traits of the microbial community members and on the parameterization of these traits. Current approaches to inform TBM parameterization are empirical (i.e., based on literature surveys). Advances in omic technologies (such as genomics, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metaproteomics) pave the way to better-initialize models that can be constrained in a generic or site-specific fashion. Here we describe the coupling of metagenomic data to the development of a TBM representing the dynamics of metabolic guilds from an organic carbon stimulated groundwater microbial community. Illumina paired-end metagenomic data were collected from the community as it transitioned successively through electron-accepting conditions (nitrate-, sulfate-, and Fe(III)-reducing), and used to inform estimates of growth rates and the distribution of metabolic pathways (i.e., aerobic and anaerobic oxidation, fermentation) across a spatially resolved TBM. We use this model to evaluate the emergence of different metabolisms and predict rates of biogeochemical processes over time. We compare our results to observational

  20. Sur la modélisation des supraconducteurs : le ``modèle de l'état critique'' de Bean, en trois dimensions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bossavit, A.

    1993-03-01

    Macroscopic modelling of superconductors demands a substitution of some nonlinear behavior law for Ohm's law. For this, a version of Bean's “critical state” model, derived from the setting of a convex functional of the current density field, valid in dimension 3 without any previous assumption about the direction of currents, is proposed. It is shown how two standard three-dimensional finite element methods (“h-formulation” and “e-formulation”), once fitted with this model, can deal with situations were superconductors are present. La modélisation macroscopique des supraconducteurs suppose le remplacement de la loi d'Ohm par une loi de comportement non linéaire adéquate. On présente à cet effet une version du “modèle de Bean”, ou modèle de l'état critique, basée sur la construction d'une certaine fonctionnelle convexe du champ des densités de courant, qui est valable en dimension 3 sans hypothèses préalables sur la direction des courants. On montre comment adapter deux méthodes standards de calcul de courants de Foucault par élérnents finis en trois dimensions (“en h” et “en e”) à la présence de supraconducteurs, en incorporant ce modèle.

  1. 'It means everyone should know their status': exploring lay conceptions of sickle cell trait and sickle cell trait screening among African Americans within middle reproductive age.

    PubMed

    Mayo-Gamble, Tilicia L; Barnes, Priscilla A; Cunningham Erves, Jennifer; Middlestadt, Susan E; Lin, Hsien-Chang

    2017-02-21

    This study examined the meaning of sickle cell trait and sickle cell trait screening from the lay perspective of African Americans. African Americans (N = 300), ages 18-35 and unaware of their sickle cell trait status, completed two open-ended questions from a larger survey. One question asked for their understanding of sickle cell trait; the other asked for their understanding of sickle cell trait screening. Content analysis occurred in two phases: (1) In vivo and holistic coding; and (2) focused coding. Four categories emerged illustrating lay conceptions of sickle cell trait; (1) Perceived as an illness; (2) Perceived recognition of the inheritance pattern of sickle cell trait; (3) Perceived lack of knowledge of sickle cell trait; and (4) Perceived importance of sickle cell trait. Five categories emerged illustrating lay conceptions for sickle cell trait screening: (1) Perceived recognition that screening means getting tested for sickle cell trait; (2) Perceived lack of knowledge of sickle cell trait screening; (3) Perceived health benefit of sickle cell trait screening; (4) Perceived importance of sickle cell trait screening; and (5) Perceived barriers to sickle cell trait screening. Sickle cell trait and sickle cell trait screening are concepts that are both regarded as important among this high-risk population. However, there is still misunderstanding concerning the hereditary nature and reproductive implications of sickle cell trait. Interventions seeking to improve communication on the need for sickle cell trait screening should begin by identifying what the population at large understands, knows and/or believes to improve their ability to make informed health decisions.

  2. Amphibians and Reptiles of the state of Nuevo León, Mexico.

    PubMed

    Lemos-Espinal, Julio A; Smith, Geoffrey R; Cruz, Alexander

    2016-01-01

    We compiled a check list of the herpetofauna of Nuevo León. We documented 132 species (23 amphibians, 109 reptiles), representing 30 families (11 amphibians, 19 reptiles) and 73 genera (17 amphibians, 56 reptiles). Only two species are endemic to Nuevo León. Nuevo León contains a relatively high richness of lizards in the genus Sceloporus. Overlap in the herpetofauna of Nuevo León and states it borders is fairly extensive. Of 130 native species, 102 are considered species of Least Concern in the IUCN red list, four are listed as Vulnerable, five are listed as Near Threatened, and four are listed as Endangered. According to SEMARNAT, 78 species are not of conservation concern, 25 are subject to Special Protection, 27 are Threatened, and none are listed as in Danger of Extinction. Given current threats to the herpetofauna, additional efforts to understand the ecology and status of populations in Nuevo León are needed.

  3. Amphibians and Reptiles of the state of Nuevo León, Mexico

    PubMed Central

    Lemos-Espinal, Julio A.; Smith, Geoffrey R.; Cruz, Alexander

    2016-01-01

    Abstract We compiled a check list of the herpetofauna of Nuevo León. We documented 132 species (23 amphibians, 109 reptiles), representing 30 families (11 amphibians, 19 reptiles) and 73 genera (17 amphibians, 56 reptiles). Only two species are endemic to Nuevo León. Nuevo León contains a relatively high richness of lizards in the genus Sceloporus. Overlap in the herpetofauna of Nuevo León and states it borders is fairly extensive. Of 130 native species, 102 are considered species of Least Concern in the IUCN red list, four are listed as Vulnerable, five are listed as Near Threatened, and four are listed as Endangered. According to SEMARNAT, 78 species are not of conservation concern, 25 are subject to Special Protection, 27 are Threatened, and none are listed as in Danger of Extinction. Given current threats to the herpetofauna, additional efforts to understand the ecology and status of populations in Nuevo León are needed. PMID:27408562

  4. Elimination of trait blocks from multiple trait mixed model equations with singular (Co)variance parameter matrices

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Transformations to multiple trait mixed model equations (MME) which are intended to improve computational efficiency in best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) and restricted maximum likelihood (REML) are described. It is shown that traits that are expected or estimated to have zero residual variance...

  5. Impaired personal trait knowledge, but spared other-person trait knowledge, in an individual with bilateral damage to the medial prefrontal cortex

    PubMed Central

    Marquine, María J.; Grilli, Matthew D.; Rapcsak, Steven Z.; Kaszniak, Alfred W.; Ryan, Lee; Walther, Katrin; Glisky, Elizabeth L.

    2016-01-01

    Functional neuroimaging has revealed that in healthy adults retrieval of personal trait knowledge is associated with increased activation in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Separately, neuropsychology has shown that the self-referential nature of memory can be disrupted in individuals with mPFC lesions. However, it remains unclear whether damage to the mPFC impairs retrieval of personal trait knowledge. Therefore, in this neuropsychological case study we investigated the integrity of personal trait knowledge in J.S., an individual who sustained bilateral damage to the mPFC as a result of an anterior communicating artery aneurysm. We measured both accuracy and consistency of J.S.’s personal trait knowledge as well as his trait knowledge of another, frequently seen person, and compared his performance to a group of healthy adults. Findings revealed that J.S. had severely impaired accuracy and consistency of his personal trait knowledge relative to control participants. In contrast, J.S.’s accuracy and consistency of other-person trait knowledge was intact in comparison to control participants. Moreover, J.S. showed a normal positivity bias in his trait ratings. These results, albeit based on a single case, implicate the mPFC as critical for retrieval of personal trait knowledge. Findings also cast doubt on the likelihood that the mPFC, in particular the ventral mPFC, is necessary for storage and retrieval of trait knowledge of other people. Therefore, this case study adds to a growing body of evidence that mPFC damage can disrupt the link between self and memory. PMID:27342256

  6. Effects of growth form and functional traits on response of woody plants to clearing and fragmentation of subtropical rainforest.

    PubMed

    Kooyman, R M; Zanne, A E; Gallagher, R V; Cornwell, W; Rossetto, M; O'Connor, P; Parkes, E A; Catterall, C F; Laffan, S W; Lusk, C H

    2013-12-01

    The conservation implications of large-scale rainforest clearing and fragmentation on the persistence of functional and taxonomic diversity remain poorly understood. If traits represent adaptive strategies of plant species to particular circumstances, the expectation is that the effect of forest clearing and fragmentation will be affected by species functional traits, particularly those related to dispersal. We used species occurrence data for woody plants in 46 rainforest patches across 75,000 ha largely cleared of forest by the early 1900s to determine the combined effects of area reduction, fragmentation, and patch size on the taxonomic structure and functional diversity of subtropical rainforest. We compiled species trait values for leaf area, seed dry mass, wood density, and maximum height and calculated species niche breadths. Taxonomic structure, trait values (means, ranges), and the functional diversity of assemblages of climbing and free-standing plants in remnant patches were quantified. Larger rainforest patches had higher species richness. Species in smaller patches were taxonomically less related than species in larger patches. Free-standing plants had a high percentage of frugivore dispersed seeds; climbers had a high proportion of small wind-dispersed seeds. Connections between the patchy spatial distribution of free-standing species, larger seed sizes, and dispersal syndrome were weak. Assemblages of free-standing plants in patches showed more taxonomic and spatial structuring than climbing plants. Smaller isolated patches retained relatively high functional diversity and similar taxonomic structure to larger tracts of forest despite lower species richness. The response of woody plants to clearing and fragmentation of subtropical rainforest differed between climbers and slow-growing mature-phase forest trees but not between climbers and pioneer trees. Quantifying taxonomic structure and functional diversity provides an improved basis for

  7. Root trait diversity, molecular marker diversity, and trait-marker associations in a core collection of Lupinus angustifolius

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Yinglong; Shan, Fucheng; Nelson, Matthew N; Siddique, Kadambot HM; Rengel, Zed

    2016-01-01

    Narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.) is the predominant grain legume crop in southern Australia, contributing half of the total grain legume production of Australia. Its yield in Australia is hampered by a range of subsoil constraints. The adaptation of lupin genotypes to subsoil constraints may be improved by selecting for optimal root traits from new and exotic germplasm sources. We assessed root trait diversity and genetic diversity of a core collection of narrow-leafed lupin (111 accessions) using 191 Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) markers. The genetic relationship among accessions was determined using the admixture model in STRUCTURE. Thirty-eight root-associated traits were characterized, with 21 having coefficient of variation values >0.5. Principal coordinate analysis and cluster analysis of the DArT markers revealed broad diversity among the accessions. An ad hoc statistics calculation resulted in 10 distinct populations with significant differences among and within them (P < 0.001). The mixed linear model test in TASSEL showed a significant association between all root traits and some DArT markers, with the numbers of markers associated with an individual trait ranging from 2 to 13. The percentage of phenotypic variation explained by any one marker ranged from 6.4 to 21.8%, with 15 associations explaining >10% of phenotypic variation. The genetic variation values ranged from 0 to 7994, with 23 associations having values >240. Root traits such as deeper roots and lateral root proliferation at depth would be useful for this species for improved adaptation to drier soil conditions. This study offers opportunities for discovering useful root traits that can be used to increase the yield of Australian cultivars across variable environmental conditions. PMID:27049020

  8. Quantitative trait locus mapping and analysis of heritable variation in affiliative social behavior and co-occurring traits.

    PubMed

    Knoll, A T; Jiang, K; Levitt, P

    2018-06-01

    Humans exhibit broad heterogeneity in affiliative social behavior. Twin and family studies show that individual differences in core dimensions of social behavior are heritable, yet there are knowledge gaps in understanding the underlying genetic and neurobiological mechanisms. Animal genetic reference panels (GRPs) provide a tractable strategy for examining the behavioral and genetic architecture of complex traits. Here, using males from 50 mouse strains from the BXD GRP, 4 domains of affiliative social behavior-social approach, social recognition, direct social interaction (DSI) (partner sniffing) and vocal communication-were examined in 2 widely used behavioral tasks-the 3-chamber and DSI tasks. There was continuous and broad variation in social and nonsocial traits, with moderate to high heritability of social approach sniff preference (0.31), ultrasonic vocalization (USV) count (0.39), partner sniffing (0.51), locomotor activity (0.54-0.66) and anxiety-like behavior (0.36). Principal component analysis shows that variation in social and nonsocial traits are attributable to 5 independent factors. Genome-wide mapping identified significant quantitative trait loci for USV count on chromosome (Chr) 18 and locomotor activity on Chr X, with suggestive loci and candidate quantitative trait genes identified for all traits with one notable exception-partner sniffing in the DSI task. The results show heritable variation in sociability, which is independent of variation in activity and anxiety-like traits. In addition, a highly heritable and ethological domain of affiliative sociability-partner sniffing-appears highly polygenic. These findings establish a basis for identifying functional natural variants, leading to a new understanding typical and atypical sociability. © 2017 The Authors. Genes, Brain and Behavior published by International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. Cranial nerve injury after Le Fort I osteotomy.

    PubMed

    Kim, J-W; Chin, B-R; Park, H-S; Lee, S-H; Kwon, T-G

    2011-03-01

    A Le Fort I osteotomy is widely used to correct dentofacial deformity because it is a safe and reliable surgical method. Although rare, various complications have been reported in relation to pterygomaxillary separation. Cranial nerve damage is one of the serious complications that can occur after Le Fort I osteotomy. In this report, a 19-year-old man with unilateral cleft lip and palate underwent surgery to correct maxillary hypoplasia, asymmetry and mandibular prognathism. After the Le Fort I maxillary osteotomy, the patient showed multiple cranial nerve damage; an impairment of outward movement of the eye (abducens nerve), decreased vision (optic nerve), and paraesthesia of the frontal and upper cheek area (ophthalmic and maxillary nerve). The damage to the cranial nerve was related to an unexpected sphenoid bone fracture and subsequent trauma in the cavernous sinus during the pterygomaxillary osteotomy. Copyright © 2010 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Le syndrome des enfants battus: aspects cliniques et radiologiques

    PubMed Central

    Jlalia, Zied; Znaigui, Talel; Smida, Mahmoud

    2016-01-01

    La maltraitance physique des enfants ou le syndrome des enfants battus est responsable de plus de 75.000 décès par an en France. Ce problème de santé publique reste sous diagnostiqué en Tunisie et dans le monde. Le chemin a été laborieux pour la reconnaissance du syndrome des enfants battus dans certaines sociétés même occidentales. Nous avons voulus exposer ce problème aux praticiens afin qu'il soit mieux diagnostiqué et pris en charge. La maltraitance physique des enfants est appelée à tort syndrome de Silverman qui ne regroupe en fait que les lésions squelettiques chez ces enfants tels que les fractures. Mots clés: Fracture, maltraitance, enfant, neuro-radiologie PMID:27642408

  11. When Traits Match States: Examining the Associations between Self-Report Trait and State Mindfulness following a State Mindfulness Induction.

    PubMed

    Bravo, Adrian J; Pearson, Matthew R; Wilson, Adam D; Witkiewitz, Katie

    2018-02-01

    Previous research has found inconsistent relationships between trait mindfulness and state mindfulness. To extend previous research, we sought to examine the unique associations between self-report trait mindfulness and state mindfulness by levels of meditation experience (meditation-naïve vs. meditation-experienced) and by mindfulness induction (experimentally induced mindful state vs. control group). We recruited 299 college students (93 with previous mindfulness meditation experience) to participate in an experiment that involved the assessment of five facets of trait mindfulness (among other constructs), followed by a mindfulness induction (vs. control), followed by the assessment of state mindfulness of body and mind. Correlational analyses revealed limited associations between trait mindfulness facets and facets of state mindfulness, and demonstrated that a brief mindfulness exercise focused on bodily sensations and the breath elicited higher state mindfulness of body but not state mindfulness of mind. We found significant interactions such that individuals with previous meditation experience and higher scores on the observing facet of trait mindfulness had the highest levels of state mindfulness of body and mind. Among individuals with meditation experience, the strengths of the associations between observing trait mindfulness and the state mindfulness facets increased with frequency of meditation practice. Some other interactions ran counter to expectations. Overall, the relatively weak associations between trait and state mindfulness demonstrates the need to improve our operationalizations of mindfulness, advance our understanding of how to best cultivate mindfulness, and reappraise the ways in which mindfulness can manifest as a state and as a trait.

  12. Distinguishing State Variability From Trait Change in Longitudinal Data: The Role of Measurement (Non)Invariance in Latent State-Trait Analyses

    PubMed Central

    Geiser, Christian; Keller, Brian T.; Lockhart, Ginger; Eid, Michael; Cole, David A.; Koch, Tobias

    2014-01-01

    Researchers analyzing longitudinal data often want to find out whether the process they study is characterized by (1) short-term state variability, (2) long-term trait change, or (3) a combination of state variability and trait change. Classical latent state-trait (LST) models are designed to measure reversible state variability around a fixed set-point or trait, whereas latent growth curve (LGC) models focus on long-lasting and often irreversible trait changes. In the present paper, we contrast LST and LGC models from the perspective of measurement invariance (MI) testing. We show that establishing a pure state-variability process requires (a) the inclusion of a mean structure and (b) establishing strong factorial invariance in LST analyses. Analytical derivations and simulations demonstrate that LST models with non-invariant parameters can mask the fact that a trait-change or hybrid process has generated the data. Furthermore, the inappropriate application of LST models to trait change or hybrid data can lead to bias in the estimates of consistency and occasion-specificity, which are typically of key interest in LST analyses. Four tips for the proper application of LST models are provided. PMID:24652650

  13. Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL)-Guided Metabolic Engineering of a Complex Trait.

    PubMed

    Maurer, Matthew J; Sutardja, Lawrence; Pinel, Dominic; Bauer, Stefan; Muehlbauer, Amanda L; Ames, Tyler D; Skerker, Jeffrey M; Arkin, Adam P

    2017-03-17

    Engineering complex phenotypes for industrial and synthetic biology applications is difficult and often confounds rational design. Bioethanol production from lignocellulosic feedstocks is a complex trait that requires multiple host systems to utilize, detoxify, and metabolize a mixture of sugars and inhibitors present in plant hydrolysates. Here, we demonstrate an integrated approach to discovering and optimizing host factors that impact fitness of Saccharomyces cerevisiae during fermentation of a Miscanthus x giganteus plant hydrolysate. We first used high-resolution Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) mapping and systematic bulk Reciprocal Hemizygosity Analysis (bRHA) to discover 17 loci that differentiate hydrolysate tolerance between an industrially related (JAY291) and a laboratory (S288C) strain. We then used this data to identify a subset of favorable allelic loci that were most amenable for strain engineering. Guided by this "genetic blueprint", and using a dual-guide Cas9-based method to efficiently perform multikilobase locus replacements, we engineered an S288C-derived strain with superior hydrolysate tolerance than JAY291. Our methods should be generalizable to engineering any complex trait in S. cerevisiae, as well as other organisms.

  14. Nutrition chez le brûlé

    PubMed Central

    Perro, G.

    2016-01-01

    Summary La nutrition est un challenge chez le brûlé, paradigme de l’agressé. Les points importants sont les apports entéraux précoces par sonde gastrique voire post pyloriques, la position proclive > 30°, la surveillance du transit et sa régulation par gastro ou entéro-kinétiques, la surveillance du poids, la quantification des apports avec supplémentation parentérale en cas de retard protéino énergétique. Chez l’enfant, l’adhésion à l’alimentation est difficile, de même que chez le senior, où une évaluation nutritionnelle initiale dépiste souvent une dénutrition préexistante. Les compléments alimentaires seront largement prescrits chez les patients de gravité intermédiaire. Les obèses bénéficieront d’un régime hypocalorique et hyperprotidique. Chez l’insuffisant rénal non dialysé il convient de limiter les apports en potassium. En cas brûlure périnéale, on peut proposer soit une constipation de courte durée, soit la mise en place d’un entéro-collecteur, les indications de colostomie étant devenues rares. Les apports entéraux sont difficiles à gérer en cas de décubitus ventral pour SDRA. Chez le brûlé grave de réanimation, l’accent doit plus être mis sur la qualité des nutriments que sur leur quantité. Les anciennes formules d’estimation calorique conduisaient à une surnutrition difficile à administrer et en général mal tolérée; la quantification mesurée par calorimétrie indirecte ou estimée par la formule de Toronto est bien plus adaptée. Plus récemment, l’instauration d’une immunonutrition (supplémentation en vitamines et oligo-éléments, glutamine, arginine, acide Ω 3 et contrôle raisonné de la glycémie) a été proposée pour réduire le stress oxydatif et l’inflammation provoqués par l’accident. PMID:27857647

  15. Genetic dissection of fruiting body-related traits using quantitative trait loci mapping in Lentinula edodes.

    PubMed

    Gong, Wen-Bing; Li, Lei; Zhou, Yan; Bian, Yin-Bing; Kwan, Hoi-Shan; Cheung, Man-Kit; Xiao, Yang

    2016-06-01

    To provide a better understanding of the genetic architecture of fruiting body formation of Lentinula edodes, quantitative trait loci (QTLs) mapping was employed to uncover the loci underlying seven fruiting body-related traits (FBRTs). An improved L. edodes genetic linkage map, comprising 572 markers on 12 linkage groups with a total map length of 983.7 cM, was constructed by integrating 82 genomic sequence-based insertion-deletion (InDel) markers into a previously published map. We then detected a total of 62 QTLs for seven target traits across two segregating testcross populations, with individual QTLs contributing 5.5 %-30.2 % of the phenotypic variation. Fifty-three out of the 62 QTLs were clustered in six QTL hotspots, suggesting the existence of main genomic regions regulating the morphological characteristics of fruiting bodies in L. edodes. A stable QTL hotspot on MLG2, containing QTLs for all investigated traits, was identified in both testcross populations. QTLs for related traits were frequently co-located on the linkage groups, demonstrating the genetic basis for phenotypic correlation of traits. Meta-QTL (mQTL) analysis was performed and identified 16 mQTLs with refined positions and narrow confidence intervals (CIs). Nine genes, including those encoding MAP kinase, blue-light photoreceptor, riboflavin-aldehyde-forming enzyme and cyclopropane-fatty-acyl-phospholipid synthase, and cytochrome P450s, were likely to be candidate genes controlling the shape of fruiting bodies. The study has improved our understanding of the genetic architecture of fruiting body formation in L. edodes. To our knowledge, this is the first genome-wide QTL detection of FBRTs in L. edodes. The improved genetic map, InDel markers and QTL hotspot regions revealed here will assist considerably in the conduct of future genetic and breeding studies of L. edodes.

  16. Chronic Trauma Effects on Personality Traits in Police Officers.

    PubMed

    Leigh Wills, Jennifer; Schuldberg, David

    2016-04-01

    The impact of cumulative occupational exposure to traumatic events (TEs), posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, and work environment stress on personality traits over time was examined in 38 police officers from an urban agency. California Psychological Inventory (CPI) personality trait scores from prehire evaluations were compared with follow-up CPI scores to test whether exposure to traumatic events was correlated with changes in traits from baseline to 5-10 years later. Measures of occupational TEs, PTS symptoms, and police work environment stress were administered. Mean trait scores declined on all CPI traits analyzed in the study. Trait change was evaluated using the Reliable Change Index; change in participants' scores unlikely to occur by chance ranged from 11% to 63% in the traits examined. All participants reported substantial TE exposure. PTS symptoms were correlated with steeper decline in 4 of 5 traits, with effect sizes ranging from r =  -.47 to r = -.67. Scores on measures of job-related TEs were negatively correlated with only one CPI trait (empathy) at T2 (r = -.31), and were unrelated to slope of trait change. Work environment stress was significantly related to gender, with female officers reporting higher levels of operational (r = .45) and organizational (r = .54) stress. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

  17. On the relationship between phylogenetic diversity and trait diversity.

    PubMed

    Tucker, Caroline M; Davies, T Jonathan; Cadotte, Marc W; Pearse, William D

    2018-05-21

    Niche differences are key to understanding the distribution and structure of biodiversity. To examine niche differences, we must first characterize how species occupy niche space, and two approaches are commonly used in the ecological literature. The first uses species traits to estimate multivariate trait space (so-called functional trait diversity, FD); the second quantifies the amount of time or evolutionary history captured by a group of species (phylogenetic diversity, PD). It is often-but controversially-assumed that these putative measures of niche space are at a minimum correlated and perhaps redundant, since more evolutionary time allows for greater accumulation of trait changes. This theoretical expectation remains surprisingly poorly evaluated, particularly in the context of multivariate measures of trait diversity. We evaluated the relationship between phylogenetic diversity and trait diversity using analytical and simulation-based methods across common models of trait evolution. We show that PD correlates with FD increasingly strongly as more traits are included in the FD measure. Our results indicate that phylogenetic diversity can be a useful surrogate for high-dimensional trait diversity, but we also show that the correlation weakens when the underlying process of trait evolution includes variation in rate and optima. © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America.

  18. Selection on domestication traits and quantitative trait loci in crop-wild sunflower hybrids.

    PubMed

    Baack, Eric J; Sapir, Yuval; Chapman, Mark A; Burke, John M; Rieseberg, Loren H

    2008-01-01

    The strength and extent of gene flow from crops into wild populations depends, in part, on the fitness of the crop alleles, as well as that of alleles at linked loci. Interest in crop-wild gene flow has increased with the advent of transgenic plants, but nontransgenic crop-wild hybrids can provide case studies to understand the factors influencing introgression, provided that the genetic architecture and the fitness effects of loci are known. This study used recombinant inbred lines (RILs) generated from a cross between crop and wild sunflowers to assess selection on domestication traits and quantitative trait loci (QTL) in two contrasting environments, in Indiana and Nebraska, USA. Only a small fraction of plants (9%) produced seed in Nebraska, due to adverse weather conditions, while the majority of plants (79%) in Indiana reproduced. Phenotypic selection analysis found that a mixture of crop and wild traits were favoured in Indiana (i.e. had significant selection gradients), including larger leaves, increased floral longevity, larger disk diameter, reduced ray flower size and smaller achene (seed) mass. Selection favouring early flowering was detected in Nebraska. QTLs for fitness were found at the end of linkage groups six (LG6) and nine (LG9) in both field sites, each explaining 11-12% of the total variation. Crop alleles were favoured on LG9, but wild alleles were favoured on LG6. QTLs for numerous domestication traits overlapped with the fitness QTLs, including flowering date, achene mass, head number, and disk diameter. It remains to be seen if these QTL clusters are the product of multiple linked genes, or individual genes with pleiotropic effects. These results indicate that crop trait values and alleles may sometimes be favoured in a noncrop environment and across broad geographical regions.

  19. Identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for fruit quality traits and number of weeks of flowering in the cultivated strawberry

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Fruit quality traits and dayneutrality are two major foci of several strawberry breeding programs. The identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) and molecular markers linked to these traits could improve breeding efficiency. In this work, an F1 population derived from the cross ‘Delmarvel’ × ...

  20. Le pronostic statural après une pseudo-puberté précoce par déficit en 11ß hydroxylase chez une fille de 7 ans: à propos d'un cas avec revue de la literature

    PubMed Central

    Latrech, Hanane; Gaouzi, Ahmed

    2015-01-01

    L'hyperplasie congénitale des surrénales par déficit en 11ß hydroxylase se voit dans 5 à 10% des cas et est diagnostiquée, habituellement, devant des signes de virilisation d'un nouveau né ou d'un fœtus 46 XX et plus tard devant une HTA avec une hypokaliémie. Le pronostic de taille chez ces patients est très souvent compromis. Nous rapportons le cas d'un déficit en 11ß hydroxylase chez une enfant âgée de 7 ans révélé par une pseudo- puberté précoce traitée par hydrocortisone. La survenue d'une puberté précoce centrale complique encore plus la situation par la mise en jeu du pronostic de taille finale et nécessitant une prise en charge thérapeutique particulière. PMID:26113905

  1. A fully traits-based approach to modeling global vegetation distribution.

    PubMed

    van Bodegom, Peter M; Douma, Jacob C; Verheijen, Lieneke M

    2014-09-23

    Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVMs) are indispensable for our understanding of climate change impacts. The application of traits in DGVMs is increasingly refined. However, a comprehensive analysis of the direct impacts of trait variation on global vegetation distribution does not yet exist. Here, we present such analysis as proof of principle. We run regressions of trait observations for leaf mass per area, stem-specific density, and seed mass from a global database against multiple environmental drivers, making use of findings of global trait convergence. This analysis explained up to 52% of the global variation of traits. Global trait maps, generated by coupling the regression equations to gridded soil and climate maps, showed up to orders of magnitude variation in trait values. Subsequently, nine vegetation types were characterized by the trait combinations that they possess using Gaussian mixture density functions. The trait maps were input to these functions to determine global occurrence probabilities for each vegetation type. We prepared vegetation maps, assuming that the most probable (and thus, most suited) vegetation type at each location will be realized. This fully traits-based vegetation map predicted 42% of the observed vegetation distribution correctly. Our results indicate that a major proportion of the predictive ability of DGVMs with respect to vegetation distribution can be attained by three traits alone if traits like stem-specific density and seed mass are included. We envision that our traits-based approach, our observation-driven trait maps, and our vegetation maps may inspire a new generation of powerful traits-based DGVMs.

  2. A non-heme iron-mediated chemical demethylation in DNA and RNA.

    PubMed

    Yi, Chengqi; Yang, Cai-Guang; He, Chuan

    2009-04-21

    DNA methylation is arguably one of the most important chemical signals in biology. However, aberrant DNA methylation can lead to cytotoxic or mutagenic consequences. A DNA repair protein in Escherichia coli, AlkB, corrects some of the unwanted methylations of DNA bases by a unique oxidative demethylation in which the methyl carbon is liberated as formaldehyde. The enzyme also repairs exocyclic DNA lesions--that is, derivatives in which the base is augmented with an additional heterocyclic subunit--by a similar mechanism. Two proteins in humans that are homologous to AlkB, ABH2 and ABH3, repair the same spectrum of lesions; another human homologue of AlkB, FTO, is linked to obesity. In this Account, we describe our studies of AlkB, ABH2, and ABH3, including our development of a general strategy to trap homogeneous protein-DNA complexes through active-site disulfide cross-linking. AlkB uses a non-heme mononuclear iron(II) and the cofactors 2-ketoglutarate (2KG) and dioxygen to effect oxidative demethylation of the DNA base lesions 1-methyladenine (1-meA), 3-methylcytosine (3-meC), 1-methylguanine (1-meG), and 3-methylthymine (3-meT). ABH3, like AlkB, works better on single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and is capable of repairing damaged bases in RNA. Conversely, ABH2 primarily repairs lesions in double-stranded DNA (dsDNA); it is the main housekeeping enzyme that protects the mammalian genome from 1-meA base damage. The AlkB-family proteins have moderate affinities for their substrates and bind DNA in a non-sequence-specific manner. Knowing that these proteins flip the damaged base out from the duplex DNA and insert it into the active site for further processing, we first engineered a disulfide cross-link in the active site to stabilize the Michaelis complex. Based on the detailed structural information afforded by the active-site cross-linked structures, we can readily install a cross-link away from the active site to obtain the native-like structures of these complexes

  3. Are Youth Psychopathic Traits Related to Bullying? Meta-analyses on Callous-Unemotional Traits, Narcissism, and Impulsivity.

    PubMed

    van Geel, Mitch; Toprak, Fatih; Goemans, Anouk; Zwaanswijk, Wendy; Vedder, Paul

    2017-10-01

    In the current manuscript meta-analyses are performed to analyze the relations between three aspects of psychopathy in youth, Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits, Narcissism, and Impulsivity, and bullying behaviors. The databases PsycINFO, MEDLINE, ERIC, Web of Science and Proquest were searched for relevant articles on bullying and CU traits, Narcissism, or Impulsivity in youth under 20 years of age. Two authors each independently screened 842 studies that were found in the literature search. Two authors independently coded ten studies on bullying and CU (N = 4115) traits, six studies on bullying and Narcissism (N = 3376) and 14 studies on bullying and Impulsivity (N = 33,574) that met the inclusion criteria. Significant correlations were found between bullying and CU traits, Narcissism, and Impulsivity. These results were not affected by publication bias. Anti-bullying interventions could potentially benefit from including elements that have been found effective in the treatment of youth psychopathy.

  4. Convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity of DSM-5 traits.

    PubMed

    Yalch, Matthew M; Hopwood, Christopher J

    2016-10-01

    Section III of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edi.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) contains a system for diagnosing personality disorder based in part on assessing 25 maladaptive traits. Initial research suggests that this aspect of the system improves the validity and clinical utility of the Section II Model. The Computer Adaptive Test of Personality Disorder (CAT-PD; Simms et al., 2011) contains many similar traits as the DSM-5, as well as several additional traits seemingly not covered in the DSM-5. In this study we evaluate the convergent and discriminant validity between the DSM-5 traits, as assessed by the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5; Krueger et al., 2012), and CAT-PD in an undergraduate sample, and test whether traits included in the CAT-PD but not the DSM-5 provide incremental validity in association with clinically relevant criterion variables. Results supported the convergent and discriminant validity of the PID-5 and CAT-PD scales in their assessment of 23 out of 25 DSM-5 traits. DSM-5 traits were consistently associated with 11 criterion variables, despite our having intentionally selected clinically relevant criterion constructs not directly assessed by DSM-5 traits. However, the additional CAT-PD traits provided incremental information above and beyond the DSM-5 traits for all criterion variables examined. These findings support the validity of pathological trait models in general and the DSM-5 and CAT-PD models in particular, while also suggesting that the CAT-PD may include additional traits for consideration in future iterations of the DSM-5 system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  5. CoLeMo: A Collaborative Learning Environment for UML Modelling

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chen, Weiqin; Pedersen, Roger Heggernes; Pettersen, Oystein

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of a distributed collaborative UML modelling environment, CoLeMo. CoLeMo is designed for students studying UML modelling. It can also be used as a platform for collaborative design of software. We conducted formative evaluations and a summative evaluation to improve the environment and…

  6. ATLANTIC MAMMAL TRAITS: a data set of morphological traits of mammals in the Atlantic Forest of South America.

    PubMed

    Gonçalves, Fernando; Bovendorp, Ricardo S; Beca, Gabrielle; Bello, Carolina; Costa-Pereira, Raul; Muylaert, Renata L; Rodarte, Raisa R; Villar, Nacho; Souza, Rafael; Graipel, Maurício E; Cherem, Jorge J; Faria, Deborah; Baumgarten, Julio; Alvarez, Martín R; Vieira, Emerson M; Cáceres, Nilton; Pardini, Renata; Leite, Yuri L R; Costa, Leonora P; Mello, Marco A R; Fischer, Erich; Passos, Fernando C; Varzinczak, Luiz H; Prevedello, Jayme A; Cruz-Neto, Ariovaldo P; Carvalho, Fernando; Percequillo, Alexandre R; Paviolo, Agustin; Nava, Alessandra; Duarte, José M B; de la Sancha, Noé U; Bernard, Enrico; Morato, Ronaldo G; Ribeiro, Juliana F; Becker, Rafael G; Paise, Gabriela; Tomasi, Paulo S; Vélez-Garcia, Felipe; Melo, Geruza L; Sponchiado, Jonas; Cerezer, Felipe; Barros, Marília A S; de Souza, Albérico Q S; Dos Santos, Cinthya C; Giné, Gastón A F; Kerches-Rogeri, Patricia; Weber, Marcelo M; Ambar, Guilherme; Cabrera-Martinez, Lucía V; Eriksson, Alan; Silveira, Maurício; Santos, Carolina F; Alves, Lucas; Barbier, Eder; Rezende, Gabriela C; Garbino, Guilherme S T; Rios, Élson O; Silva, Adna; Nascimento, Alexandre Túlio A; de Carvalho, Rodrigo S; Feijó, Anderson; Arrabal, Juan; Agostini, Ilaria; Lamattina, Daniela; Costa, Sebastian; Vanderhoeven, Ezequiel; de Melo, Fabiano R; de Oliveira Laroque, Plautino; Jerusalinsky, Leandro; Valença-Montenegro, Mônica M; Martins, Amely B; Ludwig, Gabriela; de Azevedo, Renata B; Anzóategui, Agustin; da Silva, Marina X; Figuerêdo Duarte Moraes, Marcela; Vogliotti, Alexandre; Gatti, Andressa; Püttker, Thomas; Barros, Camila S; Martins, Thais K; Keuroghlian, Alexine; Eaton, Donald P; Neves, Carolina L; Nardi, Marcelo S; Braga, Caryne; Gonçalves, Pablo R; Srbek-Araujo, Ana Carolina; Mendes, Poliana; de Oliveira, João A; Soares, Fábio A M; Rocha, Patrício A; Crawshaw, Peter; Ribeiro, Milton C; Galetti, Mauro

    2018-02-01

    Measures of traits are the basis of functional biological diversity. Numerous works consider mean species-level measures of traits while ignoring individual variance within species. However, there is a large amount of variation within species and it is increasingly apparent that it is important to consider trait variation not only between species, but also within species. Mammals are an interesting group for investigating trait-based approaches because they play diverse and important ecological functions (e.g., pollination, seed dispersal, predation, grazing) that are correlated with functional traits. Here we compile a data set comprising morphological and life history information of 279 mammal species from 39,850 individuals of 388 populations ranging from -5.83 to -29.75 decimal degrees of latitude and -34.82 to -56.73 decimal degrees of longitude in the Atlantic forest of South America. We present trait information from 16,840 individuals of 181 species of non-volant mammals (Rodentia, Didelphimorphia, Carnivora, Primates, Cingulata, Artiodactyla, Pilosa, Lagomorpha, Perissodactyla) and from 23,010 individuals of 98 species of volant mammals (Chiroptera). The traits reported include body mass, age, sex, reproductive stage, as well as the geographic coordinates of sampling for all taxa. Moreover, we gathered information on forearm length for bats and body length and tail length for rodents and marsupials. No copyright restrictions are associated with the use of this data set. Please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using the data. © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America.

  7. Le(x) glycan mediates homotypic adhesion of embryonal cells independently from E-cadherin: a preliminary note.

    PubMed

    Handa, Kazuko; Takatani-Nakase, Tomoka; Larue, Lionel; Stemmler, Marc P; Kemler, Rolf; Hakomori, Sen-itiroh

    2007-06-22

    Le(x) glycan and E-cadherin (Ecad) are co-expressed at embryonal stem (ES) cells and embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells. While the structure and function of Ecad mediating homotypic adhesion of these cells have been well established, evidence that Le(x) glycan also mediates such adhesion is weak, despite the fact that Le(x) oligosaccharide inhibits the compaction process. To provide stronger evidence, we knocked out Ecad gene in EC and ES cells to establish F9 Ecad (-/-) and D3M Ecad (-/-) cells, which highly express Le(x) glycan but do not express Ecad at all. Both F9 Ecad (-/-) and D3M Ecad (-/-) cells displayed strong autoaggregation in the presence of Ca(2+), while PYS-2 cells, which express trace amount of Ecad and undetectable level of Le(x) glycan, did not display autoaggregation. In addition, F9 Ecad (-/-) and D3M Ecad (-/-) cells displayed strong adhesion to plates coated with Le(x) glycosphingolipid (III(3)FucnLc4Cer), in dose-dependent manner, in the presence of Ca(2+). Thus, ES or EC cells display autoaggregation and strong adhesion to Le(x)-coated plates in the absence of Ecad, further supporting the notion of Le(x) self-recognition (i.e., Le(x)-to-Le(x) interaction) in cell adhesion.

