Developing Collective Learning Extension for Rapidly Evolving Information System Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agarwal, Nitin; Ahmed, Faysal

2017-01-01

Due to rapidly evolving Information System (IS) technologies, instructors find themselves stuck in the constant game of catching up. On the same hand students find their skills obsolete almost as soon as they graduate. As part of IS curriculum and education, we need to emphasize more on teaching the students "how to learn" while keeping…

Earthquake Rate Models for Evolving Induced Seismicity Hazard in the Central and Eastern US

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Llenos, A. L.; Ellsworth, W. L.; Michael, A. J.

2015-12-01

Injection-induced earthquake rates can vary rapidly in space and time, which presents significant challenges to traditional probabilistic seismic hazard assessment methodologies that are based on a time-independent model of mainshock occurrence. To help society cope with rapidly evolving seismicity, the USGS is developing one-year hazard models for areas of induced seismicity in the central and eastern US to forecast the shaking due to all earthquakes, including aftershocks which are generally omitted from hazards assessments (Petersen et al., 2015). However, the spatial and temporal variability of the earthquake rates make them difficult to forecast even on time-scales as short as one year. An initial approach is to use the previous year's seismicity rate to forecast the next year's seismicity rate. However, in places such as northern Oklahoma the rates vary so rapidly over time that a simple linear extrapolation does not accurately forecast the future, even when the variability in the rates is modeled with simulations based on an Epidemic-Type Aftershock Sequence (ETAS) model (Ogata, JASA, 1988) to account for earthquake clustering. Instead of relying on a fixed time period for rate estimation, we explore another way to determine when the earthquake rate should be updated. This approach could also objectively identify new areas where the induced seismicity hazard model should be applied. We will estimate the background seismicity rate by optimizing a single set of ETAS aftershock triggering parameters across the most active induced seismicity zones -- Oklahoma, Guy-Greenbrier, the Raton Basin, and the Azle-Dallas-Fort Worth area -- with individual background rate parameters in each zone. The full seismicity rate, with uncertainties, can then be estimated using ETAS simulations and changes in rate can be detected by applying change point analysis in ETAS transformed time with methods already developed for Poisson processes.

Collateral damage: rapid exposure-induced evolution of pesticide resistance leads to increased susceptibility to parasites.

PubMed

Jansen, Mieke; Stoks, Robby; Coors, Anja; van Doorslaer, Wendy; de Meester, Luc

2011-09-01

Although natural populations may evolve resistance to anthropogenic stressors such as pollutants, this evolved resistance may carry costs. Using an experimental evolution approach, we exposed different Daphnia magna populations in outdoor containers to the carbamate pesticide carbaryl and control conditions, and assessed the resulting populations for both their resistance to carbaryl as well as their susceptibility to infection by the widespread bacterial microparasite Pasteuria ramosa. Our results show that carbaryl selection led to rapid evolution of carbaryl resistance with seemingly no cost when assessed in a benign environment. However, carbaryl-resistant populations were more susceptible to parasite infection than control populations. Exposure to both stressors reveals a synergistic effect on sterilization rate by P. ramosa, but this synergism did not evolve under pesticide selection. Assessing costs of rapid adaptive evolution to anthropogenic stress in a semi-natural context may be crucial to avoid too optimistic predictions for the fitness of the evolving populations. © 2011 The Author(s).

Development of a Model for the Representation of Nanotechnology-Specific Terminology

PubMed Central

Bailey, LeeAnn O.; Kennedy, Christopher H.; Fritts, Martin J.; Hartel, Francis W.

2006-01-01

Nanotechnology is an important, rapidly-evolving, multidisciplinary field [1]. The tremendous growth in this area necessitates the establishment of a common, open-source terminology to support the diverse biomedical applications of nanotechnology. Currently, the consensus process to define and categorize conceptual entities pertaining to nanotechnology is in a rudimentary stage. We have constructed a nanotechnology-specific conceptual hierarchy that can be utilized by end users to retrieve accurate, controlled terminology regarding emerging nanotechnology and corresponding clinical applications. PMID:17238469

Adaptation to fluctuations in temperature by nine species of bacteria.

PubMed

Saarinen, Kati; Laakso, Jouni; Lindström, Leena; Ketola, Tarmo

2018-03-01

Rapid environmental fluctuations are ubiquitous in the wild, yet majority of experimental studies mostly consider effects of slow fluctuations on organism. To test the evolutionary consequences of fast fluctuations, we conducted nine independent experimental evolution experiments with bacteria. Experimental conditions were same for all species, and we allowed them to evolve either in fluctuating temperature alternating rapidly between 20°C and 40°C or at constant 30°C temperature. After experimental evolution, we tested the performance of the clones in both rapid fluctuation and in constant environments (20°C, 30°C and 40°C). Results from experiments on these nine species were combined meta-analytically. We found that overall the clones evolved in the fluctuating environment had evolved better efficiency in tolerating fluctuations (i.e., they had higher yield in fluctuating conditions) than the clones evolved in the constant environment. However, we did not find any evidence that fluctuation-adapted clones would have evolved better tolerance to any measured constant environments (20°C, 30°C, and 40°C). Our results back up recent empirical findings reporting that it is hard to predict adaptations to fast fluctuations using tolerance curves.

A screen for immunity genes evolving under positive selection in Drosophila.

PubMed

Jiggins, F M; Kim, K W

2007-05-01

Genes involved in the immune system tend to have higher rates of adaptive evolution than other genes in the genome, probably because they are coevolving with pathogens. We have screened a sample of Drosophila genes to identify those evolving under positive selection. First, we identified rapidly evolving immunity genes by comparing 140 loci in Drosophila erecta and D. yakuba. Secondly, we resequenced 23 of the fastest evolving genes from the independent species pair D. melanogaster and D. simulans, and identified those under positive selection using a McDonald-Kreitman test. There was strong evidence of adaptive evolution in two serine proteases (persephone and spirit) and a homolog of the Anopheles serpin SRPN6, and weaker evidence in another serine protease and the death domain protein dFADD. These results add to mounting evidence that immune signalling pathway molecules often evolve rapidly, possibly because they are sites of host-parasite coevolution.

Why is it important to study malaria epidemiology in India?

PubMed

Singh, Vineeta; Mishra, Neelima; Awasthi, Gauri; Dash, Aditya P; Das, Aparup

2009-10-01

Malaria is a major vector-borne disease in India. Based on vast geographic areas with associated topographic and climatic diversity, the variable malaria epidemiology in India is associated with high parasite genetic diversity and rapidly evolving drug resistance, differential distribution of vector species and emerging insecticide resistance and underlying human genetic diversity and past evolutionary histories. Further, changing climatic patterns have possibly changed malaria epidemiology to a great extent. The outcome of these changes is an increased incidence of Plasmodium falciparum over the P. vivax malaria in recent years. Accordingly, the drug and insecticide application policy in India has changed too. The above facts and associated rapid shifting trend of malaria epidemiology makes India a hot-spot for malaria research.

Versatile de novo enzyme activity in capsid proteins from an engineered M13 bacteriophage library.

PubMed

Casey, John P; Barbero, Roberto J; Heldman, Nimrod; Belcher, Angela M

2014-11-26

Biocatalysis has grown rapidly in recent decades as a solution to the evolving demands of industrial chemical processes. Mounting environmental pressures and shifting supply chains underscore the need for novel chemical activities, while rapid biotechnological progress has greatly increased the utility of enzymatic methods. Enzymes, though capable of high catalytic efficiency and remarkable reaction selectivity, still suffer from relative instability, high costs of scaling, and functional inflexibility. Herein, we developed a biochemical platform for engineering de novo semisynthetic enzymes, functionally modular and widely stable, based on the M13 bacteriophage. The hydrolytic bacteriophage described in this paper catalyzes a range of carboxylic esters, is active from 25 to 80 °C, and demonstrates greater efficiency in DMSO than in water. The platform complements biocatalysts with characteristics of heterogeneous catalysis, yielding high-surface area, thermostable biochemical structures readily adaptable to reactions in myriad solvents. As the viral structure ensures semisynthetic enzymes remain linked to the genetic sequences responsible for catalysis, future work will tailor the biocatalysts to high-demand synthetic processes by evolving new activities, utilizing high-throughput screening technology and harnessing M13's multifunctionality.

The efficacy and safety of adjuvant interferon-alfa therapy in the evolving treatment landscape for resected high-risk melanoma.

PubMed

Trinh, Van Anh; Zobniw, Chrystia; Hwu, Wen-Jen

2017-08-01

Patients with resected stage II or III melanoma are at high risk of recurrence, with 5-year mortality rate of 40-60%. Adjuvant interferon-alfa has demonstrated a small RFS and OS benefit versus observation in this patient population. However, the adjuvant treatment landscape is evolving rapidly. Areas covered: This review aims to summarize the safety and efficacy profiles of adjuvant IFNα/PEG-IFNα, revisit the controversy surrounding its application, and reappraise its position in the rapidly changing treatment landscape of resected melanoma. A literature search using PubMed database was undertaken using search words melanoma, interferon-alfa, pegylated interferon-alfa, adjuvant therapy. Expert opinion: Currently, there is no international consensus regarding the optimal dosing schedule for adjuvant IFNα, but HD IFNα-2b remains the most widely used regimen. The AEs of HD IFNα-2b are substantial; however, toxicity management experience amassed over the past 2 decades has significantly improved safety. Many exciting studies are ongoing to examine the roles of immune checkpoint inhibitors and BRAF-targeted therapies in the adjuvant setting and will further delineate the role of adjuvant IFNα.

Rapid evolution meets invasive species control: The potential for pesticide resistance in sea lamprey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dunlop, Erin S.; McLaughlin, Robert L.; Adams, Jean V.; Jones, Michael L.; Birceanu, Oana; Christie, Mark R.; Criger, Lori A.; Hinderer, Julia L.M.; Hollingworth, Robert M.; Johnson, Nicholas; Lantz, Stephen R.; Li, Weiming; Miller, James R.; Morrison, Bruce J.; Mota-Sanchez, David; Muir, Andrew M.; Sepulveda, Maria S.; Steeves, Todd B.; Walter, Lisa; Westman, Erin; Wirgin, Isaac; Wilkie, Michael P.

2018-01-01

Rapid evolution of pest, pathogen and wildlife populations can have undesirable effects; for example, when insects evolve resistance to pesticides or fishes evolve smaller body size in response to harvest. A destructive invasive species in the Laurentian Great Lakes, the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) has been controlled with the pesticide 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) since the 1950s. We evaluated the likelihood of sea lamprey evolving resistance to TFM by (1) reviewing sea lamprey life history and control; (2) identifying physiological and behavioural resistance strategies; (3) estimating the strength of selection from TFM; (4) assessing the timeline for evolution; and (5) analyzing historical toxicity data for evidence of resistance. The number of sea lamprey generations exposed to TFM was within the range observed for fish populations where rapid evolution has occurred. Mortality from TFM was estimated as 82-90%, suggesting significant selective pressure. However, 57 years of toxicity data revealed no increase in lethal concentrations of TFM. Vigilance and the development of alternative controls are required to prevent this aquatic invasive species from evolving strategies to evade control.

Inheritance of evolved resistance to a novel herbicide (pyroxasulfone).

PubMed

Busi, Roberto; Gaines, Todd A; Vila-Aiub, Martin M; Powles, Stephen B

2014-03-01

Agricultural weeds have rapidly adapted to intensive herbicide selection and resistance to herbicides has evolved within ecological timescales. Yet, the genetic basis of broad-spectrum generalist herbicide resistance is largely unknown. This study aims to determine the genetic control of non-target-site herbicide resistance trait(s) that rapidly evolved under recurrent selection of the novel lipid biosynthesis inhibitor pyroxasulfone in Lolium rigidum. The phenotypic segregation of pyroxasulfone resistance in parental, F1 and back-cross (BC) families was assessed in plants exposed to a gradient of pyroxasulfone doses. The inheritance of resistance to chemically dissimilar herbicides (cross-resistance) was also evaluated. Evolved resistance to the novel selective agent (pyroxasulfone) is explained by Mendelian segregation of one semi-dominant allele incrementally herbicide-selected at higher frequency in the progeny. In BC families, cross-resistance is conferred by an incompletely dominant single major locus. This study confirms that herbicide resistance can rapidly evolve to any novel selective herbicide agents by continuous and repeated herbicide use. The results imply that the combination of herbicide options (rotation, mixtures or combinations) to exploit incomplete dominance can provide acceptable control of broad-spectrum generalist resistance-endowing monogenic traits. Herbicide diversity within a set of integrated management tactics can be one important component to reduce the herbicide selection intensity. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Morphological response of songbirds to 100 years of landscape change in North America.

PubMed

Desrochers, A

2010-06-01

Major landscape changes caused by humans may create strong selection pressures and induce rapid evolution in natural populations. In the last 100 years, eastern North America has experienced extensive clear-cutting in boreal areas, while afforestation has occurred in most temperate areas. Based on museum specimens, I show that wings of several boreal forest songbirds and temperate songbirds of non-forest habitats have become more pointed over the last 100 years. In contrast, wings of most temperate forest and early-successional boreal forests species have become less pointed over the same period. In contrast to wing shape, the bill length of most species did not change significantly through time. These results are consistent with the "habitat isolation hypothesis", i.e., songbirds evolved in response to recent changes in the amount of available habitat and associated implications for mobility. Rapid morphological evolution may mitigate, without necessarily preventing, negative consequences of habitat loss caused by humans through direct exploitation or climate change.

Evidence for a high mutation rate at rapidly evolving yeast centromeres.

PubMed

Bensasson, Douda

2011-07-18

Although their role in cell division is essential, centromeres evolve rapidly in animals, plants and yeasts. Unlike the complex centromeres of plants and aminals, the point centromeres of Saccharomcyes yeasts can be readily sequenced to distinguish amongst the possible explanations for fast centromere evolution. Using DNA sequences of all 16 centromeres from 34 strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and population genomic data from Saccharomyces paradoxus, I show that centromeres in both species evolve 3 times more rapidly even than selectively unconstrained DNA. Exceptionally high levels of polymorphism seen in multiple yeast populations suggest that rapid centromere evolution does not result from the repeated selective sweeps expected under meiotic drive. I further show that there is little evidence for crossing-over or gene conversion within centromeres, although there is clear evidence for recombination in their immediate vicinity. Finally I show that the mutation spectrum at centromeres is consistent with the pattern of spontaneous mutation elsewhere in the genome. These results indicate that rapid centromere evolution is a common phenomenon in yeast species. Furthermore, these results suggest that rapid centromere evolution does not result from the mutagenic effect of gene conversion, but from a generalised increase in the mutation rate, perhaps arising from the unusual chromatin structure at centromeres in yeast and other eukaryotes.

Evidence for a high mutation rate at rapidly evolving yeast centromeres

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Although their role in cell division is essential, centromeres evolve rapidly in animals, plants and yeasts. Unlike the complex centromeres of plants and aminals, the point centromeres of Saccharomcyes yeasts can be readily sequenced to distinguish amongst the possible explanations for fast centromere evolution. Results Using DNA sequences of all 16 centromeres from 34 strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and population genomic data from Saccharomyces paradoxus, I show that centromeres in both species evolve 3 times more rapidly even than selectively unconstrained DNA. Exceptionally high levels of polymorphism seen in multiple yeast populations suggest that rapid centromere evolution does not result from the repeated selective sweeps expected under meiotic drive. I further show that there is little evidence for crossing-over or gene conversion within centromeres, although there is clear evidence for recombination in their immediate vicinity. Finally I show that the mutation spectrum at centromeres is consistent with the pattern of spontaneous mutation elsewhere in the genome. Conclusions These results indicate that rapid centromere evolution is a common phenomenon in yeast species. Furthermore, these results suggest that rapid centromere evolution does not result from the mutagenic effect of gene conversion, but from a generalised increase in the mutation rate, perhaps arising from the unusual chromatin structure at centromeres in yeast and other eukaryotes. PMID:21767380

Constructing an Invasion Machine: The Rapid Evolution of a Dispersal-Enhancing Phenotype During the Cane Toad Invasion of Australia.

PubMed

Hudson, C M; McCurry, M R; Lundgren, P; McHenry, C R; Shine, R

Biological invasions can induce rapid evolutionary change. As cane toads (Rhinella marina) have spread across tropical Australia over an 80-year period, their rate of invasion has increased from around 15 to 60 km per annum. Toads at the invasion front disperse much faster and further than conspecifics from range-core areas, and their offspring inherit that rapid dispersal rate. We investigated morphological changes that have accompanied this dramatic acceleration, by conducting three-dimensional morphometric analyses of toads from both range-core and invasion-front populations. Morphology of heads, limbs, pectoral girdles and pelvic girdles differed significantly between toads from the two areas, ranging from 0.5% to 16.5% difference in mean bone dimensions between populations, with invasion-front toads exhibiting wider forelimbs, narrower hindlimbs and more compact skulls. Those changes plausibly reflect an increased reliance on bounding (multiple short hops in quick succession) rather than separate large leaps. Within an 80-year period, invasive cane toads have converted the basic anuran body plan - which evolved for occasional large leaps to evade predators - into a morphotype better-suited to sustained long-distance travel.

Adaptive evolution of centromere proteins in plants and animals.

PubMed

Talbert, Paul B; Bryson, Terri D; Henikoff, Steven

2004-01-01

Centromeres represent the last frontiers of plant and animal genomics. Although they perform a conserved function in chromosome segregation, centromeres are typically composed of repetitive satellite sequences that are rapidly evolving. The nucleosomes of centromeres are characterized by a special H3-like histone (CenH3), which evolves rapidly and adaptively in Drosophila and Arabidopsis. Most plant, animal and fungal centromeres also bind a large protein, centromere protein C (CENP-C), that is characterized by a single 24 amino-acid motif (CENPC motif). Whereas we find no evidence that mammalian CenH3 (CENP-A) has been evolving adaptively, mammalian CENP-C proteins contain adaptively evolving regions that overlap with regions of DNA-binding activity. In plants we find that CENP-C proteins have complex duplicated regions, with conserved amino and carboxyl termini that are dissimilar in sequence to their counterparts in animals and fungi. Comparisons of Cenpc genes from Arabidopsis species and from grasses revealed multiple regions that are under positive selection, including duplicated exons in some grasses. In contrast to plants and animals, yeast CENP-C (Mif2p) is under negative selection. CENP-Cs in all plant and animal lineages examined have regions that are rapidly and adaptively evolving. To explain these remarkable evolutionary features for a single-copy gene that is needed at every mitosis, we propose that CENP-Cs, like some CenH3s, suppress meiotic drive of centromeres during female meiosis. This process can account for the rapid evolution and the complexity of centromeric DNA in plants and animals as compared to fungi.

Adaptive evolution of centromere proteins in plants and animals

PubMed Central

Talbert, Paul B; Bryson, Terri D; Henikoff, Steven

2004-01-01

Background Centromeres represent the last frontiers of plant and animal genomics. Although they perform a conserved function in chromosome segregation, centromeres are typically composed of repetitive satellite sequences that are rapidly evolving. The nucleosomes of centromeres are characterized by a special H3-like histone (CenH3), which evolves rapidly and adaptively in Drosophila and Arabidopsis. Most plant, animal and fungal centromeres also bind a large protein, centromere protein C (CENP-C), that is characterized by a single 24 amino-acid motif (CENPC motif). Results Whereas we find no evidence that mammalian CenH3 (CENP-A) has been evolving adaptively, mammalian CENP-C proteins contain adaptively evolving regions that overlap with regions of DNA-binding activity. In plants we find that CENP-C proteins have complex duplicated regions, with conserved amino and carboxyl termini that are dissimilar in sequence to their counterparts in animals and fungi. Comparisons of Cenpc genes from Arabidopsis species and from grasses revealed multiple regions that are under positive selection, including duplicated exons in some grasses. In contrast to plants and animals, yeast CENP-C (Mif2p) is under negative selection. Conclusions CENP-Cs in all plant and animal lineages examined have regions that are rapidly and adaptively evolving. To explain these remarkable evolutionary features for a single-copy gene that is needed at every mitosis, we propose that CENP-Cs, like some CenH3s, suppress meiotic drive of centromeres during female meiosis. This process can account for the rapid evolution and the complexity of centromeric DNA in plants and animals as compared to fungi. PMID:15345035

Enabling Technologies for the Future of Chemical Synthesis.

PubMed

Fitzpatrick, Daniel E; Battilocchio, Claudio; Ley, Steven V

2016-03-23

Technology is evolving at breakneck pace, changing the way we communicate, travel, find out information, and live our lives. Yet chemistry as a science has been slower to adapt to this rapidly shifting world. In this Outlook we use highlights from recent literature reports to describe how progresses in enabling technologies are altering this trend, permitting chemists to incorporate new advances into their work at all levels of the chemistry development cycle. We discuss the benefits and challenges that have arisen, impacts on academic-industry relationships, and future trends in the area of chemical synthesis.

SLEEP AND CIRCADIAN RHYTHM DISORDERS IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE.

PubMed

Gros, Priti; Videnovic, Aleksandar

2017-09-01

Sleep disorders are among the most challenging non-motor features of Parkinson's disease (PD) and significantly affect quality of life. Research in this field has gained recent interest among clinicians and scientists and is rapidly evolving. This review is dedicated to sleep and circadian dysfunction associated with PD. Most primary sleep disorders may co-exist with PD; majority of these disorders have unique features when expressed in the PD population. We discuss the specific considerations related to the common sleep problems in Parkinson's disease including insomnia, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, restless legs syndrome, sleep disordered breathing, excessive daytime sleepiness and circadian rhythm disorders. Within each of these sleep disorders, we present updated definitions, epidemiology, etiology, diagnosis, clinical implications and management. Furthermore, areas of potential interest for further research are outlined.

Chemicapacitors as a versatile platform for miniature gas and vapor sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blue, Robert; Uttamchandani, Deepak

2017-02-01

Recent years have seen the rapid growth in the need for sensors throughout all areas of society including environmental sensing, health-care, public safety and manufacturing quality control. To meet this diverse need, sensors have to evolve from specialized and bespoke systems to miniaturized, low-power, low-cost (almost disposable) ubiquitous platforms. A technology that has been developed which gives a route to meet these challenges is the chemicapacitor sensor. To date the commercialization of these sensors has largely been restricted to humidity sensing, but in this review we examine the progress over recent years to expand this sensing technology to a wide range of gases and vapors. From sensors interrogated with laboratory instrumentation, chemicapacitor sensors have evolved into miniaturized units integrated with low power readout electronics that can selectively detect target molecules to ppm and sub-ppm levels within vapor mixtures.

Rapidly evolving R genes in diverse grass species confer resistance to rice blast disease

PubMed Central

Yang, Sihai; Li, Jing; Zhang, Xiaohui; Zhang, Qijun; Huang, Ju; Chen, Jian-Qun; Hartl, Daniel L.; Tian, Dacheng

2013-01-01

We show that the genomes of maize, sorghum, and brachypodium contain genes that, when transformed into rice, confer resistance to rice blast disease. The genes are resistance genes (R genes) that encode proteins with nucleotide-binding site (NBS) and leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domains (NBS–LRR proteins). By using criteria associated with rapid molecular evolution, we identified three rapidly evolving R-gene families in these species as well as in rice, and transformed a randomly chosen subset of these genes into rice strains known to be sensitive to rice blast disease caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. The transformed strains were then tested for sensitivity or resistance to 12 diverse strains of M. oryzae. A total of 15 functional blast R genes were identified among 60 NBS–LRR genes cloned from maize, sorghum, and brachypodium; and 13 blast R genes were obtained from 20 NBS–LRR paralogs in rice. These results show that abundant blast R genes occur not only within species but also among species, and that the R genes in the same rapidly evolving gene family can exhibit an effector response that confers resistance to rapidly evolving fungal pathogens. Neither conventional evolutionary conservation nor conventional evolutionary convergence supplies a satisfactory explanation of our findings. We suggest a unique mechanism termed “constrained divergence,” in which R genes and pathogen effectors can follow only limited evolutionary pathways to increase fitness. Our results open avenues for R-gene identification that will help to elucidate R-gene vs. effector mechanisms and may yield new sources of durable pathogen resistance. PMID:24145399

Genome-Wide Analysis in Three Fusarium Pathogens Identifies Rapidly Evolving Chromosomes and Genes Associated with Pathogenicity

PubMed Central

Sperschneider, Jana; Gardiner, Donald M.; Thatcher, Louise F.; Lyons, Rebecca; Singh, Karam B.; Manners, John M.; Taylor, Jennifer M.

2015-01-01

Pathogens and hosts are in an ongoing arms race and genes involved in host–pathogen interactions are likely to undergo diversifying selection. Fusarium plant pathogens have evolved diverse infection strategies, but how they interact with their hosts in the biotrophic infection stage remains puzzling. To address this, we analyzed the genomes of three Fusarium plant pathogens for genes that are under diversifying selection. We found a two-speed genome structure both on the chromosome and gene group level. Diversifying selection acts strongly on the dispensable chromosomes in Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici and on distinct core chromosome regions in Fusarium graminearum, all of which have associations with virulence. Members of two gene groups evolve rapidly, namely those that encode proteins with an N-terminal [SG]-P-C-[KR]-P sequence motif and proteins that are conserved predominantly in pathogens. Specifically, 29 F. graminearum genes are rapidly evolving, in planta induced and encode secreted proteins, strongly pointing toward effector function. In summary, diversifying selection in Fusarium is strongly reflected as genomic footprints and can be used to predict a small gene set likely to be involved in host–pathogen interactions for experimental verification. PMID:25994930

Rapidly Evolving Toll-3/4 Genes Encode Male-Specific Toll-Like Receptors in Drosophila.

PubMed

Levin, Tera C; Malik, Harmit S

2017-09-01

Animal Toll-like receptors (TLRs) have evolved through a pattern of duplication and divergence. Whereas mammalian TLRs directly recognize microbial ligands, Drosophila Tolls bind endogenous ligands downstream of both developmental and immune signaling cascades. Here, we find that most Toll genes in Drosophila evolve slowly with little gene turnover (gains/losses), consistent with their important roles in development and indirect roles in microbial recognition. In contrast, we find that the Toll-3/4 genes have experienced an unusually rapid rate of gene gains and losses, resulting in lineage-specific Toll-3/4s and vastly different gene repertoires among Drosophila species, from zero copies (e.g., D. mojavensis) to nineteen copies (e.g., D. willistoni). In D. willistoni, we find strong evidence for positive selection in Toll-3/4 genes, localized specifically to an extracellular region predicted to overlap with the binding site of Spätzle, the only known ligand of insect Tolls. However, because Spätzle genes are not experiencing similar selective pressures, we hypothesize that Toll-3/4s may be rapidly evolving because they bind to a different ligand, akin to TLRs outside of insects. We further find that most Drosophila Toll-3/4 genes are either weakly expressed or expressed exclusively in males, specifically in the germline. Unlike other Toll genes in D. melanogaster, Toll-3, and Toll-4 have apparently escaped from essential developmental roles, as knockdowns have no substantial effects on viability or male fertility. Based on these findings, we propose that the Toll-3/4 genes represent an exceptionally rapidly evolving lineage of Drosophila Toll genes, which play an unusual, as-yet-undiscovered role in the male germline. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Rapidly Evolving Toll-3/4 Genes Encode Male-Specific Toll-Like Receptors in Drosophila

PubMed Central

Levin, Tera C.; Malik, Harmit S.

2017-01-01

Abstract Animal Toll-like receptors (TLRs) have evolved through a pattern of duplication and divergence. Whereas mammalian TLRs directly recognize microbial ligands, Drosophila Tolls bind endogenous ligands downstream of both developmental and immune signaling cascades. Here, we find that most Toll genes in Drosophila evolve slowly with little gene turnover (gains/losses), consistent with their important roles in development and indirect roles in microbial recognition. In contrast, we find that the Toll-3/4 genes have experienced an unusually rapid rate of gene gains and losses, resulting in lineage-specific Toll-3/4s and vastly different gene repertoires among Drosophila species, from zero copies (e.g., D. mojavensis) to nineteen copies (e.g., D. willistoni). In D. willistoni, we find strong evidence for positive selection in Toll-3/4 genes, localized specifically to an extracellular region predicted to overlap with the binding site of Spätzle, the only known ligand of insect Tolls. However, because Spätzle genes are not experiencing similar selective pressures, we hypothesize that Toll-3/4s may be rapidly evolving because they bind to a different ligand, akin to TLRs outside of insects. We further find that most Drosophila Toll-3/4 genes are either weakly expressed or expressed exclusively in males, specifically in the germline. Unlike other Toll genes in D. melanogaster, Toll-3, and Toll-4 have apparently escaped from essential developmental roles, as knockdowns have no substantial effects on viability or male fertility. Based on these findings, we propose that the Toll-3/4 genes represent an exceptionally rapidly evolving lineage of Drosophila Toll genes, which play an unusual, as-yet-undiscovered role in the male germline. PMID:28541576

Monolayer graphene-insulator-semiconductor emitter for large-area electron lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirley, Matthew P.; Aloui, Tanouir; Glass, Jeffrey T.

2017-06-01

The rapid adoption of nanotechnology in fields as varied as semiconductors, energy, and medicine requires the continual improvement of nanopatterning tools. Lithography is central to this evolving nanotechnology landscape, but current production systems are subject to high costs, low throughput, or low resolution. Herein, we present a solution to these problems with the use of monolayer graphene in a graphene-insulator-semiconductor (GIS) electron emitter device for large-area electron lithography. Our GIS device displayed high emission efficiency (up to 13%) and transferred large patterns (500 × 500 μm) with high fidelity (<50% spread). The performance of our device demonstrates a feasible path to dramatic improvements in lithographic patterning systems, enabling continued progress in existing industries and opening opportunities in nanomanufacturing.

Human-Robot Interaction: Status and Challenges.

PubMed

Sheridan, Thomas B

2016-06-01

The current status of human-robot interaction (HRI) is reviewed, and key current research challenges for the human factors community are described. Robots have evolved from continuous human-controlled master-slave servomechanisms for handling nuclear waste to a broad range of robots incorporating artificial intelligence for many applications and under human supervisory control. This mini-review describes HRI developments in four application areas and what are the challenges for human factors research. In addition to a plethora of research papers, evidence of success is manifest in live demonstrations of robot capability under various forms of human control. HRI is a rapidly evolving field. Specialized robots under human teleoperation have proven successful in hazardous environments and medical application, as have specialized telerobots under human supervisory control for space and repetitive industrial tasks. Research in areas of self-driving cars, intimate collaboration with humans in manipulation tasks, human control of humanoid robots for hazardous environments, and social interaction with robots is at initial stages. The efficacy of humanoid general-purpose robots has yet to be proven. HRI is now applied in almost all robot tasks, including manufacturing, space, aviation, undersea, surgery, rehabilitation, agriculture, education, package fetch and delivery, policing, and military operations. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

RAPIDLY EVOLVING AND LUMINOUS TRANSIENTS DRIVEN BY NEWLY BORN NEUTRON STARS

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

Yu, Yun-Wei; Li, Shao-Ze; Dai, Zi-Gao, E-mail: yuyw@mail.ccnu.edu.cn

2015-06-10

We provide a general analysis on the properties of the emitting material of some rapidly evolving and luminous transients discovered recently with the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey. It was found that these transients are probably produced by a low-mass non-relativistic outflow that is continuously powered by a newly born, rapidly spinning, and highly magnetized neutron star (NS). Such a system could originate from an accretion-induced collapse of a white dwarf or a merger of an NS–NS binary. Therefore, observations of these transients would be helpful for constraining white dwarf and NS physics and/or for searching and identifying gravitational wave signals frommore » the mergers.« less

Parallel trait adaptation across opposing thermal environments in experimental Drosophila melanogaster populations

PubMed Central

Tobler, Ray; Hermisson, Joachim; Schlötterer, Christian

2015-01-01

Thermal stress is a pervasive selective agent in natural populations that impacts organismal growth, survival, and reproduction. Drosophila melanogaster exhibits a variety of putatively adaptive phenotypic responses to thermal stress in natural and experimental settings; however, accompanying assessments of fitness are typically lacking. Here, we quantify changes in fitness and known thermal tolerance traits in replicated experimental D. melanogaster populations following more than 40 generations of evolution to either cyclic cold or hot temperatures. By evaluating fitness for both evolved populations alongside a reconstituted starting population, we show that the evolved populations were the best adapted within their respective thermal environments. More strikingly, the evolved populations exhibited increased fitness in both environments and improved resistance to both acute heat and cold stress. This unexpected parallel response appeared to be an adaptation to the rapid temperature changes that drove the cycling thermal regimes, as parallel fitness changes were not observed when tested in a constant thermal environment. Our results add to a small, but growing group of studies that demonstrate the importance of fluctuating temperature changes for thermal adaptation and highlight the need for additional work in this area. PMID:26080903

Lung Cancer in a Rural Area of China: Rapid Rise in Incidence and Poor Improvement in Survival.

PubMed

Yang, Juan; Zhu, Jian; Zhang, Yong-Hui; Chen, Yong-Sheng; Ding, Lu-Lu; Kensler, Thomas W; Chen, Jian-Guo

2015-01-01

Lung cancer has been a major health problem in developed countries for several decades, and has emerged recently as the leading cause of cancer death in many developing countries. The incidence of lung cancer appears to be increasing more rapidly in rural than in urban areas of China. This paper presents the trends of lung cancer incidence and survival derived from a 40-year population-based cancer monitoring program in a rural area, Qidong, China. The Qidong cancer registration data of 1972- 2011 were used to calculate the crude rate, age-standardized rate by Chinese population (CASR) and by world population (WASR), birth cohort rates, and other descriptive features. Active and passive methods were used to construct the data set, with a deadline of the latest follow-up of April 30, 2012. The total number of lung cancer cases was 15,340, accounting for 16.5% of all sites combined. The crude incidence rate, CASR and WASR of this cancer were 34.1, 15.7 and 25.4 per 100,000, respectively. Males had higher crude rates than females (49.7 vs 19.0). Rapidly increasing trends were found in annual percent change resulting in lung cancer being a number one cancer site after year 2010 in Qidong. Birth cohort analysis showed incidence rates have increased for all age groups over 24 years old. The 5 year observed survival rates were 3.55% in 1973-1977, 3.92 in 1983-1987, 3.69% in 1993-1997, and 6.32% in 2003-2007. Males experienced poorer survival than did females. Lung cancer has become a major cancer-related health problem in this rural area. The rapid increases in incidence likely result from an increased cigarette smoking rate and evolving environmental risk factors. Lung cancer survival, while showing some improvement in prognosis, still remains well below that observed in the developed areas of the world.

Enabling Technologies for the Future of Chemical Synthesis

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Technology is evolving at breakneck pace, changing the way we communicate, travel, find out information, and live our lives. Yet chemistry as a science has been slower to adapt to this rapidly shifting world. In this Outlook we use highlights from recent literature reports to describe how progresses in enabling technologies are altering this trend, permitting chemists to incorporate new advances into their work at all levels of the chemistry development cycle. We discuss the benefits and challenges that have arisen, impacts on academic–industry relationships, and future trends in the area of chemical synthesis. PMID:27163040

Gendered production and consumption in rural Africa

PubMed Central

Kevane, Michael

2012-01-01

Recent research underscores the continued importance of gender in rural Africa. Analysis of interactions within households is becoming more sophisticated and continues to reject the unitary model. There is some evidence of discriminatory treatment of girls relative to boys, although the magnitudes of differential investments in health and schooling are not large and choices seem quite responsive to changes in opportunity costs. Social norms proscribing and prescribing male and female economic behavior remain substantial, extending into many domains, especially land tenure. Gender constructions are constantly evolving, although there is little evidence of rapid, transformative change in rural areas.

A systematic methodology for selecting decontamination strategies following a biocontamination event.

PubMed

Krauter, Paula; Edwards, Donna; Yang, Lynn; Tucker, Mark

2011-09-01

Decontamination and recovery of a facility or outdoor area after a wide-area biological incident involving a highly persistent agent (eg, Bacillus anthracis spores) is a complex process that requires extensive information and significant resources, which are likely to be limited, particularly if multiple facilities or areas are affected. This article proposes a systematic methodology for evaluating information to select the decontamination or alternative treatments that optimize use of resources if decontamination is required for the facility or area. The methodology covers a wide range of approaches, including volumetric and surface decontamination, monitored natural attenuation, and seal and abandon strategies. A proposed trade-off analysis can help decision makers understand the relative appropriateness, efficacy, and labor, skill, and cost requirements of the various decontamination methods for the particular facility or area needing treatment--whether alone or as part of a larger decontamination effort. Because the state of decontamination knowledge and technology continues to evolve rapidly, the methodology presented here is designed to accommodate new strategies and materials and changing information.

Assessing surface albedo change and its induced radiation budget under rapid urbanization with Landsat and GLASS data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Yonghong; Jia, Gensuo; Pohl, Christine; Zhang, Xiaoxuan; van Genderen, John

2016-02-01

Radiative forcing (RF) induced by land use (mainly surface albedo) change is still not well understood in climate change science, especially the effects of changes in urban albedo due to rapid urbanization on the urban radiation budget. In this study, a modified RF derivation approach based on Landsat images was used to quantify changes in the solar radiation budget induced by variations in surface albedo in Beijing from 2001 to 2009. Field radiation records from a Beijing meteorological station were used to identify changes in RF at the local level. There has been rapid urban expansion over the last decade, with the urban land area increasing at about 3.3 % annually from 2001 to 2009. This has modified three-dimensional urban surface properties, resulting in lower albedo due to complex building configurations of urban centers and higher albedo on flat surfaces of suburban areas and cropland. There was greater solar radiation (6.93 × 108 W) in the urban center in 2009 than in 2001. However, large cropland and urban fringe areas caused less solar radiation absorption. RF increased with distance from the urban center (less than 14 km) and with greater urbanization, with the greatest value being 0.41 W/m2. The solar radiation budget in urban areas was believed to be mainly influenced by urban structural changes in the horizontal and vertical directions. Overall, the results presented herein indicate that cumulative urbanization impacts on the natural radiation budget could evolve into an important driver of local climate change.

Environmental Noise, Genetic Diversity and the Evolution of Evolvability and Robustness in Model Gene Networks

PubMed Central

Steiner, Christopher F.

2012-01-01

The ability of organisms to adapt and persist in the face of environmental change is accepted as a fundamental feature of natural systems. More contentious is whether the capacity of organisms to adapt (or “evolvability”) can itself evolve and the mechanisms underlying such responses. Using model gene networks, I provide evidence that evolvability emerges more readily when populations experience positively autocorrelated environmental noise (red noise) compared to populations in stable or randomly varying (white noise) environments. Evolvability was correlated with increasing genetic robustness to effects on network viability and decreasing robustness to effects on phenotypic expression; populations whose networks displayed greater viability robustness and lower phenotypic robustness produced more additive genetic variation and adapted more rapidly in novel environments. Patterns of selection for robustness varied antagonistically with epistatic effects of mutations on viability and phenotypic expression, suggesting that trade-offs between these properties may constrain their evolutionary responses. Evolution of evolvability and robustness was stronger in sexual populations compared to asexual populations indicating that enhanced genetic variation under fluctuating selection combined with recombination load is a primary driver of the emergence of evolvability. These results provide insight into the mechanisms potentially underlying rapid adaptation as well as the environmental conditions that drive the evolution of genetic interactions. PMID:23284934

Rapidly rotating single late-type giants: New FK Comae stars?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fekel, Francis C.

1986-01-01

A group of rapidly rotating single late-type giants was found from surveys of chromospherically active stars. These stars have V sin I's ranging from 6 to 46 km/sec, modest ultraviolet emission line fluxes, and strong H alpha absorption lines. Although certainly chromospherically active, their characteristics are much less extreme than those of FK Com and one or two other similar systems. One possible explanation for the newly identified systems is that they have evolved from stars similar to FK Com. The chromospheric activity and rotation of single giant stars like FK Com would be expected to decrease with time as they do in single dwarfs. Alternatively, this newly identified group may have evolved from single rapidly rotating A, or early F stars.

Plates and Mantle Convection: A Far-From Equilibrium Self-Organized System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, S. D.; Lowman, J. P.; Gable, C. W.

2001-12-01

A common observation of plate tectonics is that plate velocities change over short time scales. Some have speculated that these reorganization events are triggered by evolving plate boundaries. This work presents an alternative mechanism, due to the interaction of mobil plates and internally heated convection. We present numerical models of 3D Cartesian convection in an internally-heated fluid with mobile plates that exhibit rapid changes in plate motion. A persistent feature of these calculations is that plate motion is relatively uniform punctuated by rapid reorganization events where plate speed and direction change over a short time period. The rapid changes in plate motion result solely from the interaction of internally-heated convection and the mobile plates. Without plates, the convective planform of an internally-heated fluid evolves into a pattern with a larger number of small cells. When plates are included, the fluid is dominated by plate-scale structures; however, isolated regions develop where heat builds up. These isolated regions are near the location of mature slabs where the plates are older and thicker. As the system evolves, the temperature (and buoyancy) in these isolated regions increases, they become unstable and, as they rise, the net force on the plate is no longer dominated by `slab pull' from the mature slab. The plate reorganization allows the system to transfer heat from the short-wavelength, internal-heating scale, to the longer-wavelength, plate-cooling scale. As we will demonstrate, the interaction between plate motions and the mantle is sufficiently dynamic that evolving plate boundaries are not necessary to achieve rapid changes in plate motion.

Osmoregulatory physiology and rapid evolution of salinity tolerance in threespine stickleback recently introduced to fresh water

USGS Publications Warehouse

Divino, Jeffrey N; Monette, Michelle Y.; McCormick, Stephen; Yancey, Paul H.; Flannery, Kyle G.; Bell, Michael A.; Rollins, Jennifer L.; von Hippel, Frank A.; Schultz, Eric T.

2016-01-01

Conclusion: Enhanced freshwater tolerance has evolved rapidly in recently landlocked stickleback compared with their anadromous ancestors (0.569 haldanes), but the former have retained ancestral seawater-osmoregulatory function.

RAPIDLY ROTATING, X-RAY BRIGHT STARS IN THE KEPLER FIELD

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

Howell, Steve B.; Mason, Elena; Boyd, Patricia

We present Kepler light curves and optical spectroscopy of twenty X-ray bright stars located in the Kepler field of view. The stars, spectral type F-K, show evidence for rapid rotation including chromospheric activity 100 times or more above the Sun at maximum and flaring behavior in their light curves. Eighteen of our objects appear to be (sub)giants and may belong to the class of FK Com variables, which are evolved rapidly spinning single stars with no excretion disk and high levels of chromospheric activity. Such stars are rare and are likely the result of W UMa binary mergers, a processmore » believed to produce the FK Com class of variable and their descendants. The FK Com stage, including the presence of an excretion disk, is short lived but leads to longer-lived stages consisting of single, rapidly rotating evolved (sub)giants with high levels of stellar activity.« less

Rapidly Rotating, X-Ray Bright Stars in the Kepler Field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howell, Steve B.; Mason, Elena; Boyd, Patricia; Smith, Krista Lynne; Gelino, Dawn M.

2016-01-01

We present Kepler light curves and optical spectroscopy of twenty X-ray bright stars located in the Kepler field of view. The stars, spectral type F-K, show evidence for rapid rotation including chromospheric activity 100 times or more above the Sun at maximum and flaring behavior in their light curves. Eighteen of our objects appear to be (sub)giants and may belong to the class of FK Com variables, which are evolved rapidly spinning single stars with no excretion disk and high levels of chromospheric activity. Such stars are rare and are likely the result of W UMa binary mergers, a process believed to produce the FK Com class of variable and their descendants. The FK Com stage, including the presence of an excretion disk, is short lived but leads to longer-lived stages consisting of single, rapidly rotating evolved (sub)giants with high levels of stellar activity.

Computational fluid dynamics tools can be used to predict the progression of coronary artery disease

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coşkun, A. Ümit; Chen, Caixia; Stone, Peter H.; Feldman, Charles L.

2006-03-01

Atherosclerosis is focal and individual plaques evolve in an independent manner. The endothelium regulates arterial behavior by responding to its local shear stress. In vitro studies indicate that low endothelial shear stress (ESS) upregulates the genetic and molecular responses leading to the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis and promotes inflammation and formation of other features characteristic of vulnerable plaque. Physiologic ESS is vasculoprotective and fosters quiescence of the endothelium and vascular wall. High ESS promotes platelet aggregation. ESS and vascular wall morphology along the course of human coronary arteries can now be characterized in vivo, and may predict the focal areas in which atherosclerosis progression occurs. Rapidly evolving methodologies are able to characterize the arterial wall and the local hemodynamic factors likely responsible for progression of coronary disease in man. These new diagnostic modalities allow for identification of plaque progression. Accurate identification of arterial segments at high-risk for progression may permit pre-emptive intervention strategies to avoid adverse coronary events.

Current Developments in Machine Learning Techniques in Biological Data Mining.

PubMed

Dumancas, Gerard G; Adrianto, Indra; Bello, Ghalib; Dozmorov, Mikhail

2017-01-01

This supplement is intended to focus on the use of machine learning techniques to generate meaningful information on biological data. This supplement under Bioinformatics and Biology Insights aims to provide scientists and researchers working in this rapid and evolving field with online, open-access articles authored by leading international experts in this field. Advances in the field of biology have generated massive opportunities to allow the implementation of modern computational and statistical techniques. Machine learning methods in particular, a subfield of computer science, have evolved as an indispensable tool applied to a wide spectrum of bioinformatics applications. Thus, it is broadly used to investigate the underlying mechanisms leading to a specific disease, as well as the biomarker discovery process. With a growth in this specific area of science comes the need to access up-to-date, high-quality scholarly articles that will leverage the knowledge of scientists and researchers in the various applications of machine learning techniques in mining biological data.

Genetic basis for rapidly evolved tolerance in the wild: adaptation to toxic pollutants by an estuarine fish species

EPA Science Inventory

Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) residing in some urban and industrialized estuaries of the US eastern seaboard demonstrate recently evolved and extreme tolerance to toxic aryl hydrocarbon pollutants, characterized as dioxin-like compounds (DLCs). Here we provide an unu...

Evolutionary history of human disease genes reveals phenotypic connections and comorbidity among genetic diseases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Solip; Yang, Jae-Seong; Kim, Jinho; Shin, Young-Eun; Hwang, Jihye; Park, Juyong; Jang, Sung Key; Kim, Sanguk

2012-10-01

The extent to which evolutionary changes have impacted the phenotypic relationships among human diseases remains unclear. In this work, we report that phenotypically similar diseases are connected by the evolutionary constraints on human disease genes. Human disease groups can be classified into slowly or rapidly evolving classes, where the diseases in the slowly evolving class are enriched with morphological phenotypes and those in the rapidly evolving class are enriched with physiological phenotypes. Our findings establish a clear evolutionary connection between disease classes and disease phenotypes for the first time. Furthermore, the high comorbidity found between diseases connected by similar evolutionary constraints enables us to improve the predictability of the relative risk of human diseases. We find the evolutionary constraints on disease genes are a new layer of molecular connection in the network-based exploration of human diseases.

Evolutionary history of human disease genes reveals phenotypic connections and comorbidity among genetic diseases.

PubMed

Park, Solip; Yang, Jae-Seong; Kim, Jinho; Shin, Young-Eun; Hwang, Jihye; Park, Juyong; Jang, Sung Key; Kim, Sanguk

2012-01-01

The extent to which evolutionary changes have impacted the phenotypic relationships among human diseases remains unclear. In this work, we report that phenotypically similar diseases are connected by the evolutionary constraints on human disease genes. Human disease groups can be classified into slowly or rapidly evolving classes, where the diseases in the slowly evolving class are enriched with morphological phenotypes and those in the rapidly evolving class are enriched with physiological phenotypes. Our findings establish a clear evolutionary connection between disease classes and disease phenotypes for the first time. Furthermore, the high comorbidity found between diseases connected by similar evolutionary constraints enables us to improve the predictability of the relative risk of human diseases. We find the evolutionary constraints on disease genes are a new layer of molecular connection in the network-based exploration of human diseases.

Rapid Review Summit: an overview and initiation of a research agenda.

PubMed

Polisena, Julie; Garritty, Chantelle; Umscheid, Craig A; Kamel, Chris; Samra, Kevin; Smith, Jeannette; Vosilla, Ann

2015-09-26

The demand for accelerated forms of evidence synthesis is on the rise, largely in response to requests by health care decision makers for expeditious assessment and up-to-date information about health care technologies and health services and programs. As a field, rapid review evidence synthesis is marked by a tension between the strategic priority to inform health care decision-making and the scientific imperative to produce robust, high-quality research that soundly supports health policy and practice. In early 2015, the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health convened a forum in partnership with the British Columbia Ministry of Health, the British Columbia Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and the University of Pennsylvania. More than 150 evidence synthesis producers and end users attended the Rapid Review Summit: Then, Now and in the Future. The Summit program focused on the evolving role and practices of rapid reviews to support informed health care policy and clinical decision-making, including the uptake and use of health technology assessment. Our discussion paper highlights the important discussions that occurred during the Rapid Review Summit. It focuses on the initial development of a research agenda that resulted from the Summit presentations and discussions. The research topics centered on three key areas of interest: (1) how to conduct a rapid review; (2) investigating the validity and utility of rapid reviews; and (3) how to improve access to rapid reviews.

Time scales of pattern evolution from cross-spectrum analysis of advanced very high resolution radiometer and coastal zone color scanner imagery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Denman, Kenneth L.; Abbott, Mark R.

1994-01-01

We have selected square subareas (110 km on a side) from coastal zone color scanner (CZCS) and advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) images for 1981 in the California Current region off northern California for which we could identify sequences of cloud-free data over periods of days to weeks. We applied a two-dimensional fast Fourier transformation to images after median filtering, (x, y) plane removal, and cosine tapering. We formed autospectra and coherence spectra as functions of a scalar wavenumber. Coherence estimates between pairs of images were plotted against time separation between images for several wide wavenumber bands to provide a temporal lagged coherence function. The temporal rate of loss of correlation (decorrelation time scale) in surface patterns provides a measure of the rate of pattern change or evolution as a function of spatial dimension. We found that patterns evolved (or lost correlation) approximately twice as rapidly in upwelling jets as in the 'quieter' regions between jets. The rapid evolution of pigment patterns (lifetime of about 1 week or less for scales of 50-100 km) ought to hinder biomass transfer to zooplankton predators compared with phytoplankton patches that persist for longer times. We found no significant differences between the statistics of CZCS and AVHRR images (spectral shape or rate of decorrelation). In addition, in two of the three areas studied, the peak correlation between AVHRR and CZCS images from the same area occurred at zero lag, indicating that the patterns evolved simutaneously. In the third area, maximum coherence between thermal and pigment patterns occurred when pigment images lagged thermal images by 1-2 days, mirroring the expected lag of high pigment behind low temperatures (and high nutrients) in recently upwelled water. We conclude that in dynamic areas such as coastal upwelling systems, the phytoplankton cells (identified by pigment color patterns) behave largely as passive scalars at the mesoscale and that growth, death, and sinking of phytoplankton collectively play at most a mariginal role in determining the spectral statistics of the pigment patterns.

Integrative assessment of climate change for fast-growing urban areas: Measurement and recommendations for future research

PubMed Central

Haase, Dagmar; Volk, Martin

2017-01-01

Over the 20th century, urbanization has substantially shaped the surface of Earth. With population rapidly shifting from rural locations towards the cities, urban areas have dramatically expanded on a global scale and represent crystallization points of social, cultural and economic assets and activities. This trend is estimated to persist for the next decades, and particularly the developing countries are expected to face rapid urban growth. The management of this growth will require good governance strategies and planning. By threatening the livelihoods, assets and health as foundations of human activities, another major global change contributor, climate change, became an equally important concern of stakeholders. Based on the climate trends observed over the 20th century, and a spatially explicit model of urbanization, this paper investigates the impacts of climate change in relation to different stages of development of urban areas, thus evolving a more integrated perspective on both processes. As a result, an integrative measure of climate change trends and impacts is proposed and estimated for urban areas worldwide. We show that those areas facing major urban growth are to a large extent also hotspots of climate change. Since most of these hotspots are located in the Global South, we emphasize the need for stakeholders to co-manage both drivers of global change. The presented integrative perspective is seen as a starting point to foster such co-management, and furthermore as a means to facilitate communication and knowledge exchange on climate change impacts. PMID:29232695

Integrative assessment of climate change for fast-growing urban areas: Measurement and recommendations for future research.