  8. Root trait diversity, molecular marker diversity, and trait-marker associations in a core collection of Lupinus angustifolius.

    PubMed

    Chen, Yinglong; Shan, Fucheng; Nelson, Matthew N; Siddique, Kadambot Hm; Rengel, Zed

    2016-06-01

    Narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.) is the predominant grain legume crop in southern Australia, contributing half of the total grain legume production of Australia. Its yield in Australia is hampered by a range of subsoil constraints. The adaptation of lupin genotypes to subsoil constraints may be improved by selecting for optimal root traits from new and exotic germplasm sources. We assessed root trait diversity and genetic diversity of a core collection of narrow-leafed lupin (111 accessions) using 191 Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) markers. The genetic relationship among accessions was determined using the admixture model in STRUCTURE. Thirty-eight root-associated traits were characterized, with 21 having coefficient of variation values >0.5. Principal coordinate analysis and cluster analysis of the DArT markers revealed broad diversity among the accessions. An ad hoc statistics calculation resulted in 10 distinct populations with significant differences among and within them (P < 0.001). The mixed linear model test in TASSEL showed a significant association between all root traits and some DArT markers, with the numbers of markers associated with an individual trait ranging from 2 to 13. The percentage of phenotypic variation explained by any one marker ranged from 6.4 to 21.8%, with 15 associations explaining >10% of phenotypic variation. The genetic variation values ranged from 0 to 7994, with 23 associations having values >240. Root traits such as deeper roots and lateral root proliferation at depth would be useful for this species for improved adaptation to drier soil conditions. This study offers opportunities for discovering useful root traits that can be used to increase the yield of Australian cultivars across variable environmental conditions. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

  9. The birth of the most important 18th century dental text: Pierre Fauchard's Le Chirurgien Dentiste.

    PubMed

    Spielman, Andrew I

    2007-10-01

    Pierre Fauchard (1678-1761) is considered the father of modern dentistry. His seminal book, Le Chirurgien Dentiste, ou Traité des Dents (1728), is the discipline's first complete work. During the five years preceding its publication (1723-1728), Pierre Fauchard sought the opinions, contributions, and "approbation" (approval) of 19 of his colleagues: six physicians, 12 surgeons, and one dentist. The first and most important contributor to the manuscript was Jean Devaux, surgeon and mentor to Fauchard. The next six reviewers were illustrious physicians and scientists of the time: Philippe Hecquet, Jean-Claude Adrien Helvetius, Jean Baptiste Silva, Antoine DeJussieu, Raymond Jacob Finot, and Antoine Benignus Winslow. The subsequent 12 reviewers were all sworn-surgeons (certified by St. Côme), including a lone dentist, Laudumiey, surgeon-dentist to His Majesty, Philip V, King of Spain. Fauchard knew that for dentistry to be regarded as a learned profession, and perhaps for Fauchard to be recognized as its leader, he needed the support and approval of the establishment before publishing his book. This is an account of how he attained this endorsement.

  10. Decomposing functional trait associations in a Chinese subtropical forest

    PubMed Central

    Pei, Kequan; Kéry, Marc; Niklaus, Pascal A.; Schmid, Bernhard

    2017-01-01

    Functional traits, properties of organisms correlated with ecological performance, play a central role in plant community assembly and functioning. To some extents, functional traits vary in concert, reflecting fundamental ecological strategies. While “trait syndromes” characteristic of e.g. fast-growing, early-successional vs. competitive, late-successional species are recognized in principle, less is known about the environmental and genetic factors at the source of trait variation and covariation within plant communities. We studied the three leaf traits leaf half-life (LHL), leaf mass per area (LMA) and nitrogen concentration in green leaves (Ngreen) and the wood trait wood density (WD) in 294 individuals belonging to 45 tree or shrub species in a Chinese subtropical forest from September 2006 to January 2009. Using multilevel ANOVA and decomposition of sums of products, we estimated the amount of trait variation and covariation among species (mainly genetic causes), i.e. plant functional type (deciduous vs. evergreen species), growth form (tree vs. shrub species), family/genus/species differences, and within species (mainly environmental causes), i.e. individual and season. For single traits, the variation between functional types and among species within functional types was large, but only LMA and Ngreen varied significantly among families and thus showed phylogenetic signal. Trait variation among individuals within species was small, but large temporal variation due to seasonal effects was found within individuals. We did not find any trait variation related to soil conditions underneath the measured individuals. For pairs of traits, variation between functional types and among species within functional types was large, reflecting a strong evolutionary coordination of the traits, with LMA, LHL and WD being positively correlated among each other and negatively with Ngreen. This integration of traits was consistent with a putative stem-leaf economics

  11. Psychopathic traits moderate peer influence on adolescent delinquency.

    PubMed

    Kerr, Margaret; Van Zalk, Maarten; Stattin, Håkan

    2012-08-01

    Peer influence on adolescent delinquency is well established, but little is known about moderators of peer influence. In this study, we examined adolescents' (targets) and their peers' psychopathic personality traits as moderators of peer influence on delinquency in peer networks. We used three separate dimensions of the psychopathic personality: grandiose-manipulative traits, callous-unemotional traits, and impulsive-irresponsible traits. We used a peer network approach with five waves of longitudinal data from 847 adolescents in one community. Peer nominations were not limited to the school context, thus allowing us to capture all potentially important peers. In addition, peers reported on their own delinquency, thus allowing us to avoid problems of false consensus or projection that arise when individuals report on their peers' delinquency. We used simulation investigation for empirical network analyses (SIENA), which is the only program currently available that can be used to study peer influence effects in peer networks of multiple relationships while controlling for selection effects. Targets' and peers' callous-unemotional and grandiose-manipulative traits uniquely moderated peer influence on delinquency. Relative to those with low levels, targets who were high on these traits were less influenced by peers' delinquency, and peers who were high on these traits were more influential on targets' delinquency. Selection effects were found for impulsive-irresponsible traits, but these traits did not moderate peer influence on delinquency. As the first study to look at moderating effects of psychopathic traits on peer influence, this study advances knowledge about peer influence on delinquency and about psychopathic traits in adolescents. In addition, the study contributes to the literature by looking at unique effects of the three dimensions of psychopathy and taking a peer network approach, in which network effects, self-selection, and other selection effects are

  12. Conductivite dans le modele de Hubbard bi-dimensionnel a faible couplage

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bergeron, Dominic

    Le modele de Hubbard bi-dimensionnel (2D) est souvent considere comme le modele minimal pour les supraconducteurs a haute temperature critique a base d'oxyde de cuivre (SCHT). Sur un reseau carre, ce modele possede les phases qui sont communes a tous les SCHT, la phase antiferromagnetique, la phase supraconductrice et la phase dite du pseudogap. Il n'a pas de solution exacte, toutefois, plusieurs methodes approximatives permettent d'etudier ses proprietes de facon numerique. Les proprietes optiques et de transport sont bien connues dans les SCHT et sont donc de bonne candidates pour valider un modele theorique et aider a comprendre mieux la physique de ces materiaux. La presente these porte sur le calcul de ces proprietes pour le modele de Hubbard 2D a couplage faible ou intermediaire. La methode de calcul utilisee est l'approche auto-coherente a deux particules (ACDP), qui est non-perturbative et inclue l'effet des fluctuations de spin et de charge a toutes les longueurs d'onde. La derivation complete de l'expression de la conductivite dans l'approche ACDP est presentee. Cette expression contient ce qu'on appelle les corrections de vertex, qui tiennent compte des correlations entre quasi-particules. Pour rendre possible le calcul numerique de ces corrections, des algorithmes utilisant, entre autres, des transformees de Fourier rapides et des splines cubiques sont developpes. Les calculs sont faits pour le reseau carre avec sauts aux plus proches voisins autour du point critique antiferromagnetique. Aux dopages plus faibles que le point critique, la conductivite optique presente une bosse dans l'infrarouge moyen a basse temperature, tel qu'observe dans plusieurs SCHT. Dans la resistivite en fonction de la temperature, on trouve un comportement isolant dans le pseudogap lorsque les corrections de vertex sont negligees et metallique lorsqu'elles sont prises en compte. Pres du point critique, la resistivite est lineaire en T a basse temperature et devient

  13. No 129-L'exercice physique pendant la grossesse et le postpartum.

    PubMed

    Davies, Gregory A L; Wolfe, Larry A; Mottola, Michelle F; MacKinnon, Catherine

    2018-02-01

    Énoncer une directive canadienne visant à informer les fournisseurs de soins obstétricaux des répercussions, pour la mère, le fœtus et le nouveau-né, des exercices de conditionnement aerobique et musculaire pendant la grossesse. RéSULTATS ATTENDUS: Effets sur la morbidité maternelle, fœtale et néonatale et mesures de la forme physique maternelle. Une recherche sur MEDLINE des articles, publiés en anglais de 1966 à 2002, appartenant aux catégories suivantes : études sur le conditionnement aérobique et musculaire chez des femmes ne faisant pas jusque-là d'exercice et chez des femmes actives avant leur grossesse, ainsi que des études sur les répercussions du conditionnement aérobique et musculaire sur les issues précoces et tardives de la grossesse ou sur les issues néonatales; rapports de synthèse et méta-analyses portant sur l'exercice pendant la grossesse. Les résultats recueillis ont été revus par la Société des obstétriciens et gynécologues du Canada (Comité de la pratique clinique - obstétrique), avec la participation de la Société canadienne de physiologie de l'exercice, et ils ont été classés suivant les critères d'évaluation des preuves établis par le Groupe de travail canadien sur l'examen de santé périodique. VALIDATION: Cette directive a été approuvée par le Comité de pratique clinique - obstétrique de la SOGC, par le Comité exécutif et par le Conseil de la SOGC, ainsi que par le Conseil d'administration de la Société canadienne de physiologie de l'exercice. PARRAINé PAR: la Société des obstétriciens et gynécologues du Canada et par la Société canadienne de physiologie de l'exercice. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  14. Phylogenetic perspectives on reef fish functional traits.

    PubMed

    Floeter, Sergio R; Bender, Mariana G; Siqueira, Alexandre C; Cowman, Peter F

    2018-02-01

    Functional traits have been fundamental to the evolution and diversification of entire fish lineages on coral reefs. Yet their relationship with the processes promoting speciation, extinction and the filtering of local species pools remains unclear. We review the current literature exploring the evolution of diet, body size, water column use and geographic range size in reef-associated fishes. Using published and new data, we mapped functional traits on to published phylogenetic trees to uncover evolutionary patterns that have led to the current functional diversity of fishes on coral reefs. When examining reconstructed patterns for diet and feeding mode, we found examples of independent transitions to planktivory across different reef fish families. Such transitions and associated morphological alterations may represent cases in which ecological opportunity for the exploitation of different resources drives speciation and adaptation. In terms of body size, reconstructions showed that both large and small sizes appear multiple times within clades of mid-sized fishes and that extreme body sizes have arisen mostly in the last 10 million years (Myr). The reconstruction of range size revealed many cases of disparate range sizes among sister species. Such range size disparity highlights potential vicariant processes through isolation in peripheral locations. When accounting for peripheral speciation processes in sister pairs, we found a significant relationship between labrid range size and lineage age. The diversity and evolution of traits within lineages is influenced by trait-environment interactions as well as by species and trait-trait interactions, where the presence of a given trait may trigger the development of related traits or behaviours. Our effort to assess the evolution of functional diversity across reef fish clades adds to the burgeoning research focusing on the evolutionary and ecological roles of functional traits. We argue that the combination of a

  15. Variability of Root Traits in Spring Wheat Germplasm

    PubMed Central

    Narayanan, Sruthi; Mohan, Amita; Gill, Kulvinder S.; Prasad, P. V. Vara

    2014-01-01

    Root traits influence the amount of water and nutrient absorption, and are important for maintaining crop yield under drought conditions. The objectives of this research were to characterize variability of root traits among spring wheat genotypes and determine whether root traits are related to shoot traits (plant height, tiller number per plant, shoot dry weight, and coleoptile length), regions of origin, and market classes. Plants were grown in 150-cm columns for 61 days in a greenhouse under optimal growth conditions. Rooting depth, root dry weight, root: shoot ratio, and shoot traits were determined for 297 genotypes of the germplasm, Cultivated Wheat Collection (CWC). The remaining root traits such as total root length and surface area were measured for a subset of 30 genotypes selected based on rooting depth. Significant genetic variability was observed for root traits among spring wheat genotypes in CWC germplasm or its subset. Genotypes Sonora and Currawa were ranked high, and genotype Vandal was ranked low for most root traits. A positive relationship (R2≥0.35) was found between root and shoot dry weights within the CWC germplasm and between total root surface area and tiller number; total root surface area and shoot dry weight; and total root length and coleoptile length within the subset. No correlations were found between plant height and most root traits within the CWC germplasm or its subset. Region of origin had significant impact on rooting depth in the CWC germplasm. Wheat genotypes collected from Australia, Mediterranean, and west Asia had greater rooting depth than those from south Asia, Latin America, Mexico, and Canada. Soft wheat had greater rooting depth than hard wheat in the CWC germplasm. The genetic variability identified in this research for root traits can be exploited to improve drought tolerance and/or resource capture in wheat. PMID:24945438

  16. Joint analysis of quantitative trait loci and major-effect causative mutations affecting meat quality and carcass composition traits in pigs.

    PubMed

    Cherel, Pierre; Pires, José; Glénisson, Jérôme; Milan, Denis; Iannuccelli, Nathalie; Hérault, Frédéric; Damon, Marie; Le Roy, Pascale

    2011-08-29

    Detection of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting meat quality traits in pigs is crucial for the design of efficient marker-assisted selection programs and to initiate efforts toward the identification of underlying polymorphisms. The RYR1 and PRKAG3 causative mutations, originally identified from major effects on meat characteristics, can be used both as controls for an overall QTL detection strategy for diversely affected traits and as a scale for detected QTL effects. We report on a microsatellite-based QTL detection scan including all autosomes for pig meat quality and carcass composition traits in an F2 population of 1,000 females and barrows resulting from an intercross between a Pietrain and a Large White-Hampshire-Duroc synthetic sire line. Our QTL detection design allowed side-by-side comparison of the RYR1 and PRKAG3 mutation effects seen as QTLs when segregating at low frequencies (0.03-0.08), with independent QTL effects detected from most of the same population, excluding any carrier of these mutations. Large QTL effects were detected in the absence of the RYR1 and PRKGA3 mutations, accounting for 12.7% of phenotypic variation in loin colour redness CIE-a* on SSC6 and 15% of phenotypic variation in glycolytic potential on SSC1. We detected 8 significant QTLs with effects on meat quality traits and 20 significant QTLs for carcass composition and growth traits under these conditions. In control analyses including mutation carriers, RYR1 and PRKAG3 mutations were detected as QTLs, from highly significant to suggestive, and explained 53% to 5% of the phenotypic variance according to the trait. Our results suggest that part of muscle development and backfat thickness effects commonly attributed to the RYR1 mutation may be a consequence of linkage with independent QTLs affecting those traits. The proportion of variation explained by the most significant QTLs detected in this work is close to the influence of major-effect mutations on the least affected

  17. Joint analysis of quantitative trait loci and major-effect causative mutations affecting meat quality and carcass composition traits in pigs

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background Detection of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting meat quality traits in pigs is crucial for the design of efficient marker-assisted selection programs and to initiate efforts toward the identification of underlying polymorphisms. The RYR1 and PRKAG3 causative mutations, originally identified from major effects on meat characteristics, can be used both as controls for an overall QTL detection strategy for diversely affected traits and as a scale for detected QTL effects. We report on a microsatellite-based QTL detection scan including all autosomes for pig meat quality and carcass composition traits in an F2 population of 1,000 females and barrows resulting from an intercross between a Pietrain and a Large White-Hampshire-Duroc synthetic sire line. Our QTL detection design allowed side-by-side comparison of the RYR1 and PRKAG3 mutation effects seen as QTLs when segregating at low frequencies (0.03-0.08), with independent QTL effects detected from most of the same population, excluding any carrier of these mutations. Results Large QTL effects were detected in the absence of the RYR1 and PRKGA3 mutations, accounting for 12.7% of phenotypic variation in loin colour redness CIE-a* on SSC6 and 15% of phenotypic variation in glycolytic potential on SSC1. We detected 8 significant QTLs with effects on meat quality traits and 20 significant QTLs for carcass composition and growth traits under these conditions. In control analyses including mutation carriers, RYR1 and PRKAG3 mutations were detected as QTLs, from highly significant to suggestive, and explained 53% to 5% of the phenotypic variance according to the trait. Conclusions Our results suggest that part of muscle development and backfat thickness effects commonly attributed to the RYR1 mutation may be a consequence of linkage with independent QTLs affecting those traits. The proportion of variation explained by the most significant QTLs detected in this work is close to the influence of major

  18. Jan Potocki et le "Gothic Novel"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Finne, Jacques

    1970-01-01

    Establishes a parallel between the supernatural and fantastic qualities of Le Comte Jan Potocki's literary works, and the English gothic novels by comparing the elements of terror, mysterious atmosphere, and the supernatural beings involved. (DS)

  19. Ethnic variation of selected dental traits in Coorg

    PubMed Central

    Uthaman, Chancy; Sequeira, Peter Simon; Jain, Jithesh

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: In a country like India, in addition to the great innate diversity, there are distinct migrant populations with unique dental traits. Aim: To assess the distribution and degree of expression of cusp of Carabelli of maxillary first permanent molars and shoveling trait of maxillary central incisors, between three ethnic groups of Coorg, namely Kodavas, Tibetans, and Malayalees. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, indirect, anthropometric, study was carried out among 15- to 30-year-old subjects belonging to three different ethnic origins. A random sample consisting of 91 subjects were recruited for the study. The shovel trait of incisors and the Carabelli trait of molars were recorded according to the classification given by Hrdliƈka and Sousa et al., respectively. Statistical Analysis: The Kruskal-Wallis test was employed to determine the difference in three populations for shoveling and Carabelli traits. Mann-Whitney Test was used for pair-wise comparisons of three populations. Result: Of the total 91 subjects, 31 were Kodavas, 30 Malayalees and 30 Tibetans. There was a statistically significant difference in shoveling trait among the three ethnic groups. For Carabelli traits, there was no statistically significant difference among three ethnic groups. Conclusion: The present study findings showed that Tibetans have a higher degree of shoveling trait than the selected South Indian ethnic groups. PMID:26816457

  20. TraitBank: An Open Digital Repository for Organism Traits

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    TraitBank currently serves over 11 million measurements and facts for more than 1.7 million taxa. These data are mobilized from major biodiversity information systems (e.g., International Union for Conservation of Nature, Ocean Biogeographic Information System, Paleobiology Database), literature sup...

  1. Intraspecific variation in stomatal traits, leaf traits and physiology reflects adaptation along aridity gradients in a South African shrub.

    PubMed

    Carlson, Jane E; Adams, Christopher A; Holsinger, Kent E

    2016-01-01

    Trait-environment relationships are commonly interpreted as evidence for local adaptation in plants. However, even when selection analyses support this interpretation, the mechanisms underlying differential benefits are often unknown. This study addresses this gap in knowledge using the broadly distributed South African shrub Protea repens. Specifically, the study examines whether broad-scale patterns of trait variation are consistent with spatial differences in selection and ecophysiology in the wild. In a common garden study of plants sourced from 19 populations, associations were measured between five morphological traits and three axes describing source climates. Trait-trait and trait-environment associations were analysed in a multi-response model. Within two focal populations in the wild, selection and path analyses were used to test associations between traits, fecundity and physiological performance. Across 19 populations in a common garden, stomatal density increased with the source population's mean annual temperature and decreased with its average amount of rainfall in midsummer. Concordantly, selection analysis in two natural populations revealed positive selection on stomatal density at the hotter, drier site, while failing to detect selection at the cooler, moister site. Dry-site plants with high stomatal density also had higher stomatal conductances, cooler leaf temperatures and higher light-saturated photosynthetic rates than those with low stomatal density, but no such relationships were present among wet-site plants. Leaf area, stomatal pore index and specific leaf area in the garden also co-varied with climate, but within-population differences were not associated with fitness in either wild population. The parallel patterns of broad-scale variation, differences in selection and differences in trait-ecophysiology relationships suggest a mechanism for adaptive differentiation in stomatal density. Densely packed stomata may improve performance by

  2. Le Chatelier--Right or Wrong?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Helfferich, Friedrich G.

    1985-01-01

    Presents a class exercise designed to find out how well students understand the nature and consequences of the mass action law and Le Chatelier's principle as applied to chemical equilibria. The exercise relates to a practical situation and provides simple relations for maximizing equilibrium quantities not found in standard textbooks. (JN)

  3. Le Planetaire (Around the World)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rebouillet, Andre; And Others

    1977-01-01

    This section, "Le Planetaire," contains an interview with Anne Slack on the American Association of Teachers of French and contemporary French culture, a review of a dictionary of familiar French for students, dates to remember, events of interest to French teachers and a general bibliography. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

  4. Estimation of genetic parameters for reproductive traits in alpacas.

    PubMed

    Cruz, A; Cervantes, I; Burgos, A; Morante, R; Gutiérrez, J P

    2015-12-01

    One of the main deficiencies affecting animal breeding programs in Peruvian alpacas is the low reproductive performance leading to low number of animals available to select from, decreasing strongly the selection intensity. Some reproductive traits could be improved by artificial selection, but very few information about genetic parameters exists for these traits in this specie. The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for six reproductive traits in alpacas both in Suri (SU) and Huacaya (HU) ecotypes, as well as their genetic relationship with fiber and morphological traits. Dataset belonging to Pacomarca experimental farm collected between 2000 and 2014 was used. Number of records for age at first service (AFS), age at first calving (AFC), copulation time (CT), pregnancy diagnosis (PD), gestation length (GL), and calving interval (CI) were, respectively, 1704, 854, 19,770, 5874, 4290 and 934. Pedigree consisted of 7742 animals. Regarding reproductive traits, model of analysis included additive and residual random effects for all traits, and also permanent environmental effect for CT, PD, GL and CI traits, with color and year of recording as fixed effects for all the reproductive traits and also age at mating and sex of calf for GL trait. Estimated heritabilities, respectively for HU and SU were 0.19 and 0.09 for AFS, 0.45 and 0.59 for AFC, 0.04 and 0.05 for CT, 0.07 and 0.05 for PD, 0.12 and 0.20 for GL, and 0.14 and 0.09 for CI. Genetic correlations between them ranged from -0.96 to 0.70. No important genetic correlations were found between reproductive traits and fiber or morphological traits in HU. However, some moderate favorable genetic correlations were found between reproductive and either fiber and morphological traits in SU. According to estimated genetic correlations, some reproductive traits might be included as additional selection criteria in HU. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. First impressions: gait cues drive reliable trait judgements.

    PubMed

    Thoresen, John C; Vuong, Quoc C; Atkinson, Anthony P

    2012-09-01

    Personality trait attribution can underpin important social decisions and yet requires little effort; even a brief exposure to a photograph can generate lasting impressions. Body movement is a channel readily available to observers and allows judgements to be made when facial and body appearances are less visible; e.g., from great distances. Across three studies, we assessed the reliability of trait judgements of point-light walkers and identified motion-related visual cues driving observers' judgements. The findings confirm that observers make reliable, albeit inaccurate, trait judgements, and these were linked to a small number of motion components derived from a Principal Component Analysis of the motion data. Parametric manipulation of the motion components linearly affected trait ratings, providing strong evidence that the visual cues captured by these components drive observers' trait judgements. Subsequent analyses suggest that reliability of trait ratings was driven by impressions of emotion, attractiveness and masculinity. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Alternate Forms of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Devito, Anthony J.; Kubis, Joseph F.

    1983-01-01

    Alternate forms of the state anxiety (A-State) and trait anxiety (A-Trait) scales of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were constructed by dividing the 20 items of each scale into two briefer forms having 10 items each. The alternate forms and item statistics are presented. (Author/BW)

  7. Evaluation of Affective Traits of Medical Technology Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fogleman, Janice M.

    An observational rating instrument was developed to measure affective traits of medical technology students. Fourteen categories of behavioral traits evaluated by medical technology programs were identified, based on results of a national survey. These traits were then grouped according to the affective domains established by Krathwohl, Bloom, and…

  8. Functional traits in agriculture: agrobiodiversity and ecosystem services.

    PubMed

    Wood, Stephen A; Karp, Daniel S; DeClerck, Fabrice; Kremen, Claire; Naeem, Shahid; Palm, Cheryl A

    2015-09-01

    Functional trait research has led to greater understanding of the impacts of biodiversity in ecosystems. Yet, functional trait approaches have not been widely applied to agroecosystems and understanding of the importance of agrobiodiversity remains limited to a few ecosystem processes and services. To improve this understanding, we argue here for a functional trait approach to agroecology that adopts recent advances in trait research for multitrophic and spatially heterogeneous ecosystems. We suggest that trait values should be measured across environmental conditions and agricultural management regimes to predict how ecosystem services vary with farm practices and environment. This knowledge should be used to develop management strategies that can be easily implemented by farmers to manage agriculture to provide multiple ecosystem services. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Plant traits determine forest flammability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zylstra, Philip; Bradstock, Ross

    2016-04-01

    Carbon and nutrient cycles in forest ecosystems are influenced by their inherent flammability - a property determined by the traits of the component plant species that form the fuel and influence the micro climate of a fire. In the absence of a model capable of explaining the complexity of such a system however, flammability is frequently represented by simple metrics such as surface fuel load. The implications of modelling fire - flammability feedbacks using surface fuel load were examined and compared to a biophysical, mechanistic model (Forest Flammability Model) that incorporates the influence of structural plant traits (e.g. crown shape and spacing) and leaf traits (e.g. thickness, dimensions and moisture). Fuels burn with values of combustibility modelled from leaf traits, transferring convective heat along vectors defined by flame angle and with plume temperatures that decrease with distance from the flame. Flames are re-calculated in one-second time-steps, with new leaves within the plant, neighbouring plants or higher strata ignited when the modelled time to ignition is reached, and other leaves extinguishing when their modelled flame duration is exceeded. The relative influence of surface fuels, vegetation structure and plant leaf traits were examined by comparing flame heights modelled using three treatments that successively added these components within the FFM. Validation was performed across a diverse range of eucalypt forests burnt under widely varying conditions during a forest fire in the Brindabella Ranges west of Canberra (ACT) in 2003. Flame heights ranged from 10 cm to more than 20 m, with an average of 4 m. When modelled from surface fuels alone, flame heights were on average 1.5m smaller than observed values, and were predicted within the error range 28% of the time. The addition of plant structure produced predicted flame heights that were on average 1.5m larger than observed, but were correct 53% of the time. The over-prediction in this

  10. LeChâtelier's Principle in the Sciences

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thomsen, Volker B. E.

    2000-02-01

    LeChâtelier's principle of chemical equilibrium is actually a very general statement about systems in equilibrium and their behavior when subjected to external force or stress. Although one almost never finds mention of his name or law in other sciences, analogous principles and concepts do exist. In this note we examine some of the similar forms taken by this chemical principle in the fields of physics, geology, biology, and economics. Lenz's law in physics is an example of electromagnetic equilibrium and the geological principle of isostatic uplift concerns mechanical equilibrium. Both are strictly consequences of conservation of energy. LeChâtelier's principle deals with thermodynamic equilibrium and involves both the first and second laws of thermodynamics. The concept of homeostasis in biology and the economic law of supply and demand are both equilibrium-like principles, but involve systems in the steady state. However, all these principles involve the stability of the system under consideration and the analogies presented may be useful in the teaching of LeChâtelier's principle.

  11. Peculiar alexithymic traits in burning mouth syndrome: case-control study.

    PubMed

    Marino, Roberto; Picci, Rocco Luigi; Ferro, Giovanni; Carezana, Claudio; Gandolfo, Sergio; Pentenero, Monica

    2015-11-01

    The present case-control study aims to assess the occurrence of alexithymic traits in burning mouth syndrome (BMS) subjects and to correlate alexithymic traits to anxious and depressive traits in BMS subjects. Prospectively enrolled BMS and control subjects were administered the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Anxiety and depressive traits were assessed using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale. Occurrence of alexithymic traits was compared between BMS and control subjects. Correlation tests were used to measure the importance of alexithymic traits related to demographic characteristics, pain intensity (VAS score), and to the other psychometric scores. Fifty-eight BMS subjects (46 females and 12 males) had a mean TAS-20 score significantly higher when compared to controls (p < 0.001; r = 0.72), corresponding to an occurrence rate of alexithymic traits of 79.3 versus 6.9%. Alexithymic traits in BMS subjects were just related to depressive traits (p = 0.02; ρ = 0.31). The high occurrence of alexithymia in BMS is an adjunctive issue in favor of its multifactorial pathogenesis, with a not negligible role for somatization. Clinicians should be aware of the high occurrence of alexithymic traits among BMS subjects as such traits may affect the doctor-patient relationship.

  12. Plants with useful traits and related methods

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mackenzie, Sally Ann; De la Rosa Santamaria, Roberto

    The present invention provides methods for obtaining plants that exhibit useful traits by transient suppression of the MSH1 gene of the plants. Methods for identifying genetic loci that provide for useful traits in plants and plants produced with those loci are also provided. In addition, plants that exhibit the useful traits, parts of the plants including seeds, and products of the plants are provided as well as methods of using the plants.

  13. Plants with useful traits and related methods

    DOEpatents

    Mackenzie, Sally Ann; De la Rosa Santamaria, Roberto

    2017-07-18

    The present invention provides methods for obtaining plants that exhibit useful traits by transient suppression of the MSH1 gene of the plants. Methods for identifying genetic loci that provide for useful traits in plants and plants produced with those loci are also provided. In addition, plants that exhibit the useful traits, parts of the plants including seeds, and products of the plants are provided as well as methods of using the plants.

  14. Sickle Cell Trait, Exercise, and Altitude.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eichner, Edward R.

    1986-01-01

    Sickle cell trait is generally benign and does not shorten life, but it may confer some small risk with extremes of exercise or altitude. Research concerning these risks is presented, and it is concluded sickle cell trait is no barrier to outstanding athletic performance. (Author/MT)

  15. Intraspecific variability and reaction norms of forest understory plant species traits

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Burton, Julia I.; Perakis, Steven; McKenzie, Sean C.; Lawrence, Caitlin E.; Puettmann, Klaus J.

    2017-01-01

    Trait-based models of ecological communities typically assume intraspecific variation in functional traits is not important, though such variation can change species trait rankings along gradients in resources and environmental conditions, and thus influence community structure and function.We examined the degree of intraspecific relative to interspecific variation, and reaction norms of 11 functional traits for 57 forest understory plant species, including: intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE), Δ15N, 5 leaf traits, 2 stem traits and 2 root traits along gradients in light, nitrogen, moisture and understory cover.Our results indicate that interspecific trait variation exceeded intraspecific variation by at least 50% for most, but not all traits. Intraspecific variation in Δ15N, iWUE, leaf nitrogen content and root traits was high (47-70%) compared with most leaf traits and stem traits (13-38%).Δ15N varied primarily along gradients in abiotic conditions, while light and understory cover were relatively less important. iWUE was related primarily to light transmission, reflecting increases in photosynthesis relative to stomatal conductance. Leaf traits varied mainly as a function of light availability, with some reaction norms depending on understory cover. Plant height increased with understory cover, while stem specific density was related primarily to light. Resources, environmental conditions and understory cover did not contribute strongly to the observed variation in root traits.Gradients in resources, environmental conditions and competition all appear to control intraspecific variability in most traits to some extent. However, our results suggest that species cross-over (i.e., trait rank reversals) along the gradients measured here are generally not a concern.Intraspecific variability in understory plant species traits can be considerable. However, trait data collected under a narrow range of environmental conditions appears sufficient to establish species

  16. Optimized breeding strategies for multiple trait integration: II. Process efficiency in event pyramiding and trait fixation.

    PubMed

    Peng, Ting; Sun, Xiaochun; Mumm, Rita H

    2014-01-01

    Multiple trait integration (MTI) is a multi-step process of converting an elite variety/hybrid for value-added traits (e.g. transgenic events) through backcross breeding. From a breeding standpoint, MTI involves four steps: single event introgression, event pyramiding, trait fixation, and version testing. This study explores the feasibility of marker-aided backcross conversion of a target maize hybrid for 15 transgenic events in the light of the overall goal of MTI of recovering equivalent performance in the finished hybrid conversion along with reliable expression of the value-added traits. Using the results to optimize single event introgression (Peng et al. Optimized breeding strategies for multiple trait integration: I. Minimizing linkage drag in single event introgression. Mol Breed, 2013) which produced single event conversions of recurrent parents (RPs) with ≤8 cM of residual non-recurrent parent (NRP) germplasm with ~1 cM of NRP germplasm in the 20 cM regions flanking the event, this study focused on optimizing process efficiency in the second and third steps in MTI: event pyramiding and trait fixation. Using computer simulation and probability theory, we aimed to (1) fit an optimal breeding strategy for pyramiding of eight events into the female RP and seven in the male RP, and (2) identify optimal breeding strategies for trait fixation to create a 'finished' conversion of each RP homozygous for all events. In addition, next-generation seed needs were taken into account for a practical approach to process efficiency. Building on work by Ishii and Yonezawa (Optimization of the marker-based procedures for pyramiding genes from multiple donor lines: I. Schedule of crossing between the donor lines. Crop Sci 47:537-546, 2007a), a symmetric crossing schedule for event pyramiding was devised for stacking eight (seven) events in a given RP. Options for trait fixation breeding strategies considered selfing and doubled haploid approaches to achieve homozygosity

  17. Advanced complex trait analysis.

    PubMed

    Gray, A; Stewart, I; Tenesa, A

    2012-12-01

    The Genome-wide Complex Trait Analysis (GCTA) software package can quantify the contribution of genetic variation to phenotypic variation for complex traits. However, as those datasets of interest continue to increase in size, GCTA becomes increasingly computationally prohibitive. We present an adapted version, Advanced Complex Trait Analysis (ACTA), demonstrating dramatically improved performance. We restructure the genetic relationship matrix (GRM) estimation phase of the code and introduce the highly optimized parallel Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms (BLAS) library combined with manual parallelization and optimization. We introduce the Linear Algebra PACKage (LAPACK) library into the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) analysis stage. For a test case with 8999 individuals and 279,435 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we reduce the total runtime, using a compute node with two multi-core Intel Nehalem CPUs, from ∼17 h to ∼11 min. The source code is fully available under the GNU Public License, along with Linux binaries. For more information see http://www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/software-products/acta. a.gray@ed.ac.uk Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

  18. Constraints on trait combinations explain climatic drivers of biodiversity: the importance of trait covariance in community assembly.

    PubMed

    Dwyer, John M; Laughlin, Daniel C

    2017-07-01

    Trade-offs maintain diversity and structure communities along environmental gradients. Theory indicates that if covariance among functional traits sets a limit on the number of viable trait combinations in a given environment, then communities with strong multidimensional trait constraints should exhibit low species diversity. We tested this prediction in winter annual plant assemblages along an aridity gradient using multilevel structural equation modelling. Univariate and multivariate functional diversity measures were poorly explained by aridity, and were surprisingly poor predictors of community richness. By contrast, the covariance between maximum height and seed mass strengthened along the aridity gradient, and was strongly associated with richness declines. Community richness had a positive effect on local neighbourhood richness, indicating that climate effects on trait covariance indirectly influence diversity at local scales. We present clear empirical evidence that declines in species richness along gradients of environmental stress can be due to increasing constraints on multidimensional phenotypes. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  19. Transgenic studies reveal the positive role of LeEIL-1 in regulating shikonin biosynthesis in Lithospermum erythrorhizon hairy roots.

    PubMed

    Fang, Rongjun; Zou, Ailan; Zhao, Hua; Wu, Fengyao; Zhu, Yu; Zhao, Hu; Liao, Yonghui; Tang, Ren-Jie; Pang, Yanjun; Yang, Rongwu; Wang, Xiaoming; Qi, Jinliang; Lu, Guihua; Yang, Yonghua

    2016-05-26

    The phytohormone ethylene (ET) is a key signaling molecule for inducing the biosynthesis of shikonin and its derivatives, which are secondary metabolites in Lithospermum erythrorhizon. Although ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE3 (EIN3)/EIN3-like proteins (EILs) are crucial transcription factors in ET signal transduction pathway, the possible function of EIN3/EIL1 in shikonin biosynthesis remains unknown. In this study, by targeting LeEIL-1 (L. erythrorhizon EIN3-like protein gene 1) at the expression level, we revealed the positive regulatory effect of LeEIL-1 on shikonin formation. The mRNA level of LeEIL-1 was significantly up-regulated and down-regulated in the LeEIL-1-overexpressing hairy root lines and LeEIL-1-RNAi hairy root lines, respectively. Specifically, LeEIL-1 overexpression resulted in increased transcript levels of the downstream gene of ET signal transduction pathway (LeERF-1) and a subset of genes for shikonin formation, excretion and/or transportation (LePAL, LeC4H-2, Le4CL-1, HMGR, LePGT-1, LeDI-2, and LePS-2), which was consistent with the enhanced shikonin contents in the LeEIL-1-overexpressing hairy root lines. Conversely, LeEIL-1-RNAi dramatically repressed the expression of the above genes and significantly reduced shikonin production. The results revealed that LeEIL-1 is a positive regulator of the biosynthesis of shikonin and its derivatives in L. erythrorhizon hairy roots. Our findings gave new insights into the molecular regulatory mechanism of ET in shikonin biosynthesis. LeEIL-1 could be a crucial target gene for the genetic engineering of shikonin biosynthesis.

  20. Trait-based approaches in the analysis of stream fish communities

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Frimpong, Emmanuel; Angermeier, Paul

    2010-01-01

    Species traits are used to study the functional organization of fish communities for a range of reasons, from simply reducing data dimensionality to providing mechanistic explanations for observed variation in communities. Ecological and life history traits have been used to understand the basic ecology of fishes and predict (1) species and community responses to habitat and climate alteration, and (2) species extinction, species invasion, and community homogenization. Many approaches in this arena have been developed during the past three decades, but they often have not been integrated with related ecological concepts or subdisciplines, which has led to confusion in terminology. We review 102 studies of species traits and then summarize patterns in traits being used and questions being addressed with trait-based approaches. Overall, studies of fish–habitat relationships that apply habitat templates and hierarchical filters dominate our sample; the most frequently used traits are related to feeding. We define and show the relationships among key terms such as fundamental and realized niches; functional traits, performance, and fitness; tactic, trait-state, syndromes, and strategies; and guilds and functional groups. We propose accelerating research to (1) quantify trait plasticity, (2) identify traits useful for testing ecological hypotheses, (3) model habitat and biotic interactions in communities while explicitly accounting for phylogenetic relationships, (4) explore how traits control community assembly, and (5) document the importance of traits in fish– community responses to anthropogenic change and in delivering ecosystem services. Further synthesis of these topics is still needed to develop concepts, models, and principles that can unify the disparate approaches taken in trait-based analysis of fish communities, link fish community ecology to general community ecology, and inform sustainable management of ecosystems.