PubMed

Scheuer, Sebastian; Haase, Dagmar; Volk, Martin

2017-01-01

Over the 20th century, urbanization has substantially shaped the surface of Earth. With population rapidly shifting from rural locations towards the cities, urban areas have dramatically expanded on a global scale and represent crystallization points of social, cultural and economic assets and activities. This trend is estimated to persist for the next decades, and particularly the developing countries are expected to face rapid urban growth. The management of this growth will require good governance strategies and planning. By threatening the livelihoods, assets and health as foundations of human activities, another major global change contributor, climate change, became an equally important concern of stakeholders. Based on the climate trends observed over the 20th century, and a spatially explicit model of urbanization, this paper investigates the impacts of climate change in relation to different stages of development of urban areas, thus evolving a more integrated perspective on both processes. As a result, an integrative measure of climate change trends and impacts is proposed and estimated for urban areas worldwide. We show that those areas facing major urban growth are to a large extent also hotspots of climate change. Since most of these hotspots are located in the Global South, we emphasize the need for stakeholders to co-manage both drivers of global change. The presented integrative perspective is seen as a starting point to foster such co-management, and furthermore as a means to facilitate communication and knowledge exchange on climate change impacts.

ShakeMap manual: technical manual, user's guide, and software guide

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wald, David J.; Worden, Bruce C.; Quitoriano, Vincent; Pankow, Kris L.

2005-01-01

ShakeMap (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/shakemap) --rapidly, automatically generated shaking and intensity maps--combines instrumental measurements of shaking with information about local geology and earthquake location and magnitude to estimate shaking variations throughout a geographic area. The results are rapidly available via the Web through a variety of map formats, including Geographic Information System (GIS) coverages. These maps have become a valuable tool for emergency response, public information, loss estimation, earthquake planning, and post-earthquake engineering and scientific analyses. With the adoption of ShakeMap as a standard tool for a wide array of users and uses came an impressive demand for up-to-date technical documentation and more general guidelines for users and software developers. This manual is meant to address this need. ShakeMap, and associated Web and data products, are rapidly evolving as new advances in communications, earthquake science, and user needs drive improvements. As such, this documentation is organic in nature. We will make every effort to keep it current, but undoubtedly necessary changes in operational systems take precedence over producing and making documentation publishable.

An evolutionary perspective on leaf economics: phylogenetics of leaf mass per area in vascular plants

PubMed Central

Flores, Olivier; Garnier, Eric; Wright, Ian J; Reich, Peter B; Pierce, Simon; Dìaz, Sandra; Pakeman, Robin J; Rusch, Graciela M; Bernard-Verdier, Maud; Testi, Baptiste; Bakker, Jan P; Bekker, Renée M; Cerabolini, Bruno E L; Ceriani, Roberta M; Cornu, Guillaume; Cruz, Pablo; Delcamp, Matthieu; Dolezal, Jiri; Eriksson, Ove; Fayolle, Adeline; Freitas, Helena; Golodets, Carly; Gourlet-Fleury, Sylvie; Hodgson, John G; Brusa, Guido; Kleyer, Michael; Kunzmann, Dieter; Lavorel, Sandra; Papanastasis, Vasilios P; Pérez-Harguindeguy, Natalia; Vendramini, Fernanda; Weiher, Evan

2014-01-01

In plant leaves, resource use follows a trade-off between rapid resource capture and conservative storage. This “worldwide leaf economics spectrum” consists of a suite of intercorrelated leaf traits, among which leaf mass per area, LMA, is one of the most fundamental as it indicates the cost of leaf construction and light-interception borne by plants. We conducted a broad-scale analysis of the evolutionary history of LMA across a large dataset of 5401 vascular plant species. The phylogenetic signal in LMA displayed low but significant conservatism, that is, leaf economics tended to be more similar among close relatives than expected by chance alone. Models of trait evolution indicated that LMA evolved under weak stabilizing selection. Moreover, results suggest that different optimal phenotypes evolved among large clades within which extremes tended to be selected against. Conservatism in LMA was strongly related to growth form, as were selection intensity and phenotypic evolutionary rates: woody plants showed higher conservatism in relation to stronger stabilizing selection and lower evolutionary rates compared to herbaceous taxa. The evolutionary history of LMA thus paints different evolutionary trajectories of vascular plant species across clades, revealing the coordination of leaf trait evolution with growth forms in response to varying selection regimes. PMID:25165520

Elastography: current status, future prospects, and making it work for you.

PubMed

Garra, Brian S

2011-09-01

Elastography has emerged as a useful adjunct tool for ultrasound diagnosis. Elastograms are images of tissue stiffness and may be in color, grayscale, or a combination of the two. The first and most common application of elastography is for the diagnosis of breast lesions where studies have shown an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.88 to 0.95 for distinguishing cancer from benign lesions. The technique is also useful for the diagnosis of complex cysts, although different scanners may vary in how they display such lesions. Recent advances in elastography include quantification using strain ratios, acoustic radiation force impulse imaging, and shear wave velocity estimation. These are useful not only for characterizing focal masses but also for diagnosing diffuse organ diseases such as liver cirrhosis. Other near term potential applications for elastography include characterization of thyroid nodules and lymph node evaluation for metastatic disease. Prostate cancer detection is also a potential application, but obtaining high-quality elastograms may be difficult. This area is evolving. Other promising applications include atheromatous plaque and arterial wall evaluation, venous thrombus evaluation, graft rejection, and monitoring of tumor ablation therapy. When contemplating the acquisition of a system with elastography in this rapidly evolving field, a clear picture of the manufacturer's plans for future upgrades (including quantification) should be obtained.

Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief: changing the face of defense.

PubMed

Laraby, Patrick R; Bourdeaux, Margaret; Casscells, S Ward; Smith, David J; Lawry, Lynn

2009-01-01

The US Department of Defense (DOD) is evolving to meet new security challenges in the twenty-first century. Today's challenges result from growing political, environmental, and economic instability in important areas of the globe that threaten national and global security. Immediate outreach to foreign nations in times of violent instability or natural disaster fosters security and stability both for the affected country and for the United States. Foreign humanitarian assistance (FHA) is a rapidly evolving military mission that addresses conflict prevention, conflict, postconflict, and natural disasters. With DOD's extensive global medical resources, it is often uniquely qualified to execute a critical role in relief and/or public health efforts. When and how the American military will act in FHA and disaster relief is a still evolving doctrine with three issues deserving particular attention: aligning operations with host government leadership, preserving humanitarian space, and tailoring the US military's unique resources to the specific political and medical situation at hand. The DOD's response to a large-scale earthquake in Peru suggests useful approaches to these three issues, provides a template for future FHA mission, and points to strategic decisions and operational capabilities that need further development to establish the FHA mission firmly within DOD's repertoire of security engagement activities.

Parallel trait adaptation across opposing thermal environments in experimental Drosophila melanogaster populations.

PubMed

Tobler, Ray; Hermisson, Joachim; Schlötterer, Christian

2015-07-01

Thermal stress is a pervasive selective agent in natural populations that impacts organismal growth, survival, and reproduction. Drosophila melanogaster exhibits a variety of putatively adaptive phenotypic responses to thermal stress in natural and experimental settings; however, accompanying assessments of fitness are typically lacking. Here, we quantify changes in fitness and known thermal tolerance traits in replicated experimental D. melanogaster populations following more than 40 generations of evolution to either cyclic cold or hot temperatures. By evaluating fitness for both evolved populations alongside a reconstituted starting population, we show that the evolved populations were the best adapted within their respective thermal environments. More strikingly, the evolved populations exhibited increased fitness in both environments and improved resistance to both acute heat and cold stress. This unexpected parallel response appeared to be an adaptation to the rapid temperature changes that drove the cycling thermal regimes, as parallel fitness changes were not observed when tested in a constant thermal environment. Our results add to a small, but growing group of studies that demonstrate the importance of fluctuating temperature changes for thermal adaptation and highlight the need for additional work in this area. © 2015 The Author(s). Evolution published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Virtual Genomes in Flux: An Interplay of Neutrality and Adaptability Explains Genome Expansion and Streamlining

PubMed Central

Cuypers, Thomas D.; Hogeweg, Paulien

2012-01-01

The picture that emerges from phylogenetic gene content reconstructions is that genomes evolve in a dynamic pattern of rapid expansion and gradual streamlining. Ancestral organisms have been estimated to possess remarkably rich gene complements, although gene loss is a driving force in subsequent lineage adaptation and diversification. Here, we study genome dynamics in a model of virtual cells evolving to maintain homeostasis. We observe a pattern of an initial rapid expansion of the genome and a prolonged phase of mutational load reduction. Generally, load reduction is achieved by the deletion of redundant genes, generating a streamlining pattern. Load reduction can also occur as a result of the generation of highly neutral genomic regions. These regions can expand and contract in a neutral fashion. Our study suggests that genome expansion and streamlining are generic patterns of evolving systems. We propose that the complex genotype to phenotype mapping in virtual cells as well as in their biological counterparts drives genome size dynamics, due to an emerging interplay between adaptation, neutrality, and evolvability. PMID:22234601

Curriculum evaluation and revision in a nascent field: the utility of the retrospective pretest--posttest model in a homeland security program of study.

PubMed

Pelfrey, William V; Pelfrey, William V

2009-02-01

Although most academic disciplines evolve at a measured pace, the emerging field of homeland security must, for reasons of safety and security, evolve rapidly. The Department of Homeland Security sponsored the establishment of a graduate educational program for key officials holding homeland security roles. Because homeland security is a nascent field, the establishment of a program curriculum was forced to draw from a variety of disciplines. Curriculum evaluation was complicated by the rapid changes occurring in the emerging discipline, producing response shift bias, and interfering with the pre-post assessments. To compensate for the validity threat associated with response shift bias, a retrospective pretest-posttest evaluative methodology was used. Data indicate the program has evolved in a significant and orderly fashion and these data support the use of this innovative evaluation approach in the development of any discipline.

Frequency of word-use predicts rates of lexical evolution throughout Indo-European history.

PubMed

Pagel, Mark; Atkinson, Quentin D; Meade, Andrew

2007-10-11

Greek speakers say "omicronupsilonrho", Germans "schwanz" and the French "queue" to describe what English speakers call a 'tail', but all of these languages use a related form of 'two' to describe the number after one. Among more than 100 Indo-European languages and dialects, the words for some meanings (such as 'tail') evolve rapidly, being expressed across languages by dozens of unrelated words, while others evolve much more slowly--such as the number 'two', for which all Indo-European language speakers use the same related word-form. No general linguistic mechanism has been advanced to explain this striking variation in rates of lexical replacement among meanings. Here we use four large and divergent language corpora (English, Spanish, Russian and Greek) and a comparative database of 200 fundamental vocabulary meanings in 87 Indo-European languages to show that the frequency with which these words are used in modern language predicts their rate of replacement over thousands of years of Indo-European language evolution. Across all 200 meanings, frequently used words evolve at slower rates and infrequently used words evolve more rapidly. This relationship holds separately and identically across parts of speech for each of the four language corpora, and accounts for approximately 50% of the variation in historical rates of lexical replacement. We propose that the frequency with which specific words are used in everyday language exerts a general and law-like influence on their rates of evolution. Our findings are consistent with social models of word change that emphasize the role of selection, and suggest that owing to the ways that humans use language, some words will evolve slowly and others rapidly across all languages.

The changing relationship between family size and educational attainment over the course of socioeconomic development: evidence from Indonesia.

PubMed

Maralani, Vida

2008-08-01

Many studies from developed countries show a negative correlation between family size and children's schooling, while results from developing countries show this association ranging from positive to neutral to negative, depending on the context. The body of evidence suggests that this relationship changes as a society develops, but this theory has been difficult to assess because the existing evidence requires comparisons across countries with different social structures and at different levels of development. The world's fourth most populous nation in 2007, Indonesia has developed rapidly in recent decades. This context provides the opportunity to study these relationships within the same rapidly developing setting to see if and how these associations change. Results show that in urban areas, the association between family size and children's schooling was positive for older cohorts but negative for more recent cohorts. Models using instrumental variables to address the potential endogeneity of fertility confirm these results. In contrast, rural areas show no significant association between family size and children's schooling for any cohort. These findings show how the relationship between family size and children's schooling can differ within the same country and change over time as contextual factors evolve with socioeconomic development.

MESSENGER Observations of Rapid and Impulsive Magnetic Reconnection in Mercury's Magnetotail

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, J.; Wei, Y.; Pu, Z. Y.; Wang, X. G.; Wan, W. X.; Slavin, J. A.; Cao, X.; Raines, J. M.; Zhang, H.; Xiao, C. J.; Du, A. M.; Wang, R. S.; Dewey, R. M.; Chai, L. H.; Rong, Z. J.; Li, Y.

2018-06-01

The nature of magnetic reconnection in planetary magnetospheres may differ between various planets. We report the first observations of a rapidly evolving magnetic reconnection process in Mercury’s magnetotail by the MESSENGER spacecraft. The reconnection process was initialized in the plasma sheet and then evolved into the lobe region during a ∼35 s period. The tailward reconnection fronts of primary and secondary flux ropes with clear Hall signatures and energetic electron bursts were observed. The reconnection timescale of a few seconds is substantially shorter than that of terrestrial magnetospheric plasmas. The normalized reconnection rate during a brief quasi-steady period is estimated to be ∼0.2 on average. The observations show the rapid and impulsive nature of the exceedingly driven reconnection in Mercury’s magnetospheric plasma that may be responsible for the much more dynamic magnetosphere of Mercury.

The Current Status of Instructional Design Theories in Relation to Today's Authoring Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Neil, A. Fred

2008-01-01

It is of course very difficult to accurately project important characteristics of the future state of any rapidly evolving field, and the field of authoring systems for computer-assisted instruction (CAI) is no exception. However, strong trends in evolving CAI systems of today would seem to indicate some important characteristics of the software…

Rapid response systems.

PubMed

Lyons, Patrick G; Edelson, Dana P; Churpek, Matthew M

2018-07-01

Rapid response systems are commonly employed by hospitals to identify and respond to deteriorating patients outside of the intensive care unit. Controversy exists about the benefits of rapid response systems. We aimed to review the current state of the rapid response literature, including evolving aspects of afferent (risk detection) and efferent (intervention) arms, outcome measurement, process improvement, and implementation. Articles written in English and published in PubMed. Rapid response systems are heterogeneous, with important differences among afferent and efferent arms. Clinically meaningful outcomes may include unexpected mortality, in-hospital cardiac arrest, length of stay, cost, and processes of care at end of life. Both positive and negative interventional studies have been published, although the two largest randomized trials involving rapid response systems - the Medical Early Response and Intervention Trial (MERIT) and the Effect of a Pediatric Early Warning System on All-Cause Mortality in Hospitalized Pediatric Patients (EPOCH) trial - did not find a mortality benefit with these systems, albeit with important limitations. Advances in monitoring technologies, risk assessment strategies, and behavioral ergonomics may offer opportunities for improvement. Rapid responses may improve some meaningful outcomes, although these findings remain controversial. These systems may also improve care for patients at the end of life. Rapid response systems are expected to continue evolving with novel developments in monitoring technologies, risk prediction informatics, and work in human factors. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sex Differences in Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics

PubMed Central

Soldin, OP; Mattison, DR

2013-01-01

Males and females differ in their response to drug treatment. These differences can be critical in response to drug treatment. It is therefore essential to understand those differences to appropriately conduct risk assessment and to design safe and effective treatments. Even from that modest perspective, how and when we use drugs can result in unwanted and unexpected outcomes. We summarize the sex differences that impact pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and include a general comparison of clinical pharmacology as it applies to men, pregnant and non-pregnant women. Since this is an area rapidly evolving, it is essential for the practitioner to review drug prescribing information and recent literature to understand fully the impact of sex differences in clinical therapeutics. PMID:19385708

Humanitarian responses to mass violence perpetrated against vulnerable populations.

PubMed Central

Gellert, G. A.

1995-01-01

This multidisciplinary review links three areas of legitimate inquiry for practitioners of medicine and public health. The first is occurrences of mass violence or genocide perpetrated against vulnerable populations, with a focus on the failure of national and international mechanisms to prevent or predict such violence. The second is evolving concepts of national sovereignty and an emerging framework in which the imperative to assist vulnerable populations supersedes a state's right to self determination. The last is how medical, public health, and other systems of surveillance and rapid assessment of mass violence can accelerate public awareness and facilitate structured, consistent political decision making to prevent mass violence and to provide international humanitarian assistance. Images p1000-a PMID:7580643

CI Controls for Energy and Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biondo, Samuel J.

1996-01-01

Computational intelligence (CI) is a rapidly evolving field that utilizes life imitating metaphors for guiding model building including, but not limited to neural networks, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms, artificial life, and hybrid CI paradigms. Although the boundaries between artificial intelligence (AI) and CI are not distinct, their research communities are separate and distinct. CI researchers tend to focus on processing numerical data from sensors, while the AI community generally relies on symbolic computing to capture human knowledge. In both areas, there is a great deal of interest and activity in hybrid systems that can offset the limitations of individual methods, extend their capabilities, and create new capabilities. Examples of the benefits that can accrue from hybrid systems are contained.

Passenger baggage object database (PBOD)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gittinger, Jaxon M.; Suknot, April N.; Jimenez, Edward S.; Spaulding, Terry W.; Wenrich, Steve A.

2018-04-01

Detection of anomalies of interest in x-ray images is an ever-evolving problem that requires the rapid development of automatic detection algorithms. Automatic detection algorithms are developed using machine learning techniques, which would require developers to obtain the x-ray machine that was used to create the images being trained on, and compile all associated metadata for those images by hand. The Passenger Baggage Object Database (PBOD) and data acquisition application were designed and developed for acquiring and persisting 2-D and 3-D x-ray image data and associated metadata. PBOD was specifically created to capture simulated airline passenger "stream of commerce" luggage data, but could be applied to other areas of x-ray imaging to utilize machine-learning methods.

Boron-selective reactions as powerful tools for modular synthesis of diverse complex molecules.

PubMed

Xu, Liang; Zhang, Shuai; Li, Pengfei

2015-12-21

In the context of modular and rapid construction of molecular diversity and complexity for applications in organic synthesis, biomedical and materials sciences, a generally useful strategy has emerged based on boron-selective chemical transformations. In the last decade, these types of reactions have evolved from proof-of-concept to some advanced applications in the efficient preparation of complex natural products and even automated precise manufacturing on the molecular level. These advances have shown the great potential of boron-selective reactions in simplifying synthetic design and experimental operations, and should inspire new developments in related chemical and technological areas. This tutorial review will highlight the original contributions and representative advances in this emerging field.

Capillary Assembly of Colloids: Interactions on Planar and Curved Interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Iris B.; Sharifi-Mood, Nima; Stebe, Kathleen J.

2018-03-01

In directed assembly, small building blocks are assembled into an organized structure under the influence of guiding fields. Capillary interactions provide a versatile route for structure formation. Colloids adsorbed on fluid interfaces distort the interface, which creates an associated energy field. When neighboring distortions overlap, colloids interact to minimize interfacial area. Contact line pinning, particle shape, and surface chemistry play important roles in structure formation. Interface curvature acts like an external field; particles migrate and assemble in patterns dictated by curvature gradients. We review basic analysis and recent findings in this rapidly evolving literature. Understanding the roles of assembly is essential for tuning the mechanical, physical, and optical properties of the structure.

Issues in Renewable Energy Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Chacko; Jennings, Philip; Lloyd, Bob

2008-01-01

Renewable energy education is evolving rapidly in response to drivers such as oil depletion and global warming. There is a rapidly increasing level of student interest in these topics and a growing demand from industry and government for skilled personnel to develop sustainable energy systems and greenhouse solutions. Several Australian and New…

Modeling lahar behavior and hazards

USGS Publications Warehouse

Manville, Vernon; Major, Jon J.; Fagents, Sarah A.

2013-01-01

Lahars are highly mobile mixtures of water and sediment of volcanic origin that are capable of traveling tens to > 100 km at speeds exceeding tens of km hr-1. Such flows are among the most serious ground-based hazards at many volcanoes because of their sudden onset, rapid advance rates, long runout distances, high energy, ability to transport large volumes of material, and tendency to flow along existing river channels where populations and infrastructure are commonly concentrated. They can grow in volume and peak discharge through erosion and incorporation of external sediment and/or water, inundate broad areas, and leave deposits many meters thick. Furthermore, lahars can recur for many years to decades after an initial volcanic eruption, as fresh pyroclastic material is eroded and redeposited during rainfall events, resulting in a spatially and temporally evolving hazard. Improving understanding of the behavior of these complex, gravitationally driven, multi-phase flows is key to mitigating the threat to communities at lahar-prone volcanoes. However, their complexity and evolving nature pose significant challenges to developing the models of flow behavior required for delineating their hazards and hazard zones.

Rapid adaptation to climate facilitates range expansion of an invasive plant.

PubMed

Colautti, Robert I; Barrett, Spencer C H

2013-10-18

Adaptation to climate, evolving over contemporary time scales, could facilitate rapid range expansion across environmental gradients. Here, we examine local adaptation along a climatic gradient in the North American invasive plant Lythrum salicaria. We show that the evolution of earlier flowering is adaptive at the northern invasion front where it increases fitness as much as, or more than, the effects of enemy release and the evolution of increased competitive ability. However, early flowering decreases investment in vegetative growth, which reduces fitness by a factor of 3 in southern environments where the North American invasion commenced. Our results demonstrate that local adaptation can evolve quickly during range expansion, overcoming environmental constraints on propagule production.

Current Rural Drug Use in the US Midwest

PubMed Central

Dombrowski, Kirk; Crawford, Devan; Khan, Bilal; Tyler, Kimberly

2016-01-01

The nature and challenge of illicit drug use in the United States continues to change rapidly, evolving in reaction to myriad social, economic, and local forces. While the use of illicit drugs affects every region of the country, most of our current information about drug use comes from large urban areas. Data on rural drug use and its harms justify greater attention. Record overdose rates, unexpected outbreaks of HIV, and a dearth of treatment facilities point to a rapidly worsening health situation. While health sciences have made considerable progress in understanding the etiology of drug use and uncovering the link between drug use and its myriad associated harms, this promising scientific news has not always translated to better health outcomes. The scope of the problem in the Central Plains of the US is growing, and can be estimated from available sources. Clear remedies for this rising level of abuse are available, but few have been implemented. Suggestions for short-term policy remedies are discussed. PMID:27885362

Rapid differentiation in a sill-like magma reservoir: a case study from the campi flegrei caldera.

PubMed

Pappalardo, Lucia; Mastrolorenzo, Giuseppe

2012-01-01

In recent decades, geophysical investigations have detected wide magma reservoirs beneath quiescent calderas. However, the discovery of partially melted horizons inside the crust is not sufficient to put constraints on capability of reservoirs to supply cataclysmic eruptions, which strictly depends on the chemical-physical properties of magmas (composition, viscosity, gas content etc.), and thus on their differentiation histories. In this study, by using geochemical, isotopic and textural records of rocks erupted from the high-risk Campi Flegrei caldera, we show that the alkaline magmas have evolved toward a critical state of explosive behaviour over a time span shorter than the repose time of most volcanic systems and that these magmas have risen rapidly toward the surface. Moreover, similar results on the depth and timescale of magma storage were previously obtained for the neighbouring Somma-Vesuvius volcano. This consistency suggests that there might be a unique long-lived magma pool beneath the whole Neapolitan area.

Rapid differentiation in a sill-like magma reservoir: a case study from the campi flegrei caldera

PubMed Central

Pappalardo, Lucia; Mastrolorenzo, Giuseppe

2012-01-01

In recent decades, geophysical investigations have detected wide magma reservoirs beneath quiescent calderas. However, the discovery of partially melted horizons inside the crust is not sufficient to put constraints on capability of reservoirs to supply cataclysmic eruptions, which strictly depends on the chemical-physical properties of magmas (composition, viscosity, gas content etc.), and thus on their differentiation histories. In this study, by using geochemical, isotopic and textural records of rocks erupted from the high-risk Campi Flegrei caldera, we show that the alkaline magmas have evolved toward a critical state of explosive behaviour over a time span shorter than the repose time of most volcanic systems and that these magmas have risen rapidly toward the surface. Moreover, similar results on the depth and timescale of magma storage were previously obtained for the neighbouring Somma-Vesuvius volcano. This consistency suggests that there might be a unique long-lived magma pool beneath the whole Neapolitan area. PMID:23050096

Social Media Strategies for the United States Armed Forces: An Israeli Case Study

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-05-03

experiences a significant military failure. Discussion: The US military is facing pressure to adapt to a rapidly evolving information environment...Marine Corps, but as I explored the issue, it rapidly became apparent that the institutional structures that both enable and constrain social media use... rapidly changing nature of the information environment itself is causing drastic societal changes, with widespread effects on both individual and

Experimental evolution of an alternating uni- and multicellular life cycle in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

PubMed Central

Ratcliff, William C.; Herron, Matthew D.; Howell, Kathryn; Pentz, Jennifer T.; Rosenzweig, Frank; Travisano, Michael

2013-01-01

The transition to multicellularity enabled the evolution of large, complex organisms, but early steps in this transition remain poorly understood. Here we show that multicellular complexity, including development from a single cell, can evolve rapidly in a unicellular organism that has never had a multicellular ancestor. We subject the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to conditions that favour multicellularity, resulting in the evolution of a multicellular life cycle in which clusters reproduce via motile unicellular propagules. While a single-cell genetic bottleneck during ontogeny is widely regarded as an adaptation to limit among-cell conflict, its appearance very early in this transition suggests that it did not evolve for this purpose. Instead, we find that unicellular propagules are adaptive even in the absence of intercellular conflict, maximizing cluster-level fecundity. These results demonstrate that the unicellular bottleneck, a trait essential for evolving multicellular complexity, can arise rapidly via co-option of the ancestral unicellular form. PMID:24193369

Delineating slowly and rapidly evolving fractions of the Drosophila genome.

PubMed

Keith, Jonathan M; Adams, Peter; Stephen, Stuart; Mattick, John S

2008-05-01

Evolutionary conservation is an important indicator of function and a major component of bioinformatic methods to identify non-protein-coding genes. We present a new Bayesian method for segmenting pairwise alignments of eukaryotic genomes while simultaneously classifying segments into slowly and rapidly evolving fractions. We also describe an information criterion similar to the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) for determining the number of classes. Working with pairwise alignments enables detection of differences in conservation patterns among closely related species. We analyzed three whole-genome and three partial-genome pairwise alignments among eight Drosophila species. Three distinct classes of conservation level were detected. Sequences comprising the most slowly evolving component were consistent across a range of species pairs, and constituted approximately 62-66% of the D. melanogaster genome. Almost all (>90%) of the aligned protein-coding sequence is in this fraction, suggesting much of it (comprising the majority of the Drosophila genome, including approximately 56% of non-protein-coding sequences) is functional. The size and content of the most rapidly evolving component was species dependent, and varied from 1.6% to 4.8%. This fraction is also enriched for protein-coding sequence (while containing significant amounts of non-protein-coding sequence), suggesting it is under positive selection. We also classified segments according to conservation and GC content simultaneously. This analysis identified numerous sub-classes of those identified on the basis of conservation alone, but was nevertheless consistent with that classification. Software, data, and results available at www.maths.qut.edu.au/-keithj/. Genomic segments comprising the conservation classes available in BED format.

Professional challenges and opportunities in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases in Europe.

PubMed

Read, Robert C; Cornaglia, Giuseppe; Kahlmeter, Gunnar

2011-05-01

The two closely linked specialties of clinical microbiology and infectious diseases face important challenges. We report the consensus of clinical microbiologists and infectious disease physicians assembled by the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Both specialties have different training requirements in different European countries and are not universally recognised as professions. The specialties are rapidly evolving as they adapt to the changing demands within hospital practice, including the need to deal with emerging infections, rapidly increasing internationalisation, and immigration. Clinical microbiology needs to develop and master technological advances such as laboratory automation and an avalanche of new methods for rapid diagnostics. Simultaneously, the pressure for concentration, amalgamation, and out-sourcing of laboratory services is ever-increasing. Infectious disease physicians have to meet the professional challenge of subspecialisation and the continual need to find new niches for their skills. Despite these challenges, each of these specialties continues to thrive in Europe and will enjoy important opportunities over the next few years. The recently formed European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Stockholm, Sweden, will increase demands in areas of surveillance of infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance on both specialties. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cloning of novel rice blast resistance genes from two rapidly evolving NBS-LRR gene families in rice.

PubMed

Guo, Changjiang; Sun, Xiaoguang; Chen, Xiao; Yang, Sihai; Li, Jing; Wang, Long; Zhang, Xiaohui

2016-01-01

Most rice blast resistance genes (R-genes) encode proteins with nucleotide-binding site (NBS) and leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domains. Our previous study has shown that more rice blast R-genes can be cloned in rapidly evolving NBS-LRR gene families. In the present study, two rapidly evolving R-gene families in rice were selected for cloning a subset of genes from their paralogs in three resistant rice lines. A total of eight functional blast R-genes were identified among nine NBS-LRR genes, and some of these showed resistance to three or more blast strains. Evolutionary analysis indicated that high nucleotide diversity of coding regions served as important parameters in the determination of gene resistance. We also observed that amino-acid variants (nonsynonymous mutations, insertions, or deletions) in essential motifs of the NBS domain contribute to the blast resistance capacity of NBS-LRR genes. These results suggested that the NBS regions might also play an important role in resistance specificity determination. On the other hand, different splicing patterns of introns were commonly observed in R-genes. The results of the present study contribute to improving the effectiveness of R-gene identification by using evolutionary analysis method and acquisition of novel blast resistance genes.

Cost-effectiveness of natalizumab vs fingolimod for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: analyses in Sweden.

PubMed

O'Day, Ken; Meyer, Kellie; Stafkey-Mailey, Dana; Watson, Crystal

2015-04-01

To assess the cost-effectiveness of natalizumab vs fingolimod over 2 years in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients and patients with rapidly evolving severe disease in Sweden. A decision analytic model was developed to estimate the incremental cost per relapse avoided of natalizumab and fingolimod from the perspective of the Swedish healthcare system. Modeled 2-year costs in Swedish kronor of treating RRMS patients included drug acquisition costs, administration and monitoring costs, and costs of treating MS relapses. Effectiveness was measured in terms of MS relapses avoided using data from the AFFIRM and FREEDOMS trials for all patients with RRMS and from post-hoc sub-group analyses for patients with rapidly evolving severe disease. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess uncertainty. The analysis showed that, in all patients with MS, treatment with fingolimod costs less (440,463 Kr vs 444,324 Kr), but treatment with natalizumab results in more relapses avoided (0.74 vs 0.59), resulting in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of 25,448 Kr per relapse avoided. In patients with rapidly evolving severe disease, natalizumab dominated fingolimod. Results of the sensitivity analysis demonstrate the robustness of the model results. At a willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of 500,000 Kr per relapse avoided, natalizumab is cost-effective in >80% of simulations in both patient populations. Limitations include absence of data from direct head-to-head studies comparing natalizumab and fingolimod, use of relapse rate reduction rather than sustained disability progression as the primary model outcome, assumption of 100% adherence to MS treatment, and exclusion of adverse event costs in the model. Natalizumab remains a cost-effective treatment option for patients with MS in Sweden. In the RRMS patient population, the incremental cost per relapse avoided is well below a 500,000 Kr WTP threshold per relapse avoided. In the rapidly evolving severe disease patient population, natalizumab dominates fingolimod.

A critical analysis of methods for rapid and nondestructive determination of wood density in standing trees

Treesearch

Shan Gao; Xiping Wang; Michael C. Wiemann; Brian K. Brashaw; Robert J. Ross; Lihai Wang

2017-01-01

Key message Field methods for rapid determination of wood density in trees have evolved from increment borer, torsiometer, Pilodyn, and nail withdrawal into sophisticated electronic tools of resistance drilling measurement. A partial resistance drilling approach coupled with knowledge of internal tree density distribution may...

The Changing Relationship Between Family Size and Educational Attainment Over the Course of Socioeconomic Development: Evidence From Indonesia

PubMed Central

MARALANI, VIDA

2008-01-01

Many studies from developed countries show a negative correlation between family size and children’s schooling, while results from developing countries show this association ranging from positive to neutral to negative, depending on the context. The body of evidence suggests that this relationship changes as a society develops, but this theory has been difficult to assess because the existing evidence requires comparisons across countries with different social structures and at different levels of development. The world’s fourth most populous nation in 2007, Indonesia has developed rapidly in recent decades. This context provides the opportunity to study these relationships within the same rapidly developing setting to see if and how these associations change. Results show that in urban areas, the association between family size and children’s schooling was positive for older cohorts but negative for more recent cohorts. Models using instrumental variables to address the potential endogeneity of fertility confirm these results. In contrast, rural areas show no significant association between family size and children’s schooling for any cohort. These findings show how the relationship between family size and children’s schooling can differ within the same country and change over time as contextual factors evolve with socioeconomic development. PMID:18939668

Near-Real-Time Earth Observation Data Supporting Wildfire Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ambrosia, V. G.; Zajkowski, T.; Quayle, B.

2013-12-01

During disaster events, the most critical element needed by responding personnel and management teams is situational intelligence / awareness. During rapidly-evolving events such as wildfires, the need for timely information is critical to save lives, property and resources. The wildfire management agencies in the US rely heavily on remote sensing information both from airborne platforms as well as from orbital assets. The ability to readily have information from those systems, not just data, is critical to effective control and damage mitigation. NASA has been collaborating with the USFS to mature and operationalize various asset-information capabilities to effect improved knowledge of fire-prone areas, monitor wildfire events in real-time, assess effectiveness of fire management strategies, and provide rapid, post-fire assessment for recovery operations. Specific examples of near-real-time remote sensing asset utility include daily MODIS data employed to assess fire potential / wildfire hazard areas, and national-scale hot-spot detection, airborne thermal sensor collected during wildfire events to effect management strategies, EO-1 ALI 'pointable' satellite sensor data to assess fire-retardant application effectiveness, and Landsat 8 and other sensor data to derive burn severity indices for post-fire remediation work. These cases of where near-real-time data is used operationally during the previous few fire seasons will be presented.

Rapid evolution of analog circuits configured on a field programmable transistor array

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stoica, A.; Ferguson, M. I.; Zebulum, R. S.; Keymeulen, D.; Duong, V.; Daud, T.

2002-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate evolution of analog circuits on a stand-alone board-level evolvable system (SABLES). SABLES is part of an effort to achieve integrated evolvable systems. SABLES provides autonomous, fast (tens to hundreds of seconds), on-chip circuit evolution involving about 100,000 circuit evaluations. Its main components are a JPL Field Programmable Transistor Array (FPTA) chip used as transistor-level reconfigurable hardware, and a TI DSP that implements the evolutionary algorithm controlling the FPTA reconfiguration. The paper details an example of evolution on SABLES and points out to certain transient and memory effects that affect the stability of solutions obtained reusing the same piece of hardware for rapid testing of individuals during evolution.

Adaptive Acquisition: An Evolving Framework for Tailoring Engineering and Procurement of Defense Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-01-31

mapping critical business workflows and then optimizing them with appropriate evolutionary technology choices is often called “ Product Line Architecture... technologies , products , services, and processes, and the USG evaluates them against its 360o requirements objectives, and refines them as appropriate, clarity...in rapidly evolving technological domains (e.g. by applying best commercial practices for open standard product line architecture.) An MP might be

Innovations in scholarly publishing. Evolving trends in research communication in a digital age: examples from the BMJ.

PubMed

Jain, Anita

2014-01-01

As technology and communication evolve rapidly in this digital age, scholarly publishing is also undergoing a makeover to match the diverse needs of researchers and clinicians. The BMJ has been at the forefront of innovating the presentation of research to increase its readabillty and usefulness. This article presents some of recent formats used for research communication at the BMJ.

Introduction of the Concepts of Plate Tectonics into Secondary-School Earth Science Textbooks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glenn, William Harold

1992-01-01

Secondary school earth-science textbooks in print from 1960 through 1979 were examined to determine how rapidly concepts of plate tectonics were incorporated into those texts during the period when scientists' views about these concepts were evolving most rapidly. Suggests that delays were probably due to an unwillingness to engage in speculation…

Evolution of Research Universities as a National Research System in Korea: Accomplishments and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shin, Jung Cheol; Lee, Soo Jeung

2015-01-01

This article focuses on South Korea, where the basis of the economy rapidly transformed from labor-intensive industries to heavy/chemical industries and then to technology-based industries within a short time period. The Korean case shows how national research systems evolve along with economic development. On the other hand, such rapid research…

In sickness and in health: Clinical research and social media

PubMed Central

Ray, Saswata

2017-01-01

In this “digital age,” the model of healthcare is changing rapidly, primarily in the area of communication that is happening among the major stakeholders each minute. Patients, being the central point of the importance of all the work and development, are more empowered than ever with information from various sources, among which social media is leading from the front. This article reviews how social media engages healthcare service providers, service seekers, and regulatory authorities. If the gaps in the current regulations are filled, better healthcare outputs can be triggered. This article also briefly explores the popular healthcare applications launched by leading pharmaceutical companies, encompassing the big data advantage, in this evolving era of patient centricity. PMID:28447017

A Practitioner-Driven Research Agenda for Syndromic Surveillance.

PubMed

Hopkins, Richard S; Tong, Catherine C; Burkom, Howard S; Akkina, Judy E; Berezowski, John; Shigematsu, Mika; Finley, Patrick D; Painter, Ian; Gamache, Roland; Vilas, Victor J Del Rio; Streichert, Laura C

Syndromic surveillance has expanded since 2001 in both scope and geographic reach and has benefited from research studies adapted from numerous disciplines. The practice of syndromic surveillance continues to evolve rapidly. The International Society for Disease Surveillance solicited input from its global surveillance network on key research questions, with the goal of improving syndromic surveillance practice. A workgroup of syndromic surveillance subject matter experts was convened from February to June 2016 to review and categorize the proposed topics. The workgroup identified 12 topic areas in 4 syndromic surveillance categories: informatics, analytics, systems research, and communications. This article details the context of each topic and its implications for public health. This research agenda can help catalyze the research that public health practitioners identified as most important.

Space Biology in the 21st century

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halstead, Thora W.; Krauss, Robert W.

1990-01-01

Space Biology is poised to make significant contributions to science in the next century. A carefully crafted, but largely ground-based, program in the United States has evolved major questions that require answers through experiments in space. Science, scientists, and the new long-term spacecrafts designed by NASA will be available for the first time to mount a serious Space Biology effort. The scientific challenge is of such importance that success will provide countless benefits to biologically dependent areas such as medicine, food, and commerce in the decades ahead. The international community is rapidly expanding its role in this field. The United States should generate the resources that will allow progress in Space Biology to match the recognized progress made in aeronautics and the other space sciences.

Coral reef management and conservation in light of rapidly evolving ecological paradigms.

PubMed

Mumby, Peter J; Steneck, Robert S

2008-10-01

The decline of many coral reef ecosystems in recent decades surprised experienced managers and researchers. It shattered old paradigms that these diverse ecosystems are spatially uniform and temporally stable on the scale of millennia. We now see reefs as heterogeneous, fragile, globally stressed ecosystems structured by strong positive or negative feedback processes. We review the causes and consequences of reef decline and ask whether management practices are addressing the problem at appropriate scales. We conclude that both science and management are currently failing to address the comanagement of extractive activities and ecological processes that drive ecosystems (e.g. productivity and herbivory). Most reef conservation efforts are directed toward reserve implementation, but new approaches are needed to sustain ecosystem function in exploited areas.

Diagnostic analysis of observed and numerically simulated cloud and precipitation structures during pre-ERICA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perkey, Donald J.; Doty, Kevin G.; Robertson, Franklin R.

1989-01-01

A preliminary 140-km simulation of a rapid cyclogenesis, using the Limited Area Mesoscale Prediction System (LAMPS) is discussed. A three-dimensional version of LAMPS used in the simulation is described, along with a trajectory model utilizing the three-hourly output history files from the LAMPS model. Preliminary integrations of the LAMPS code as well as passive microwave digital data from SSM/I aboard the DMSP satellite are used for exploring the evolving baroclinic structure and moisture field of the cyclone event. A trajectory analysis of the model histories reveals a significant role for preconditioning of the low-level upstream air, which is then drawn into the ascending warm conveyor belt ahead of the storm.

Adaptable data management for systems biology investigations.

PubMed

Boyle, John; Rovira, Hector; Cavnor, Chris; Burdick, David; Killcoyne, Sarah; Shmulevich, Ilya

2009-03-06

Within research each experiment is different, the focus changes and the data is generated from a continually evolving barrage of technologies. There is a continual introduction of new techniques whose usage ranges from in-house protocols through to high-throughput instrumentation. To support these requirements data management systems are needed that can be rapidly built and readily adapted for new usage. The adaptable data management system discussed is designed to support the seamless mining and analysis of biological experiment data that is commonly used in systems biology (e.g. ChIP-chip, gene expression, proteomics, imaging, flow cytometry). We use different content graphs to represent different views upon the data. These views are designed for different roles: equipment specific views are used to gather instrumentation information; data processing oriented views are provided to enable the rapid development of analysis applications; and research project specific views are used to organize information for individual research experiments. This management system allows for both the rapid introduction of new types of information and the evolution of the knowledge it represents. Data management is an important aspect of any research enterprise. It is the foundation on which most applications are built, and must be easily extended to serve new functionality for new scientific areas. We have found that adopting a three-tier architecture for data management, built around distributed standardized content repositories, allows us to rapidly develop new applications to support a diverse user community.

Rapid selective sweep of pre-existing polymorphisms and slow fixation of new mutations in experimental evolution of Desulfovibrio vulgaris

DOE PAGES

Zhou, Aifen; Hillesland, Kristina L.; He, Zhili; ...

2015-04-07

To investigate the genetic basis of microbial evolutionary adaptation to salt (NaCl) stress, populations of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough (DvH), a sulfate-reducing bacterium important for the biogeochemical cycling of sulfur, carbon and nitrogen, and potentially the bioremediation of toxic heavy metals and radionuclides, were propagated under salt stress or non-stress conditions for 1200 generations. Whole-genome sequencing revealed 11 mutations in salt stress-evolved clone ES9-11 and 14 mutations in non-stress-evolved clone EC3-10. Whole-population sequencing data suggested the rapid selective sweep of the pre-existing polymorphisms under salt stress within the first 100 generations and the slow fixation of new mutations. Population genotyping datamore » demonstrated that the rapid selective sweep of pre-existing polymorphisms was common in salt stress-evolved populations. In contrast, the selection of pre-existing polymorphisms was largely random in EC populations. Consistently, at 100 generations, stress-evolved population ES9 showed improved salt tolerance, namely increased growth rate (2.0-fold), higher biomass yield (1.8-fold) and shorter lag phase (0.7-fold) under higher salinity conditions. The beneficial nature of several mutations was confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis. All four tested mutations contributed to the shortened lag phases under higher salinity condition. In particular, compared with the salt tolerance improvement in ES9-11, a mutation in a histidine kinase protein gene lytS contributed 27% of the growth rate increase and 23% of the biomass yield increase while a mutation in hypothetical gene DVU2472 contributed 24% of the biomass yield increase. In conclusion, our results suggested that a few beneficial mutations could lead to dramatic improvements in salt tolerance.« less

Rapid selective sweep of pre-existing polymorphisms and slow fixation of new mutations in experimental evolution of Desulfovibrio vulgaris

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

Zhou, Aifen; Hillesland, Kristina L.; He, Zhili

To investigate the genetic basis of microbial evolutionary adaptation to salt (NaCl) stress, populations of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough (DvH), a sulfate-reducing bacterium important for the biogeochemical cycling of sulfur, carbon and nitrogen, and potentially the bioremediation of toxic heavy metals and radionuclides, were propagated under salt stress or non-stress conditions for 1200 generations. Whole-genome sequencing revealed 11 mutations in salt stress-evolved clone ES9-11 and 14 mutations in non-stress-evolved clone EC3-10. Whole-population sequencing data suggested the rapid selective sweep of the pre-existing polymorphisms under salt stress within the first 100 generations and the slow fixation of new mutations. Population genotyping datamore » demonstrated that the rapid selective sweep of pre-existing polymorphisms was common in salt stress-evolved populations. In contrast, the selection of pre-existing polymorphisms was largely random in EC populations. Consistently, at 100 generations, stress-evolved population ES9 showed improved salt tolerance, namely increased growth rate (2.0-fold), higher biomass yield (1.8-fold) and shorter lag phase (0.7-fold) under higher salinity conditions. The beneficial nature of several mutations was confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis. All four tested mutations contributed to the shortened lag phases under higher salinity condition. In particular, compared with the salt tolerance improvement in ES9-11, a mutation in a histidine kinase protein gene lytS contributed 27% of the growth rate increase and 23% of the biomass yield increase while a mutation in hypothetical gene DVU2472 contributed 24% of the biomass yield increase. In conclusion, our results suggested that a few beneficial mutations could lead to dramatic improvements in salt tolerance.« less

Rapid selective sweep of pre-existing polymorphisms and slow fixation of new mutations in experimental evolution of Desulfovibrio vulgaris

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

Zhou, Aifen; Hillesland, Kristina L.; He, Zhili

To investigate the genetic basis of microbial evolutionary adaptation to salt (NaCl) stress, populations of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough (DvH), a sulfate-reducing bacterium important for the biogeochemical cycling of sulfur, carbon and nitrogen, and potentially the bioremediation of toxic heavy metals and radionuclides, were propagated under salt stress or non-stress conditions for 1200 generations. Whole-genome sequencing revealed 11 mutations in salt stress-evolved clone ES9-11 and 14 mutations in non-stress-evolved clone EC3-10. Whole-population sequencing data suggested the rapid selective sweep of the pre-existing polymorphisms under salt stress within the first 100 generations and the slow fixation of new mutations. Population genotyping datamore » demonstrated that the rapid selective sweep of pre-existing polymorphisms was common in salt stress-evolved populations. In contrast, the selection of pre-existing polymorphisms was largely random in EC populations. Consistently, at 100 generations, stress-evolved population ES9 showed improved salt tolerance, namely increased growth rate (2.0-fold), higher biomass yield (1.8-fold) and shorter lag phase (0.7-fold) under higher salinity conditions. The beneficial nature of several mutations was confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis. All four tested mutations contributed to the shortened lag phases under higher salinity condition. In particular, compared with the salt tolerance improvement in ES9-11, a mutation in a histidine kinase protein gene lytS contributed 27% of the growth rate increase and 23% of the biomass yield increase while a mutation in hypothetical gene DVU2472 contributed 24% of the biomass yield increase. Our results suggested that a few beneficial mutations could lead to dramatic improvements in salt tolerance.« less

Rapid selective sweep of pre-existing polymorphisms and slow fixation of new mutations in experimental evolution of Desulfovibrio vulgaris.

PubMed

Zhou, Aifen; Hillesland, Kristina L; He, Zhili; Schackwitz, Wendy; Tu, Qichao; Zane, Grant M; Ma, Qiao; Qu, Yuanyuan; Stahl, David A; Wall, Judy D; Hazen, Terry C; Fields, Matthew W; Arkin, Adam P; Zhou, Jizhong

2015-11-01

To investigate the genetic basis of microbial evolutionary adaptation to salt (NaCl) stress, populations of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough (DvH), a sulfate-reducing bacterium important for the biogeochemical cycling of sulfur, carbon and nitrogen, and potentially the bioremediation of toxic heavy metals and radionuclides, were propagated under salt stress or non-stress conditions for 1200 generations. Whole-genome sequencing revealed 11 mutations in salt stress-evolved clone ES9-11 and 14 mutations in non-stress-evolved clone EC3-10. Whole-population sequencing data suggested the rapid selective sweep of the pre-existing polymorphisms under salt stress within the first 100 generations and the slow fixation of new mutations. Population genotyping data demonstrated that the rapid selective sweep of pre-existing polymorphisms was common in salt stress-evolved populations. In contrast, the selection of pre-existing polymorphisms was largely random in EC populations. Consistently, at 100 generations, stress-evolved population ES9 showed improved salt tolerance, namely increased growth rate (2.0-fold), higher biomass yield (1.8-fold) and shorter lag phase (0.7-fold) under higher salinity conditions. The beneficial nature of several mutations was confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis. All four tested mutations contributed to the shortened lag phases under higher salinity condition. In particular, compared with the salt tolerance improvement in ES9-11, a mutation in a histidine kinase protein gene lytS contributed 27% of the growth rate increase and 23% of the biomass yield increase while a mutation in hypothetical gene DVU2472 contributed 24% of the biomass yield increase. Our results suggested that a few beneficial mutations could lead to dramatic improvements in salt tolerance.

Rapid selective sweep of pre-existing polymorphisms and slow fixation of new mutations in experimental evolution of Desulfovibrio vulgaris

PubMed Central

Zhou, Aifen; Hillesland, Kristina L; He, Zhili; Schackwitz, Wendy; Tu, Qichao; Zane, Grant M; Ma, Qiao; Qu, Yuanyuan; Stahl, David A; Wall, Judy D; Hazen, Terry C; Fields, Matthew W; Arkin, Adam P; Zhou, Jizhong

2015-01-01

To investigate the genetic basis of microbial evolutionary adaptation to salt (NaCl) stress, populations of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough (DvH), a sulfate-reducing bacterium important for the biogeochemical cycling of sulfur, carbon and nitrogen, and potentially the bioremediation of toxic heavy metals and radionuclides, were propagated under salt stress or non-stress conditions for 1200 generations. Whole-genome sequencing revealed 11 mutations in salt stress-evolved clone ES9-11 and 14 mutations in non-stress-evolved clone EC3-10. Whole-population sequencing data suggested the rapid selective sweep of the pre-existing polymorphisms under salt stress within the first 100 generations and the slow fixation of new mutations. Population genotyping data demonstrated that the rapid selective sweep of pre-existing polymorphisms was common in salt stress-evolved populations. In contrast, the selection of pre-existing polymorphisms was largely random in EC populations. Consistently, at 100 generations, stress-evolved population ES9 showed improved salt tolerance, namely increased growth rate (2.0-fold), higher biomass yield (1.8-fold) and shorter lag phase (0.7-fold) under higher salinity conditions. The beneficial nature of several mutations was confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis. All four tested mutations contributed to the shortened lag phases under higher salinity condition. In particular, compared with the salt tolerance improvement in ES9-11, a mutation in a histidine kinase protein gene lytS contributed 27% of the growth rate increase and 23% of the biomass yield increase while a mutation in hypothetical gene DVU2472 contributed 24% of the biomass yield increase. Our results suggested that a few beneficial mutations could lead to dramatic improvements in salt tolerance. PMID:25848870

A model species for agricultural pest genomics: the genome of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

DOE PAGES

Schoville, Sean D.; Chen, Yolanda H.; Andersson, Martin N.; ...

2018-01-31

The Colorado potato beetle is one of the most challenging agricultural pests to manage. It has shown a spectacular ability to adapt to a variety of solanaceaeous plants and variable climates during its global invasion, and, notably, to rapidly evolve insecticide resistance. To examine evidence of rapid evolutionary change, and to understand the genetic basis of herbivory and insecticide resistance, we tested for structural and functional genomic changes relative to other arthropod species using genome sequencing, transcriptomics, and community annotation. Two factors that might facilitate rapid evolutionary change include transposable elements, which comprise at least 17% of the genome andmore » are rapidly evolving compared to other Coleoptera, and high levels of nucleotide diversity in rapidly growing pest populations. Adaptations to plant feeding are evident in gene expansions and differential expression of digestive enzymes in gut tissues, as well as expansions of gustatory receptors for bitter tasting. Surprisingly, the suite of genes involved in insecticide resistance is similar to other beetles. Finally, duplications in the RNAi pathway might explain why Leptinotarsa decemlineata has high sensitivity to dsRNA. In conclusion, the L. decemlineata genome provides opportunities to investigate a broad range of phenotypes and to develop sustainable methods to control this widely successful pest.« less

A model species for agricultural pest genomics: the genome of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

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

Schoville, Sean D.; Chen, Yolanda H.; Andersson, Martin N.

The Colorado potato beetle is one of the most challenging agricultural pests to manage. It has shown a spectacular ability to adapt to a variety of solanaceaeous plants and variable climates during its global invasion, and, notably, to rapidly evolve insecticide resistance. To examine evidence of rapid evolutionary change, and to understand the genetic basis of herbivory and insecticide resistance, we tested for structural and functional genomic changes relative to other arthropod species using genome sequencing, transcriptomics, and community annotation. Two factors that might facilitate rapid evolutionary change include transposable elements, which comprise at least 17% of the genome andmore » are rapidly evolving compared to other Coleoptera, and high levels of nucleotide diversity in rapidly growing pest populations. Adaptations to plant feeding are evident in gene expansions and differential expression of digestive enzymes in gut tissues, as well as expansions of gustatory receptors for bitter tasting. Surprisingly, the suite of genes involved in insecticide resistance is similar to other beetles. Finally, duplications in the RNAi pathway might explain why Leptinotarsa decemlineata has high sensitivity to dsRNA. In conclusion, the L. decemlineata genome provides opportunities to investigate a broad range of phenotypes and to develop sustainable methods to control this widely successful pest.« less

A model species for agricultural pest genomics: the genome of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).

PubMed

Schoville, Sean D; Chen, Yolanda H; Andersson, Martin N; Benoit, Joshua B; Bhandari, Anita; Bowsher, Julia H; Brevik, Kristian; Cappelle, Kaat; Chen, Mei-Ju M; Childers, Anna K; Childers, Christopher; Christiaens, Olivier; Clements, Justin; Didion, Elise M; Elpidina, Elena N; Engsontia, Patamarerk; Friedrich, Markus; García-Robles, Inmaculada; Gibbs, Richard A; Goswami, Chandan; Grapputo, Alessandro; Gruden, Kristina; Grynberg, Marcin; Henrissat, Bernard; Jennings, Emily C; Jones, Jeffery W; Kalsi, Megha; Khan, Sher A; Kumar, Abhishek; Li, Fei; Lombard, Vincent; Ma, Xingzhou; Martynov, Alexander; Miller, Nicholas J; Mitchell, Robert F; Munoz-Torres, Monica; Muszewska, Anna; Oppert, Brenda; Palli, Subba Reddy; Panfilio, Kristen A; Pauchet, Yannick; Perkin, Lindsey C; Petek, Marko; Poelchau, Monica F; Record, Éric; Rinehart, Joseph P; Robertson, Hugh M; Rosendale, Andrew J; Ruiz-Arroyo, Victor M; Smagghe, Guy; Szendrei, Zsofia; Thomas, Gregg W C; Torson, Alex S; Vargas Jentzsch, Iris M; Weirauch, Matthew T; Yates, Ashley D; Yocum, George D; Yoon, June-Sun; Richards, Stephen

2018-01-31

The Colorado potato beetle is one of the most challenging agricultural pests to manage. It has shown a spectacular ability to adapt to a variety of solanaceaeous plants and variable climates during its global invasion, and, notably, to rapidly evolve insecticide resistance. To examine evidence of rapid evolutionary change, and to understand the genetic basis of herbivory and insecticide resistance, we tested for structural and functional genomic changes relative to other arthropod species using genome sequencing, transcriptomics, and community annotation. Two factors that might facilitate rapid evolutionary change include transposable elements, which comprise at least 17% of the genome and are rapidly evolving compared to other Coleoptera, and high levels of nucleotide diversity in rapidly growing pest populations. Adaptations to plant feeding are evident in gene expansions and differential expression of digestive enzymes in gut tissues, as well as expansions of gustatory receptors for bitter tasting. Surprisingly, the suite of genes involved in insecticide resistance is similar to other beetles. Finally, duplications in the RNAi pathway might explain why Leptinotarsa decemlineata has high sensitivity to dsRNA. The L. decemlineata genome provides opportunities to investigate a broad range of phenotypes and to develop sustainable methods to control this widely successful pest.

Relaxed selection is a precursor to the evolution of phenotypic plasticity.

PubMed

Hunt, Brendan G; Ometto, Lino; Wurm, Yannick; Shoemaker, DeWayne; Yi, Soojin V; Keller, Laurent; Goodisman, Michael A D

2011-09-20

Phenotypic plasticity allows organisms to produce alternative phenotypes under different conditions and represents one of the most important ways by which organisms adaptively respond to the environment. However, the relationship between phenotypic plasticity and molecular evolution remains poorly understood. We addressed this issue by investigating the evolution of genes associated with phenotypically plastic castes, sexes, and developmental stages of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta. We first determined if genes associated with phenotypic plasticity in S. invicta evolved at a rapid rate, as predicted under theoretical models. We found that genes differentially expressed between S. invicta castes, sexes, and developmental stages all exhibited elevated rates of evolution compared with ubiquitously expressed genes. We next investigated the evolutionary history of genes associated with the production of castes. Surprisingly, we found that orthologs of caste-biased genes in S. invicta and the social bee Apis mellifera evolved rapidly in lineages without castes. Thus, in contrast to some theoretical predictions, our results suggest that rapid rates of molecular evolution may not arise primarily as a consequence of phenotypic plasticity. Instead, genes evolving under relaxed purifying selection may more readily adopt new forms of biased expression during the evolution of alternate phenotypes. These results suggest that relaxed selective constraint on protein-coding genes is an important and underappreciated element in the evolutionary origin of phenotypic plasticity.

More rapid climate change promotes evolutionary rescue through selection for increased dispersal distance.

PubMed

Boeye, Jeroen; Travis, Justin M J; Stoks, Robby; Bonte, Dries

2013-02-01

Species can either adapt to new conditions induced by climate change or shift their range in an attempt to track optimal environmental conditions. During current range shifts, species are simultaneously confronted with a second major anthropogenic disturbance, landscape fragmentation. Using individual-based models with a shifting climate window, we examine the effect of different rates of climate change on the evolution of dispersal distances through changes in the genetically determined dispersal kernel. Our results demonstrate that the rate of climate change is positively correlated to the evolved dispersal distances although too fast climate change causes the population to crash. When faced with realistic rates of climate change, greater dispersal distances evolve than those required for the population to keep track of the climate, thereby maximizing population size. Importantly, the greater dispersal distances that evolve when climate change is more rapid, induce evolutionary rescue by facilitating the population in crossing large gaps in the landscape. This could ensure population persistence in case of range shifting in fragmented landscapes. Furthermore, we highlight problems in using invasion speed as a proxy for potential range shifting abilities under climate change.

Rapid and fundamental paleolimnological changes in Lake Iznik (NW Turkey) during the Holocene/Pleistocene transition: a multiproxy - multisite approach.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gromig, R.; Viehberg, F. A.; Damcı, E.; Ülgen, U. B.; Assonov, S.; Franz, S. O.; Cagatay, M. N.; Litt, T.; Melles, M.; Wagner, B.; Staubwasser, M.

2016-12-01

The Marmara region is a key area to investigate the teleconnection and environmental changes of the Black Sea/Eastern Mediterranean Sea and northern hemisphere climate patterns. Lake Iznik, an oligohaline lake, is the largest lake in the Bosphorous region, which holds a continuous sediment archive. A hydro-acoustic survey screened the locations of three sediment cores (5 to 17 m) from previous field campaigns. The longest record reaches back almost to the Campanian Ignimbrite (39.3 cal kyr BP), which represents most likely the lowermost high amplitude reflector in hydro-acoustic profiles. The late Pleistocene ostracode fauna appears low in diversity and evolves abruptly to an abundant monospecific species assemblage of Limnocythere inopinata during the Younger Dryas after substantial alteration in the hydrocarbonate and alkalinity system of Lake Iznik. This distinct change in hydrochemistry is reflected in the appearence of different shell phenotypes and the occurence of a population with sexual reproduction (males/females). Independently, results from stable isotope analyses (δ18O and δ13C) on ostracode shells also suggest that Lake Iznik evolves from a freshwater system to a closed basin sensitive to temperature and precipitation changes.

Risks and risk governance in unconventional shale gas development.

PubMed

Small, Mitchell J; Stern, Paul C; Bomberg, Elizabeth; Christopherson, Susan M; Goldstein, Bernard D; Israel, Andrei L; Jackson, Robert B; Krupnick, Alan; Mauter, Meagan S; Nash, Jennifer; North, D Warner; Olmstead, Sheila M; Prakash, Aseem; Rabe, Barry; Richardson, Nathan; Tierney, Susan; Webler, Thomas; Wong-Parodi, Gabrielle; Zielinska, Barbara

2014-01-01

A broad assessment is provided of the current state of knowledge regarding the risks associated with shale gas development and their governance. For the principal domains of risk, we identify observed and potential hazards and promising mitigation options to address them, characterizing current knowledge and research needs. Important unresolved research questions are identified for each area of risk; however, certain domains exhibit especially acute deficits of knowledge and attention, including integrated studies of public health, ecosystems, air quality, socioeconomic impacts on communities, and climate change. For these, current research and analysis are insufficient to either confirm or preclude important impacts. The rapidly evolving landscape of shale gas governance in the U.S. is also assessed, noting challenges and opportunities associated with the current decentralized (state-focused) system of regulation. We briefly review emerging approaches to shale gas governance in other nations, and consider new governance initiatives and options in the U.S. involving voluntary industry certification, comprehensive development plans, financial instruments, and possible future federal roles. In order to encompass the multiple relevant disciplines, address the complexities of the evolving shale gas system and reduce the many key uncertainties needed for improved management, a coordinated multiagency federal research effort will need to be implemented.

The teaching of fixed partial dentures in undergraduate dental schools in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Lynch, C D; Singhrao, H; Addy, L D; Gilmour, A S M

2010-12-01

All areas of the practice of dentistry are evolving at a considerable pace. One area in particular which has seen a rapid revolution is the oral rehabilitation of partially dentate adults. The aim of this study was to describe the contemporary teaching of fixed partial dentures (FPDs) in dental schools in Ireland and the United Kingdom. An online questionnaire which sought information in relation to the current teaching of FPDs was developed and distributed to 15 Irish and UK dental schools with undergraduate teaching programmes in Spring 2009. Responses were received from 12 schools (response rate=80%). All schools offer teaching programmes in relation to FPDs. The number of hours devoted to pre-clinical/phantom head teaching of FPDs ranged from 3 to 42h (mean: 16h). The staff/student ratio for pre-clinical teaching courses in FPDs ranged from 1:6 to 1:18 (mode: 1:12). Cantilever resin-retained FPDs were the most popular type of FPD provided clinically (average=0·83 per school; range=1-2). Five schools (42%) report that they have requirements (e.g. targets, quotas, competencies) which students must complete prior to graduation in relation to FPDs. Fixed partial dentures form an important part of the undergraduate teaching programme in UK and Irish dental schools. While this teaching is subjected to contemporary pressures such as lack of curriculum time and a lack of available clinical facilities and teachers, there is evidence that teaching programmes in this area are evolving and are sensitive to current clinical practice trends and evidence-based practice. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Efficient Strategies for Active Interface-Level Network Topology Discovery

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

Network Information Centre API Application Programming Interface APNIC Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre ARIN American Registry for Internet Numbers...very convenient Application Programming Interface ( API ) for easy primitive implementation. Ark’s API facilitates easy development and rapid...prototyping – important attributes as the char- acteristics of our primitives evolve. The API allows a high-level of abstraction, which in turn leads to rapid

Snake venoms are integrated systems, but abundant venom proteins evolve more rapidly.

PubMed

Aird, Steven D; Aggarwal, Shikha; Villar-Briones, Alejandro; Tin, Mandy Man-Ying; Terada, Kouki; Mikheyev, Alexander S

2015-08-28

While many studies have shown that extracellular proteins evolve rapidly, how selection acts on them remains poorly understood. We used snake venoms to understand the interaction between ecology, expression level, and evolutionary rate in secreted protein systems. Venomous snakes employ well-integrated systems of proteins and organic constituents to immobilize prey. Venoms are generally optimized to subdue preferred prey more effectively than non-prey, and many venom protein families manifest positive selection and rapid gene family diversification. Although previous studies have illuminated how individual venom protein families evolve, how selection acts on venoms as integrated systems, is unknown. Using next-generation transcriptome sequencing and mass spectrometry, we examined microevolution in two pitvipers, allopatrically separated for at least 1.6 million years, and their hybrids. Transcriptomes of parental species had generally similar compositions in regard to protein families, but for a given protein family, the homologs present and concentrations thereof sometimes differed dramatically. For instance, a phospholipase A2 transcript comprising 73.4 % of the Protobothrops elegans transcriptome, was barely present in the P. flavoviridis transcriptome (<0.05 %). Hybrids produced most proteins found in both parental venoms. Protein evolutionary rates were positively correlated with transcriptomic and proteomic abundances, and the most abundant proteins showed positive selection. This pattern holds with the addition of four other published crotaline transcriptomes, from two more genera, and also for the recently published king cobra genome, suggesting that rapid evolution of abundant proteins may be generally true for snake venoms. Looking more broadly at Protobothrops, we show that rapid evolution of the most abundant components is due to positive selection, suggesting an interplay between abundance and adaptation. Given log-scale differences in toxin abundance, which are likely correlated with biosynthetic costs, we hypothesize that as a result of natural selection, snakes optimize return on energetic investment by producing more of venom proteins that increase their fitness. Natural selection then acts on the additive genetic variance of these components, in proportion to their contributions to overall fitness. Adaptive evolution of venoms may occur most rapidly through changes in expression levels that alter fitness contributions, and thus the strength of selection acting on specific secretome components.

Colon Capsule Endoscopy: Where Are We and Where Are We Going

PubMed Central

Han, Yoo Min; Im, Jong Pil

2016-01-01

Colon capsule endoscopy (CCE) is a noninvasive technique for diagnostic imaging of the colon. It does not require air inflation or sedation and allows minimally invasive and painless colonic evaluation. The role of CCE is rapidly evolving; for example, for colorectal screening (colorectal cancer [CRC]) in average-risk patients, in patients with an incomplete colonoscopy, in patients refusing a conventional colonoscopy, and in patients with contraindications for conventional colonoscopy. In this paper, we comprehensively review the technical characteristics and procedure of CCE and compare CCE with conventional methods such as conventional colonoscopy or computed tomographic colonography. Future expansion of CCE in the area of CRC screening for the surveillance of polyps and adenomatous lesions and for assessment of inflammatory bowel disease is also discussed. PMID:27653441

A Survey of the Neuro-Oncology Landscape

PubMed Central

Wu, Jing; Dey, Mahua; Buerki, Robin A.; Byrne, Richard W.; Dohrmann, George J.

2018-01-01

The field of neuro-oncology is evolving rapidly. Many important advances have recently been reported, and other promising investigations have the potential to soon make substantial impacts in the field, especially in the areas of high-grade gliomas and brain metastases. We present an overview of the current status of this field, highlighting the key recent advances as well as representative work of key clinical investigations, since these concepts have the potential to influence clinical management if they are demonstrated to be safe and efficacious. This overview includes some work that has only appeared in abstract form in order to provide a timely understanding of how the field is actively changing and what may lie on the horizon. We focus on both medical and surgical neuro-oncology advances in this highly multidisciplinary subspecialty. PMID:29141278

Intelligent design of multifunctional lipid-coated nanoparticle platforms for cancer therapy.

PubMed

Ramishetti, Srinivas; Huang, Leaf

2012-12-01

Nanotechnology is rapidly evolving and dramatically changing the paradigms of drug delivery. The small sizes, unique chemical properties, large surface areas, structural diversity and multifunctionality of nanoparticles prove to be greatly advantageous for combating notoriously therapeutically evasive diseases such as cancer. Multifunctional nanoparticles have been designed to enhance tumor uptake through either passive or active targeting, while also avoiding reticuloendothelial system uptake through the incorporation of PEG onto the surface. First-generation nanoparticle systems, such as liposomes, are good carriers for drugs and nucleic acid therapeutics, although they have some limitations. These lipid bilayers are now being utilized as excellent carriers for drug-loaded, solid core particles such as iron oxide, mesoporus silica and calcium phosphate. In this article, their design, as well as their multifunctional role in cancer therapy are discussed.

Opportunities for Live Cell FT-Infrared Imaging: Macromolecule Identification with 2D and 3D Localization

PubMed Central

Mattson, Eric C.; Aboualizadeh, Ebrahim; Barabas, Marie E.; Stucky, Cheryl L.; Hirschmugl, Carol J.

2013-01-01

Infrared (IR) spectromicroscopy, or chemical imaging, is an evolving technique that is poised to make significant contributions in the fields of biology and medicine. Recent developments in sources, detectors, measurement techniques and speciman holders have now made diffraction-limited Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) imaging of cellular chemistry in living cells a reality. The availability of bright, broadband IR sources and large area, pixelated detectors facilitate live cell imaging, which requires rapid measurements using non-destructive probes. In this work, we review advances in the field of FTIR spectromicroscopy that have contributed to live-cell two and three-dimensional IR imaging, and discuss several key examples that highlight the utility of this technique for studying the structure and chemistry of living cells. PMID:24256815

Robotics in urologic surgery: an evolving new technology.

PubMed

Atug, Fatih; Castle, Erik P; Woods, Michael; Davis, Rodney; Thomas, Raju

2006-07-01

Rapid technological developments in the past two decades have produced new inventions such as robots and incorporated them into our daily lives. Today, robots perform vital functions in homes, outer space, hospitals and on military instillations. The development of robotic surgery has given hospitals and health care providers a valuable tool that is making a profound impact on highly technical surgical procedures. The field of urology is one area of medicine that has adopted and incorporated robotic surgery into its armamentarium. Innovative robotic urologic surgical applications and techniques are being developed and reported everyday. Increased utilization and development will ultimately fuel the discovery of newer applications of robotic systems in urologic surgery. Herein we provide an overview of the history, development, and applications of robotics in surgery with a focus on urologic surgery.

Advances in spatial epidemiology and geographic information systems.

PubMed

Kirby, Russell S; Delmelle, Eric; Eberth, Jan M

2017-01-01

The field of spatial epidemiology has evolved rapidly in the past 2 decades. This study serves as a brief introduction to spatial epidemiology and the use of geographic information systems in applied research in epidemiology. We highlight technical developments and highlight opportunities to apply spatial analytic methods in epidemiologic research, focusing on methodologies involving geocoding, distance estimation, residential mobility, record linkage and data integration, spatial and spatio-temporal clustering, small area estimation, and Bayesian applications to disease mapping. The articles included in this issue incorporate many of these methods into their study designs and analytical frameworks. It is our hope that these studies will spur further development and utilization of spatial analysis and geographic information systems in epidemiologic research. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A review of drugs in development for the personalized treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

PubMed Central

Birkeland, Andrew C.; Swiecicki, Paul L.; Brenner, J. Chad; Shuman, Andrew G.

2017-01-01

Introduction Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma remains a highly morbid and fatal disease, with poor survival rates among patients with advanced and recurrent disease. Recent advances in next generation sequencing, targeted therapeutics, and precision medicine trials are expanding treatment options for head and neck cancers; thus greater awareness of this rapidly evolving field is important. Areas Covered Recent next-generation sequencing studies in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, targeted therapy clinical trials involving head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Expert Commentary This review discusses the current state of head and neck cancer treatment, and considerations and implications for the incorporation of personalized medicine and targeted therapy for head and neck cancers in a dynamic clinical landscape. PMID:28251187

Plasticity of language-related brain function during recovery from stroke.

PubMed

Thulborn, K R; Carpenter, P A; Just, M A

1999-04-01

This study was undertaken to correlate functional recovery from aphasia after acute stroke with the temporal evolution of the anatomic, physiological, and functional changes as measured by MRI. Blood oxygenation level-dependent contrast and echo-planar MRI were used to map language comprehension in 6 normal adults and in 2 adult patients during recovery from acute stroke presenting with aphasia. Perfusion, diffusion, sodium, and conventional anatomic MRI were used to follow physiological and structural changes. The normal activation pattern for language comprehension showed activation predominately in left-sided Wernicke's and Broca's areas, with laterality ratios of 0.8 and 0.3, respectively. Recovery of the patient confirmed as having a completed stroke affecting Broca's area occurred rapidly with a shift of activation to the homologous region in the right hemisphere within 3 days, with continued rightward lateralization over 6 months. In the second patient, in whom mapping was performed fortuitously before stroke, recovery of a Wernicke's aphasia showed a similar increasing rightward shift in activation recruitment over 9 months after the event. Recovery of aphasia in adults can occur rapidly and is concomitant with an activation pattern that changes from left to a homologous right hemispheric pattern. Such recovery occurs even when the stroke evolves to completion. Such plasticity must be considered when evaluating stroke interventions based on behavioral and neurological measurements.

Emerging nanotechnology based strategies for diagnosis and therapeutics of urinary tract infections: A review.

PubMed

Kumar, M S; Das, A P

2017-11-01

At present, various diagnostic and therapeutic approaches are available for urinary tract infections. But, still the quest for development of more rapid, accurate and reliable approach is an unending process. The pathogens, especially uropathogens are adapting to new environments and antibiotics day by day rapidly. Therefore, urinary tract infections are evolving as hectic and difficult to eradicate, increasing the economic burden to the society. The technological advances should be able to compete the adaptability characteristics of microorganisms to combat their growth in new environments and thereby preventing their infections. Nanotechnology is at present an extensively developing area of immense scientific interest since it has diverse potential applications in biomedical field. Nanotechnology may be combined with cellular therapy approaches to overcome the limitations caused by conventional therapeutics. Nanoantibiotics and drug delivery using nanotechnology are currently growing areas of research in biomedical field. Recently, various categories of antibacterial nanoparticles and nanocarriers for drug delivery have shown their potential in the treatment of infectious diseases. Nanoparticles, compared to conventional antibiotics, are more beneficial in terms of decreasing toxicity, prevailing over resistance and lessening costs. Nanoparticles present long term therapeutic effects since they are retained in body for relatively longer periods. This review focuses on recent advances in the field of nanotechnology, principally emphasizing diagnostics and therapeutics of urinary tract infections. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

HIV-TRACE (Transmission Cluster Engine): a tool for large scale molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 and other rapidly evolving pathogens.

PubMed

Kosakovsky Pond, Sergei L; Weaver, Steven; Leigh Brown, Andrew J; Wertheim, Joel O

2018-01-31

In modern applications of molecular epidemiology, genetic sequence data are routinely used to identify clusters of transmission in rapidly evolving pathogens, most notably HIV-1. Traditional 'shoeleather' epidemiology infers transmission clusters by tracing chains of partners sharing epidemiological connections (e.g., sexual contact). Here, we present a computational tool for identifying a molecular transmission analog of such clusters: HIV-TRACE (TRAnsmission Cluster Engine). HIV-TRACE implements an approach inspired by traditional epidemiology, by identifying chains of partners whose viral genetic relatedness imply direct or indirect epidemiological connections. Molecular transmission clusters are constructed using codon-aware pairwise alignment to a reference sequence followed by pairwise genetic distance estimation among all sequences. This approach is computationally tractable and is capable of identifying HIV-1 transmission clusters in large surveillance databases comprising tens or hundreds of thousands of sequences in near real time, i.e., on the order of minutes to hours. HIV-TRACE is available at www.hivtrace.org and from github.com/veg/hivtrace, along with the accompanying result visualization module from github.com/veg/hivtrace-viz. Importantly, the approach underlying HIV-TRACE is not limited to the study of HIV-1 and can be applied to study outbreaks and epidemics of other rapidly evolving pathogens. © The Author 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Quantifying Sediment Characteristics and Infilling Rate within a Ship Shoal Dredge Borrow Area, Offshore Louisiana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xue, Z.; Wilson, C.; Bentley, S. J.; Xu, K.; Liu, H.; Li, C.; Miner, M. D.

2017-12-01

Barrier islands provide protection to interior wetlands and maintain estuarine gradients. Mississippi River delta plain barrier islands are undergoing rapid disintegration due to high rates of subsidence and a deficit in the coastal sand supply. To mitigate for barrier island land loss, Louisiana has implemented a restoration program that intends to supplement coastal sand deficits by introducing sand from outside of the active coastal system. Inner-shelf shoals offshore Louisiana are one of the only sand resource options containing large volumes of restoration quality sand. Ship Shoal is one of these inner-shelf shoals that was produced by marine reworking of former Mississippi River Delta barrier island sediments during late Holocene time. Though indirect effects to protected areas or infrastructure adjacent to excavations have been considered, there is a paucity of observational data on their evolution. Caminada borrow area, dredged in 2013-2016 for the Caminada Headland Restoration Project, provides a valuable opportunity to validate and improve predictive models for how borrow areas evolve. In July 2017, a subbottom and bathymetric geophysical survey was conducted and sediment cores were collected to test the hypothesis that sedimentation within the excavation is affected by lateral bedload transport after initial rapid infill as slopes equilibrate. Preliminary results show the sediment within the excavation is predominantly very fine sand with isolated mud drapes. These sediments overlay older delta complex muddy strata. This contrasts strongly with other dredge pits outside of shoal areas and closer to shore, which have been infilled largely by advection of fine suspended sediments of fluvial origin. Laboratory work on cores will include laser grain size, x-ray analyses of sedimentary structures, and radiochemistry analyses for rates and age of deposition. With the knowledge of stratigraphy and sediment dynamics surrounding the dredge pit, we can quantify and better understand the timeline of these depositional processes to provide vital knowledge to coastal managers for future borrow area design and management.

Creation of an in vitro biomechanical model of the trachea using rapid prototyping.

PubMed

Walenga, Ross L; Longest, P Worth; Sundaresan, Gobalakrishnan

2014-06-03

Previous in vitro models of the airways are either rigid or, if flexible, have not matched in vivo compliance characteristics. Rapid prototyping provides a quickly evolving approach that can be used to directly produce in vitro airway models using either rigid or flexible polymers. The objective of this study was to use rapid prototyping to directly produce a flexible hollow model that matches the biomechanical compliance of the trachea. The airway model consisted of a previously developed characteristic mouth-throat region, the trachea, and a portion of the main bronchi. Compliance of the tracheal region was known from a previous in vivo imaging study that reported cross-sectional areas over a range of internal pressures. The compliance of the tracheal region was matched to the in vivo data for a specific flexible resin by iteratively selecting the thicknesses and other dimensions of tracheal wall components. Seven iterative models were produced and illustrated highly non-linear expansion consisting of initial rapid size increase, a transition region, and continued slower size increase as pressure was increased. Thickness of the esophageal interface membrane and initial trachea indention were identified as key parameters with the final model correctly predicting all phases of expansion within a value of 5% of the in vivo data. Applications of the current biomechanical model are related to endotracheal intubation and include determination of effective mucus suctioning and evaluation of cuff sealing with respect to gases and secretions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adaptable data management for systems biology investigations

PubMed Central

Boyle, John; Rovira, Hector; Cavnor, Chris; Burdick, David; Killcoyne, Sarah; Shmulevich, Ilya

2009-01-01

Background Within research each experiment is different, the focus changes and the data is generated from a continually evolving barrage of technologies. There is a continual introduction of new techniques whose usage ranges from in-house protocols through to high-throughput instrumentation. To support these requirements data management systems are needed that can be rapidly built and readily adapted for new usage. Results The adaptable data management system discussed is designed to support the seamless mining and analysis of biological experiment data that is commonly used in systems biology (e.g. ChIP-chip, gene expression, proteomics, imaging, flow cytometry). We use different content graphs to represent different views upon the data. These views are designed for different roles: equipment specific views are used to gather instrumentation information; data processing oriented views are provided to enable the rapid development of analysis applications; and research project specific views are used to organize information for individual research experiments. This management system allows for both the rapid introduction of new types of information and the evolution of the knowledge it represents. Conclusion Data management is an important aspect of any research enterprise. It is the foundation on which most applications are built, and must be easily extended to serve new functionality for new scientific areas. We have found that adopting a three-tier architecture for data management, built around distributed standardized content repositories, allows us to rapidly develop new applications to support a diverse user community. PMID:19265554

ANALYSIS AND MODELING OF TWO FLARE LOOPS OBSERVED BY AIA AND EIS

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

Li, Y.; Ding, M. D.; Qiu, J.

2012-10-10

We analyze and model an M1.0 flare observed by SDO/AIA and Hinode/EIS to investigate how flare loops are heated and evolve subsequently. The flare is composed of two distinctive loop systems observed in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) images. The UV 1600 A emission at the feet of these loops exhibits a rapid rise, followed by enhanced emission in different EUV channels observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). Such behavior is indicative of impulsive energy deposit and the subsequent response in overlying coronal loops that evolve through different temperatures. Using the method we recently developed,more » we infer empirical heating functions from the rapid rise of the UV light curves for the two loop systems, respectively, treating them as two big loops with cross-sectional area of 5'' by 5'', and compute the plasma evolution in the loops using the EBTEL model. We compute the synthetic EUV light curves, which, with the limitation of the model, reasonably agree with observed light curves obtained in multiple AIA channels and EIS lines: they show the same evolution trend and their magnitudes are comparable by within a factor of two. Furthermore, we also compare the computed mean enthalpy flow velocity with the Doppler shift measurements by EIS during the decay phase of the two loops. Our results suggest that the two different loops with different heating functions as inferred from their footpoint UV emission, combined with their different lengths as measured from imaging observations, give rise to different coronal plasma evolution patterns captured both in the model and in observations.« less

Rapid evolution of troglomorphic characters suggests selection rather than neutral mutation as a driver of eye reduction in cave crabs.

PubMed

Klaus, Sebastian; Mendoza, José C E; Liew, Jia Huan; Plath, Martin; Meier, Rudolf; Yeo, Darren C J

2013-04-23

This study asked whether reductive traits in cave organisms evolve at a slower pace (suggesting neutral evolution under relaxed selection) than constructive changes, which are likely to evolve under directional selection. We investigated 11 subterranean and seven surface populations of Sundathelphusa freshwater crabs on Bohol Island, Philippines, and examined constructive traits associated with improved food finding in darkness (increased leg and setae length) and reductive traits (reduced cornea size and eyestalk length). All changes occurred rapidly, given that the age of the most recent common ancestor was estimated to be 722-271 ka based on three mitochondrial markers. In order to quantify the speed of character change, we correlated the degree of morphological change with genetic distances between surface and subterranean individuals. The temporal pattern of character change following the transition to subterranean life was indistinguishable for constructive and reductive traits, characterized by an immediate onset and rapid evolutionary change. We propose that the evolution of these reductive traits-just like constructive traits-is most likely driven by strong directional selection.

Carotid artery stenting: current and emerging options

PubMed Central

Morr, Simon; Lin, Ning; Siddiqui, Adnan H

2014-01-01

Carotid artery stenting technologies are rapidly evolving. Options for endovascular surgeons and interventionists who treat occlusive carotid disease continue to expand. We here present an update and overview of carotid stenting devices. Evidence supporting carotid stenting includes randomized controlled trials that compare endovascular stenting to open surgical endarterectomy. Carotid technologies addressed include the carotid stents themselves as well as adjunct neuroprotective devices. Aspects of stent technology include bare-metal versus covered stents, stent tapering, and free-cell area. Drug-eluting and cutting balloon indications are described. Embolization protection options and new direct carotid access strategies are reviewed. Adjunct technologies, such as intravascular ultrasound imaging and risk stratification algorithms, are discussed. Bare-metal and covered stents provide unique advantages and disadvantages. Stent tapering may allow for a more fitted contour to the caliber decrement between the common carotid and internal carotid arteries but also introduces new technical challenges. Studies regarding free-cell area are conflicting with respect to benefits and associated risk; clinical relevance of associated adverse effects associated with either type is unclear. Embolization protection strategies include distal filter protection and flow reversal. Though flow reversal was initially met with some skepticism, it has gained wider acceptance and may provide the advantage of not crossing the carotid lesion before protection is established. New direct carotid access techniques address difficult anatomy and incorporate sophisticated flow-reversal embolization protection techniques. Carotid stenting is a new and exciting field with rapidly advancing technologies. Embolization protection, low-risk deployment, and lesion assessment and stratification are active areas of research. Ample room remains for further innovations and developments. PMID:25349483

Fire and aquatic ecosystems in forested biomes of North America

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gresswell, Robert E.

1999-01-01

Synthesis of the literature suggests that physical, chemical, and biological elements of a watershed interact with long-term climate to influence fire regime, and that these factors, in concordance with the postfire vegetation mosaic, combine with local-scale weather to govern the trajectory and magnitude of change following a fire event. Perturbation associated with hydrological processes is probably the primary factor influencing postfire persistence of fishes, benthic macroinvertebrates, and diatoms in fluvial systems. It is apparent that salmonids have evolved strategies to survive perturbations occurring at the frequency of wildland fires (100a??102 years), but local populations of a species may be more ephemeral. Habitat alteration probably has the greatest impact on individual organisms and local populations that are the least mobile, and reinvasion will be most rapid by aquatic organisms with high mobility. It is becoming increasingly apparent that during the past century fire suppression has altered fire regimes in some vegetation types, and consequently, the probability of large stand-replacing fires has increased in those areas. Current evidence suggests, however, that even in the case of extensive high-severity fires, local extirpation of fishes is patchy, and recolonization is rapid. Lasting detrimental effects on fish populations have been limited to areas where native populations have declined and become increasingly isolated because of anthropogenic activities. A strategy of protecting robust aquatic communities and restoring aquatic habitat structure and life history complexity in degraded areas may be the most effective means for insuring the persistence of native biota where the probability of large-scale fires has increased.

More rapid climate change promotes evolutionary rescue through selection for increased dispersal distance

PubMed Central

Boeye, Jeroen; Travis, Justin M J; Stoks, Robby; Bonte, Dries

2013-01-01

Species can either adapt to new conditions induced by climate change or shift their range in an attempt to track optimal environmental conditions. During current range shifts, species are simultaneously confronted with a second major anthropogenic disturbance, landscape fragmentation. Using individual-based models with a shifting climate window, we examine the effect of different rates of climate change on the evolution of dispersal distances through changes in the genetically determined dispersal kernel. Our results demonstrate that the rate of climate change is positively correlated to the evolved dispersal distances although too fast climate change causes the population to crash. When faced with realistic rates of climate change, greater dispersal distances evolve than those required for the population to keep track of the climate, thereby maximizing population size. Importantly, the greater dispersal distances that evolve when climate change is more rapid, induce evolutionary rescue by facilitating the population in crossing large gaps in the landscape. This could ensure population persistence in case of range shifting in fragmented landscapes. Furthermore, we highlight problems in using invasion speed as a proxy for potential range shifting abilities under climate change. PMID:23467649

Assessing Multivariate Constraints to Evolution across Ten Long-Term Avian Studies

PubMed Central

Teplitsky, Celine; Tarka, Maja; Møller, Anders P.; Nakagawa, Shinichi; Balbontín, Javier; Burke, Terry A.; Doutrelant, Claire; Gregoire, Arnaud; Hansson, Bengt; Hasselquist, Dennis; Gustafsson, Lars; de Lope, Florentino; Marzal, Alfonso; Mills, James A.; Wheelwright, Nathaniel T.; Yarrall, John W.; Charmantier, Anne

2014-01-01

Background In a rapidly changing world, it is of fundamental importance to understand processes constraining or facilitating adaptation through microevolution. As different traits of an organism covary, genetic correlations are expected to affect evolutionary trajectories. However, only limited empirical data are available. Methodology/Principal Findings We investigate the extent to which multivariate constraints affect the rate of adaptation, focusing on four morphological traits often shown to harbour large amounts of genetic variance and considered to be subject to limited evolutionary constraints. Our data set includes unique long-term data for seven bird species and a total of 10 populations. We estimate population-specific matrices of genetic correlations and multivariate selection coefficients to predict evolutionary responses to selection. Using Bayesian methods that facilitate the propagation of errors in estimates, we compare (1) the rate of adaptation based on predicted response to selection when including genetic correlations with predictions from models where these genetic correlations were set to zero and (2) the multivariate evolvability in the direction of current selection to the average evolvability in random directions of the phenotypic space. We show that genetic correlations on average decrease the predicted rate of adaptation by 28%. Multivariate evolvability in the direction of current selection was systematically lower than average evolvability in random directions of space. These significant reductions in the rate of adaptation and reduced evolvability were due to a general nonalignment of selection and genetic variance, notably orthogonality of directional selection with the size axis along which most (60%) of the genetic variance is found. Conclusions These results suggest that genetic correlations can impose significant constraints on the evolution of avian morphology in wild populations. This could have important impacts on evolutionary dynamics and hence population persistence in the face of rapid environmental change. PMID:24608111

Experimental evolution gone wild.

PubMed

Scheinin, M; Riebesell, U; Rynearson, T A; Lohbeck, K T; Collins, S

2015-05-06

Because of their large population sizes and rapid cell division rates, marine microbes have, or can generate, ample variation to fuel evolution over a few weeks or months, and subsequently have the potential to evolve in response to global change. Here we measure evolution in the marine diatom Skeletonema marinoi evolved in a natural plankton community in CO2-enriched mesocosms deployed in situ. Mesocosm enclosures are typically used to study how the species composition and biogeochemistry of marine communities respond to environmental shifts, but have not been used for experimental evolution to date. Using this approach, we detect a large evolutionary response to CO2 enrichment in a focal marine diatom, where population growth rate increased by 1.3-fold in high CO2-evolved lineages. This study opens an exciting new possibility of carrying out in situ evolution experiments to understand how marine microbial communities evolve in response to environmental change.

Hybridization Reveals the Evolving Genomic Architecture of Speciation

PubMed Central

Kronforst, Marcus R.; Hansen, Matthew E.B.; Crawford, Nicholas G.; Gallant, Jason R.; Zhang, Wei; Kulathinal, Rob J.; Kapan, Durrell D.; Mullen, Sean P.

2014-01-01

SUMMARY The rate at which genomes diverge during speciation is unknown, as are the physical dynamics of the process. Here, we compare full genome sequences of 32 butterflies, representing five species from a hybridizing Heliconius butterfly community, to examine genome-wide patterns of introgression and infer how divergence evolves during the speciation process. Our analyses reveal that initial divergence is restricted to a small fraction of the genome, largely clustered around known wing-patterning genes. Over time, divergence evolves rapidly, due primarily to the origin of new divergent regions. Furthermore, divergent genomic regions display signatures of both selection and adaptive introgression, demonstrating the link between microevolutionary processes acting within species and the origin of species across macroevolutionary timescales. Our results provide a uniquely comprehensive portrait of the evolving species boundary due to the role that hybridization plays in reducing the background accumulation of divergence at neutral sites. PMID:24183670

Synthesis of Automated Vehicle Legislation

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-10-01

This report provides a synthesis of issues addressed by state legislation regarding automated vehicles (AV); AV technologies are rapidly evolving and many states have developed legislation to govern AV testing and deployment and to assure safety on p...

Students From Highlands Ranch Triumph in Colorado Science Bowl

Science.gov Websites

final round of rapid-fire questions about physics, math, biology, astronomy, chemistry, computers and interest in science and math. The competition has evolved into one of the Energy Department's premier

Evolution under changing climates: climatic niche stasis despite rapid evolution in a non-native plant.

PubMed

Alexander, Jake M

2013-09-22

A topic of great current interest is the capacity of populations to adapt genetically to rapidly changing climates, for example by evolving the timing of life-history events, but this is challenging to address experimentally. I use a plant invasion as a model system to tackle this question by combining molecular markers, a common garden experiment and climatic niche modelling. This approach reveals that non-native Lactuca serriola originates primarily from Europe, a climatic subset of its native range, with low rates of admixture from Asia. It has rapidly refilled its climatic niche in the new range, associated with the evolution of flowering phenology to produce clines along climate gradients that mirror those across the native range. Consequently, some non-native plants have evolved development times and grow under climates more extreme than those found in Europe, but not among populations from the native range as a whole. This suggests that many plant populations can adapt rapidly to changed climatic conditions that are already within the climatic niche space occupied by the species elsewhere in its range, but that evolution to conditions outside of this range is more difficult. These findings can also help to explain the prevalence of niche conservatism among non-native species.

Visual Cortical Representation of Whole Words and Hemifield-split Word Parts.

PubMed

Strother, Lars; Coros, Alexandra M; Vilis, Tutis

2016-02-01

Reading requires the neural integration of visual word form information that is split between our retinal hemifields. We examined multiple visual cortical areas involved in this process by measuring fMRI responses while observers viewed words that changed or repeated in one or both hemifields. We were specifically interested in identifying brain areas that exhibit decreased fMRI responses as a result of repeated versus changing visual word form information in each visual hemifield. Our method yielded highly significant effects of word repetition in a previously reported visual word form area (VWFA) in occipitotemporal cortex, which represents hemifield-split words as whole units. We also identified a more posterior occipital word form area (OWFA), which represents word form information in the right and left hemifields independently and is thus both functionally and anatomically distinct from the VWFA. Both the VWFA and the OWFA were left-lateralized in our study and strikingly symmetric in anatomical location relative to known face-selective visual cortical areas in the right hemisphere. Our findings are consistent with the observation that category-selective visual areas come in pairs and support the view that neural mechanisms in left visual cortex--especially those that evolved to support the visual processing of faces--are developmentally malleable and become incorporated into a left-lateralized visual word form network that supports rapid word recognition and reading.

The maintenance of sex: Ronald Fisher meets the Red Queen.

PubMed

Green, David; Mason, Chris

2013-08-21

Sex in higher diploids carries a two-fold cost of males that should reduce its fitness relative to cloning, and result in its extinction. Instead, sex is widespread and clonal species face early obsolescence. One possible reason is that sex is an adaptation that allows organisms to respond more effectively to endless changes in their environment. The purpose of this study was to model mutation and selection in a diploid organism in an evolving environment and ascertain their support for sex. We used a computational approach to model finite populations where a haploid environment subjects a diploid host to endlessly evolving change. Evolution in both populations is primarily through adoption of novel advantageous mutations within a large allele space. Sex outcompetes cloning by two complementary mechanisms. First, sexual diploids adopt advantageous homozygous mutations more rapidly than clonal ones under conditions of lag load (the gap between the actual adaptation of the diploid population and its theoretical optimum). This rate advantage can offset the higher fecundity of cloning. Second, a relative advantage to sex emerges where populations are significantly polymorphic, because clonal polymorphism runs the risk of clonal interference caused by selection on numerous lines of similar adaptation. This interference extends allele lifetime and reduces the rate of adaptation. Sex abolishes the interference, making selection faster and elevating population fitness. Differences in adaptation between sexual and clonal populations increase markedly with the number of loci under selection, the rate of mutation in the host, and a rapidly evolving environment. Clonal interference in these circumstances leads to conditions where the greater fecundity of clones is unable to offset their poor adaptation. Sexual and clonal populations then either co-exist, or sex emerges as the more stable evolutionary strategy. Sex can out-compete clones in a rapidly evolving environment, such as that characterized by pathogens, where clonal interference reduces the adaptation of clonal populations and clones adopt advantageous mutations more slowly. Since all organisms carry parasitic loads, the model is of potentially general applicability.

Experimental evolution of insect immune memory versus pathogen resistance.

PubMed

Khan, Imroze; Prakash, Arun; Agashe, Deepa

2017-12-20

Under strong pathogen pressure, insects often evolve resistance to infection. Many insects are also protected via immune memory (immune priming), whereby sublethal exposure to a pathogen enhances survival after secondary infection. Theory predicts that immune memory should evolve when the pathogen is highly virulent, or when pathogen exposure is relatively rare. However, there are no empirical tests of these hypotheses, and the adaptive benefits of immune memory relative to direct resistance against a pathogen are poorly understood. To determine the selective pressures and ecological conditions that shape immune evolution, we imposed strong pathogen selection on flour beetle ( Tribolium castaneum ) populations, infecting them with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) for 11 generations. Populations injected first with heat-killed and then live Bt evolved high basal resistance against multiple Bt strains. By contrast, populations injected only with a high dose of live Bt evolved a less effective but strain-specific priming response. Control populations injected with heat-killed Bt did not evolve priming; and in the ancestor, priming was effective only against a low Bt dose. Intriguingly, one replicate population first evolved priming and subsequently evolved basal resistance, suggesting the potential for dynamic evolution of different immune strategies. Our work is the first report showing that pathogens can select for rapid modulation of insect priming ability, allowing hosts to evolve divergent immune strategies (generalized resistance versus specific immune memory) with potentially distinct mechanisms. © 2017 The Author(s).

Extinction events can accelerate evolution.

PubMed

Lehman, Joel; Miikkulainen, Risto

2015-01-01

Extinction events impact the trajectory of biological evolution significantly. They are often viewed as upheavals to the evolutionary process. In contrast, this paper supports the hypothesis that although they are unpredictably destructive, extinction events may in the long term accelerate evolution by increasing evolvability. In particular, if extinction events extinguish indiscriminately many ways of life, indirectly they may select for the ability to expand rapidly through vacated niches. Lineages with such an ability are more likely to persist through multiple extinctions. Lending computational support for this hypothesis, this paper shows how increased evolvability will result from simulated extinction events in two computational models of evolved behavior. The conclusion is that although they are destructive in the short term, extinction events may make evolution more prolific in the long term.

Evolving approaches to the ethical management of genomic data.

PubMed

McEwen, Jean E; Boyer, Joy T; Sun, Kathie Y

2013-06-01

The ethical landscape in the field of genomics is rapidly shifting. Plummeting sequencing costs, along with ongoing advances in bioinformatics, now make it possible to generate an enormous volume of genomic data about vast numbers of people. The informational richness, complexity, and frequently uncertain meaning of these data, coupled with evolving norms surrounding the sharing of data and samples and persistent privacy concerns, have generated a range of approaches to the ethical management of genomic information. As calls increase for the expanded use of broad or even open consent, and as controversy grows about how best to handle incidental genomic findings, these approaches, informed by normative analysis and empirical data, will continue to evolve alongside the science. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Evolving Approaches to the Ethical Management of Genomic Data

PubMed Central

Boyer, Joy T.; Sun, Kathie Y.

2013-01-01

The ethical landscape in the field of genomics is rapidly shifting. Plummeting sequencing costs, along with ongoing advances in bioinformatics, now make it possible to generate an enormous volume of genomic data about vast numbers of people. The informational richness, complexity, and frequently uncertain meaning of these data, coupled with evolving norms surrounding the sharing of data and samples and persistent privacy concerns, have generated a range of approaches to the ethical management of genomic information. As calls increase for the expanded use of broad or even open consent, and as controversy grows about how best to handle incidental genomic findings, these approaches, informed by normative analysis and empirical data, will continue to evolve alongside the science. PMID:23453621

The evolution of flaring and non-flaring active regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kilcik, A.; Yurchyshyn, V.; Sahin, S.; Sarp, V.; Obridko, V.; Ozguc, A.; Rozelot, J. P.

2018-06-01

According to the modified Zurich classification, sunspot groups are classified into seven different classes (A, B, C, D, E, F and H) based on their morphology and evolution. In this classification, classes A and B, which are small groups, describe the beginning of sunspot evolution, while classes D, E and F describe the large and evolved groups. Class C describes the middle phase of sunspot evolution and the class H describes the end of sunspot evolution. Here, we compare the lifetime and temporal evolution of flaring and non-flaring active regions (ARs), and the flaring effect on ARs in these groups in detail for the last two solar cycles (1996 through 2016). Our main findings are as follows: (i) Flaring sunspot groups have longer lifetimes than non-flaring ones. (ii) Most of the class A, B and C flaring ARs rapidly evolve to higher classes, while this is not applicable for non-flaring ARs. More than 50 per cent of the flaring A, B and C groups changed morphologically, while the remaining D, E, F and H groups did not change remarkably after the flare activity. (iii) 75 per cent of all flaring sunspot groups are large and complex. (iv) There is a significant increase in the sunspot group area in classes A, B, C, D and H after flaring activity. In contrast, the sunspot group area of classes E and F decreased. The sunspot counts of classes D, E and F decreased as well, while classes A, B, C and H showed an increase.

Enhancer Evolution across 20 Mammalian Species

PubMed Central

Villar, Diego; Berthelot, Camille; Aldridge, Sarah; Rayner, Tim F.; Lukk, Margus; Pignatelli, Miguel; Park, Thomas J.; Deaville, Robert; Erichsen, Jonathan T.; Jasinska, Anna J.; Turner, James M.A.; Bertelsen, Mads F.; Murchison, Elizabeth P.; Flicek, Paul; Odom, Duncan T.

2015-01-01

Summary The mammalian radiation has corresponded with rapid changes in noncoding regions of the genome, but we lack a comprehensive understanding of regulatory evolution in mammals. Here, we track the evolution of promoters and enhancers active in liver across 20 mammalian species from six diverse orders by profiling genomic enrichment of H3K27 acetylation and H3K4 trimethylation. We report that rapid evolution of enhancers is a universal feature of mammalian genomes. Most of the recently evolved enhancers arise from ancestral DNA exaptation, rather than lineage-specific expansions of repeat elements. In contrast, almost all liver promoters are partially or fully conserved across these species. Our data further reveal that recently evolved enhancers can be associated with genes under positive selection, demonstrating the power of this approach for annotating regulatory adaptations in genomic sequences. These results provide important insight into the functional genetics underpinning mammalian regulatory evolution. PMID:25635462

Intracardiac metastasis originated from chondrosarcoma.

PubMed

Maurea, Nicola; Ragone, Gianluca; Coppola, Carmela; Caronna, Antonietta; Tocchetti, Carlo G; Agozzino, Lucio; Apice, Gaetano; Iaffaioli, Rosario V

2017-05-01

Primary cardiac tumors are extremely rare. By comparison, metastatic involvement of the heart is over 20 times more common and has been reported in autopsy series in up to one in five patients dying of cancer. Cardiac metastasis of chondrosarcoma is absolutely not frequent. In the recent literature, a cardiac metastasis from chondrosarcoma has never been described. We report the case of an 18-year-old man with a diagnosis of cardiac metastasis that originated from a left scapular chondrosarcoma. Chondrosarcoma is a skeletal tumor with various grades of malignancy, rapidly evolving, and with a strong tendency to metastasize, with low responsiveness to chemotherapy. The onset of characteristic systemic symptoms in the late stage of the disease led to the diagnosis of a mass localized in the right atrium. Management and differential diagnosis of infective heart lesions were also very complex in a rapidly evolving life-threatening condition.

Evolving food retail environments in Thailand and implications for the health and nutrition transition

PubMed Central

Banwell, Cathy; Dixon, Jane; Seubsman, Sam-ang; Pangsap, Suttinan; Kelly, Matthew; Sleigh, Adrian

2013-01-01

Objective An investigation into evolving food retail systems in Thailand Design Rapid assessment procedures based on qualitative research methods such as interviews, focus groups discussions and site visits Setting Seven freshmarkets located in the four main regions of Thailand Subjects Managers, food specialists, vendors and shoppers from seven freshmarkets who participated in interviews and focus group discussions. Results Freshmarkets are under economic pressure and are declining in number. They are attempting to resist the competition from supermarkets by improving convenience, food diversity, quality and safety. Conclusions Obesity has increased in Thailand at the same time as rapid growth of modern food retail formats has occurred. As freshmarkets are overtaken by supermarkets there is a likely loss of fresh, healthy, affordable food for poorer Thais, and a diminution of regional culinary culture, women’s jobs and social capital with implications for the health and nutrition transition in Thailand. PMID:23021291

Sex determination: why so many ways of doing it?