  1. Functional traits and root morphology of alpine plants

    PubMed Central

    Pohl, Mandy; Stroude, Raphaël; Buttler, Alexandre; Rixen, Christian

    2011-01-01

    Background and Aims Vegetation has long been recognized to protect the soil from erosion. Understanding species differences in root morphology and functional traits is an important step to assess which species and species mixtures may provide erosion control. Furthermore, extending classification of plant functional types towards root traits may be a useful procedure in understanding important root functions. Methods In this study, pioneer data on traits of alpine plant species, i.e. plant height and shoot biomass, root depth, horizontal root spreading, root length, diameter, tensile strength, plant age and root biomass, from a disturbed site in the Swiss Alps are presented. The applicability of three classifications of plant functional types (PFTs), i.e. life form, growth form and root type, was examined for above- and below-ground plant traits. Key Results Plant traits differed considerably among species even of the same life form, e.g. in the case of total root length by more than two orders of magnitude. Within the same root diameter, species differed significantly in tensile strength: some species (Geum reptans and Luzula spicata) had roots more than twice as strong as those of other species. Species of different life forms provided different root functions (e.g. root depth and horizontal root spreading) that may be important for soil physical processes. All classifications of PFTs were helpful to categorize plant traits; however, the PFTs according to root type explained total root length far better than the other PFTs. Conclusions The results of the study illustrate the remarkable differences between root traits of alpine plants, some of which cannot be assessed from simple morphological inspection, e.g. tensile strength. PFT classification based on root traits seems useful to categorize plant traits, even though some patterns are better explained at the individual species level. PMID:21795278

  2. Berry and phenology-related traits in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.): From Quantitative Trait Loci to underlying genes

    PubMed Central

    Costantini, Laura; Battilana, Juri; Lamaj, Flutura; Fanizza, Girolamo; Grando, Maria Stella

    2008-01-01

    Background The timing of grape ripening initiation, length of maturation period, berry size and seed content are target traits in viticulture. The availability of early and late ripening varieties is desirable for staggering harvest along growing season, expanding production towards periods when the fruit gets a higher value in the market and ensuring an optimal plant adaptation to climatic and geographic conditions. Berry size determines grape productivity; seedlessness is especially demanded in the table grape market and is negatively correlated to fruit size. These traits result from complex developmental processes modified by genetic, physiological and environmental factors. In order to elucidate their genetic determinism we carried out a quantitative analysis in a 163 individuals-F1 segregating progeny obtained by crossing two table grape cultivars. Results Molecular linkage maps covering most of the genome (2n = 38 for Vitis vinifera) were generated for each parent. Eighteen pairs of homologous groups were integrated into a consensus map spanning over 1426 cM with 341 markers (mainly microsatellite, AFLP and EST-derived markers) and an average map distance between loci of 4.2 cM. Segregating traits were evaluated in three growing seasons by recording flowering, veraison and ripening dates and by measuring berry size, seed number and weight. QTL (Quantitative Trait Loci) analysis was carried out based on single marker and interval mapping methods. QTLs were identified for all but one of the studied traits, a number of them steadily over more than one year. Clusters of QTLs for different characters were detected, suggesting linkage or pleiotropic effects of loci, as well as regions affecting specific traits. The most interesting QTLs were investigated at the gene level through a bioinformatic analysis of the underlying Pinot noir genomic sequence. Conclusion Our results revealed novel insights into the genetic control of relevant grapevine features. They

  3. Le modele de Hubbard bidimensionnel a faible couplage: Thermodynamique et phenomenes critiques

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Roy, Sebastien

    Une etude systematique du modele de Hubbard en deux dimensions a faible couplage a l'aide de la theorie Auto-Coherente a Deux Particules (ACDP) dans le diagramme temperature-dopage-interaction-sauts permet de mettre en evidence l'influence des fluctuations magnetiques sur les proprietes thermodynamiques du systeme electronique sur reseau. Le regime classique renormalise a temperature finie pres du dopage nul est marque par la grandeur de la longueur de correlation de spin comparee a la longueur thermique de de Broglie et est caracterisee par un accroissement drastique de la longueur de correlation de spin. Cette croissance exponentielle a dopage nul marque la presence d'un pic de chaleur specifique en fonction de la temperature a basse temperature. Une temperature de crossover est alors associee a la temperature a laquelle la longueur de correlation de spin est egale a la longueur thermique de de Broglie. C'est a cette temperature caracteristique, ou est observee l'ouverture du pseudogap dans le poids spectral, que se situe le maximum du pic de chaleur specifique. La presence de ce pic a des consequences sur l'evolution du potentiel chimique avec le dopage lorsque l'uniformite thermodynamique est respectee. Les contraintes imposees par les lois de la thermodynamique font en sorte que l'evolution du potentiel chimique avec le dopage est non triviale. On demontre entre autres que le potentiel chimique est proportionnel a la double occupation qui est reliee au moment local. Par ailleurs, une derivation de la fonction de mise a l'echelle de la susceptibilite de spin a frequence nulle au voisinage d'un point critique marque sans equivoque la presence d'un point critique quantique en dopage pour une valeur donnee de l'interaction. Ce point critique, associe a une transition de phase magnetique en fonction du dopage a temperature nulle, induit un comportement non trivial sur les proprietes physiques du systeme a temperature finie. L'approche quantitative ACDP permet de

  4. Reinforcing loose foundation stones in trait-based plant ecology.

    PubMed

    Shipley, Bill; De Bello, Francesco; Cornelissen, J Hans C; Laliberté, Etienne; Laughlin, Daniel C; Reich, Peter B

    2016-04-01

    The promise of "trait-based" plant ecology is one of generalized prediction across organizational and spatial scales, independent of taxonomy. This promise is a major reason for the increased popularity of this approach. Here, we argue that some important foundational assumptions of trait-based ecology have not received sufficient empirical evaluation. We identify three such assumptions and, where possible, suggest methods of improvement: (i) traits are functional to the degree that they determine individual fitness, (ii) intraspecific variation in functional traits can be largely ignored, and (iii) functional traits show general predictive relationships to measurable environmental gradients.

  5. Bacteriuria in pregnant women with sickle cell trait.

    PubMed

    Thurman, Andrea Ries; Steed, Lisa L; Hulsey, Thomas; Soper, David E

    2006-05-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the following outcome variables in pregnant patients with sickle cell trait and matched pregnant control patients: asymptomatic bacteriuria, acute cystitis, urinary pathogens that were present, and pyelonephritis. This was a retrospective cohort study that was conducted at a university clinic. Pregnant patients with sickle cell trait (n = 455) were matched with control patients (n = 448) for race, age, gestational age at entry into prenatal care, and number of prenatal visits. Women with sickle cell trait received urine testing significantly more often. There was no difference in the incidence of positive urine cultures, urinary pathogens, or asymptomatic bacteriuria among the comparison groups. Sickle cell trait carriers had significantly higher rates of pyelonephritis, but many affected patients had risk factors, such as previous pyelonephritis or noncompliance with therapy. Sickle cell trait carriers were no more susceptible to acute cystitis and asymptomatic bacteriuria than were the control patients. On the basis of these data, we outline recommendations for urinary screening and pyelonephritis prevention in pregnant patients with sickle cell trait.

  6. [LE cells in synovial fluid: prevalence and diagnostic usefulness in rheumatic diseases].

    PubMed

    Puszczewicz, Mariusz; Białkowska-Puszczewicz, Grazyna

    2010-01-01

    This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of LE cells in synovial fluid and their importance for the diagnosis of rheumatic disease. Synovial fluid was obtained from 631 patients: 31 with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 337 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 4 with Still's disease, 9 with systemic scleroderma (SS), 27 with the overlap syndrome (RA/SLE), 132 with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), 57 with Reiter's syndrome, and 34 with psoriatic arthritis (PA). The fluid was centrifuged, precipitate smears were done and were May-Grünwald-Giemsa stained for cytologic assessment. The supernatant was collected for antinuclear antibody (ANA) testing. Physicochemical and serologic properties of the synovial fluid were routinely determined. All synovial fluids demonstrated signs of inflammation. The presence of LE cells was ascertained in five patients with SLE and nine patients with the overlap syndrome. In these cases, LE cells were accompanied by ANA. In addition, hematoxylin bodies were revealed in SLE patients. LE cells were observed in 2.6% of patients with RA but were not accompanied by ANA. Patients with SS, Still's disease, AS, Reiter's syndrome, and PA tested negative for LE cells. It appears from these results that LE cells are rarely present in the synovial fluid of patients with rheumatic diseases. In contrast, they occur in more than 40% of patients with the overlap syndrome and may thus be regarded as important for the diagnosis of this condition.

  7. Neurological soft signs in Chinese adolescents with antisocial personality traits.

    PubMed

    Wang, Xin; Cai, Lin; Li, Lingyan; Yang, Yanjie; Yao, Shuqiao; Zhu, Xiongzhao

    2016-09-30

    The current study was designed to explore the specific relationship between neurologic soft signs (NSSs) and characteristics of antisocial personality traits in adolescents, and to investigate particular NSSs linked to certain brain regions in adolescents with antisocial personality traits. The research was conducted on 96 adolescents diagnosed with ASP traits (ASP trait group) using the ASPD subscale of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire for the DSM-IV (PDQ-4+) and 96 adolescents without traits of any personality disorder (control group). NSSs were assessed using the soft sign subscales of the Cambridge Neurological Inventory. Adolescents with ASP traits showed more motor coordination, sensory integration, disinhibition, and total NSSs than the control group. Seven NSSs, including stereognosia in right hand, finger agnosia and graphesthesia in both hands, left-right orientation, and go/no go stimulus, were significantly more frequent in teenagers with ASP traits. Sensory integration was positively associated with ASP traits. Adolescents with antisocial personality traits might have abnormalities in the central nervous system, and sensory integration might be the particular indicator of antisocial personality disorder. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Helen Primrose LeVesconte: occupational therapy clinician, educator, and maker of history.

    PubMed

    Friedland, Judith; Rais, Hadassah

    2005-06-01

    The Canadian history of our profession is not well known and our identity is thought to suffer as a result. Helen Primrose LeVesconte (7896-1982) is one pioneer in our development whose story has not been told. Our purpose is to explore LeVesconte's life and work in order to expand knowledge of our roots and thereby strengthen our identity. Using interpretive biography methods we draw on LeVesconte's own writings, articles written about her, and archival documents to describe turning point moments in her life and to display meaningful patterns in her work. LeVesconte's work as a clinician and her role and reputation as an educator, show her to have been a strong and visionary leader. Her views on the client's role, the importance of the therapist-client relationship, prevention, community-based programs, and vocational rehabilitation are of particular interest. Because LeVesconte educated over 1,850 students while director of the occupational therapy program at the University of Toronto, her influence has been felt throughout the country. Her perspective is compared to current practice; and questions are raised as to aspects of her legacy and philosophy that might now be reconsidered.

  9. Developing Leadership Traits.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hall, Susan King

    1980-01-01

    Defines six leadership traits that are necessary to and fostered by editing a college newspaper: delegating authority, developing subordinates, motivating others, being approachable, commanding respect, and bringing out optimum performances in others. (TJ)

  10. Differential heritability of adult and juvenile antisocial traits.

    PubMed

    Lyons, M J; True, W R; Eisen, S A; Goldberg, J; Meyer, J M; Faraone, S V; Eaves, L J; Tsuang, M T

    1995-11-01

    Studies of adult antisocial behavior or criminality usually find genetic factors to be more important than the family environment, whereas studies of delinquency find the family environment to be more important. We compared DSM-III-R antisocial personality disorder symptoms before vs after the age of 15 years within a sample of twins, rather than comparing across studies. We administered the Diagnostic Interview Schedule Version III-revised by telephone to 3226 pairs of male twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Biometrical modeling was applied to each symptom of antisocial personality disorder and summary measures of juvenile and adult symptoms. Five juvenile symptoms were significantly heritable, and five were significantly influenced by the shared environment. Eight adult symptoms were significantly heritable, and one was significantly influenced by the shared environment. The shared environment explained about six times more variance in juvenile anti-social traits than in adult traits. Shared environmental influences on adult antisocial traits overlapped entirely with those on juvenile traits. Additive genetic factors explained about six times more variance in adult vs juvenile traits. The juvenile genetic determinants overlapped completely with genetic influences on adult traits. The unique environment (plus measurement error) explained the largest proportion of variance in both juvenile and adult antisocial traits. Characteristics of the shared or family environment that promote antisocial behavior during childhood and early adolescence also promote later antisocial behavior, but to a much lesser extent. Genetic causal factors are much more prominent for adult than for juvenile antisocial traits.

  11. Introduction to a Virtual Issue on root traits

    DOE PAGES

    Norby, Richard J.; Iversen, Colleen M.

    2017-05-31

    Plant traits – ‘morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochem-ical and phenological characteristics of plants and their organs’(Kattge et al., 2011) – are increasingly being harnessed byempiricists and modelers as a framework to understand patternsin the structure and function of specie s across the globe. Trait-basedecology, which emphasizes functional traits over the taxonomicalrelationships among organisms (Laliberte, 2017), promises toimprove generality, synthesis, and predictive ability across ecolog-ical scales (Shipley et al., 2016). Indeed, plant trait studies areincreasingly prominent in the literature: a simple Web of Sciencesearch on the term indicates a surge in publications from 2576during the three-year period from 1999 to 2001 tomore » 13 234 in thethree-year period between 2014 and 2016. However, the mostcommon plant traits described in the literature relate to above -ground organs and their function, including leaf morphology,photosynthetic parameters, and above ground growth rate. Roottraits, particularly those of fine roots associated with criticalbelowground plant functions, are much less studied – they are, afterall, harder to measure and less likely to have a role in ecosystemmodels as they are encoded today. Although the TRY database ofplant traits (Kattge et al., 2011) has been a highly valuable resourcefor plant and ecosystem ecologists, < 1% of the data entries describefine-root functional traits. This glaring gap in our knowledge of thebelowground half of ecosystem function has led to a chorus of pleasin recent years for a stronger emphasis on the measurement andunderstanding of root traits (e.g . Bardgett et al., 2014).« less

  12. Neural Basis of Interpersonal Traits in Neurodegenerative Diseases

    PubMed Central

    Sollberger, Marc; Stanley, Christine M.; Wilson, Stephen M.; Gyurak, Anett; Beckman, Victoria; Growdon, Matthew; Jang, Jung; Weiner, Michael W.; Miller, Bruce L.; Rankin, Katherine P.

    2009-01-01

    Several functional and structural imaging studies have investigated the neural basis of personality in healthy adults, but human lesions studies are scarce. Personality changes are a common symptom in patients with neurodegenerative diseases like frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and semantic dementia (SD), allowing a unique window into the neural basis of personality. In this study, we used the Interpersonal Adjective Scales to investigate the structural basis of eight interpersonal traits (dominance, arrogance, coldness, introversion, submissiveness, ingenuousness, warmth, and extraversion) in 257 subjects: 214 patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as FTD, SD, progressive non-fluent aphasia, Alzheimer’s disease, amnestic mild cognitive impairment, corticobasal degeneration, and progressive supranuclear palsy and 43 healthy elderly people. Measures of interpersonal traits were correlated with regional atrophy pattern using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis of structural MR images. Interpersonal traits mapped onto distinct brain regions depending on the degree to which they involved agency and affiliation. Interpersonal traits high in agency related to left dorsolateral prefrontal and left lateral frontopolar regions, whereas interpersonal traits high in affiliation related to right ventromedial prefrontal and right anteromedial temporal regions. Consistent with the existing literature on neural networks underlying social cognition, these results indicate that brain regions related to externally-focused, executive control-related processes underlie agentic interpersonal traits such as dominance, whereas brain regions related to internally-focused, emotion- and reward-related processes underlie affiliative interpersonal traits such as warmth. In addition, these findings indicate that interpersonal traits are subserved by complex neural networks rather than discrete anatomic areas. PMID:19540253

  13. Introduction to a Virtual Issue on root traits

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Norby, Richard J.; Iversen, Colleen M.

    Plant traits – ‘morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochem-ical and phenological characteristics of plants and their organs’(Kattge et al., 2011) – are increasingly being harnessed byempiricists and modelers as a framework to understand patternsin the structure and function of specie s across the globe. Trait-basedecology, which emphasizes functional traits over the taxonomicalrelationships among organisms (Laliberte, 2017), promises toimprove generality, synthesis, and predictive ability across ecolog-ical scales (Shipley et al., 2016). Indeed, plant trait studies areincreasingly prominent in the literature: a simple Web of Sciencesearch on the term indicates a surge in publications from 2576during the three-year period from 1999 to 2001 tomore » 13 234 in thethree-year period between 2014 and 2016. However, the mostcommon plant traits described in the literature relate to above -ground organs and their function, including leaf morphology,photosynthetic parameters, and above ground growth rate. Roottraits, particularly those of fine roots associated with criticalbelowground plant functions, are much less studied – they are, afterall, harder to measure and less likely to have a role in ecosystemmodels as they are encoded today. Although the TRY database ofplant traits (Kattge et al., 2011) has been a highly valuable resourcefor plant and ecosystem ecologists, < 1% of the data entries describefine-root functional traits. This glaring gap in our knowledge of thebelowground half of ecosystem function has led to a chorus of pleasin recent years for a stronger emphasis on the measurement andunderstanding of root traits (e.g . Bardgett et al., 2014).« less

  14. Exploring depressive personality traits in youth: origins, correlates, and developmental consequences.

    PubMed

    Rudolph, Karen D; Klein, Daniel N

    2009-01-01

    Research suggests that depressive personality (DP) disorder may represent a persistent, trait-based form of depression that lies along an affective spectrum ranging from personality traits to diagnosable clinical disorders. A significant gap in this area of research concerns the development of DP and its applicability to youth. The present research explored the construct of DP traits in youth. Specifically, this study examined the reliability, stability, and validity of the construct, potential origins of DP traits, and the developmental consequences of DP traits. A sample of 143 youth (mean age = 12.37 years, SD = 1.26) and their caregivers completed semistructured interviews and questionnaires on two occasions, separated by a 12-month interval. The measure of DP traits was reliable and moderately stable over time. Providing evidence of construct validity, DP traits were associated with a network of constructs, including a negative self-focus, high-negative and low-positive emotionality, and heightened stress reactivity. Moreover, several potential origins of DP traits were identified, including a history of family adversity, maternal DP traits, and maternal depression. Consistent with hypotheses regarding their developmental significance, DP traits predicted the generation of stress and the emergence of depression (but not nondepressive psychopathology) during the pubertal transition. Finally, depression predicted subsequent DP traits, suggesting a reciprocal process whereby DP traits heighten risk for depression, which then exacerbates these traits. These findings support the construct of DP traits in youth, and suggest that these traits may be a useful addition to developmental models of risk for youth depression.

  15. Exploring Depressive Personality Traits in Youth: Origins, Correlates, and Developmental Consequences

    PubMed Central

    Rudolph, Karen D.; Klein, Daniel N.

    2009-01-01

    Research suggests that depressive personality (DP) disorder may represent a persistent, trait-based form of depression that lies along an affective spectrum ranging from personality traits to diagnosable clinical disorders (Klein & Bessaha, 2009). A significant gap in this area of research concerns the development of DP and its applicability to youth. The present research explored the construct of DP traits in youth. Specifically, this study examined the reliability, stability, and validity of the construct, potential origins of DP traits, and the developmental consequences of DP traits. A sample of 143 youth (M age = 12.37 years, SD = 1.26) and their caregivers completed semi-structured interviews and questionnaires on two occasions, separated by a 12 month interval. The measure of DP traits was reliable and moderately stable over time. Providing evidence of construct validity, DP traits were associated with a network of constructs, including a negative self-focus, high negative and low positive emotionality, and heightened stress reactivity. Moreover, several potential origins of DP traits were identified, including a history of family adversity, maternal DP traits, and maternal depression. Consistent with hypotheses regarding their developmental significance, DP traits predicted the generation of stress and the emergence of depression (but not nondepressive psychopathology) during the pubertal transition. Finally, depression predicted subsequent DP traits, suggesting a reciprocal process whereby DP traits heighten risk for depression, which then exacerbates these traits. These findings support the construct of DP traits in youth, and suggest that these traits may be a useful addition to developmental models of risk for youth depression. PMID:19825262

  16. Influence du comportement des accompagnants sur le vécu des patients admis pour hémorragies digestives hautes au CHU campus de Lomé (Togo)

    PubMed Central

    Bagny, Aklesso; Dusabe, Angelique; Bouglouga, Oumboma; Lawson-ananisoh, Mawuli Late; Kaaga, Yeba Laconi; Djibril, Mohaman Awalou; Soedje, Kokou Mensah; Dassa, Simliwa Kolou; Redah, Datouda

    2014-01-01

    Introduction L'hémorragie digestive haute est une urgence, qui constitue souvent pour les patients un danger mortel suscitant inquiétude et agitation. Dans cet état, le patient dépend de ses accompagnants pour ses soins et pour honorer le traitement; mais souvent, il a été observé une discordance entre l'urgence et les comportements des accompagnants. Le but de cette étude était de décrire les facteurs socioéconomiques et psychologiques pouvant influencer les comportements des accompagnants des patients admis pour HDH, estimer l'indice de relation entre ces comportements et les facteurs associés d'une part et le vécu des patients admis pour HDH d'autre part. Méthodes Il s'agit d'une étude prospective menée de Septembre 2010 à Juin 2011 (soit 10 mois). Nous avions utilisé l'entretien semi-dirigé et l'observation directe pour collecter nos données, ces dernières avaient été traitées par les méthodes statistiques et d'analyse de contenu. Résultats Dans la présente étude, les comportements des accompagnants des patients admis pour HDH sont en majorité marqués par l'abandon (84%) et le manque de sollicitude (80,2%). Ces comportements sont souvent stimulés par les facteurs socioéconomiques tels que les difficultés économiques (83,2%), des conflits intrafamiliaux (85,1%) et des représentations (maladie incurable ou envoûtement) de la maladie par les accompagnants (73,3%) des cas. Quant aux patients, ils vivent ces comportements comme étant des menaces de mort ou des rejets (77,20%) et comme étant une dévalorisation ou une humiliation de la part de leurs accompagnants (70,30%). Les résultats confirment l'existence de lien significatif entre les comportements des accompagnants et les facteurs socio économiques, entre les comportements des accompagnants et des facteurs psychologiques, et entre le vécu des patients admis pour l'HDH et les comportements des accompagnants. Conclusion Des études ultérieures devraient aborder les points

  17. Plasticity Regulators Modulate Specific Root Traits in Discrete Nitrogen Environments

    PubMed Central

    Gifford, Miriam L.; Banta, Joshua A.; Katari, Manpreet S.; Hulsmans, Jo; Chen, Lisa; Ristova, Daniela; Tranchina, Daniel; Purugganan, Michael D.; Coruzzi, Gloria M.; Birnbaum, Kenneth D.

    2013-01-01

    Plant development is remarkably plastic but how precisely can the plant customize its form to specific environments? When the plant adjusts its development to different environments, related traits can change in a coordinated fashion, such that two traits co-vary across many genotypes. Alternatively, traits can vary independently, such that a change in one trait has little predictive value for the change in a second trait. To characterize such “tunability” in developmental plasticity, we carried out a detailed phenotypic characterization of complex root traits among 96 accessions of the model Arabidopsis thaliana in two nitrogen environments. The results revealed a surprising level of independence in the control of traits to environment – a highly tunable form of plasticity. We mapped genetic architecture of plasticity using genome-wide association studies and further used gene expression analysis to narrow down gene candidates in mapped regions. Mutants in genes implicated by association and expression analysis showed precise defects in the predicted traits in the predicted environment, corroborating the independent control of plasticity traits. The overall results suggest that there is a pool of genetic variability in plants that controls traits in specific environments, with opportunity to tune crop plants to a given environment. PMID:24039603

  18. Endocytosis in the Shiitake Mushroom Lentinula edodes and Involvement of GTPase LeRAB7▿

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Ming Tsung; Szeto, Carol Ying Ying; Ng, Tak Pan; Kwan, Hoi Shan

    2007-01-01

    Endocytosis is the process by which substrates enter a cell without passing through the plasma membrane but rather invaginate the cell membrane and form intracellular vesicles. Rab7 regulates endocytic trafficking between early and late endosomes and between late endosomes and lysosomes. LeRab7 in Lentinula edodes is strongly homologous to Rab7 in Homo sapiens. Receptors for activated C kinase-1 (LeRACK1) and Rab5 GTPase (LeRAB5) were isolated as interacting partners of LeRab7, and the interactions were confirmed by in vivo and in vitro protein interaction assays. The three genes showed differential expression in the various developmental stages of the mushroom. In situ hybridization showed that the three transcripts were localized in regions of active growth, such as the outer region of trama cells, and the subhymenium of the hymenophore of mature fruiting bodies and the prehymenophore of young fruiting bodies. The existence of endocytosis in the mycelium and hymenophores was confirmed by the internalization of FM4-64. LeRAB7 was partially colocalized with the AM4-64 and was located in the late endocytic pathway. This is the first report of the presence of endocytosis in homobasidiomycetes. LeRAB7, LeRAB5, and LeRACK1 may contribute to the growth of L. edodes and cell differentiation in hymenophores. PMID:17921351

  19. Relations between big five traits and fundamental motives.

    PubMed

    Olson, Kenneth R; Weber, Dale A

    2004-12-01

    Relations were examined between configurations of Big Five Traits (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience) and 16 fundamental motives (Social Contact, Curiosity, Honor, Power, Order, Idealism, Independence, Status, Vengeance, Romance, Family, Activity, Saving, Acceptance, Eating, Tranquility) in 138 university students (93 women, 45 men; M age= 20.3 yr., SD=4.5). Big Five traits were measured with the NEO-PI-R and motives were measured with the Reiss Profile of Fundamental Goals and Motivation Sensitivities. The traits were significantly related with all the motives (adjusted R2=.06 to .43) except Physical Activity. Four motives were related with only one trait and nine configurations of two or more traits were correlated with the remaining 11 motives. Total motive scores across all participants, an index of the strength of overall motivation, were positively correlated with Extraversion and Neuroticism and negatively with Agreeableness.

  20. Cassava traits and end-user preference: Relating traits to consumer liking, sensory perception, and genetics.

    PubMed

    Bechoff, Aurélie; Tomlins, Keith; Fliedel, Geneviève; Becerra Lopez-Lavalle, Luis Augusto; Westby, Andrew; Hershey, Clair; Dufour, Dominique

    2018-03-04

    Breeding efforts have focused on improving agronomic traits of the cassava plant however little research has been done to enhance the crop palatability. This review investigates the links between cassava traits and end-user preference in relation with sensory characteristics. The main trait is starch and its composition related to the textural properties of the food. Pectin degradation during cooking resulted in increased mealiness. Nutritional components such as carotenoids made the cassava yellow but also altered sweetness and softness; however, yellow cassava was more appreciated by consumers than traditional (white) varieties. Components formed during processing such as organic acids gave fermented cassava products an acidic taste that was appreciated but the fermented smell was not always liked. Anti-nutritional compounds such as cyanogenic glucosides were mostly related to bitter taste. Post-harvest Physiological Deterioration (PPD) affected the overall sensory characteristics and acceptability. Genes responsible for some of these traits were also investigated. Diversity in cassava food products can provide a challenge to identifying acceptance criteria. Socio-economic factors such as gender may also be critical. This review leads to questions in relation to the adaptation of cassava breeding to meet consumer needs and preference in order to maximize income, health and food security.

  1. Quantitative trait loci for live animal and carcass composition traits in Jersey and Limousin back-cross cattle finished on pasture or feedlot.

    PubMed

    Morris, C A; Pitchford, W S; Cullen, N G; Esmailizadeh, A K; Hickey, S M; Hyndman, D; Dodds, K G; Afolayan, R A; Crawford, A M; Bottema, C D K

    2009-10-01

    A quantitative trait locus (QTL) study was carried out in two countries, recording live animal and carcass composition traits. Back-cross calves (385 heifers and 398 steers) were generated, with Jersey and Limousin breed backgrounds. The New Zealand cattle were reared on pasture to carcass weights averaging 229 kg, whilst the Australian cattle were reared on grass and finished on grain (for at least 180 days) to carcass weights averaging 335 kg. From 11 live animal traits and 31 carcass composition traits respectively, 5 and 22 QTL were detected in combined-sire analyses, which were significant (P < 0.05) on a genome-wise basis. Fourteen significant traits for carcass composition QTL were on chromosome 2 and these were traits associated with muscling and fatness. This chromosome carried a variant myostatin allele (F94L), segregating from the Limousin ancestry. Despite very different cattle management systems between the two countries, the two populations had a large number of QTL in common. Of the 18 traits which were common to both countries, and which had significant QTL at the genome-wise level, eight were significant in both countries.

  2. Quantitative trait loci mapping for Gibberella ear rot resistance and associated agronomic traits using genotyping-by-sequencing in maize.

    PubMed

    Kebede, Aida Z; Woldemariam, Tsegaye; Reid, Lana M; Harris, Linda J

    2016-01-01

    Unique and co-localized chromosomal regions affecting Gibberella ear rot disease resistance and correlated agronomic traits were identified in maize. Dissecting the mechanisms underlying resistance to Gibberella ear rot (GER) disease in maize provides insight towards more informed breeding. To this goal, we evaluated 410 recombinant inbred lines (RIL) for GER resistance over three testing years using silk channel and kernel inoculation techniques. RILs were also evaluated for agronomic traits like days to silking, husk cover, and kernel drydown rate. The RILs showed significant genotypic differences for all traits with above average to high heritability estimates. Significant (P < 0.01) but weak genotypic correlations were observed between disease severity and agronomic traits, indicating the involvement of agronomic traits in disease resistance. Common QTLs were detected for GER resistance and kernel drydown rate, suggesting the existence of pleiotropic genes that could be exploited to improve both traits at the same time. The QTLs identified for silk and kernel resistance shared some common regions on chromosomes 1, 2, and 8 and also had some regions specific to each tissue on chromosomes 9 and 10. Thus, effective GER resistance breeding could be achieved by considering screening methods that allow exploitation of tissue-specific disease resistance mechanisms and include kernel drydown rate either in an index or as indirect selection criterion.

  3. Brain structure links trait creativity to openness to experience

    PubMed Central

    Huang, Lijie; Kong, Xiangzhen; Yang, Wenjing; Wei, Dongtao; Li, Jingguang; Cheng, Hongsheng; Zhang, Qinglin

    2015-01-01

    Creativity is crucial to the progression of human civilization and has led to important scientific discoveries. Especially, individuals are more likely to have scientific discoveries if they possess certain personality traits of creativity (trait creativity), including imagination, curiosity, challenge and risk-taking. This study used voxel-based morphometry to identify the brain regions underlying individual differences in trait creativity, as measured by the Williams creativity aptitude test, in a large sample (n = 246). We found that creative individuals had higher gray matter volume in the right posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG), which might be related to semantic processing during novelty seeking (e.g. novel association, conceptual integration and metaphor understanding). More importantly, although basic personality factors such as openness to experience, extroversion, conscientiousness and agreeableness (as measured by the NEO Personality Inventory) all contributed to trait creativity, only openness to experience mediated the association between the right pMTG volume and trait creativity. Taken together, our results suggest that the basic personality trait of openness might play an important role in shaping an individual’s trait creativity. PMID:24603022

  4. Personality traits of the relatives of autistic probands.

    PubMed

    Murphy, M; Bolton, P F; Pickles, A; Fombonne, E; Piven, J; Rutter, M

    2000-11-01

    There is substantial evidence that the genetic liability to autism confers a risk for a range of more subtle social and communication impairments, as well as stereotyped and repetitive behaviours. Recent research suggests that increased expression of particular personality traits may be a manifestation of the liability to autism. To investigate this we examined the personality traits of the adult relatives of 99 autistic and 36 Down's syndrome probands, using the informant version of the Modified Personality Assessment Schedule. There was significantly increased expression of the traits anxious, impulsive, aloof, shy, over-sensitive, irritable and eccentric among the autism relatives with evidence of different profiles for male and female relatives and for parents and adult children. Factor analysis revealed three broad groups of traits, two of which ('withdrawn' and 'difficult') appeared to reflect impairments in social functioning and a third group of anxiety related traits ('tense'). Each of these factors differed in their pattern of associations with the factor we termed 'withdrawn' showing a similar pattern of association to that found for other autism related conditions. The 'tense' factor appeared in part to be related to the burden of caring for an autistic child. This study confirms the finding that particular personality traits may aggregate in the family members of autistic individuals and furthermore that some of these traits may be a manifestation of the liability to autism.

  5. Genetic analysis of root morphological traits in wheat.

    PubMed

    Petrarulo, Maria; Marone, Daniela; Ferragonio, Pina; Cattivelli, Luigi; Rubiales, Diego; De Vita, Pasquale; Mastrangelo, Anna Maria

    2015-06-01

    Traits related to root architecture are of great importance for yield performance of crop species, although they remain poorly understood. The present study is aimed at identifying the genomic regions involved in the control of root morphological traits in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.). A set of 123 recombinant inbred lines derived from the durum wheat cross of cvs. 'Creso' × 'Pedroso' were grown hydroponically to two growth stages, and were phenotypically evaluated for a number of root traits. In addition, meta-(M)QTL analysis was performed that considered the results of other root traits studies in wheat, to compare with the 'Creso' × 'Pedroso' cross and to increase the QTL detection power. Eight quantitative trait loci (QTL) for traits related to root morphology were identified on chromosomes 1A, 1B, 2A, 3A, 6A and 6B in the 'Creso' × 'Pedroso' segregating population. Twenty-two MQTL that comprised from two to six individual QTL that had widely varying confidence intervals were found on 14 chromosomes. The data from the present study provide a detailed analysis of the genetic basis of morphological root traits in wheat. This study of the 'Creso' × 'Pedroso' durum-wheat population has revealed some QTL that had not been previously identified.

  6. Field-Based High-Throughput Plant Phenotyping Reveals the Temporal Patterns of Quantitative Trait Loci Associated with Stress-Responsive Traits in Cotton

    PubMed Central

    Pauli, Duke; Andrade-Sanchez, Pedro; Carmo-Silva, A. Elizabete; Gazave, Elodie; French, Andrew N.; Heun, John; Hunsaker, Douglas J.; Lipka, Alexander E.; Setter, Tim L.; Strand, Robert J.; Thorp, Kelly R.; Wang, Sam; White, Jeffrey W.; Gore, Michael A.

    2016-01-01

    The application of high-throughput plant phenotyping (HTPP) to continuously study plant populations under relevant growing conditions creates the possibility to more efficiently dissect the genetic basis of dynamic adaptive traits. Toward this end, we employed a field-based HTPP system that deployed sets of sensors to simultaneously measure canopy temperature, reflectance, and height on a cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) recombinant inbred line mapping population. The evaluation trials were conducted under well-watered and water-limited conditions in a replicated field experiment at a hot, arid location in central Arizona, with trait measurements taken at different times on multiple days across 2010–2012. Canopy temperature, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), height, and leaf area index (LAI) displayed moderate-to-high broad-sense heritabilities, as well as varied interactions among genotypes with water regime and time of day. Distinct temporal patterns of quantitative trait loci (QTL) expression were mostly observed for canopy temperature and NDVI, and varied across plant developmental stages. In addition, the strength of correlation between HTPP canopy traits and agronomic traits, such as lint yield, displayed a time-dependent relationship. We also found that the genomic position of some QTL controlling HTPP canopy traits were shared with those of QTL identified for agronomic and physiological traits. This work demonstrates the novel use of a field-based HTPP system to study the genetic basis of stress-adaptive traits in cotton, and these results have the potential to facilitate the development of stress-resilient cotton cultivars. PMID:26818078

  7. Blue & C--Personality Traits of Leaders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Freeman, Virgil

    2009-01-01

    School superintendents and school leaders can be most effective if they understand their personality traits and the traits of those they learn and work with. A school leader can maximize their effectiveness by examining their own behaviors, thinking and habits as well as recognizing the behaviors of others. The DISC Pure Behavioral styles and the…

  8. Using traits to uncover tropical forest function

    DOE PAGES

    McDowell, Nate G.; Xu, Chonggang

    2017-04-11

    Plant traits reflect their evolutionary history and influence physiological processes (Reich 2014). For example, the embolism risk taken by plants, called the embolism safety margin, is a good predictor of stomatal conductance, and hence photosynthesis (Skelton et al. 2015). Trait-science has grown dramatically in the last decade as we have found universal patterns governing the carbon and nutrient economies of plants (Bloom et al. 1985). Perhaps the greatest value of studying plant functional traits is that they yield understanding of plant functional processes.

  9. Approximation of reliabilities for multiple-trait model with maternal effects.

    PubMed

    Strabel, T; Misztal, I; Bertrand, J K

    2001-04-01

    Reliabilities for a multiple-trait maternal model were obtained by combining reliabilities obtained from single-trait models. Single-trait reliabilities were obtained using an approximation that supported models with additive and permanent environmental effects. For the direct effect, the maternal and permanent environmental variances were assigned to the residual. For the maternal effect, variance of the direct effect was assigned to the residual. Data included 10,550 birth weight, 11,819 weaning weight, and 3,617 postweaning gain records of Senepol cattle. Reliabilities were obtained by generalized inversion and by using single-trait and multiple-trait approximation methods. Some reliabilities obtained by inversion were negative because inbreeding was ignored in calculating the inverse of the relationship matrix. The multiple-trait approximation method reduced the bias of approximation when compared with the single-trait method. The correlations between reliabilities obtained by inversion and by multiple-trait procedures for the direct effect were 0.85 for birth weight, 0.94 for weaning weight, and 0.96 for postweaning gain. Correlations for maternal effects for birth weight and weaning weight were 0.96 to 0.98 for both approximations. Further improvements can be achieved by refining the single-trait procedures.

  10. Culpabilité chez les enfants victimes d’agression sexuelle : Lele médiateur des stratégies d’évitement sur l’anxiété et l’estime de soi

    PubMed Central

    Gauthier-Duchesne, Amélie; Hébert, Martine; Daspe, Marie-Ève

    2017-01-01

    Résumé Des études antérieures relèvent que le sentiment de culpabilité est un facteur associé aux répercussions de l’agression sexuelle (AS) chez les survivants adultes (Cantón-Cortés, Cantón, Justicia et Cortés, 2011). Toutefois, très peu d’études ont exploré lele potentiel du sentiment de culpabilité sur les symptômes chez les enfants victimes. L’objectif de cette recherche est d’étudier lele médiateur de l’évitement dans la relation entre le sentiment de culpabilité et les symptômes associés à l’AS (anxiété et estime de soi). L’échantillon est composé de 447 enfants victimes d'AS (319 filles et 128 garçons), âgés de 6 à 12 ans. Les résultats des analyses acheminatoires indiquent que les enfants révélant davantage de culpabilité par rapport à la situation d’AS présentent un niveau plus élevé d’anxiété et une plus faible estime d’eux-mêmes. Un effet indirect a également été observé et montre que le sentiment de culpabilité est lié à l’utilisation de stratégies d’évitement, qui en retour exacerbent les symptômes d’anxiété et contribuent à une plus faible estime de soi. Le modèle, qui s’ajuste aux données de manière équivalente pour les filles et les garçons, permet d’expliquer 24,4 % de la variance des symptômes d’anxiété et 11,2 % de la variance de l’estime de soi. Ces résultats laissent entendre que le sentiment de culpabilité pourrait constituer une cible d’intervention pertinente pour les enfants victimes d’AS. PMID:29445251

  11. Maladaptive Personality Trait Models: Validating the Five-Factor Model Maladaptive Trait Measures With the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 and NEO Personality Inventory.