PubMed

Bachtrog, Doris; Mank, Judith E; Peichel, Catherine L; Kirkpatrick, Mark; Otto, Sarah P; Ashman, Tia-Lynn; Hahn, Matthew W; Kitano, Jun; Mayrose, Itay; Ming, Ray; Perrin, Nicolas; Ross, Laura; Valenzuela, Nicole; Vamosi, Jana C

2014-07-01

Sexual reproduction is an ancient feature of life on earth, and the familiar X and Y chromosomes in humans and other model species have led to the impression that sex determination mechanisms are old and conserved. In fact, males and females are determined by diverse mechanisms that evolve rapidly in many taxa. Yet this diversity in primary sex-determining signals is coupled with conserved molecular pathways that trigger male or female development. Conflicting selection on different parts of the genome and on the two sexes may drive many of these transitions, but few systems with rapid turnover of sex determination mechanisms have been rigorously studied. Here we survey our current understanding of how and why sex determination evolves in animals and plants and identify important gaps in our knowledge that present exciting research opportunities to characterize the evolutionary forces and molecular pathways underlying the evolution of sex determination.

Sex Determination: Why So Many Ways of Doing It?

PubMed Central

Bachtrog, Doris; Mank, Judith E.; Peichel, Catherine L.; Kirkpatrick, Mark; Otto, Sarah P.; Ashman, Tia-Lynn; Hahn, Matthew W.; Kitano, Jun; Mayrose, Itay; Ming, Ray; Perrin, Nicolas; Ross, Laura; Valenzuela, Nicole; Vamosi, Jana C.

2014-01-01

Sexual reproduction is an ancient feature of life on earth, and the familiar X and Y chromosomes in humans and other model species have led to the impression that sex determination mechanisms are old and conserved. In fact, males and females are determined by diverse mechanisms that evolve rapidly in many taxa. Yet this diversity in primary sex-determining signals is coupled with conserved molecular pathways that trigger male or female development. Conflicting selection on different parts of the genome and on the two sexes may drive many of these transitions, but few systems with rapid turnover of sex determination mechanisms have been rigorously studied. Here we survey our current understanding of how and why sex determination evolves in animals and plants and identify important gaps in our knowledge that present exciting research opportunities to characterize the evolutionary forces and molecular pathways underlying the evolution of sex determination. PMID:24983465

Evolving food retail environments in Thailand and implications for the health and nutrition transition.

PubMed

Banwell, Cathy; Dixon, Jane; Seubsman, Sam-Ang; Pangsap, S; Kelly, Matthew; Sleigh, Adrian

2013-04-01

To investigate evolving food retail systems in Thailand. Rapid assessment procedures based on qualitative research methods including interviews, focus groups discussions and site visits. Seven fresh markets located in the four main regions of Thailand. Managers, food specialists, vendors and shoppers from seven fresh markets who participated in interviews and focus group discussions. Fresh markets are under economic pressure and are declining in number. They are attempting to resist the competition from supermarkets by improving convenience, food diversity, quality and safety. Obesity has increased in Thailand at the same time as rapid growth of modern food retail formats has occurred. As fresh markets are overtaken by supermarkets there is a likely loss of fresh, healthy, affordable food for poorer Thais, and a diminution of regional culinary culture, women's jobs and social capital, with implications for the health and nutrition transition in Thailand.

Evolution of the chalcone synthase gene family in the genus Ipomoea.

PubMed Central

Durbin, M L; Learn, G H; Huttley, G A; Clegg, M T

1995-01-01

The evolution of the chalcone synthase [CHS; malonyl-CoA:4-coumaroyl-CoA malonyltransferase (cyclizing), EC 2.3.1.74] multigene family in the genus Ipomoea is explored. Thirteen CHS genes from seven Ipomoea species (family Convolvulaceae) were sequenced--three from genomic clones and the remainder from PCR amplification with primers designed from the 5' flanking region and the end of the 3' coding region of Ipomoea purpurea Roth. Analysis of the data indicates a duplication of CHS that predates the divergence of the Ipomoea species in this study. The Ipomoea CHS genes are among the most rapidly evolving of the CHS genes sequenced to date. The CHS genes in this study are most closely related to the Petunia CHS-B gene, which is also rapidly evolving and highly divergent from the rest of the Petunia CHS sequences. PMID:7724563

A Bright Future: Innovation Transforming Public Health in Chicago

PubMed Central

Choucair, Bechara; Bhatt, Jay; Mansour, Raed

2015-01-01

Big cities continue to be centers for innovative solutions and services. Governments are quickly identifying opportunities to take advantage of this energy and revolutionize the means by which they deliver services to the public. The governmental public health sector is rapidly evolving in this respect, and Chicago is an emerging example of some of the changes to come. Governments are gradually adopting innovative informatics and big data tools and strategies, led by pioneering jurisdictions that are piecing together the standards, policy frameworks, and leadership structures fundamental to effective analytics use. They give an enticing glimpse of the technology's potential and a sense of the challenges that stand in the way. This is a rapidly evolving environment, and cities can work with partners to capitalize on the innovative energies of civic tech communities, health care systems, and emerging markets to introduce new methods to solve old problems. PMID:25423057

A bright future: innovation transforming public health in Chicago.

PubMed

Choucair, Bechara; Bhatt, Jay; Mansour, Raed

2015-01-01

Big cities continue to be centers for innovative solutions and services. Governments are quickly identifying opportunities to take advantage of this energy and revolutionize the means by which they deliver services to the public. The governmental public health sector is rapidly evolving in this respect, and Chicago is an emerging example of some of the changes to come. Governments are gradually adopting innovative informatics and big data tools and strategies, led by pioneering jurisdictions that are piecing together the standards, policy frameworks, and leadership structures fundamental to effective analytics use. They give an enticing glimpse of the technology's potential and a sense of the challenges that stand in the way. This is a rapidly evolving environment, and cities can work with partners to capitalize on the innovative energies of civic tech communities, health care systems, and emerging markets to introduce new methods to solve old problems.

Evolution of Information Systems Curriculum in an Australian University over the Last Twenty-Five Years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tatnall, Arthur; Burgess, Stephen

Information Systems (IS) courses began in Australia’s higher education institutions in the 1960, and have continued to evolve at a rapid rate since then. Beginning with a need by the Australian Commonwealth Government for a large number of computer professionals, Information Systems (or Business Computing) courses developed rapidly. The nature and content of these courses in the 1960s and 70s, however, was quite different to present courses and this paper traces this change and the reasons for it. After some brief discussion of the beginnings and the early days of Information Systems curriculum, we address in particular how these courses have evolved in one Australian university over the last 25 years. IS curriculum is seen to adapt, new materials are added and emphases changed as new technologies and new computing applications emerge. The paper offers a model of how curriculum change in Information Systems takes place.

2010 MULTIPHOTON PROCESSES GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE, JUNE 6-11, 2010, TILTON, NH

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

Mette Gaarde

2010-06-11

The Gordon Research Conference on Multiphoton Processes will be held for the 15th time in 2010. The meeting continues to evolve as it embraces both the rapid technological and intellectual growth in the field as well as the multi-disciplinary expertise of the participants. This time the sessions will focus on: (1) Ultrafast coherent control; (2) Free-electron laser experiments and theory; (3) Generation of harmonics and attosecond pulses; (4) Ultrafast imaging; (5) Applications of very high intensity laser fields; (6) Strong-field processes in molecules and solids; (7) Attosecond science; and (8) Controlling light. The scientific program will blur traditional disciplinary boundariesmore » as the presenters and discussion leaders involve chemists, physicists, and optical engineers, representing both experiment and theory. The broad range of expertise and different perspectives of attendees should provide a stimulating and unique environment for solving problems and developing new ideas in this rapidly evolving field.« less

Digital danger: a review of the global public health, patient safety and cybersecurity threats posed by illicit online pharmacies

PubMed Central

Mackey, Tim K.; Nayyar, Gaurvika

2016-01-01

Background Amidst the rise of e-commerce, there has been a proliferation of illicit online pharmacies that threaten global patient safety by selling drugs without a prescription directly to the consumer. Despite this clear threat, little is known about the key risk characteristics, central challenges and current legal, regulatory and law enforcement responses. Sources of data A review was conducted of the English literature with search terms ‘online pharmacies’, ‘Internet pharmacies’, ‘cyber pharmacies’, ‘rogue pharmacies’, and ‘e-pharmacies’ using PubMed, JSTOR, and Google Scholar from 1999–2005. Areas of agreement Illicit online pharmacies are a rapidly growing public health threat and are characterized by a number of complex and interrelated risk factors. Areas of controversy Solutions are varied and are of questionable utility in the face of evolving technology that enables this form of transnational cybercrime. Growing points Legal, regulatory and technology solutions must address the entire illicit online pharmacy ecosystem in order to be effective. Areas timely for developing research There is a critical need to build international consensus, conduct additional research and develop technology to combat illicit online pharmacies. PMID:27151957

Initialization, Prediction and Diagnosis of the Rapid Intensification of Tropical Cyclones using the Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator, ACCESS

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-12

structure on the evolving storm behaviour. 13 7. Large scale influences on Rapid Intensification and Extratropical Transition: RI and ET...assimilation techniques to better initialize and validate TC structures (including the intense inner core and storm asymmetries) consistent with the large...Without vortex specification, initial conditions usually contain a weak and misplaced circulation. Based on estimates of central pressure and storm size

From cues to signals: evolution of interspecific communication via aposematism and mimicry in a predator-prey system.

PubMed

Lehmann, Kenna D S; Goldman, Brian W; Dworkin, Ian; Bryson, David M; Wagner, Aaron P

2014-01-01

Current theory suggests that many signaling systems evolved from preexisting cues. In aposematic systems, prey warning signals benefit both predator and prey. When the signal is highly beneficial, a third species often evolves to mimic the toxic species, exploiting the signaling system for its own protection. We investigated the evolutionary dynamics of predator cue utilization and prey signaling in a digital predator-prey system in which prey could evolve to alter their appearance to mimic poison-free or poisonous prey. In predators, we observed rapid evolution of cue recognition (i.e. active behavioral responses) when presented with sufficiently poisonous prey. In addition, active signaling (i.e. mimicry) evolved in prey under all conditions that led to cue utilization. Thus we show that despite imperfect and dishonest signaling, given a high cost of consuming poisonous prey, complex systems of interspecific communication can evolve via predator cue recognition and prey signal manipulation. This provides evidence supporting hypotheses that cues may serve as stepping-stones in the evolution of more advanced communication and signaling systems that incorporate information about the environment.

From Cues to Signals: Evolution of Interspecific Communication via Aposematism and Mimicry in a Predator-Prey System

PubMed Central

Lehmann, Kenna D. S.; Goldman, Brian W.; Dworkin, Ian; Bryson, David M.; Wagner, Aaron P.

2014-01-01

Current theory suggests that many signaling systems evolved from preexisting cues. In aposematic systems, prey warning signals benefit both predator and prey. When the signal is highly beneficial, a third species often evolves to mimic the toxic species, exploiting the signaling system for its own protection. We investigated the evolutionary dynamics of predator cue utilization and prey signaling in a digital predator-prey system in which prey could evolve to alter their appearance to mimic poison-free or poisonous prey. In predators, we observed rapid evolution of cue recognition (i.e. active behavioral responses) when presented with sufficiently poisonous prey. In addition, active signaling (i.e. mimicry) evolved in prey under all conditions that led to cue utilization. Thus we show that despite imperfect and dishonest signaling, given a high cost of consuming poisonous prey, complex systems of interspecific communication can evolve via predator cue recognition and prey signal manipulation. This provides evidence supporting hypotheses that cues may serve as stepping-stones in the evolution of more advanced communication and signaling systems that incorporate information about the environment. PMID:24614755

Diversifying selection in the wheat stem rust fungus acts predominantly on pathogen-associated gene families and reveals candidate effectors

PubMed Central

Sperschneider, Jana; Ying, Hua; Dodds, Peter N.; Gardiner, Donald M.; Upadhyaya, Narayana M.; Singh, Karam B.; Manners, John M.; Taylor, Jennifer M.

2014-01-01

Plant pathogens cause severe losses to crop plants and threaten global food production. One striking example is the wheat stem rust fungus, Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, which can rapidly evolve new virulent pathotypes in response to resistant host lines. Like several other filamentous fungal and oomycete plant pathogens, its genome features expanded gene families that have been implicated in host-pathogen interactions, possibly encoding effector proteins that interact directly with target host defense proteins. Previous efforts to understand virulence largely relied on the prediction of secreted, small and cysteine-rich proteins as candidate effectors and thus delivered an overwhelming number of candidates. Here, we implement an alternative analysis strategy that uses the signal of adaptive evolution as a line of evidence for effector function, combined with comparative information and expression data. We demonstrate that in planta up-regulated genes that are rapidly evolving are found almost exclusively in pathogen-associated gene families, affirming the impact of host-pathogen co-evolution on genome structure and the adaptive diversification of specialized gene families. In particular, we predict 42 effector candidates that are conserved only across pathogens, induced during infection and rapidly evolving. One of our top candidates has recently been shown to induce genotype-specific hypersensitive cell death in wheat. This shows that comparative genomics incorporating the evolutionary signal of adaptation is powerful for predicting effector candidates for laboratory verification. Our system can be applied to a wide range of pathogens and will give insight into host-pathogen dynamics, ultimately leading to progress in strategies for disease control. PMID:25225496

The hospital of tomorrow in 10 points.

PubMed

Vincent, Jean-Louis; Creteur, Jacques

2017-04-11

Technology has advanced rapidly in recent years and is continuing to do so, with associated changes in multiple areas, including hospital structure and function. Here we describe in 10 points our vision of some of the ways in which we see our hospitals, particularly those in developed countries, evolving in the future, including increased specialization, greater use of telemedicine and robots, the changing place of the intensive care unit, improved pre-hospital and post-hospital management, and improved end-of-life care. New technology is going to increasingly impact how we practice medicine. We must learn how best to adapt to and encompass these changes if we are to achieve maximum benefit from them for ourselves and our patients. Importantly, while the future hospital will be more advanced technologically, it will also be more advanced on a personal, humane patient care level.

Organization of Heterogeneous Scientific Data Using the EAV/CR Representation

PubMed Central

Nadkarni, Prakash M.; Marenco, Luis; Chen, Roland; Skoufos, Emmanouil; Shepherd, Gordon; Miller, Perry

1999-01-01

Entity-attribute-value (EAV) representation is a means of organizing highly heterogeneous data using a relatively simple physical database schema. EAV representation is widely used in the medical domain, most notably in the storage of data related to clinical patient records. Its potential strengths suggest its use in other biomedical areas, in particular research databases whose schemas are complex as well as constantly changing to reflect evolving knowledge in rapidly advancing scientific domains. When deployed for such purposes, the basic EAV representation needs to be augmented significantly to handle the modeling of complex objects (classes) as well as to manage interobject relationships. The authors refer to their modification of the basic EAV paradigm as EAV/CR (EAV with classes and relationships). They describe EAV/CR representation with examples from two biomedical databases that use it. PMID:10579606

Intelligent design of multifunctional lipid-coated nanoparticle platforms for cancer therapy

PubMed Central

Ramishetti, Srinivas; Huang, Leaf

2013-01-01

Nanotechnology is rapidly evolving and dramatically changing the paradigms of drug delivery. The small sizes, unique chemical properties, large surface areas, structural diversity and multifunctionality of nanoparticles prove to be greatly advantageous for combating notoriously therapeutically evasive diseases such as cancer. Multifunctional nanoparticles have been designed to enhance tumor uptake through either passive or active targeting, while also avoiding reticuloendothelial system uptake through the incorporation of PEG onto the surface. First-generation nanoparticle systems, such as liposomes, are good carriers for drugs and nucleic acid therapeutics, although they have some limitations. These lipid bilayers are now being utilized as excellent carriers for drug-loaded, solid core particles such as iron oxide, mesoporus silica and calcium phosphate. In this article, their design, as well as their multifunctional role in cancer therapy are discussed. PMID:23323560

Hypoxic cell waves around necrotic cores in glioblastoma: a biomathematical model and its therapeutic implications.

PubMed

Martínez-González, Alicia; Calvo, Gabriel F; Pérez Romasanta, Luis A; Pérez-García, Víctor M

2012-12-01

Glioblastoma is a rapidly evolving high-grade astrocytoma that is distinguished pathologically from lower grade gliomas by the presence of necrosis and microvascular hyperplasia. Necrotic areas are typically surrounded by hypercellular regions known as "pseudopalisades" originated by local tumor vessel occlusions that induce collective cellular migration events. This leads to the formation of waves of tumor cells actively migrating away from central hypoxia. We present a mathematical model that incorporates the interplay among two tumor cell phenotypes, a necrotic core and the oxygen distribution. Our simulations reveal the formation of a traveling wave of tumor cells that reproduces the observed histologic patterns of pseudopalisades. Additional simulations of the model equations show that preventing the collapse of tumor microvessels leads to slower glioma invasion, a fact that might be exploited for therapeutic purposes.

Best practices in passive remote sensing VNIR hyperspectral system hardware calibrations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jablonski, Joseph; Durell, Christopher; Slonecker, Terry; Wong, Kwok; Simon, Blair; Eichelberger, Andrew; Osterberg, Jacob

2016-01-01

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is an exciting and rapidly expanding area of instruments and technology in passive remote sensing. Due to quickly changing applications, the instruments are evolving to suit new uses and there is a need for consistent definition, testing, characterization and calibration. This paper seeks to outline a broad prescription and recommendations for basic specification, testing and characterization that must be done on Visible Near Infra-Red grating-based sensors in order to provide calibrated absolute output and performance or at least relative performance that will suit the user’s task. The primary goal of this paper is to provide awareness of the issues with performance of this technology and make recommendations towards standards and protocols that could be used for further efforts in emerging procedures for national laboratory and standards groups.

Development of a fluorescence-based sensor for rapid diagnosis of cyanide exposure.

PubMed

Jackson, Randy; Oda, Robert P; Bhandari, Raj K; Mahon, Sari B; Brenner, Matthew; Rockwood, Gary A; Logue, Brian A

2014-02-04

Although commonly known as a highly toxic chemical, cyanide is also an essential reagent for many industrial processes in areas such as mining, electroplating, and synthetic fiber production. The "heavy" use of cyanide in these industries, along with its necessary transportation, increases the possibility of human exposure. Because the onset of cyanide toxicity is fast, a rapid, sensitive, and accurate method for the diagnosis of cyanide exposure is necessary. Therefore, a field sensor for the diagnosis of cyanide exposure was developed based on the reaction of naphthalene dialdehyde, taurine, and cyanide, yielding a fluorescent β-isoindole. An integrated cyanide capture "apparatus", consisting of sample and cyanide capture chambers, allowed rapid separation of cyanide from blood samples. Rabbit whole blood was added to the sample chamber, acidified, and the HCN gas evolved was actively transferred through a stainless steel channel to the capture chamber containing a basic solution of naphthalene dialdehyde (NDA) and taurine. The overall analysis time (including the addition of the sample) was <3 min, the linear range was 3.13-200 μM, and the limit of detection was 0.78 μM. None of the potential interferents investigated (NaHS, NH4OH, NaSCN, and human serum albumin) produced a signal that could be interpreted as a false positive or a false negative for cyanide exposure. Most importantly, the sensor was 100% accurate in diagnosing cyanide poisoning for acutely exposed rabbits.

I Am a Pediatric Dentist: Why Is Substance Abuse among My Patients My Concern?

PubMed

Waldman, H Barry; Perlman, Steven P

The rapidly evolving demographic base of our communities intensifies the need for an awareness which in the past seemed beyond the traditional concerns of pediatric dentists; in this case, substance abuse by teenagers. A review was carried out regarding evolving demographics, the proportion of teenagers involved with substance abuse, the rationale for the use of varying elicit substances and the associated symptoms. A series of options for action are considered given the potential for pediatric dentists to be involved in the care of teenagers using elicit substances.

Does the rapid appearance of life on Earth suggest that life is common in the universe?

PubMed

Lineweaver, Charles H; Davis, Tamara M

2002-01-01

It is sometimes assumed that the rapidity of biogenesis on Earth suggests that life is common in the Universe. Here we critically examine the assumptions inherent in this if-life-evolved-rapidly-life-must-be-common argument. We use the observational constraints on the rapidity of biogenesis on Earth to infer the probability of biogenesis on terrestrial planets with the same unknown probability of biogenesis as the Earth. We find that on such planets, older than approximately 1 Gyr, the probability of biogenesis is > 13% at the 95% confidence level. This quantifies an important term in the Drake Equation but does not necessarily mean that life is common in the Universe.

Conference proceedings of the Northeast Autonomous Vehicle Summit.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-05-24

The development of autonomous vehicle technology and potential adoption of autonomous vehicles is occurring at a rapid rate in the United States. As this technology evolves, there are many technical, logistical and legal issues that need to be addres...

Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) 2.0 Precursor System: Final Report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2018-03-01

Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) have experienced significant growth since their initial inception in the 1990s. Technologies have continued to evolve at a rapid pace, enabling the integration of advanced solutions for traveler informatio...

An evaluation of bridge deck joint sealing systems in Virginia.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-01-01

The design and fabrication of bridge expansion joint (or movement) systems comprise a rapidly evolving industry. New designs are constantly being presented for trial, often on a piecemeal basis. Occasionally, failures of products occur without suffic...

Structure, function and five basic needs of the global health research system

PubMed Central

Rudan, Igor; Sridhar, Devi

2016-01-01

Background Two major initiatives that were set up to support and co–ordinate global health research efforts have been largely discontinued in recent years: the Global Forum for Health Research and World Health Organization's Department for Research Policy and Cooperation. These developments provide an interesting case study into the factors that contribute to the sustainability of initiatives to support and co–ordinate global health research in the 21st century. Methods We reviewed the history of attempts to govern, support or co–ordinate research in global health. Moreover, we studied the changes and shifts in funding flows attributed to global health research. This allowed us to map the structure of the global health research system, as it has evolved under the increased funding contributions of the past decade. Bearing in mind its structure, core functions and dynamic nature, we proposed a framework on how to effectively support the system to increase its efficiency. Results Based on our framework, which charted the structure and function of the global health research system and exposed places and roles for many stakeholders within the system, five basic needs emerged: (i) to co–ordinate funding among donors more effectively; (ii) to prioritize among many research ideas; (iii) to quickly recognize results of successful research; (iv) to ensure broad and rapid dissemination of results and their accessibility; and (v) to evaluate return on investments in health research. Conclusion The global health research system has evolved rapidly and spontaneously. It has not been optimally efficient, but it is possible to identify solutions that could improve this. There are already examples of effective responses for the need of prioritization of research questions (eg, the CHNRI method), quick recognition of important research (eg, systems used by editors of the leading journals) and rapid and broadly accessible publication of the new knowledge (eg, PLoS One journal as an example). It is still necessary to develop tools that could assist donors to co–ordinate funding and ensure more equity between areas in the provided support, and to evaluate the value for money invested in health research. PMID:26401270

Colorado River System of the Southwestern U.S.: Analysis of the Longitudinal Profile, Differential Incision, and Hypothesis for Dynamic Uplift and Rapid Incision in the Last 6 Ma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karlstrom, K.; Kirby, E.; Kelley, S.; Aslan, A.; Ouimet, W.; Coblentz, D.; van Wijk, J.

2008-12-01

The Colorado River (CR) has a double concave-up longitudinal profile with a major knickpoint near Lee's Ferry, Arizona that separates the Lower and Upper CR basins. The knickpoint is proposed here to be a transient feature, as indicated by different incision rates above and below it, and by systematic convex profiles of tributaries below, but not above, the knickpoint. The Lower CR concave portion has evolved, and Grand Canyon has been incised, since 6 Ma due to drainage integration via lake spill-over and headward erosion interacting with tectonic forcings that involve dynamic uplift of the Colorado Plateau and accompanying differential incision due to faulting. Ongoing dynamic uplift of the edge of the Colorado Plateau is supported by mantle tomography and geodynamic modeling that suggest edge-driven mantle convection across a step in lithospheric thickness near the Plateau edge that produces a ~400 m high topographic welt and a 2-4 m geoid high. This model for dynamic surface uplift in the last 6 Ma contrasts with the notion of passive incision of Grand Canyon due solely to river integration and geomorphic response to base level fall. The Upper CR appears to have evolved somewhat separately. Slope/drainage area analysis shows low normalized gradients in the center of the Colorado Plateau and along the Green River. Steep knickzones in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Gore Canyon of the CR are interpreted to be transients based on differential incision across them at both long term (10 Ma) and short term (640 ka) timescales. Rapid exhumation began in the Upper CR at 6 Ma as constrained by AFT data in the MWX well and near the summit of 14,000 peaks of the Needle Mountains. This is not readily explained by climate change at ~3.5 Ma, nor by upstream propagation of incision driven by integration of the lower CR at 6 Ma. Instead, the onset of rapid incision and exhumation at 6 Ma in the Upper CR may be a response to epeirogenic uplift and formation of dynamic topography related to the Aspen mantle anomaly.

Smart health and innovation: facilitating health-related behaviour change.

PubMed

Redfern, J

2017-08-01

Non-communicable diseases (NCD) are the leading cause of death globally. Smart health technology and innovation is a potential strategy for increasing reach and for facilitating health behaviour change. Despite rapid growth in the availability and affordability of technology there remains a paucity of published and robust research in the area as it relates to health. The objective of the present paper is to review and provide a snapshot of a variety of contemporary examples of smart health strategies with a focus on evidence and research as it relates to prevention with a CVD management lens. In the present analysis, five examples will be discussed and they include a physician-directed strategy, consumer directed strategies, a public health approach and a screening strategy that utilises external hardware that connects to a smartphone. In conclusion, NCD have common risk factors and all have an association with nutrition and health. Smart health and innovation is evolving rapidly and may help with diagnosis, treatment and management. While on-going research, development and knowledge is needed, the growth of technology development and utilisation offers opportunities to reach more people and achieve better health outcomes at local, national and international levels.

At the forefront: evidence of the applicability of using environmental DNA to quantify the abundance of fish populations in natural lentic waters with additional sampling considerations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Klobucar, Stephen L.; Rodgers, Torrey W.; Budy, Phaedra

2017-01-01

Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling has proven to be a valuable tool for detecting species in aquatic ecosystems. Within this rapidly evolving field, a promising application is the ability to obtain quantitative estimates of relative species abundance based on eDNA concentration rather than traditionally labor-intensive methods. We investigated the relationship between eDNA concentration and Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) abundance in five well-studied natural lakes; additionally, we examined the effects of different temporal (e.g., season) and spatial (e.g., depth) scales on eDNA concentration. Concentrations of eDNA were linearly correlated with char population estimates ( = 0.78) and exponentially correlated with char densities ( = 0.96 by area; 0.82 by volume). Across lakes, eDNA concentrations were greater and more homogeneous in the water column during mixis; however, when stratified, eDNA concentrations were greater in the hypolimnion. Overall, our findings demonstrate that eDNA techniques can produce effective estimates of relative fish abundance in natural lakes. These findings can guide future studies to improve and expand eDNA methods while informing research and management using rapid and minimally invasive sampling.

Cancer immunotherapy: Opportunities and challenges in the rapidly evolving clinical landscape.

PubMed

Emens, Leisha A; Ascierto, Paolo A; Darcy, Phillip K; Demaria, Sandra; Eggermont, Alexander M M; Redmond, William L; Seliger, Barbara; Marincola, Francesco M

2017-08-01

Cancer immunotherapy is now established as a powerful way to treat cancer. The recent clinical success of immune checkpoint blockade (antagonists of CTLA-4, PD-1 and PD-L1) highlights both the universal power of treating the immune system across tumour types and the unique features of cancer immunotherapy. Immune-related adverse events, atypical clinical response patterns, durable responses, and clear overall survival benefit distinguish cancer immunotherapy from cytotoxic cancer therapy. Combination immunotherapies that transform non-responders to responders are under rapid development. Current challenges facing the field include incorporating immunotherapy into adjuvant and neoadjuvant cancer therapy, refining dose, schedule and duration of treatment and developing novel surrogate endpoints that accurately capture overall survival benefit early in treatment. As the field rapidly evolves, we must prioritise the development of biomarkers to guide the use of immunotherapies in the most appropriate patients. Immunotherapy is already transforming cancer from a death sentence to a chronic disease for some patients. By making smart, evidence-based decisions in developing next generation immunotherapies, cancer should become an imminently treatable, curable and even preventable disease. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Genome Biology of Effector Gene Evolution in Filamentous Plant Pathogens.

PubMed

Sánchez-Vallet, Andrea; Fouché, Simone; Fudal, Isabelle; Hartmann, Fanny E; Soyer, Jessica L; Tellier, Aurélien; Croll, Daniel

2018-05-16

Filamentous pathogens, including fungi and oomycetes, pose major threats to global food security. Crop pathogens cause damage by secreting effectors that manipulate the host to the pathogen's advantage. Genes encoding such effectors are among the most rapidly evolving genes in pathogen genomes. Here, we review how the major characteristics of the emergence, function, and regulation of effector genes are tightly linked to the genomic compartments where these genes are located in pathogen genomes. The presence of repetitive elements in these compartments is associated with elevated rates of point mutations and sequence rearrangements with a major impact on effector diversification. The expression of many effectors converges on an epigenetic control mediated by the presence of repetitive elements. Population genomics analyses showed that rapidly evolving pathogens show high rates of turnover at effector loci and display a mosaic in effector presence-absence polymorphism among strains. We conclude that effective pathogen containment strategies require a thorough understanding of the effector genome biology and the pathogen's potential for rapid adaptation. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Phytopathology Volume 56 is August 25, 2018. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Sexual selection and the evolution of secondary sexual traits: sex comb evolution in Drosophila.

PubMed

Snook, Rhonda R; Gidaszewski, Nelly A; Chapman, Tracey; Simmons, Leigh W

2013-04-01

Sexual selection can drive rapid evolutionary change in reproductive behaviour, morphology and physiology. This often leads to the evolution of sexual dimorphism, and continued exaggerated expression of dimorphic sexual characteristics, although a variety of other alternative selection scenarios exist. Here, we examined the evolutionary significance of a rapidly evolving, sexually dimorphic trait, sex comb tooth number, in two Drosophila species. The presence of the sex comb in both D. melanogaster and D. pseudoobscura is known to be positively related to mating success, although little is yet known about the sexually selected benefits of sex comb structure. In this study, we used experimental evolution to test the idea that enhancing or eliminating sexual selection would lead to variation in sex comb tooth number. However, the results showed no effect of either enforced monogamy or elevated promiscuity on this trait. We discuss several hypotheses to explain the lack of divergence, focussing on sexually antagonistic coevolution, stabilizing selection via species recognition and nonlinear selection. We discuss how these are important, but relatively ignored, alternatives in understanding the evolution of rapidly evolving sexually dimorphic traits. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2013 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Real-time PCR in virology.

PubMed

Mackay, Ian M; Arden, Katherine E; Nitsche, Andreas

2002-03-15

The use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in molecular diagnostics has increased to the point where it is now accepted as the gold standard for detecting nucleic acids from a number of origins and it has become an essential tool in the research laboratory. Real-time PCR has engendered wider acceptance of the PCR due to its improved rapidity, sensitivity, reproducibility and the reduced risk of carry-over contamination. There are currently five main chemistries used for the detection of PCR product during real-time PCR. These are the DNA binding fluorophores, the 5' endonuclease, adjacent linear and hairpin oligoprobes and the self-fluorescing amplicons, which are described in detail. We also discuss factors that have restricted the development of multiplex real-time PCR as well as the role of real-time PCR in quantitating nucleic acids. Both amplification hardware and the fluorogenic detection chemistries have evolved rapidly as the understanding of real-time PCR has developed and this review aims to update the scientist on the current state of the art. We describe the background, advantages and limitations of real-time PCR and we review the literature as it applies to virus detection in the routine and research laboratory in order to focus on one of the many areas in which the application of real-time PCR has provided significant methodological benefits and improved patient outcomes. However, the technology discussed has been applied to other areas of microbiology as well as studies of gene expression and genetic disease.

The oldest records of photosynthesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Awramik, S. M.

1992-01-01

There is diverse, yet controversial fossil evidence for the existence of photosynthesis 3500 million years ago. Among the most persuasive evidence is the stromatolites described from low grade metasedimentary rocks in Western Australia and South Africa. Based on the understanding of the paleobiology of stromatolites and using pertinent fossil and Recent analogs, these Early Archean stromatolites suggest that phototrophs evolved by 3500 million years ago. The evidence allows further interpretation that cyanobacteria were involved. Besides stromatolites, microbial and chemical fossils are also known from the same rock units. Some microfossils morphologically resemble cyanobacteria and thus complement the adduced cyanobacterial involvement in stromatolite construction. If cyanobacteria had evolved by 3500 million years ago, this would indicate that nearly all prokaryotic phyla had already evolved and that prokaryotes diversified rapidly on the early Earth.

Extinction Events Can Accelerate Evolution

PubMed Central

Lehman, Joel; Miikkulainen, Risto

2015-01-01

Extinction events impact the trajectory of biological evolution significantly. They are often viewed as upheavals to the evolutionary process. In contrast, this paper supports the hypothesis that although they are unpredictably destructive, extinction events may in the long term accelerate evolution by increasing evolvability. In particular, if extinction events extinguish indiscriminately many ways of life, indirectly they may select for the ability to expand rapidly through vacated niches. Lineages with such an ability are more likely to persist through multiple extinctions. Lending computational support for this hypothesis, this paper shows how increased evolvability will result from simulated extinction events in two computational models of evolved behavior. The conclusion is that although they are destructive in the short term, extinction events may make evolution more prolific in the long term. PMID:26266804

Virus Satellites Drive Viral Evolution and Ecology

PubMed Central

Frígols, Belén; Quiles-Puchalt, Nuria; Mir-Sanchis, Ignacio; Donderis, Jorge; Elena, Santiago F.; Buckling, Angus; Novick, Richard P.; Marina, Alberto; Penadés, José R.

2015-01-01

Virus satellites are widespread subcellular entities, present both in eukaryotic and in prokaryotic cells. Their modus vivendi involves parasitism of the life cycle of their inducing helper viruses, which assures their transmission to a new host. However, the evolutionary and ecological implications of satellites on helper viruses remain unclear. Here, using staphylococcal pathogenicity islands (SaPIs) as a model of virus satellites, we experimentally show that helper viruses rapidly evolve resistance to their virus satellites, preventing SaPI proliferation, and SaPIs in turn can readily evolve to overcome phage resistance. Genomic analyses of both these experimentally evolved strains as well as naturally occurring bacteriophages suggest that the SaPIs drive the coexistence of multiple alleles of the phage-coded SaPI inducing genes, as well as sometimes selecting for the absence of the SaPI depressing genes. We report similar (accidental) evolution of resistance to SaPIs in laboratory phages used for Staphylococcus aureus typing and also obtain the same qualitative results in both experimental evolution and phylogenetic studies of Enterococcus faecalis phages and their satellites viruses. In summary, our results suggest that helper and satellite viruses undergo rapid coevolution, which is likely to play a key role in the evolution and ecology of the viruses as well as their prokaryotic hosts. PMID:26495848

Rapid Sequencing of Complete env Genes from Primary HIV-1 Samples.

PubMed

Laird Smith, Melissa; Murrell, Ben; Eren, Kemal; Ignacio, Caroline; Landais, Elise; Weaver, Steven; Phung, Pham; Ludka, Colleen; Hepler, Lance; Caballero, Gemma; Pollner, Tristan; Guo, Yan; Richman, Douglas; Poignard, Pascal; Paxinos, Ellen E; Kosakovsky Pond, Sergei L; Smith, Davey M

2016-07-01

The ability to study rapidly evolving viral populations has been constrained by the read length of next-generation sequencing approaches and the sampling depth of single-genome amplification methods. Here, we develop and characterize a method using Pacific Biosciences' Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT®) sequencing technology to sequence multiple, intact full-length human immunodeficiency virus-1 env genes amplified from viral RNA populations circulating in blood, and provide computational tools for analyzing and visualizing these data.

NREL: News - Students From Smoky Hill High School Triumph in Colorado

Science.gov Websites

Colorado School of Mines. In the final round of rapid-fire questions and answers about physics, math interest in science and math. The competition has evolved into one of the Energy Department's premier

76 FR 63567 - Internet Communication Disclaimers

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-13

... rapidly evolving technological innovations, while ensuring that `necessary precautions' are in place... technological innovations * * * where the use of the technology would not compromise the intent of the Act or... disclaimer requirements in light of technological developments in Internet advertising. The Commission is now...

MDOT innovation leading to faster, longer-lasting pavement repairs : research spotlight.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-01-01

Current methods of patching pavement must evolve to meet increasing mobility demands. : To address this need, MDOT has been testing a new generation of rapid set full-depth : pavement repair materials. Initial results are promising. The new materials...

EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT IN THE NATIONAL CHILDREN'S STUDY-INTRODUCTION

EPA Science Inventory

The science of exposure assessment is relatively new and evolving rapidly with the advancement of sophisticated methods for specific measurements at the picogram per gram level or lower in a variety of environmental and biologic matrices. Without this measurement capability, envi...

Rates of ecological divergence and body size evolution are correlated with species diversification in scaly tree ferns

PubMed Central

Ramírez-Barahona, Santiago; Barrera-Redondo, Josué; Eguiarte, Luis E.

2016-01-01

Variation in species richness across regions and between different groups of organisms is a major feature of evolution. Several factors have been proposed to explain these differences, including heterogeneity in the rates of species diversification and the age of clades. It has been frequently assumed that rapid rates of diversification are coupled to high rates of ecological and morphological evolution, leading to a prediction that remains poorly explored for most species: the positive association between ecological niche divergence, morphological evolution and species diversification. We combined a time-calibrated phylogeny with distribution, ecological and body size data for scaly tree ferns (Cyatheaceae) to test whether rates of species diversification are predicted by the rates at which clades have evolved distinct ecological niches and body sizes. We found that rates of species diversification are positively correlated with rates of ecological and morphological evolution, with rapidly diversifying clades also showing rapidly evolving ecological niches and body sizes. Our results show that rapid diversification of scaly tree ferns is associated with the evolution of species with comparable morphologies that diversified into similar, yet distinct, environments. This suggests parallel evolutionary pathways opening in different tropical regions whenever ecological and geographical opportunities arise. Accordingly, rates of ecological niche and body size evolution are relevant to explain the current patterns of species richness in this ‘ancient’ fern lineage across the tropics. PMID:27412279

The evolution and ascent paths of mantle xenolith-bearing magma: Observations and insights from Cenozoic basalts in Southeast China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Pu; Niu, Yaoling; Guo, Pengyuan; Cui, Huixia; Ye, Lei; Liu, Jinju

2018-06-01

Studies have shown that mantle xenolith-bearing magmas must ascend rapidly to carry mantle xenoliths to the surface. It has thus been inferred inadvertently that such rapid ascending melt must have undergone little crystallization or evolution. However, this inference is apparently inconsistent with the widespread observation that xenolith-bearing alkali basalts are variably evolved with Mg# ≤72. In this paper, we discuss this important, yet overlooked, petrological problem and offer new perspectives with evidence. We analyzed the Cenozoic mantle xenolith-bearing alkali basalts from several locations in Southeast China that have experienced varying degrees of fractional crystallization (Mg# = 48-67). The variably evolved composition of host alkali basalts is not in contradiction with rapid ascent, but rather reflects inevitability of crystallization during ascent. Thermometry calculations for clinopyroxene (Cpx) megacrysts give equilibrium temperatures of 1238-1390 °C, which is consistent with the effect of conductive cooling and melt crystallization during ascent because TMelt > TLithosphere. The equilibrium pressure (18-27 kbar) of these Cpx megacrysts suggests that the crystallization takes place under lithospheric mantle conditions. The host melt must have experienced limited low-pressure residence in the shallower levels of lithospheric mantle and crust. This is in fact consistent with the rapid ascent of the host melt to bring mantle xenoliths to the surface.

iPTF 16asu: A Luminous, Rapidly Evolving, and High-velocity Supernova

DOE PAGES

Whitesides, L.; Lunnan, R.; Kasliwal, M. M.; ...

2017-12-18

Wide-field surveys are discovering a growing number of rare transients whose physical origin is not yet well understood. We present optical and UV data and analysis of intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) 16asu, a luminous, rapidly evolving, high-velocity, stripped-envelope supernova (SN). With a rest-frame rise time of just four days and a peak absolute magnitude of M g = -20.4 mag, the light curve of iPTF 16asu is faster and more luminous than that of previous rapid transients. The spectra of iPTF 16asu show a featureless blue continuum near peak that develops into an SN Ic-BL spectrum on the decline.more » We show that while the late-time light curve could plausibly be powered by 56Ni decay, the early emission requires a different energy source. Nondetections in the X-ray and radio strongly constrain the energy coupled to relativistic ejecta to be at most comparable to the class of low-luminosity gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We suggest that the early emission may have been powered by either a rapidly spinning-down magnetar or by shock breakout in an extended envelope of a very energetic explosion. In either scenario a central engine is required, making iPTF 16asu an intriguing transition object between superluminous SNe, SNe Ic-BL, and low-luminosity GRBs.« less

Rates of ecological divergence and body size evolution are correlated with species diversification in scaly tree ferns.

PubMed

Ramírez-Barahona, Santiago; Barrera-Redondo, Josué; Eguiarte, Luis E

2016-07-13

Variation in species richness across regions and between different groups of organisms is a major feature of evolution. Several factors have been proposed to explain these differences, including heterogeneity in the rates of species diversification and the age of clades. It has been frequently assumed that rapid rates of diversification are coupled to high rates of ecological and morphological evolution, leading to a prediction that remains poorly explored for most species: the positive association between ecological niche divergence, morphological evolution and species diversification. We combined a time-calibrated phylogeny with distribution, ecological and body size data for scaly tree ferns (Cyatheaceae) to test whether rates of species diversification are predicted by the rates at which clades have evolved distinct ecological niches and body sizes. We found that rates of species diversification are positively correlated with rates of ecological and morphological evolution, with rapidly diversifying clades also showing rapidly evolving ecological niches and body sizes. Our results show that rapid diversification of scaly tree ferns is associated with the evolution of species with comparable morphologies that diversified into similar, yet distinct, environments. This suggests parallel evolutionary pathways opening in different tropical regions whenever ecological and geographical opportunities arise. Accordingly, rates of ecological niche and body size evolution are relevant to explain the current patterns of species richness in this 'ancient' fern lineage across the tropics. © 2016 The Author(s).

Spatiotemporal reconstruction of the Aquilegia rapid radiation through next-generation sequencing of rapidly evolving cpDNA regions.

PubMed

Fior, Simone; Li, Mingai; Oxelman, Bengt; Viola, Roberto; Hodges, Scott A; Ometto, Lino; Varotto, Claudio

2013-04-01

Aquilegia is a well-known model system in the field of evolutionary biology, but obtaining a resolved and well-supported phylogenetic reconstruction for the genus has been hindered by its recent and rapid diversification. Here, we applied 454 next-generation sequencing to PCR amplicons of 21 of the most rapidly evolving regions of the plastome to generate c. 24 kb of sequences from each of 84 individuals from throughout the genus. The resulting phylogeny has well-supported resolution of the main lineages of the genus, although recent diversification such as in the European taxa remains unresolved. By producing a chronogram of the whole Ranunculaceae family based on published data, we inferred calibration points for dating the Aquilegia radiation. The genus originated in the upper Miocene c. 6.9 million yr ago (Ma) in Eastern Asia, and diversification occurred c. 4.8 Ma with the split of two main clades, one colonizing North America, and the other Western Eurasia through the mountains of Central Asia. This was followed by a back-to-Asia migration, originating from the European stock using a North Asian route. These results provide the first backbone phylogeny and spatiotemporal reconstruction of the Aquilegia radiation, and constitute a robust framework to address the adaptative nature of speciation within the group. © 2013 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2013 New Phytologist Trust.

iPTF 16asu: A Luminous, Rapidly Evolving, and High-velocity Supernova

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitesides, L.; Lunnan, R.; Kasliwal, M. M.; Perley, D. A.; Corsi, A.; Cenko, S. B.; Blagorodnova, N.; Cao, Y.; Cook, D. O.; Doran, G. B.; Frederiks, D. D.; Fremling, C.; Hurley, K.; Karamehmetoglu, E.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Leloudas, G.; Masci, F.; Nugent, P. E.; Ritter, A.; Rubin, A.; Savchenko, V.; Sollerman, J.; Svinkin, D. S.; Taddia, F.; Vreeswijk, P.; Wozniak, P.

2017-12-01

Wide-field surveys are discovering a growing number of rare transients whose physical origin is not yet well understood. Here we present optical and UV data and analysis of intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) 16asu, a luminous, rapidly evolving, high-velocity, stripped-envelope supernova (SN). With a rest-frame rise time of just four days and a peak absolute magnitude of {M}{{g}}=-20.4 mag, the light curve of iPTF 16asu is faster and more luminous than that of previous rapid transients. The spectra of iPTF 16asu show a featureless blue continuum near peak that develops into an SN Ic-BL spectrum on the decline. We show that while the late-time light curve could plausibly be powered by 56Ni decay, the early emission requires a different energy source. Nondetections in the X-ray and radio strongly constrain the energy coupled to relativistic ejecta to be at most comparable to the class of low-luminosity gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We suggest that the early emission may have been powered by either a rapidly spinning-down magnetar or by shock breakout in an extended envelope of a very energetic explosion. In either scenario a central engine is required, making iPTF 16asu an intriguing transition object between superluminous SNe, SNe Ic-BL, and low-luminosity GRBs.

On the spectroscopic nature of the cool evolved Am star HD151878

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freyhammer, L. M.; Elkin, V. G.; Kurtz, D. W.

2008-10-01

Recently, Tiwari, Chaubey & Pandey detected the bright component of the visual binary HD151878 to exhibit rapid photometric oscillations through a Johnson B filter with a period of 6min (2.78mHz) and a high, modulated amplitude up to 22mmag peak-to-peak, making this star by far the highest amplitude rapidly oscillating Ap (roAp) star known. As a new roAp star, HD151878 is of additional particular interest as a scarce example of the class in the northern sky, and only the second known case of an evolved roAp star - the other being HD116114. We used the FIbre-fed Echelle Spectrograph at the Nordic Optical Telescope to obtain high time-resolution spectra at high dispersion to attempt to verify the rapid oscillations. We show here that the star at this epoch is spectroscopically stable to rapid oscillations of no more than a few tens of ms-1. The high-resolution spectra furthermore show the star to be of type Am rather than Ap and we show the star lacks most of the known characteristics for roAp stars. We conclude that this is an Am star that does not pulsate with a 6-min period. The original discovery of pulsation is likely to be an instrumental artefact. Based on observations collected at the Nordic Optical Telescope as part of programme 36-418. E-mail: lfreyham@gmail.com

Zebrafish antipredatory responses: A future for translational research?

PubMed Central

Gerlai, Robert

2011-01-01

Human neuropsychiatric conditions associated with abnormally exaggerated or misdirected fear (anxiety disorders and phobias) still represent a large unmet medical need because the biological mechanisms underlying these diseases are not well understood. Animal models have been proposed to facilitate this research. Here I review the literature with a focus on zebrafish, an upcoming laboratory organism in behavioral brain research. I argue that abnormal human fear responses are likely the result of the malfunction of neurobiological mechanisms (brain areas, circuits and/or molecular mechanisms) that originally evolved to support avoidance of predators or other harm in nature. I also argue that the understanding of the normal as well as pathological functioning of such mechanisms may be best achieved if one utilizes naturalistic experimental approaches. In case of laboratory model organisms, this may entail presenting stimuli associated with predators and measuring species-specific antipredatory responses. Although zebrafish is a relatively new subject of such inquiry, I review the recently rapidly increasing number of zebrafish studies in this area, and conclude that zebrafish is a promising research tool for the analysis of the neurobiology and genetics of vertebrate fear responses. PMID:19836422

Bartonella: emerging pathogen or emerging awareness?

PubMed

Mogollon-Pasapera, Elin; Otvos, Laszlo; Giordano, Antonio; Cassone, Marco

2009-01-01

The number of known Bartonella species is rapidly growing. Some of them are responsible for distinct infectious diseases and show different prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility profiles. Not only have some vectors of Bartonella not been fully characterized, but also intermediate hosts are actually much more numerous and diverse than previously thought. Among these, dogs differ from cats because they tend to suffer an overt disease similar to humans, thus providing the base for a useful animal indicator and research model. Among the debilitating conditions with an unclear impact on the course of these infections, specific conditions (e.g., homelessness, alcoholism) have been linked to a much higher prevalence and to high risk of unfavorable outcome. Due to the limited arsenal of antibiotics effective in vivo on this peculiar intracellular pathogen, the risk/benefit balance of antibiotic therapy is sometimes difficult to draw. In this evolving picture, the recent discoveries of new species highlights the importance of basic molecular biology resources that would bring major public health benefits if available in endemic areas, and specifically in many areas of Peru and Bolivia.

Pathology consultation on anticoagulation monitoring: factor X-related assays.

PubMed

Wool, Geoffrey D; Lu, Chuanyi M

2013-11-01

To review various anticoagulation therapies and related laboratory monitoring issues, with a focus on factor X-related chromogenic assays. A case-based approach is used to review pertinent published literatures and product inserts of anticoagulation drugs and to look back on clinical use of factor X-related chromogenic assays. The number of anticoagulants available to clinicians has increased greatly in the past decade. Whether and how these anticoagulants should be monitored are areas of uncertainty for clinicians, which can lead to misuse of laboratory assays and suboptimal patient management. Factor X-related assays are of particular concern because of the similar and often confusing test names. Based on a common clinical case scenario and literature review regarding anticoagulant monitoring, an up-to-date discussion and review of the various factor X-related assays are provided, focusing on the differences in test designs and clinical utilities between the chromogenic anti-Xa and chromogenic factor X activity assays. Anticoagulation therapy and related laboratory monitoring are rapidly evolving areas of clinical practices. A good knowledge of relevant laboratory assays and their clinical applications is necessary to help optimize patient care.

A review of competencies needed for health librarians--a comparison of Irish and international practice.

PubMed

Lawton, Aoife; Burns, Jane

2015-06-01

The purpose of this review was to uncover areas of competence which may lead to a baseline of skills for health librarians. A baseline could inform personal development plans for health librarians, criteria for job descriptions and curriculum for library and information science (LIS) courses. This research outlines existing competencies for librarians working in health care as defined by library associations, recent job descriptions and a mapping review of the library and information science literature. This is performed in the context of librarians working in the Irish health system with examples of practice drawn from the Irish experience. Ten areas of competence were found to be common to three of five library associations, which were also common to recent job descriptions. The literature reveals an ever changing working environment for librarians working in health with opportunities for new and evolving roles. The challenge for librarians moving into these roles will be to stay relevant and to keep skills updated in a rapidly moving health and information environment. © 2014 Health Libraries Group.

Convective scale interaction: Arc cloud lines and the development and evolution of deep convection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Purdom, James Francis Whitehurst

1986-01-01

Information is used from satellite data and research aircraft data to provide new insights concerning the mesoscale development and evolution of deep convection in an atmosphere typified by weak synoptic-scale forcing. The importance of convective scale interaction in the development and evolution of deep convection is examined. This interaction is shown to manifest itself as the merger and intersection of thunderstorm outflow boundaries (arc cloud lines) with other convective lines, areas or boundaries. Using geostationary satellite visible and infrared data convective scale interaction is shown to be responsible for over 85 percent of the intense convection over the southeast U.S. by late afternoon, and a majority of that area's afternoon rainfall. The aircraft observations provided valuable information concerning critically important regions of the arc cloud line: (1) the cool outflow region, (2) the density surge line interface region; and (3) the sub-cloud region above the surge line. The observations when analyzed with rapid scan satellite data, helped in defining the arc cloud line's life cycle as 3 evolving stages.

HIV prevention while the bulldozers roll: exploring the effect of the demolition of Goa's red-light area.