    PubMed

    Helle, Ashley C; Mullins-Sweatt, Stephanie N

    2017-05-01

    Eight measures have been developed to assess maladaptive variants of the five-factor model (FFM) facets specific to personality disorders (e.g., Five-Factor Borderline Inventory [FFBI]). These measures can be used in their entirety or as facet-based scales (e.g., FFBI Affective Dysregulation) to improve the comprehensiveness of assessment of pathological personality. There are a limited number of studies examining these scales with other measures of similar traits (e.g., DSM-5 alternative model). The current study examined the FFM maladaptive scales in relation to the respective general personality traits of the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised and the pathological personality traits of the DSM-5 alternative model using the Personality Inventory for DSM-5. The results indicated the FFM maladaptive trait scales predominantly converged with corresponding NEO Personality Inventory-Revised, and Personality Inventory for DSM-5 traits, providing further validity for these measures as extensions of general personality traits and evidence for their relation to the pathological trait model. Benefits and applications of the FFM maladaptive scales in clinical and research settings are discussed.

  12. La prévention de l’infection par le virus respiratoire syncytial

    PubMed Central

    Samson, L

    2009-01-01

    L’infection par le virus respiratoire syncytial (VRS) est la principale cause d’infection des voies respiratoires inférieures chez les jeunes enfants et pour cette raison, bon nombre des prématurés et des enfants présentant d’autres facteurs de risque doivent être hospitalisés chaque année au Canada. Le palivizumab, un anticorps monoclonal anti-VRS, peut réduire le taux d’hospitalisation et la gravité de la maladie d’un petit groupe de prématurés ou de nourrissons à haut risque pendant leur première saison de VRS. Le présent document de principes contient une analyse des publications ainsi que des recommandations à l’intention des médecins canadiens au sujet de son utilisation chez les prématurés et les autres nourrissons à risque.

  13. Involvement of LeMDR, an ATP-binding cassette protein gene, in shikonin transport and biosynthesis in Lithospermum erythrorhizon.

    PubMed

    Zhu, Yu; Lu, Gui-Hua; Bian, Zhuo-Wu; Wu, Feng-Yao; Pang, Yan-Jun; Wang, Xiao-Ming; Yang, Rong-Wu; Tang, Cheng-Yi; Qi, Jin-Liang; Yang, Yong-Hua

    2017-11-13

    Shikonin is a naphthoquinone secondary metabolite with important medicinal value and is found in Lithospermum erythrorhizon. Considering the limited knowledge on the membrane transport mechanism of shikonin, this study investigated such molecular mechanism. We successfully isolated an ATP-binding cassette protein gene, LeMDR, from L. erythrorhizon. LeMDR is predominantly expressed in L. erythrorhizon roots, where shikonin accumulated. Functional analysis of LeMDR by using the yeast cell expression system revealed that LeMDR is possibly involved in the shikonin efflux transport. The accumulation of shikonin is lower in yeast cells transformed with LeMDR-overexpressing vector than that with empty vector. The transgenic hairy roots of L. erythrorhizon overexpressing LeMDR (MDRO) significantly enhanced shikonin production, whereas the RNA interference of LeMDR (MDRi) displayed a reverse trend. Moreover, the mRNA expression level of LeMDR was up-regulated by treatment with shikonin and shikonin-positive regulators, methyl jasmonate and indole-3-acetic acid. There might be a relationship of mutual regulation between the expression level of LeMDR and shikonin biosynthesis. Our findings demonstrated the important role of LeMDR in transmembrane transport and biosynthesis of shikonin.

  14. Approximation auto-coherente a deux particules, pseudogap et supraconductivite dans le modele de Hubbard attractif

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Allen, Steve

    2000-10-01

    Dans cette these nous presentons une nouvelle methode non perturbative pour le calcul des proprietes d'un systeme de fermions. Notre methode generalise l'approximation auto-coherente a deux particules proposee par Vilk et Tremblay pour le modele de Hubbard repulsif. Notre methode peut s'appliquer a l'etude du comportement pre-critique lorsque la symetrie du parametre d'ordre est suffisamment elevee. Nous appliquons la methode au probleme du pseudogap dans le modele de Hubbard attractif. Nos resultats montrent un excellent accord avec les donnees Monte Carlo pour de petits systemes. Nous observons que le regime ou apparait le pseudogap dans le poids spectral a une particule est un regime classique renormalise caracterise par une frequence caracteristique des fluctuations supraconductrices inferieure a la temperature. Une autre caracteristique est la faible densite de superfluide de cette phase demontrant que nous ne sommes pas en presence de paires preformees. Les resultats obtenus semblent montrer que la haute symetrie du parametre d'ordre et la bidimensionalite du systeme etudie elargissent le domaine de temperature pour lequel le regime pseudogap est observe. Nous argumentons que ce resultat est transposable aux supraconducteurs a haute temperature critique ou le pseudogap apparait a des' temperatures beaucoup plus grandes que la temperature critique. La forte symetrie dans ces systemes pourraient etre reliee a la theorie SO(5) de Zhang. En annexe, nous demontrons un resultat tout recent qui permettrait d'assurer l'auto-coherence entre les proprietes a une et a deux particules par l'ajout d'une dynamique au vertex irreductible. Cet ajout laisse entrevoir la possibilite d'etendre la methode au cas d'une forte interaction.

  15. Mapping complex traits as a dynamic system

    PubMed Central

    Sun, Lidan; Wu, Rongling

    2017-01-01

    Despite increasing emphasis on the genetic study of quantitative traits, we are still far from being able to chart a clear picture of their genetic architecture, given an inherent complexity involved in trait formation. A competing theory for studying such complex traits has emerged by viewing their phenotypic formation as a “system” in which a high-dimensional group of interconnected components act and interact across different levels of biological organization from molecules through cells to whole organisms. This system is initiated by a machinery of DNA sequences that regulate a cascade of biochemical pathways to synthesize endophenotypes and further assemble these endophenotypes toward the end-point phenotype in virtue of various developmental changes. This review focuses on a conceptual framework for genetic mapping of complex traits by which to delineate the underlying components, interactions and mechanisms that govern the system according to biological principles and understand how these components function synergistically under the control of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) to comprise a unified whole. This framework is built by a system of differential equations that quantifies how alterations of different components lead to the global change of trait development and function, and provides a quantitative and testable platform for assessing the multiscale interplay between QTLs and development. The method will enable geneticists to shed light on the genetic complexity of any biological system and predict, alter or engineer its physiological and pathological states. PMID:25772476

  16. Use of Mobile Testing System PeLe for Developing Language Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Titova, Svetlana

    2015-01-01

    One of the objectives of this paper is to investigate the pedagogical impact of both the mobile testing system PeLe (Norway, HiST) and the enquiry-based learning approach on language skills development in the context of mobile-assisted learning. The research aims to work out a methodological framework of PeLe implementation into the language…

  17. Pertinence de l'implantation de la filiere granule de bois pour le Quebec

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tremblay, Stephan

    Les spécialistes avancent que le marché mondial de l'énergie en forte demande et en offre limitée nécessitera bientôt toutes les formes d'énergie disponibles. Le granulé de bois est une forme de bioénergie principalement utilisée pour le chauffage des bâtiments et pourrait être davantage considéré dans l'offre énergétique du Québec. Comme le Québec est un territoire où il fait froid et donc susceptible de pouvoir se tourner vers cette forme d'énergie, l'objectif de ce mémoire est d'en analyser les avantages. Pour ce faire, nous commencerons par démontrer la croissance des besoins énergétiques sur les plans national et international et dresser un portrait des différentes formes d'énergies consommées au Québec. Puisque la majorité des Québécois chauffent leurs bâtiments à l'hydroélectricité, nous analyserons à travers le plan d'approvisionnement d'Hydro-Québec le portrait de la production et de la consommation de cette forme d'énergie renouvelable. Cela nous permettra de constater le défi face à la gestion de surplus importants, sauf pendant la période hivernale, et ce faisant, l'obligation de la société d'État d'utiliser davantage ses centrales au gaz ou de se tourner vers l'importation de l'électricité. Dans la même lignée, un regard sera porté sur les perspectives d'utilisation de l'hydroélectricité sur les plans de la production d'aluminium, de l'exportation et de l'utilisation dans l'électrification des transports au Québec. Cette analyse se fera dans l'objectif de s'interroger sur la pertinence d'utiliser cette source d'énergie dans le chauffage plutôt que dans des secteurs plus créateurs de richesse. Nous poserons ensuite l'hypothèse que le granulé de bois pourrait être un bon substitut à une autre forme d'énergie utilisée dans le chauffage, soit le mazout. Avant de dresser un portrait de ce combustible fossile, nous ferons celui de la production et de la consommation de granulés sur les plans r

  18. Large Scale Relationship between Aquatic Insect Traits and Climate.

    PubMed

    Bhowmik, Avit Kumar; Schäfer, Ralf B

    2015-01-01

    Climate is the predominant environmental driver of freshwater assemblage pattern on large spatial scales, and traits of freshwater organisms have shown considerable potential to identify impacts of climate change. Although several studies suggest traits that may indicate vulnerability to climate change, the empirical relationship between freshwater assemblage trait composition and climate has been rarely examined on large scales. We compared the responses of the assumed climate-associated traits from six grouping features to 35 bioclimatic indices (~18 km resolution) for five insect orders (Diptera, Ephemeroptera, Odonata, Plecoptera and Trichoptera), evaluated their potential for changing distribution pattern under future climate change and identified the most influential bioclimatic indices. The data comprised 782 species and 395 genera sampled in 4,752 stream sites during 2006 and 2007 in Germany (~357,000 km² spatial extent). We quantified the variability and spatial autocorrelation in the traits and orders that are associated with the combined and individual bioclimatic indices. Traits of temperature preference grouping feature that are the products of several other underlying climate-associated traits, and the insect order Ephemeroptera exhibited the strongest response to the bioclimatic indices as well as the highest potential for changing distribution pattern. Regarding individual traits, insects in general and ephemeropterans preferring very cold temperature showed the highest response, and the insects preferring cold and trichopterans preferring moderate temperature showed the highest potential for changing distribution. We showed that the seasonal radiation and moisture are the most influential bioclimatic aspects, and thus changes in these aspects may affect the most responsive traits and orders and drive a change in their spatial distribution pattern. Our findings support the development of trait-based metrics to predict and detect climate

  19. Heteroscedastic Latent Trait Models for Dichotomous Data.

    PubMed

    Molenaar, Dylan

    2015-09-01

    Effort has been devoted to account for heteroscedasticity with respect to observed or latent moderator variables in item or test scores. For instance, in the multi-group generalized linear latent trait model, it could be tested whether the observed (polychoric) covariance matrix differs across the levels of an observed moderator variable. In the case that heteroscedasticity arises across the latent trait itself, existing models commonly distinguish between heteroscedastic residuals and a skewed trait distribution. These models have valuable applications in intelligence, personality and psychopathology research. However, existing approaches are only limited to continuous and polytomous data, while dichotomous data are common in intelligence and psychopathology research. Therefore, in present paper, a heteroscedastic latent trait model is presented for dichotomous data. The model is studied in a simulation study, and applied to data pertaining alcohol use and cognitive ability.

  20. Connecting Instructional and Cognitive Aspects of an LE: A Study of the Global Seminar Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Savelyeva, Tamara

    2012-01-01

    My research problem is based on the lack of unifying conceptual cohesion between the discourses concerning cognitive and instructional aspects of learning environments (LE). I contrast that lack with practical developments of LE studies connected at the level of practical implementation and evaluation. Next, I briefly review the LE boundaries,…

  1. A database of lotic invertebrate traits for North America

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Vieira, Nicole K.M.; Poff, N. LeRoy; Carlisle, Daren M.; Moulton, Stephen R.; Koski, Marci L.; Kondratieff, Boris C.

    2006-01-01

    The assessment and study of stream communities may be enhanced if functional characteristics such as life-history, habitat preference, and reproductive strategy were more widely available for specific taxa. Species traits can be used to develop these functional indicators because many traits directly link functional roles of organisms with controlling environmental factors (for example, flow, substratum, temperature). In addition, some functional traits may not be constrained by taxonomy and are thus applicable at multiple spatial scales. Unfortunately, a comprehensive summary of traits for North American invertebrate taxa does not exist. Consequently, the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program in cooperation with Colorado State University compiled a database of traits for North American invertebrates. A total of 14,127 records for over 2,200 species, 1,165 genera, and 249 families have been entered into the database from 967 publications, texts and reports. Quality-assurance procedures indicated error rates of less than 3 percent in the data entry process. Species trait information was most complete for insect taxa. Traits describing resource acquisition and habitat preferences were most frequently reported, whereas those describing physiological tolerances and reproductive biology were the least frequently reported in the literature. The database is not exhaustive of the literature for North American invertebrates and is biased towards aquatic insects, but it represents a first attempt to compile traits in a web-accessible database. This report describes the database and discusses important decisions necessary for identifying ecologically relevant, environmentally sensitive, non-redundant, and statistically tractable traits for use in bioassessment programs.

  2. A trait-based framework for stream algal communities.

    PubMed

    Lange, Katharina; Townsend, Colin Richard; Matthaei, Christoph David

    2016-01-01

    The use of trait-based approaches to detect effects of land use and climate change on terrestrial plant and aquatic phytoplankton communities is increasing, but such a framework is still needed for benthic stream algae. Here we present a conceptual framework of morphological, physiological, behavioural and life-history traits relating to resource acquisition and resistance to disturbance. We tested this approach by assessing the relationships between multiple anthropogenic stressors and algal traits at 43 stream sites. Our "natural experiment" was conducted along gradients of agricultural land-use intensity (0-95% of the catchment in high-producing pasture) and hydrological alteration (0-92% streamflow reduction resulting from water abstraction for irrigation) as well as related physicochemical variables (total nitrogen concentration and deposited fine sediment). Strategic choice of study sites meant that agricultural intensity and hydrological alteration were uncorrelated. We studied the relationships of seven traits (with 23 trait categories) to our environmental predictor variables using general linear models and an information-theoretic model-selection approach. Life form, nitrogen fixation and spore formation were key traits that showed the strongest relationships with environmental stressors. Overall, FI (farming intensity) exerted stronger effects on algal communities than hydrological alteration. The large-bodied, non-attached, filamentous algae that dominated under high farming intensities have limited dispersal abilities but may cope with unfavourable conditions through the formation of spores. Antagonistic interactions between FI and flow reduction were observed for some trait variables, whereas no interactions occurred for nitrogen concentration and fine sediment. Our conceptual framework was well supported by tests of ten specific hypotheses predicting effects of resource supply and disturbance on algal traits. Our study also shows that investigating a

  3. Spectroscopic determination of leaf traits using infrared spectra

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buitrago, Maria F.; Groen, Thomas A.; Hecker, Christoph A.; Skidmore, Andrew K.

    2018-07-01

    Leaf traits characterise and differentiate single species but can also be used for monitoring vegetation structure and function. Conventional methods to measure leaf traits, especially at the molecular level (e.g. water, lignin and cellulose content), are expensive and time-consuming. Spectroscopic methods to estimate leaf traits can provide an alternative approach. In this study, we investigated high spectral resolution (6612 bands) emissivity measurements from the short to the long wave infrared (1.4-16.0 μm) of leaves from 19 different plant species ranging from herbaceous to woody, and from temperate to tropical types. At the same time, we measured 14 leaf traits to characterise a leaf, including chemical (e.g., leaf water content, nitrogen, cellulose) and physical features (e.g., leaf area and leaf thickness). We fitted partial least squares regression (PLSR) models across the SWIR, MWIR and LWIR for each leaf trait. Then, reduced models (PLSRred) were derived by iteratively reducing the number of bands in the model (using a modified Jackknife resampling method with a Martens and Martens uncertainty test) down to a few bands (4-10 bands) that contribute the most to the variation of the trait. Most leaf traits could be determined from infrared data with a moderate accuracy (65 < Rcv2 < 77% for observed versus predicted plots) based on PLSRred models, while the accuracy using the whole infrared range (6612 bands) presented higher accuracies, 74 < Rcv2 < 90%. Using the full SWIR range (1.4-2.5 μm) shows similarly high accuracies compared to the whole infrared. Leaf thickness, leaf water content, cellulose, lignin and stomata density are the traits that could be estimated most accurately from infrared data (with Rcv2 above 0.80 for the full range models). Leaf thickness, cellulose and lignin were predicted with reasonable accuracy from a combination of single infrared bands. Nevertheless, for all leaf traits, a combination of a few bands yields moderate to

  4. Is subcranial Le Fort III plus Le Fort I osteotomy stable?

    PubMed

    Boos Lima, Fernanda Brasil Daura Jorge; Hochuli Vieira, Eduardo; Juergens, Philipp; Lima Junior, Sergio Monteiro

    2017-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to test whether associated subcranial Le Fort III (sLF III) and Le Fort I (LF I) osteotomies are stable after large advancements of the middle third of the face and maxilla. The authors designed a retrospective study and enrolled a sample of consecutive patients with midface hypoplasia treated with associated sLF III and LF I osteotomies in this IRB-approved study between September 2013 and February 2015. To test whether the long-term stability was satisfactory, the authors compared cephalometric changes from immediately after surgery to 18 months after surgery taken from multi-slice computed tomography using two different third-party imaging software programs. Statistical significance was set as P ≤ 0.05. The sample comprised 11 patients (mean age 23.84 ± 4.17 yr; 54% men). The mean advancement of the upper incisor immediately after surgery was 10.03 ± 1.6 mm. After 18 months, the position of the upper incisor did not vary significantly (10.18 ± 2.35 mm). All other cephalometric landmarks did not present statistically significant differences between immediately after and 18 months after surgery, with horizontal and vertical variations of less than one millimetre. This study supports that sLF III and LF I osteotomies are effective in maintaining stable horizontal and vertical skeletal positioning after surgery. Copyright © 2017 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. The hierarchical structure of DSM-5 pathological personality traits.

    PubMed

    Wright, Aidan G C; Thomas, Katherine M; Hopwood, Christopher J; Markon, Kristian E; Pincus, Aaron L; Krueger, Robert F

    2012-11-01

    A multidimensional trait system has been proposed for representing personality disorder (PD) features in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) to address problematic classification issues such as comorbidity. In this model, which may also assist in providing scaffolding for the underlying structure of major forms of psychopathology more generally, 25 primary traits are organized by 5 higher order dimensions: Negative Affect, Detachment, Antagonism, Disinhibition, and Psychoticism. We examined (a) the generalizability of the structure proposed for DSM-5 PD traits, and (b) the potential for an integrative hierarchy based upon DSM-5 PD traits to represent the dimensions scaffolding psychopathology more generally. A large sample of student participants (N = 2,461) completed the Personality Inventory for DSM-5, which operationalizes the DSM-5 traits. Exploratory factor analysis replicated the initially reported 5-factor structure, as indicated by high factor congruencies. The 2-, 3-, and 4-factor solutions estimated in the hierarchy of the DSM-5 traits bear close resemblance to existing models of common mental disorders, temperament, and personality pathology. Thus, beyond the description of individual differences in personality disorder, the trait dimensions might provide a framework for the metastructure of psychopathology in the DSM-5 and the integration of a number of ostensibly competing models of personality trait covariation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. Different clades and traits yield similar grassland functional responses

    PubMed Central

    Forrestel, Elisabeth J.; Donoghue, Michael J.; Edwards, Erika J.; Jetz, Walter; du Toit, Justin C. O.; Smith, Melinda D.

    2017-01-01

    Plant functional traits are viewed as key to predicting important ecosystem and community properties across resource gradients within and among biogeographic regions. Vegetation dynamics and ecosystem processes, such as aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), are increasingly being modeled as a function of the quantitative traits of species, which are used as proxies for photosynthetic rates and nutrient and water-use efficiency. These approaches rely on an assumption that a certain trait value consistently confers a specific function or response under given environmental conditions. Here, we provide a critical test of this idea and evaluate whether the functional traits that drive the well-known relationship between precipitation and ANPP differ between systems with distinct biogeographic histories and species assemblages. Specifically, we compared grasslands spanning a broad precipitation gradient (∼200–1,000 mm/y) in North America and South Africa that differ in the relative representation and abundance of grass phylogenetic lineages. We found no significant difference between the regions in the positive relationship between annual precipitation and ANPP, yet the trait values underlying this relationship differed dramatically. Our results challenge the trait-based approach to predicting ecosystem function by demonstrating that different combinations of functional traits can act to maximize ANPP in a given environmental setting. Further, we show the importance of incorporating biogeographic and phylogenetic history in predicting community and ecosystem properties using traits. PMID:28074042

  7. Using IRT Trait Estimates versus Summated Scores in Predicting Outcomes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Xu, Ting; Stone, Clement A.

    2012-01-01

    It has been argued that item response theory trait estimates should be used in analyses rather than number right (NR) or summated scale (SS) scores. Thissen and Orlando postulated that IRT scaling tends to produce trait estimates that are linearly related to the underlying trait being measured. Therefore, IRT trait estimates can be more useful…

  8. Bayesian methods for estimating GEBVs of threshold traits

    PubMed Central

    Wang, C-L; Ding, X-D; Wang, J-Y; Liu, J-F; Fu, W-X; Zhang, Z; Yin, Z-J; Zhang, Q

    2013-01-01

    Estimation of genomic breeding values is the key step in genomic selection (GS). Many methods have been proposed for continuous traits, but methods for threshold traits are still scarce. Here we introduced threshold model to the framework of GS, and specifically, we extended the three Bayesian methods BayesA, BayesB and BayesCπ on the basis of threshold model for estimating genomic breeding values of threshold traits, and the extended methods are correspondingly termed BayesTA, BayesTB and BayesTCπ. Computing procedures of the three BayesT methods using Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm were derived. A simulation study was performed to investigate the benefit of the presented methods in accuracy with the genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) for threshold traits. Factors affecting the performance of the three BayesT methods were addressed. As expected, the three BayesT methods generally performed better than the corresponding normal Bayesian methods, in particular when the number of phenotypic categories was small. In the standard scenario (number of categories=2, incidence=30%, number of quantitative trait loci=50, h2=0.3), the accuracies were improved by 30.4%, 2.4%, and 5.7% points, respectively. In most scenarios, BayesTB and BayesTCπ generated similar accuracies and both performed better than BayesTA. In conclusion, our work proved that threshold model fits well for predicting GEBVs of threshold traits, and BayesTCπ is supposed to be the method of choice for GS of threshold traits. PMID:23149458

  9. Teaching Civilization with "Le Petit Nicholas."

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pinet, Christopher

    1983-01-01

    Discusses the notions and concepts presented in "Le Petit Nicholas." Examines (1) how Goscinny presents his assimilation and understanding of French life to French children and adults and (2) how the books can be used as an introduction to French civilization at the intermediate level. (EKN)

  10. Response Monitoring and Adjustment: Differential Relations with Psychopathic Traits

    PubMed Central

    Bresin, Konrad; Finy, M. Sima; Sprague, Jenessa; Verona, Edelyn

    2014-01-01

    Studies on the relation between psychopathy and cognitive functioning often show mixed results, partially because different factors of psychopathy have not been considered fully. Based on previous research, we predicted divergent results based on a two-factor model of psychopathy (interpersonal-affective traits and impulsive-antisocial traits). Specifically, we predicted that the unique variance of interpersonal-affective traits would be related to increased monitoring (i.e., error-related negativity) and adjusting to errors (i.e., post-error slowing), whereas impulsive-antisocial traits would be related to reductions in these processes. Three studies using a diverse selection of assessment tools, samples, and methods are presented to identify response monitoring correlates of the two main factors of psychopathy. In Studies 1 (undergraduates), 2 (adolescents), and 3 (offenders), interpersonal-affective traits were related to increased adjustment following errors and, in Study 3, to enhanced monitoring of errors. Impulsive-antisocial traits were not consistently related to error adjustment across the studies, although these traits were related to a deficient monitoring of errors in Study 3. The results may help explain previous mixed findings and advance implications for etiological models of psychopathy. PMID:24933282

  11. Brain structure links trait creativity to openness to experience.

    PubMed

    Li, Wenfu; Li, Xueting; Huang, Lijie; Kong, Xiangzhen; Yang, Wenjing; Wei, Dongtao; Li, Jingguang; Cheng, Hongsheng; Zhang, Qinglin; Qiu, Jiang; Liu, Jia

    2015-02-01

    Creativity is crucial to the progression of human civilization and has led to important scientific discoveries. Especially, individuals are more likely to have scientific discoveries if they possess certain personality traits of creativity (trait creativity), including imagination, curiosity, challenge and risk-taking. This study used voxel-based morphometry to identify the brain regions underlying individual differences in trait creativity, as measured by the Williams creativity aptitude test, in a large sample (n = 246). We found that creative individuals had higher gray matter volume in the right posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG), which might be related to semantic processing during novelty seeking (e.g. novel association, conceptual integration and metaphor understanding). More importantly, although basic personality factors such as openness to experience, extroversion, conscientiousness and agreeableness (as measured by the NEO Personality Inventory) all contributed to trait creativity, only openness to experience mediated the association between the right pMTG volume and trait creativity. Taken together, our results suggest that the basic personality trait of openness might play an important role in shaping an individual's trait creativity. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  12. Etude par Imagerie à faible Niveau dans le proche Infrarouge d'une Emission de la haute Atmosphère

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pautet, Pierre-Dominique

    2000-12-01

    requises pour de bonnes observations dans le domaine du proche infrarouge ont aussi été étudiées. Ensuite, la construction d'une station mobile de prise de vues est détaillée. Celle-ci doit permettre d'observer l'émission et d'obtenir des résultats exploitables par la suite. Trois méthodes d'observation ont été décrites: visuelle, photographique et à l'aide d'un détecteur CCD. La troisième, qui a été retenue, a été vue plus en détail. Le matériel utilisé, de la caméra à la plate-forme de prise de vues en passant par les objectifs et les filtres optiques, est ensuite décrit. Lorsque le matériel a été choisi, un protocole d'observation a été défini et mis au point. Le choix du site d'observation a été crucial. Plusieurs lieux géographiques ont été retenus et sont présentés dans le mémoire. Le déroulement d'une séance de prise de vue a été décrit afin de faciliter un futur programme d'observation. Deux séquences types d'observations ont été plus particulièrement détaillées: -la réalisation de panoramas permettant une étude des structures que fait apparaître l'émission, -la réalisation de séquences vidéos afin d'étudier la dynamique du phénomène. Dans une quatrième partie, je décris les méthodes de traitement des images qui ont été développées. Tout d'abord, des prétraitements sont appliqués aux images pour corriger les défauts (champ plat, offset,?). Ensuite, une méthode de restitution géographique permet d'obtenir une image plus exploitable de la couche émissive ; elle n'est alors plus observée à partir d'une station au sol, mais en employant une caméra virtuelle située à la verticale du site d'observation. Différents problèmes liés à cette méthode ont aussi été traités: réfraction atmosphérique proche de l'horizon, passage d'une surface atmosphérique à la surface du pixel correspondant, et effet de Van Rhijn. Plusieurs traitements ont été appliqués aux images pour faciliter leur

  13. A meta-analysis of zooplankton functional traits influencing ecosystem function.

    PubMed

    Hébert, Marie-Pier; Beisner, Beatrix E; Maranger, Roxane

    2016-04-01

    The use of functional traits to characterize community composition has been proposed as a more effective way to link community structure to ecosystem functioning. Organismal morphology, body stoichiometry, and physiology can be readily linked to large-scale ecosystem processes through functional traits that inform on interspecific and species-environment interactions; yet such effect traits are still poorly included in trait-based approaches. Given their key trophic position in aquatic ecosystems, individual zooplankton affect energy fluxes and elemental processing. We compiled a large database of zooplankton traits contributing to carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling and examined the effect of classification and habitat (marine vs. freshwater) on trait relationships. Respiration and nutrient excretion rates followed mass-dependent scaling in both habitats, with exponents ranging from 0.70 to 0.90. Our analyses revealed surprising differences in allometry and respiration between habitats, with freshwater species having lower length-specific mass and three times higher mass-specific respiration rates. These differences in traits point to implications for ecological strategies as well as overall carbon storage and fluxes based on habitat type. Our synthesis quantifies multiple trait relationships and links organisms to ecosystem processes they influence, enabling a more complete integration of aquatic community ecology and biogeochemistry through the promising use of effect traits.

  14. Reciprocal influences between negative life events and callous-unemotional traits.

    PubMed

    Kimonis, Eva R; Centifanti, Luna C M; Allen, Jennifer L; Frick, Paul J

    2014-11-01

    Children with conduct problems and co-occurring callous-unemotional (CU) traits show more severe, stable, and aggressive antisocial behaviors than those without CU traits. Exposure to negative life events has been identified as an important contributing factor to the expression of CU traits across time, although the directionality of this effect has remained unknown due to a lack of longitudinal study. The present longitudinal study examined potential bidirectional effects of CU traits leading to experiencing more negative life events and negative life events leading to increases in CU traits across 3 years among a sample of community-based school-aged (M = 10.9, SD = 1.71 years) boys and girls (N = 98). Repeated rating measures of CU traits, negative life events and conduct problems completed by children and parents during annual assessments were moderately to highly stable across time. Cross-lagged models supported a reciprocal relationship of moderate magnitude between child-reported CU traits and "controllable" negative life events. Parent-reported CU traits predicted "uncontrollable" life events at the earlier time point and controllable life events at the later time point, but no reciprocal effect was evident. These findings have important implications for understanding developmental processes that contribute to the stability of CU traits in youth.

  15. In vitro DNA SCRaMbLE.

    PubMed

    Wu, Yi; Zhu, Rui-Ying; Mitchell, Leslie A; Ma, Lu; Liu, Rui; Zhao, Meng; Jia, Bin; Xu, Hui; Li, Yun-Xiang; Yang, Zu-Ming; Ma, Yuan; Li, Xia; Liu, Hong; Liu, Duo; Xiao, Wen-Hai; Zhou, Xiao; Li, Bing-Zhi; Yuan, Ying-Jin; Boeke, Jef D

    2018-05-22

    The power of synthetic biology has enabled the expression of heterologous pathways in cells, as well as genome-scale synthesis projects. The complexity of biological networks makes rational de novo design a grand challenge. Introducing features that confer genetic flexibility is a powerful strategy for downstream engineering. Here we develop an in vitro method of DNA library construction based on structural variation to accomplish this goal. The "in vitro SCRaMbLE system" uses Cre recombinase mixed in a test tube with purified DNA encoding multiple loxPsym sites. Using a β-carotene pathway designed for expression in yeast as an example, we demonstrate top-down and bottom-up in vitro SCRaMbLE, enabling optimization of biosynthetic pathway flux via the rearrangement of relevant transcription units. We show that our system provides a straightforward way to correlate phenotype and genotype and is potentially amenable to biochemical optimization in ways that the in vivo system cannot achieve.

  16. Phenotypic and Genetic Correlations of Feed Efficiency Traits with Growth and Carcass Traits in Nellore Cattle Selected for Postweaning Weight.

    PubMed

    Ceacero, Thais Matos; Mercadante, Maria Eugênia Zerlotti; Cyrillo, Joslaine Noely Dos Santos Gonçalves; Canesin, Roberta Carrilho; Bonilha, Sarah Figueiredo Martins; de Albuquerque, Lucia Galvão

    2016-01-01

    This study evaluated phenotypic (rph) and genetic correlations (rg) between 8 feed efficiency traits and other traits of economic interest including weight at selection (WS), loin-eye area (LEA), backfat thickness (BF), and rump fat thickness (RF) in Nellore cattle. Feed efficiency traits were gain:feed, residual feed intake (RFI), residual feed intake adjusted for backfat thickness (RFIb) and for backfat and rump fat thickness (RFIsf), residual body weight gain (RG), residual intake and body weight gain (RIG), and residual intake and body weight gain using RFIb (RIGb) and RFIsf (RIGsf). The variance components were estimated by the restricted maximum likelihood method using a two-trait animal model. The heritability estimates (h2) were 0.14, 0.24, 0.20, 0.22, 0.19, 0.15, 0.11 and 0.11 for gain:feed, RFI, RFIb, RFIsf, RG, RIG, RIGb and RIGsf, respectively. All rph values between traits were close to zero, except for the correlation of feed efficiency traits with dry matter intake and average daily gain. High rg values were observed for the correlation of dry matter intake, average daily gain and metabolic weight with WS and hip height (>0.61) and low to medium values (0.15 to 0.48) with the carcass traits (LEA, BF, RF). Among the feed efficiency traits, RG showed the highest rg with WS and hip height (0.34 and 0.25) and the lowest rg with subcutaneous fat thickness (-0.17 to 0.18). The rg values of RFI, RFIb and RFIsf with WS (0.17, 0.23 and 0.22), BF (0.37, 0.33 and 0.33) and RF (0.30, 0.31 and 0.32) were unfavorable. The rg values of gain:feed, RIG, RIGb and RIGsf with WS were low and favorable (0.07 to 0.22), while medium and unfavorable (-0.22 to -0.45) correlations were observed with fat thickness. The inclusion of subcutaneous fat thickness in the models used to calculate RFI did not reduce the rg between these traits. Selecting animals for higher feed efficiency will result in little or no genetic change in growth and will decrease subcutaneous fat thickness

  17. Violent peer influence: The roles of self-esteem and psychopathic traits.

    PubMed

    Van Zalk, Maarten Herman Walter; Van Zalk, Nejra

    2015-11-01

    Evidence for the risks of psychopathic personality traits for adolescent antisocial behavior are well documented in the literature. Little is known, however, about who the peers of adolescents with these traits are and to what extent they influence one another. In the current study, three dimensions of psychopathic traits were distinguished: grandiose-manipulative traits, callous-unemotional traits, and impulsive-irresponsible traits. A dynamic social network approach was used with three waves of longitudinal data from 1,772 adolescents (51.1% girls, M age = 13.03 at first measurement). Results showed that adolescents with grandiose-manipulative and callous-unemotional traits formed peer relationships with adolescents who had low self-esteem. Furthermore, peers' violence predicted stronger increases in violence for adolescents with low self-esteem than for other adolescents, and peers' violence predicted stronger increases in adolescent violence for peers with high psychopathic traits than for other peers. Thus, findings indicate that adolescents with low self-esteem are vulnerable to deviant peer influence from peers with psychopathic traits.

  18. Conception, fabrication et validation d'une presse a injection basse pression pour le procede des poudres metalliques =

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lamarre, Simon G.

    Le moulage par injection a basse pression de poudre metallique est une technique de mise en forme de pieces de formes complexes. La poudre metallique est melangee avec des polymeres basse viscosite (ex. : cire) pour former un melange homogene a une temperature superieure a la temperature de fusion des polymeres. Pour faciliter l'injection dans la cavite du moule, la composition des melanges est ajustee pour diminuer la viscosite. D'une part, les melanges peu visqueux possedent une bonne moulabilite. D'autre part, le phenomene de la segregation se manifeste rapidement avec les melanges peu visqueux. Les machines commerciales sont munies d'un canal d'injection et d'une valve qui relient le reservoir de melange et la cavite du moule. Le melange reste stationnaire dans ces composantes entre deux sequences d'injection, ce qui le rend propice a la segregation. Plusieurs brevets tentent de resoudre ce probleme en utilisant des pompes et des canaux de recirculation. Ces composantes sont difficiles a nettoyer en raison de leur complexite. Une machine a injection basse pression a ete concue et fabriquee pour l'etude de l'aptitude au moulage des melanges de tres faible viscosite (ex. : 0.1 Pa˙s), qui tient compte du phenomene de segregation et des contraintes de nettoyage. Un piston d'injection puise le volume desire d'un reservoir. Ensuite, un mouvement lateral cisaille le melange a l'intersection entre le reservoir et le cylindre et bouche l'orifice de sortie du reservoir. Le cylindre est degage et peut recevoir le moule. A la suite de l'injection, le piston retourne a la position du reservoir et entre dans son orifice de sortie. Le melange residuel est retourne dans le reservoir, melange et desaere a nouveau. L'appareil a ete valide par des essais d'injectabilite avec un melange de poudre d'acier inoxydable et de liants a basse viscosite. Des essais d'injection ont montre que le melange contenant l'acide stearique a parcouru la plus grande distance dans le moule de forme

  19. Scoring of nonmetric cranial traits: a methodological approach

    PubMed Central

    GUALDI-RUSSO, E.; TASCA, M. A.; BRASILI, P.

    1999-01-01

    The purpose of the present study was to analyse the replicability of the scoring of discontinuous traits. This was assessed on a sample of 100 skulls from the Frassetto collection (Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica Sperimentale of Bologna University) analysed through intraobserver comparisons: the discontinuous traits were determined on the same skulls and by the same observer on 3 separate occasions. The scoring was also assessed through interobserver comparisons: 3 different observers performed an independent survey on the same skulls. The results show that there were no significant differences in the discontinuous trait frequencies between the 3 different scorings by the same observer, but there were sometimes significant differences between different observers. Caution should thus be taken in applying the frequencies of these traits to population research. After an indispensable control of material conditions (subject age included), consideration must be given to standardisation procedures between observers, otherwise this may be an additional source of variability in cranial discontinuous trait scoring. PMID:10634693

  20. Personality Traits: A View From the Animal Kingdom.

    PubMed

    Weiss, Alexander

    2018-02-01

    Given their backgrounds in classical ethology and in comparative psychology, researchers who study animal personality in biology and psychology, respectively, differ in how they measure personality, what questions they see as important, and how they address these questions. Despite these differences, both comparative psychologists and biologists embrace personality traits. By doing so, they have solved empirical and conceptual problems in animal behavior. Studies of animal personality have provided answers to questions about the evolution of human personality and have presented conceptual and empirical anomalies for sociocognitive theories. Animal personality research does not break from trait theories of personality. Instead, it enriches trait theories by conceiving of traits as not belonging to a species, but as expressed, with some modifications, across species. Broadening trait theory in this way has the potential to further enhance its ability to answer questions related to animal and human personality. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Personality published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  1. Plant functional traits predict green roof ecosystem services.

    PubMed

    Lundholm, Jeremy; Tran, Stephanie; Gebert, Luke

    2015-02-17

    Plants make important contributions to the services provided by engineered ecosystems such as green roofs. Ecologists use plant species traits as generic predictors of geographical distribution, interactions with other species, and ecosystem functioning, but this approach has been little used to optimize engineered ecosystems. Four plant species traits (height, individual leaf area, specific leaf area, and leaf dry matter content) were evaluated as predictors of ecosystem properties and services in a modular green roof system planted with 21 species. Six indicators of ecosystem services, incorporating thermal, hydrological, water quality, and carbon sequestration functions, were predicted by the four plant traits directly or indirectly via their effects on aggregate ecosystem properties, including canopy density and albedo. Species average height and specific leaf area were the most useful traits, predicting several services via effects on canopy density or growth rate. This study demonstrates that easily measured plant traits can be used to select species to optimize green roof performance across multiple key services.