PubMed

Shahmanesh, Maryam; Wayal, Sonali; Andrew, Gracy; Patel, Vikram; Cowan, Frances M; Hart, Graham

2009-08-01

Interventions targeting sex-workers are pivotal to HIV prevention in India. Community mobilisation is considered by the National AIDS Control Programme to be an integral component of this strategy. Nevertheless societal factors, and specifically policy and legislation around sex-work, are potential barriers to widespread collectivisation and empowerment of sex-workers. Between November 2003 and December 2005 we conducted participatory observation and rapid ethnographic mapping with several hundred brief informant interviews, in addition to 34 semi-structured interviews with key-informants, 16 in-depth interviews with female sex-workers, and 3 focus-group-discussions with clients and mediators. This provides a detailed examination of the demolition of Baina, one of India's large red-light areas, in 2004, and one of the first accounts of the effect of dismantling the red-light area on the organisation of sex-work and sex-workers' sexual risk. The results suggest that the concentrated and homogeneous brothel-based sex-work environment rapidly evolved into heterogeneous, clandestine and dispersed modes of operation. The social context of sex-work that emerged from the dust of the demolition was higher risk and less conducive to HIV prevention. The demolition acted as a negative structural intervention; a catastrophic event that fragmented sex-workers' collective identity and agency and rendered them voiceless and marginalised. The findings suggest that an abolitionist approach to sex-work and legislation or policy that either criminalises this large group of women, or renders them as invisible victims, will increase the stigma and exclusion they experience. For the targeted HIV prevention approaches advocated by the National AIDS Control Programme to be effective, there is a need for legislation and policy that supports sex-workers' agency and self-organisation and enables them to create a safer working environment for themselves.

Tracking the time-varying cortical connectivity patterns by adaptive multivariate estimators.

PubMed

Astolfi, L; Cincotti, F; Mattia, D; De Vico Fallani, F; Tocci, A; Colosimo, A; Salinari, S; Marciani, M G; Hesse, W; Witte, H; Ursino, M; Zavaglia, M; Babiloni, F

2008-03-01

The directed transfer function (DTF) and the partial directed coherence (PDC) are frequency-domain estimators that are able to describe interactions between cortical areas in terms of the concept of Granger causality. However, the classical estimation of these methods is based on the multivariate autoregressive modelling (MVAR) of time series, which requires the stationarity of the signals. In this way, transient pathways of information transfer remains hidden. The objective of this study is to test a time-varying multivariate method for the estimation of rapidly changing connectivity relationships between cortical areas of the human brain, based on DTF/PDC and on the use of adaptive MVAR modelling (AMVAR) and to apply it to a set of real high resolution EEG data. This approach will allow the observation of rapidly changing influences between the cortical areas during the execution of a task. The simulation results indicated that time-varying DTF and PDC are able to estimate correctly the imposed connectivity patterns under reasonable operative conditions of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) ad number of trials. An SNR of five and a number of trials of at least 20 provide a good accuracy in the estimation. After testing the method by the simulation study, we provide an application to the cortical estimations obtained from high resolution EEG data recorded from a group of healthy subject during a combined foot-lips movement and present the time-varying connectivity patterns resulting from the application of both DTF and PDC. Two different cortical networks were detected with the proposed methods, one constant across the task and the other evolving during the preparation of the joint movement.

Duplicate Abalone Egg Coat Proteins Bind Sperm Lysin Similarly, but Evolve Oppositely, Consistent with Molecular Mimicry at Fertilization

PubMed Central

Aagaard, Jan E.; Springer, Stevan A.; Soelberg, Scott D.; Swanson, Willie J.

2013-01-01

Sperm and egg proteins constitute a remarkable paradigm in evolutionary biology: despite their fundamental role in mediating fertilization (suggesting stasis), some of these molecules are among the most rapidly evolving ones known, and their divergence can lead to reproductive isolation. Because of strong selection to maintain function among interbreeding individuals, interacting fertilization proteins should also exhibit a strong signal of correlated divergence among closely related species. We use evidence of such molecular co-evolution to target biochemical studies of fertilization in North Pacific abalone (Haliotis spp.), a model system of reproductive protein evolution. We test the evolutionary rates (d N/d S) of abalone sperm lysin and two duplicated egg coat proteins (VERL and VEZP14), and find a signal of co-evolution specific to ZP-N, a putative sperm binding motif previously identified by homology modeling. Positively selected residues in VERL and VEZP14 occur on the same face of the structural model, suggesting a common mode of interaction with sperm lysin. We test this computational prediction biochemically, confirming that the ZP-N motif is sufficient to bind lysin and that the affinities of VERL and VEZP14 are comparable. However, we also find that on phylogenetic lineages where lysin and VERL evolve rapidly, VEZP14 evolves slowly, and vice versa. We describe a model of sexual conflict that can recreate this pattern of anti-correlated evolution by assuming that VEZP14 acts as a VERL mimic, reducing the intensity of sexual conflict and slowing the co-evolution of lysin and VERL. PMID:23408913

Evolution of Mhc-DRB introns: implications for the origin of primates.

PubMed

Kupfermann, H; Satta, Y; Takahata, N; Tichy, H; Klein, J

1999-06-01

Introns are generally believed to evolve too rapidly and too erratically to be of much use in phylogenetic reconstructions. Few phylogenetically informative intron sequences are available, however, to ascertain the validity of this supposition. In the present study the supposition was tested on the example of the mammalian class II major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) genes of the DRB family. Since the Mhc genes evolve under balancing selection and are believed to recombine or rearrange frequently, the evolution of their introns could be expected to be particularly rapid and subject to scrambling. Sequences of intron 4 and 5 DRB genes were obtained from polymerase chain reaction-amplified fragments of genomic DNA from representatives of six eutherian orders-Primates, Scandentia, Chiroptera, Dermoptera, Lagomorpha, and Insectivora. Although short stretches of the introns have indeed proved to be unalignable, the bulk of the intron sequences from all six orders, spanning >85 million years (my) of evolution, could be aligned and used in a study of the tempo and mode of intron evolution. The analysis has revealed the Mhc introns to evolve at a rate similar to that of other genes and of synonymous sites of non-Mhc genes. No evidence of homogenization or large-scale scrambling of the intron sequences could be found. The Mhc introns apparently evolve largely by point mutations and insertions/deletions. The phylogenetic signals contained in the intron sequences could be used to identify Scandentia as the sister group of Primates, to support the existence of the Archonta superorder, and to confirm the monophyly of the Chiroptera.

The evolution of distributed sensing and collective computation in animal populations

PubMed Central

Hein, Andrew M; Rosenthal, Sara Brin; Hagstrom, George I; Berdahl, Andrew; Torney, Colin J; Couzin, Iain D

2015-01-01

Many animal groups exhibit rapid, coordinated collective motion. Yet, the evolutionary forces that cause such collective responses to evolve are poorly understood. Here, we develop analytical methods and evolutionary simulations based on experimental data from schooling fish. We use these methods to investigate how populations evolve within unpredictable, time-varying resource environments. We show that populations evolve toward a distinctive regime in behavioral phenotype space, where small responses of individuals to local environmental cues cause spontaneous changes in the collective state of groups. These changes resemble phase transitions in physical systems. Through these transitions, individuals evolve the emergent capacity to sense and respond to resource gradients (i.e. individuals perceive gradients via social interactions, rather than sensing gradients directly), and to allocate themselves among distinct, distant resource patches. Our results yield new insight into how natural selection, acting on selfish individuals, results in the highly effective collective responses evident in nature. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10955.001 PMID:26652003

Consumer co-evolution as an important component of the eco-evolutionary feedback.

PubMed

Hiltunen, Teppo; Becks, Lutz

2014-10-22

Rapid evolution in ecologically relevant traits has recently been recognized to significantly alter the interaction between consumers and their resources, a key interaction in all ecological communities. While these eco-evolutionary dynamics have been shown to occur when prey populations are evolving, little is known about the role of predator evolution and co-evolution between predator and prey in this context. Here, we investigate the role of consumer co-evolution for eco-evolutionary feedback in bacteria-ciliate microcosm experiments by manipulating the initial trait variation in the predator populations. With co-evolved predators, prey evolve anti-predatory defences faster, trait values are more variable, and predator and prey population sizes are larger at the end of the experiment compared with the non-co-evolved predators. Most importantly, differences in predator traits results in a shift from evolution driving ecology, to ecology driving evolution. Thus we demonstrate that predator co-evolution has important effects on eco-evolutionary dynamics.

Policy-Based Middleware for QoS Management and Signaling in the Evolved Packet System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Good, Richard; Gouveia, Fabricio; Magedanz, Thomas; Ventura, Neco

The 3GPP are currently finalizing their Evolved Packet System (EPS) with the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) central to this framework. The EPC is a simplified, flat, all IP-based architecture that supports mobility between heterogeneous access networks and incorporates an evolved QoS concept based on the 3GPP Policy Control and Charging (PCC) framework. The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is an IP service element within the EPS, introduced for the rapid provisioning of innovative multimedia services. The evolved PCC framework extends the scope of operation and defines new interactions - in particular the S9 reference point is introduced to facilitate inter-domain PCC communication. This paper proposes an enhancement to the IMS/PCC framework that uses SIP routing information to discover signaling and media paths. This mechanism uses standardized IMS/PCC operations and allows applications to effectively issue resource requests from their home domain enabling QoS-connectivity across multiple domains. Because the mechanism operates at the service control layer it does not require any significant transport layer modifications or the sharing of potentially sensitive internal topology information. The evolved PCC architecture and inter-domain route discovery mechanisms were implemented in an evaluation testbed and performed favorably without adversely effecting end user experience.

Time evolving multi-city dependencies and robustness tradeoffs for risk-based portfolios of conservation, transfers, and cooperative water supply infrastructure development pathways

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trindade, B. C.; Reed, P. M.; Zeff, H. B.; Characklis, G. W.

2016-12-01

Water scarcity in historically water-rich regions such as the southeastern United States is becoming a more prevalent concern. It has been shown that cooperative short-term planning that relies on conservation and transfers of existing supplies amongst communities can be used by water utilities to mitigate the effects of water scarcity in the near future. However, in the longer term, infrastructure expansion is likely to be necessary to address imbalances between growing water demands and the available supply capacity. This study seeks to better diagnose and avoid candidate modes for system failure. Although it is becoming more common for water utilities to evaluate the robustness of their water supply, defined as the insensitivity of their systems to errors in deeply uncertain projections or assumptions, defining robustness is particularly challenging in multi-stakeholder regional contexts for decisions that encompass short management actions and long-term infrastructure planning. Planning and management decisions are highly interdependent and strongly shape how a region's infrastructure itself evolves. This research advances the concept of system robustness by making it evolve over time rather than static, so that it is applicable to an adaptive system and therefore more suited for use for combined short and long-term planning efforts. The test case for this research is the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, where the cities of Raleigh, Durham, Cary and Chapel Hill are experiencing rapid population growth and increasing concerns over drought. This study is facilitating their engagement in cooperative and robust regional water portfolio planning. The insights from this work have general merit for regions where adjacent municipalities can benefit from improving cooperative infrastructure investments and more efficient resource management strategies.

Global perspective of herbicide-resistant weeds.

PubMed

Heap, Ian

2014-09-01

Two hundred and twenty weed species have evolved resistance to one or more herbicides, and there are now 404 unique cases (species × site of action) of herbicide-resistant weeds globally. ALS inhibitor-resistant weeds account for about a third of all cases (133/404) and are particularly troublesome in rice and cereals. Although 71 weed species have been identified with triazine resistance, their importance has dwindled with the shift towards Roundup Ready® crops in the USA and the reduction of triazine usage in Europe. Forty-three grasses have evolved resistance to ACCase inhibitors, with the most serious cases being Avena spp., Lolium spp., Phalaris spp., Setaria spp. and Alopecurus myosuroides, infesting more than 25 million hectares of cereal production globally. Of the 24 weed species with glyphosate resistance, 16 have been found in Roundup Ready® cropping systems. Although Conyza canadensis is the most widespread glyphosate-resistant weed, Amaranthus palmeri and Amaranthus tuberculartus are the two most economically important glyphosate-resistant weeds because of the area they infest and the fact that these species have evolved resistance to numerous other herbicide sites of action, leaving growers with few herbicidal options for their control. The agricultural chemical industry has not brought any new herbicides with novel sites of action to market in over 30 years, making growers reliant on using existing herbicides in new ways. In addition, tougher registration and environmental regulations on herbicides have resulted in a loss of some herbicides, particularly in Europe. The lack of novel herbicide chemistries being brought to market combined with the rapid increase in multiple resistance in weeds threatens crop production worldwide. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

Electric Drive Study

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-03-01

compound promises to reduce weight of future permanent magnet motors by 20 to 30 percent; a similar reduction is expected in size (approximately 20...drive systems. The AC permanent magnet (brushless DC motor) is rapidly evolving and will replace most electrically excited machines. Permanent magnet motors using

Very High Resolution Panoramic Photography to Improve Conventional Rangeland Monitoring 1994

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Rangeland monitoring often includes repeat photographs as a basis for documentation and although photographic equipment and electronics have been evolving rapidly, basic rangeland photo monitoring methods have changed little over time. Ground based digital photography is underutilized, especially s...

Transforming Undergraduate Research Opportunities Using Telepresence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pallant, Amy; McIntyre, Cynthia; Stephens, A. Lynn

2016-01-01

The National Science Foundation funded the "Transforming Remotely Conducted Research through Ethnography, Education, and Rapidly Evolving Technologies" (TREET) project to explore ways to utilize advances in technology and thus to provide opportunities for scientists and undergraduate students to engage in deep sea research. The…

A next generation advanced traveler information precursor system (ATIS 2.0 precursor system) concept of operations.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-10-27

Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) have experienced significant growth since its initial inception in the 1990s. Technologies have continued to evolve at a rapid pace, enabling the integration of advanced solutions for traveler information ...

A next generation advanced traveler information precursor system (ATIS 2.0 precursor system) system requirements.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-12-01

Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) have experienced significant growth since their initial inception in the 1990s. Technologies have continued to evolve at a rapid pace, enabling the integration of advanced solutions for traveler informatio...

A next generation advanced traveler information precursor system (ATIS 2.0 precursor system) use cases report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-05-01

Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) have experienced significant growth since their initial inception in the 1990s. Technologies have continued to evolve at a rapid pace, enabling the integration of advanced solutions for traveler informatio...

CURRENT TECHNICAL PROBLEMS IN EMERGY ANALYSIS

EPA Science Inventory

: Emergy Analysis has been a rapidly evolving assessment methodology for the past 30 years. This process of development was primarily driven by the inquiring mind and ceaseless activity of its founder, H.T. Odum, his students, and colleagues. Historically, as new kinds of proble...

On two new trends in evolvable hardware: employment of HDL-based structuring, and design of multi-functional circuits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stoica, A.; Keymeulen, D.; Zebulum, R. S.; Ferguson, M. I.; Guo, X.

2002-01-01

This paper comments on some directions of growth for evolvable hardware, proposes research directions that address the scalability problem and gives examples of results in novel areas approached by EHW.

Commentary on “Biophysical Economics” and Evolving Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flomenbom, Ophir; Coban, Gul Unal; Adigüzel, Yekbun

2016-07-01

In this Issue, papers in the area of socio-econo-physics and biophysical economics are presented. We have recently introduced socio-econo-physics and biophysical economics in Biophysical Reviews and Letters (BRL), yet saw 3 to 4 relevant papers just in these most recent three quarters. In this commentary, we therefore would like to elaborate on the topics of socio-econo-physics and biophysical economics and to introduce these concepts to the readers of BRL and the biophysical community of science, with the purpose of supporting many more publications here in BRL, in this evolving area.

Active Region Jets II: Triggering and Evolution of Violent Jets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sterling, Alphonse C.; Moore, Ronald L.; Falconer, David; Panesar, Navdeep K.; Martinez, Francisco

2017-08-01

We study a series of X-ray-bright, rapidly evolving active-region coronal jets outside the leading sunspot of AR 12259, using Hinode/XRT, SDO/AIA and HMI, and IRIS/SJ data. The detailed evolution of such rapidly evolving “violent” jets remained a mystery after our previous investigation of active region jets (Sterling et al. 2016, ApJ, 821, 100). The jets we investigate here erupt from three localized subregions, each containing a rapidly evolving (positive) minority-polarity magnetic-flux patch bathed in a (majority) negative-polarity magnetic-flux background. At least several of the jets begin with eruptions of what appear to be thin (thickness ˜<2‧‧) miniature-filament (minifilament) “strands” from a magnetic neutral line where magnetic flux cancelation is ongoing, consistent with the magnetic configuration presented for coronal-hole jets in Sterling et al. (2015, Nature, 523, 437). For some jets strands are difficult/ impossible to detect, perhaps due to their thinness, obscuration by surrounding bright or dark features, or the absence of erupting cool-material minifilaments in those jets. Tracing in detail the flux evolution in one of the subregions, we find bursts of strong jetting occurring only during times of strong flux cancelation. Averaged over seven jetting episodes, the cancelation rate was ~1.5×10^19 Mx/hr. An average flux of ~5×10^18 Mx canceled prior to each episode, arguably building up ~10^28—10^29 ergs of free magnetic energy per jet. From these and previous observations, we infer that flux cancelation is the fundamental process responsible for the pre-eruption buildup and triggering of at least many jets in active regions, quiet regions, and coronal holes.

Solar Active Region Coronal Jets. II. Triggering and Evolution of Violent Jets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sterling, Alphonse C.; Moore, Ronald L.; Falconer, David A.; Panesar, Navdeep K.; Martinez, Francisco

2017-07-01

We study a series of X-ray-bright, rapidly evolving active region coronal jets outside the leading sunspot of AR 12259, using Hinode/X-ray telescope, Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), and Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) data. The detailed evolution of such rapidly evolving “violent” jets remained a mystery after our previous investigation of active region jets. The jets we investigate here erupt from three localized subregions, each containing a rapidly evolving (positive) minority-polarity magnetic-flux patch bathed in a (majority) negative-polarity magnetic-flux background. At least several of the jets begin with eruptions of what appear to be thin (thickness ≲ 2\\prime\\prime ) miniature-filament (minifilament) “strands” from a magnetic neutral line where magnetic flux cancelation is ongoing, consistent with the magnetic configuration presented for coronal-hole jets in Sterling et al. (2016). Some jets strands are difficult/impossible to detect, perhaps due to, e.g., their thinness, obscuration by surrounding bright or dark features, or the absence of erupting cool-material minifilaments in those jets. Tracing in detail the flux evolution in one of the subregions, we find bursts of strong jetting occurring only during times of strong flux cancelation. Averaged over seven jetting episodes, the cancelation rate was ˜ 1.5× {10}19 Mx hr-1. An average flux of ˜ 5× {10}18 Mx canceled prior to each episode, arguably building up ˜1028-1029 erg of free magnetic energy per jet. From these and previous observations, we infer that flux cancelation is the fundamental process responsible for the pre-eruption build up and triggering of at least many jets in active regions, quiet regions, and coronal holes.

Rapid Emergence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Subtypes from a Subtype H5N1 Hemagglutinin Variant.

PubMed

de Vries, Erik; Guo, Hongbo; Dai, Meiling; Rottier, Peter J M; van Kuppeveld, Frank J M; de Haan, Cornelis A M

2015-05-01

In 2014, novel highly pathogenic avian influenza A H5N2, H5N5, H5N6, and H5N8 viruses caused outbreaks in Asia, Europe, and North America. The H5 genes of these viruses form a monophyletic group that evolved from a clade 2.3.4 H5N1 variant. This rapid emergence of new H5Nx combinations is unprecedented in the H5N1 evolutionary history.

Development of a Rapidly Deployable Special Operations Component Command (SOCC) Core Concept for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Special Operations Headquarters (NSHQ)

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

operating in their territory. NSHQ is a new and evolving organization, which was instructed to develop a rapidly deployable HQ. NSHQ receives its...single overarching concept, eliminating redundancy, and integrates new deployable operational C2 structures (notably NSHQ) agreed through the...of the command and control issue is the ability to communicate effectively both up and down the chain of command. With the new technologies

Rapid Sequencing of Complete env Genes from Primary HIV-1 Samples

PubMed Central

Eren, Kemal; Ignacio, Caroline; Landais, Elise; Weaver, Steven; Phung, Pham; Ludka, Colleen; Hepler, Lance; Caballero, Gemma; Pollner, Tristan; Guo, Yan; Richman, Douglas; Poignard, Pascal; Paxinos, Ellen E.; Kosakovsky Pond, Sergei L.

2016-01-01

Abstract The ability to study rapidly evolving viral populations has been constrained by the read length of next-generation sequencing approaches and the sampling depth of single-genome amplification methods. Here, we develop and characterize a method using Pacific Biosciences’ Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT®) sequencing technology to sequence multiple, intact full-length human immunodeficiency virus-1 env genes amplified from viral RNA populations circulating in blood, and provide computational tools for analyzing and visualizing these data. PMID:29492273

Gradual Dinosaur Extinction and Simultaneous Ungulate Radiation in the Hell Creek Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sloan, Robert E.; Rigby, J. Keith; van Valen, Leigh M.; Gabriel, Diane

1986-05-01

Dinosaur extinction in Montana, Alberta, and Wyoming was a gradual process that began 7 million years before the end of the Cretaceous and accelerated rapidly in the final 0.3 million years of the Cretaceous, during the interval of apparent competition from rapidly evolving immigrating ungulates. This interval involves rapid reduction in both diversity and population density of dinosaurs. The last dinosaurs known are from a channel that contains teeth of Mantuan mammals, seven species of dinosaurs, and Paleocene pollen. The top of this channel is 1.3 meters above the likely position of the iridium anomaly, the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary.

Metabolic Surgery in a Pill.

PubMed

Miras, Alexander D; le Roux, Carel W

2017-05-02

Bariatric surgery has evolved from a very effective treatment of weight to a treatment of "metabolism" and end-organ damage. Even though surgery was designed with the aim of causing mechanical restriction and calorie malabsorption, mechanistic work in humans and rodents over the last 10 years or so has informed us that this could not be further from the truth. Dietary, pharmacological, and medical device interventions for weight loss and metabolic control have also evolved rapidly only very recently. In this Crosstalk we discuss how close we are to harnessing the clinical efficacy of surgery through a metabolic "polypill." Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Worldwide Epidemiology and Antibiotic Resistance of Staphylococcus aureus.

PubMed

Monaco, Monica; Pimentel de Araujo, Fernanda; Cruciani, Melania; Coccia, Eliana M; Pantosti, Annalisa

2017-01-01

Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen, responsible for infections in the community and the healthcare setting. Although much of the attention is focused on the methicillin-resistant "variant" MRSA, the methicillin-susceptible counterpart (MSSA) remains a prime species in infections. The epidemiology of S. aureus, especially of MRSA, showed a rapid evolution in the last years. After representing a typical nosocomial multidrug-resistant pathogen, MRSA has recently emerged in the community and among farmed animals thanks to its ability to evolve and adapt to different settings. Global surveillance has shown that MRSA represents a problem in all continents and countries where studies have been carried out, determining an increase in mortality and the need to use last-resource expensive antibiotics. S. aureus can easily acquire resistance to antibiotics and MRSA is characteristically multidrug resistant. Resistance to vancomycin, the principal anti-MRSA antibiotic is rare, although isolates with decreased susceptibility are recovered in many areas. Resistance to the more recently introduced antibiotics, linezolid and daptomycin, has emerged; however, they remain substantially active against the large majority of MSSA and MRSA. Newer antistaphylococcal drugs have been developed, but since their clinical use has been very limited so far, little is known about the emergence of resistance. Molecular typing techniques have allowed to identify the major successful clones and lineages of MSSA and MRSA, including high-risk clones, and to trace their diffusion. In the face of a continuously evolving scenario, this review depicts the most common clones circulating in different geographical areas and in different settings at present. Since the evolution of S. aureus will continue, it is important to maintain the attention on the epidemiology of S. aureus in the future with a global view.

Evolving fuzzy rules for relaxed-criteria negotiation.

PubMed

Sim, Kwang Mong

2008-12-01

In the literature on automated negotiation, very few negotiation agents are designed with the flexibility to slightly relax their negotiation criteria to reach a consensus more rapidly and with more certainty. Furthermore, these relaxed-criteria negotiation agents were not equipped with the ability to enhance their performance by learning and evolving their relaxed-criteria negotiation rules. The impetus of this work is designing market-driven negotiation agents (MDAs) that not only have the flexibility of relaxing bargaining criteria using fuzzy rules, but can also evolve their structures by learning new relaxed-criteria fuzzy rules to improve their negotiation outcomes as they participate in negotiations in more e-markets. To this end, an evolutionary algorithm for adapting and evolving relaxed-criteria fuzzy rules was developed. Implementing the idea in a testbed, two kinds of experiments for evaluating and comparing EvEMDAs (MDAs with relaxed-criteria rules that are evolved using the evolutionary algorithm) and EMDAs (MDAs with relaxed-criteria rules that are manually constructed) were carried out through stochastic simulations. Empirical results show that: 1) EvEMDAs generally outperformed EMDAs in different types of e-markets and 2) the negotiation outcomes of EvEMDAs generally improved as they negotiated in more e-markets.

CONNECTIVITY OF ENVIRONMENT, HUMAN HEALTH AND SOCIOECONOMICS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SCIENCE AND POLICY

EPA Science Inventory

Environmental and public health policy continues to evolve in response to new and complex social, economic and environmental drivers. Globalization of commerce, evolving patterns of land use, and technological advances in such areas as manufacturing and genetically modified food...

WHITE BOX: LOW COST BOX FOR LAPAROSCOPIC TRAINING

PubMed Central

MARTINS, João Maximiliano Pedron; RIBEIRO, Roberto Vanin Pinto; CAVAZZOLA, Leandro Totti

2015-01-01

Background: Laparoscopic surgery is a reality in almost all surgical centers. Although with initial greater technical difficulty for surgeons, the rapid return to activities, less postoperative pain and higher quality aesthetic stimulates surgeons to evolve technically in this area. However, unlike open surgery where learning opportunities are more accessible, the laparoscopic training represents a challenge in surgeon formation. Aim: To present a low cost model for laparoscopic training box. Methods: This model is based in easily accessible materials; the equipment can be easily found based on chrome mini jet and passes rubber thread and a webcam attached to an aluminum handle. Results: It can be finalized in two days costing R$ 280,00 (US$ 90). Conclusion: It is possible to stimulate a larger number of surgeons to have self training in laparoscopy at low cost seeking to improve their surgical skills outside the operating room. PMID:26537148

Scientific Integrity and Professional Ethics at AGU - The Establishment and Evolution of an Ethics Program at a Large Scientific Society

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McPhaden, Michael; Leinen, Margaret; McEntee, Christine; Townsend, Randy; Williams, Billy

2016-04-01

The American Geophysical Union, a scientific society of 62,000 members worldwide, has established a set of scientific integrity and professional ethics guidelines for the actions of its members, for the governance of the union in its internal activities, and for the operations and participation in its publications and scientific meetings. This presentation will provide an overview of the Ethics program at AGU, highlighting the reasons for its establishment, the process of dealing ethical breaches, the number and types of cases considered, how AGU helps educate its members on Ethics issues, and the rapidly evolving efforts at AGU to address issues related to the emerging field of GeoEthics. The presentation will also cover the most recent AGU Ethics program focus on the role for AGU and other scientific societies in addressing sexual harassment, and AGU's work to provide additional program strength in this area.

Monitoring and evaluation of rowing performance using mobile mapping data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mpimis, A.; Gikas, V.

2011-12-01

Traditionally, the term mobile mapping refers to a means of collecting geospatial data using mapping sensors that are mounted on a mobile platform. Historically, this process was mainly driven by the need for highway infrastructure mapping and transportation corridor inventories. However, the recent advances in mapping sensor and telecommunication technologies create the opportunity that, completely new, emergent application areas of mobile mapping to evolve rapidly. This article examines the potential of mobile mapping technology (MMT) in sports science and in particular in competitive rowing. Notably, in this study the concept definition of mobile mapping somehow differs from the traditional one in a way that, the end result is not relevant to the geospatial information acquired as the moving platform travels in space. In contrast, the interest is placed on the moving platform (rowing boat) itself and on the various subsystems which are also in continuous motion.

Short term evolution of coronal hole boundaries

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nolte, J. T.; Krieger, A. S.; Solodyna, C. V.

1978-01-01

The evolution of coronal hole boundary positions on a time scale of approximately 1 day is studied on the basis of an examination of all coronal holes observed by Skylab from May to November 1973. It is found that a substantial fraction (an average of 38%) of all coronal hole boundaries shifted by at least 1 deg heliocentric in the course of a day. Most (70%) of these changes were on a relatively small scale (less than 3 times the supergranulation cell size), but a significant fraction occurred as discrete events on a much larger scale. The large-scale shifts in the boundary locations involved changes in X-ray emission from these areas of the sun. There were generally more changes in the boundaries of the most rapidly evolving holes, but no simple relationship between the amount of change and the rate of hole growth or decay.

Rapid transformation of two libraries using Kotter's Eight Steps of Change.

PubMed

Wheeler, Terrie R; Holmes, Kristi L

2017-07-01

Two new directors were each charged by their institutions to catalyze transformational change in their libraries and to develop dynamic and evolving information ecosystems ready for the information challenges of the future. The directors approached this transformational change using a strategic, forward-looking approach. This paper presents examples of actions that served as catalysts for change at the two libraries using Kotter's Eight Steps of Change as a framework. Small and large changes are critical for successfully transforming library services, resources, and personnel. Libraries are faced with incredible pressure to adapt to meet emerging and intensifying information needs on today's academic medical campuses. These pressures offer an opportunity for libraries to accelerate their evolution at the micro and macro levels. This commentary reports the expansion of new services and areas of support, enhancement of professional visibility of the libraries on their campuses, and overall, a more positive and productive environment at the respective institutions.

Isolation and Flow Cytometry Analysis of Innate Lymphoid Cells from the Intestinal Lamina Propria.

PubMed

Gronke, Konrad; Kofoed-Nielsen, Michael; Diefenbach, Andreas

2017-01-01

The intestinal mucosa constitutes the biggest surface area of the body. It is constantly challenged by bacteria, commensal and pathogenic, protozoa, and food-derived irritants. In order to maintain homeostasis, a complex network of signaling circuits has evolved that includes contributions of immune cells. In recent years a subset of lymphocytes, which belong to the innate immune system, has caught particular attention. These so-called innate lymphoid cells (ILC) reside within the lamina propria of the small and large intestines and rapidly respond to environmental challenges. They provide immunity to various types of infections but may also contribute to organ homeostasis as they produce factors acting on epithelial cells thereby enhancing barrier integrity. Here, we describe how these cells can be isolated from their environment and provide an in-depth protocol how to visualize the various ILC subsets by flow cytometry.

From passive tool holders to microsurgeons: safer, smaller, smarter surgical robots.

PubMed

Bergeles, Christos; Yang, Guang-Zhong

2014-05-01

Within only a few decades from its initial introduction, the field of surgical robotics has evolved into a dynamic and rapidly growing research area with increasing clinical uptake worldwide. Initially introduced for stereotaxic neurosurgery, surgical robots are now involved in an increasing number of procedures, demonstrating their practical clinical potential while propelling further advances in surgical innovations. Emerging platforms are also able to perform complex interventions through only a single-entry incision, and navigate through natural anatomical pathways in a tethered or wireless fashion. New devices facilitate superhuman dexterity and enable the performance of surgical steps that are otherwise impossible. They also allow seamless integration of microimaging techniques at the cellular level, significantly expanding the capabilities of surgeons. This paper provides an overview of the significant achievements in surgical robotics and identifies the current trends and future research directions of the field in making surgical robots safer, smaller, and smarter.

Ethical issues in molecular medicine of relevance to surgeons

PubMed Central

Bernstein, Mark; Bampoe, Joseph; Daar, Abdallah S.

2004-01-01

The technology associated with the care of surgical patients and the level of sophistication of biomedical research accompanying it are evolving at a rapid pace. Both new and old bioethical issues are assuming increasing levels of prominence and importance, particularly in this age of molecular medicine. The authors explore bioethical issues pertinent and relevant to surgeons. Four specific areas that are exemplary by presenting both major scientific and ethical challenges are briefly addressed: privacy of information, stem cells, gene therapy, and conflict of interest in biomedical research. All of these can be generalized to all surgeons. As bioethical issues today play a greater role in surgical practice than they did even a decade ago, it is hoped that this brief review on ethical issues in molecular medicine will help stimulate present and future generations of surgeons in thinking about the ethical dimensions of their work. PMID:15646439

Toxin structures as evolutionary tools: Using conserved 3D folds to study the evolution of rapidly evolving peptides.

PubMed

Undheim, Eivind A B; Mobli, Mehdi; King, Glenn F

2016-06-01

Three-dimensional (3D) structures have been used to explore the evolution of proteins for decades, yet they have rarely been utilized to study the molecular evolution of peptides. Here, we highlight areas in which 3D structures can be particularly useful for studying the molecular evolution of peptide toxins. Although we focus our discussion on animal toxins, including one of the most widespread disulfide-rich peptide folds known, the inhibitor cystine knot, our conclusions should be widely applicable to studies of the evolution of disulfide-constrained peptides. We show that conserved 3D folds can be used to identify evolutionary links and test hypotheses regarding the evolutionary origin of peptides with extremely low sequence identity; construct accurate multiple sequence alignments; and better understand the evolutionary forces that drive the molecular evolution of peptides. Also watch the video abstract. © 2016 WILEY Periodicals, Inc.

Central American information system for energy planning (in English; Spanish)

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

Fonseca, M.G.; Lyon, P.C.; Heskett, J.C.

1991-04-01

SICAPE (Sistema de Information Centroamericano para Planificacion Energetica) is an expandable information system designed for energy planning. Its objective is to satisfy ongoing information requirements by means of a menu driver operational environment. SICAPE is as easily used by the novice computer user as those with more experience. Moreover, the system is capable of evolving concurrently with future requirements of the individual country. The expansion is accomplished by menu restructuring as data and user requirements change. The new menu configurations require no programming effort. The use and modification of SICAPE are separate menu-driven processes that allow for rapid data query,more » minimal training, and effortless continued growth. SICAPE's data is organized by country or region. Information is available in the following areas: energy balance, macro economics, electricity generation capacity, and electricity and petroleum product pricing. (JF)« less

Screening for Barrett’s Esophagus

PubMed Central

di Pietro, Massimiliano; Chan, Daniel; Fitzgerald, Rebecca C.; Wang, Kenneth K.

2015-01-01

The large increase in the incidence of esophageal adeno-carcinoma in the West during the past 30 years has stimulated interest in screening for Barrett’s esophagus (BE), a precursor to esophageal cancer. Effective endoscopic treatments for dysplasia and intramucosal cancer, coupled with screening programs to detect BE, could help reverse the increase in the incidence of esophageal cancer. However, there are no accurate, cost-effective, minimally invasive techniques available to screen for BE, reducing the enthusiasm of gastroenterologists. Over the past 5 years, there has been significant progress in the development of screening technologies. We review existing and developing technologies, new minimally invasive imaging techniques, nonendoscopic devices for cell collection, and biomarkers that can be measured in blood or stool samples. We discuss the status of these approaches, data from clinical studies of their effects, and their anticipated strengths and weaknesses in screening. The area is rapidly evolving, and new tools will soon be ready for prime time. PMID:25701083

Characterization of injuries during hardcourt bike polo participation: a descriptive survey.

PubMed

Noh, Maureen Y; Laker, Scott R; Vincent, Heather K

2011-06-01

To describe injury rates and patterns in the emerging sport of hardcourt bike polo (HBP). Descriptive survey. HBP playing areas (urban flat concrete surfaces). Twenty-two adult (≥18 years) HBP players who presented to a routine thrice-weekly playing site completed the survey. Participants completed a survey that was used to evaluate demographics; frequency of play; rate, localization, and severity of injuries sustained in the past 1 year; and use of medical care. The incidence of sustaining an injury in 1 year was 0.86. The main sites of injury involved the knee, elbow, wrist, and hand. Medical attention was sought by 15% of the injured players. HBP is a rapidly evolving urban sport in which participants are at risk for trauma-related injury, some of which may be preventable by the addition of appropriate safety equipment. Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

MRI-guided robotics at the U of Houston: evolving methodologies for interventions and surgeries.

PubMed

Tsekos, Nikolaos V

2009-01-01

Currently, we witness the rapid evolution of minimally invasive surgeries (MIS) and image guided interventions (IGI) for offering improved patient management and cost effectiveness. It is well recognized that sustaining and expand this paradigm shift would require new computational methodology that integrates sensing with multimodal imaging, actively controlled robotic manipulators, the patient and the operator. Such approach would include (1) assessing in real-time tissue deformation secondary to the procedure and physiologic motion, (2) monitoring the tool(s) in 3D, and (3) on-the-fly update information about the pathophysiology of the targeted tissue. With those capabilities, real time image guidance may facilitate a paradigm shift and methodological leap from "keyhole" visualization (i.e. endoscopy or laparoscopy) to one that uses a volumetric and informational rich perception of the Area of Operation (AoO). This capability may eventually enable a wider range and level of complexity IGI and MIS.

Development of an open-source cloud-connected sensor-monitoring platform

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Rapid advances in electronics and communications technologies offer continuously evolving options for sensing and awareness of the physical environment. Many of these advances are becoming increasingly available to “non-professionals,” that is, those without formal training or expertise in discipli...

Call of the wild rice: Oryza rufipogon shapes weedy rice evolution in Southeast Asia

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Agricultural weeds serve as models for studying the genetic basis of rapid adaptation, with weed-adaptive traits potentially evolving independently in geographically distinct but environmentally similar agroecosystems. Weedy relatives of domesticated crops can be especially interesting systems becau...

Ready for Prime Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fulcher, Roxanne; Honore, Peggy; Kirkwood, Brenda; Riegelman, Richard

2010-01-01

Public health education is not just for graduate students anymore. The movement toward integrating public health into the education of undergraduates is rapidly evolving. Healthy People, a public-private consortium of more than 400 health-related organizations, has proposed an objective for 2020 that could dramatically increase public health…

The Basics of Blended Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tucker, Catlin R.

2013-01-01

Even though many of teachers do not have technology-rich classrooms, the rapidly evolving education landscape increasingly requires them to incorporate technology to customize student learning. Blended learning, with its mix of technology and traditional face-to-face instruction, is a great approach. Blended learning combines classroom learning…

Online Videoconferencing Products: Update

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burton, Douglas; Kitchen, Tim

2011-01-01

Software allowing real-time online video connectivity is rapidly evolving. The ability to connect students, staff, and guest speakers instantaneously carries great benefits for the online distance education classroom. This evaluation report compares four software applications at opposite ends of the cost spectrum: "DimDim", "Elluminate VCS",…

JournalMap: Geo-semantic searching for relevant knowledge

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Ecologists struggling to understand rapidly changing environments and evolving ecosystem threats need quick access to relevant research and documentation of natural systems. The advent of semantic and aggregation searching (e.g., Google Scholar, Web of Science) has made it easier to find useful lite...

Nicholas J. Nagle | NREL

Science.gov Websites

presentation. Featured Publications "Impact of biomass processing, blending and densification, on J. Nagle Photo of Nicholas J. Nagle Nicholas Nagle Researcher IV-Chemical Engineering Nick.Nagle impact on lignin upgrading post conversion. As feedstocks rapidly evolve into new formats, such as

Coexistence and chaos in complex ecologies [rapid communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sprott, J. C.; Vano, J. A.; Wildenberg, J. C.; Anderson, M. B.; Noel, J. K.

2005-02-01

Many complex dynamical systems in ecology, economics, neurology, and elsewhere, in which agents compete for limited resources, exhibit apparently chaotic fluctuations. This Letter proposes a purely deterministic mechanism for evolving robustly but weakly chaotic systems that exhibit adaptation, self-organization, sporadic volatility, and punctuated equilibria.

Assisted stellar suicide in V617 Sagittarii

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steiner, J. E.; Oliveira, A. S.; Cieslinski, D.; Ricci, T. V.

2006-02-01

Context: .V617 Sgr is a V Sagittae star - a group of binaries thought to be the galactic counterparts of the Compact Binary Supersoft X-ray Sources - CBSS. Aims: .To check this hypothesis, we measured the time derivative of its orbital period. Methods: .Observed timings of eclipse minima spanning over 30 000 orbital cycles are presented. Results: .We found that the orbital period evolves quite rapidly: P/dot{P} = 1.1×106 years. This is consistent with the idea that V617 Sgr is a wind driven accretion supersoft source. As the binary system evolves with a time-scale of about one million years, which is extremely short for a low mass evolved binary, it is likely that the system will soon end either by having its secondary completely evaporated or by the primary exploding as a supernova of type Ia. Conclusions: .

Natural selection promotes antigenic evolvability.

PubMed

Graves, Christopher J; Ros, Vera I D; Stevenson, Brian; Sniegowski, Paul D; Brisson, Dustin

2013-01-01

The hypothesis that evolvability - the capacity to evolve by natural selection - is itself the object of natural selection is highly intriguing but remains controversial due in large part to a paucity of direct experimental evidence. The antigenic variation mechanisms of microbial pathogens provide an experimentally tractable system to test whether natural selection has favored mechanisms that increase evolvability. Many antigenic variation systems consist of paralogous unexpressed 'cassettes' that recombine into an expression site to rapidly alter the expressed protein. Importantly, the magnitude of antigenic change is a function of the genetic diversity among the unexpressed cassettes. Thus, evidence that selection favors among-cassette diversity is direct evidence that natural selection promotes antigenic evolvability. We used the Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, as a model to test the prediction that natural selection favors amino acid diversity among unexpressed vls cassettes and thereby promotes evolvability in a primary surface antigen, VlsE. The hypothesis that diversity among vls cassettes is favored by natural selection was supported in each B. burgdorferi strain analyzed using both classical (dN/dS ratios) and Bayesian population genetic analyses of genetic sequence data. This hypothesis was also supported by the conservation of highly mutable tandem-repeat structures across B. burgdorferi strains despite a near complete absence of sequence conservation. Diversification among vls cassettes due to natural selection and mutable repeat structures promotes long-term antigenic evolvability of VlsE. These findings provide a direct demonstration that molecular mechanisms that enhance evolvability of surface antigens are an evolutionary adaptation. The molecular evolutionary processes identified here can serve as a model for the evolution of antigenic evolvability in many pathogens which utilize similar strategies to establish chronic infections.

Natural Selection Promotes Antigenic Evolvability

PubMed Central

Graves, Christopher J.; Ros, Vera I. D.; Stevenson, Brian; Sniegowski, Paul D.; Brisson, Dustin

2013-01-01

The hypothesis that evolvability - the capacity to evolve by natural selection - is itself the object of natural selection is highly intriguing but remains controversial due in large part to a paucity of direct experimental evidence. The antigenic variation mechanisms of microbial pathogens provide an experimentally tractable system to test whether natural selection has favored mechanisms that increase evolvability. Many antigenic variation systems consist of paralogous unexpressed ‘cassettes’ that recombine into an expression site to rapidly alter the expressed protein. Importantly, the magnitude of antigenic change is a function of the genetic diversity among the unexpressed cassettes. Thus, evidence that selection favors among-cassette diversity is direct evidence that natural selection promotes antigenic evolvability. We used the Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, as a model to test the prediction that natural selection favors amino acid diversity among unexpressed vls cassettes and thereby promotes evolvability in a primary surface antigen, VlsE. The hypothesis that diversity among vls cassettes is favored by natural selection was supported in each B. burgdorferi strain analyzed using both classical (dN/dS ratios) and Bayesian population genetic analyses of genetic sequence data. This hypothesis was also supported by the conservation of highly mutable tandem-repeat structures across B. burgdorferi strains despite a near complete absence of sequence conservation. Diversification among vls cassettes due to natural selection and mutable repeat structures promotes long-term antigenic evolvability of VlsE. These findings provide a direct demonstration that molecular mechanisms that enhance evolvability of surface antigens are an evolutionary adaptation. The molecular evolutionary processes identified here can serve as a model for the evolution of antigenic evolvability in many pathogens which utilize similar strategies to establish chronic infections. PMID:24244173

Intraspecific competition favours niche width expansion in Drosophila melanogaster.

PubMed

Bolnick, D I

2001-03-22

Ecologists have proposed that when interspecific competition is reduced, competition within a species becomes a potent evolutionary force leading to rapid diversification. This view reflects the observation that populations invading species-poor communities frequently evolve broader niches. Niche expansion can be associated with an increase in phenotypic variance (known as character release), with the evolution of polymorphisms, or with divergence into many species using distinct resources (adaptive radiation). The relationship between intraspecific competition and diversification is known from theory, and has been used as the foundation for some models of speciation. However, there has been little empirical proof that niches evolve in response to intraspecific competition. To test this hypothesis, I introduced cadmium-intolerant Drosophila melanogaster populations to environments containing both cadmium-free and cadmium-laced resources. Here I show that populations experiencing high competition adapted to cadmium more rapidly than low competition populations. This provides experimental confirmation that competition in a population can drive niche expansion onto new resources for which competition is less severe.

Stickleback fishes: Bridging the gap between population biology and paleobiology.

PubMed

Bell, M A

1988-12-01

Integration of evolutionary mechanisms and phylogeny requires study of phenotypes that change in the fossil record and continue to evolve in extant populations. Pelvic reduction in the three-spined stickle-back has evolved rapidly in a Miocene fossil assemblage and in numerous extant isolated lake populations throughout its distribution. Although pelvic reduction is caused by selection, expression of reduced pelvic phenotypes is constrained by development and other factors. However, lineages with pelvis reduction rapidly go extinct while lineages that retain the fully formed pelvic girdle tend to persist. Existence of pelvic reduction since the Miocene has depended on an equilibrium between divergence and extinction. The phylogenetic topology resulting from this process differs greatly from the conventional view of evolutionary history, and could only be recognized by analysis of both extant populations and fossil material. If this phylogenetic topology is common, it may help to account for the different perceptions that population biologists and paleobiologists have of evolutionary tempo. Copyright © 1988. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Courting disaster: How diversification rate affects fitness under risk

PubMed Central

Ratcliff, William C; Hawthorne, Peter; Libby, Eric

2015-01-01

Life is full of risk. To deal with this uncertainty, many organisms have evolved bet-hedging strategies that spread risk through phenotypic diversification. These rates of diversification can vary by orders of magnitude in different species. Here we examine how key characteristics of risk and organismal ecology affect the fitness consequences of variation in diversification rate. We find that rapid diversification is strongly favored when the risk faced has a wide spatial extent, with a single disaster affecting a large fraction of the population. This advantage is especially great in small populations subject to frequent disaster. In contrast, when risk is correlated through time, slow diversification is favored because it allows adaptive tracking of disasters that tend to occur in series. Naturally evolved diversification mechanisms in diverse organisms facing a broad array of environmental risks largely support these results. The theory presented in this article provides a testable ecological hypothesis to explain the prevalence of slow stochastic switching among microbes and rapid, within-clutch diversification strategies among plants and animals. PMID:25410817

In situ regeneration of bioactive coatings enabled by an evolved Staphylococcus aureus sortase A

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ham, Hyun Ok; Qu, Zheng; Haller, Carolyn A.; Dorr, Brent M.; Dai, Erbin; Kim, Wookhyun; Liu, David R.; Chaikof, Elliot L.

2016-04-01

Surface immobilization of bioactive molecules is a central paradigm in the design of implantable devices and biosensors with improved clinical performance capabilities. However, in vivo degradation or denaturation of surface constituents often limits the long-term performance of bioactive films. Here we demonstrate the capacity to repeatedly regenerate a covalently immobilized monomolecular thin film of bioactive molecules through a two-step stripping and recharging cycle. Reversible transpeptidation by a laboratory evolved Staphylococcus aureus sortase A (eSrtA) enabled the rapid immobilization of an anti-thrombogenic film in the presence of whole blood and permitted multiple cycles of film regeneration in vitro that preserved its biological activity. Moreover, eSrtA transpeptidation facilitated surface re-engineering of medical devices in situ after in vivo implantation through removal and restoration film constituents. These studies establish a rapid, orthogonal and reversible biochemical scheme to regenerate selective molecular constituents with the potential to extend the lifetime of bioactive films.

Microsatellites evolve more rapidly in humans than in chimpanzees

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

Rubinsztein, D.C.; Leggo, J.; Amos, W.

1995-12-10

Microsatellites are highly polymorphic markers consisting of varying numbers of tandem repeats. At different loci, these repeats can consist of one to five nucleotides. Microsatellites have been used in many fields of genetics, including genetic mapping, linkage disequilibrium analyses, forensic studies, and population genetics. It is important that we understand their mutational processes better so that they can be exploited optimally for studies of human diversity and evolutionary genetics. We have analyzed 24 microsatellite loci in chimpanzees, East Anglians, and Sub-Saharan Africans. The stepwise-weighted genetic distances between the humans and the chimpanzees and between the two human populations were calculatedmore » according to the method described by Deka et al. The ratio of the genetic distances between the chimpanzees and the humans relative to that between the Africans and the East Anglians was more than 10 times smaller than expected. This suggests that microsatellites have evolved more rapidly in humans than in chimpanzees. 12 refs., 1 tab.« less

Standoff aircraft IR characterization with ABB dual-band hyper spectral imager

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prel, Florent; Moreau, Louis; Lantagne, Stéphane; Bullis, Ritchie D.; Roy, Claude; Vallières, Christian; Levesque, Luc

2012-09-01

Remote sensing infrared characterization of rapidly evolving events generally involves the combination of a spectro-radiometer and infrared camera(s) as separated instruments. Time synchronization, spatial coregistration, consistent radiometric calibration and managing several systems are important challenges to overcome; they complicate the target infrared characterization data processing and increase the sources of errors affecting the final radiometric accuracy. MR-i is a dual-band Hyperspectal imaging spectro-radiometer, that combines two 256 x 256 pixels infrared cameras and an infrared spectro-radiometer into one single instrument. This field instrument generates spectral datacubes in the MWIR and LWIR. It is designed to acquire the spectral signatures of rapidly evolving events. The design is modular. The spectrometer has two output ports configured with two simultaneously operated cameras to either widen the spectral coverage or to increase the dynamic range of the measured amplitudes. Various telescope options are available for the input port. Recent platform developments and field trial measurements performances will be presented for a system configuration dedicated to the characterization of airborne targets.

Health Worker Focused Distributed Simulation for Improving Capability of Health Systems in Liberia.

PubMed

Gale, Thomas C E; Chatterjee, Arunangsu; Mellor, Nicholas E; Allan, Richard J

2016-04-01

The main goal of this study was to produce an adaptable learning platform using virtual learning and distributed simulation, which can be used to train health care workers, across a wide geographical area, key safety messages regarding infection prevention control (IPC). A situationally responsive agile methodology, Scrum, was used to develop a distributed simulation module using short 1-week iterations and continuous synchronous plus asynchronous communication including end users and IPC experts. The module contained content related to standard IPC precautions (including handwashing techniques) and was structured into 3 distinct sections related to donning, doffing, and hazard perception training. Using Scrum methodology, we were able to link concepts applied to best practices in simulation-based medical education (deliberate practice, continuous feedback, self-assessment, and exposure to uncommon events), pedagogic principles related to adult learning (clear goals, contextual awareness, motivational features), and key learning outcomes regarding IPC, as a rapid response initiative to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Gamification approach has been used to map learning mechanics to enhance user engagement. The developed IPC module demonstrates how high-frequency, low-fidelity simulations can be rapidly designed using scrum-based agile methodology. Analytics incorporated into the tool can help demonstrate improved confidence and competence of health care workers who are treating patients within an Ebola virus disease outbreak region. These concepts could be used in a range of evolving disasters where rapid development and communication of key learning messages are required.

Development of a Fluorescence-Based Sensor for Rapid Diagnosis of Cyanide Exposure

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Although commonly known as a highly toxic chemical, cyanide is also an essential reagent for many industrial processes in areas such as mining, electroplating, and synthetic fiber production. The “heavy” use of cyanide in these industries, along with its necessary transportation, increases the possibility of human exposure. Because the onset of cyanide toxicity is fast, a rapid, sensitive, and accurate method for the diagnosis of cyanide exposure is necessary. Therefore, a field sensor for the diagnosis of cyanide exposure was developed based on the reaction of naphthalene dialdehyde, taurine, and cyanide, yielding a fluorescent β-isoindole. An integrated cyanide capture “apparatus”, consisting of sample and cyanide capture chambers, allowed rapid separation of cyanide from blood samples. Rabbit whole blood was added to the sample chamber, acidified, and the HCN gas evolved was actively transferred through a stainless steel channel to the capture chamber containing a basic solution of naphthalene dialdehyde (NDA) and taurine. The overall analysis time (including the addition of the sample) was <3 min, the linear range was 3.13–200 μM, and the limit of detection was 0.78 μM. None of the potential interferents investigated (NaHS, NH4OH, NaSCN, and human serum albumin) produced a signal that could be interpreted as a false positive or a false negative for cyanide exposure. Most importantly, the sensor was 100% accurate in diagnosing cyanide poisoning for acutely exposed rabbits. PMID:24383576

Public health in Canada: Evolution, meaning and a new paradigm for respiratory therapy

PubMed Central

West, Andrew J

2013-01-01

Chronic disease burden in Canada poses an imminent public health threat. The impact of respiratory disease in Canada alone is significant, affecting one in five and leading any other cause of repeat hospitalization in all age groups. Public health action is considered to be an important means of addressing these issues. Historical understanding of health has evolved to support the adoption of paradigms by professions that recognize the limitations of medical intervention in addressing the fundamental basis of disease when compared with the broader public health perspective. Several key historical events have shaped this understanding in the Canadian context including the Lalonde and Epp reports, and public health emergencies such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003. The profession of respiratory therapy has historically existed within a medicalized paradigm of practice; however, forces both internal and external to the profession are pressuring it to consider adopting broader social-and population-based approaches. As a rapidly evolving profession, there is a need to explore emerging areas of practice opportunities in the discipline. Investigating alternative knowledge and ideology can ensure that effective strategies for addressing the contemporary respiratory heath needs of Canadians are undertaken. The present article explores the rationale for a public health- and population-based approach to health in general, and its applicability to the respiratory therapist’s role in addressing respiratory health-related issues in Canada. PMID:26078595

Neuromyelitis optica and the evolving spectrum of autoimmune aquaporin-4 channelopathies: a decade later

PubMed Central

Pittock, Sean J.; Lucchinetti, Claudia F.

2015-01-01

The discovery of AQP4-IgG (a pathogenic antibody that targets the astrocytic water channel aquaporin-4) as the first sensitive and specific biomarker for any inflammatory central nervous system demyelinating disease, has shifted emphasis from the oligodendrocyte and myelin to the astrocyte as a central immunopathogenic player. Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) spectrum disorders (SD) represent an evolving spectrum of IDDs extending beyond the optic nerves and spinal cord to include the brain (especially in children) and, rarely, muscle. NMOSD typical brain lesions are located in areas that highly express the target antigen, AQP4, including the circumventricular organs (accounting for intractable nausea and vomiting) and the diencephalon (accounting for sleep disorders, endocrinopathies, and syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain abnormalities fulfill Barkoff criteria for multiple sclerosis in up to 10% of patients. As the spectrum broadens, the importance of highly specific assays that detect pathogenic AQP4-IgG targeting extracellular epitopes of AQP4 cannot be overemphasized. The rapid evolution of our understanding of the immunobiology of AQP4 autoimmunity necessitates continuing revision of NMOSD diagnostic criteria. Here, we describe scientific advances that have occurred since the discovery of NMO-IgG in 2004 and review novel targeted immunotherapies. We also suggest that NMOSDs should now be considered under the umbrella term autoimmune aquaporin-4 channelopathy. PMID:26096370

Meiosis evolves: adaptation to external and internal environments.

PubMed

Bomblies, Kirsten; Higgins, James D; Yant, Levi

2015-10-01

306 I. 306 II. 307 III. 312 IV. 317 V. 318 319 References 319 SUMMARY: Meiosis is essential for the fertility of most eukaryotes and its structures and progression are conserved across kingdoms. Yet many of its core proteins show evidence of rapid or adaptive evolution. What drives the evolution of meiosis proteins? How can constrained meiotic processes be modified in response to challenges without compromising their essential functions? In surveying the literature, we found evidence of two especially potent challenges to meiotic chromosome segregation that probably necessitate adaptive evolutionary responses: whole-genome duplication and abiotic environment, especially temperature. Evolutionary solutions to both kinds of challenge are likely to involve modification of homologous recombination and synapsis, probably via adjustments of core structural components important in meiosis I. Synthesizing these findings with broader patterns of meiosis gene evolution suggests that the structural components of meiosis coevolve as adaptive modules that may change in primary sequence and function while maintaining three-dimensional structures and protein interactions. The often sharp divergence of these genes among species probably reflects periodic modification of entire multiprotein complexes driven by genomic or environmental changes. We suggest that the pressures that cause meiosis to evolve to maintain fertility may cause pleiotropic alterations of global crossover rates. We highlight several important areas for future research. © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

Advances in the Study of Moving Sediments and Evolving Seabeds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davies, Alan G.; Thorne, Peter D.

2008-01-01

Sands and mud are continually being transported around the world’s coastal seas due to the action of tides, wind and waves. The transport of these sediments modifies the boundary between the land and the sea, changing and reshaping its form. Sometimes the nearshore bathymetry evolves slowly over long time periods, at other times more rapidly due to natural episodic events or the introduction of manmade structures at the shoreline. For over half a century we have been trying to understand the physics of sediment transport processes and formulate predictive models. Although significant progress has been made, our capability to forecast the future behaviour of the coastal zone from basic principles is still relatively poor. However, innovative acoustic techniques for studying the fundamentals of sediment movement experimentally are now providing new insights, and it is expected that such observations, coupled with developing theoretical works, will allow us to take further steps towards the goal of predicting the evolution of coastlines and coastal bathymetry. This paper presents an overview of our existing predictive capabilities, primarily in the field of non-cohesive sediment transport, and highlights how new acoustic techniques are enabling our modelling efforts to achieve greater sophistication and accuracy. The paper is aimed at coastal scientists and managers seeking to understand how detailed physical studies can contribute to the improvement of coastal area models and, hence, inform coastal zone management strategies.

Dynamic Nucleotide Mutation Gradients and Control Region Usage in Squamate Reptile Mitochondrial Genomes

PubMed Central

Castoe, T.A.; Gu, W.; de Koning, A.P.J.; Daza, J.M.; Jiang, Z.J.; Parkinson, C.L.; Pollock, D.D.

2010-01-01

Gradients of nucleotide bias and substitution rates occur in vertebrate mitochondrial genomes due to the asymmetric nature of the replication process. The evolution of these gradients has previously been studied in detail in primates, but not in other vertebrate groups. From the primate study, the strengths of these gradients are known to evolve in ways that can substantially alter the substitution process, but it is unclear how rapidly they evolve over evolutionary time or how different they may be in different lineages or groups of vertebrates. Given the importance of mitochondrial genomes in phylogenetics and molecular evolutionary research, a better understanding of how asymmetric mitochondrial substitution gradients evolve would contribute key insights into how this gradient evolution may mislead evolutionary inferences, and how it may also be incorporated into new evolutionary models. Most snake mitochondrial genomes have an additional interesting feature, 2 nearly identical control regions, which vary among different species in the extent that they are used as origins of replication. Given the expanded sampling of complete snake genomes currently available, together with 2 additional snakes sequenced in this study, we reexamined gradient strength and CR usage in alethinophidian snakes as well as several lizards that possess dual CRs. Our results suggest that nucleotide substitution gradients (and corresponding nucleotide bias) and CR usage is highly labile over the ∼200 m.y. of squamate evolution, and demonstrates greater overall variability than previously shown in primates. The evidence for the existence of such gradients, and their ability to evolve rapidly and converge among unrelated species suggests that gradient dynamics could easily mislead phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary inferences, and argues strongly that these dynamics should be incorporated into phylogenetic models. PMID:20215734

School Counseling Principles: Foundations and Basics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American School Counselor Association (Bks), 2006

2006-01-01

This book serves as a ready reference for advancing a common understanding of the rapidly evolving school counseling profession. Its purpose is to help school counselors, school counseling students, educators, administrators and other school counseling stakeholders best converge on the most highly agreed upon responses to common professional…

A device and method for rapid indirect measurement of human systolic and diastolic blood pressures.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1970-12-01

An indirect blood pressure measuring device and method were evolved for human use. This system is capable of providing 30 measurements each of systolic and diastolic pressures per minute. The system utilizes two brachial blood pressure cuffs (one on ...

Cancer: a reproductive strategy of "ultra-selfish" genes?

PubMed

Schuiling, G A

2004-01-01

A hypothesis is presented in which the process of "malignant transformation" which ultimately results in the rapidly dividing tumor(s)(cells) causing "cancer", is regarded as an evolved reproductive strategy of "ultra-selfish" (proto-)(onco-) genes, already present in the genome, or introduced by a virus.

The Classroom as Global Media Center

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nair, Prakash

2007-01-01

This article looks at ways in which schools buildings designed for today and tomorrow can provide superior environments for learning by keeping pace with rapidly evolving technologies that have redefined the educational landscape. Wireless classrooms, data projectors and wall-mounted plasma monitors are cited as in-classroom technologies of…

Greener Approach to Nanomaterials and Their Sustainable Applications

EPA Science Inventory

The integration of ‘Green Chemistry’ principles into the rapidly evolving field of nanoscience is a necessity for the risk reduction. Several ‘greener’ pathways have been developed to generate nanoparticles in the matrix in which they are to be used thus reducing the exposure ris...

Gender Preferences in Technology Student Association Competitions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitts, Charles R.

2008-01-01

Society is increasingly dominated by rapidly evolving systems of technology. The goal of technology education, as an academic component of public education, is to ensure that students become "technologically literate" members of society who are able to understand, access, use, manage, and control these technological systems.…

Group Projects and the Computer Science Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joy, Mike

2005-01-01

Group projects in computer science are normally delivered with reference to good software engineering practice. The discipline of software engineering is rapidly evolving, and the application of the latest 'agile techniques' to group projects causes a potential conflict with constraints imposed by regulating bodies on the computer science…

Evaluation Strategies: Teaching Students to Assess Consistency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warren, Aaron

2009-01-01

There is a growing consensus that introductory physics courses should help students develop general scientific reasoning abilities that transform them into lifelong learners, preparing them for careers and citizenship in a rapidly evolving world. Despite the sometimes daunting nature of this challenge, activities developed by various physics…

Going with the Technology Flow

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patton, Madeline

2017-01-01

In the age of ubiquitous and constantly evolving technologies, decisions about what to buy, when and how to deploy digital innovations work best when community colleges use systematic, team approaches. In this article, digital education leaders of Walters State Community College (Morristown, Tennessee), Kirkwood Community College (Cedar Rapids,…

Key Facts about Higher Education in Washington

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board, 2011

2011-01-01

Since its establishment in the 1860s, Washington's higher education system has evolved rapidly to meet a myriad of state needs in fields as diverse as agriculture, bioscience, chemistry, environmental sciences, engineering, medicine, law, business, computer science, and architecture. Today, higher education, like other vital state functions, faces…

Energy shortage: a benign crisis

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

Armstrong, E.L.

The energy crisis is real and the days of cheap and plentiful energy are gone, perhaps forever. Resources and technology are available to meet the energy austerity. The good evolving from the energy crisis means conservation in many considerations of city planning such as master planning for transportation, water supply, sewers, and utilities; urban construction; and recreation facilities near subdivisions. Urban and suburban areas are evolving from low density residential communities clustering around a well-defined central city to a collection of regional subcenters around the central-city area, each consisting of malls, high- rise office buildings, industrial areas, and apartment complexesmore » linked by belt highways. (MCW)« less

Linked Climatic, Environmental, and Societal Changes in the Lower Yellow River Area during the Neolithic-Bronze Age Transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, S. Y.

2017-12-01

Understanding human-environment interactions during times of large and rapid climatic changes in the second half of the Holocene may deepen our insight into human adaptation and resilience against potential climate anomalies in the future. However, the drivers and societal responses tend to be different from area to area, and the degree and nature of this link are still a matter of debate. Flooding sediments preserved within the cultural stratigraphical context at archaeological sites in the lower Yellow River area may offer an ideal framework for evaluating the association between evolution of Neolithic cultures and climate fluctuations. Here, we present evidence from a mound site for the prevalence of extreme overbank floods during the Neolithic-Bronze Age transition most likely triggered by excessive summer precipitation in the Yellow River valley when prolonged weak El Niño condition prevailed. Repeated flooding during around 4000-3500 cal yr BP substantially modified the floodplain landscape, thereby driving people to disperse to areas dominated by the Erlitou culture and eventually giving rise to a state-level society in central China historiographically identified as the Xia Dynasty. Changes in the drainage network due to repeated flooding also exerted a profound impact on the rice farming-based communities centered in the region of the floods. Our results provide a precise past analogue of the linked climatic, environmental, and societal changes at a time when human societies were evolving into a hierarchy similar to those of today.

The SuperChip for microbial community structure, and function from all environments.

PubMed

Hazen, Terry C

2013-09-01

We have the technology and capability to develop an all-in-one microarray that can provide complete information on a microbial community, including algae, protozoa, bacteria, archaea, fungi, viruses, antimicrobial resistance, biotoxins and functional activity. With lab-on-a-chip, nanotechnology integrating a variety of the latest methods for a large number of sample types (water, sediment, waste water, food, blood, etc.) it is possible to make a desktop instrument that would have universal applications. There are two major thrusts to this grand challenge that will allow us to take advantage of the latest biotechnological breakthroughs in real time. The first is a bioengineering thrust that will take advantage of the large multidisciplinary laboratories in developing key technologies. Miniaturization will reduce reagent costs and increase sensitivity and reaction kinetics for rapid turnaround time. New and evolving technologies will allow us to port the designs for state-of-the-art microarrays today to completely new nanotechnology inspired platforms as they mature. The second thrust is in bioinformatics to use our existing expertise to take advantage of the rapidly evolving landscape of bioinformatics data. This increasing capacity of the data set will allow us to resolve microbial species to greatly improved levels and identify functional genes beyond the hypothetical protein level. A cheap and portable assay would impact countless areas, including clean water technologies, emerging diseases, bioenergy, infectious disease diagnosis, climate change, food safety, environmental clean-up and bioterrorism. In my opinion it is possible but it will require a very large group of multidiscplenary scientists from multiple institutions crossing many international boundaries and funding over a 5-year period of more than $100 million. Given the impact that this SuperChip could have it is well worth the price!!! © 2013 The Authors. Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for Applied Microbiology.

Genetic structure and evolved malaria resistance in Hawaiian honeycreepers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Foster, J.T.; Woodworth, B.L.; Eggert, L.E.; Hart, P.J.; Palmer, D.; Duffy, D.C.; Fleischer, R.C.

2007-01-01

Infectious diseases now threaten wildlife populations worldwide but population recovery following local extinction has rarely been observed. In such a case, do resistant individuals recolonize from a central remnant population, or do they spread from small, perhaps overlooked, populations of resistant individuals? Introduced avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) has devastated low-elevation populations of native birds in Hawaii, but at least one species (Hawaii amakihi, Hemignathus virens) that was greatly reduced at elevations below about 1000 m tolerates malaria and has initiated a remarkable and rapid recovery. We assessed mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers from amakihi and two other Hawaiian honeycreepers, apapane (Himatione sanguinea) and iiwi (Vestiaria coccinea), at nine primary study sites from 2001 to 2003 to determine the source of re-establishing birds. In addition, we obtained sequences from tissue from amakihi museum study skins (1898 and 1948-49) to assess temporal changes in allele distributions. We found that amakihi in lowland areas are, and have historically been, differentiated from birds at high elevations and had unique alleles retained through time; that is, their genetic signature was not a subset of the genetic variation at higher elevations. We suggest that high disease pressure rapidly selected for resistance to malaria at low elevation, leaving small pockets of resistant birds, and this resistance spread outward from the scattered remnant populations. Low-elevation amakihi are currently isolated from higher elevations (> 1000 m) where disease emergence and transmission rates appear to vary seasonally and annually. In contrast to results from amakihi, no genetic differentiation between elevations was found in apapane and iiwi, indicating that slight variation in genetic or life-history attributes can determine disease resistance and population recovery. Determining the conditions that allow for the development of resistance to disease is essential to understanding how species evolve resistance across a landscape of varying disease pressures. ?? 2007 The Authors.

Investigating warming trends and spatial patterns of Land Surface Temperatures over the Greater Los Angeles Area using new MODIS and VIIRS LST products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malakar, N. K.; Hulley, G. C.

2016-12-01

The Los Angeles (LA) metropolitan area is one of the fastest growing urban centers in the United States, and home to roughly 18 million people. Understanding the trends and impacts of warming temperatures in urban environments is an increasingly important issue in our changing climate. We used thermal infrared data from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensors to retrieve Land Surface Temperature using a new Temperature Emissivity Separation algorithm adapted for these sensors. We analyzed day and night LST retrievals to study the warming trends of LST for the greater LA region from 2002-2015. The average warming trend over LA for summer days and nights over this period for MODIS Aqua data was 1.1 °C per decade, while a more rapid warming is observed for the years 2012-2016 for both MODIS and VIIRS observations. We have also found that inland LA regions are warming more rapidly than the other regions. We further investigate the underlying cause of the warming by looking into the physical factors such as changes in net radiation, cloud cover, and evapotranspiration. The results will help to understand how indicators of climate change are evolving in the beginning of the 21st century, and how they compare with global climate model projections. Identification of potential impacts, and underlying causes of warming trends in various LA regions will help decision makers to develop policies to help mitigate the effects of rising temperatures.

A survey of cosmetic surgery training in plastic surgery programs in the United States.

PubMed

Morrison, Colin M; Rotemberg, S Cristina; Moreira-Gonzalez, Andrea; Zins, James E

2008-11-01

Aesthetic surgery is evolving rapidly, both technologically and conceptually. It is critical for the specialty that aesthetic surgery training keep pace with this rapid evolution. To shed more light on this issue, a survey was sent to all program directors and senior plastic surgery residents to record their impressions of the quality of cosmetic surgery resident training. The authors report the results of this national cosmetic surgery training survey canvassing all 89 plastic surgery programs. A three-page survey delineating resident preparedness in aesthetic surgery was sent to senior plastic surgery residents and program directors in April of 2006 and collected through October of 2006. Of 814 surveys, 292 responses were obtained from 64 percent of program directors and 33 percent of senior residents. Breast augmentation, breast reduction, and abdominoplasty were most frequently performed with the highest resident comfort levels. Rhinoplasty remained a particular area of trainee concern, but confidence levels were also low in face lifts, endoscopic procedures, and body contouring techniques. Experience with skin resurfacing, fillers, and botulinum toxin type A was another area of concern. Although 51 percent of residents felt prepared to integrate cosmetic surgery into their practices on graduation, 36 percent felt that further cosmetic training was desirable. The information collected revealed significant differences in opinions between program directors and senior residents. Senior residents felt deficient in facial cosmetic, minimally invasive, and recently developed body contouring techniques. On the basis of these results and the authors' experience in resident education, changes in cosmetic surgery training are suggested.

Nanocalorimetry-coupled time-of-flight mass spectrometry: identifying evolved species during high-rate thermal measurements.

PubMed

Yi, Feng; DeLisio, Jeffery B; Zachariah, Michael R; LaVan, David A

2015-10-06

We report on measurements integrating a nanocalorimeter sensor into a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS) for simultaneous thermal and speciation measurements at high heating rates. The nanocalorimeter sensor was incorporated into the extraction region of the TOFMS system to provide sample heating and thermal information essentially simultaneously with the evolved species identification. This approach can be used to measure chemical reactions and evolved species for a variety of materials. Furthermore, since the calorimetry is conducted within the same proximal volume as ionization and ion extraction, evolved species detected are in a collision-free environment, and thus, the possibility exists to interrogate intermediate and radical species. We present measurements showing the decomposition of ammonium perchlorate, copper oxide nanoparticles, and sodium azotetrazolate. The rapid, controlled, and quantifiable heating rate capabilities of the nanocalorimeter coupled with the 0.1 ms temporal resolution of the TOFMS provides a new measurement capability and insight into high-rate reactions, such as those seen with reactive and energetic materials, and adsorption\\desorption measurements, critical for understanding surface chemistry and accelerating catalyst selection.

Effects of topology on network evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oikonomou, Panos; Cluzel, Philippe

2006-08-01

The ubiquity of scale-free topology in nature raises the question of whether this particular network design confers an evolutionary advantage. A series of studies has identified key principles controlling the growth and the dynamics of scale-free networks. Here, we use neuron-based networks of boolean components as a framework for modelling a large class of dynamical behaviours in both natural and artificial systems. Applying a training algorithm, we characterize how networks with distinct topologies evolve towards a pre-established target function through a process of random mutations and selection. We find that homogeneous random networks and scale-free networks exhibit drastically different evolutionary paths. Whereas homogeneous random networks accumulate neutral mutations and evolve by sparse punctuated steps, scale-free networks evolve rapidly and continuously. Remarkably, this latter property is robust to variations of the degree exponent. In contrast, homogeneous random networks require a specific tuning of their connectivity to optimize their ability to evolve. These results highlight an organizing principle that governs the evolution of complex networks and that can improve the design of engineered systems.

Transistor Level Circuit Experiments using Evolvable Hardware

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stoica, A.; Zebulum, R. S.; Keymeulen, D.; Ferguson, M. I.; Daud, Taher; Thakoor, A.

2005-01-01

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) performs research in fault tolerant, long life, and space survivable electronics for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). With that focus, JPL has been involved in Evolvable Hardware (EHW) technology research for the past several years. We have advanced the technology not only by simulation and evolution experiments, but also by designing, fabricating, and evolving a variety of transistor-based analog and digital circuits at the chip level. EHW refers to self-configuration of electronic hardware by evolutionary/genetic search mechanisms, thereby maintaining existing functionality in the presence of degradations due to aging, temperature, and radiation. In addition, EHW has the capability to reconfigure itself for new functionality when required for mission changes or encountered opportunities. Evolution experiments are performed using a genetic algorithm running on a DSP as the reconfiguration mechanism and controlling the evolvable hardware mounted on a self-contained circuit board. Rapid reconfiguration allows convergence to circuit solutions in the order of seconds. The paper illustrates hardware evolution results of electronic circuits and their ability to perform under 230 C temperature as well as radiations of up to 250 kRad.

Profitable Dairy Cow Traits for Hot Climatic Conditions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Permanent differences in environment have led to the distinct cattle races. Bos indicus cattle evolved in the tropical areas of southern Asia, and are heat-tolerant. The major dairy breeds in the USA are Bos taurus cattle, which evolved in temperate environments, that are less heat tolerant but whic...

We really need to talk: adapting FDA processes to rapid change.

PubMed

Lykken, Sara

2013-01-01

The rapidly evolving realm of modern commerce strains traditional regulatory paradigms. This paper traces the historical evolution of FDA crisis-response regulation and provides examples of ways in which the definitions and procedures resulting from that past continue to be challenged by new products as market entrants, some in good faith and others not, take actions that create disconnects between actual product and marketing controls and those that consumers might expect. The paper then explores some of the techniques used by other federal agencies that have faced similar challenges in environments characterized by rapid innovation, and draws from this analysis suggestions for improvement of the FDA's warning letter system.

Miniature fuel cells relieve gas pressure in sealed batteries

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frank, H. A.

1971-01-01

Miniature fuel cells within sealed silver zinc batteries consume evolved hydrogen and oxygen rapidly, preventing pressure rupturing. They do not significantly increase battery weight and they operate in all battery life phases. Complete gas pressure control requires two fuel cells during all phases of operation of silver zinc batteries.

An Epistemological Framework for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yawson, Robert M.

2012-01-01

The need for a new literacy that will allow for meaningful participation in the rapidly evolving field of nanotechnology is very critical to national development. This need is important for nanotechnology to achieve its full potential. This paper describes and analyzes some contemporary philosophical interpretations of the concept of technological…

Using pedometers for measuring and increasing physical activity in children and adolescents: The next step

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The science and practice of step counting in children (typically aged 6-11 years) and adolescents (typically aged 12-19 years) has evolved rapidly over a relatively brief period with the commercial availability of research-grade pedometers and accelerometers. Recent reviews have summarized considera...

The Information Age--Leader or Follower?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geeslin, Bailey M.

In order to realize the full potential of this evolving information age and make its capabilities available to the greatest number of consumers, the telephone companies must be permitted to participate fully in the information and information-related markets. Indeed, a principal issue during this period of rapidly changing market conditions is the…

Effective survey automation

Treesearch

John Weisberg; Jay Beaman

2001-01-01

Progress in the options for survey data collection and its effective processing continues. This paper focuses on the rapidly evolving capabilities of handheld computers, and their effective exploitation including links to data captured from scanned questionnaires (OMR and barcodes). The paper describes events in Parks Canada that led to the creation of survey software...

The unique genomic landscape surrounding the EPSPS gene in glyphosate resistant Amaranthus palmeri: A repetitive path to resistance

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The expanding number and global distributions of herbicide resistant weedy species threaten food, feed, fiber and bioproduct sustainability and agroecosystem longevity. Amongst the most competitive weeds, Amaranthus palmeri S. Wats has rapidly evolved increased resistance to glyphosate primarily th...

CIO Effectiveness in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Wayne A.

2006-01-01

Information technology departments, and therefore chief information officers (CIOs), can have a communication and action gap with their institutions and leadership. The gap between IT and the institution poses a major challenge if the senior IT executive, or the CIO, does not have the necessary skills and ability to lead a rapidly evolving IT…

Three Essays on Digital Evolution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Zhewei

2016-01-01

Digital products are rapidly shaping our world into a ubiquitous computing world. Because of its unique characteristics, digital artifacts are generative and highly evolving through the recombination of existing elements as well as by the invention of new elements. In this thesis, I first propose an evolutionary view to examine how digital…

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RESEARCH RELATED TO BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL, AND ECOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF SEDIMENT PORE WATER: THE WAY FORWARD

EPA Science Inventory

Toxicity tests are useful and reliable tools for evaluating the adverse effects of chemicals discharged into aquatic ecosystems. The science of sediment toxicology evolved rapidly following the realization that sediments are a sink and a source for contaminants and that they can ...

Guidelines to Support Professional Copyright Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dryden, Jean

2012-01-01

Copyright is extremely complex, and it is difficult to convey its complexities in a clear and concise form. Through decades of experience, archivists developed informal best practices for dealing with copyright in the analog world; however the application of copyright in the digital environment is evolving in response to rapidly changing…

Developing Leaders through Mentoring: A Brief Literature Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leavitt, Carol C.

2011-01-01

Our rapidly-changing, ambiguous, global business arena demands a unique and evolving set of insights and capabilities by which leaders may effectively navigate this new terrain. Mentoring can accomplish exactly that, as its processes orient, train, and advance the skills, knowledge, and experiences of aspiring leaders. Best utilized, mentoring is…

The genomic landscape of rapid, repeated evolutionary rescue from toxic pollution in wild fish

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Several populations of Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) in contaminated Atlantic coast estuaries have evolved resistance to the toxic effects of PCBs, dioxins, and PAHs. However, the genetic mechanisms of resistance and whether they are shared among populations is not known. We sequenced t...

Innovative Ways for Information Transfer in Biobanking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macheiner, Tanja; Huppertz, Berthold; Sargsyan, Karine

2013-01-01

Purpose: Biobanks are collections of biological samples (e.g. tissue samples and body fluids) and their associated data intended for various approaches in medical research. The field of biobanking evolves rapidly as an interdisciplinary branch of research and requires educational efforts to provide skilled experts in Europe and beyond. New ways in…

Resilient organizations: matrix model and service line management.

PubMed

Westphal, Judith A

2005-09-01

Resilient organizations modify structures to meet the demands of the marketplace. The author describes a structure that enables multihospital organizations to innovate and rapidly adapt to changes. Service line management within a matrix model is an evolving organizational structure for complex systems in which nurses are pivotal members.

Comparative analysis of tandem repeats from hundreds of species reveals unique insights into centromere evolution

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Centromeres are essential for chromosome segregation, yet their DNA sequences evolve rapidly. In most animals and plants that have been studied, centromeres comprise of megabase-scale arrays of tandem repeats. The true prevalence of centromere tandem repeats, and whether they exhibit conserved seque...

Distance Education: An Evolving Instructional Technology Application.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dwyer, Francis

1999-01-01

Focuses on the several levels of questions that need to be considered before planning and implementing a distance education program. Discusses systems procedures to be followed in developing pilot lessons (modules) prior to "rapid prototyping." Concludes by providing a generic research plan for ensuring the development of sustained quality…

Social Work Preparation to Compete in Today's Scientific Marketplace

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nurius, Paula S.

2017-01-01

As the scientific marketplace rapidly evolves, we must keep revisiting strategic preparation of our doctoral students and early career scholars to be successful innovators in these contexts. As an inherently integrative, change-oriented, community-engaged, and context-sensitive discipline, social work has enormous potential as a value-added…

Comparing Achievement of Students with Disabilities in Cotaught versus Traditional Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saylor, John

2017-01-01

Purpose: Following recent federal legislation and related policy changes, co-teaching evolved rapidly as a strategy to provide students with disabilities access to the same curriculum as students without disabilities while receiving instruction in the least restrictive environment. It is unclear if co-teaching is an effective instructional…

Perception of Preparedness of Novice Teachers from Alternative and Traditional Licensing Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buchanan, Tenielle; Lang, Nathan; Morin, Laura-Lee

2013-01-01

Alternative teacher licensing programs have become very popular; however, very little research has been conducted on the efficacy of the programs. Alternative licensing programs (ALPs) have evolved and multiplied rapidly over the last few decades. The Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association (TICUA) is attempting to determine…

Evaluating the Impact of Uncertainties in Clearance and Exposure When Prioritizing Chemicals Screened in High-Throughput Assays

EPA Science Inventory

The toxicity-testing paradigm has evolved to include high-throughput (HT) methods for addressing the increasing need to screen hundreds to thousands of chemicals rapidly. Approaches that involve in vitro screening assays, in silico predictions of exposure concentrations, and phar...

Discursive Constructions of Literacies: Shifting Sands in Aotearoa New Zealand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sandretto, Susan; Tilson, Jane

2017-01-01

Literacy policy and pedagogy in Aotearoa New Zealand have a strong discursive heritage of traditional literacies, which emphasise code breaking and meaning making with linguistic codes and conventions over other possible modes of communication. In a rapidly evolving landscape where changes in communication technologies give birth to new literacies…

Exploitation of Unintentional Information Leakage from Integrated Circuits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cobb, William E.

2011-01-01

The information leakage of electronic devices, especially those used in cryptographic or other vital applications, represents a serious practical threat to secure systems. While physical implementation attacks have evolved rapidly over the last decade, relatively little work has been done to allow system designers to effectively counter the…

Clicker Evolution: Seeking Intelligent Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barber, Maryfran; Njus, David

2007-01-01

Two years after the first low-cost radio-frequency audience response system using clickers was introduced for college classrooms, at least six different systems are on the market. Their features and user-friendliness are evolving rapidly, driven by competition and improving technology. The proliferation of different systems is putting pressure on…

Understanding the New Job-Analysis Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aho, Kaye L.

1989-01-01

The author examines such trends as rapid job change, organizational decentralization, the need for increased productivity, legal challenges, and changing work force needs; the evolving job-analysis technology; and the potential impact of this technology on human resources professionals. She also summarizes the key features to look for in a…

Using Diffusion of Innovation Theory to Promote Universally Designed College Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Sally; McGuire, Joan

2017-01-01

Universal Design applied to college instruction has evolved and rapidly spread on an international scale. Diffusion of Innovation theory is described and used to identify patterns of change in this trend. Implications and strategies are discussed for promoting this inclusive approach to teaching in higher education.

The Technical Communicator as Corporate Spokesperson: A Public Relations Primer.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Troester, Rod; Warburton, Terrence L.

2001-01-01

Examines the changing role of the technical communication professional in the rapidly evolving environment of organizational life. Presents five principles that serve as an initial step in laying a foundation for the preparation of technical communicators for the challenges and opportunities awaiting in contemporary organizations and the…

Consumers and Makers: Exploring Opposing Paradigms of Millennial College Readiness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Matthew

2017-01-01

The political and technological circumstances of the past two decades have culminated in opposing epistemic paradigms of college readiness, where millennial students' conceptual understanding of "learning" is both narrowed to meet the demands of school systems bound to accountability and amplified by a rapidly evolving digital world. The…

Numbers, Pictures, and Politics: Teaching Research Methods through Data Visualizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rom, Mark Carl

2015-01-01

Data visualization is the term used to describe the methods and technologies used to allow the exploration and communication of quantitative information graphically. Data visualization is a rapidly growing and evolving discipline, and visualizations are widely used to cover politics. Yet, while popular and scholarly publications widely use…

Educational Psychology as an Evolving Discipline: Trends and Synthesis in Asia Pacific Education Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Dong-il; Koh, Hye-jung; Jo, Su-yeon; Nam, JeeEun Karin; Kim, Myeung-chan

2014-01-01

Educational psychology has seen rapid growth as an academic discipline in recent years. The current study reviewed research articles published in "Asia Pacific Education Review" ("APER"), a journal that has been gaining greater international recognition, to reveal recent trends in educational psychology research in Asia…

21st-Century Citizen Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nugent, Jill; Smith, Walter; Cook, Linda; Bell, Meredith

2015-01-01

With rapidly evolving technology, the world is more connected than ever, and citizens around the globe can contribute to science like never before (Dickinson and Bonney 2012). Reflecting the growing capacity of citizen science, this article presents a science education continuum that moves from global awareness to global contribution. At each…

Measuring the Effectiveness of Blended Learning Environment: A Case Study in Malaysia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wai, Cho Cho; Seng, Ernest Lim Kok

2015-01-01

Learning environment has always been traditionally associated with the physical presence of classrooms, textbooks, pen-and-paper examinations and teachers. However, today's evolving technology has rapidly changed the face of education. Online learning, teleconferencing, internet, Computer Assisted Learning (CAL), Web-Based Distance Learning (WBDL)…

Research Management in Portugal: A Quest for Professional Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trindade, Margarida; Agostinho, Marta

2014-01-01

Research managers at science-intensive institutions appear as a continuously evolving group of professionals whose identity is somewhat fragmented, even to themselves. In Portugal, specialized research manager roles have rapidly emerged over the last years alongside the development of a small but consolidated scientific system. In order to get an…

Identification and characterization of functional aquaporin water channel protein from alimentary tract of whitefly, Bemisia tabaci

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Some hemipteran xylem and phloem feeding insects have evolved specialized alimentary structures or filter chambers that rapidly transport water for excretion or osmoregulation. In the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, mass movement of water through opposing alimentary tract tissues within the filter chamber...

The evolution of courtship behaviors through the origination of a new gene in Drosophila

PubMed Central

Dai, Hongzheng; Chen, Ying; Chen, Sidi; Mao, Qiyan; Kennedy, David; Landback, Patrick; Eyre-Walker, Adam; Du, Wei; Long, Manyuan

2008-01-01

New genes can originate by the combination of sequences from unrelated genes or their duplicates to form a chimeric structure. These chimeric genes often evolve rapidly, suggesting that they undergo adaptive evolution and may therefore be involved in novel phenotypes. Their functions, however, are rarely known. Here, we describe the phenotypic effects of a chimeric gene, sphinx, that has recently evolved in Drosophila melanogaster. We show that a knockout of this gene leads to increased male–male courtship in D. melanogaster, although it leaves other aspects of mating behavior unchanged. Comparative studies of courtship behavior in other closely related Drosophila species suggest that this mutant phenotype of male–male courtship is the ancestral condition because these related species show much higher levels of male–male courtship than D. melanogaster. D. melanogaster therefore seems to have evolved in its courtship behaviors by the recruitment of a new chimeric gene. PMID:18508971

Organizing the HIV vaccine development effort.

PubMed

Voronin, Yegor; Snow, William

2013-09-01

To describe and compare the diverse organizational structures and funding mechanisms applied to advance HIV preventive vaccine research and development and to help explain and inform evolving infrastructures and collaborative funding models. On the basis of models that have been tried, improved or abandoned over three decades, the field seems to have settled into a relatively stable set of diverse initiatives, each with its own organizational signature. At the same time, this set of organizations is forging cross-organizational collaborations, which promise to acquire newly emergent beneficial properties. Strong motivation to expedite HIV vaccine R&D has driven a diversity of customized and inventive organizational approaches, largely government and foundation funded. Although no one approach has proven a panacea, the field has evolved into a constellation of often overlapping organizations that complement or reinforce one another. The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, a responsive, rapidly evolving loose infrastructure, is an innovative collaboration to catalyze that evolution.

Tetrametallic molecular catalysts for photochemical water oxidation.

PubMed

Sartorel, Andrea; Bonchio, Marcella; Campagna, Sebastiano; Scandola, Franco

2013-03-21

Among molecular water oxidation catalysts (WOCs), those featuring a reactive set of four multi-redox transition metals can leverage an extraordinary interplay of electronic and structural properties. These are of particular interest, owing to their close structural, and possibly functional, relationship to the oxygen evolving complex of natural photosynthesis. In this review, special attention is given to two classes of tetrametallic molecular WOCs: (i) M(4)O(4) cubane-type structures stabilized by simple organic ligands, and (ii) systems in which a tetranuclear metal core is stabilized by coordination of two polyoxometalate (POM) ligands. Recent work in this rapidly evolving field is reviewed, with particular emphasis on photocatalytic aspects. Special attention is given to studies addressing the mechanistic complexity of these systems, sometimes overlooked in the rush for oxygen evolving performance. The complementary role of molecular WOCs and their relationship with bulk oxides and heterogeneous catalysis are discussed.

Organizing the HIV Vaccine Development Effort

PubMed Central

Voronin, Yegor; Snow, William

2014-01-01

Purpose of Review Describe and compare the diverse organizational structures and funding mechanisms applied to advance HIV preventive vaccine research and development, to help explain and inform evolving infrastructures and collaborative funding models. Recent Findings Based on models that have been tried, improved or abandoned over three decades, the field seems to have settled into a relatively stable set of diverse initiatives, each with its own organizational signature. At the same time, this set of organizations is forging cross-organizational collaborations, which promise to acquire newly emergent beneficial properties. Summary Strong motivation to expedite HIV vaccine R&D has driven a diversity of customized and inventive organizational approaches, largely government and foundation funded. While no one approach has proven a panacea, the field has evolved into a constellation of often overlapping organizations that complement or reinforce one another. The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, a responsive, rapidly evolving loose infrastructure, is an innovative collaboration to catalyze that evolution. PMID:23924997

Rapidly evolving and luminous transients from Pan-STARRS1

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

Drout, M. R.; Chornock, R.; Soderberg, A. M.

2014-10-10

In the past decade, several rapidly evolving transients have been discovered whose timescales and luminosities are not easily explained by traditional supernovae (SNe) models. The sample size of these objects has remained small due, at least in part, to the challenges of detecting short timescale transients with traditional survey cadences. Here we present the results from a search within the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey (PS1-MDS) for rapidly evolving and luminous transients. We identify 10 new transients with a time above half-maximum (t {sub 1/2}) of less than 12 days and –16.5 > M > –20 mag. This increases the numbermore » of known events in this region of SN phase space by roughly a factor of three. The median redshift of the PS1-MDS sample is z = 0.275 and they all exploded in star-forming galaxies. In general, the transients possess faster rise than decline timescale and blue colors at maximum light (g {sub P1} – r {sub P1} ≲ –0.2). Best-fit blackbodies reveal photospheric temperatures/radii that expand/cool with time and explosion spectra taken near maximum light are dominated by a blue continuum, consistent with a hot, optically thick, ejecta. We find it difficult to reconcile the short timescale, high peak luminosity (L > 10{sup 43} erg s{sup –1}), and lack of UV line blanketing observed in many of these transients with an explosion powered mainly by the radioactive decay of {sup 56}Ni. Rather, we find that many are consistent with either (1) cooling envelope emission from the explosion of a star with a low-mass extended envelope that ejected very little (<0.03 M {sub ☉}) radioactive material, or (2) a shock breakout within a dense, optically thick, wind surrounding the progenitor star. After calculating the detection efficiency for objects with rapid timescales in the PS1-MDS we find a volumetric rate of 4800-8000 events yr{sup –1} Gpc{sup –3} (4%-7% of the core-collapse SN rate at z = 0.2).« less

Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy of Metal–Organic Framework Compounds (MOFs)

PubMed Central

Hoffmann, Herbert C.; Debowski, Marta; Müller, Philipp; Paasch, Silvia; Senkovska, Irena; Kaskel, Stefan; Brunner, Eike

2012-01-01

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a well-established method for the investigation of various types of porous materials. During the past decade, metal–organic frameworks have attracted increasing research interest. Solid-state NMR spectroscopy has rapidly evolved into an important tool for the study of the structure, dynamics and flexibility of these materials, as well as for the characterization of host–guest interactions with adsorbed species such as xenon, carbon dioxide, water, and many others. The present review introduces and highlights recent developments in this rapidly growing field.

Non-invasive in situ identification and band assignments of diazepam, flunitrazepam and methadone hydrochloride with FT-near-infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Ali, Hassan Refat H

2011-03-20

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) has evolved into an important rapid, direct and non-invasive technique in drugs analysis. In this study, the suitability of NIR spectroscopy to identify two benzodiazepine derivatives, diazepam and flunitrazepam, and a synthetic opiate, methadone hydrochloride, inside USP vials and probe the solid-state form of diazepam presents in tablets has been explored. The results show the potential of NIR spectroscopy for rapid, in situ and non-destructive identification of drugs. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Altruistic aging: The evolutionary dynamics balancing longevity and evolvability.

PubMed

Herrera, Minette; Miller, Aaron; Nishimura, Joel

2017-04-01

Altruism is typically associated with traits or behaviors that benefit the population as a whole, but are costly to the individual. We propose that, when the environment is rapidly changing, senescence (age-related deterioration) can be altruistic. According to numerical simulations of an agent-based model, while long-lived individuals can outcompete their short lived peers, populations composed of long-lived individuals are more likely to go extinct during periods of rapid environmental change. Moreover, as in many situations where other cooperative behavior arises, senescence can be stabilized in a structured population.

Cytoplasmic inheritance of parent-offspring cell structure in the clonal diatom Cyclotella meneghiniana.

PubMed

Shirokawa, Yuka; Shimada, Masakazu

2016-11-16

In cytoplasmic inheritance, structural states of a parent cell could be transmitted to offspring cells via two mechanisms. The first is referred to as the hangover of parent structure, where the structure itself remains and faithfully transmits within offspring cells; the second is structural inheritance, wherein the parent structure functions as a template for development of new offspring structure. We estimated to what extent the parent structure affects the development of offspring structure by structural inheritance, using a clone of the diatom Cyclotella meneghiniana The cell has two siliceous valves (a cell wall part at both cell poles): one is inherited from the parent and the other is newly formed. We estimated cytoplasmic heritability by comparing valve traits (central fultoportulae (CTFP), striae, central area, and cell diameter) of parent and new offspring valves, using single-cell isolation and valve labelling. Parent-offspring valve trait regressions showed that all traits, except CTFP, were significantly correlated. We formulated a quantitative genetic model considering the diatom inheritance system and revealed short-term rapid evolution compared with other inheritance systems. Diatom structural inheritance will have evolved to enable clonal populations to rapidly acquire and maintain suitable structures for temporal changes in environments and life-cycle stages. © 2016 The Author(s).

Directional selection has shaped the oral jaws of Lake Malawi cichlid fishes.

PubMed

Albertson, R Craig; Streelman, J Todd; Kocher, Thomas D

2003-04-29

East African cichlid fishes represent one of the most striking examples of rapid and convergent evolutionary radiation among vertebrates. Models of ecological speciation would suggest that functional divergence in feeding morphology has contributed to the origin and maintenance of cichlid species diversity. However, definitive evidence for the action of natural selection has been missing. Here we use quantitative genetics to identify regions of the cichlid genome responsible for functionally important shape differences in the oral jaw apparatus. The consistent direction of effects for individual quantitative trait loci suggest that cichlid jaws and teeth evolved in response to strong, divergent selection. Moreover, several chromosomal regions contain a disproportionate number of quantitative trait loci, indicating a prominent role for pleiotropy or genetic linkage in the divergence of this character complex. Of particular interest are genomic intervals with concerted effects on both the length and height of the lower jaw. Coordinated changes in this area of the oral jaw apparatus are predicted to have direct consequences for the speed and strength of jaw movement. Taken together, our results imply that the rapid and replicative nature of cichlid trophic evolution is the result of directional selection on chromosomal packages that encode functionally linked aspects of the craniofacial skeleton.

Radiology system evolution in the new millennium.

PubMed

Nauert, R C

2001-01-01

For many decades the practice of radiology grew slowly in America and was largely a secondary function under the control of hospitals. In more recent times it has vastly expanded its array of diagnostic, interventional, and therapeutic abilities. There is increasing consumer logic for direct access. Motivations have grown to create large independent entities with broadly diverse capabilities in order to succeed in the new millennium. Most regional markets are evolving rapidly in terms of managed care penetration, health system formation, physician practice consolidation and aggressive purchaser behavior by employers and consumers. To understand the enormity of healthcare evolution, it is useful to look at the industry's paradigm shifts in recent decades. Virtually every aspect of organizational infrastructure, delivery approaches, and the business environment has evolved markedly during the past fifty years. These changes will accelerate. To succeed financially, radiology groups must strengthen their market positions, technical capabilities, continuums of care and geographic dominance. Equally important is the wisdom of diversifying incomes into related services and businesses that provide additional related revenues. Key factors for successful development include facility market growth, full coverage of managed care contracts, high efficiency and aggressive diversification. A fully evolved system generates significant revenues and profitability by protecting and strengthening its financial position in this environment. That is accomplished through the development of strategically located radiology groups, aggressive alliances with medical practices in allied disciplines, and managed radiology departments and facilities for partner health systems. Organizational success ultimately depends on the ability to accept capitated payments under risk-bearing arrangements. The strategic business plan should be organized with the appropriate levels of detail needed to establish executive focus and priorities. These should be woven into operational and capital budgets to reflect expectations of the revenues, expenses and investments tied to the plan. While formidable, all of these objectives are realistic and can be accomplished if the right decisions are made. Initially, the entity's principle business objective is to formulate and begin implementation of methodical yet aggressive strategies for growth that are sensitive to sustaining high levels of quality patient care. The next phase features mergers with large, independent radiology practices in key geographic areas and successful acquisition of smaller practices. The objective of the final phase is to aggressively expand into select metropolitan areas with regional coverage and full teleradiology capabilities. High levels of market strength and financial performance are necessary to succeed. Passive limitations to small geographic areas and narrow practices will undermine their market position and dissolve financial strength with no hope of recovery. Only the dominant systems will survive and prosper.

Rapid evolution of mimicry following local model extinction.

PubMed

Akcali, Christopher K; Pfennig, David W

2014-06-01

Batesian mimicry evolves when individuals of a palatable species gain the selective advantage of reduced predation because they resemble a toxic species that predators avoid. Here, we evaluated whether-and in which direction-Batesian mimicry has evolved in a natural population of mimics following extirpation of their model. We specifically asked whether the precision of coral snake mimicry has evolved among kingsnakes from a region where coral snakes recently (1960) went locally extinct. We found that these kingsnakes have evolved more precise mimicry; by contrast, no such change occurred in a sympatric non-mimetic species or in conspecifics from a region where coral snakes remain abundant. Presumably, more precise mimicry has continued to evolve after model extirpation, because relatively few predator generations have passed, and the fitness costs incurred by predators that mistook a deadly coral snake for a kingsnake were historically much greater than those incurred by predators that mistook a kingsnake for a coral snake. Indeed, these results are consistent with prior theoretical and empirical studies, which revealed that only the most precise mimics are favoured as their model becomes increasingly rare. Thus, highly noxious models can generate an 'evolutionary momentum' that drives the further evolution of more precise mimicry-even after models go extinct. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Rapid evolution of mimicry following local model extinction

PubMed Central

Akcali, Christopher K.; Pfennig, David W.

2014-01-01

Batesian mimicry evolves when individuals of a palatable species gain the selective advantage of reduced predation because they resemble a toxic species that predators avoid. Here, we evaluated whether—and in which direction—Batesian mimicry has evolved in a natural population of mimics following extirpation of their model. We specifically asked whether the precision of coral snake mimicry has evolved among kingsnakes from a region where coral snakes recently (1960) went locally extinct. We found that these kingsnakes have evolved more precise mimicry; by contrast, no such change occurred in a sympatric non-mimetic species or in conspecifics from a region where coral snakes remain abundant. Presumably, more precise mimicry has continued to evolve after model extirpation, because relatively few predator generations have passed, and the fitness costs incurred by predators that mistook a deadly coral snake for a kingsnake were historically much greater than those incurred by predators that mistook a kingsnake for a coral snake. Indeed, these results are consistent with prior theoretical and empirical studies, which revealed that only the most precise mimics are favoured as their model becomes increasingly rare. Thus, highly noxious models can generate an ‘evolutionary momentum’ that drives the further evolution of more precise mimicry—even after models go extinct. PMID:24919704

Deconstructing and Reconstructing Cognitive Performance in Sleep Deprivation

PubMed Central

Jackson, Melinda L.; Gunzelmann, Glenn; Whitney, Paul; Hinson, John M.; Belenky, Gregory; Rabat, Arnaud; Van Dongen, Hans P. A.

2012-01-01

Summary Mitigation of cognitive impairment due to sleep deprivation in operational settings is critical for safety and productivity. Achievements in this area are hampered by limited knowledge about the effects of sleep loss on actual job tasks. Sleep deprivation has different effects on different cognitive performance tasks, but the mechanisms behind this task-specificity are poorly understood. In this context it is important to recognize that cognitive performance is not a unitary process, but involves a number of component processes. There is emerging evidence that these component processes are differentially affected by sleep loss. Experiments have been conducted to decompose sleep-deprived performance into underlying cognitive processes using cognitive-behavioral, neuroimaging and cognitive modeling techniques. Furthermore, computational modeling in cognitive architectures has been employed to simulate sleep-deprived cognitive performance on the basis of the constituent cognitive processes. These efforts are beginning to enable quantitative prediction of the effects of sleep deprivation across different task contexts. This paper reviews a rapidly evolving area of research, and outlines a theoretical framework in which the effects of sleep loss on cognition may be understood from the deficits in the underlying neurobiology to the applied consequences in real-world job tasks. PMID:22884948

Big Data: An Opportunity for Collaboration with Computer Scientists on Data-Driven Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baru, C.

2014-12-01

Big data technologies are evolving rapidly, driven by the need to manage ever increasing amounts of historical data; process relentless streams of human and machine-generated data; and integrate data of heterogeneous structure from extremely heterogeneous sources of information. Big data is inherently an application-driven problem. Developing the right technologies requires an understanding of the applications domain. Though, an intriguing aspect of this phenomenon is that the availability of the data itself enables new applications not previously conceived of! In this talk, we will discuss how the big data phenomenon creates an imperative for collaboration among domain scientists (in this case, geoscientists) and computer scientists. Domain scientists provide the application requirements as well as insights about the data involved, while computer scientists help assess whether problems can be solved with currently available technologies or require adaptaion of existing technologies and/or development of new technologies. The synergy can create vibrant collaborations potentially leading to new science insights as well as development of new data technologies and systems. The area of interface between geosciences and computer science, also referred to as geoinformatics is, we believe, a fertile area for interdisciplinary research.

Deconstructing and reconstructing cognitive performance in sleep deprivation.