  2. Multiple-Line Inference of Selection on Quantitative Traits

    PubMed Central

    Riedel, Nico; Khatri, Bhavin S.; Lässig, Michael; Berg, Johannes

    2015-01-01

    Trait differences between species may be attributable to natural selection. However, quantifying the strength of evidence for selection acting on a particular trait is a difficult task. Here we develop a population genetics test for selection acting on a quantitative trait that is based on multiple-line crosses. We show that using multiple lines increases both the power and the scope of selection inferences. First, a test based on three or more lines detects selection with strongly increased statistical significance, and we show explicitly how the sensitivity of the test depends on the number of lines. Second, a multiple-line test can distinguish between different lineage-specific selection scenarios. Our analytical results are complemented by extensive numerical simulations. We then apply the multiple-line test to QTL data on floral character traits in plant species of the Mimulus genus and on photoperiodic traits in different maize strains, where we find a signature of lineage-specific selection not seen in two-line tests. PMID:26139839

  3. Hierarchical traits distances explain grassland Fabaceae species' ecological niches distances.

    PubMed

    Fort, Florian; Jouany, Claire; Cruz, Pablo

    2015-01-01

    Fabaceae species play a key role in ecosystem functioning through their capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen via their symbiosis with Rhizobium bacteria. To increase benefits of using Fabaceae in agricultural systems, it is necessary to find ways to evaluate species or genotypes having potential adaptations to sub-optimal growth conditions. We evaluated the relevance of phylogenetic distance, absolute trait distance and hierarchical trait distance for comparing the adaptation of 13 grassland Fabaceae species to different habitats, i.e., ecological niches. We measured a wide range of functional traits (root traits, leaf traits, and whole plant traits) in these species. Species phylogenetic and ecological distances were assessed from a species-level phylogenetic tree and species' ecological indicator values, respectively. We demonstrated that differences in ecological niches between grassland Fabaceae species were related more to their hierarchical trait distances than to their phylogenetic distances. We showed that grassland Fabaceae functional traits tend to converge among species with the same ecological requirements. Species with acquisitive root strategies (thin roots, shallow root systems) are competitive species adapted to non-stressful meadows, while conservative ones (coarse roots, deep root systems) are able to tolerate stressful continental climates. In contrast, acquisitive species appeared to be able to tolerate low soil-P availability, while conservative ones need high P availability. Finally we highlight that traits converge along the ecological gradient, providing the assumption that species with similar root-trait values are better able to coexist, regardless of their phylogenetic distance.

  4. Hierarchical traits distances explain grassland Fabaceae species' ecological niches distances

    PubMed Central

    Fort, Florian; Jouany, Claire; Cruz, Pablo

    2015-01-01

    Fabaceae species play a key role in ecosystem functioning through their capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen via their symbiosis with Rhizobium bacteria. To increase benefits of using Fabaceae in agricultural systems, it is necessary to find ways to evaluate species or genotypes having potential adaptations to sub-optimal growth conditions. We evaluated the relevance of phylogenetic distance, absolute trait distance and hierarchical trait distance for comparing the adaptation of 13 grassland Fabaceae species to different habitats, i.e., ecological niches. We measured a wide range of functional traits (root traits, leaf traits, and whole plant traits) in these species. Species phylogenetic and ecological distances were assessed from a species-level phylogenetic tree and species' ecological indicator values, respectively. We demonstrated that differences in ecological niches between grassland Fabaceae species were related more to their hierarchical trait distances than to their phylogenetic distances. We showed that grassland Fabaceae functional traits tend to converge among species with the same ecological requirements. Species with acquisitive root strategies (thin roots, shallow root systems) are competitive species adapted to non-stressful meadows, while conservative ones (coarse roots, deep root systems) are able to tolerate stressful continental climates. In contrast, acquisitive species appeared to be able to tolerate low soil-P availability, while conservative ones need high P availability. Finally we highlight that traits converge along the ecological gradient, providing the assumption that species with similar root-trait values are better able to coexist, regardless of their phylogenetic distance. PMID:25741353

  5. Personality traits and psychotic symptoms in recent onset of psychosis patients.

    PubMed

    Sevilla-Llewellyn-Jones, Julia; Cano-Domínguez, Pablo; de-Luis-Matilla, Antonia; Peñuelas-Calvo, Inmaculada; Espina-Eizaguirre, Alberto; Moreno-Kustner, Berta; Ochoa, Susana

    2017-04-01

    Personality in patients with psychosis, and particularly its relation to psychotic symptoms in recent onset of psychosis (ROP) patients, is understudied. The aims of this research were to study the relation between dimensional and categorical clinical personality traits and symptoms, as well as the effects that symptoms, sex and age have on clinically significant personality traits. Data for these analyses were obtained from 94 ROP patients. The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale were used to assess personality and symptoms. Correlational Analysis, Mann-Whitney test, and, finally, logistic regression were carried out. The negative dimension was higher in patients with schizoid traits. The excited dimension was lower for those with avoidant and depressive traits. The anxiety and depression dimension was higher for patients with dependent traits. The positive dimension was lower for patients with histrionic and higher for patients with compulsive traits. Logistic regression demonstrated that gender and the positive and negative dimensions explained 35.9% of the variance of the schizoid trait. The excited dimension explained 9.1% of the variance of avoidant trait. The anxiety and depression dimension and age explained 31.3% of the dependent trait. Gender explained 11.6% of the histrionic trait, 14.5% of the narcissistic trait and 11.6% of the paranoid trait. Finally gender and positive dimension explained 16.1% of the compulsive trait. The study highlights the importance of studying personality in patients with psychosis as it broadens understating of the patients themselves and the symptoms suffered. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. LE135, a retinoid acid receptor antagonist, produces pain through direct activation of TRP channels.

    PubMed

    Yin, Shijin; Luo, Jialie; Qian, Aihua; Yu, Weihua; Hu, Hongzhen

    2014-03-01

    Retinoids, through their activation of retinoic acid receptors (RARs) and retinoid X receptors, regulate diverse cellular processes, and pharmacological intervention in their actions has been successful in the treatment of skin disorders and cancers. Despite the many beneficial effects, administration of retinoids causes irritating side effects with unknown mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate that LE135 [4-(7,8,9,10-tetrahydro-5,7,7,10,10-pentamethyl-5H-benzo[e]naphtho[2,3-b][1,4]diazepin-13-yl)benzoic acid], a selective antagonist of RARβ , is a potent activator of the capsaicin (TRPV1) and wasabi (TRPA1) receptors, two critical pain-initiating cation channels. We performed to investigate the excitatory effects of LE135 on TRPV1 and TRPA1 channels expressed in HEK293T cells and in dorsal root ganglia neurons with calcium imaging and patch-clamp recordings. We also used site-directed mutagenesis of the channels to determine the structural basis of LE135-induced activation of TRPV1 and TRPA1 channels and behavioural testing to examine if pharmacological inhibition and genetic deletion of the channels affected LE135-evoked pain-related behaviours. LE135 activated both the capsaicin receptor (TRPV1) and the allyl isothiocyanate receptor (TRPA1) heterologously expressed in HEK293T cells and endogenously expressed by sensory nociceptors. Mutations disrupting the capsaicin-binding site attenuated LE135 activation of TRPV1 channels and a single mutation (K170R) eliminated TRPA1 activity evoked by LE135. Intraplantar injection of LE135 evoked pain-related behaviours. Both TRPV1 and TRPA1 channels were involved in LE135-elicited pain-related responses, as shown by pharmacological and genetic ablation studies. This blocker of retinoid acid signalling also exerted non-genomic effects through activating the pain-initiating TRPV1 and TRPA1 channels. © 2013 The British Pharmacological Society.

  7. Arginase inhibition promotes wound healing in mice.

    PubMed

    Kavalukas, Sandra L; Uzgare, Aarti R; Bivalacqua, Trinity J; Barbul, Adrian

    2012-02-01

    Arginase plays important regulatory roles in polyamine, ornithine, and nitric oxide syntheses. However, its role in the healing process has not been delineated. In this study, we used a highly potent and specific inhibitor of arginase, namely 2(S)-amino-6-boronohexanoic acid NH4 (ABH) to evaluate the role of arginase function in wound healing. ABH or saline was applied topically to full thickness, dorsal, excisional wounds in C57BL/6 mice every 8 hours for 14 days post surgery and the rate of wound closure was estimated planimetrically. Wound tissue was harvested from mice sacrificed on postoperative days 3 and 7 and examined histologically. The extent of epithelial, connective, and granulation tissue present within the wound area was estimated histomorphometrically. The effect of ABH on wound arginase activity, production of nitric oxide metabolites (NO(x)), and presence of smooth muscle actin positive cells (myofibroblasts) was evaluated. While arginase activity was inhibited in vivo, the rate of wound closure significantly increased 7 days post-surgery, (21 ± 4%: P < .01; Student t test) in ABH treated animals. This was accompanied by an early increase in wound granulation tissue and accumulation of NO(x) followed by enhanced re-epithelialization and localization of myofibroblasts beneath the wound epithelium. Arginase inhibition improves excisional wound healing and may be used to develop therapeutics for early wound closure. Copyright © 2012 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Decreased brain sigma-1 receptor contributes to the relationship between heart failure and depression.

    PubMed

    Ito, Koji; Hirooka, Yoshitaka; Matsukawa, Ryuichi; Nakano, Masatsugu; Sunagawa, Kenji

    2012-01-01

    Depression often coexists with cardiovascular disease, such as hypertension and heart failure, in which sympathetic hyperactivation is critically involved. Reduction in the brain sigma-1 receptor (S1R) functions in depression pathogenesis via neuronal activity modulation. We hypothesized that reduced brain S1R exacerbates heart failure, especially with pressure overload via sympathetic hyperactivation and worsening depression. Male Institute of Cancer Research mice were treated with aortic banding and, 4 weeks thereafter, fed a high-salt diet for an additional 4 weeks to accelerate cardiac dysfunction (AB-H). Compared with sham-operated controls (Sham), AB-H showed augmented sympathetic activity, decreased per cent fractional shortening, increased left ventricular dimensions, and significantly lower brain S1R expression. Intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusion of S1R agonist PRE084 increased brain S1R expression, lowered sympathetic activity, and improved cardiac function in AB-H. ICV infusion of S1R antagonist BD1063 increased sympathetic activity and decreased cardiac function in Sham. Tail suspension test was used to evaluate the index of depression-like behaviour, with immobility time and strain amplitude recorded as markers of struggle activity using a force transducer. Immobility time increased and strain amplitude decreased in AB-H compared with Sham, and these changes were attenuated by ICV infusion of PRE084. These results indicate that decreased brain S1R contributes to the relationship between heart failure and depression in a mouse model of pressure overload.

  9. Heritability of climate-relevant traits in a rainforest skink.

    PubMed

    Martins, Felipe; Kruuk, Loeske; Llewelyn, John; Moritz, Craig; Phillips, Ben

    2018-05-22

    There is justified concern about the impact of global warming on the persistence of tropical ectotherms. There is also growing evidence for strong selection on climate-relevant physiological traits. Understanding the evolutionary potential of populations is especially important for low dispersal organisms in isolated populations, because these populations have little choice but to adapt. Despite this, direct estimates of heritability and genetic correlations for physiological traits in ectotherms-which will determine their evolutionary responses to selection-are sparse, especially for reptiles. Here we examine the heritabilities and genetic correlations for a set of four morphological and six climate-relevant physiological traits in an isolated population of an Australian rainforest lizard, Lampropholis coggeri. These traits show considerable variation across populations in this species, suggesting local adaptation. From laboratory crosses, we estimated very low to moderate heritability of temperature-related physiological traits (h 2  < 0.31), but significant and higher heritability of desiccation resistance (h 2 ~0.42). These values contrasted with uniformly higher heritabilities (h 2  > 0.51) for morphological traits. At the phenotypic level, there were positive associations among the morphological traits and between thermal limits. Growth rate was positively correlated with thermal limits, but there was no indication that morphology and physiology were linked in any other way. We found some support for a specialist-generalist trade-off in the thermal performance curve, but otherwise there was no evidence for evolutionary constraints, suggesting broadly labile multivariate trait structure. Our results indicate little potential to respond to selection on thermal traits in this population and provide new insights into the capacity of tropical ectotherms to adapt in situ to rapid climate change.

  10. Genetic Map Construction and Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) Detection of Growth-Related Traits in Litopenaeus vannamei for Selective Breeding Applications

    PubMed Central

    Andriantahina, Farafidy; Liu, Xiaolin; Huang, Hao

    2013-01-01

    Growth is a priority trait from the point of view of genetic improvement. Molecular markers linked to quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been regarded as useful for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in complex traits as growth. Using an intermediate F2 cross of slow and fast growth parents, a genetic linkage map of Pacific whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeusvannamei , based on amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) and simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers was constructed. Meanwhile, QTL analysis was performed for growth-related traits. The linkage map consisted of 451 marker loci (429 AFLPs and 22 SSRs) which formed 49 linkage groups with an average marker space of 7.6 cM; they spanned a total length of 3627.6 cM, covering 79.50% of estimated genome size. 14 QTLs were identified for growth-related traits, including three QTLs for body weight (BW), total length (TL) and partial carapace length (PCL), two QTLs for body length (BL), one QTL for first abdominal segment depth (FASD), third abdominal segment depth (TASD) and first abdominal segment width (FASW), which explained 2.62 to 61.42% of phenotypic variation. Moreover, comparison of linkage maps between L . vannamei and Penaeus japonicus was applied, providing a new insight into the genetic base of QTL affecting the growth-related traits. The new results will be useful for conducting MAS breeding schemes in L . vannamei . PMID:24086466

  11. Invited review: overview of new traits and phenotyping strategies in dairy cattle with a focus on functional traits.

    PubMed

    Egger-Danner, C; Cole, J B; Pryce, J E; Gengler, N; Heringstad, B; Bradley, A; Stock, K F

    2015-02-01

    For several decades, breeding goals in dairy cattle focussed on increased milk production. However, many functional traits have negative genetic correlations with milk yield, and reductions in genetic merit for health and fitness have been observed. Herd management has been challenged to compensate for these effects and to balance fertility, udder health and metabolic diseases against increased production to maximize profit without compromising welfare. Functional traits, such as direct information on cow health, have also become more important because of growing concern about animal well-being and consumer demands for healthy and natural products. There are major concerns about the impact of drugs used in veterinary medicine on the spread of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria that can negatively impact human health. Sustainability and efficiency are also increasingly important because of the growing competition for high-quality, plant-based sources of energy and protein. Disruptions to global environments because of climate change may encourage yet more emphasis on these traits. To be successful, it is vital that there be a balance between the effort required for data recording and subsequent benefits. The motivation of farmers and other stakeholders involved in documentation and recording is essential to ensure good data quality. To keep labour costs reasonable, existing data sources should be used as much as possible. Examples include the use of milk composition data to provide additional information about the metabolic status or energy balance of the animals. Recent advances in the use of mid-infrared spectroscopy to measure milk have shown considerable promise, and may provide cost-effective alternative phenotypes for difficult or expensive-to-measure traits, such as feed efficiency. There are other valuable data sources in countries that have compulsory documentation of veterinary treatments and drug use. Additional sources of data outside of the farm

  12. Trait sexual motivation questionnaire: concept and validation.

    PubMed

    Stark, Rudolf; Kagerer, Sabine; Walter, Bertram; Vaitl, Dieter; Klucken, Tim; Wehrum-Osinsky, Sina

    2015-04-01

    Trait sexual motivation defines a psychological construct that reflects the long-lasting degree of motivation for sexual activities, which is assumed to be the result of biological and sociocultural influences. With this definition, it shares commonalities with other sexuality-related constructs like sexual desire, sexual drive, sexual needs, and sexual compulsivity. The Trait Sexual Motivation Questionnaire (TSMQ) was developed in order to measure trait sexual motivation with its different facets. Several steps were conducted: First, items were composed assessing sexual desire, the effort made to gain sex, as well as specific sexual behaviors. Factor analysis of the data of a first sample (n = 256) was conducted. Second, the factor solution was verified by a confirmatory factor analysis in a second sample (n = 498) and construct validity was demonstrated. Third, the temporal stability of the TSMQ was tested in a third study (n = 59). Questionnaire data. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that trait sexual motivation is best characterized by four subscales: Solitary Sexuality, Importance of Sex, Seeking Sexual Encounters, and Comparison with Others. It could be shown that the test quality of the questionnaire is high. Most importantly for the trait concept, the retest reliability after 1 year was r = 0.87. Our results indicate that the TSMQ is indeed a suitable tool for measuring long-lasting sexual motivation with high test quality and high construct validity. A future differentiation between trait and state sexual motivation might be helpful for clinical as well as forensic research. © 2015 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

  13. Transdiagnostic cognitive processes in high trait anger.

    PubMed

    Owen, John M

    2011-03-01

    Trait anger is a personality construct that refers to stable individual differences in the propensity to experience anger as an emotional state. The objective of this paper is to review relevant empirical studies in order to determine whether the transdiagnostic cognitive processes that have been identified across the DSM-IV Axis I disorders (specifically, selective attention, memory biases, reasoning biases and recurrent negative thinking) are also an underlying characteristic of high trait anger. On the basis of the review it is concluded that, whilst the research base is limited, there is good evidence that high trait anger is associated with selective attention to hostile social cues, the tendency to interpret the behaviour of others as indicating potential hostility and the tendency to ruminate over past anger-provoking experiences. The range of cognitive processes identified in high trait anger is consistent with those identified in the Axis I disorders. It is concluded that these findings provide support for (i) the broad applicability of the transdiagnostic approach as a theoretical framework for understanding a range of psychological conditions, not limited to the Axis I disorders, and (ii) the validity of conceptualising high trait anger as an aspect of personality functioning that is maintained, at least in part, by cognitive processes. Cognitive and motivational factors (specifically, beliefs and goals) that may underlie the hostile information-processing biases and recurrent negative thinking associated with high trait anger are discussed, and consideration is given to the clinical relevance of the findings of the review. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Les bisphosphonates dans le traitement de l’ostéoporose

    PubMed Central

    Brown, Jacques P.; Morin, Suzanne; Leslie, William; Papaioannou, Alexandra; Cheung, Angela M.; Davison, Kenneth S.; Goltzman, David; Hanley, David Arthur; Hodsman, Anthony; Josse, Robert; Jovaisas, Algis; Juby, Angela; Kaiser, Stephanie; Karaplis, Andrew; Kendler, David; Khan, Aliya; Ngui, Daniel; Olszynski, Wojciech; Ste-Marie, Louis-Georges; Adachi, Jonathan

    2014-01-01

    Résumé Objectif Exposer l’efficacité et les risques du traitement par les bisphosphonates dans la prise en charge de l’ostéoporose et décrire les patients qui seraient de bons candidats aux congés thérapeutiques. Qualité des données Une recherche dans MEDLINE (PubMed, jusqu’au 31 décembre 2012) a permis de relever les publications pertinentes pour l’inclusion. La plupart des données probantes citées sont de niveau II (tirées d’essais non randomisés, de cohorte et d’autres essais comparatifs). Message principal L’efficacité des bisphosphonates de premier recours homologués pour la prévention des fractures a été éprouvée dans le cadre d’essais cliniques randomisés et contrôlés. Cependant, l’usage clinique répandu et prolongé des bisphosphonates a donné lieu à des rapports de manifestations indésirables rares, mais graves. L’ostéonécrose maxillaire et les fractures atypiques sous-trochantériennes ou diaphysaires du fémur seraient liées à l’emploi des bisphosphonates dans le traitement de l’ostéoporose, mais ces manifestations sont extrêmement rares et lorsqu’elles surviennent, elles sont accompagnées d’autres comorbidités ou de l’emploi concomitant de médicaments. Les congés thérapeutiques ne peuvent être envisagés que chez les patients à faible risque et dans un groupe restreint de patients dont le risque de fracture est modéré après un traitement de 3 à 5 ans. Conclusion Lorsque les bisphosphonates sont prescrits à des patients dont le risque de fracture est élevé, leur effet de prévention des fractures l’emporte de loin sur leurs torts potentiels. Chez les patients qui prennent des bisphosphonates depuis 3 à 5 ans, il faut réévaluer le besoin de poursuivre le traitement.

  15. Leveraging contemporary species introductions to test phylogenetic hypotheses of trait evolution.

    PubMed

    Lu-Irving, Patricia; Marx, Hannah E; Dlugosch, Katrina M

    2018-05-10

    Plant trait evolution is a topic of interest across disciplines and scales. Phylogenetic studies are powerful for generating hypotheses about the mechanisms that have shaped plant traits and their evolution. Introduced plants are a rich source of data on contemporary trait evolution. Introductions could provide especially useful tests of a variety of evolutionary hypotheses because the environments selecting on evolving traits are still present. We review phylogenetic and contemporary studies of trait evolution and identify areas of overlap and areas for further integration. Emerging tools which can promote integration include broadly focused repositories of trait data, and comparative models of trait evolution that consider both intra and interspecific variation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Carcass traits of young bulls in dual-purpose cattle: genetic parameters and genetic correlations with veal calf, type and production traits.

    PubMed

    Croué, I; Fouilloux, M N; Saintilan, R; Ducrocq, V

    2017-06-01

    The profitability of dual-purpose breeding farms can be increased through genetic improvement of carcass traits. To develop a genetic evaluation of carcass traits of young bulls, breed-specific genetic parameters were estimated in three French dual-purpose breeds. Genetic correlations between these traits and veal calf, type and milk production traits were also estimated. Slaughter performances of 156 226 Montbeliarde, 160 361 Normande and 8691 Simmental young bulls were analyzed with a multitrait animal model. In the three breeds, heritabilities were moderate for carcass weight (0.12 to 0.19±0.01 to 0.04) and carcass conformation (0.21 to 0.26±0.01 to 0.04) and slightly lower for age at slaughter (0.08 to 0.17±0.01 to 0.03). For all three breeds, genetic correlations between carcass weight and carcass conformation were moderate and favorable (0.30 to 0.52±0.03 to 0.13). They were strong and favorable (-0.49 to -0.71±0.05 to 0.15) between carcass weight and age at slaughter. Between age at slaughter and carcass conformation, they were low and unfavorable to moderate and favorable (-0.25 to 0.10±0.06 to 0.18). Heavier young bulls tend to be better conformed and slaughtered earlier. Genetic correlations between corresponding young bulls and veal production traits were moderate and favorable (0.32 to 0.70±0.03 to 0.09), implying that selecting sires for veal calf production leads to select sires producing better young bulls. Genetic correlations between young bull carcass weight and cow size were moderately favorable (0.22 to 0.45±0.04 to 0.10). Young bull carcass conformation had moderate and favorable genetic correlations (0.11 to 0.24±0.04 to 0.10) with cow width but moderate and unfavorable genetic correlations (-0.21 to -0.36±0.03 to 0.08) with cow height. Taller cows tended to produce heavier young bulls and thinner cows to produce less conformed ones. Genetic correlations between carcass traits of young bulls and cow muscularity traits were low to

  17. Emotions and trait emotional intelligence among ultra-endurance runners.

    PubMed

    Lane, Andrew M; Wilson, Mathew

    2011-07-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between trait emotional intelligence and emotional state changes over the course of an ultra-endurance foot race covering a route of approximately 175 miles (282 km) and held in set stages over six days. A repeated measures field design that sought to maintain ecological validity was used. Trait emotional intelligence was defined as a relatively stable concept that should predict adaptive emotional states experienced over the duration of the race and therefore associate with pleasant emotions during a 6-stage endurance event. Thirty-four runners completed a self-report measure of trait emotional intelligence before the event started. Participants reported emotional states before and after each of the six races. Repeated measures ANOVA results showed significant variations in emotions over time and a main effect for trait emotional intelligence. Runners high in self-report trait emotional intelligence also reported higher pleasant and lower unpleasant emotions than runners low in trait emotional intelligence. Findings lend support to the notion that trait emotional intelligence associates with adaptive psychological states, suggesting that it may be a key individual difference that explains why some athletes respond to repeated bouts of hard exercise better than others. Future research should test the effectiveness of interventions designed to enhance trait emotional intelligence and examine the attendant impact on emotional responses to intense exercise during multi-stage events. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  18. Childhood parental bonding affects adulthood trait anxiety through self-esteem.

    PubMed

    Shimura, Akiyoshi; Takaesu, Yoshikazu; Nakai, Yukiei; Murakoshi, Akiko; Ono, Yasuyuki; Matsumoto, Yasunori; Kusumi, Ichiro; Inoue, Takeshi

    2017-04-01

    The association between trait anxiety and parental bonding has been suggested. However, the mechanism remains uncertain and there is no study focused on general adult population. We investigated the association and the mechanism between childhood parental bonding and adulthood trait anxiety in the general adult population. A cross-sectional retrospective survey was conducted in 2014 with 853 adult volunteers from the general population. The Parental Bonding Instrument, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Form Y (STAI-Y) were self-administered. Structural equation modelling was used for the analysis. Childhood parental bonding affected adulthood trait anxiety indirectly mediated by self-esteem. Trait anxiety was decreased by parental care and increased by parental overprotection through self-esteem. This model explained 51.1% of the variability in STAI-Y trait anxiety scores. This study suggests an important role of self-esteem as a mediator between childhood parental bonding and adulthood trait anxiety. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  19. Investigation of the construct of trait emotional intelligence in children.

    PubMed

    Mavroveli, Stella; Petrides, K V; Shove, Chloe; Whitehead, Amanda

    2008-12-01

    This paper discusses the construct of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI or trait emotional self-efficacy) with emphasis on measurement in children. The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Child Form (TEIQue-CF) is introduced and its development and theoretical background are briefly explained. It is shown in two independent studies that the TEIQue-CF has satisfactory levels of internal consistency (alpha = 0.76 and alpha = 0.73, respectively) and temporal stability [r = 0.79 and r ((corrected)) = 1.00]. Trait EI scores were generally unrelated to proxies of cognitive ability, as hypothesized in trait EI theory (Petrides et al. in Matthews et al. (eds) Emotional intelligence: knowns and unknowns -- series in affective science. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 151-166). They also differentiated between pupils with unauthorized absences or exclusions from school and controls. Trait EI correlated positively with teacher-rated positive behavior and negatively with negative behavior (emotional symptoms, conduct problems, peer problems, and hyperactivity).

  20. Psychopathic traits from an RDoC perspective.

    PubMed

    Blair, R J R

    2015-02-01

    In this review an RDoC approach is applied to psychopathic traits. Two core neuro-cognitive systems relevant to the emergence of psychopathic traits are considered. These are the response to other individuals' emotional displays and reinforcement-based decision-making. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  1. Architectural Kansei of ‘Wall’ in The Façade Design by Le Corbusier

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sendai, Shoichiro

    The purpose of this paper is to discuss the modern architect Le Corbusier's architectural Kansei (sensibility) on wall in site environment through the analysis of his façade design, using Œuvres complètes (1910-1965, 8 vols., Les éditions d'architecture, Artemis, Zurich) and Le Corbusier Archives (1982-1984, 32 vols., Garland Publishing, Inc. and Fondation Le Corbusier, New York, London, Paris). At first, I arrange five façade types, according to the explanation by Le Corbusier ; ‘fenêtre en longueur (strip window)’, ‘pan de verre (glass wall)’, ‘brise-soleil (sun-breaker)’, ‘loggia’ and ‘claustra’. Through the analysis of the relationship between these types and the design process of each building, we find that Le Corbusier's façade design includes the affirmation and the negation of the ‘wall’ at the same time. In fact, the nature of façade modification during design process is divers: increase in transparency, decrease in transparency and spatialization of façade. That means, Le Corbusier studied the environmental condition by these façade types, and tried to realize the phenomenal openness. This trial bases on the function of architectural Kansei as correspondence between body and environment beyond the physical design.

  2. Better Cognitive Performance Is Associated With the Combination of High Trait Mindfulness and Low Trait Anxiety.

    PubMed

    Jaiswal, Satish; Tsai, Shao-Yang; Juan, Chi-Hung; Liang, Wei-Kuang; Muggleton, Neil G

    2018-01-01

    There are several ways in which cognitive and neurophysiological parameters have been consistently used to explain the variability in cognitive ability between people. However, little has been done to explore how such cognitive abilities are influenced by differences in personality traits. Dispositional mindfulness and anxiety are two inversely linked traits that have been independently attributed to a range of cognitive functions. The current study investigated these two traits in combination along with measures of the attentional network, cognitive inhibition, and visual working memory (VWM) capacity. A total of 392 prospective participants were screened to select two experimental groups each of 30 healthy young adults, with one having high mindfulness and low anxiety (HMLA) and the second having low mindfulness and high anxiety (LMHA). The groups performed an attentional network task, a color Stroop task, and a change detection test of VWM capacity. Results showed that the HMLA group was more accurate than the LMHA group on the Stroop and change detection tasks. Additionally, the HMLA group was more sensitive in detecting changes and had a higher WMC than the LMHA group. This research adds to the literature that has investigated mindfulness and anxiety independently with a comprehensive investigation of the effects of these two traits in conjunction on executive function.

  3. Le kyste hydatique du cordon spermatique: une localisation exceptionnelle

    PubMed Central

    Hamdane, Mohamed Moncef; Bougrine, Fethi; Msakni, Issam; Dhaoui-Ghozzi, Amen; Bouziani, Ammar

    2011-01-01

    L’ hydatidose est une anthropo-zoonose due au développement chez l'homme de la forme larvaire du taenia Echinococcus granulosis. La plupart des kystes hydatiques se localisent dans le foie et les poumons. Le kyste hydatique du cordon spermatique est extrêmement rare avec seulement 4 cas rapportés dans la littérature. Les auteurs rapportent dans cet article un nouveau cas d'hydatidose du cordon spermatique. Il s'agissait d'un homme de 40 ans qui consultait pour des douleurs scrotales évoluant depuis huit mois. L'examen clinique a mis en évidence une tuméfaction mobile, inguino-scrotale, droite. L’échographie testiculaire a objectivé une hernie inguinale droite associée à deux kystes épididymaires bilatéraux. Le patient a été opéré pour cure de son hernie avec découverte en per-opératoire d'un kyste du cordon spermatique qui a été réséqué. L'examen anatomopathologique a conclu à une hydatidose du cordon spermatique. PMID:22384304

  4. [Problematic Internet use, time spent online and personality traits].

    PubMed

    Laconi, S; Andréoletti, A; Chauchard, E; Rodgers, R F; Chabrol, H

    2016-06-01

    Internet addiction or problematic Internet use is a recent and increasingly recognized disorder which has been consistently associated with many psychiatric disorders, adding to the documented negative consequences of problematic Internet use. However, very few studies have examined the relationship between problematic Internet use and personality traits and none in a French sample. Moreover, those which have evaluated this relationship have mainly been conducted on small samples. The main goal of our study was to explore the relationship between problematic Internet use, time spent online and personality traits in a French sample, taking into account the presence of depressive symptoms, and gender. A sample of 276 participants aged from 18 to 50 (M=28; SD=8.9) completed a questionnaire assessing problematic Internet use, time spent online, the presence of ten personality traits and depressive symptoms. Our results revealed significant differences between genders. Among men, problematic Internet use was associated with personality clusters A and B while in women no cluster or personality traits were associated. Time spent online was predicted by schizoid personality traits among men and avoidant personality traits among women. Our results indicate that cluster A (schizoid and schizotypal) and cluster B traits (borderline and antisocial) play a more important role in problematic Internet use than cluster C traits among men. Differences between men and women regarding the relationships between personality traits, time online and problematic Internet use may be related to differences in the activities engaged in by men and women online. We observed that communication websites use was more prevalent among women while erotic, gambling and shopping websites use was more prevalent among men suggesting that the characteristics of problematic Internet use may vary according to gender. Few studies have examined the relationship between problematic Internet use, time spent

  5. Speed breeding for multiple quantitative traits in durum wheat.

    PubMed

    Alahmad, Samir; Dinglasan, Eric; Leung, Kung Ming; Riaz, Adnan; Derbal, Nora; Voss-Fels, Kai P; Able, Jason A; Bassi, Filippo M; Christopher, Jack; Hickey, Lee T

    2018-01-01

    Plant breeding requires numerous generations to be cycled and evaluated before an improved cultivar is released. This lengthy process is required to introduce and test multiple traits of interest. However, a technology for rapid generation advance named 'speed breeding' was successfully deployed in bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) to achieve six generations per year while imposing phenotypic selection for foliar disease resistance and grain dormancy. Here, for the first time the deployment of this methodology is presented in durum wheat ( Triticum durum Desf.) by integrating selection for key traits, including above and below ground traits on the same set of plants. This involved phenotyping for seminal root angle (RA), seminal root number (RN), tolerance to crown rot (CR), resistance to leaf rust (LR) and plant height (PH). In durum wheat, these traits are desirable in environments where yield is limited by in-season rainfall with the occurrence of CR and epidemics of LR. To evaluate this multi-trait screening approach, we applied selection to a large segregating F 2 population (n = 1000) derived from a bi-parental cross (Outrob4/Caparoi). A weighted selection index (SI) was developed and applied. The gain for each trait was determined by evaluating F 3 progeny derived from 100 'selected' and 100 'unselected' F 2 individuals. Transgressive segregation was observed for all assayed traits in the Outrob4/Caparoi F 2 population. Application of the SI successfully shifted the population mean for four traits, as determined by a significant mean difference between 'selected' and 'unselected' F 3 families for CR tolerance, LR resistance, RA and RN. No significant shift for PH was observed. The novel multi-trait phenotyping method presents a useful tool for rapid selection of early filial generations or for the characterization of fixed lines out-of-season. Further, it offers efficient use of resources by assaying multiple traits on the same set of plants. Results

  6. Genetic parameters for lactose and its correlation with other milk production traits and fitness traits in pasture-based production systems.

    PubMed

    Haile-Mariam, M; Pryce, J E

    2017-05-01

    Lactose is a major component of milk (typically around 5% of composition) that is not usually directly considered in national genetic improvement programs of dairy cattle. Daily test-day lactose yields and percentage data from pasture-based seasonal calving herds in Australia were analyzed to assess if lactose content can be used for predicting fitness traits and if an additional benefit is achieved by including lactose yield in selecting for milk yield traits. Data on lactose percentage collected from 2007 to 2014, from about 600 herds, were used to estimated genetic parameters for lactose percentage and lactose yield and correlations with other milk yield traits, somatic cell count (SCC), calving interval (CIV), and survival. Daily test-day data were analyzed using bivariate random regression models. In addition, multi-trait models were also performed mainly to assess the value of lactose to predict fitness traits. The heritability of lactose percentage (0.25 to 0.37) was higher than lactose yield (0.11 to 0.20) in the first parity. Genetically, the correlation of lactose percentage with protein percentage varied from 0.3 at the beginning of lactation to -0.24 at the end of the lactation in the first parity. Similar patterns in genetic correlations were also observed in the second and third parity. At all levels (i.e., genetic, permanent environmental, and residual), the correlation between milk yield and lactose yield was close to 1. The genetic and permanent environmental correlations between lactose percentage and SCC were stronger in the second and third parity and toward the end of the lactation (-0.35 to -0.50) when SCC levels are at their maximum. The genetic correlation between lactose percentage in the first 120 d and CIV (-0.23) was similar to correlation of CIV with protein percentage (-0.28), another component trait with the potential to predict fertility. Furthermore, the correlations of estimated breeding values of lactose percentage and estimated

  7. Fungal Traits That Drive Ecosystem Dynamics on Land

    PubMed Central

    Lennon, Jay T.

    2015-01-01

    SUMMARY Fungi contribute extensively to a wide range of ecosystem processes, including decomposition of organic carbon, deposition of recalcitrant carbon, and transformations of nitrogen and phosphorus. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge about physiological and morphological traits of fungi that directly influence these processes, and we describe the functional genes that encode these traits. In addition, we synthesize information from 157 whole fungal genomes in order to determine relationships among selected functional genes within fungal taxa. Ecosystem-related traits varied most at relatively coarse taxonomic levels. For example, we found that the maximum amount of variance for traits associated with carbon mineralization, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling, and stress tolerance could be explained at the levels of order to phylum. Moreover, suites of traits tended to co-occur within taxa. Specifically, the genetic capacities for traits that improve stress tolerance—β-glucan synthesis, trehalose production, and cold-induced RNA helicases—were positively related to one another, and they were more evident in yeasts. Traits that regulate the decomposition of complex organic matter—lignin peroxidases, cellobiohydrolases, and crystalline cellulases—were also positively related, but they were more strongly associated with free-living filamentous fungi. Altogether, these relationships provide evidence for two functional groups: stress tolerators, which may contribute to soil carbon accumulation via the production of recalcitrant compounds; and decomposers, which may reduce soil carbon stocks. It is possible that ecosystem functions, such as soil carbon storage, may be mediated by shifts in the fungal community between stress tolerators and decomposers in response to environmental changes, such as drought and warming. PMID:25971588

  8. Involvement of LeMRP, an ATP-binding cassette transporter, in shikonin transport and biosynthesis in Lithospermum erythrorhizon.

    PubMed

    Zhu, Y; Chu, S-J; Luo, Y-L; Fu, J-Y; Tang, C-Y; Lu, G-H; Pang, Y-J; Wang, X-M; Yang, R-W; Qi, J-L; Yang, Y-H

    2018-03-01

    Shikonin and its derivatives are important medicinal secondary metabolites accumulating in roots of Lithospermum erythrorhizon. Although some membrane proteins have been identified as transporters of secondary metabolites, the mechanisms underlying shikonin transport and accumulation in L. erythrorhizon cells still remain largely unknown. In this study, we isolated a cDNA encoding LeMRP, an ATP-binding cassette transporter from L. erythrorhizon, and further investigated its functions in the transport and biosynthesis of shikonin using the yeast transformation and transgenic hairy root methods, respectively. Real-time PCR was applied for expression analyses of LeMRP and shikonin biosynthetic enzyme genes. Functional analysis of LeMRP using the heterologous yeast cell expression system showed that LeMRP could be involved in shikonin transport. Transgenic hairy roots of L. erythrorhizon demonstrated that LeMRP overexpressing hairy roots produced more shikonin than the empty vector (EV) control. Real-time PCR results revealed that the enhanced shikonin biosynthesis in the overexpression lines was mainly caused by highly up-regulated expression of genes coding key enzymes (LePAL, HMGR, Le4CL and LePGT) involved in shikonin biosynthesis. Conversely, LeMRP RNAi decreased the accumulation of shikonin and effectively down-regulated expression level of the above genes. Typical inhibitors of ABC proteins, such as azide and buthionine sulphoximine, dramatically inhibited accumulation of shikonin in hairy roots. Our findings provide evidence for the important direct or indirect role of LeMRP in transmembrane transport and biosynthesis of shikonin. © 2017 German Society for Plant Sciences and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

  9. Chronic Smoking, Trait Anxiety, and the Physiological Response to Stress.

    PubMed

    Wiggert, Nicole; Wilhelm, Frank H; Nakajima, Motohiro; al'Absi, Mustafa

    2016-10-14

    Both chronic smoking and trait anxiety have been associated with dysregulations in psychobiological stress response systems. However, these factors have not been studied in conjunction. We expected trait anxiety and smoking status to attenuate stress reactivity. Furthermore, we expected an allostatic load effect resulting in particularly attenuated stress reactivity in high-anxious smokers. In addition, high-anxious smokers were expected to exhibit increased urges to smoke in response to stress. 115 smokers and 37 nonsmokers, aged 18-64 years, completed a laboratory session including mental stressors such as evaluated public speaking and mental arithmetic. Trait anxiety was assessed using Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Cardiovascular autonomic indices, salivary cortisol, and the desire to smoke were measured at baseline, during stressors, and at recovery. Regression analyses showed that smokers exhibited attenuated cardiovascular stress responses in comparison to nonsmokers. Higher trait anxiety predicted attenuated systolic blood pressure responses to stress. No interaction effect of smoking status and trait anxiety was found in stress response measures. Higher trait anxiety predicted an increased desire to smoke in response to stress among smokers. Results indicate that both smoking status and trait anxiety are associated with blunted sympatho-adrenal cardiovascular stress reactivity. Elevated urges to smoke in response to stress found among smokers with high trait anxiety suggest an important role of anxiety in smoking propensity and relapse.