PubMed

Jackson, Melinda L; Gunzelmann, Glenn; Whitney, Paul; Hinson, John M; Belenky, Gregory; Rabat, Arnaud; Van Dongen, Hans P A

2013-06-01

Mitigation of cognitive impairment due to sleep deprivation in operational settings is critical for safety and productivity. Achievements in this area are hampered by limited knowledge about the effects of sleep loss on actual job tasks. Sleep deprivation has different effects on different cognitive performance tasks, but the mechanisms behind this task-specificity are poorly understood. In this context it is important to recognize that cognitive performance is not a unitary process, but involves a number of component processes. There is emerging evidence that these component processes are differentially affected by sleep loss. Experiments have been conducted to decompose sleep-deprived performance into underlying cognitive processes using cognitive-behavioral, neuroimaging and cognitive modeling techniques. Furthermore, computational modeling in cognitive architectures has been employed to simulate sleep-deprived cognitive performance on the basis of the constituent cognitive processes. These efforts are beginning to enable quantitative prediction of the effects of sleep deprivation across different task contexts. This paper reviews a rapidly evolving area of research, and outlines a theoretical framework in which the effects of sleep loss on cognition may be understood from the deficits in the underlying neurobiology to the applied consequences in real-world job tasks. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Clinical advances of nanocarrier-based cancer therapy and diagnostics.

PubMed

Luque-Michel, Edurne; Imbuluzqueta, Edurne; Sebastián, Víctor; Blanco-Prieto, María J

2017-01-01

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and efficient new strategies are urgently needed to combat its high mortality and morbidity statistics. Fortunately, over the years, nanotechnology has evolved as a frontrunner in the areas of imaging, diagnostics and therapy, giving the possibility of monitoring, evaluating and individualizing cancer treatments in real-time. Areas covered: Polymer-based nanocarriers have been extensively studied to maximize cancer treatment efficacy and minimize the adverse effects of standard therapeutics. Regarding diagnosis, nanomaterials like quantum dots, iron oxide nanoparticles or gold nanoparticles have been developed to provide rapid, sensitive detection of cancer and, therefore, facilitate early treatment and monitoring of the disease. Therefore, multifunctional nanosystems with both imaging and therapy functionalities bring us a step closer to delivering precision/personalized medicine in the cancer setting. Expert opinion: There are multiple barriers for these new nanosystems to enter the clinic, but it is expected that in the near future, nanocarriers, together with new 'targeted drugs', could replace our current treatments and cancer could become a nonfatal disease with good recovery rates. Joint efforts between scientists, clinicians, the pharmaceutical industry and legislative bodies are needed to bring to fruition the application of nanosystems in the clinical management of cancer.

Battlefield innovation: a case-study of remote sensor development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orson, Jay A.; Hague, Tyler N.

2007-10-01

Evolving threats encountered by coalition forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom drive the need for innovations in airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. In many cases, disruptive capabilities are created by linking existing technologies and new radical technologies in a novel way. Some of the radical technologies used in achieving these disruptive capabilities are existing prototypes or one-of-a-kind systems that are thrust into the field to quickly react to emerging threats. Horned Owl is one such rapidly developed innovative technical solution designed to meet immediate battlefield needs. This paper focuses on two key areas of this initiative. The first is the innovation champion establishing a collaborative environment which fosters creativity and allows the project to mature the disruptive capability. The second is the practical implication, or challenges of deploying experimental systems in a battlefield environment. Discussions of these two areas provide valuable lessons to guide future innovation champions when presented with the dual task of balancing system maturation with meeting operational demand. Contents of this paper are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, or the Department of the Air Force.

Where the Wild Things Are: The Evolving Iconography of Rural Fauna

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buller, Henry

2004-01-01

This paper explores the changing relationship between "nature" and rurality through an examination of the shifting iconography of animals, and particularly "wild" animals, in a rural setting. Drawing upon a set of examples, the paper argues that the faunistic icons of rural areas are evolving as alternative conceptions of the countryside, of…

Field and laboratory dissipation of the herbicide fomesafen in the southern Atlantic Coastal Plain (USA)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

To control weeds with evolved resistance to glyphosate, cotton farmers in the Southeastern USA have rapidly increased fomesafen (5-(2-chloro-a, a, a-trifluoro-p-tolyloxy)-N-mesyl-2-nitrobenzamide) use. Its properties suggest potential for soil persistence, runoff, and leaching that may contribute to...

Climate Change: Could It Help Develop "Adaptive Expertise"?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bell, Erica; Horton, Graeme; Blashki, Grant; Seidel, Bastian M.

2012-01-01

Preparing health practitioners to respond to the rising burden of disease from climate change is emerging as a priority in health workforce policy and planning. However, this issue is hardly represented in the medical education research. The rapidly evolving wide range of direct and indirect consequences of climate change will require health…

Online History-Keeping for Outreach and Community Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huwe, Terence K.

2010-01-01

The rapidly evolving digital world inspires much use of nautical terminology: (1) navigation; (2) discovery; (3) the voyage; and (4) the new terrain at the end of the journey. Considering how quickly new technologies are arriving on smartphones, the nautical adventure is continuing at an increased pace. Innovations in basic library services follow…

Correspondence between Physiological and Self-Report Measures of Emotion Dysregulation: A Longitudinal Investigation of Youth with and without Psychopathology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vasilev, Christina A.; Crowell, Sheila E.; Beauchaine, Theodore P.; Mead, Hilary K.; Gatzke-Kopp, Lisa M.

2009-01-01

Background: Several theoretical perspectives suggest that emotion dysregulation is a predisposing risk factor for many psychiatric disorders. Yet despite a rapidly evolving literature, difficulties with emotion regulation (ER) are often measured inconsistently across studies, with little regard to whether different approaches capture the same…

Teacher Education in Italy, Germany, England, Sweden and Finland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ostinelli, Giorgio

2009-01-01

This article presents a brief analysis of teacher education in five European countries: Italy, Germany, England, Sweden and Finland. In the post-industrial world, the sense of teaching has profoundly changed, influenced by a rapidly evolving socio-economic context. The responses given by each country are different, but two tendencies emerge: on…

Leveraging the Habit-Forming Aspects of Technology to Increase Levels of Physical Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rotich, Willy Kipkemboi

2016-01-01

The use of technology to promote physical activity has been rapidly gaining popularity as technological advances find ever-broadening applications. Though some technology aspects (i.e., on-screen video games) were for long perceived to be incompatible with efforts to diminish physical inactivity, evolving technology has made incorporating newer…

Integrating MOOCS into Traditional Higher Education: The Emerging "MOOC 3.0" Era

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sandeen, Cathy

2013-01-01

This article provides a brief history of massive open online courses (MOOCs), a snapshot of the rapidly evolving issue of credit recognition, and the integration of MOOCs into traditional degree programs, like the Gates Foundation-funded MOOCs-For-Credit Research Project. The article notes that MOOCs have accelerated innovation, especially in…

Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Spain: An Overview of the Accreditation System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ríos, Cristina

2015-01-01

Accreditation has become an important issue in Spain. This paper presents an overview of Spain's accreditation system; a system which is relatively new and has evolved rapidly, fostered by legislative mandates which established accreditation bodies to regulate the quality of higher education institutions. One of the initial challenges faced by…

"Reinventing Life": Introductory Biology for a Rapidly Evolving World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coker, Jeffrey Scott

2009-01-01

Evolutionary concepts are essential for a scientific understanding of most issues surrounding modern medicine, agriculture, biotechnology, and the environment. If the mantra for biology education in the 20th century was, "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution," the mantra for the 21st century must be, "Nothing in biology…

The Legal Environment for Hardwood Lands in California

Treesearch

Sam Doak; Kass Green; Sally K. Fairfax; Sharon G. Johnson

1991-01-01

Intensified use of California's hardwood lands is evolving rapidly. With these changes come clashes over the appropriateness of various land uses and, in some cases, regulatory efforts to control some of these activities. The legal environment facing hardwood landowners is a confusing mix of state, Federal, and local measures. This paper first describes and...

Middle School Science Teachers' Confidence and Pedagogical Practice of New Literacies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Hui-Yin; Wang, Shiang-Kwei; Runco, Lisa

2013-01-01

Due to the rapid advancements of information and communication technologies (ICTs), educational researchers argue that multimodal and new literacies should become common practices in schools. As new ICTs emerge and evolve, students need the new literacies skills and practices to successfully participate fully in the civic life of a global…

A rapid and cost effective method for soil carbon mineralization under static incubations

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil incubations with subsequent measurement of carbon dioxide (CO2) evolved are common soil assays to estimate C mineralization rates and active organic C. Two common methods used to detect CO2 in laboratory incubations are gas chromatography (GC) and alkali absorption followed by titration (NaOH)...

Engaging Health Professionals in Health Economics: A Human Capital Informed Approach for Adults Learning Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lieberthal, Robert D.; Leon, Juan

2015-01-01

The authors describe a Wikipedia-based project designed for a graduate course introducing health economics to experienced healthcare professionals. The project allows such students to successfully write articles on niche topics in rapidly evolving health economics subspecialties. These students are given the opportunity to publish their completed…

News Media Industry

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

convergence of media types, rapidly evolving technology, changing consumer behavior , and traditionalists ensconced in the ways of the past all...changing consumer behavior have all contributed to uncertain times for these media icons. Newspaper readership and subscriptions levels continue to...consistently center on changing technologies, corporate pressures, changing consumer behavior and revenue generation (advertising). Because it’s

College Distance Education Courses: Evaluating Benefits and Costs from Institutional, Faculty and Students' Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lei, Simon A.; Gupta, Rajeev K.

2010-01-01

The strategic plan for providing college education outside of the traditional classroom environment has rapidly evolved over the past decade via electronic mediums. Advances in technology, along with increasing student enrollment size, have led many higher education institutions to begin offering distance education (web-based) courses. Current…

Duplicated genes evolve independently in allopolyploid cotton.

Treesearch

Richard C. Cronn; Randall L. Small; Jonathan F. Wendel

1999-01-01

Of the many processes that generate gene duplications, polyploidy is unique in that entire genomes are duplicated. This process has been important in the evolution of many eukaryotic groups, and it occurs with high frequency in plants. Recent evidence suggests that polyploidization may be accompanied by rapid genomic changes, but the evolutionary fate of discrete loci...

Learning Computer Hardware by Doing: Are Tablets Better than Desktops?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raven, John; Qalawee, Mohamed; Atroshi, Hanar

2016-01-01

In this world of rapidly evolving technologies, educational institutions often struggle to keep up with change. Change often requires a state of readiness at both the micro and macro levels. This paper looks at a tertiary institution that undertook a significant technology change initiative by introducing tablet based components for teaching a…

Transforming the Roles of a Public Extension Agency to Strengthen Innovation: Lessons from the National Agricultural Extension Project in Bangladesh

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chowdhury, Ataharul Huq; Odame, Helen Hambly; Leeuwis, Cees

2014-01-01

Purpose: The rapidly evolving nature of agricultural innovation processes in low-income countries requires agricultural extension agencies to transform the classical roles that previously supported linear information dissemination and adoption of innovation. In Bangladesh, strengthening agricultural innovation calls for facilitation of interactive…

Microfabrication techniques for integrated sensors and microsystems.

PubMed

Wise, K D; Najafi, K

1991-11-29

Integrated sensors and actuators are rapidly evolving to provide an important link between very large scale integrated circuits and nonelectronic monitoring and control applications ranging from biomedicine to automated manufacturing. As they continue to expand, entire microsystems merging electrical, mechanical, thermal, optical, magnetic, and perhaps chemical components should be possible on a common substrate.

Formulating a New Model of College Choice and Persistence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Southerland, J. Nathaniel

2006-01-01

The study of college choice and persistence enjoys a lengthy history. However, many of the prominent models upon which the majority of research in these fields is based arise from studies involving traditional 18- to 22-year-old residential students. This paper investigates the rapidly-evolving student population and formulates a new model for…

Hitting the Moving Target: Challenges of Creating a Dynamic Curriculum Addressing the Ethical Dimensions of Geospatial Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carr, John; Vallor, Shannon; Freundschuh, Scott; Gannon, William L.; Zandbergen, Paul

2014-01-01

While established ethical norms and core legal principles concerning the protection of privacy may be easily identified, applying these standards to rapidly evolving digital information technologies, markets for digital information and convulsive changes in social understandings of privacy is increasingly challenging. This challenge has been…

New Technology "Clouds" Student Data Privacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krueger, Keith R.; Moore, Bob

2015-01-01

As technology has leaped forward to provide valuable learning tools, parents and policy makers have begun raising concerns about the privacy of student data that schools and systems have. Federal laws are intended to protect students and their families but they have not and will never be able to keep up with rapidly evolving technology. School…

Rewriting the Rules of Engagement: Elaborating a Model of District-Community Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ishimaru, Ann M.

2014-01-01

In this ethnographic case study, Ann M. Ishimaru examines how a collaboration emerged and evolved between a low-income Latino parent organizing group and the leadership of a rapidly changing school district. Using civic capacity and community organizing theories, Ishimaru seeks to understand the role of parents, goals, strategies, and change…

Adaptive Teaching for English Language Arts: Following the Pathway of Classroom Data in Preservice Teacher Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Athanases, Steven Z.; Bennett, Lisa H.; Wahleithner, Juliet Michelsen

2015-01-01

Consensus exists that effective teaching includes capacity to adapt instruction to respond to student learning challenges as they arise. Adaptive teachers may keep pace with rapidly evolving youth literacies and students' increasing cultural and linguistic diversity. Teachers are challenged to critically examine pedagogy when some contexts expect…

Addressing the Dynamics of Science in Curricular Reform for Scientific Literacy: The Case of Genomics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Eijck, Michiel

2010-01-01

Science education reform must anticipate the scientific literacy required by the next generation of citizens. Particularly, this counts for rapidly emerging and evolving scientific disciplines such as genomics. Taking this discipline as a case, such anticipation is becoming increasingly problematic in today's knowledge societies in which the…

The Cross-Border Education Policy Context: Educational Hubs, Trade Liberalization, and National Sovereignty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Jason E.; Kinser, Kevin

2011-01-01

International branch campuses (IBCs) operate in national and international policy environments that are still rapidly evolving. While IBCs have been operating for several decades, most of that time they have operated below the domestic regulatory radar of either the exporting (home) or importing (host) governments. As the number of such…

Compressed Speech Technology: Implications for Learning and Instruction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sullivan, LeRoy L.

This paper first traces the historical development of speech compression technology, which has made it possible to alter the spoken rate of a pre-recorded message without excessive distortion. Terms used to describe techniques employed as the technology evolved are discussed, including rapid speech, rate altered speech, cut-and-spliced speech, and…

Identifying future research needs in landscape genetics: Where to from here?

Treesearch

Niko Balkenhol; Felix Gugerli; Sam A. Cushman; Lisette P. Waits; Aurelie Coulon; J. W. Arntzen; Rolf Holderegger; Helene H. Wagner

2009-01-01

Landscape genetics is an emerging interdisciplinary field that combines methods and concepts from population genetics, landscape ecology, and spatial statistics. The interest in landscape genetics is steadily increasing, and the field is evolving rapidly. We here outline four major challenges for future landscape genetic research that were identified during an...

Rapid Rural Appraisal: A Study of Gullah Culture.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jarrett, Charles W.; Lucas, David M.

Principles of rural sociology and interpersonal communication provide the foundation for a study of "Gullah" culture. The Gullahs are a group of African Americans living along the southwestern U.S. coastal territory. Gullah culture began to evolve with the enslavement of African people in the Sea Islands off the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia,…

Using TED Talks to Inspire Thoughtful Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubenstein, Lisa DaVia

2012-01-01

How can teacher educators provide relevant and important content in an educational environment that is rapidly evolving? TED.com is a website that provides content that meets these criteria in its mission of promoting "ideas that are worth spreading." Rather than ignoring the incredible access to the world's most innovative and dynamic speakers,…

Assessing the Role of Mobile Technologies and Distance Learning in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ordóñez de Pablos, Patricia, Ed.; Tennyson, Robert D., Ed.; Lytras, Miltiadis D., Ed.

2015-01-01

In recent years, the use of information technologies, mobile devices, and social media, along with the evolving needs of students, professionals, and academics, has grown rapidly. New ways of bringing learning content to students, new learning environments, and new teaching practices are necessary to keep up with these changes. "Assessing the…

New England's Vital Resource: The Labor Force.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoy, John C., Ed.; Bernstein, Melvin H., Ed.

A collection of analyses and projections is presented that explores the challenges posed by a rapidly evolving economy and the critical issue of manpower policy facing New England and the nation. New England was able to move from traditional industry to high technology because its colleges and universities supplied basic research and trained…

Blended Learning in the Visual Communications Classroom: Student Reflections on a Multimedia Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

George-Palilonis, Jennifer; Filak, Vincent

2009-01-01

Advances in digital technology and a rapidly evolving media landscape continue to dramatically change teaching and learning. Among these changes is the emergence of multimedia teaching and learning tools, online degree programs, and hybrid classes that blend traditional and digital content delivery. At the same time, visual communication programs…

Regulation of Academia in Israel: Legislation, Policy, and Market Forces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Erez; Davidovitch, Nitza

2016-01-01

The rapid development of Israel's system of higher education in recent years has led to a sharp rise in the number of students, the establishment of new institutions certified to award degrees, and legislation and policy changes. The evolving circumstances are explored in the current article, which follows the sources, causes, and justifications…

Molecular evolution of the keratin associated protein gene family in mammals, role in the evolution of mammalian hair.

PubMed

Wu, Dong-Dong; Irwin, David M; Zhang, Ya-Ping

2008-08-23

Hair is unique to mammals. Keratin associated proteins (KRTAPs), which contain two major groups: high/ultrahigh cysteine and high glycine-tyrosine, are one of the major components of hair and play essential roles in the formation of rigid and resistant hair shafts. The KRTAP family was identified as being unique to mammals, and near-complete KRTAP gene repertoires for eight mammalian genomes were characterized in this study. An expanded KRTAP gene repertoire was found in rodents. Surprisingly, humans have a similar number of genes as other primates despite the relative hairlessness of humans. We identified several new subfamilies not previously reported in the high/ultrahigh cysteine KRTAP genes. Genes in many subfamilies of the high/ultrahigh cysteine KRTAP genes have evolved by concerted evolution with frequent gene conversion events, yielding a higher GC base content for these gene sequences. In contrast, the high glycine-tyrosine KRTAP genes have evolved more dynamically, with fewer gene conversion events and thus have a lower GC base content, possibly due to positive selection. Most of the subfamilies emerged early in the evolution of mammals, thus we propose that the mammalian ancestor should have a diverse KRTAP gene repertoire. We propose that hair content characteristics have evolved and diverged rapidly among mammals because of rapid divergent evolution of KRTAPs between species. In contrast, subfamilies of KRTAP genes have been homogenized within each species due to concerted evolution.

Co-Option and De Novo Gene Evolution Underlie Molluscan Shell Diversity

PubMed Central

Aguilera, Felipe; McDougall, Carmel

2017-01-01

Abstract Molluscs fabricate shells of incredible diversity and complexity by localized secretions from the dorsal epithelium of the mantle. Although distantly related molluscs express remarkably different secreted gene products, it remains unclear if the evolution of shell structure and pattern is underpinned by the differential co-option of conserved genes or the integration of lineage-specific genes into the mantle regulatory program. To address this, we compare the mantle transcriptomes of 11 bivalves and gastropods of varying relatedness. We find that each species, including four Pinctada (pearl oyster) species that diverged within the last 20 Ma, expresses a unique mantle secretome. Lineage- or species-specific genes comprise a large proportion of each species’ mantle secretome. A majority of these secreted proteins have unique domain architectures that include repetitive, low complexity domains (RLCDs), which evolve rapidly, and have a proclivity to expand, contract and rearrange in the genome. There are also a large number of secretome genes expressed in the mantle that arose before the origin of gastropods and bivalves. Each species expresses a unique set of these more ancient genes consistent with their independent co-option into these mantle gene regulatory networks. From this analysis, we infer lineage-specific secretomes underlie shell diversity, and include both rapidly evolving RLCD-containing proteins, and the continual recruitment and loss of both ancient and recently evolved genes into the periphery of the regulatory network controlling gene expression in the mantle epithelium. PMID:28053006

Comparing Patterns of Natural Selection across Species Using Selective Signatures

PubMed Central

Shapiro, B. Jesse; Alm, Eric J

2008-01-01

Comparing gene expression profiles over many different conditions has led to insights that were not obvious from single experiments. In the same way, comparing patterns of natural selection across a set of ecologically distinct species may extend what can be learned from individual genome-wide surveys. Toward this end, we show how variation in protein evolutionary rates, after correcting for genome-wide effects such as mutation rate and demographic factors, can be used to estimate the level and types of natural selection acting on genes across different species. We identify unusually rapidly and slowly evolving genes, relative to empirically derived genome-wide and gene family-specific background rates for 744 core protein families in 30 γ-proteobacterial species. We describe the pattern of fast or slow evolution across species as the “selective signature” of a gene. Selective signatures represent a profile of selection across species that is predictive of gene function: pairs of genes with correlated selective signatures are more likely to share the same cellular function, and genes in the same pathway can evolve in concert. For example, glycolysis and phenylalanine metabolism genes evolve rapidly in Idiomarina loihiensis, mirroring an ecological shift in carbon source from sugars to amino acids. In a broader context, our results suggest that the genomic landscape is organized into functional modules even at the level of natural selection, and thus it may be easier than expected to understand the complex evolutionary pressures on a cell. PMID:18266472

The Age of Enlightenment: Evolving Opportunities in Brain Research Through Optical Manipulation of Neuronal Activity

PubMed Central

Jerome, Jason; Heck, Detlef H.

2011-01-01

Optical manipulation of neuronal activity has rapidly developed into the most powerful and widely used approach to study mechanisms related to neuronal connectivity over a range of scales. Since the early use of single site uncaging to map network connectivity, rapid technological development of light modulation techniques has added important new options, such as fast scanning photostimulation, massively parallel control of light stimuli, holographic uncaging, and two-photon stimulation techniques. Exciting new developments in optogenetics complement neurotransmitter uncaging techniques by providing cell-type specificity and in vivo usability, providing optical access to the neural substrates of behavior. Here we review the rapid evolution of methods for the optical manipulation of neuronal activity, emphasizing crucial recent developments. PMID:22275886

The age of enlightenment: evolving opportunities in brain research through optical manipulation of neuronal activity.

PubMed

Jerome, Jason; Heck, Detlef H

2011-01-01

Optical manipulation of neuronal activity has rapidly developed into the most powerful and widely used approach to study mechanisms related to neuronal connectivity over a range of scales. Since the early use of single site uncaging to map network connectivity, rapid technological development of light modulation techniques has added important new options, such as fast scanning photostimulation, massively parallel control of light stimuli, holographic uncaging, and two-photon stimulation techniques. Exciting new developments in optogenetics complement neurotransmitter uncaging techniques by providing cell-type specificity and in vivo usability, providing optical access to the neural substrates of behavior. Here we review the rapid evolution of methods for the optical manipulation of neuronal activity, emphasizing crucial recent developments.

Evolutionary rescue from extinction is contingent on a lower rate of environmental change.

PubMed

Lindsey, Haley A; Gallie, Jenna; Taylor, Susan; Kerr, Benjamin

2013-02-28

The extinction rate of populations is predicted to rise under increasing rates of environmental change. If a population experiencing increasingly stressful conditions lacks appropriate phenotypic plasticity or access to more suitable habitats, then genetic change may be the only way to avoid extinction. Evolutionary rescue from extinction occurs when natural selection enriches a population for more stress-tolerant genetic variants. Some experimental studies have shown that lower rates of environmental change lead to more adapted populations or fewer extinctions. However, there has been little focus on the genetic changes that underlie evolutionary rescue. Here we demonstrate that some evolutionary trajectories are contingent on a lower rate of environmental change. We allowed hundreds of populations of Escherichia coli to evolve under variable rates of increase in concentration of the antibiotic rifampicin. We then genetically engineered all combinations of mutations from isolates evolved under lower rates of environmental change. By assessing fitness of these engineered strains across a range of drug concentrations, we show that certain genotypes are evolutionarily inaccessible under rapid environmental change. Rapidly deteriorating environments not only limit mutational opportunities by lowering population size, but they can also eliminate sets of mutations as evolutionary options. As anthropogenic activities are leading to environmental change at unprecedented rapidity, it is critical to understand how the rate of environmental change affects both demographic and genetic underpinnings of evolutionary rescue.

Rapid evolution of PARP genes suggests a broad role for ADP-ribosylation in host-virus conflicts.

PubMed

Daugherty, Matthew D; Young, Janet M; Kerns, Julie A; Malik, Harmit S

2014-01-01

Post-translational protein modifications such as phosphorylation and ubiquitinylation are common molecular targets of conflict between viruses and their hosts. However, the role of other post-translational modifications, such as ADP-ribosylation, in host-virus interactions is less well characterized. ADP-ribosylation is carried out by proteins encoded by the PARP (also called ARTD) gene family. The majority of the 17 human PARP genes are poorly characterized. However, one PARP protein, PARP13/ZAP, has broad antiviral activity and has evolved under positive (diversifying) selection in primates. Such evolution is typical of domains that are locked in antagonistic 'arms races' with viral factors. To identify additional PARP genes that may be involved in host-virus interactions, we performed evolutionary analyses on all primate PARP genes to search for signatures of rapid evolution. Contrary to expectations that most PARP genes are involved in 'housekeeping' functions, we found that nearly one-third of PARP genes are evolving under strong recurrent positive selection. We identified a >300 amino acid disordered region of PARP4, a component of cytoplasmic vault structures, to be rapidly evolving in several mammalian lineages, suggesting this region serves as an important host-pathogen specificity interface. We also found positive selection of PARP9, 14 and 15, the only three human genes that contain both PARP domains and macrodomains. Macrodomains uniquely recognize, and in some cases can reverse, protein mono-ADP-ribosylation, and we observed strong signatures of recurrent positive selection throughout the macro-PARP macrodomains. Furthermore, PARP14 and PARP15 have undergone repeated rounds of gene birth and loss during vertebrate evolution, consistent with recurrent gene innovation. Together with previous studies that implicated several PARPs in immunity, as well as those that demonstrated a role for virally encoded macrodomains in host immune evasion, our evolutionary analyses suggest that addition, recognition and removal of ADP-ribosylation is a critical, underappreciated currency in host-virus conflicts.

Rapid Evolution of PARP Genes Suggests a Broad Role for ADP-Ribosylation in Host-Virus Conflicts

PubMed Central

Daugherty, Matthew D.; Young, Janet M.; Kerns, Julie A.; Malik, Harmit S.

2014-01-01

Post-translational protein modifications such as phosphorylation and ubiquitinylation are common molecular targets of conflict between viruses and their hosts. However, the role of other post-translational modifications, such as ADP-ribosylation, in host-virus interactions is less well characterized. ADP-ribosylation is carried out by proteins encoded by the PARP (also called ARTD) gene family. The majority of the 17 human PARP genes are poorly characterized. However, one PARP protein, PARP13/ZAP, has broad antiviral activity and has evolved under positive (diversifying) selection in primates. Such evolution is typical of domains that are locked in antagonistic ‘arms races’ with viral factors. To identify additional PARP genes that may be involved in host-virus interactions, we performed evolutionary analyses on all primate PARP genes to search for signatures of rapid evolution. Contrary to expectations that most PARP genes are involved in ‘housekeeping’ functions, we found that nearly one-third of PARP genes are evolving under strong recurrent positive selection. We identified a >300 amino acid disordered region of PARP4, a component of cytoplasmic vault structures, to be rapidly evolving in several mammalian lineages, suggesting this region serves as an important host-pathogen specificity interface. We also found positive selection of PARP9, 14 and 15, the only three human genes that contain both PARP domains and macrodomains. Macrodomains uniquely recognize, and in some cases can reverse, protein mono-ADP-ribosylation, and we observed strong signatures of recurrent positive selection throughout the macro-PARP macrodomains. Furthermore, PARP14 and PARP15 have undergone repeated rounds of gene birth and loss during vertebrate evolution, consistent with recurrent gene innovation. Together with previous studies that implicated several PARPs in immunity, as well as those that demonstrated a role for virally encoded macrodomains in host immune evasion, our evolutionary analyses suggest that addition, recognition and removal of ADP-ribosylation is a critical, underappreciated currency in host-virus conflicts. PMID:24875882

Structural insights into the evolution of a sexy protein: novel topology and restricted backbone flexibility in a hypervariable pheromone from the red-legged salamander, Plethodon shermani.

PubMed

Wilburn, Damien B; Bowen, Kathleen E; Doty, Kari A; Arumugam, Sengodagounder; Lane, Andrew N; Feldhoff, Pamela W; Feldhoff, Richard C

2014-01-01

In response to pervasive sexual selection, protein sex pheromones often display rapid mutation and accelerated evolution of corresponding gene sequences. For proteins, the general dogma is that structure is maintained even as sequence or function may rapidly change. This phenomenon is well exemplified by the three-finger protein (TFP) superfamily: a diverse class of vertebrate proteins co-opted for many biological functions - such as components of snake venoms, regulators of the complement system, and coordinators of amphibian limb regeneration. All of the >200 structurally characterized TFPs adopt the namesake "three-finger" topology. In male red-legged salamanders, the TFP pheromone Plethodontid Modulating Factor (PMF) is a hypervariable protein such that, through extensive gene duplication and pervasive sexual selection, individual male salamanders express more than 30 unique isoforms. However, it remained unclear how this accelerated evolution affected the protein structure of PMF. Using LC/MS-MS and multidimensional NMR, we report the 3D structure of the most abundant PMF isoform, PMF-G. The high resolution structural ensemble revealed a highly modified TFP structure, including a unique disulfide bonding pattern and loss of secondary structure, that define a novel protein topology with greater backbone flexibility in the third peptide finger. Sequence comparison, models of molecular evolution, and homology modeling together support that this flexible third finger is the most rapidly evolving segment of PMF. Combined with PMF sequence hypervariability, this structural flexibility may enhance the plasticity of PMF as a chemical signal by permitting potentially thousands of structural conformers. We propose that the flexible third finger plays a critical role in PMF:receptor interactions. As female receptors co-evolve, this flexibility may allow PMF to still bind its receptor(s) without the immediate need for complementary mutations. Consequently, this unique adaptation may establish new paradigms for how receptor:ligand pairs co-evolve, in particular with respect to sexual conflict.

Expression Differentiation Is Constrained to Low-Expression Proteins over Ecological Timescales

PubMed Central

Margres, Mark J.; Wray, Kenneth P.; Seavy, Margaret; McGivern, James J.; Herrera, Nathanael D.; Rokyta, Darin R.

2016-01-01

Protein expression level is one of the strongest predictors of protein sequence evolutionary rate, with high-expression protein sequences evolving at slower rates than low-expression protein sequences largely because of constraints on protein folding and function. Expression evolutionary rates also have been shown to be negatively correlated with expression level across human and mouse orthologs over relatively long divergence times (i.e., ∼100 million years). Long-term evolutionary patterns, however, often cannot be extrapolated to microevolutionary processes (and vice versa), and whether this relationship holds for traits evolving under directional selection within a single species over ecological timescales (i.e., <5000 years) is unknown and not necessarily expected. Expression is a metabolically costly process, and the expression level of a particular protein is predicted to be a tradeoff between the benefit of its function and the costs of its expression. Selection should drive the expression level of all proteins close to values that maximize fitness, particularly for high-expression proteins because of the increased energetic cost of production. Therefore, stabilizing selection may reduce the amount of standing expression variation for high-expression proteins, and in combination with physiological constraints that may place an upper bound on the range of beneficial expression variation, these constraints could severely limit the availability of beneficial expression variants. To determine whether rapid-expression evolution was restricted to low-expression proteins owing to these constraints on highly expressed proteins over ecological timescales, we compared venom protein expression levels across mainland and island populations for three species of pit vipers. We detected significant differentiation in protein expression levels in two of the three species and found that rapid-expression differentiation was restricted to low-expression proteins. Our results suggest that various constraints on high-expression proteins reduce the availability of beneficial expression variants relative to low-expression proteins, enabling low-expression proteins to evolve and potentially lead to more rapid adaptation. PMID:26546003

Tracking the NGS revolution: managing life science research on shared high-performance computing clusters.

PubMed

Dahlö, Martin; Scofield, Douglas G; Schaal, Wesley; Spjuth, Ola

2018-05-01

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has transformed the life sciences, and many research groups are newly dependent upon computer clusters to store and analyze large datasets. This creates challenges for e-infrastructures accustomed to hosting computationally mature research in other sciences. Using data gathered from our own clusters at UPPMAX computing center at Uppsala University, Sweden, where core hour usage of ∼800 NGS and ∼200 non-NGS projects is now similar, we compare and contrast the growth, administrative burden, and cluster usage of NGS projects with projects from other sciences. The number of NGS projects has grown rapidly since 2010, with growth driven by entry of new research groups. Storage used by NGS projects has grown more rapidly since 2013 and is now limited by disk capacity. NGS users submit nearly twice as many support tickets per user, and 11 more tools are installed each month for NGS projects than for non-NGS projects. We developed usage and efficiency metrics and show that computing jobs for NGS projects use more RAM than non-NGS projects, are more variable in core usage, and rarely span multiple nodes. NGS jobs use booked resources less efficiently for a variety of reasons. Active monitoring can improve this somewhat. Hosting NGS projects imposes a large administrative burden at UPPMAX due to large numbers of inexperienced users and diverse and rapidly evolving research areas. We provide a set of recommendations for e-infrastructures that host NGS research projects. We provide anonymized versions of our storage, job, and efficiency databases.

Tracking the NGS revolution: managing life science research on shared high-performance computing clusters

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Abstract Background Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has transformed the life sciences, and many research groups are newly dependent upon computer clusters to store and analyze large datasets. This creates challenges for e-infrastructures accustomed to hosting computationally mature research in other sciences. Using data gathered from our own clusters at UPPMAX computing center at Uppsala University, Sweden, where core hour usage of ∼800 NGS and ∼200 non-NGS projects is now similar, we compare and contrast the growth, administrative burden, and cluster usage of NGS projects with projects from other sciences. Results The number of NGS projects has grown rapidly since 2010, with growth driven by entry of new research groups. Storage used by NGS projects has grown more rapidly since 2013 and is now limited by disk capacity. NGS users submit nearly twice as many support tickets per user, and 11 more tools are installed each month for NGS projects than for non-NGS projects. We developed usage and efficiency metrics and show that computing jobs for NGS projects use more RAM than non-NGS projects, are more variable in core usage, and rarely span multiple nodes. NGS jobs use booked resources less efficiently for a variety of reasons. Active monitoring can improve this somewhat. Conclusions Hosting NGS projects imposes a large administrative burden at UPPMAX due to large numbers of inexperienced users and diverse and rapidly evolving research areas. We provide a set of recommendations for e-infrastructures that host NGS research projects. We provide anonymized versions of our storage, job, and efficiency databases. PMID:29659792

Within-Host Evolution of Human Influenza Virus.

PubMed

Xue, Katherine S; Moncla, Louise H; Bedford, Trevor; Bloom, Jesse D

2018-03-10

The rapid global evolution of influenza virus begins with mutations that arise de novo in individual infections, but little is known about how evolution occurs within hosts. We review recent progress in understanding how and why influenza viruses evolve within human hosts. Advances in deep sequencing make it possible to measure within-host genetic diversity in both acute and chronic influenza infections. Factors like antigenic selection, antiviral treatment, tissue specificity, spatial structure, and multiplicity of infection may affect how influenza viruses evolve within human hosts. Studies of within-host evolution can contribute to our understanding of the evolutionary and epidemiological factors that shape influenza virus's global evolution. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Accurate multiplex polony sequencing of an evolved bacterial genome.

PubMed

Shendure, Jay; Porreca, Gregory J; Reppas, Nikos B; Lin, Xiaoxia; McCutcheon, John P; Rosenbaum, Abraham M; Wang, Michael D; Zhang, Kun; Mitra, Robi D; Church, George M

2005-09-09

We describe a DNA sequencing technology in which a commonly available, inexpensive epifluorescence microscope is converted to rapid nonelectrophoretic DNA sequencing automation. We apply this technology to resequence an evolved strain of Escherichia coli at less than one error per million consensus bases. A cell-free, mate-paired library provided single DNA molecules that were amplified in parallel to 1-micrometer beads by emulsion polymerase chain reaction. Millions of beads were immobilized in a polyacrylamide gel and subjected to automated cycles of sequencing by ligation and four-color imaging. Cost per base was roughly one-ninth as much as that of conventional sequencing. Our protocols were implemented with off-the-shelf instrumentation and reagents.

In-Space Manufacturing: Pioneering a Sustainable Path to Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Werkheiser, Niki

2015-01-01

ISM is responsible for developing the on-demand manufacturing capabilities that will be required for affordable, sustainable operations during Exploration Missions (in-transit and on-surface) to destinations such as Mars. This includes advancing the needed technologies, as well as establishing the skills & processes (such as certification and characterization) that will enable the technologies to go from novel to institutionalized. These technologies are evolving rapidly due to terrestrial markets. ISM is leveraging this commercial development to develop these capabilities within a realistic timeframe and budget. ISM utilizes the International Space Station (ISS) as a test-bed to adapt these technologies for microgravity operations and evolve the current operations mindset from earth-reliant to earth-independent.

Rapidly evolving homing CRISPR barcodes

PubMed Central

Kalhor, Reza; Mali, Prashant; Church, George M.

2017-01-01

We present here an approach for engineering evolving DNA barcodes in living cells. The methodology entails using a homing guide RNA (hgRNA) scaffold that directs the Cas9-hgRNA complex to target the DNA locus of the hgRNA itself. We show that this homing CRISPR-Cas9 system acts as an expressed genetic barcode that diversifies its sequence and that the rate of diversification can be controlled in cultured cells. We further evaluate these barcodes in cell populations and show the barcode RNAs can be assayed as single molecules in situ . This integrated approach will have wide ranging applications, such as in deep lineage tracing, cellular barcoding, molecular recording, dissecting cancer biology, and connectome mapping. PMID:27918539

In Situ Observations of Snow Metamorphosis Acceleration Induced by Dust and Black Carbon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, A. M.; Flanner, M.

2017-12-01

Previous studies demonstrate the dependence of shortwave infrared (SWIR) reflectance on snow specific surface area (SSA) and others examine the direct darkening effect dust and black carbon (BC) deposition has on snow and ice-covered surfaces. The extent to which these light absorbing aerosols (LAAs) accelerate snow metamorphosis, however, is challenging to assess in situ as measurement techniques easily disturb snowpack. Here, we use two Near-Infrared Emitting Reflectance Domes (NERDs) to measure 1300 and 1550nm bidirectional reflectance factors (BRFs) of natural snow and experimental plots with added dust and BC. We obtain NERD measurements and subsequently collect and transport snow samples to the nearby U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab for micro computed tomography (micro-CT) analysis. Snow 1300 (1550) nm BRFs evolve from 0.6 (0.15) in fresh snow to 0.2 (0.03) after metamorphosis. Hourly-scale time evolving snow surface BRFs and SSA estimates from micro-CT reveal more rapid SWIR darkening and snow metamorphosis in contaminated versus natural plots. Cloudiness and high wind speeds can completely obscure these results if LAAs mobilize before absorbing enough radiant energy. These findings verify experimentally that dust and BC deposition can accelerate snow metamorphosis and enhance snow albedo feedback in sunny, calm weather conditions. Although quantifying the enhancement of snow albedo feedback induced by LAAs requires further surface temperature, solar irradiance, and impurity concentration measurements, this study provides experimental verification of positive feedback occurring where dust and BC accelerate snow metamorphosis.

Epileptic seizures as condensed sleep: an analysis of network dynamics from electroencephalogram signals.

PubMed

Gast, Heidemarie; Müller, Markus; Rummel, Christian; Roth, Corinne; Mathis, Johannes; Schindler, Kaspar; Bassetti, Claudio L

2014-06-01

Both deepening sleep and evolving epileptic seizures are associated with increasing slow-wave activity. Larger-scale functional networks derived from electroencephalogram indicate that in both transitions dramatic changes of communication between brain areas occur. During seizures these changes seem to be 'condensed', because they evolve more rapidly than during deepening sleep. Here we set out to assess quantitatively functional network dynamics derived from electroencephalogram signals during seizures and normal sleep. Functional networks were derived from electroencephalogram signals from wakefulness, light and deep sleep of 12 volunteers, and from pre-seizure, seizure and post-seizure time periods of 10 patients suffering from focal onset pharmaco-resistant epilepsy. Nodes of the functional network represented electrical signals recorded by single electrodes and were linked if there was non-random cross-correlation between the two corresponding electroencephalogram signals. Network dynamics were then characterized by the evolution of global efficiency, which measures ease of information transmission. Global efficiency was compared with relative delta power. Global efficiency significantly decreased both between light and deep sleep, and between pre-seizure, seizure and post-seizure time periods. The decrease of global efficiency was due to a loss of functional links. While global efficiency decreased significantly, relative delta power increased except between the time periods wakefulness and light sleep, and pre-seizure and seizure. Our results demonstrate that both epileptic seizures and deepening sleep are characterized by dramatic fragmentation of larger-scale functional networks, and further support the similarities between sleep and seizures. © 2013 European Sleep Research Society.

Experimental evidence that the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model best describes the evolution of leaf litter decomposability.

PubMed

Pan, Xu; Cornelissen, Johannes H C; Zhao, Wei-Wei; Liu, Guo-Fang; Hu, Yu-Kun; Prinzing, Andreas; Dong, Ming; Cornwell, William K

2014-09-01

Leaf litter decomposability is an important effect trait for ecosystem functioning. However, it is unknown how this effect trait evolved through plant history as a leaf 'afterlife' integrator of the evolution of multiple underlying traits upon which adaptive selection must have acted. Did decomposability evolve in a Brownian fashion without any constraints? Was evolution rapid at first and then slowed? Or was there an underlying mean-reverting process that makes the evolution of extreme trait values unlikely? Here, we test the hypothesis that the evolution of decomposability has undergone certain mean-reverting forces due to strong constraints and trade-offs in the leaf traits that have afterlife effects on litter quality to decomposers. In order to test this, we examined the leaf litter decomposability and seven key leaf traits of 48 tree species in the temperate area of China and fitted them to three evolutionary models: Brownian motion model (BM), Early burst model (EB), and Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model (OU). The OU model, which does not allow unlimited trait divergence through time, was the best fit model for leaf litter decomposability and all seven leaf traits. These results support the hypothesis that neither decomposability nor the underlying traits has been able to diverge toward progressively extreme values through evolutionary time. These results have reinforced our understanding of the relationships between leaf litter decomposability and leaf traits in an evolutionary perspective and may be a helpful step toward reconstructing deep-time carbon cycling based on taxonomic composition with more confidence.

Chilo suppressalis and Sesamia inferens display different susceptibility responses to Cry1A insecticidal proteins.

PubMed

Li, Bo; Xu, Yangyang; Han, Cao; Han, Lanzhi; Hou, Maolin; Peng, Yufa

2015-10-01

Chilo suppressalis and Sesamia inferens are important lepidopteran rice pests that occur concurrently in rice-growing areas of China. The development of transgenic rice expressing Cry1A insecticidal proteins has provided a useful strategy for controlling these pests. This study evaluated the baseline susceptibilities of C. suppressalis and S. inferens to Cry1A, as well as their responses to selection with Cry1A. Wide geographic variation in susceptibility was observed across all field populations. Within a given population, the LC50 of both Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac against S. inferens was drastically higher than that of C. suppressalis. Large LC50 differences (74.6-fold) were detected between the two species for Cry1Ab in the Poyang population, while small differences (3.6-fold) were detected for Cry1Ac in the Changsha population. The Cry1Ac LC50 of C. suppressalis and S. inferens increased 8.4- and 4.4-fold after 21 and eight selection generations respectively. Additionally, the estimated realised heritabilities (h(2) ) of Cry1Ac tolerance were 0.11 in C. suppressalis and 0.292 in S. inferens. S. inferens exhibited a significantly lower susceptibility and more rapidly evolved resistance to Cry1A compared with C. suppressalis. Therefore, S. inferens is more likely to evolve increased resistance, which threatens the sustainability of rice expressing Cry1A protein. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

Wilderness medicine

PubMed Central

Sward, Douglas G.; Bennett, Brad L.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Human activity in wilderness areas has increased globally in recent decades, leading to increased risk of injury and illness. Wilderness medicine has developed in response to both need and interest. METHODS: The field of wilderness medicine encompasses many areas of interest. Some focus on special circumstances (such as avalanches) while others have a broader scope (such as trauma care). Several core areas of key interest within wilderness medicine are discussed in this study. RESULTS: Wilderness medicine is characterized by remote and improvised care of patients with routine or exotic illnesses or trauma, limited resources and manpower, and delayed evacuation to definitive care. Wilderness medicine is developing rapidly and draws from the breadth of medical and surgical subspecialties as well as the technical fields of mountaineering, climbing, and diving. Research, epidemiology, and evidence-based guidelines are evolving. A hallmark of this field is injury prevention and risk mitigation. The range of topics encompasses high-altitude cerebral edema, decompression sickness, snake envenomation, lightning injury, extremity trauma, and gastroenteritis. Several professional societies, academic fellowships, and training organizations offer education and resources for laypeople and health care professionals. CONCLUSIONS: The future of wilderness medicine is unfolding on multiple fronts: education, research, training, technology, communications, and environment. Although wilderness medicine research is technically difficult to perform, it is essential to deepening our understanding of the contribution of specific techniques in achieving improvements in clinical outcomes. PMID:25215140

Spatiotemporal analysis of urban environment based on the vegetation-impervious surface-soil model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Huadong; Huang, Qingni; Li, Xinwu; Sun, Zhongchang; Zhang, Ying

2014-01-01

This study explores a spatiotemporal comparative analysis of urban agglomeration, comparing the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) of Canada and the city of Tianjin in China. The vegetation-impervious surface-soil (V-I-S) model is used to quantify the ecological composition of urban/peri-urban environments with multitemporal Landsat images (3 stages, 18 scenes) and LULC data from 1985 to 2005. The support vector machine algorithm and several knowledge-based methods are applied to get the V-I-S component fractions at high accuracies. The statistical results show that the urban expansion in the GTHA occurred mainly between 1985 and 1999, and only two districts revealed increasing trends for impervious surfaces for the period from 1999 to 2005. In contrast, Tianjin has been experiencing rapid urban sprawl at all stages and this has been accelerating since 1999. The urban growth patterns in the GTHA evolved from a monocentric and dispersed pattern to a polycentric and aggregated pattern, while in Tianjin it changed from monocentric to polycentric. Central Tianjin has become more centralized, while most other municipal areas have developed dispersed patterns. The GTHA also has a higher level of greenery and a more balanced ecological environment than Tianjin. These differences in the two areas may play an important role in urban planning and decision-making in developing countries.

Sexual selection targets cetacean pelvic bones

PubMed Central

Dines, J. P.; Otárola-Castillo, E.; Ralph, P.; Alas, J.; Daley, T.; Smith, A. D.; Dean, M. D.

2014-01-01

Male genitalia evolve rapidly, probably as a result of sexual selection. Whether this pattern extends to the internal infrastructure that influences genital movements remains unknown. Cetaceans (whales and dolphins) offer a unique opportunity to test this hypothesis: since evolving from land-dwelling ancestors, they lost external hind limbs and evolved a highly reduced pelvis which seems to serve no other function except to anchor muscles that maneuver the penis. Here we create a novel morphometric pipeline to analyze the size and shape evolution of pelvic bones from 130 individuals (29 species) in the context of inferred mating system. We present two main findings: 1) males from species with relatively intense sexual selection (inferred by relative testes size) have evolved relatively large penises and pelvic bones compared to their body size, and 2) pelvic bone shape diverges more quickly in species pairs that have diverged in inferred mating system. Neither pattern was observed in the anterior-most pair of vertebral ribs, which served as a negative control. This study provides evidence that sexual selection can affect internal anatomy that controls male genitalia. These important functions may explain why cetacean pelvic bones have not been lost through evolutionary time. PMID:25186496

Human Foramen Magnum Area and Posterior Cranial Fossa Volume Growth in Relation to Cranial Base Synchondrosis Closure in the Course of Child Development.

PubMed

Coll, Guillaume; Lemaire, Jean-Jacques; Di Rocco, Federico; Barthélémy, Isabelle; Garcier, Jean-Marc; De Schlichting, Emmanuel; Sakka, Laurent

2016-11-01

To date, no study has compared the evolution of the foramen magnum area (FMA) and the posterior cranial fossa volume (PCFV) with the degree of cranial base synchondrosis ossification. To illustrate these features in healthy children. The FMA, the PCFV, and the ossification of 12 synchondroses according to the Madeline and Elster scale were retrospectively analyzed in 235 healthy children using millimeter slices on a computed tomography scan. The mean FMA of 6.49 cm in girls was significantly inferior to the FMA of 7.67 cm in boys (P < .001). In both sexes, the growth evolved in a 2-phase process, with a phase of rapid growth from birth to 3.75 years old (yo) followed by a phase of stabilization. In girls, the first phase was shorter (ending at 2.6 yo) than in boys (ending at 4.33 yo) and proceeded at a higher rate. PCFV was smaller in girls (P < .001) and displayed a biphasic pattern in the whole population, with a phase of rapid growth from birth to 3.58 yo followed by a phase of slow growth until 16 yo. In girls, the first phase was more active and shorter (ending at 2.67 yo) than in boys (ending at 4.5 yo). The posterior interoccipital synchondroses close first, followed by the anterior interoccipital and occipitomastoidal synchondroses, the lambdoid sutures simultaneously, then the petro-occipital and spheno-occipital synchondroses simultaneously. The data provide a chronology of synchondrosis closure. We showed that FMA and PCFV are constitutionally smaller in girls at birth (P ≤ .02) and suggest that a sex-related difference in the FMA is related to earlier closure of anterior interoccipital synchondroses in girls (P = .01). AIOS, anterior interoccipital synchondrosesFMA, foramen magnum areaLS, lambdoid suturesOMS, occipitomastoidal synchondrosesPCFV, posterior cranial fossa volumePIOS, posterior interoccipital synchondrosesPOS, petro-occipital synchondrosesSOS, spheno-occipital synchondrosisyo, years old.

The current and future state of companion diagnostics

PubMed Central

Agarwal, Amit; Ressler, Dan; Snyder, Glenn

2015-01-01

Companion diagnostics are an indispensable part of personalized medicine and will likely continue to rapidly increase in number and application to disease areas. The first companion diagnostics were launched in the 1980s and in the face of significant initial skepticism from drug developers as to whether segmenting a drug’s market through a diagnostic was advisable. The commercial success of drugs such as Herceptin® (trastuzumab) and Gleevec® (imatinib), which both require testing with companion diagnostics before they can be prescribed, has moved the entire companion diagnostic field forward. From an initial start of a handful of oncology drugs with corresponding diagnostics, the field has expanded to include multiple therapeutic areas, and the number of combinations has grown by 12-fold. Based on drugs in clinical trials, the rapid growth will likely continue for the foreseeable future. This expansion of companion diagnostics will also have a global component as markets in Europe will evolve in a similar but not identical pattern as the US. One of the greatest challenges to future growth in companion diagnostics is aligning the incentives of all stakeholders. A major driver of growth will continue to be the economic incentives for drug developers to pair their products with diagnostics. However, diagnostic companies are caught between the conflicting demands of two major stakeholders, pharmaceutical companies on one hand and payers/providers on the other. Regulators are also becoming more demanding in aligning development time lines between drugs and diagnostics. In order to survive and prosper, diagnostic companies will need to think more broadly about companion diagnostics than the historical match between a specific drug and a single diagnostic. They will also have to continue the process of consolidation and global expansion that the industry has already begun. Despite these potential obstacles, companion diagnostics have become one of the hottest areas of deal making in the diagnostic space in recent years, and the future trends continue to look bright. PMID:25897259

Rapid prototyping for biomedical engineering: current capabilities and challenges.

PubMed

Lantada, Andrés Díaz; Morgado, Pilar Lafont

2012-01-01

A new set of manufacturing technologies has emerged in the past decades to address market requirements in a customized way and to provide support for research tasks that require prototypes. These new techniques and technologies are usually referred to as rapid prototyping and manufacturing technologies, and they allow prototypes to be produced in a wide range of materials with remarkable precision in a couple of hours. Although they have been rapidly incorporated into product development methodologies, they are still under development, and their applications in bioengineering are continuously evolving. Rapid prototyping and manufacturing technologies can be of assistance in every stage of the development process of novel biodevices, to address various problems that can arise in the devices' interactions with biological systems and the fact that the design decisions must be tested carefully. This review focuses on the main fields of application for rapid prototyping in biomedical engineering and health sciences, as well as on the most remarkable challenges and research trends.