  10. Personality traits and ego-network dynamics

    PubMed Central

    Centellegher, Simone; López, Eduardo; Saramäki, Jari; Lepri, Bruno

    2017-01-01

    Strong and supportive social relationships are fundamental to our well-being. However, there are costs to their maintenance, resulting in a trade-off between quality and quantity, a typical strategy being to put a lot of effort on a few high-intensity relationships while maintaining larger numbers of less close relationships. It has also been shown that there are persistent individual differences in this pattern; some individuals allocate their efforts more uniformly across their networks, while others strongly focus on their closest relationships. Furthermore, some individuals maintain more stable networks than others. Here, we focus on how personality traits of individuals affect this picture, using mobile phone calls records and survey data from the Mobile Territorial Lab (MTL) study. In particular, we look at the relationship between personality traits and the (i) persistence of social signatures, namely the similarity of the social signature shape of an individual measured in different time intervals; (ii) the turnover in egocentric networks, that is, differences in the set of alters present at two consecutive temporal intervals; and (iii) the rank dynamics defined as the variation of alter rankings in egocentric networks in consecutive intervals. We observe that some traits have effects on the stability of the social signatures as well as network turnover and rank dynamics. As an example, individuals who score highly in the Openness to Experience trait tend to have higher levels of network turnover and larger alter rank variations. On broader terms, our study shows that personality traits clearly affect the ways in which individuals maintain their personal networks. PMID:28253333

  11. Structural brain MRI trait polygenic score prediction of cognitive abilities

    PubMed Central

    Luciano, Michelle; Marioni, Riccardo E; Hernández, Maria Valdés; Maniega, Susana Munoz; Hamilton, Iona F; Royle, Natalie A.; Scotland, Generation; Chauhan, Ganesh; Bis, Joshua C.; Debette, Stephanie; DeCarli, Charles; Fornage, Myriam; Schmidt, Reinhold; Ikram, M. Arfan; Launer, Lenore J.; Seshadri, Sudha; Bastin, Mark E.; Porteous, David J.; Wardlaw, Joanna; Deary, Ian J

    2016-01-01

    Structural brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) traits share part of their genetic variance with cognitive traits. Here, we use genetic association results from large meta-analytic studies of genome-wide association for brain infarcts, white matter hyperintensities, intracranial, hippocampal and total brain volumes to estimate polygenic scores for these traits in three Scottish samples: Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (GS:SFHS), and the Lothian Birth Cohorts of 1936 (LBC1936) and 1921 (LBC1921). These five brain MRI trait polygenic scores were then used to 1) predict corresponding MRI traits in the LBC1936 (numbers ranged 573 to 630 across traits) and 2) predict cognitive traits in all three cohorts (in 8,115 to 8,250 persons). In the LBC1936, all MRI phenotypic traits were correlated with at least one cognitive measure; and polygenic prediction of MRI traits was observed for intracranial volume. Meta-analysis of the correlations between MRI polygenic scores and cognitive traits revealed a significant negative correlation (maximal r=0.08) between the hippocampal volume polygenic score and measures of global cognitive ability collected in childhood and in old age in the Lothian Birth Cohorts. The lack of association to a related general cognitive measure when including the GS:SFHS points to either type 1 error or the importance of using prediction samples that closely match the demographics of the genome-wide association samples from which prediction is based. Ideally, these analyses should be repeated in larger samples with data on both MRI and cognition, and using MRI GWA results from even larger meta-analysis studies. PMID:26427786

  12. Mapping local and global variability in plant trait distributions

    DOE PAGES

    Butler, Ethan E.; Datta, Abhirup; Flores-Moreno, Habacuc; ...

    2017-12-01

    Accurate trait-environment relationships and global maps of plant trait distributions represent a needed stepping stone in global biogeography and are critical constraints of key parameters for land models. Here, we use a global data set of plant traits to map trait distributions closely coupled to photosynthesis and foliar respiration: specific leaf area (SLA), and dry mass-based concentrations of leaf nitrogen (Nm) and phosphorus (Pm); We propose two models to extrapolate geographically sparse point data to continuous spatial surfaces. The first is a categorical model using species mean trait values, categorized into plant functional types (PFTs) and extrapolating to PFT occurrencemore » ranges identified by remote sensing. The second is a Bayesian spatial model that incorporates information about PFT, location and environmental covariates to estimate trait distributions. Both models are further stratified by varying the number of PFTs; The performance of the models was evaluated based on their explanatory and predictive ability. The Bayesian spatial model leveraging the largest number of PFTs produced the best maps; The interpolation of full trait distributions enables a wider diversity of vegetation to be represented across the land surface. These maps may be used as input to Earth System Models and to evaluate other estimates of functional diversity.« less

  13. Mapping local and global variability in plant trait distributions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Butler, Ethan E.; Datta, Abhirup; Flores-Moreno, Habacuc

    Accurate trait-environment relationships and global maps of plant trait distributions represent a needed stepping stone in global biogeography and are critical constraints of key parameters for land models. Here, we use a global data set of plant traits to map trait distributions closely coupled to photosynthesis and foliar respiration: specific leaf area (SLA), and dry mass-based concentrations of leaf nitrogen (Nm) and phosphorus (Pm); We propose two models to extrapolate geographically sparse point data to continuous spatial surfaces. The first is a categorical model using species mean trait values, categorized into plant functional types (PFTs) and extrapolating to PFT occurrencemore » ranges identified by remote sensing. The second is a Bayesian spatial model that incorporates information about PFT, location and environmental covariates to estimate trait distributions. Both models are further stratified by varying the number of PFTs; The performance of the models was evaluated based on their explanatory and predictive ability. The Bayesian spatial model leveraging the largest number of PFTs produced the best maps; The interpolation of full trait distributions enables a wider diversity of vegetation to be represented across the land surface. These maps may be used as input to Earth System Models and to evaluate other estimates of functional diversity.« less

  14. Personality traits and career satisfaction of health care professionals.

    PubMed

    Richardson, John D; Lounsbury, John W; Bhaskar, Tripti; Gibson, Lucy W; Drost, Adam W

    2009-01-01

    Based on Holland's theorizing that vocational satisfaction arises from a good match between one's personality and career choice, one purpose of the study was to examine broad and narrow personality traits that characterize health care workers in comparison with professionals from other occupations. Also investigated were ways in which characteristic traits of health care workers were related to career satisfaction. Professionals utilizing the services of eCareerfit.com responded to online surveys that have been demonstrated to produce reliable and valid measures of broad and narrow personality traits and levels of career satisfaction. An independent sample t test was used to compare means of health care workers with those from other occupations. Pearson product-moment correlations were then computed to assess relationships between the traits and career satisfaction of health care professionals. Two traits that were particularly strong among health care workers were also significantly correlated with career satisfaction: work drive and conscientiousness. Other traits were found to be significantly related to career satisfaction in health care but were not uniquely high in the sample of health care professionals. To increase career satisfaction of health care professionals and thus to improve retention rates, administrators should consider focusing on recruiting and selecting individuals with higher levels of key personality traits.

  15. Short-Term Stability of Psychopathic Traits in Adolescent Offenders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Zina; Klaver, Jessica R.; Hart, Stephen D.; Moretti, Marlene M.; Douglas, Kevin S.

    2009-01-01

    There is considerable debate about the assessment of psychopathic traits in adolescence due in part to questions regarding the stability of traits. We investigated the 6-month stability of psychopathic traits in a sample of 83 male adolescent offenders using an augmented protocol for the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version and the self-report…

  16. Adaptive introgression of abiotic tolerance traits in the sunflower Helianthus annuus.

    PubMed

    Whitney, Kenneth D; Randell, Rebecca A; Rieseberg, Loren H

    2010-07-01

    *Adaptive trait introgression is increasingly recognized as common. However, it is unclear whether adaptive genetic exchanges typically affect only a single trait, or instead affect multiple aspects of the phenotype. Here, we examine introgression of abiotic tolerance traits between two hybridizing North American sunflower species, Helianthus annuus and Helianthus debilis. *In two common gardens in the hybrid range, we measured 10 ecophysiological, phenological, and architectural traits for parents and their natural and artificial hybrids, and examined how fitness covaried with trait values. *Eight of the 10 traits showed patterns consistent with introgression from H. debilis into H. annuus, and suggested that H. debilis-like traits allowing rapid growth and reproduction before summer heat and drought have been favored in the hybrid range. Natural selection currently favors BC(1) hybrids with H. debilis-like branching traits. *We demonstrate that introgression has altered multiple aspects of the H. annuus phenotype in an adaptive manner, has affected traits relevant to both biotic and abiotic environments, and may have aided expansion of the H. annuus range into central Texas, USA.

  17. Is beta-thalassemia trait a protective factor against ischemic cerebrovascular accidents?

    PubMed

    Karimi, Mehran; Borhani Haghighi, Afshin; Yazdani, Maryam; Raisi, Hamideh; Giti, Rahil; Namazee, Mohammad Reza

    2008-01-01

    In this research, we sought to determine the association between beta-thalassemia trait and ischemic cerebrovascular accident (CVA). In acase-control study, 148 patients with thromboembolic cerebrovascular events were evaluated for the presence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and beta-thalassemia trait. A total of 156 age- and sex-matched patients with no cardiac or cerebrovascular diseases, serving as the control group, were also investigated for the above-mentioned risk factors. We found that 6.1% of patients with ischemic CVA and 12.2% of the control group had beta-thalassemia trait (P = .066). In male patients, the negative association between ischemic CVA and presence of beta-thalassemia trait was significant (P = .008). In patients, the prevalence of hypertension was also significantly different between those with and without beta-thalassemia trait (P = .01); those with beta-thalassemia trait had a lower mean blood pressure than those without the trait. beta-Thalassemia trait may have a protective effect against ischemic CVA that might be caused by the lower arterial blood pressure observed in those with this trait.

  18. le de la radiothérapie dans le traitement de l'améloblastome: à propos de deux cas

    PubMed Central

    El Mazghi, Abderrahman; Bouhafa, Touria; El Kacemi, Hanan; Loukili, Kaoutar; Chbani, Laila; Kebdani, Taieb; Hassouni, Khalid

    2014-01-01

    L'améloblastome est une tumeur odontogène bénigne mais à pouvoir agressif et invasif local important. C'est une tumeur rare, elle représente 1% des tumeurs des maxillaires. Lele de la radiothérapie dans son traitement est actuellement démontré pour les tumeurs inopérables. Nous rapportons 2 cas d'améloblastomes mandibulaires chez deux patients qui ont bénéficié d'une radiothérapie externe à la dose de 60 Gy. L’évolution a été marquée par une rémission complète de la maladie dans les deux cas avec un recul de 2 et 5 ans. PMID:25722762

  19. Logistic analysis of shovel and Carabelli's tooth traits in a Caucasoid population.

    PubMed

    Hsu, J W; Tsai, P; Liu, K; Ferguson, D

    1997-09-19

    Caucasoid populations differ from Mongoloids by having a high prevalence of Carabelli's trait and a low prevalence of shovel trait. This study was conducted to investigate the association between the shovel and the Carabelli's traits in a Caucasoid population. The research design sought a Caucasoid population at Milwaukee of Wisconsin in United States. The Caucasoid group selected for study was the European descendant. The effects of sex and age on Carabelli's trait were controlled in this investigation, as was the association between tooth size and Carabelli's trait. Results show that males were more likely to have Carabelli's trait expressed on teeth than females. The buccolingual diameter of Carabelli's trait teeth was larger than that of teeth without the trait. After adjusting for sex, age, and tooth size, the existence of the shovel trait decreased the likelihood of having Carabelli's trait which shows an significant effect.

  20. Urbanization reduces and homogenizes trait diversity in stream macroinvertebrate communities.

    PubMed

    Barnum, Thomas R; Weller, Donald E; Williams, Meghan

    2017-12-01

    More than one-half of the world's population lives in urban areas, so quantifying the effects of urbanization on ecological communities is important for understanding whether anthropogenic stressors homogenize communities across environmental and climatic gradients. We examined the relationship of impervious surface coverage (a marker of urbanization) and the structure of stream macroinvertebrate communities across the state of Maryland and within each of Maryland's three ecoregions: Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Appalachian, which differ in stream geomorphology and community composition. We considered three levels of trait organization: individual traits, unique combinations of traits, and community metrics (functional richness, functional evenness, and functional divergence) and three levels of impervious surface coverage (low [<2.5%], medium [2.5% to 10%], and high [>10%]). The prevalence of an individual trait differed very little between low impervious surface and high impervious surface sites. The arrangement of trait combinations in community trait space for each ecoregion differed when impervious surface coverage was low, but the arrangement became more similar among ecoregions as impervious surface coverage increased. Furthermore, trait combinations that occurred only at low or medium impervious surface coverage were clustered in a subset of the community trait space, indicating that impervious surface affected the presence of only a subset of trait combinations. Functional richness declined with increasing impervious surface, providing evidence for environmental filtering. Community metrics that include abundance were also sensitive to increasing impervious surface coverage: functional divergence decreased while functional evenness increased. These changes demonstrate that increasing impervious surface coverage homogenizes the trait diversity of macroinvertebrate communities in streams, despite differences in initial community composition and stream

  1. Applied genetic evaluations for production and functional traits in dairy cattle.

    PubMed

    Mark, T

    2004-08-01

    The objective of this study was to review the current status of genetic evaluation systems for production and functional traits as practiced in different Interbull member countries and to discuss that status in relation to research results and potential improvements. Thirty-one countries provided information. Substantial variation was evident for number of traits considered per country, trait definition, genetic evaluation procedure within trait, effects included, and how these were treated in genetic evaluation models. All countries lacked genetic evaluations for one or more economically important traits. Improvement in the genetic evaluation models, especially for many functional traits, could be achieved by closing the gaps between research and practice. More detailed and up to date information about national genetic evaluation systems for traits in different countries is available at www.interbull.org. Female fertility and workability traits were considered in many countries and could be next in line for international genetic evaluations.

  2. Microscopic Description of Le Chatelier's Principle

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Novak, Igor

    2005-01-01

    A simple approach that "demystifies" Le Chatelier's principle (LCP) and simulates students to think about fundamental physical background behind the well-known principles is presented. The approach uses microscopic descriptors of matter like energy levels and populations and does not require any assumption about the fixed amount of substance being…

  3. Clinical and personality traits in emotional disorders: Evidence of a common framework.

    PubMed

    Mahaffey, Brittain L; Watson, David; Clark, Lee Anna; Kotov, Roman

    2016-08-01

    Certain clinical traits (e.g., ruminative response style, self-criticism, perfectionism, anxiety sensitivity, fear of negative evaluation, and thought suppression) increase the risk for and chronicity of emotional disorders. Similar to traditional personality traits, they are considered dispositional and typically show high temporal stability. Because the personality and clinical-traits literatures evolved largely independently, connections between them are not fully understood. We sought to map the interface between a widely studied set of clinical and personality traits. Two samples (N = 385 undergraduates; N = 188 psychiatric outpatients) completed measures of personality traits, clinical traits, and an interview-based assessment of emotional-disorder symptoms. First, the joint factor structure of these traits was examined in each sample. Second, structural equation modeling was used to clarify the effects of clinical traits in the prediction of clinical symptoms beyond negative temperament. Third, the incremental validity of clinical traits beyond a more comprehensive set of higher-order and lower-order personality traits was examined using hierarchical regression. Clinical and personality traits were highly correlated and jointly defined a 3-factor structure-Negative Temperament, Positive Temperament, and Disinhibition-in both samples, with all clinical traits loading on the Negative Temperament factor. Clinical traits showed modest but significant incremental validity in explaining symptoms after accounting for personality traits. These data indicate that clinical traits relevant to emotional disorders fit well within the traditional personality framework and offer some unique contributions to the prediction of psychopathology, but it is important to distinguish their effects from negative temperament/neuroticism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  4. Personality traits in childhood and adolescent headache.

    PubMed

    Lanzi, G; Zambrino, C A; Ferrari-Ginevra, O; Termine, C; D'Arrigo, S; Vercelli, P; De Silvestri, A; Guglielmino, C R

    2001-02-01

    We evaluate personality traits, anxiety and depression in a population of paediatric and adolescent patients, correlating personality characteristics with headache and sociodemographic variables. The clinical features of headache include specific personality traits. We report a clinical study of 57 patients (age 8-18 years), divided up as follows: 12 migraine with aura, 29 migraine without aura and 16 tension-type headache. One of Cattel's tests was administered to every patient; the Children's Depression Inventory test was administered to 53 patients and the Test Anxiety Inventory test to 43 subjects. The scores obtained by every patient in each test were correlated with the characteristics of headache and with sociodemographic data. We found that patients affected by idiopathic headache share some personality traits, mainly emotional rigidity and tendency to repress anger and aggression. These traits do not seem to be correlated with sociodemographic data and the duration of headache: we considered these as characteristic of migrainous patients.

  5. Characterizing psychopathy using DSM-5 personality traits.

    PubMed

    Strickland, Casey M; Drislane, Laura E; Lucy, Megan; Krueger, Robert F; Patrick, Christopher J

    2013-06-01

    Despite its importance historically and contemporarily, psychopathy is not recognized in the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revised (DSM-IV-TR). Its closest counterpart, antisocial personality disorder, includes strong representation of behavioral deviance symptoms but weak representation of affective-interpersonal features considered central to psychopathy. The current study evaluated the extent to which psychopathy and its distinctive facets, indexed by the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure, can be assessed effectively using traits from the dimensional model of personality pathology developed for DSM-5, operationalized by the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5). Results indicate that (a) facets of psychopathy entailing impulsive externalization and callous aggression are well-represented by traits from the PID-5 considered relevant to antisocial personality disorder, and (b) the boldness facet of psychopathy can be effectively captured using additional PID-5 traits. These findings provide evidence that the dimensional model of personality pathology embodied in the PID-5 provides effective trait-based coverage of psychopathy and its facets.

  6. Genomic prediction of reproduction traits for Merino sheep.

    PubMed

    Bolormaa, S; Brown, D J; Swan, A A; van der Werf, J H J; Hayes, B J; Daetwyler, H D

    2017-06-01

    Economically important reproduction traits in sheep, such as number of lambs weaned and litter size, are expressed only in females and later in life after most selection decisions are made, which makes them ideal candidates for genomic selection. Accurate genomic predictions would lead to greater genetic gain for these traits by enabling accurate selection of young rams with high genetic merit. The aim of this study was to design and evaluate the accuracy of a genomic prediction method for female reproduction in sheep using daughter trait deviations (DTD) for sires and ewe phenotypes (when individual ewes were genotyped) for three reproduction traits: number of lambs born (NLB), litter size (LSIZE) and number of lambs weaned. Genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP), BayesR and pedigree BLUP analyses of the three reproduction traits measured on 5340 sheep (4503 ewes and 837 sires) with real and imputed genotypes for 510 174 SNPs were performed. The prediction of breeding values using both sire and ewe trait records was validated in Merino sheep. Prediction accuracy was evaluated by across sire family and random cross-validations. Accuracies of genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) were assessed as the mean Pearson correlation adjusted by the accuracy of the input phenotypes. The addition of sire DTD into the prediction analysis resulted in higher accuracies compared with using only ewe records in genomic predictions or pedigree BLUP. Using GBLUP, the average accuracy based on the combined records (ewes and sire DTD) was 0.43 across traits, but the accuracies varied by trait and type of cross-validations. The accuracies of GEBVs from random cross-validations (range 0.17-0.61) were higher than were those from sire family cross-validations (range 0.00-0.51). The GEBV accuracies of 0.41-0.54 for NLB and LSIZE based on the combined records were amongst the highest in the study. Although BayesR was not significantly different from GBLUP in prediction accuracy

  7. Quantitative traits and diversification.

    PubMed

    FitzJohn, Richard G

    2010-12-01

    Quantitative traits have long been hypothesized to affect speciation and extinction rates. For example, smaller body size or increased specialization may be associated with increased rates of diversification. Here, I present a phylogenetic likelihood-based method (quantitative state speciation and extinction [QuaSSE]) that can be used to test such hypotheses using extant character distributions. This approach assumes that diversification follows a birth-death process where speciation and extinction rates may vary with one or more traits that evolve under a diffusion model. Speciation and extinction rates may be arbitrary functions of the character state, allowing much flexibility in testing models of trait-dependent diversification. I test the approach using simulated phylogenies and show that a known relationship between speciation and a quantitative character could be recovered in up to 80% of the cases on large trees (500 species). Consistent with other approaches, detecting shifts in diversification due to differences in extinction rates was harder than when due to differences in speciation rates. Finally, I demonstrate the application of QuaSSE to investigate the correlation between body size and diversification in primates, concluding that clade-specific differences in diversification may be more important than size-dependent diversification in shaping the patterns of diversity within this group.

  8. Quantile-based permutation thresholds for quantitative trait loci hotspots.

    PubMed

    Neto, Elias Chaibub; Keller, Mark P; Broman, Andrew F; Attie, Alan D; Jansen, Ritsert C; Broman, Karl W; Yandell, Brian S

    2012-08-01

    Quantitative trait loci (QTL) hotspots (genomic locations affecting many traits) are a common feature in genetical genomics studies and are biologically interesting since they may harbor critical regulators. Therefore, statistical procedures to assess the significance of hotspots are of key importance. One approach, randomly allocating observed QTL across the genomic locations separately by trait, implicitly assumes all traits are uncorrelated. Recently, an empirical test for QTL hotspots was proposed on the basis of the number of traits that exceed a predetermined LOD value, such as the standard permutation LOD threshold. The permutation null distribution of the maximum number of traits across all genomic locations preserves the correlation structure among the phenotypes, avoiding the detection of spurious hotspots due to nongenetic correlation induced by uncontrolled environmental factors and unmeasured variables. However, by considering only the number of traits above a threshold, without accounting for the magnitude of the LOD scores, relevant information is lost. In particular, biologically interesting hotspots composed of a moderate to small number of traits with strong LOD scores may be neglected as nonsignificant. In this article we propose a quantile-based permutation approach that simultaneously accounts for the number and the LOD scores of traits within the hotspots. By considering a sliding scale of mapping thresholds, our method can assess the statistical significance of both small and large hotspots. Although the proposed approach can be applied to any type of heritable high-volume "omic" data set, we restrict our attention to expression (e)QTL analysis. We assess and compare the performances of these three methods in simulations and we illustrate how our approach can effectively assess the significance of moderate and small hotspots with strong LOD scores in a yeast expression data set.

  9. Genetic and environmental influences on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) maladaptive personality traits and their connections with normative personality traits.

    PubMed

    Wright, Zara E; Pahlen, Shandell; Krueger, Robert F

    2017-05-01

    The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) proposes an alternative model for personality disorders, which includes maladaptive-level personality traits. These traits can be operationalized by the Personality Inventory for the DSM-5 (PID-5). Although there has been extensive research on genetic and environmental influences on normative level personality, the heritability of the DSM-5 traits remains understudied. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by assessing traits indexed by the PID-5 and the International Personality Item Pool NEO (IPIP-NEO) in adult twins (N = 1,812 individuals). Research aims include (a) replicating past findings of the heritability of normative level personality as measured by the IPIP-NEO as a benchmark for studying maladaptive level traits, (b) ascertaining univariate heritability estimates of maladaptive level traits as measured by the PID-5, (c) establishing how much variation in personality pathology can be attributed to the same genetic components affecting variation in normative level personality, and (d) determining residual variance in personality pathology domains after variance attributable to genetic and environmental components of general personality has been removed. Results revealed that PID-5 traits reflect similar levels of heritability to that of IPIP-NEO traits. Further, maladaptive and normative level traits that correlate at the phenotypic level also correlate at the genotypic level, indicating overlapping genetic components contribute to variance in both. Nevertheless, we also found evidence for genetic and environmental components unique to maladaptive level personality traits, not shared with normative level traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  10. Hypomanic personality traits in a community sample of adolescents.

    PubMed

    Klein, D N; Lewinsohn, P M; Seeley, J R

    1996-06-05

    The distribution and correlates of hypomanic personality traits were examined in a representative sample of 1709 adolescents. Hypomanic traits were assessed with an abbreviated version of Eckblad and Chapman's (1986) Hypomanic Personality Scale. Hypomanic traits were normally distributed and were slightly but significantly higher among females. Test-retest stability over a mean 14-month interval was 0.54. High scores were associated with elevated lifetime rates of mood, disruptive behavior and substance use disorders. Among subjects with no history of mood disorder, hypomanic traits were associated with a broad range of indices of psychosocial dysfunction, both concurrently and at 1-year follow-up. In addition, hypomanic personality traits predicted increased levels of impairment in a number of areas, including depressive and internalizing symptomatology, over the course of the follow-up. Finally, among subjects with a past history of major depression, hypomanic traits were associated with a higher level of depression at the initial assessment, greater symptomatology and impairment during their worst episode, and higher rates of attempted suicide, comorbid disruptive behavior disorders and recurrent major depressive episodes.

  11. Trait Sources of Spirituality Scale: Assessing Trait Spirituality More Inclusively

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Westbrook, Charles J.; Davis, Don E.; McElroy, Stacey E.; Brubaker, Kacy; Choe, Elise; Karaga, Sara; Dooley, Matt; O'Bryant, Brittany L.; Van Tongeren, Daryl R.; Hook, Joshua

    2018-01-01

    We develop the Trait Sources of Spirituality Scale (TSSS), which assesses experiences of closeness to the sacred, within and outside a religious tradition. After using factor analysis to finalize the scale, we examine evidence of construct validity, including latent profile analysis that reveals 5 patterns of how spirituality is experienced.

  12. Ethnic dental analysis of shovel and Carabelli's traits in a Chinese population.

    PubMed

    Hsu, J W; Tsai, P L; Hsiao, T H; Chang, H P; Lin, L M; Liu, K M; Yu, H S; Ferguson, D

    1999-03-01

    Chinese populations differ from Caucasoids by having a high prevalence of shovel trait and a low prevalence of Carabelli's trait. This study was conducted to investigate the association between the shovel and the Carabelli's traits in a Chinese population. The research design investigated a Chinese population that resides in southern Taiwan. The ancestors of this Chinese population migrated to Taiwan from mainland China, mainly from Fukien and Kwangtung. The effects of sex and age on Carabelli's trait were controlled in this investigation, as was the association between tooth size and Carabelli's trait. Results show that males were more likely to have Carabelli's trait expressed on teeth than females. The buccolingual diameter of Carabelli's trait teeth was larger than that of teeth without the trait. After controlling for sex, age, and tooth size, the existence of the shovel trait increased the likelihood of having Carabelli's trait by a factor of five and a half, which is a significant effect.

  13. Modelisation frequentielle de la permittivite du beton pour le controle non destructif par georadar

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bourdi, Taoufik

    Le georadar (Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)) constitue une technique de controle non destructif (CND) interessante pour la mesure des epaisseurs des dalles de beton et la caracterisation des fractures, en raison de ses caracteristiques de resolution et de profondeur de penetration. Les equipements georadar sont de plus en plus faciles a utiliser et les logiciels d'interpretation sont en train de devenir plus aisement accessibles. Cependant, il est ressorti dans plusieurs conferences et ateliers sur l'application du georadar en genie civil qu'il fallait poursuivre les recherches, en particulier sur la modelisation et les techniques de mesure des proprietes electriques du beton. En obtenant de meilleures informations sur les proprietes electriques du beton aux frequences du georadar, l'instrumentation et les techniques d'interpretation pourraient etre perfectionnees plus efficacement. Le modele de Jonscher est un modele qui a montre son efficacite dans le domaine geophysique. Pour la premiere fois, son utilisation dans le domaine genie civil est presentee. Dans un premier temps, nous avons valide l'application du modele de Jonscher pour la caracterisation de la permittivite dielectrique du beton. Les resultats ont montre clairement que ce modele est capable de reproduire fidelement la variation de la permittivite de differents types de beton sur la bande de frequence georadar (100 MHz-2 GHz). Dans un deuxieme temps, nous avons montre l'interet du modele de Jonscher en le comparant a d'autres modeles (Debye et Debye-etendu) deja utilises dans le domaine genie civil. Nous avons montre aussi comment le modele de Jonscher peut presenter une aide a la prediction de l'efficacite de blindage et a l'interpretation des ondes de la technique GPR. Il a ete determine que le modele de Jonscher permet de donner une bonne presentation de la variation de la permittivite du beton dans la gamme de frequence georadar consideree. De plus, cette modelisation est valable pour differents

  14. Anthropogenic fire drives the evolution of seed traits.

    PubMed

    Gómez-González, Susana; Torres-Díaz, Cristian; Bustos-Schindler, Carlos; Gianoli, Ernesto

    2011-11-15

    Fire is a major disturbance affecting ecosystems worldwide. Phylogenetic studies have shown that the evolution of seed persistence (fire resistance) is associated with fire frequency or severity. However, the existence of specific seed traits resulting from natural selection mediated by fire remains a key question in plant evolution. We evaluated the role of fire in the evolution of seed traits from a microevolutionary perspective, using as a study system a native forb from the Chilean matorral, where fire is a novel, anthropogenic disturbance. We show that anthropogenic fires are shaping the evolution of seed traits such as pubescence and shape. Among-population variation in seed pubescence, shape, and pericarp thickness was strongly associated with fire frequency, and within a population, fire selected those plants with more pubescent seeds, thicker pericarps, and less rounded seeds. Seed pubescence and shape were shown to be heritable traits. Our findings provide insights into the understanding of the evolution of seed traits in fire-prone environments and demonstrate that human-made fires can be driving evolutionary changes in plant species from ecosystems where fires do not occur naturally.

  15. A method for accelerated trait conversion in plant breeding.

    PubMed

    Lewis, Ramsey S; Kernodle, S P

    2009-05-01

    Backcrossing is often used in cultivar development to transfer one or a few genes to desired genetic backgrounds. The duration necessary to complete such 'trait conversions' is largely dependent upon generation times. Constitutive overexpression of the Arabidopsis thaliana gene FT (FLOWERING LOCUS T) induces early-flowering in many plants. Here, we used tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) as a model system to propose and examine aspects of a modified backcross procedure where transgenic FT overexpression is used to reduce generation time and accelerate gene transfer. In this method, the breeder would select for an FT transgene insertion and the trait(s) of interest at each backcross generation except the last. In the final generation, selection would be conducted for the trait(s) of interest, but against FT, to generate the backcross-derived trait conversion. We demonstrate here that constitutive FT overexpression functions to dramatically reduce days-to-flower similarly in diverse tobacco genetic backgrounds. FT-containing plants flowered in an average of 39 days, in comparison with 87-138 days for non-FT plants. Two FT transgene insertions were found to segregate independently of several disease resistance genes often the focus of backcrossing in tobacco. In addition, no undesirable epigenetic effects on flowering time were observed once FT was segregated away. The proposed system would reduce the time required to complete a trait conversion in tobacco by nearly one-half. These features suggest the possible value of this modified backcrossing system for tobacco or other crop species where long generation times or photoperiod sensitivity may impede timely trait conversion.

  16. LeRC in-house experimental research

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lyons, Valerie J.

    1992-01-01

    The topics covered include the following: LeRC in-house experimental research; combustion concepts; schedule for in-house experiments; lean premixed prevaporized combustion; comparisons of low NO(x) lean premixed/prevaporized data; rich burn/quick quench/lean burn (RQL); RQL combustion; fuel rich catalytic combustion; advanced diagnostics; and ceramic matrix liner test rig.

  17. Genetic selection for temperament traits in dairy and beef cattle.

    PubMed

    Haskell, Marie J; Simm, Geoff; Turner, Simon P

    2014-01-01

    Animal temperament can be defined as a response to environmental or social stimuli. There are a number of temperament traits in cattle that contribute to their welfare, including their response to handling or milking, response to challenge such as human approach or intervention at calving, and response to conspecifics. In a number of these areas, the genetic basis of the trait has been studied. Heritabilities have been estimated and in some cases quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been identified. The variation is sometimes considerable and moderate heritabilities have been found for the major handling temperament traits, making them amenable to selection. Studies have also investigated the correlations between temperament and other traits, such as productivity and meat quality. Despite this, there are relatively few examples of temperament traits being used in selection programmes. Most often, animals are screened for aggression or excessive fear during handling or milking, with extreme animals being culled, or EBVs for temperament are estimated, but these traits are not commonly included routinely in selection indices, despite there being economic, welfare and human safety drivers for their. There may be a number of constraints and barriers. For some traits and breeds, there may be difficulties in collecting behavioral data on sufficiently large populations of animals to estimate genetic parameters. Most selection indices require estimates of economic values, and it is often difficult to assign an economic value to a temperament trait. The effects of selection primarily for productivity traits on temperament and welfare are discussed. Future opportunities include automated data collection methods and the wider use of genomic information in selection.

  18. Genetic selection for temperament traits in dairy and beef cattle

    PubMed Central

    Haskell, Marie J.; Simm, Geoff; Turner, Simon P.

    2014-01-01

    Animal temperament can be defined as a response to environmental or social stimuli. There are a number of temperament traits in cattle that contribute to their welfare, including their response to handling or milking, response to challenge such as human approach or intervention at calving, and response to conspecifics. In a number of these areas, the genetic basis of the trait has been studied. Heritabilities have been estimated and in some cases quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been identified. The variation is sometimes considerable and moderate heritabilities have been found for the major handling temperament traits, making them amenable to selection. Studies have also investigated the correlations between temperament and other traits, such as productivity and meat quality. Despite this, there are relatively few examples of temperament traits being used in selection programmes. Most often, animals are screened for aggression or excessive fear during handling or milking, with extreme animals being culled, or EBVs for temperament are estimated, but these traits are not commonly included routinely in selection indices, despite there being economic, welfare and human safety drivers for their. There may be a number of constraints and barriers. For some traits and breeds, there may be difficulties in collecting behavioral data on sufficiently large populations of animals to estimate genetic parameters. Most selection indices require estimates of economic values, and it is often difficult to assign an economic value to a temperament trait. The effects of selection primarily for productivity traits on temperament and welfare are discussed. Future opportunities include automated data collection methods and the wider use of genomic information in selection. PMID:25374582

  19. Standardissimo. Les limitations théoriques du Modèle Standard. Quelles réponses y apporter?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Renard, F. M.

    Nous présentons I 'état du Modèle Standard des interactions fortes, faibles et électromagnétiques. Après une description rapide de ses 3 secteurs, secteur de jauge (radiation), secteur fermionique (matière) et secteur scalaire (génération des masses), nous insistons sur le grand nombre de paramètres libres et sur les choix arbitraires qu'il a fallu faire dans l'élaboration du modèle. Nous faisons ressortir les problèmes techniques non résolus et nous dressons la liste des questions fondamentales restées sans réponses. Nous passons ensuite en revue les idées et méthodes proposées pour répondre à ces questions. Elles utilisent essentiellement 3 voies différentes. La première consiste à requérir plus de symétrie (extension du modèle, symétrie Gauche-Droite, Grandes Unifications, Supersymétrie,...). La seconde contient les diverses alternatives au Modèle Standard impliquant des modifications dans certains secteurs (par exemple le secteur scalaire avec le modèle de la Technicouleur) ou de façon plus violente l'hypothèse d'une sous-structure des leptons, des quarks et des bosons W et Z eux-mêmes. Une dernière voie cherche à justifier les particularités du Modèle Standard et relier ses paramètres libres en se basant sur des principes de cohérence interne du modèle. Les conséquences observables de ces diverses approches sont dans chaque cas mentionnées.

  20. Chronic Smoking, Trait Anxiety, and the Physiological Response to Stress

    PubMed Central

    Wiggert, Nicole; Wilhelm, Frank H.; Nakajima, Motohiro; al’Absi, Mustafa

    2016-01-01

    Background and Objectives Both chronic smoking and trait anxiety have been associated with dysregulations in psychobiological stress response systems. However, these factors have not been studied in conjunction. We expected trait anxiety and smoking status to attenuate stress reactivity. Furthermore, we expected an allostatic load effect resulting in particularly attenuated stress reactivity in high-anxious smokers. In addition, high-anxious smokers were expected to exhibit increased urges to smoke in response to stress. Methods 115 smokers and 37 nonsmokers, aged 18 – 64 years, completed a laboratory session including mental stressors such as evaluated public speaking and mental arithmetic. Trait anxiety was assessed using Spielberger’s State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Cardiovascular autonomic indices, salivary cortisol, and the desire to smoke were measured at baseline, during stressors, and at recovery. Results Regression analyses showed that smokers exhibited attenuated cardiovascular stress responses in comparison to nonsmokers. Higher trait anxiety predicted attenuated systolic blood pressure responses to stress. No interaction effect of smoking status and trait anxiety was found in stress response measures. Higher trait anxiety predicted an increased desire to smoke in response to stress among smokers. Conclusion Results indicate that both smoking status and trait anxiety are associated with blunted sympatho-adrenal cardiovascular stress reactivity. Elevated urges to smoke in response to stress found among smokers with high trait anxiety suggest an important role of anxiety in smoking propensity and relapse. PMID:27484702

  1. Fitness consequences of larval traits persist across the metamorphic boundary.

    PubMed

    Crean, Angela J; Monro, Keyne; Marshall, Dustin J

    2011-11-01

    Metamorphosis is thought to provide an adaptive decoupling between traits specialized for each life-history stage in species with complex life cycles. However, an increasing number of studies are finding that larval traits can carry-over to influence postmetamorphic performance, suggesting that these life-history stages may not be free to evolve independently of each other. We used a phenotypic selection framework to compare the relative and interactive effects of larval size, time to hatching, and time to settlement on postmetamorphic survival and growth in a marine invertebrate, Styela plicata. Time to hatching was the only larval trait found to be under directional selection, individuals that took more time to hatch into larvae survived better after metamorphosis but grew more slowly. Nonlinear selection was found to act on multivariate trait combinations, once again acting in opposite directions for selection acting via survival and growth. Individuals with above average values of larval traits were most likely to survive, but surviving individuals with intermediate larval traits grew to the largest size. These results demonstrate that larval traits can have multiple, complex fitness consequences that persist across the metamorphic boundary; and thus postmetamorphic selection pressures may constrain the evolution of larval traits. © 2011 The Author(s). Evolution© 2011 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

  2. LeCPK1, a Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinase from Tomato. Plasma Membrane Targeting and Biochemical Characterization1

    PubMed Central

    Rutschmann, Frank; Stalder, Urs; Piotrowski, Markus; Oecking, Claudia; Schaller, Andreas

    2002-01-01

    The cDNA of LeCPK1, a calcium-dependent protein kinase, was cloned from tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). LeCPK1 was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified from bacterial extracts. The recombinant protein was shown to be a functional protein kinase using a synthetic peptide as the substrate (syntide-2, Km = 85 μm). Autophosphorylation of LeCPK1 was observed on threonine and serine residues, one of which was identified as serine-439. Kinase activity was shown to be Ca2+ dependent and required the C-terminal, calmodulin-like domain of LeCPK1. Two classes of high- and low-affinity Ca2+-binding sites were observed, exhibiting dissociation constants of 0.6 and 55 μm, respectively. LeCPK1 was found to phosphorylate the regulatory C-terminal domain of the plasma membrane H+-ATPase in vitro. A potential role in the regulation of proton pump activity is corroborated by the apparent colocalization of the plasma membrane H+-ATPase and LeCPK1 in vivo. Upon transient expression in suspension-cultured cells, a C-terminal fusion of LeCPK1 with the green fluorescent protein was targeted to the plasma membrane. Myristoylation of the LeCPK1 N terminus was found to be required for plasma membrane targeting. PMID:12011347

  3. Social traits, social networks and evolutionary biology.

    PubMed

    Fisher, D N; McAdam, A G

    2017-12-01

    The social environment is both an important agent of selection for most organisms, and an emergent property of their interactions. As an aggregation of interactions among members of a population, the social environment is a product of many sets of relationships and so can be represented as a network or matrix. Social network analysis in animals has focused on why these networks possess the structure they do, and whether individuals' network traits, representing some aspect of their social phenotype, relate to their fitness. Meanwhile, quantitative geneticists have demonstrated that traits expressed in a social context can depend on the phenotypes and genotypes of interacting partners, leading to influences of the social environment on the traits and fitness of individuals and the evolutionary trajectories of populations. Therefore, both fields are investigating similar topics, yet have arrived at these points relatively independently. We review how these approaches are diverged, and yet how they retain clear parallelism and so strong potential for complementarity. This demonstrates that, despite separate bodies of theory, advances in one might inform the other. Techniques in network analysis for quantifying social phenotypes, and for identifying community structure, should be useful for those studying the relationship between individual behaviour and group-level phenotypes. Entering social association matrices into quantitative genetic models may also reduce bias in heritability estimates, and allow the estimation of the influence of social connectedness on trait expression. Current methods for measuring natural selection in a social context explicitly account for the fact that a trait is not necessarily the property of a single individual, something the network approaches have not yet considered when relating network metrics to individual fitness. Harnessing evolutionary models that consider traits affected by genes in other individuals (i.e. indirect genetic

  4. Genomic Regions Influencing Seminal Root Traits in Barley.

    PubMed

    Robinson, Hannah; Hickey, Lee; Richard, Cecile; Mace, Emma; Kelly, Alison; Borrell, Andrew; Franckowiak, Jerome; Fox, Glen

    2016-03-01

    Water availability is a major limiting factor for crop production, making drought adaptation and its many component traits a desirable attribute of plant cultivars. Previous studies in cereal crops indicate that root traits expressed at early plant developmental stages, such as seminal root angle and root number, are associated with water extraction at different depths. Here, we conducted the first study to map seminal root traits in barley ( L.). Using a recently developed high-throughput phenotyping method, a panel of 30 barley genotypes and a doubled-haploid (DH) population (ND24260 × 'Flagship') comprising 330 lines genotyped with diversity array technology (DArT) markers were evaluated for seminal root angle (deviation from vertical) and root number under controlled environmental conditions. A high degree of phenotypic variation was observed in the panel of 30 genotypes: 13.5 to 82.2 and 3.6 to 6.9° for root angle and root number, respectively. A similar range was observed in the DH population: 16.4 to 70.5 and 3.6 to 6.5° for root angle and number, respectively. Seven quantitative trait loci (QTL) for seminal root traits (root angle, two QTL; root number, five QTL) were detected in the DH population. A major QTL influencing both root angle and root number (/) was positioned on chromosome 5HL. Across-species analysis identified 10 common genes underlying root trait QTL in barley, wheat ( L.), and sorghum [ (L.) Moench]. Here, we provide insight into seminal root phenotypes and provide a first look at the genetics controlling these traits in barley. Copyright © 2016 Crop Science Society of America.

  5. Lizard thermal trait variation at multiple scales: a review.

    PubMed

    Clusella-Trullas, Susana; Chown, Steven L

    2014-01-01

    Thermal trait variation is of fundamental importance to forecasting the impacts of environmental change on lizard diversity. Here, we review the literature for patterns of variation in traits of upper and lower sub-lethal temperature limits, temperature preference and active body temperature in the field, in relation to space, time and phylogeny. Through time, we focus on the direction and magnitude of trait change within days, among seasons and as a consequence of acclimation. Across space, we examine altitudinal and latitudinal patterns, incorporating inter-specific analyses at regional and global scales. This synthesis highlights the consistency or lack thereof, of thermal trait responses, the relative magnitude of change among traits and several knowledge gaps identified in the relationships examined. We suggest that physiological information is becoming essential for forecasting environmental change sensitivity of lizards by providing estimates of plasticity and evolutionary scope.

  6. Quantitative genetic methods depending on the nature of the phenotypic trait.

    PubMed

    de Villemereuil, Pierre

    2018-01-24

    A consequence of the assumptions of the infinitesimal model, one of the most important theoretical foundations of quantitative genetics, is that phenotypic traits are predicted to be most often normally distributed (so-called Gaussian traits). But phenotypic traits, especially those interesting for evolutionary biology, might be shaped according to very diverse distributions. Here, I show how quantitative genetics tools have been extended to account for a wider diversity of phenotypic traits using first the threshold model and then more recently using generalized linear mixed models. I explore the assumptions behind these models and how they can be used to study the genetics of non-Gaussian complex traits. I also comment on three recent methodological advances in quantitative genetics that widen our ability to study new kinds of traits: the use of "modular" hierarchical modeling (e.g., to study survival in the context of capture-recapture approaches for wild populations); the use of aster models to study a set of traits with conditional relationships (e.g., life-history traits); and, finally, the study of high-dimensional traits, such as gene expression. © 2018 New York Academy of Sciences.

  7. Motivational Traits of Elite Young Soccer Players

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stewart, Craig; Meyers, Michael C.

    2004-01-01

    Among the most overlooked aspects in the development of elite young soccer players is that of specific psychological traits. Of those traits, motivation has important implications for programs whose objectives are identification and cultivation of young, skilled performers. The growth in popularity of soccer by youth and the successes experienced…

  8. Childhood abuse, personality traits, and depressive symptoms in adulthood.

    PubMed

    Lee, Min-Ah; Song, Rira

    2017-03-01

    This study examined associations among childhood abuse, personality traits, and depressive symptoms in adulthood, and whether and how the effects of childhood abuse on depressive symptoms are mediated by the Big Five personality traits (i.e., extraversion, conscientiousness, emotional stability, agreeableness, and openness). The data were drawn from the 2012 Korean General Social Survey, a nationally representative survey using a multistage area proportional probability sampling method. Random effects regression and the Sobel test were used. Random effects models showed that physical and emotional abuse in childhood significantly increased depressive symptoms in adulthood, even after controlling for personality traits and socio-demographic factors. The coefficients of childhood abuse slightly decreased when personality traits were controlled, suggesting that personality traits mediated the relationship between childhood abuse and depressive symptoms. Among the personality traits, extraversion and emotional stability were negatively associated with depressive symptoms whereas agreeableness was positively associated with depressive symptoms. The results of the Sobel test showed that only emotional stability significantly mediated the effects of childhood abuse on depressive symptoms. Those who were exposed to childhood abuse had lower levels of emotional stability, which, in turn, led to depressive symptoms in adulthood. The findings suggest that childhood abuse may have a long lasting effect on mental health over the life course by influencing the formation of personality traits through developmental periods. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. LE135, a retinoid acid receptor antagonist, produces pain through direct activation of TRP channels

    PubMed Central

    Yin, Shijin; Luo, Jialie; Qian, Aihua; Yu, Weihua; Hu, Hongzhen

    2014-01-01

    Background and PurposeRetinoids, through their activation of retinoic acid receptors (RARs) and retinoid X receptors, regulate diverse cellular processes, and pharmacological intervention in their actions has been successful in the treatment of skin disorders and cancers. Despite the many beneficial effects, administration of retinoids causes irritating side effects with unknown mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate that LE135 [4-(7,8,9,10-tetrahydro-5,7,7,10,10-pentamethyl-5H-benzo[e]naphtho[2,3-b][1,4]diazepin-13-yl)benzoic acid], a selective antagonist of RARβ, is a potent activator of the capsaicin (TRPV1) and wasabi (TRPA1) receptors, two critical pain-initiating cation channels. Experimental ApproachWe performed to investigate the excitatory effects of LE135 on TRPV1 and TRPA1 channels expressed in HEK293T cells and in dorsal root ganglia neurons with calcium imaging and patch-clamp recordings. We also used site-directed mutagenesis of the channels to determine the structural basis of LE135-induced activation of TRPV1 and TRPA1 channels and behavioural testing to examine if pharmacological inhibition and genetic deletion of the channels affected LE135-evoked pain-related behaviours. Key ResultsLE135 activated both the capsaicin receptor (TRPV1) and the allyl isothiocyanate receptor (TRPA1) heterologously expressed in HEK293T cells and endogenously expressed by sensory nociceptors. Mutations disrupting the capsaicin-binding site attenuated LE135 activation of TRPV1 channels and a single mutation (K170R) eliminated TRPA1 activity evoked by LE135. Intraplantar injection of LE135 evoked pain-related behaviours. Both TRPV1 and TRPA1 channels were involved in LE135-elicited pain-related responses, as shown by pharmacological and genetic ablation studies. Conclusions and ImplicationsThis blocker of retinoid acid signalling also exerted non-genomic effects through activating the pain-initiating TRPV1 and TRPA1 channels. PMID:24308840

  10. Advances in modeling trait-based plant community assembly.

    PubMed

    Laughlin, Daniel C; Laughlin, David E

    2013-10-01

    In this review, we examine two new trait-based models of community assembly that predict the relative abundance of species from a regional species pool. The models use fundamentally different mathematical approaches and the predictions can differ considerably. Maxent obtains the most even probability distribution subject to community-weighted mean trait constraints. Traitspace predicts low probabilities for any species whose trait distribution does not pass through the environmental filter. Neither model maximizes functional diversity because of the emphasis on environmental filtering over limiting similarity. Traitspace can test for the effects of limiting similarity by explicitly incorporating intraspecific trait variation. The range of solutions in both models could be used to define the range of natural variability of community composition in restoration projects. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Personality Trait Development and Social Investment in Work

    PubMed Central

    Hudson, Nathan W.; Roberts, Brent W.; Lodi-Smith, Jennifer

    2012-01-01

    A longitudinal study of employed individuals was used to test the relationship between social investment at work—the act of cognitively and emotionally committing to one’s job—and longitudinal and cross-sectional personality trait development. Participants provided ratings of personality traits and social investment at work at two time-points, separated by approximately three years. Data were analyzed using latent change models. Cross-sectional results showed that extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and emotional stability were related to social investment at work. Additionally, a positive association was found between longitudinal change in social investment in work and change in personality traits—especially conscientiousness. Finally, the correlated changes in social investment and personality traits were invariant across age groups, suggesting that personality traits remain malleable across the lifespan. PMID:22822278

  12. Revisiting the Holy Grail: using plant functional traits to understand ecological processes.

    PubMed

    Funk, Jennifer L; Larson, Julie E; Ames, Gregory M; Butterfield, Bradley J; Cavender-Bares, Jeannine; Firn, Jennifer; Laughlin, Daniel C; Sutton-Grier, Ariana E; Williams, Laura; Wright, Justin

    2017-05-01

    One of ecology's grand challenges is developing general rules to explain and predict highly complex systems. Understanding and predicting ecological processes from species' traits has been considered a 'Holy Grail' in ecology. Plant functional traits are increasingly being used to develop mechanistic models that can predict how ecological communities will respond to abiotic and biotic perturbations and how species will affect ecosystem function and services in a rapidly changing world; however, significant challenges remain. In this review, we highlight recent work and outstanding questions in three areas: (i) selecting relevant traits; (ii) describing intraspecific trait variation and incorporating this variation into models; and (iii) scaling trait data to community- and ecosystem-level processes. Over the past decade, there have been significant advances in the characterization of plant strategies based on traits and trait relationships, and the integration of traits into multivariate indices and models of community and ecosystem function. However, the utility of trait-based approaches in ecology will benefit from efforts that demonstrate how these traits and indices influence organismal, community, and ecosystem processes across vegetation types, which may be achieved through meta-analysis and enhancement of trait databases. Additionally, intraspecific trait variation and species interactions need to be incorporated into predictive models using tools such as Bayesian hierarchical modelling. Finally, existing models linking traits to community and ecosystem processes need to be empirically tested for their applicability to be realized. © 2016 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

  13. Quantitative trait loci and metabolic pathways

    PubMed Central

    McMullen, M. D.; Byrne, P. F.; Snook, M. E.; Wiseman, B. R.; Lee, E. A.; Widstrom, N. W.; Coe, E. H.

    1998-01-01

    The interpretation of quantitative trait locus (QTL) studies is limited by the lack of information on metabolic pathways leading to most economic traits. Inferences about the roles of the underlying genes with a pathway or the nature of their interaction with other loci are generally not possible. An exception is resistance to the corn earworm Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) in maize (Zea mays L.) because of maysin, a C-glycosyl flavone synthesized in silks via a branch of the well characterized flavonoid pathway. Our results using flavone synthesis as a model QTL system indicate: (i) the importance of regulatory loci as QTLs, (ii) the importance of interconnecting biochemical pathways on product levels, (iii) evidence for “channeling” of intermediates, allowing independent synthesis of related compounds, (iv) the utility of QTL analysis in clarifying the role of specific genes in a biochemical pathway, and (v) identification of a previously unknown locus on chromosome 9S affecting flavone level. A greater understanding of the genetic basis of maysin synthesis and associated corn earworm resistance should lead to improved breeding strategies. More broadly, the insights gained in relating a defined genetic and biochemical pathway affecting a quantitative trait should enhance interpretation of the biological basis of variation for other quantitative traits. PMID:9482823

  14. le et limitations de la plasmonique pour le photovoltaïque solaire

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Collin, Stéphane; Cattoni, Andrea

    2018-02-01

    À la fin des années 2000, la plasmonique a connu un engouement considérable au sein de la communauté photovoltaïque (PV) : le confinement de la lumière à l'échelle nanométrique devait offrir de nouveaux degrés de liberté dans la conception des cellules solaires, avec l'espoir de diminuer les coûts et d'augmenter les rendements des cellules solaires. Petit bilan après une décennie de recherches intensives.

  15. Using phenotypic manipulations to study multivariate selection of floral trait associations

    PubMed Central

    Campbell, Diane R.

    2009-01-01

    Background A basic theme in the study of plant–pollinator interactions is that pollinators select not just for single floral traits, but for associations of traits. Responses of pollinators to sets of traits are inherent in the idea of pollinator syndromes. In its most extreme form, selection on a suite of traits can take the form of correlational selection, in which a response to one trait depends on the value of another, thereby favouring floral integration. Despite the importance of selection for combinations of traits in the evolution of flowers, evidence is relatively sparse and relies mostly on observational approaches. Scope Here, methods for measuring selection on multivariate suites of floral traits are presented, and the studies to date are reviewed. It is argued that phenotypic manipulations present a powerful, but rarely used, approach to teasing apart the separate and combined effects of particular traits. The approach is illustrated with data from studies of alpine plants in Colorado and New Zealand, and recommendations are made about several features of the design of such experiments. Conclusions Phenotypic manipulations of two or more traits in combination provide a direct way of testing for selection of floral trait associations. Such experiments will be particularly valuable if rooted in hypotheses about differences between types of pollinators and tied to a proposed evolutionary history. PMID:19218579

  16. Using phenotypic manipulations to study multivariate selection of floral trait associations.

    PubMed

    Campbell, Diane R

    2009-06-01

    A basic theme in the study of plant-pollinator interactions is that pollinators select not just for single floral traits, but for associations of traits. Responses of pollinators to sets of traits are inherent in the idea of pollinator syndromes. In its most extreme form, selection on a suite of traits can take the form of correlational selection, in which a response to one trait depends on the value of another, thereby favouring floral integration. Despite the importance of selection for combinations of traits in the evolution of flowers, evidence is relatively sparse and relies mostly on observational approaches. Here, methods for measuring selection on multivariate suites of floral traits are presented, and the studies to date are reviewed. It is argued that phenotypic manipulations present a powerful, but rarely used, approach to teasing apart the separate and combined effects of particular traits. The approach is illustrated with data from studies of alpine plants in Colorado and New Zealand, and recommendations are made about several features of the design of such experiments. Phenotypic manipulations of two or more traits in combination provide a direct way of testing for selection of floral trait associations. Such experiments will be particularly valuable if rooted in hypotheses about differences between types of pollinators and tied to a proposed evolutionary history.

  17. Specificity, contexts, and reference groups matter when assessing autistic traits

    PubMed Central

    Stevenson, Jennifer L.; Dern, Sebastian

    2017-01-01

    Many of the personality and behavioral traits (e.g., social imperviousness, directness in conversation, lack of imagination, affinity for solitude, difficulty displaying emotions) that are known to be sensitive to context (with whom?) and reference group (according to whom?) also appear in questionnaire-based assessments of autistic traits. Therefore, two experiments investigated the effects of specifying contexts and reference groups when assessing autistic traits in autistic and non-autistic participants. Experiment 1 (124 autistic and 124 non-autistic participants) demonstrated that context matters when assessing autistic traits (F(1,244) = 267.5, p < .001, η2p = .523). When the context of the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire was specified as the participants’ out-group (e.g., “I like being around non-autistic people” or “I like being around autistic people”), both autistic and non-autistic participants self-reported having more autistic traits; when the context was specified as the participants’ in-group, participants reported having fewer autistic traits. Experiment 2 (82 autistic and 82 non-autistic participants) demonstrated that reference group matters when assessing autistic traits (F(2,160) = 94.38, p < .001, η2p = .541). When the reference group on the Social Responsiveness Scale was specified as the participants’ out-group (e.g., “According to non-autistic people, I have unusual eye contact”), autistic participants reported having more autistic traits; when the reference group was their in-group, autistic participants reported having fewer autistic traits. Non-autistic participants appeared insensitive to reference group on the Social Responsiveness Scale. Exploratory analyses suggested that when neither the context nor the reference group is specified (for assessing autistic traits on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient), both autistic and non-autistic participants use the majority (“non-autistic people”) as the implied context and

  18. L'ostéotomie de scarf dans le traitement de l'hallux valgus: à propos de 19 cas

    PubMed Central

    Boussakri, Hassan; Bachiri, Mohammed; Elidrissi, Mohammed; Shimi, Mohammed; Elibrahimi, Abdelhalim; Elmrini, Abdelmajid

    2014-01-01

    L'ostéotomie de Scarf constitue une technique chirurgicale bien décrite, grâce à ses résultats excellents, elle est considérée comme un traitement de choix de l'hallux valgus. Le but de ce travail est de décrire le profil épidémiologique et radio-clinique des hallux valgus, ainsi qu’évaluer les résultats radiologiques et fonctionnels des patients traités par la technique classique d'ostéotomie de Scarf. Nous avons mené une étude rétrospective, concernant 22 ostéotomies de Scarf chez 19 patients, opérés d'hallux valgus entre mai 2009 et janvier 2013. Le recul moyen était de 22,5 mois (3-42 mois). L'âge moyen des patients au moment de l'intervention était de 49 ans, avec des extrêmes de 19 et 75 ans. Tous les patients ont bénéficié d'une évaluation clinique et radiologique préopératoire et postopératoire ainsi qu'une analyse statistique. Au dernier recul, selon des critères subjectifs, nos résultats étaient très satisfaisants dans 42%, satisfaisants dans 52% et déçus dans 6%, et en fonction du score de l'AOFAS, les résultats étaient nettement améliorée avec un AOFAS préopératoire de 57% à 84% en postopératoire. Concernant les résultats radiologiques, la déformation métatarsophalangienne (angle M1P1) a été corrigée (43,63 °-12,8°) avec une p très significative (p <0,001). D'autre part une amélioration de l'Angle moyen M1M2, passer de 18,18° préopératoire à 12,95° au dernier recul, avec une correction significative (p <0,001). Le valgus épiphysaire de premier métatarsien (AADM) a été statistiquement amélioré (p <0,001), passer de 24,45° à 7,91°. Concernant les complications nous avons noté un cas de sepsis précoce superficiel géré par une antibiothérapie adaptée, deux cas de névrome et un cas d'ostéonécrose. Par contre on n'a pas noté aucune fracture per opératoire du premier métatarsien. Nous concluons que l'ostéotomie de Scarf est une technique reproductible fiable, en pleine

  19. Adaptive bleaching: A general phenomenon

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Fautin, D.G.; Buddemeier, R.W.

    2004-01-01

    Laboratory and field data bearing on the adaptive bleaching hypothesis (ABH) are largely consistent with it; no data of which we are aware refute it. We generalize the ABH in light of these data and observations. The population of zooxanthellae within an organism is dynamic, the diversity of zooxanthellae is both surprising and difficult to ascertain, and field experiments demonstrate both turn-over in zooxanthella types and habitat-holobiont correlations. Dynamic change in symbiont communities, and the idea of an equilibrium or optimal community that matches the environment at a particular place and time, are concepts that underlie or emerge from much of the recent literature. The mechanism we proposed to explain responses to acute bleaching appears to operate continuously, thereby enabling the host-symbiont holobiont to track even subtle environmental changes and respond promptly to them. These findings enhance the potential importance of the ABH in the outcomes of acute bleaching, which can (1) accelerate this process of holobiont change, and (2) change the set of possible trajectories for how symbiont communities might recover.

  20. Interview. The story of Advanced BioHealing: commercializing bioengineered tissue products. Mr Tozer speaks to Emily Culme-Seymour, Assistant Commissioning Editor.

    PubMed

    Tozer, Dean

    2011-03-01

    Dean Tozer is Senior Vice President at Advanced BioHealing, Inc. (ABH), overseeing marketing, corporate development, government affairs, product development, various regulatory functions and international expansion. After completing his Bachelor of Commerce from Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Canada, Mr Tozer spent 10 years in the global pharmaceutical industry, primarily with G.D. Searle (a division of Monsanto) where he had a wide variety of roles in Global Marketing, Sales, Business Redesign, and Accounting and Finance. Mr Tozer then worked as a consultant to the biopharmaceutical industry, assisting start-up organizations in developing commercial strategies for both pharmaceutical products and biomedical devices, prior to joining ABH in March 2006 as Vice President of Marketing & Corporate Development. In addition to his leadership role at ABH, Mr Tozer currently serves as an officer and board member for the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, a Washington DC-based organization formed to advance regenerative medicine by representing and supporting the community of companies, academic research institutions, patient advocacy groups, foundations, and other organizations before the Congress, federal agencies and the general public.

  1. A worldview of root traits: the influence of ancestry, growth form, climate and mycorrhizal association on the functional trait variation of fine-root tissues in seed plants.

    PubMed

    Valverde-Barrantes, Oscar J; Freschet, Grégoire T; Roumet, Catherine; Blackwood, Christopher B

    2017-09-01

    Fine-root traits play key roles in ecosystem processes, but the drivers of fine-root trait diversity remain poorly understood. The plant economic spectrum (PES) hypothesis predicts that leaf and root traits evolved in coordination. Mycorrhizal association type, plant growth form and climate may also affect root traits. However, the extent to which these controls are confounded with phylogenetic structuring remains unclear. Here we compiled information about root and leaf traits for > 600 species. Using phylogenetic relatedness, climatic ranges, growth form and mycorrhizal associations, we quantified the importance of these factors in the global distribution of fine-root traits. Phylogenetic structuring accounts for most of the variation for all traits excepting root tissue density, with root diameter and nitrogen concentration showing the strongest phylogenetic signal and specific root length showing intermediate values. Climate was the second most important factor, whereas mycorrhizal type had little effect. Substantial trait coordination occurred between leaves and roots, but the strength varied between growth forms and clades. Our analyses provide evidence that the integration of roots and leaves in the PES requires better accounting of the variation in traits across phylogenetic clades. Inclusion of phylogenetic information provides a powerful framework for predictions of belowground functional traits at global scales. © 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

  2. Which leaf mechanical traits correlate with insect herbivory among feeding guilds?

    PubMed Central

    Caldwell, Elizabeth; Read, Jennifer; Sanson, Gordon D.

    2016-01-01

    Background and Aims There is abundant evidence that leaf mechanical traits deter feeding by insect herbivores, but little is known about which particular traits contribute to defence across feeding guilds. We investigated the contribution of multiple mechanical traits from shear, punch and tear tests to herbivore deterrence across feeding guilds. Methods Visible damage from miners and external chewers was measured and sucker feeding density estimated in mature leaves of 20 species of forest shrubs and small trees. Cafeteria trials were undertaken using a generalist chewer (larvae of Epiphyas postvittana, Lepidoptera). Damage was compared with leaf mechanical traits and associated nutrient and chemical defence traits. Key Results Damage by external chewers in the field and by E. postvittana correlated negatively with mechanical traits. Hierarchical partitioning analysis indicated that the strongest independent contribution to chewing damage was by the material trait of specific work to shear, with 68 % of total variance explained by the combination of specific work to shear (alone explaining 54 %) and tannin activity in a regression model. Mining damage did not correlate with mechanical traits, probably because miners can avoid tissues that generate high strength and toughness in mature leaves. Mechanical traits correlated more strongly with chewing damage in the field than chemical defences (total phenolics and tannin activity) and nutrients (nitrogen and water), but nutrients correlated strongly with diet selection in the cafeteria trial. Surprisingly, sucker feeding density correlated positively with mechanical traits and negatively with nutrients. Conclusions Mechanical traits of mature leaves influenced insect feeding guilds differentially, reflecting differences in life history and feeding modes. For external chewers, energy (work) to fracture in shearing tests, at both structural and material levels, was strongly predictive of damage. Knowing which leaf

  3. Validation of the trait anxiety scale for state-trait anxiety inventory in suicide victims and living controls of Chinese rural youths.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Jie; Gao, Qi

    2012-01-01

    This study evaluated the validation of STAI Trait-Anxiety Scale in suicide cases and community living controls in rural China. The participants were 392 suicides and 416 controls. Cronbach's Alpha was computed to evaluate the internal consistency. The Spearman Correlation Coefficient between Trait-Anxiety Scale and other instrument was calculated to evaluate the external validity, and the Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to evaluate the construct validity. The results showed the Cronbach's Alpha was .891 and .787 respectively in case and control groups. Most of the correlations between instruments were significant. We found 2 factors in cases and 3 factors in controls. We could cautiously infer that the Trait Anxiety Scale was an adequate tool to measure trait anxiety through proxy data in suicide victims and living controls in rural China.

  4. High visual working memory capacity in trait social anxiety.

    PubMed

    Moriya, Jun; Sugiura, Yoshinori

    2012-01-01

    Working memory capacity is one of the most important cognitive functions influencing individual traits, such as attentional control, fluid intelligence, and also psychopathological traits. Previous research suggests that anxiety is associated with impaired cognitive function, and studies have shown low verbal working memory capacity in individuals with high trait anxiety. However, the relationship between trait anxiety and visual working memory capacity is still unclear. Considering that people allocate visual attention more widely to detect danger under threat, visual working memory capacity might be higher in anxious people. In the present study, we show that visual working memory capacity increases as trait social anxiety increases by using a change detection task. When the demand to inhibit distractors increased, however, high visual working memory capacity diminished in individuals with social anxiety, and instead, impaired filtering of distractors was predicted by trait social anxiety. State anxiety was not correlated with visual working memory capacity. These results indicate that socially anxious people could potentially hold a large amount of information in working memory. However, because of an impaired cognitive function, they could not inhibit goal-irrelevant distractors and their performance decreased under highly demanding conditions.

  5. Neurolinguistic programming training, trait anxiety, and locus of control.

    PubMed

    Konefal, J; Duncan, R C; Reese, M A

    1992-06-01

    Training in the neurolinguistic programming techniques of shifting perceptual position, visual-kinesthetic dissociation, timelines, and change-history, all based on experiential cognitive processing of remembered events, leads to an increased awareness of behavioral contingencies and a more sensitive recognition of environmental cues which could serve to lower trait anxiety and increase the sense of internal control. This study reports on within-person and between-group changes in trait anxiety and locus of control as measured on the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Wallston, Wallston, and DeVallis' Multiple Health Locus of Control immediately following a 21-day residential training in neurolinguistic programming. Significant with-in-person decreases in trait-anxiety scores and increases in internal locus of control scores were observed as predicted. Chance and powerful other locus of control scores were unchanged. Significant differences were noted on trait anxiety and locus of control scores between European and U.S. participants, although change scores were similar for the two groups. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that this training may lower trait-anxiety scores and increase internal locus of control scores. A matched control group was not available, and follow-up was unfortunately not possible.

  6. Trait Differentiation within the Fungus-Feeding (Mycophagous) Bacterial Genus Collimonas

    PubMed Central

    Ballhausen, Max-Bernhard; Vandamme, Peter; de Boer, Wietse

    2016-01-01

    The genus Collimonas consists of facultative, fungus-feeding (mycophagous) bacteria. To date, 3 species (C. fungivorans, C. pratensis and C. arenae) have been described and over 100 strains have been isolated from different habitats. Functional traits of Collimonas bacteria that are potentially involved in interactions with soil fungi mostly negatively (fungal inhibition e.g.), but also positively (mineral weathering e.g.), affect fungal fitness. We hypothesized that variation in such traits between Collimonas strains leads to different mycophagous bacterial feeding patterns. We investigated a) whether phylogenetically closely related Collimonas strains possess similar traits, b) how far phylogenetic resolution influences the detection of phylogenetic signal (possession of similar traits by related strains) and c) if there is a pattern of co-occurrence among the studied traits. We measured genetically encoded (nifH genes, antifungal collimomycin gene cluster e.g.) as well as phenotypically expressed traits (chitinase- and siderophore production, fungal inhibition and others) and related those to a high-resolution phylogeny (MLSA), constructed by sequencing the housekeeping genes gyrB and rpoB and concatenating those with partial 16S rDNA sequences. Additionally, high-resolution and 16S rDNA derived phylogenies were compared. We show that MLSA is superior to 16SrDNA phylogeny when analyzing trait distribution and relating it to phylogeny at fine taxonomic resolution (a single bacterial genus). We observe that several traits involved in the interaction of collimonads and their host fungus (fungal inhibition e.g.) carry phylogenetic signal. Furthermore, we compare Collimonas trait possession with sister genera like Herbaspirillum and Janthinobacterium. PMID:27309848

  7. A longitudinal twin study of callous-unemotional traits during childhood.

    PubMed

    Henry, Jeffrey; Dionne, Ginette; Viding, Essi; Petitclerc, Amélie; Feng, Bei; Vitaro, Frank; Brendgen, Mara; Tremblay, Richard E; Boivin, Michel

    2018-05-01

    Previous research indicates that genetic factors largely account for the stability of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in adolescence. However, the genetic-environmental etiology of the development of CU traits has not been extensively investigated in childhood, despite work showing the reliable measurement and stability of CU traits from a young age. The aim of this study was to investigate the temporal pattern of genetic and environmental etiology of CU traits across primary school, from school entry (7 years) to middle (9 and 10 years) and late childhood (12 years). Data were collected in a population sample of twins composed of 662 twin pairs (Quebec Newborn Twin Study). CU traits were reported by teachers and analyzed using a biometric latent growth curve model and a Cholesky decomposition model. Latent growth curve analyses revealed that genetic factors explain most of the variance in the intercept of CU traits. Individual differences in change over time were not significant. The Cholesky model revealed that genetic factors at 7 years had enduring contributions to CU traits at 9, 10, and 12 years. New, modest genetic contributions appeared at 9 and 10 years. Nonshared environmental contributions were generally age-specific. No shared environmental contributions were detected. In sum, both modeling approaches showed that genetic factors underlie CU traits during childhood. Initial and new genetic contributions arise during this period. Environments have substantial contributions, over and above genetic factors. Future research should investigate the source of genetic risk associated with CU traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  8. DSM-5 Personality Traits and DSM-IV Personality Disorders

    PubMed Central

    Hopwood, Christopher J.; Thomas, Katherine M.; Markon, Kristian E.; Wright, Aidan G.C.; Krueger, Robert F.

    2014-01-01

    Two issues pertinent to the DSM-5 proposal for personality pathology, the recovery of DSM-IV personality disorders (PDs) by proposed DSM-5 traits and the validity of the proposed DSM-5 hybrid model which incorporates both personality pathology symptoms and maladaptive traits, were evaluated in a large undergraduate sample (N = 808). Proposed DSM-5 traits as assessed with the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 explained a substantial proportion of variance in DSM-IV PDs as assessed with the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+, and trait indicators of the six proposed DSM-5 PDs were mostly specific to those disorders with some exceptions. Regression analyses support the DSM-5 hybrid model in that pathological traits and an indicator of general personality pathology severity provided incremental information about PDs. Findings are discussed in the context of broader issues around the proposed DSM-5 model of personality disorders. PMID:22250660

  9. Troubles psychotiques précipités par le mariage : étude de trois observations

    PubMed Central

    Jaweher, Masmoudi; Kammoun, Mohamed Faouzi; Inès, Feki; Imen, Baati; Rim, Sallami; Abdelaziz, Jaoua

    2013-01-01

    Le mariage est un évènement très investi dans notre culture arabo-musulmane. Il présente une situation à grande charge émotionnelle et ayant un vécu stressant. C'est ainsi qu'il peut être à l'origine de la décompensation de certains troubles psychiatriques. Ce moment particulier de déclenchement de la pathologie peut altérer significativement l'adaptation familiale et sociale du patient en question, le rendant dépendant en partie ou en totalité à une institution. Dans ce travail, nous proposons d’étudier certains facteurs psychiques, sociaux et culturels pouvant aboutir à la précipitation des manifestations psychotiques par le mariage. Il s'agit de l’étude de trois observations cliniques, deux hommes et une femme, hospitalisés dans le service de psychiatrie A du CHU Hédi Chaker de Sfax et qui ont développés des manifestations psychotiques de façon concomitante à leur mariage. La durée moyenne de survenue des crises a été de vingt ans, le diagnostic retenu a été celui de trouble bipolaire dans deux cas et d'une schizophrénie indifférenciée chez le troisième patient. L’évolution s'est faite vers une chronicisation de deux malades et une dépendance institutionnelle dans le troisième cas. La précipitation des troubles psychotiques par le mariage, reste un phénomène en relation intime avec les composantes culturelles, elles-mêmes sont déterminantes dans la prise en charge ultérieure de ces patients. PMID:23785551

  10. Airborne pollen and spores of León (Spain)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fernández-González, Delia; Suarez-Cervera, María; Díaz-González, Tomás; Valencia-Barrera, Rosa María

    1993-06-01

    A qualitative and quantitative analysis of airborne pollen and spores was carried out over 2 years (from September 1987 to August 1989) in the city of León. Slides were prepared daily using a volumetric pollen trap, which was placed on the Faculty of Veterinary Science building (University of León) 12m above ground-level. Fifty-one pollen types were observed; the most important of these were: Cupressaceae during the winter, Pinus and Quercus in spring, and Poaceae, Leguminosae and Chenopodiaceae in the summer. The results also showed the existence of a rich mould spore assemblage in the atmosphere. The group of Amerospores ( Penicillium, Aspergillus and Cladosporium) as well as Dictyospores ( Alternaria) were the most abundant; Puccinia was common in the air in August. Fluctuations in the total pollen and spores m3 of air were compared with meteorological parameters (temperature, relative humidity and rainfall). From the daily sampling of the atmosphere of León, considering the maximum and minimum temperature and duration of rainfall, the start of the pollen grain season was observed generally to coincide with a rise in temperature in the absence of rain.

  11. Une fistule recto-vaginale rentrant dans le cadre d'un syndrome de Currarino

    PubMed Central

    Idrissi, Mounia Lakhdar; Babakhoya, Abdeladim; Bouabdellah, Youssef; Hida, Mostapha

    2011-01-01

    Le syndrome de Currarino (SC) est défini par une triade rassemblant une malformation ano-rectale, une agénésie sacrée et une tumeur pré-sacrée. Nous rapportons le cas d'une fille de 4 ans et demi ayant été admise en consultation de gastro-entérologie pédiatrique pour constipation avec issue de selle à travers un orifice vulvaire. La radiographie du rachis avait montré une agénésie sacrée. Le fistulo-scanner a mis en évidence une fistule recto-vaginale et l'IRM pelvienne a confirmé l'agénésie sacrée et a retrouvé une méningocèle antérieure. La découverte d'une malformation ano-rectale doit faire chercher une autre anomalie de la triade de Currarino. Cette affection, rare, nécessite une prise en charge médico-chirurgicale assez complexe. PMID:22384297

  12. E-Index for Differentiating Complex Dynamic Traits

    PubMed Central

    Qi, Jiandong; Sun, Jianfeng; Wang, Jianxin

    2016-01-01

    While it is a daunting challenge in current biology to understand how the underlying network of genes regulates complex dynamic traits, functional mapping, a tool for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), has been applied in a variety of cases to tackle this challenge. Though useful and powerful, functional mapping performs well only when one or more model parameters are clearly responsible for the developmental trajectory, typically being a logistic curve. Moreover, it does not work when the curves are more complex than that, especially when they are not monotonic. To overcome this inadaptability, we therefore propose a mathematical-biological concept and measurement, E-index (earliness-index), which cumulatively measures the earliness degree to which a variable (or a dynamic trait) increases or decreases its value. Theoretical proofs and simulation studies show that E-index is more general than functional mapping and can be applied to any complex dynamic traits, including those with logistic curves and those with nonmonotonic curves. Meanwhile, E-index vector is proposed as well to capture more subtle differences of developmental patterns. PMID:27064292

  13. Exploring autistic traits in anorexia: a clinical study.

    PubMed

    Tchanturia, Kate; Smith, Emma; Weineck, Felicitas; Fidanboylu, Eliz; Kern, Nikola; Treasure, Janet; Baron Cohen, Simon

    2013-11-12

    The objectives of this study were to explore associations between autistic traits and self-reported clinical symptoms in a population with anorexia nervosa (AN). Experimental and self-report evidence reveals similarities between AN and autism spectrum condition (ASC) populations in socio-emotional and cognitive domains; this includes difficulties with empathy, set-shifting and global processing. Focusing on these similarities may lead to better tailored interventions for both conditions. A cross-sectional independent-groups design was employed. Participants with AN (n = 66) and typical controls (n = 66) completed self-report questionnaires including the Short (10-Item) Version Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ-10) questionnaire (the first time this has been implemented in this population), the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Work and Social Adjustment Scale. Group differences and the relationship between autistic traits and other questionnaire measures were investigated. The AN group had a significantly higher AQ-10 total score and a greater proportion scored above the clinical cut-off than the control group. Seven out of ten AQ-10 items significantly discriminated between groups. In the AN group, levels of autistic traits correlated with a greater self-reported anxiety and depression and a lower ability to maintain close relationships; however, eating disorder symptoms were not associated with autistic traits. Women with anorexia possess a greater number of autistic traits than typical women. AQ-10 items that discriminated between groups related to 'bigger picture' (global) thinking, inflexibility of thinking and problems with social interactions, suggesting that autistic traits may exacerbate factors that maintain the eating disorder rather than cause the eating disorder directly. Using screening instruments may improve understanding of patients' problems, leading to better tailoring of intervention. We

  14. Frozen shoulder and the Big Five personality traits.

    PubMed

    Debeer, Philippe; Franssens, Fien; Roosen, Isabelle; Dankaerts, Wim; Claes, Laurence

    2014-02-01

    In the past, several studies have suggested the existence of a "periarthritic personality" in patients with frozen shoulder. We conducted a study to determine differences in personality traits in patients with primary and secondary frozen shoulders. We prospectively evaluated 118 patients (84 women and 34 men; mean age, 53.8 years; SD 7.56) with a frozen shoulder. Of these patients, 48 had an idiopathic frozen shoulder and 70 had a secondary frozen shoulder. Personality traits were determined by the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) scale. This questionnaire measures the 5 major personality traits and is based on the norms determined in a neutral test situation for 2415 controls. Compared with healthy controls, no differences in personality traits were found in patients with primary and secondary frozen shoulder, except for Conscientiousness and Extraversion, for which patients with secondary frozen shoulder scored significantly higher than healthy controls. Patients with primary frozen shoulder scored significantly higher on Openness to Experience than did patients with secondary frozen shoulder; on the other 4 Big Five personality traits, no significant differences were found between patients with primary and secondary frozen shoulder. More specifically, patients with idiopathic frozen shoulder did not score higher on the trait Neuroticism as would be expected from previous publications. Our study results do not indicate that patients with an idiopathic frozen shoulder have a specific personality compared with healthy controls. Only a few differences were found in personality traits when the entire frozen shoulder group was compared with healthy controls and between patients with primary and secondary frozen shoulders. The results of this study suggest that these differences are not sufficient to speak about a specific "frozen shoulder personality." Copyright © 2014 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights

  15. Considérations nosographiques sur le délire d'infestation parasitaire à travers trois observations cliniques

    PubMed Central

    Berhili, Nabil; Bout, Amine; Hlal, Hayat; Aarab, Chadya; Aalouane, Rachid; Rammouz, Ismail

    2016-01-01

    Le syndrome d'Ekbom, ou délire d'infestation parasitaire, est une pathologie rare, caractérisée par la conviction inébranlable d'avoir une peau infestée d'insectes ou de parasites. Il s'agit d'un délire monothématique à mécanisme hallucinatoire qui touche typiquement les femmes d’âge avancé. Nous rapportons les cas de trois patients qui présentent un délire d'infestation parasitaire dans des contextes cliniques différents. Le premier patient souffre d'un délire d'infestation isolé correspondant à la forme décrite par Karl Ekbom. Le deuxième cas présente un délire d'infestation secondaire, s'inscrivant dans le cadre d'une leuco-encéphalopathie de type CADASIL. Enfin, le troisième patient se présente dans un tableau évocateur d'un épisode dépressif avec une caractéristique psychotique qui intègre le délire d'infestation. Ces trois vignettes cliniques illustrent parfaitement le caractère trans-nosographique de ce syndrome ainsi que les difficultés de prise en charge de ces patients, tant au niveau de l'alliance thérapeutique que sur le plan des choix en matière de traitement pharmacologiques. PMID:27642468

  16. Genetic architecture of domestication-related traits in maize

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Strong directional selection occurred during the domestication of maize from its wild ancestor teosinte, reducing its genetic diversity, particularly at genes controlling domestication-related traits. Nevertheless, variability for some domestication-related traits is maintained in maize. The genet...

  17. Personality traits across countries: Support for similarities rather than differences

    PubMed Central

    Mac Giolla, Erik

    2017-01-01

    In the current climate of migration and globalization, personality characteristics of individuals from different countries have received a growing interest. Previous research has established reliable differences in personality traits across countries. The present study extends this research by examining 30 personality traits in 22 countries, based on an online survey in English with large national samples (NTotal = 130,602). The instrument used was a comprehensive, open-source measure of the Five Factor Model (FFM) (IPIP-NEO-120). We postulated that differences in personality traits between countries would be small, labeling this a Similarities Hypothesis. We found support for this in three stages. First, similarities across countries were observed for model fits for each of the five personality trait structures. Second, within-country sex differences for the five personality traits showed similar patterns across countries. Finally, the overall the contribution to personality traits from countries was less than 2%. In other words, the relationship between a country and an individual’s personality traits, however interesting, are small. We conclude that the most parsimonious explanation for the current and past findings is a cross-country personality Similarities Hypothesis. PMID:28622380

  18. Personality traits across countries: Support for similarities rather than differences.

    PubMed

    Kajonius, Petri; Mac Giolla, Erik

    2017-01-01

    In the current climate of migration and globalization, personality characteristics of individuals from different countries have received a growing interest. Previous research has established reliable differences in personality traits across countries. The present study extends this research by examining 30 personality traits in 22 countries, based on an online survey in English with large national samples (NTotal = 130,602). The instrument used was a comprehensive, open-source measure of the Five Factor Model (FFM) (IPIP-NEO-120). We postulated that differences in personality traits between countries would be small, labeling this a Similarities Hypothesis. We found support for this in three stages. First, similarities across countries were observed for model fits for each of the five personality trait structures. Second, within-country sex differences for the five personality traits showed similar patterns across countries. Finally, the overall the contribution to personality traits from countries was less than 2%. In other words, the relationship between a country and an individual's personality traits, however interesting, are small. We conclude that the most parsimonious explanation for the current and past findings is a cross-country personality Similarities Hypothesis.

  19. Identification of molecular markers associated with fruit traits in olive and assessment of olive core collection with AFLP markers and fruit traits.

    PubMed

    Ipek, M; Seker, M; Ipek, A; Gul, M K

    2015-03-31

    The purpose of this study was to characterize olive core collection with amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers and fruit traits and to determine AFLP markers significantly associated with these fruit characters in olive. A total of 168 polymorphic AFLP markers generated by five primer combinations and nine fruit traits were used to characterize relationships between 18 olive cultivars. Although all olive cultivars were discriminated from each other by either AFLP markers (<0.75 similarity level) or fruit traits, clustering based on the AFLP markers and fruit traits was not significantly correlated (r = 0.13). Partial clustering of olive cultivars by AFLP markers according to their geographical origin was observed. Associations of AFLP markers with fruits were determined using a multiple-regression analysis with stepwise addition of AFLP markers. Significant associations between eight AFLP markers and fruit traits were identified. While five AFLP markers demonstrated significant negative correlation with fruit and stone weight, width and length and total polyphenols (P < 0.05), three AFLP markers displayed significant positive correlation with α-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol (P < 0.01). This is the first report on the association of molecular markers with fruit traits in olive. Molecular markers associated with morphological and agronomic traits could be utilized for the breeding of olive cultivars. However, the association power of these markers needs to be confirmed in larger populations, and highly correlated markers should then be converted to PCR-based DNA markers such as sequence-characterized amplified region markers for better utilization.

  20. Anthropogenic fire drives the evolution of seed traits

    PubMed Central

    Gómez-González, Susana; Torres-Díaz, Cristian; Bustos-Schindler, Carlos; Gianoli, Ernesto

    2011-01-01

    Fire is a major disturbance affecting ecosystems worldwide. Phylogenetic studies have shown that the evolution of seed persistence (fire resistance) is associated with fire frequency or severity. However, the existence of specific seed traits resulting from natural selection mediated by fire remains a key question in plant evolution. We evaluated the role of fire in the evolution of seed traits from a microevolutionary perspective, using as a study system a native forb from the Chilean matorral, where fire is a novel, anthropogenic disturbance. We show that anthropogenic fires are shaping the evolution of seed traits such as pubescence and shape. Among-population variation in seed pubescence, shape, and pericarp thickness was strongly associated with fire frequency, and within a population, fire selected those plants with more pubescent seeds, thicker pericarps, and less rounded seeds. Seed pubescence and shape were shown to be heritable traits. Our findings provide insights into the understanding of the evolution of seed traits in fire-prone environments and demonstrate that human-made fires can be driving evolutionary changes in plant species from ecosystems where fires do not occur naturally. PMID:22065739

  1. [Trait-aggression and suicide of Vincent van Gogh].

    PubMed

    Pezenhoffer, Ibolya; Gerevich, József

    2015-01-01

    Although in recent decades the literature has paid special attention to Vincent van Gogh's life, work and illness, there has still not been an examination of the connections between his trait aggression and his suicide. The present study traces, in the light of this trait aggression, the predictive factors that can be observed on the path leading to the artist's suicide. Biographical documents, case history data, as well as letters and the findings of earlier research have been used in the course of the analysis. Among the distal suicide risk factors we find a positive family anamnesis, childhood traumas (emotional deprivation, identity problems associated with the name Vincent), a vagrant, homeless way of life, failures in relationships with women, and psychotic episodes appearing in rushes. The proximal factors include the tragic friendship with Gauguin (frustrated love), his brother Theo's marriage (experienced as a loss), and a tendency to self-destruction. Both factor groups on the one hand determined the course of development of the trait aggression and on the other can also be regarded as a manifestation of that trait aggression. It can be said that the trait aggression played an important role in Van Gogh's suicide.

  2. Assessing Wheat Traits by Spectral Reflectance: Do We Really Need to Focus on Predicted Trait-Values or Directly Identify the Elite Genotypes Group?

    PubMed Central

    Garriga, Miguel; Romero-Bravo, Sebastián; Estrada, Félix; Escobar, Alejandro; Matus, Iván A.; del Pozo, Alejandro; Astudillo, Cesar A.; Lobos, Gustavo A.

    2017-01-01

    Phenotyping, via remote and proximal sensing techniques, of the agronomic and physiological traits associated with yield potential and drought adaptation could contribute to improvements in breeding programs. In the present study, 384 genotypes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were tested under fully irrigated (FI) and water stress (WS) conditions. The following traits were evaluated and assessed via spectral reflectance: Grain yield (GY), spikes per square meter (SM2), kernels per spike (KPS), thousand-kernel weight (TKW), chlorophyll content (SPAD), stem water soluble carbohydrate concentration and content (WSC and WSCC, respectively), carbon isotope discrimination (Δ13C), and leaf area index (LAI). The performances of spectral reflectance indices (SRIs), four regression algorithms (PCR, PLSR, ridge regression RR, and SVR), and three classification methods (PCA-LDA, PLS-DA, and kNN) were evaluated for the prediction of each trait. For the classification approaches, two classes were established for each trait: The lower 80% of the trait variability range (Class 1) and the remaining 20% (Class 2 or elite genotypes). Both the SRIs and regression methods performed better when data from FI and WS were combined. The traits that were best estimated by SRIs and regression methods were GY and Δ13C. For most traits and conditions, the estimations provided by RR and SVR were the same, or better than, those provided by the SRIs. PLS-DA showed the best performance among the categorical methods and, unlike the SRI and regression models, most traits were relatively well-classified within a specific hydric condition (FI or WS), proving that classification approach is an effective tool to be explored in future studies related to genotype selection. PMID:28337210

  3. Assessing Wheat Traits by Spectral Reflectance: Do We Really Need to Focus on Predicted Trait-Values or Directly Identify the Elite Genotypes Group?

    PubMed

    Garriga, Miguel; Romero-Bravo, Sebastián; Estrada, Félix; Escobar, Alejandro; Matus, Iván A; Del Pozo, Alejandro; Astudillo, Cesar A; Lobos, Gustavo A

    2017-01-01

    Phenotyping, via remote and proximal sensing techniques, of the agronomic and physiological traits associated with yield potential and drought adaptation could contribute to improvements in breeding programs. In the present study, 384 genotypes of wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) were tested under fully irrigated (FI) and water stress (WS) conditions. The following traits were evaluated and assessed via spectral reflectance: Grain yield (GY), spikes per square meter (SM2), kernels per spike (KPS), thousand-kernel weight (TKW), chlorophyll content (SPAD), stem water soluble carbohydrate concentration and content (WSC and WSCC, respectively), carbon isotope discrimination (Δ 13 C), and leaf area index (LAI). The performances of spectral reflectance indices (SRIs), four regression algorithms (PCR, PLSR, ridge regression RR, and SVR), and three classification methods (PCA-LDA, PLS-DA, and k NN) were evaluated for the prediction of each trait. For the classification approaches, two classes were established for each trait: The lower 80% of the trait variability range (Class 1) and the remaining 20% (Class 2 or elite genotypes). Both the SRIs and regression methods performed better when data from FI and WS were combined. The traits that were best estimated by SRIs and regression methods were GY and Δ 13 C. For most traits and conditions, the estimations provided by RR and SVR were the same, or better than, those provided by the SRIs. PLS-DA showed the best performance among the categorical methods and, unlike the SRI and regression models, most traits were relatively well-classified within a specific hydric condition (FI or WS), proving that classification approach is an effective tool to be explored in future studies related to genotype selection.

  4. Paternal overprotection in obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression with obsessive traits.

    PubMed

    Yoshida, Takafumi; Taga, Chiaki; Matsumoto, Yoshitake; Fukui, Kenji

    2005-10-01

    Previous studies have indicated that a parental rearing style showing a low level of care on the parental bonding instrument (PBI) is a risk factor for depression, and that there is a relationship between the overprotective rearing style on the PBI and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, there is no study on the parental rearing attitudes in depressive patients divided into two groups based on their obsessive traits. In this study, we evaluated the parental rearing attitudes and examined the differences among four groups: depressive patients with severe obsessive traits, depressive patients with mild obsessive traits, OCD patients, and healthy volunteers. We divided the depressive patients into severe and mild groups based on their obsessive traits on the Mausdley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI). We compared PBI scores among four groups of 50 subjects matched for age and sex: depressive patients with severe obsessive traits, depressive patients with mild obsessive traits, OCD patients, and healthy volunteers. The paternal protection scores in the depressive patients with severely obsessive traits and the OCD patients were significantly higher than those in the depressive patients with mildly obsessive traits and healthy volunteers. This study indicated that the depressive patients with severe obsessive traits and the OCD patients have similar paternal controlling and interfering rearing attitudes. We conclude that the paternal controlling and interfering rearing attitudes are linked to the development of OCD and depression with obsessive traits, and are not linked to the development of depression itself.

  5. Mapping local and global variability in plant trait distributions.

    PubMed

    Butler, Ethan E; Datta, Abhirup; Flores-Moreno, Habacuc; Chen, Ming; Wythers, Kirk R; Fazayeli, Farideh; Banerjee, Arindam; Atkin, Owen K; Kattge, Jens; Amiaud, Bernard; Blonder, Benjamin; Boenisch, Gerhard; Bond-Lamberty, Ben; Brown, Kerry A; Byun, Chaeho; Campetella, Giandiego; Cerabolini, Bruno E L; Cornelissen, Johannes H C; Craine, Joseph M; Craven, Dylan; de Vries, Franciska T; Díaz, Sandra; Domingues, Tomas F; Forey, Estelle; González-Melo, Andrés; Gross, Nicolas; Han, Wenxuan; Hattingh, Wesley N; Hickler, Thomas; Jansen, Steven; Kramer, Koen; Kraft, Nathan J B; Kurokawa, Hiroko; Laughlin, Daniel C; Meir, Patrick; Minden, Vanessa; Niinemets, Ülo; Onoda, Yusuke; Peñuelas, Josep; Read, Quentin; Sack, Lawren; Schamp, Brandon; Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A; Spasojevic, Marko J; Sosinski, Enio; Thornton, Peter E; Valladares, Fernando; van Bodegom, Peter M; Williams, Mathew; Wirth, Christian; Reich, Peter B

    2017-12-19

    Our ability to understand and predict the response of ecosystems to a changing environment depends on quantifying vegetation functional diversity. However, representing this diversity at the global scale is challenging. Typically, in Earth system models, characterization of plant diversity has been limited to grouping related species into plant functional types (PFTs), with all trait variation in a PFT collapsed into a single mean value that is applied globally. Using the largest global plant trait database and state of the art Bayesian modeling, we created fine-grained global maps of plant trait distributions that can be applied to Earth system models. Focusing on a set of plant traits closely coupled to photosynthesis and foliar respiration-specific leaf area (SLA) and dry mass-based concentrations of leaf nitrogen ([Formula: see text]) and phosphorus ([Formula: see text]), we characterize how traits vary within and among over 50,000 [Formula: see text]-km cells across the entire vegetated land surface. We do this in several ways-without defining the PFT of each grid cell and using 4 or 14 PFTs; each model's predictions are evaluated against out-of-sample data. This endeavor advances prior trait mapping by generating global maps that preserve variability across scales by using modern Bayesian spatial statistical modeling in combination with a database over three times larger than that in previous analyses. Our maps reveal that the most diverse grid cells possess trait variability close to the range of global PFT means.

  6. Mapping local and global variability in plant trait distributions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Butler, Ethan E.; Datta, Abhirup; Flores-Moreno, Habacuc

    2017-12-01

    Our ability to understand and predict the response of ecosystems to a changing environment depends on quantifying vegetation functional diversity. However, representing this diversity at the global scale is challenging. Typically, in Earth system models, characterization of plant diversity has been limited to grouping related species into plant functional types (PFTs), with all trait variation in a PFT collapsed into a single mean value that is applied globally. Using the largest global plant trait database and state of the art Bayesian modeling, we created fine-grained global maps of plant trait distributions that can be applied to Earth system models. Focusingmore » on a set of plant traits closely coupled to photosynthesis and foliar respiration—specific leaf area (SLA) and dry mass-based concentrations of leaf nitrogen (N m) and phosphorus (P m), we characterize how traits vary within and among over 50,000 ~50×50-km cells across the entire vegetated land surface. We do this in several ways—without defining the PFT of each grid cell and using 4 or 14 PFTs; each model’s predictions are evaluated against out-of-sample data. This endeavor advances prior trait mapping by generating global maps that preserve variability across scales by using modern Bayesian spatial statistical modeling in combination with a database over three times larger than that in previous analyses. Our maps further reveal that the most diverse grid cells possess trait variability close to the range of global PFT means.« less

  7. Neural signature of the Food Craving Questionnaire (FCQ)-Trait.

    PubMed

    Ulrich, Martin; Steigleder, Leon; Grön, Georg

    2016-12-01

    The Trait and State versions of the Food Craving Questionnaire (FCQ) have been used in numerous behavioral and physiological eating studies. However, the neurobiological signature of the FCQ has not been reported yet. In the present study, 20 healthy male participants performed a food/non-food discrimination task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We investigated where in the brain greater activation upon high-caloric minus low-caloric food cues correlated with participants' scores on the German version of the FCQ-Trait, with the FCQ-State total scores included as a covariate, and vice versa. It was also tested whether individual subscales would map onto distinguishable neural correlates. Significant positive correlations with total scores on the FCQ-Trait were evident in several bilateral loci of the striatum, and in the right middle/lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Correlations with scores on the FCQ-Trait subscales Reinforcement and Hunger were found for subsets of voxels within the ventral striatum, whereas the FCQ-Trait subscales Intentions/Lack of control and Thoughts/Guilt mapped onto right OFC. There were no significant correlations between calorie-sensitive brain activation and scores on the FCQ-State when including the total scores on the FCQ-Trait as a covariate. Present findings show that the trait version of the FCQ associates with neural correlates known to be involved in coding motivational salience, detecting and estimating reward value, and representing information of expected outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Autistic and schizotypal traits and global functioning in bipolar I disorder.

    PubMed

    Abu-Akel, Ahmad; Clark, Jennifer; Perry, Amy; Wood, Stephen J; Forty, Liz; Craddock, Nick; Jones, Ian; Gordon-Smith, Katherine; Jones, Lisa

    2017-01-01

    To determine the expression of autistic and positive schizotypal traits in a large sample of adults with bipolar I disorder (BD I), and the effect of co-occurring autistic and positive schizotypal traits on global functioning in BD I. Autistic and positive schizotypal traits were self-assessed in 797 individuals with BD-I recruited by the Bipolar Disorder Research Network. Differences in global functioning (rated using the Global Assessment Scale) during lifetime worst depressive and manic episodes (GASD and GASM respectively) were calculated in groups with high/low autistic and positive schizotypal traits. Regression analyses assessed the interactive effect of autistic and positive schizotypal traits on global functioning. 47.2% (CI=43.7-50.7%) showed clinically significant levels of autistic traits, and 23.22% (95% CI=20.29-26.14) showed clinically significant levels of positive schizotypal traits. In the worst episode of mania, the high autistic, high positive schizotypal group had better global functioning compared to the other groups. Individual differences analyses showed that high levels of both traits were associated with better global functioning in both mood states. Autistic and schizotypal traits were assessed using self-rated questionnaires. Expression of autistic and schizotypal traits in adults with BD I is prevalent, and may be important to predict illness aetiology, prognosis, and diagnostic practices in this population. Future work should focus on replicating these findings in independent samples, and on the biological and/or psychosocial mechanisms underlying better global functioning in those who have high levels of both autistic and positive schizotypal traits. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Intraspecific variability in functional traits matters: case study of Scots pine.

    PubMed

    Laforest-Lapointe, Isabelle; Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi; Retana, Javier

    2014-08-01

    Although intraspecific trait variability is an important component of species ecological plasticity and niche breadth, its implications for community and functional ecology have not been thoroughly explored. We characterized the intraspecific functional trait variability of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) in Catalonia (NE Spain) in order to (1) compare it to the interspecific trait variability of trees in the same region, (2) explore the relationships among functional traits and the relationships between them and stand and climatic variables, and (3) study the role of functional trait variability as a determinant of radial growth. We considered five traits: wood density (WD), maximum tree height (H max), leaf nitrogen content (Nmass), specific leaf area (SLA), and leaf biomass-to-sapwood area ratio (B L:A S). A unique dataset was obtained from the Ecological and Forest Inventory of Catalonia (IEFC), including data from 406 plots. Intraspecific trait variation was substantial for all traits, with coefficients of variation ranging between 8% for WD and 24% for B L:A S. In some cases, correlations among functional traits differed from those reported across species (e.g., H max and WD were positively related, whereas SLA and Nmass were uncorrelated). Overall, our model accounted for 47% of the spatial variability in Scots pine radial growth. Our study emphasizes the hierarchy of factors that determine intraspecific variations in functional traits in Scots pine and their strong association with spatial variability in radial growth. We claim that intraspecific trait variation is an important determinant of responses of plants to changes in climate and other environmental factors, and should be included in predictive models of vegetation dynamics.

  10. Tradeoffs limit the evolution of male traits that are attractive to females

    PubMed Central

    Wagner, William E.; Beckers, Oliver M.; Tolle, Amanda E.; Basolo, Alexandra L.

    2012-01-01

    Tradeoffs occur between a variety of traits in a diversity of organisms, and these tradeoffs can have major effects on ecological and evolutionary processes. Far less is known, however, about tradeoffs between male traits that affect mate attraction than about tradeoffs between other types of traits. Previous results indicate that females of the variable field cricket, Gryllus lineaticeps, prefer male songs with higher chirp rates and longer chirp durations. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that a tradeoff between these traits affects the evolution of male song. The two traits were negatively correlated among full-sibling families, consistent with a genetically based tradeoff, and the tradeoff was stronger when nutrients were limiting. In addition, for males from 12 populations reared in a common environment, the traits were negatively correlated within populations, the strength of the tradeoff was largely invariant across populations, and the within-population tradeoff predicted how the traits have evolved among populations. A widespread tradeoff thus affects male trait evolution. Finally, for males from four populations assayed in the field, the traits were negatively correlated within and among populations. The tradeoff is thus robust to the presence of environmental factors that might mask its effects. Together, our results indicate there is a fundamental tradeoff between male traits that: (i) limits the ability of males to produce multiple attractive traits; (ii) limits how male traits evolve; and (iii) might favour plasticity in female mating preferences. PMID:22456890

  11. Ultrasensitive determination of human growth hormone (hGH) with a disposable electrochemical magneto-immunosensor.

    PubMed

    Serafín, V; Úbeda, N; Agüí, L; Yáñez-Sedeño, P; Pingarrón, J M

    2012-05-01

    In this paper, an electrochemical magneto-immunosensor for the detection of human growth hormone (hGH) is described for the first time. The immunosensor involves the use of tosyl-activated magnetic microparticles (TsMBs) to covalently immobilize a monoclonal mAbhHG antibody. A sandwich-type immunoassay with a secondary pAbhGH antibody and anti-IgG labelled with alkaline phosphatase (anti-IgG-AP) was employed. TsMBs–mAbhGH–hGH–pAbhGH–anti-IgG-AP conjugates were deposited onto the surface of a screen-printed gold electrode using a small neodymium magnet, and electrochemical detection was performed by square-wave voltammetry upon the addition of 4-aminophenyl phosphate as the AP substrate. All the variables involved in the preparation of immunoconjugates and in the immunoassay protocol were optimized. A calibration curve for hGH was constructed with a linear range between 0.01 and 100 ng/mL (r = 0.998) and a limit of detection of 0.005 ng/mL. This value is nearly three orders of magnitude lower than that obtained using surface plasmon resonance (Treviño et al., Talanta 78:1011-1016, 2009). Furthermore, good repeatability, with RSD = 3% (n = 10) at the 1-ng/mL hGH level, was obtained. Cross-reactivity studies with other hormones demonstrated good selectivity. The magneto-immunosensor was applied to the analysis of human serum spiked with hGH at the 4- and 0.1-ng/mL levels. Mean recoveries of 96 ± 6% and 99 ± 2%, respectively, were obtained.

  12. Ultrasound evaluation of intrinsic plantar muscles and fascia in hallux valgus

    PubMed Central

    Lobo, César Calvo; Marín, Alejandro Garrido; Sanz, David Rodríguez; López, Daniel López; López, Patricia Palomo; Morales, Carlos Romero; Corbalán, Irene Sanz

    2016-01-01

    Abstract A cross-sectional area (CSA) and thickness reduction of the abductor hallucis (AbH) is shown in subjects with hallux valgus (HV). To date, other soft-tissue structures have not been researched in relation with HV. The aim of this study was to compare the CSA and thickness of the intrinsic plantar muscles and fascia (PF) between feet with and without HV. Therefore, a cross-sectional and case-control study was performed using B-mode with an iU22 Philips ultrasound system and a 5 to 17-MHz transducer. The CSA and thickness were measured for the AbH, flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) and flexor hallucis brevis (FHB), and also the thickness for the anterior, middle, and posterior PF portions. A convenience sample of 40 feet, 20 with HV and 20 without HV, was recruited from a clinical and research center. A multivariate regression analysis using linear regression was performed to evaluate the ultrasound imaging measurements (α = 0.05). Consequently, statistically significant differences were observed between the groups (P < 0.05) for the AbH and FHB thickness, and CSA reduction, and also the plantar fascia thickness increase in favor of the HV group. On the contrary, the FDB thickness and CSA did not show statistically significant differences (P ≥ 0.05). In conclusion, the CSA and thickness of the AbH and FHB intrinsic plantar muscles are reduced, whereas the thickness of the anterior, middle, and posterior PF portions are increased, in subjects with HV compared with those without HV. PMID:27828846

  13. Ultrasound evaluation of intrinsic plantar muscles and fascia in hallux valgus: A case-control study.

    PubMed

    Lobo, César Calvo; Marín, Alejandro Garrido; Sanz, David Rodríguez; López, Daniel López; López, Patricia Palomo; Morales, Carlos Romero; Corbalán, Irene Sanz

    2016-11-01

    A cross-sectional area (CSA) and thickness reduction of the abductor hallucis (AbH) is shown in subjects with hallux valgus (HV). To date, other soft-tissue structures have not been researched in relation with HV. The aim of this study was to compare the CSA and thickness of the intrinsic plantar muscles and fascia (PF) between feet with and without HV. Therefore, a cross-sectional and case-control study was performed using B-mode with an iU22 Philips ultrasound system and a 5 to 17-MHz transducer. The CSA and thickness were measured for the AbH, flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) and flexor hallucis brevis (FHB), and also the thickness for the anterior, middle, and posterior PF portions. A convenience sample of 40 feet, 20 with HV and 20 without HV, was recruited from a clinical and research center. A multivariate regression analysis using linear regression was performed to evaluate the ultrasound imaging measurements (α = 0.05). Consequently, statistically significant differences were observed between the groups (P < 0.05) for the AbH and FHB thickness, and CSA reduction, and also the plantar fascia thickness increase in favor of the HV group. On the contrary, the FDB thickness and CSA did not show statistically significant differences (P ≥ 0.05). In conclusion, the CSA and thickness of the AbH and FHB intrinsic plantar muscles are reduced, whereas the thickness of the anterior, middle, and posterior PF portions are increased, in subjects with HV compared with those without HV.

  14. Leaf Trait-Environment Relationships in a Subtropical Broadleaved Forest in South-East China

    PubMed Central

    Kröber, Wenzel; Böhnke, Martin; Welk, Erik; Wirth, Christian; Bruelheide, Helge

    2012-01-01

    Although trait analyses have become more important in community ecology, trait-environment correlations have rarely been studied along successional gradients. We asked which environmental variables had the strongest impact on intraspecific and interspecific trait variation in the community and which traits were most responsive to the environment. We established a series of plots in a secondary forest in the Chinese subtropics, stratified by successional stages that were defined by the time elapsed since the last logging activities. On a total of 27 plots all woody plants were recorded and a set of individuals of every species was analysed for leaf traits, resulting in a trait matrix of 26 leaf traits for 122 species. A Fourth Corner Analysis revealed that the mean values of many leaf traits were tightly related to the successional gradient. Most shifts in traits followed the leaf economics spectrum with decreasing specific leaf area and leaf nutrient contents with successional time. Beside succession, few additional environmental variables resulted in significant trait relationships, such as soil moisture and soil C and N content as well as topographical variables. Not all traits were related to the leaf economics spectrum, and thus, to the successional gradient, such as stomata size and density. By comparing different permutation models in the Fourth Corner Analysis, we found that the trait-environment link was based more on the association of species with the environment than of the communities with species traits. The strong species-environment association was brought about by a clear gradient in species composition along the succession series, while communities were not well differentiated in mean trait composition. In contrast, intraspecific trait variation did not show close environmental relationships. The study confirmed the role of environmental trait filtering in subtropical forests, with traits associated with the leaf economics spectrum being the most

  15. Leaf trait-environment relationships in a subtropical broadleaved forest in South-East China.

    PubMed

    Kröber, Wenzel; Böhnke, Martin; Welk, Erik; Wirth, Christian; Bruelheide, Helge

    2012-01-01

    Although trait analyses have become more important in community ecology, trait-environment correlations have rarely been studied along successional gradients. We asked which environmental variables had the strongest impact on intraspecific and interspecific trait variation in the community and which traits were most responsive to the environment. We established a series of plots in a secondary forest in the Chinese subtropics, stratified by successional stages that were defined by the time elapsed since the last logging activities. On a total of 27 plots all woody plants were recorded and a set of individuals of every species was analysed for leaf traits, resulting in a trait matrix of 26 leaf traits for 122 species. A Fourth Corner Analysis revealed that the mean values of many leaf traits were tightly related to the successional gradient. Most shifts in traits followed the leaf economics spectrum with decreasing specific leaf area and leaf nutrient contents with successional time. Beside succession, few additional environmental variables resulted in significant trait relationships, such as soil moisture and soil C and N content as well as topographical variables. Not all traits were related to the leaf economics spectrum, and thus, to the successional gradient, such as stomata size and density. By comparing different permutation models in the Fourth Corner Analysis, we found that the trait-environment link was based more on the association of species with the environment than of the communities with species traits. The strong species-environment association was brought about by a clear gradient in species composition along the succession series, while communities were not well differentiated in mean trait composition. In contrast, intraspecific trait variation did not show close environmental relationships. The study confirmed the role of environmental trait filtering in subtropical forests, with traits associated with the leaf economics spectrum being the most

  16. Scaling up functional traits for ecosystem services with remote sensing: concepts and methods.

    PubMed

    Abelleira Martínez, Oscar J; Fremier, Alexander K; Günter, Sven; Ramos Bendaña, Zayra; Vierling, Lee; Galbraith, Sara M; Bosque-Pérez, Nilsa A; Ordoñez, Jenny C

    2016-07-01

    Ecosystem service-based management requires an accurate understanding of how human modification influences ecosystem processes and these relationships are most accurate when based on functional traits. Although trait variation is typically sampled at local scales, remote sensing methods can facilitate scaling up trait variation to regional scales needed for ecosystem service management. We review concepts and methods for scaling up plant and animal functional traits from local to regional spatial scales with the goal of assessing impacts of human modification on ecosystem processes and services. We focus our objectives on considerations and approaches for (1) conducting local plot-level sampling of trait variation and (2) scaling up trait variation to regional spatial scales using remotely sensed data. We show that sampling methods for scaling up traits need to account for the modification of trait variation due to land cover change and species introductions. Sampling intraspecific variation, stratification by land cover type or landscape context, or inference of traits from published sources may be necessary depending on the traits of interest. Passive and active remote sensing are useful for mapping plant phenological, chemical, and structural traits. Combining these methods can significantly improve their capacity for mapping plant trait variation. These methods can also be used to map landscape and vegetation structure in order to infer animal trait variation. Due to high context dependency, relationships between trait variation and remotely sensed data are not directly transferable across regions. We end our review with a brief synthesis of issues to consider and outlook for the development of these approaches. Research that relates typical functional trait metrics, such as the community-weighted mean, with remote sensing data and that relates variation in traits that cannot be remotely sensed to other proxies is needed. Our review narrows the gap between

  17. Traitement des séquelles de brûlures de la main dans les pays à ressources limitées ; notre expérience en république démocratique du Congo

    PubMed Central

    Kibadi, K.; Moutet, F.

    2015-01-01

    Summary Les séquelles de brûlures de la main sont encore fréquentes dans les pays à ressources limitées. Trente-deux patients, représentant 38 mains, ont été admis et traités, entre le 1er décembre 2010 et le 1er mai 2014 aux Cliniques Universitaires de Kinshasa en République Démocratique du Congo (RDC). nous avons observé 22 patients (69 %) dans le groupe de jeunes (patients âgés de moins de 18 ans), et 10 patients (31 %) chez les adultes (18 à 59 ans). Aucun patient dans le groupe de seniors (60 ans et plus) n’a été observé. Dans le groupe de jeunes, la tranche d’âge de 1 à 5 ans a été la plus atteinte avec 13 malades (40 %). l’accident à la maison était le plus fréquent (72 %). le mécanisme de la brûlure était le plus souvent thermique par flammes (51 %) ou par liquide chaud (34 %). les rétractions et brides sont les lésions le plus observées (84 %). la rétraction dorsale globale « main en griffe» est observée chez 40 % de patients traités, associée à des cicatrices hypertrophiques et chéloïdiennes dans 84 % de cas. Chez les 32 mains traitées chirurgicalement, des excision-greffes ont été réalisées dans 43,7 %, des lambeaux locaux dans 43,7 % et des lambeaux à distance dans 12,5 % de cas. A la sortie de l’hôpital, 84 % de « bons » résultats ont été observés. le suivi a été de 18 mois. le traitement des séquelles de brûlures de la main est possible dans ces pays, exemple de la rDC. Mais les défis à surmonter dans ces pays sont nombreux : la faible accessibilité aux techniques actuelles de la chirurgie plastique, la prise en charge initiale inadéquate des brûlures, la pauvreté. PMID:26668560

  18. Emotional Intelligence and Callous-Unemotional Traits in Incarcerated Adolescents

    PubMed Central

    Kahn, Rachel E.; Ermer, Elsa; Salovey, Peter; Kiehl, Kent A.

    2016-01-01

    Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to perceive, manage, and reason about emotions and to use this information to guide thinking and behavior adaptively. Youth with callous-unemotional (CU) traits demonstrate a variety of affective deficits, including impairment in recognition of emotion and reduced emotional responsiveness to distress or pain in others. We examined the association between ability EI and CU traits in a sample of incarcerated adolescents (n = 141) using an expert-rater device (Psychopathy Checklist Youth Version (PCL-YV; 1) and self-report assessments of CU traits. EI was assessed using the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test-Youth Version, Research Version (MSCEIT-YV-R; 2). Similar to findings in adult forensic populations, high levels of CU traits in high risk youth were associated with lower EI, particularly higher order EI skills. Identifying impairment on EI abilities may have important implications for emerging treatment and intervention developments for youth with high levels of CU traits. PMID:26779640

  19. Can soft biometric traits assist user recognition?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jain, Anil K.; Dass, Sarat C.; Nandakumar, Karthik

    2004-08-01

    Biometrics is rapidly gaining acceptance as the technology that can meet the ever increasing need for security in critical applications. Biometric systems automatically recognize individuals based on their physiological and behavioral characteristics. Hence, the fundamental requirement of any biometric recognition system is a human trait having several desirable properties like universality, distinctiveness, permanence, collectability, acceptability, and resistance to circumvention. However, a human characteristic that possesses all these properties has not yet been identified. As a result, none of the existing biometric systems provide perfect recognition and there is a scope for improving the performance of these systems. Although characteristics like gender, ethnicity, age, height, weight and eye color are not unique and reliable, they provide some information about the user. We refer to these characteristics as "soft" biometric traits and argue that these traits can complement the identity information provided by the primary biometric identifiers like fingerprint and face. This paper presents the motivation for utilizing soft biometric information and analyzes how the soft biometric traits can be automatically extracted and incorporated in the decision making process of the primary biometric system. Preliminary experiments were conducted on a fingerprint database of 160 users by synthetically generating soft biometric traits like gender, ethnicity, and height based on known statistics. The results show that the use of additional soft biometric user information significantly improves (approximately 6%) the recognition performance of the fingerprint biometric system.

  20. La plastie en rail dans le traitement des brides rétractiles du creux poplite

    PubMed Central

    Achbouk, A.; Khales, A.; Bourra, K.; Tourabi, K.; Ababou, K.; Ihrai, H.

    2011-01-01

    Summary Les Auteurs décrivent le cas d’un patient âgé de 45 ans atteint de brûlures thermiques par flammes suite à la déflagration d’une bonbonne de gaz. Les lésions initiales intéressaient les quatre membres (en particulier, le genou) et le tronc. La prise en charge initiale a consisté en une excision-greffe précoce des membres. L’évolution a été marquée par la survenue de cicatrices hypertrophiques au niveau des zones non greffées et à la bordure de la greffe ainsi que la survenue de brides rétractiles. Devant l’handicap fonctionnel engendré par la bride à cause de la limitation importante de l’extension, le patient a été admis pour cure chirurgicale. Grâce à la technique en rail décrite, le patient a pu récupérer une fonction normale du genou. Les suites ont été simples avec une durée d’hospitalisation d’un mois. Le résultat esthétique est relativement satisfaisant. La technique en rail est un moyen parmi l’arsenal thérapeutique qui permet de traiter la bride du creux poplité. Sa simplicité, sa facilité technique et son résultat satisfaisant ainsi que ses suites simples permettent de la rendre une technique très prisée dans le traitement de ce type de bride. PMID:21991240