Imminent onset and abrupt increase in duration of low aragonite and calcite saturation state events in the Southern Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedrich, T.; Hauri, C.; Timmermann, A.

2015-12-01

Rapid progression of ocean acidification is a threat to key organisms of the Southern Ocean ecosystem. While the severity of ocean acidification impacts is mainly determined by the duration, intensity, and spatial extent of low aragonite or calcite saturation state events, little is known about the nature of these events, their evolving attributes, and the timing of their onset. Using output of historical and RCP 8.5 simulations from ten Earth System Models from CMIP5, we found that aragonite undersaturation, which decreases the calcification rate of pteropods and causes dissolution of their aragonitic shell, will spread rapidly after 2035, covering 70 % of the Southern Ocean surface waters by 2095. Surface aragonite undersaturation events will last for about 5 months in areas south of 60°S by 2055, and for more than 8 months by the end of the century. Overall, the duration of these events increases from 1 month to more than 6 months within fewer than 20 years in >75 % of the affected area. This abrupt change in exposure duration to unfavorable conditions may be too fast for pteropods to adapt, as these chemical changes will occur within just a few generations. As a result of two month-long calcite undersaturation events projected for the end of this century, even organisms built of the more stable calcium carbonate mineral calcite will face prolonged chemical dissolution. The threat of ocean acidification to the Southern Ocean ecosystem may be more imminent than previously thought, and may spread quickly to the southern tips of New Zealand, South America, and South Africa, with potentially far-reaching consequences to fisheries, local economies, and livelihoods.

Current management of gender identity disorder in childhood and adolescence: guidelines, barriers and areas of controversy.

PubMed

Shumer, Daniel E; Spack, Norman P

2013-02-01

The approach to gender identity disorder (GID) in childhood and adolescence has been rapidly evolving and is in a state of flux. In an effort to form management recommendations on the basis of the available literature, The Endocrine Society published clinical practice guidelines in 2009. The guidelines recommend against sex role change in prepubertal children, but they recommend the use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists to suppress puberty in adolescence, and the use of cross-sex hormones starting around age 16 for eligible patients. In actual practice, the approach to GID is quite variable due to continued lack of consensus and specific barriers to treatment that are unique to GID. Recent literature has focused on the mental health approach to prepubertal children with GID and short-term outcomes using pubertal suppression and cross-sex steroids in adolescents with GID. This review will describe the literature published since the release of The Endocrine Society guidelines regarding the management of GID in both children and adolescents.

Why medical research needs a new specialty of 'pure medical science'.

PubMed

Charlton, Bruce G

2006-01-01

Sciences tend to go through boom and bust phases. Following decades of rapid expansion, medical science is now due for a collapse in overall funding. Furthermore, there has been a decline in the rate of therapeutic innovation, with fewer significant breakthroughs and little progress in several major areas of medicine such as oncology, psychiatry and autoimmune disorders. Mainstream medical research has gradually evolved into a form similar to industrial research and development (R&D), aiming at steady, reliable, predictable progress by ringing minor variations on existing approaches. Where this risk-averse approach is failing, a more speculative strategy is indicated. A new research specialty of 'pure medical science' would aim to seek radical new theories, technologies and therapies, and subject these to professional evaluation to the point where they can be applied in practice by more mainstream 'applied' medical scientists. A specialty of 'pure medical science' might be launched by financial support from patrons who wish to be associated with an elite new medical research discipline.

Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing and Personal Genomics Services: A Review of Recent Empirical Studies

PubMed Central

Ostergren, Jenny

2013-01-01

Direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTC-GT) has sparked much controversy and undergone dramatic changes in its brief history. Debates over appropriate health policies regarding DTC-GT would benefit from empirical research on its benefits, harms, and limitations. We review the recent literature (2011-present) and summarize findings across (1) content analyses of DTC-GT websites, (2) studies of consumer perspectives and experiences, and (3) surveys of relevant health care providers. Findings suggest that neither the health benefits envisioned by DTC-GT proponents (e.g., significant improvements in positive health behaviors) nor the worst fears expressed by its critics (e.g., catastrophic psychological distress and misunderstanding of test results, undue burden on the health care system) have materialized to date. However, research in this area is in its early stages and possesses numerous key limitations. We note needs for future studies to illuminate the impact of DTC-GT and thereby guide practice and policy regarding this rapidly evolving approach to personal genomics. PMID:24058877

The University of Washington Health Sciences Library BioCommons: an evolving Northwest biomedical research information support infrastructure

PubMed Central

Minie, Mark; Bowers, Stuart; Tarczy-Hornoch, Peter; Roberts, Edward; James, Rose A.; Rambo, Neil; Fuller, Sherrilynne

2006-01-01

Setting: The University of Washington Health Sciences Libraries and Information Center BioCommons serves the bioinformatics needs of researchers at the university and in the vibrant for-profit and not-for-profit biomedical research sector in the Washington area and region. Program Components: The BioCommons comprises services addressing internal University of Washington, not-for-profit, for-profit, and regional and global clientele. The BioCommons is maintained and administered by the BioResearcher Liaison Team. The BioCommons architecture provides a highly flexible structure for adapting to rapidly changing resources and needs. Evaluation Mechanisms: BioCommons uses Web-based pre- and post-course evaluations and periodic user surveys to assess service effectiveness. Recent surveys indicate substantial usage of BioCommons services and a high level of effectiveness and user satisfaction. Next Steps/Future Directions: BioCommons is developing novel collaborative Web resources to distribute bioinformatics tools and is experimenting with Web-based competency training in bioinformation resource use. PMID:16888667

Smart health monitoring systems: an overview of design and modeling.

PubMed

Baig, Mirza Mansoor; Gholamhosseini, Hamid

2013-04-01

Health monitoring systems have rapidly evolved during the past two decades and have the potential to change the way health care is currently delivered. Although smart health monitoring systems automate patient monitoring tasks and, thereby improve the patient workflow management, their efficiency in clinical settings is still debatable. This paper presents a review of smart health monitoring systems and an overview of their design and modeling. Furthermore, a critical analysis of the efficiency, clinical acceptability, strategies and recommendations on improving current health monitoring systems will be presented. The main aim is to review current state of the art monitoring systems and to perform extensive and an in-depth analysis of the findings in the area of smart health monitoring systems. In order to achieve this, over fifty different monitoring systems have been selected, categorized, classified and compared. Finally, major advances in the system design level have been discussed, current issues facing health care providers, as well as the potential challenges to health monitoring field will be identified and compared to other similar systems.

Finding Relational Associations in HIV Resistance Mutation Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richter, Lothar; Augustin, Regina; Kramer, Stefan

HIV therapy optimization is a hard task due to rapidly evolving mutations leading to drug resistance. Over the past five years, several machine learning approaches have been developed for decision support, mostly to predict therapy failure from the genotypic sequence of viral proteins and additional factors. In this paper, we define a relational representation for an important part of the data, namely the sequences of a viral protein (reverse transcriptase), their mutations, and the drug resistance(s) associated with those mutations. The data were retrieved from the Los Alamos National Laboratories' (LANL) HIV databases. In contrast to existing work in this area, we do not aim directly for predictive modeling, but take one step back and apply descriptive mining methods to develop a better understanding of the correlations and associations between mutations and resistances. In our particular application, we use the Warmr algorithm to detect non-trivial patterns connecting mutations and resistances. Our findings suggest that well-known facts can be rediscovered, but also hint at the potential of discovering yet unknown associations.

siRNA for Influenza Therapy.

PubMed

Barik, Sailen

2010-07-01

Influenza virus is one of the most prevalent and ancient infections in humans. About a fifth of world's population is infected by influenza virus annually, leading to high morbidity and mortality, particularly in infants, the elderly and the immunocompromised. In the US alone, influenza outbreaks lead to roughly 30,000 deaths each year. Current vaccines and anti-influenza drugs are of limited use due to high mutation rate of the virus and side effects. In recent years, RNA interference, triggered by synthetic short interfering RNA (siRNA), has rapidly evolved as a potent antiviral regimen. Properly designed siRNAs have been shown to function as potent inhibitors of influenza virus replication. The siRNAs outperform traditional small molecule antivirals in a number of areas, such as ease of design, modest cost, and fast turnaround. Although specificity and tissue delivery remain major bottlenecks in the clinical applications of RNAi in general, intranasal application of siRNA against respiratory viruses including, but not limited to influenza virus, has experienced significant success and optimism, which is reviewed here.

Neurological complications in hyperemesis gravidarum.

PubMed

Zara, Gabriella; Codemo, Valentina; Palmieri, Arianna; Schiff, Sami; Cagnin, Annachiara; Citton, Valentina; Manara, Renzo

2012-02-01

Hyperemesis gravidarum can impair correct absorption of an adequate amount of thiamine and can cause electrolyte imbalance. This study investigated the neurological complications in a pregnant woman with hyperemesis gravidarum. A 29-year-old pregnant woman was admitted for hyperemesis gravidarum. Besides undernutrition, a neurological examination disclosed weakness with hyporeflexia, ophthalmoparesis, multidirectional nystagmus and optic disks swelling; the patient became rapidly comatose. Brain MRI showed symmetric signal hyperintensity and swelling of periaqueductal area, hypothalamus and mammillary bodies, medial and posterior portions of the thalamus and columns of fornix, consistent with Wernicke encephalopathy (WE). Neurophysiological studies revealed an axonal sensory-motor polyneuropathy, likely due to thiamine deficiency or critical illness polyneuropathy. Sodium and potassium supplementation and parenteral thiamine were administered with improvement of consciousness state in a few days. WE evolved in Korsakoff syndrome. A repeat MRI showed a marked improvement of WE-related alterations and a new hyperintense lesion in the pons, suggestive of central pontine myelinolysis. No sign or symptom due to involvement of the pons was present.

Study of hyperspectral characteristics of different types of flares and smoke candles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farley, Vincent; Chamberland, Martin; Lagueux, Philippe; Kastek, Mariusz; Piatkowski, Tadeusz; Dulski, Rafal

2012-06-01

Modern infrared camouflage and countermeasure technologies used in the context of military operations have evolved rapidly over the last decade. Indeed, some infrared seekers and decoy/flares tend to have spectral sensitivity tailored to closely match the emission signatures of military vehicles (such as aircrafts, tanks) and reject other sources. Similarly, some candles (or smoke bombs) are developed to generate large area screens with very high absorption in the infrared. The Military University of Technology has conducted an intensive field campaign where various types of flares and smoke candles were deployed in different conditions and measured. The high spectral, spatial and temporal resolution acquisition of these thermodynamic events was recorded with the Telops Hyper-Cam. The Hyper-Cam enables simultaneous acquisition of spatial and spectral information at high resolutions in both domains. The ability to study combustion systems with high resolution, co-registered imagery and spectral data is made possible. This paper presents the test campaign concept and definition and the analysis of the recorded measurements.

Best practice eye care models

PubMed Central

Qureshi, Babar M; Mansur, Rabiu; Al-Rajhi, Abdulaziz; Lansingh, Van; Eckert, Kristen; Hassan, Kunle; Ravilla, Thulasiraj; Muhit, Mohammad; Khanna, Rohit C; Ismat, Chaudhry

2012-01-01

Since the launching of Global Initiative, VISION 2020 “the Right to Sight” many innovative, practical and unique comprehensive eye care services provision models have evolved targeting the underserved populations in different parts of the World. At places the rapid assessment of the burden of eye diseases in confined areas or utilizing the key informants for identification of eye diseases in the communities are promoted for better planning and evidence based advocacy for getting / allocation of resources for eye care. Similarly for detection and management of diabetes related blindness, retinopathy of prematurity and avoidable blindness at primary level, the major obstacles are confronted in reaching to them in a cost effective manner and then management of the identified patients accordingly. In this regard, the concept of tele-ophthalmology model sounds to be the best solution. Whereas other models on comprehensive eye care services provision have been emphasizing on surgical output through innovative scales of economy that generate income for the program and ensure its sustainability, while guaranteeing treatment of the poorest of the poor. PMID:22944741

Highway vehicle electric drive in the United States : 2009 status and issues.

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

Santini, D. J.; Energy Systems

2011-02-16

The status of electric drive technology in the United States as of early 2010 is documented. Rapidly evolving electric drive technologies discussed include hybrid electric vehicles, multiple types of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and battery electric vehicles. Recent trends for hybrids are quantified. Various plug-in vehicles entering the market in the near term are examined. The technical and economic requirements for electric drive to more broadly succeed in a wider range of highway vehicle applications are described, and implications for the most promising new markets are provided. Federal and selected state government policy measures promoting and preparing for electric drivemore » are discussed. Taking these into account, judgment on areas where increased Clean Cities funds might be most productively focused over the next five years are provided. In closing, the request by Clean Cities for opinion on the broad range of research needs providing near-term support to electric drive is fulfilled.« less

Informed Consent in Implantable BCI Research: Identifying Risks and Exploring Meaning.

PubMed

Klein, Eran

2016-10-01

Implantable brain-computer interface (BCI) technology is an expanding area of engineering research now moving into clinical application. Ensuring meaningful informed consent in implantable BCI research is an ethical imperative. The emerging and rapidly evolving nature of implantable BCI research makes identification of risks, a critical component of informed consent, a challenge. In this paper, 6 core risk domains relevant to implantable BCI research are identified-short and long term safety, cognitive and communicative impairment, inappropriate expectations, involuntariness, affective impairment, and privacy and security. Work in deep brain stimulation provides a useful starting point for understanding this core set of risks in implantable BCI. Three further risk domains-risks pertaining to identity, agency, and stigma-are identified. These risks are not typically part of formalized consent processes. It is important as informed consent practices are further developed for implantable BCI research that attention be paid not just to disclosing core research risks but exploring the meaning of BCI research with potential participants.

Preparing tomorrow's behavioral medicine scientists and practitioners: a survey of future directions for education and training.

PubMed

Goldstein, Carly M; Minges, Karl E; Schoffman, Danielle E; Cases, Mallory G

2017-02-01

Behavioral medicine training is due for an overhaul given the rapid evolution of the field, including a tight funding climate, changing job prospects, and new research and industry collaborations. The purpose of the present study was to collect responses from trainee and practicing members of a multidisciplinary professional society about their perceptions of behavioral medicine training and their suggestions for changes to training for future behavioral medicine scientists and practitioners. A total of 162 faculty and 110 students (total n = 272) completed a web-based survey on strengths of their current training programs and ideas for changes. Using a mixed-methods approach, the survey findings are used to highlight seven key areas for improved preparation of the next generation of behavioral medicine scientists and practitioners, which are grant writing, interdisciplinary teamwork, advanced statistics and methods, evolving research program, publishable products from coursework, evolution and use of theory, and non-traditional career paths.

Two-Photon and Second Harmonic Microscopy in Clinical and Translational Cancer Research

PubMed Central

PERRY, SETH W.; BURKE, RYAN M.; BROWN, EDWARD B.

2012-01-01

Application of two-photon microscopy (TPM) to translational and clinical cancer research has burgeoned over the last several years, as several avenues of pre-clinical research have come to fruition. In this review, we focus on two forms of TPM—two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy, and second harmonic generation microscopy—as they have been used for investigating cancer pathology in ex vivo and in vivo human tissue. We begin with discussion of two-photon theory and instrumentation particularly as applicable to cancer research, followed by an overview of some of the relevant cancer research literature in areas that include two-photon imaging of human tissue biopsies, human skin in vivo, and the rapidly developing technology of two-photon microendoscopy. We believe these and other evolving two-photon methodologies will continue to help translate cancer research from the bench to the bedside, and ultimately bring minimally invasive methods for cancer diagnosis and treatment to therapeutic reality. PMID:22258888

Disarming the Red Queen: plant invasions, novel weapons, species coexistence, and microevolution

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This paper is a commentary on the importance of the featured paper in the issue. The authors found that an invasive species and a co-occurring native species had evolved to coexist with one another in the space of 50 years. The rapid evolution of tolerance (as opposed to arms race style escalation) ...

Getting the Most from Google Classroom: A Pedagogical Framework for Tertiary Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heggart, Keith R.; Yoo, Joanne

2018-01-01

Many tertiary institutions have embraced digital learning through the use of online learning platforms and social networks. However, the research about the efficacy of such platforms is confused, as is the field itself, in part because of the rapidly evolving technology, and also because of a lack of clarity about what constitutes a learning…

Beyond the Status Quo--Setting the Agenda for Effective Change: The Role of Leader within an International School Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrison, Allan R.

2018-01-01

In today's competitive and rapidly evolving educational environment, the ability to implement appropriate and effective change is of critical importance to an international school's ongoing success. This study examines leadership characteristics and styles that support the development and forward momentum of a change agenda within the context of…

Americans Need Advanced Math to Stay Globally Competitive. Math Works

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Achieve, Inc., 2013

2013-01-01

No student who hopes to compete in today's rapidly evolving global economy and job market can afford to graduate from high school with weak mathematical skills, which include the ability to use logic, reason, and solve problems. The benefits associated with improving the math performance of American students also extend to the larger U.S. economy.…

Applying an Experiential Learning Model to the Teaching of Gateway Strategy Board Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sato, Aiko; de Haan, Jonathan

2016-01-01

The board game hobby has rapidly grown and evolved in recent years, but most of the non-digital games lack tips and tutorials and remain difficult to learn and teach effectively. In this project, we integrated a popular hobbyist approach to teaching modern strategy games with classical experiential learning elements (i.e., demonstration,…

Massification of Higher Education in Taiwan: Shifting Pressure from Admission to Employment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Sheng-Ju; Lin, Liang-Wen

2015-01-01

Educational authorities in Taiwan have been expanding the higher education sector since the 1990s to meet the demands of economic transformation and to meet cultural expectations. Consequently, the higher education system of Taiwan has evolved from an elite system to a universal one. The rapid expansion of higher education is also characterized by…

Multilocus genotyping identifies a highly homogeneous phytoplasma lineage associated with sweet cherry virescence disease in China and its carriage by an erythroneurine leafhopper

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Phytoplasmas are a diverse group of insect-transmitted, cell wall-less bacteria that colonize plant phloem sieve elements and cause numerous diseases in economically important crops. Living a trans-kingdom parasitic life, phytoplasmas possess dynamic genomes and evolve rapidly toward formation of di...

The New Electron Microscopy: Cells and Molecules in Three Dimensions | Poster

Cancer.gov

NCI recently announced the launch of the new National Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility (NCEF) at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR). The launch comes while cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is enjoying the spotlight as a newly emerging, rapidly evolving technology with the potential to revolutionize the field of structural biology. Read more...

The Role of Health Education in Addressing Uncertainty about Health and Cell Phone Use--A Commentary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ratnapradipa, Dhitinut; Dundulis, William P., Jr.; Ritzel, Dale O.; Haseeb, Abdul

2012-01-01

Although the fundamental principles of health education remain unchanged, the practice of health education continues to evolve in response to the rapidly changing lifestyles and technological advances. Emerging health risks are often associated with these lifestyle changes. The purpose of this article is to address the role of health educators…

Iowa Lakes Community College: Partnerships for Academic and Economic Success in a Rapidly Evolving Wind-Energy Industry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohni, Mary; Rogers, Jolene; Zeitz, Al

2007-01-01

Iowa Lakes Community College responded to a national need for wind-energy technicians. The Wind-Energy and Turbine Program aligned industry and academic competencies with experiential learning components to foster exploration of additional renewable energy applications. Completers understand both the physical and academic rigor a career in wind…

Evolving Technology, Shifting Expectations: Cultivating Pedagogy for a Rapidly Changing GIS Landscape

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ricker, Britta; Thatcher, Jim

2017-01-01

As humans and natural processes continuously reshape the surface of the Earth, there is an unceasing need to document and analyze them through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The public is gaining more access to spatial technologies that were once only available to highly trained professionals. With technological evolution comes a…

The Doctor Is In, but Is Academia? Re-Tooling II Education for a New Era in Healthcare

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Andre; Moy, Lawrence; Kruck, S. E.; Rabang, Joshua

2015-01-01

Healthcare information technology is at a crossroads today. As legacy data systems converge with bleeding edge technologies, the technology environments of today's hospitals and clinics are evolving rapidly, producing new care delivery models. As a result, we need to reassess how information technology education is meeting the needs of healthcare…

First-Year Composition Teachers' Uses of New Media Technologies in the Composition Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mina, Lilian W.

2014-01-01

As new media technologies emerge and evolve rapidly, the need to make informed decisions about using these technologies in teaching writing increases. This dissertation research study aimed at achieving multiple purposes. The first purpose was to catalog the new media technologies writing teachers use in teaching first-year composition classes.…

Postsecondary Settings and Transition Services for Students with Intellectual Disabilities: Models and Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neubert, Debra A.; Moon, M. Sherril

2006-01-01

Postsecondary high school students for college and employment that leads to adult self-sufficiency is a daunting task for educators (Lerner & Brand, 2006; Spence, 2007). This task becomes more complicated as technology changes rapidly, as policy makers mandate standards that all students must meet, and as schools evolve to serve more students with…

Getting There: Teacher Experiences in Applying ICT In Rural and Remote Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaw, Greg

2010-01-01

The application of ICT in education in rural and remote contexts is rapidly evolving and is actively being pursued as a solution to educational issues. ICT in education involves technological as well as pedagogical and social dimensions. This paper examines approaches being taken in developing ICT usage in Northern Territory schools for teaching…

Insulating board, hardboard, and other structural fiberboards

Treesearch

W. C. Lewis; S. L. Schwartz

1965-01-01

The wood-base fiber panel materials are a part of the rapidly evolving technology based on converting lignocellulose to fiber and reconstituting the fiber into large sheets and panels. While some equipment and techniques used are the same as for producing paper, there are enough differences in techniques used and other requirements for manufacture that a separate...

A Framework for 21st-Century Career-Technical and Workforce Education Curricula

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rojewski, Jay W.; Hill, Roger B.

2017-01-01

Increasingly, career-technical and workforce education professionals are challenged with determining the best ways to prepare people for work, when many of the jobs those people will perform do not exist yet. Twenty-first-century work is evolving rapidly, with some jobs going away, other types of work appearing, and many people working in jobs…

The Role of Theory in the Assessment of Sex Offenders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quackenbush, Ray E.

2003-01-01

No generally accepted theory of sex offender behavior exists at this point. As clinical experience and research findings interact within an evolving theoretical framework, the picture of what is important, as well as what is possible to know about a sex offender, is rapidly changing. It is vital that mental health professionals, the legal system,…

The Disruptive Potential of the Massive Open Online Course: A Literature Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacoby, Jean

2014-01-01

The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is a rapidly evolving phenomenon which has stimulated discussion in universities around the world. A central theme of these discussions, and much of the published literature on the phenomenon, is the potential of the MOOC to disrupt the way universities do business. The aim of this narrative literature review…

Using LAMP Applications to Make Our Library Shine

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Andrew; Balsamo, Joseph

2005-01-01

There has been a move afoot in libraries of all kinds to incorporate open source software and applications to better support their rapidly evolving information access and delivery services. There has been particular interest in a specific configuration of open source components?known by the acronym LAMP?that can be used to build fairly complex Web…

A Social Media Practicum: An Action-Learning Approach to Social Media Marketing and Analytics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atwong, Catherine T.

2015-01-01

To prepare students for the rapidly evolving field of digital marketing, which requires more and more technical skills every year, a social media practicum creates a learning environment in which students can apply marketing principles and become ready for collaborative work in social media marketing and analytics. Using student newspapers as…

Genome-wide search of stem rust resistance loci at the seedling stage in durum wheat

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, the causative agent of stem rust in wheat, is known to rapidly evolve new virulence to resistance genes. While more than 50 stem rust resistance (Sr) loci have been identified in wheat, only a few remain effective, particularly against the highly virulent race Ug99 ...

Open-Source ERP: Is It Ripe for Use in Teaching Supply Chain Management?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huynh, Minh Q.; Chu, Hung W.

2011-01-01

The field of supply chain management has changed greatly and rapidly. With the advent of enterprise systems, supply chains are now operating with up-to-the-minute information. The value of the information flow is marked by speed, accessibility, accuracy, and most of all relevancy. As it continually evolves, the supply chain management curriculum…

The Video Game Debate--Bad for Behaviour, Good for Learning? Lessons in Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canadian Council on Learning, 2009

2009-01-01

In 2001, the Canadian Education Association concluded that "technology has become an accepted fact of life and education." Nearly a decade later, digital technologies continue to evolve rapidly and video games are no exception. While the popularity of video games among children is undeniable, the debate about the risks and benefits of…

Avatars Go to Class: A Virtual Environment Soil Science Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mamo, M.; Namuth-Covert, D.; Guru, A.; Nugent, G.; Phillips, L.; Sandall, L.; Kettler, T.; McCallister, D.

2011-01-01

Web 2.0 technology is expanding rapidly from social and gaming uses into the educational applications. Specifically, the multi-user virtual environment (MUVE), such as SecondLife, allows educators to fill the gap of first-hand experience by creating simulated realistic evolving problems/games. In a pilot study, a team of educators at the…

From Homemaking to Solidarity: Global Engagement as Common Good in an Age of Global Populism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toms, Cynthia

2018-01-01

The challenging and rapidly evolving times in which we live require that students understand, analyze, and address the complex realities facing their nation and world. However, efforts in global learning have primarily focused on expansion of programs rather than student learning and meaningful community engagement. Building on Bouma-Prediger and…

Managing landscapes at multiple scales for sustainability of ecosystem functions (Preface)

Treesearch

R.A. Birdsey; R. Lucas; Y. Pan; G. Sun; E.J. Gustafson; A.H.  Perera

2010-01-01

The science of landscape ecology is a rapidly evolving academic field with an emphasis on studying large-scale spatial heterogeneity created by natural influences and human activities. These advances have important implications for managing and conserving natural resources. At a September 2008 IUFRO conference in Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China, we highlighted both the...

Scaling laws and complexity in fire regimes [Chapter 2

Treesearch

Donald McKenzie; Maureen Kennedy

2011-01-01

Use of scaling terminology and concepts in ecology evolved rapidly from rare occurrences in the early 1980s to a central idea by the early 1990s (Allen and Hoekstra 1992; Levin 1992; Peterson and Parker 1998). In landscape ecology, use of "scale" frequently connotes explicitly spatial considerations (Dungan et al. 2002), notably grain and extent. More...

The role and management implications of modeling owl populations and the habitats they occupy

Treesearch

Amy E. Kearns

1997-01-01

Modeling ecosystems is an evolving science that is both practical and theoretical. The integration of modeling, landscape ecology, management, and rapidly changing technology offers an array of possible solutions to modern environmental quandaries. In order to address these concerns, a workshop was developed to discuss the role and management implications of modeling...

Applying Learning Analytics for Improving Students Engagement and Learning Outcomes in an MOOCS Enabled Collaborative Programming Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lu, Owen H. T.; Huang, Jeff C. H.; Huang, Anna Y. Q.; Yang, Stephen J. H.

2017-01-01

As information technology continues to evolve rapidly, programming skills become increasingly crucial. To be able to construct superb programming skills, the training must begin before college or even senior high school. However, when developing comprehensive training programmers, the learning and teaching processes must be considered. In order to…

Choosing the Future You Prefer. A Goal Setting Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindaman, Edward B.; Lippitt, Ronald O.

The guide, intended for group and organization leaders, presents activities and exercises to aid in personal and group goal-setting and planning for the future. The objective is to help groups choose goals which are sensitive to and oriented toward the evolving future with its rapid rate of change. The guide is presented in eight chapters.…

Leveraging Learning: The Evolving Role of Federal Policy in Education Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knowles, Timothy; Kober, Nancy; Ludwig, Jens; Petrilli, Michael J.; Slavin, Robert; Tseng, Vivian

2013-01-01

As transformative reforms like the Common Core State Standards and educator evaluation roll out amidst a rapidly changing demographic landscape, the need for getting high-quality research on timely topics into the hands of practitioners grows all the more urgent. While rigor and relevance need not be a question of "either/or", but rather…

Applying Contemporary Developmental and Movement Science Theories and Evidence to Early Intervention Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hickman, Robbin; McCoy, Sarah Westcott; Long, Toby M.; Rauh, Mitchell J.

2011-01-01

Changes in early childhood science, theory, and best practices for improving outcomes of children with motor delay or dysfunction and their families have evolved rapidly since EI began. Changes in daily early intervention (EI) practice have been more elusive. Closing the gap between knowledge and practice requires EI providers to piece together…

Characterisation of the heterogeneity of karst using electrical geophysics - applications in SW China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Binley, A. M.; Cheng, Q.; Tao, M.; Chen, X.

2017-12-01

The southwest China karst region is one of the largest globally continuous karst areas. The great (structural, hydrological and geochemical) complexity of karstic environments and their rapidly evolving nature make them extremely vulnerable to natural and anthropogenic processes/activities. Characterising the location and properties of structures within the karst critical zone, and understanding how the landform is evolving is essential for the mitigation and adaption to locally- and globally-driven changes. Because of the specific nature of karst geology and geomorphology in the humid tropics and subtropics, spatial heterogeneity is high, evidenced by specific landforms features. Such heterogeneity leads to a high dynamic variability of hydrological processes in space and time, along with a complex exchange of surface water and groundwater. Investigating karst hydrogeological features is extremely challenging because of the three-dimensional nature of the system. Observations from boreholes can vary significantly over several metres, making conventional aquifer investigative methods limited. Geophysical methods have emerged as potentially powerful tools for hydrogeological investigations. Geophysical surveys can help to obtain more insight into the complex conduit networks and depth of weathering, both of which can provide quantitative information about the hydrological and hydrochemical dynamics of the system, in addition to providing a better understanding of how critical zone structures have been established and how the landscape is evolving. We present here results from recent geophysical field campaigns in SW China. We illustrate the effectiveness of electrical methods for mapping soil infil in epikarst and report results from field-based investigations along hillslope and valley transects. Our results reveal distinct zones of relatively high electrical conductivity to depths of tens of metres, which we attribute to localised increased fracture density. We discuss how such surveys can be used alongside other investigative techniques to help improve our understanding of the structure and function of this complex subsurface environment.

The evolving landscape and climate of western Flores: an environmental context for the archaeological site of Liang Bua.

PubMed

Westaway, K E; Roberts, R G; Sutikna, T; Morwood, M J; Drysdale, R; Zhao, J-x; Chivas, A R

2009-11-01

The rapidly changing landscape of the eastern Indonesian archipelago has evolved at a pace dictated by its tropical climate and its geological and tectonic history. This has produced accelerated karstification, flights of alluvial terraces, and complex, multi-level cave systems. These cave systems sometimes contain a wealth of archaeological evidence, such as the almost complete skeleton of Homo floresiensis found at the site of Liang Bua in western Flores, but this information can only be understood in the context of the geomorphic history of the cave, and the more general geological, tectonic, and environmental histories of the river valley and region. Thus, a reconstruction of the landscape history of the Wae Racang valley using speleothems, geological structure, tectonic uplift, karst, cave, and terrace development, provides the necessary evidence to determine the formation, age, evolution, and influences on the site. This evidence suggests that Liang Bua was formed as two subterranean chambers approximately 600ka, but could not be occupied until approximately 190ka when the Wae Racang wandered to the southern side of the valley, exposing the chamber and depositing alluvial deposits containing artifacts. During the next approximately 190k.yr., the chambers coalesced and evolved into a multi-level and interconnected cave that was subjected to channel erosion and pooling events by the development of sinkholes. The domed morphology of the front chamber accumulated deep sediments containing well stratified archaeological and faunal remains, but ponded water in the chamber further prevented hominin use of the cave until approximately 100ka. These chambers were periodically influenced by river inundation and volcanic activity, whereas the area outside the cave was greatly influenced by glacial phases, which changed humid forest environments into grassland environments. This combined evidence has important implications for the archaeological interpretation of the site.

Robust Water Supply Infrastructure Development Pathways: What, When and Where Matters the Most? (INVITED)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reed, Patrick; Zeff, Harrison; Characklis, Gregory

2017-04-01

Water supply adaptation frameworks that seek robustness must adaptively trigger actions that are contextually appropriate to emerging system observations and avoid long term high regret lock-ins. As an example, emerging water scarcity concerns in southeastern United States are associated with several deeply uncertain factors, including rapid population growth, limited coordination across adjacent municipalities and the increasing risks for sustained regional droughts. Managing these uncertainties will require that regional water utilities identify regionally coordinated, scarcity-mitigating infrastructure development pathways that trigger time appropriate actions. Mistakes can lead to water shortages, overbuilt stranded assets and possibly financial failures. This presentation uses the Research Triangle area of North Carolina to illustrate the key concerns and challenges that emerged when helping Raleigh, Durham, Cary and Chapel Hill develop their long term water supply infrastructure pathways through 2060. This example shows how the region's water utilities' long term infrastructure pathways are strongly shaped by their short term conservation policies (i.e., reacting to evolving demands) and their ability to consider regional water transfers (i.e., reacting to supply imbalances). Cooperatively developed, shared investments across the four municipalities expand their capacity to use short term transfers to better manage severe droughts with fewer investments in irreversible infrastructure options. Cooperative pathways are also important for avoiding regional robustness conflicts, where one party benefits strongly at the expense of one or more the others. A significant innovation of this work is the exploitation of weekly and annual dynamic risk-of-failure action triggers that exploit evolving feedbacks between co-evolving human demands and regional supplies. These dynamic action triggers provide high levels of adaptivity, tailor actions to their specific context, and motivate the value of joint human—natural system observation systems. The insights from this work have general merit globally for urban regions where adjacent municipalities can benefit from cooperative planning.

Sex Ratio Bias Leads to the Evolution of Sex Role Reversal in Honey Locust Beetles.

PubMed

Fritzsche, Karoline; Booksmythe, Isobel; Arnqvist, Göran

2016-09-26

The reversal of conventional sex roles was enigmatic to Darwin, who suggested that it may evolve when sex ratios are female biased [1]. Here we present direct evidence confirming Darwin's hypothesis. We investigated mating system evolution in a sex-role-reversed beetle (Megabruchidius dorsalis) using experimental evolution under manipulated sex ratios and food regimes. In female-biased populations, where reproductive competition among females was intensified, females evolved to be more attractive and the sex roles became more reversed. Interestingly, female-specific mating behavior evolved more rapidly than male-specific mating behavior. We show that sexual selection due to reproductive competition can be strong in females and can target much the same traits as in males of species with conventional mating systems. Our study highlights two central points: the role of ecology in directing sexual selection and the role that females play in mating system evolution. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Evolving Identity: How Chronic Care Is Transforming What it Means to Be a Physician.

PubMed

Bogetz, Alyssa L; Bogetz, Jori F

2015-12-01

Physician identity and the professional role physicians play in health care is rapidly evolving. Over 130 million adults and children in the USA have complex and chronic diseases, each of which is shaped by aspects of the patient's social, psychological, and economic status. These patients have lifelong health care needs that require the ongoing care of multiple health care providers, access to community services, and the involvement of patients' family support networks. To date, physician professional identity formation has centered on autonomy, authority, and the ability to "heal." These notions of identity may be counterproductive in chronic disease care, which demands interdependency between physicians, their patients, and teams of multidisciplinary health care providers. Medical educators can prepare trainees for practice in the current health care environment by providing training that legitimizes and reinforces a professional identity that emphasizes this interdependency. This commentary outlines the important challenges related to this change and suggests potential strategies to reframe professional identity to better match the evolving role of physicians today.

Evolution of kin recognition mechanisms in a fish.

PubMed

Hain, Timothy J A; Garner, Shawn R; Ramnarine, Indar W; Neff, Bryan D

2017-03-01

Both selection and phylogenetic history can influence the evolution of phenotypic traits. Here we used recently characterized variation in kin recognition mechanisms among six guppy populations to explore the phylogenetic history of this trait. Guppies can use two different kin recognition mechanisms: either phenotype matching, in which individuals are identified based on comparison with a recognition template, or familiarity, in which individuals are remembered based on previous interactions. Across the six populations, we identified four transitions in recognition mechanism: phenotype matching evolved once and was subsequently lost in a single population, whereas familiarity evolved twice. Based on a molecular clock, these transitions occurred among populations that had diverged on a timescale of hundreds of thousands of years, which is two orders of magnitude faster than previously documented transitions in recognition mechanisms. A randomization test provided no evidence that recognition mechanisms were constrained by phylogeny, suggesting that recognition mechanisms have the capacity to evolve rapidly, although the specific selection pressures that may be contributing to variation in recognition mechanisms across populations remain unknown.

77 FR 31831 - Designation for the Topeka, KS; Cedar Rapids, IA; Minot, ND; and Cincinnati, OH Areas

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-30

... the Topeka, KS; Cedar Rapids, IA; Minot, ND; and Cincinnati, OH Areas AGENCY: Grain Inspection.... Applications were due by March 12, 2012. Topeka, KS; Cedar Rapids, IA; Minot, ND and Cincinnati, OH areas were...) 233-7063 7/1/2012 6/30/2015 Mid-Iowa Cedar Rapids, IA; (319) 363-0239...... 7/1/2012 6/30/2015 Minot...

Using integrated research and interdisciplinary science: Potential benefits and challenges to managers of parks and protected areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

van Riper, Charles; Powell, Robert B.; Machlis, Gary; van Wagtendonk, Jan W.; van Riper, Carena J.; von Ruschkowski, Eick; Schwarzbach, Steven E.; Galipeau, Russell E.

2012-01-01

Our purpose in this paper is to build a case for utilizing interdisciplinary science to enhance the management of parks and protected areas. We suggest that interdisciplinary science is necessary for dealing with the complex issues of contemporary resource management, and that using the best available integrated scientific information be embraced and supported at all levels of agencies that manage parks and protected areas. It will take the commitment of park managers, scientists, and agency leaders to achieve the goal of implementing the results of interdisciplinary science into park management. Although such calls go back at least several decades, today interdisciplinary science is sporadically being promoted as necessary for supporting effective protected area management(e.g., Machlis et al. 1981; Kelleher and Kenchington 1991). Despite this history, rarely has "interdisciplinary science" been defined, its importance explained, or guidance provided on how to translate and then implement the associated research results into management actions (Tress et al. 2006; Margles et al. 2010). With the extremely complex issues that now confront protected areas (e.g., climate change influences, extinctions and loss of biodiversity, human and wildlife demographic changes, and unprecedented human population growth) information from more than one scientific discipline will need to be brought to bear in order to achieve sustained management solutions that resonate with stakeholders (Ostrom 2009). Although interdisciplinary science is not the solution to all problems, we argue that interdisciplinary research is an evolving and widely supported best practice. In the case of park and protected area management, interdisciplinary science is being driven by the increasing recognition of the complexity and interconnectedness of human and natural systems, and the notion that addressing many problems can be more rapidly advanced through interdisciplinary study and analysis.

Pesticide durability and the evolution of resistance: A novel application of survival analysis.

PubMed

Brevik, Kristian; Schoville, Sean D; Mota-Sanchez, David; Chen, Yolanda H

2018-03-01

Arthropod pests are widely perceived to evolve resistance to insecticides at different rates. Although widespread "successful" species are assumed to evolve quickly and minor pests slowly, few studies have utilized published data on resistance events to test for differences among species. Using 532 records from the Arthropod Pesticide Resistance Database covering 20 species, we applied a survival analysis to model the number of generations from insecticide introduction to the first report of arthropod resistance, providing one of the most comprehensive analyses of this question to date. Our approach tested: 1) whether successful pests evolve resistance faster than close relatives, 2) whether species differ significantly in the time to demonstrate resistance, and 3) whether different insecticide classes differ in durability (length of time an insecticide is used before resistance arises). We found that species differed significantly in the amount of time it took for resistance to be reported. Overall, the median duration between the introduction of an insecticide and the first report of resistance was 66 generations (95% c.i. 60-78 generations), and highly-resistant arthropods did not evolve resistance faster than their relatives. Insecticide durability did not differ by the mode of action or year of introduction. Arthropod species significantly varied in how rapidly they evolve resistance to new insecticides, regardless of their chemistry. Visualization of the history of insecticide resistance provides information to be used for understanding how pesticide resistance evolved and how it can best be managed. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Analysis and quantitation of volatile organic compounds emitted from plastics used in museum construction by evolved gas analysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Samide, Michael J; Smith, Gregory D

2015-12-24

Construction materials used in museums for the display, storage, and transportation of artwork must be assessed for their tendency to emit harmful pollution that could potentially damage cultural treasures. Traditionally, a subjective metals corrosion test known as the Oddy test has been widely utilized in museums for this purpose. To augment the Oddy test, an instrumental sampling approach based on evolved gas analysis (EGA) coupled to gas chromatography (GC) with mass spectral (MS) detection has been implemented for the first time to qualitatively identify off-gassed pollutants under specific conditions. This approach is compared to other instrumental methods reported in the literature. This novel application of the EGA sampling technique yields several benefits over traditional testing, including rapidity, high sensitivity, and broad detectability of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Furthermore, unlike other reported instrumental approaches, the EGA method was used to determine quantitatively the amount of VOCs emitted by acetate resins and polyurethane foams under specific conditions using both an external calibration method as well as surrogate response factors. EGA was successfully employed to rapidly characterize emissions from 12 types of common plastics. This analysis is advocated as a rapid pre-screening method to rule out poorly performing materials prior to investing time and energy in Oddy testing. The approach is also useful for rapid, routine testing of construction materials previously vetted by traditional testing, but which may experience detrimental formulation changes over time. As an example, a case study on batch re-orders of rigid expanded poly(vinyl chloride) board stock is presented. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Rapid genome-wide evolution in Brassica rapa populations following drought revealed by sequencing of ancestral and descendant gene pools.

PubMed

Franks, Steven J; Kane, Nolan C; O'Hara, Niamh B; Tittes, Silas; Rest, Joshua S

2016-08-01

There is increasing evidence that evolution can occur rapidly in response to selection. Recent advances in sequencing suggest the possibility of documenting genetic changes as they occur in populations, thus uncovering the genetic basis of evolution, particularly if samples are available from both before and after selection. Here, we had a unique opportunity to directly assess genetic changes in natural populations following an evolutionary response to a fluctuation in climate. We analysed genome-wide differences between ancestors and descendants of natural populations of Brassica rapa plants from two locations that rapidly evolved changes in multiple phenotypic traits, including flowering time, following a multiyear late-season drought in California. These ancestor-descendant comparisons revealed evolutionary shifts in allele frequencies in many genes. Some genes showing evolutionary shifts have functions related to drought stress and flowering time, consistent with an adaptive response to selection. Loci differentiated between ancestors and descendants (FST outliers) were generally different from those showing signatures of selection based on site frequency spectrum analysis (Tajima's D), indicating that the loci that evolved in response to the recent drought and those under historical selection were generally distinct. Very few genes showed similar evolutionary responses between two geographically distinct populations, suggesting independent genetic trajectories of evolution yielding parallel phenotypic changes. The results show that selection can result in rapid genome-wide evolutionary shifts in allele frequencies in natural populations, and highlight the usefulness of combining resurrection experiments in natural populations with genomics for studying the genetic basis of adaptive evolution. © 2016 The Authors. Molecular Ecology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Rapid preparation process of antiparkinsonian drug Mucuna pruriens silver nanoparticle by bioreduction and their characterization

PubMed Central

Arulkumar, Subramanian; Sabesan, Muthukumaran

2010-01-01

Backgorund: Development of biologically inspired experimental processes for the synthesis of nanoparticles is evolving an important branch of nanotechnology. Methods: The bioreduction behavior of plant seed extract of Mucuna pruriens in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles was investigated employing UV/visible spectrophotometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform – infra red (FT- IR). Result: M. pruriens was found to exhibit strong potential for rapid reduction of silver ions. The formation of nanoparticles by this method is extremely rapid, requires no toxic chemicals, and the nanoparticles are stable for several months. Conclusion: The main conclusion is that the bioreduction method to produce nanoparticles is a good alternative to the electrochemical methods and it is expected to be biocompatible. PMID:21808573

Three-Fingered RAVERs: Rapid Accumulation of Variations in Exposed Residues of Snake Venom Toxins

PubMed Central

Sunagar, Kartik; Jackson, Timothy N. W.; Undheim, Eivind A. B.; Ali, Syed. A.; Antunes, Agostinho; Fry, Bryan G.

2013-01-01

Three-finger toxins (3FTx) represent one of the most abundantly secreted and potently toxic components of colubrid (Colubridae), elapid (Elapidae) and psammophid (Psammophiinae subfamily of the Lamprophidae) snake venom arsenal. Despite their conserved structural similarity, they perform a diversity of biological functions. Although they are theorised to undergo adaptive evolution, the underlying diversification mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we report the molecular evolution of different 3FTx functional forms and show that positively selected point mutations have driven the rapid evolution and diversification of 3FTx. These diversification events not only correlate with the evolution of advanced venom delivery systems (VDS) in Caenophidia, but in particular the explosive diversification of the clade subsequent to the evolution of a high pressure, hollow-fanged VDS in elapids, highlighting the significant role of these toxins in the evolution of advanced snakes. We show that Type I, II and III α-neurotoxins have evolved with extreme rapidity under the influence of positive selection. We also show that novel Oxyuranus/Pseudonaja Type II forms lacking the apotypic loop-2 stabilising cysteine doublet characteristic of Type II forms are not phylogenetically basal in relation to other Type IIs as previously thought, but are the result of secondary loss of these apotypic cysteines on at least three separate occasions. Not all 3FTxs have evolved rapidly: κ-neurotoxins, which form non-covalently associated heterodimers, have experienced a relatively weaker influence of diversifying selection; while cytotoxic 3FTx, with their functional sites, dispersed over 40% of the molecular surface, have been extremely constrained by negative selection. We show that the a previous theory of 3FTx molecular evolution (termed ASSET) is evolutionarily implausible and cannot account for the considerable variation observed in very short segments of 3FTx. Instead, we propose a theory of Rapid Accumulation of Variations in Exposed Residues (RAVER) to illustrate the significance of point mutations, guided by focal mutagenesis and positive selection in the evolution and diversification of 3FTx. PMID:24253238

Future automotive materials: Evolution or revolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beardmore, P.

1990-01-01

An exciting era is evolving in the application of new materials technologies to automotive applications. The desire on the part of the automobile industry to completely satisfy the customers while concurrently meeting increasing demands and regulations for stringent emission control and fuel efficiency is opening a plethora of opportunities for new materials. In many cases, materials solutions are the only mechanisms for resolving some of the upcoming issues. The materials scientist and engineer will therefore have a primary role to play and will assume a position of significance hithertofore unseen in the automobile industry. The nature of the industry dictates that changes are primarily evolutionary with respect to chronology but nevertheless some of the future material changes will be revolutionary in nature. This presentation will treat three primary systems of the vehicle separately, based on the different materials approaches which will be adopted. These areas are: (1) skin panels, (2) structures, and (3) powertrains. The competition between a variety of new materials in these 3 systems will be discussed in detail with the various tradeoffs being outlined. Amongst the more prominent of the new breed of materials will be new steel technologies, structural plastics (FRP), aluminum alloys (conventional and rapidly solidified), titanium alloys, metal matrix composites and smart materials (electrorheological fluids, etc.). The pace of development and application is accelerating rapidly and the impetus is likely to increase.

A rhythm-based authentication scheme for smart media devices.

PubMed

Lee, Jae Dong; Jeong, Young-Sik; Park, Jong Hyuk

2014-01-01

In recent years, ubiquitous computing has been rapidly emerged in our lives and extensive studies have been conducted in a variety of areas related to smart devices, such as tablets, smartphones, smart TVs, smart refrigerators, and smart media devices, as a measure for realizing the ubiquitous computing. In particular, smartphones have significantly evolved from the traditional feature phones. Increasingly higher-end smartphone models that can perform a range of functions are now available. Smart devices have become widely popular since they provide high efficiency and great convenience for not only private daily activities but also business endeavors. Rapid advancements have been achieved in smart device technologies to improve the end users' convenience. Consequently, many people increasingly rely on smart devices to store their valuable and important data. With this increasing dependence, an important aspect that must be addressed is security issues. Leaking of private information or sensitive business data due to loss or theft of smart devices could result in exorbitant damage. To mitigate these security threats, basic embedded locking features are provided in smart devices. However, these locking features are vulnerable. In this paper, an original security-locking scheme using a rhythm-based locking system (RLS) is proposed to overcome the existing security problems of smart devices. RLS is a user-authenticated system that addresses vulnerability issues in the existing locking features and provides secure confidentiality in addition to convenience.

Vision 2040: Evolving the Successful International Space University

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, Gary; Marti, Izan Peris; Tlustos, Reinhard; Lorente, Arnau Pons; Panerati, Jocopo; Mensink, Wendy; Sorkhabi, Elbruz; Garcia, Oriol Gasquez; Musilova, Michaela; Pearson, Thomas

2015-01-01

Space exploration has always been full of inspiration, innovation, and creativity, with the promise of expanding human civilization beyond Earth. The space sector is currently experiencing rapid change as disruptive technologies, grassroots programs, and new commercial initiatives have reshaped long-standing methods of operation. Throughout the last 28 years, the International Space University (ISU) has been a leading institution for space education, forming international partnerships, and encouraging entrepreneurship in its over 4,000 alumni. In this report, our Vision 2040 team projected the next 25 years of space exploration and analyzed how ISU could remain a leading institution in the rapidly changing industry. Vision 2040 considered five important future scenarios for the space sector: real-time Earth applications, orbital stations, lunar bases, lunar and asteroid mining, and a human presence on Mars. We identified the signals of disruptive change within these scenarios, including underlying driving forces and potential challenges, and derived a set of skills that will be required in the future space industry. Using these skills as a starting point, we proposed strategies in five areas of focus for ISU: the future of the Space Studies Program (SSP), analog missions, outreach, alumni, and startups. We concluded that ISU could become not just an increasingly innovative educational institution, but one that acts as an international organization that drives space commercialization, exploration, innovation, and cooperation.

A Rhythm-Based Authentication Scheme for Smart Media Devices

PubMed Central

Lee, Jae Dong; Park, Jong Hyuk

2014-01-01

In recent years, ubiquitous computing has been rapidly emerged in our lives and extensive studies have been conducted in a variety of areas related to smart devices, such as tablets, smartphones, smart TVs, smart refrigerators, and smart media devices, as a measure for realizing the ubiquitous computing. In particular, smartphones have significantly evolved from the traditional feature phones. Increasingly higher-end smartphone models that can perform a range of functions are now available. Smart devices have become widely popular since they provide high efficiency and great convenience for not only private daily activities but also business endeavors. Rapid advancements have been achieved in smart device technologies to improve the end users' convenience. Consequently, many people increasingly rely on smart devices to store their valuable and important data. With this increasing dependence, an important aspect that must be addressed is security issues. Leaking of private information or sensitive business data due to loss or theft of smart devices could result in exorbitant damage. To mitigate these security threats, basic embedded locking features are provided in smart devices. However, these locking features are vulnerable. In this paper, an original security-locking scheme using a rhythm-based locking system (RLS) is proposed to overcome the existing security problems of smart devices. RLS is a user-authenticated system that addresses vulnerability issues in the existing locking features and provides secure confidentiality in addition to convenience. PMID:25110743

Somatic therapies for treatment-resistant depression: ECT, TMS, VNS, DBS.

PubMed

Cusin, Cristina; Dougherty, Darin D

2012-08-17

The field of non-pharmacological therapies for treatment resistant depression (TRD) is rapidly evolving and new somatic therapies are valuable options for patients who have failed numerous other treatments. A major challenge for clinicians (and patients alike) is how to integrate the results from published clinical trials in the clinical decision-making process.We reviewed the literature for articles reporting results for clinical trials in particular efficacy data, contraindications and side effects of somatic therapies including electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) and deep brain stimulation (DBS). Each of these devices has an indication for patients with different level of treatment resistance, based on acuteness of illness, likelihood of response, costs and associated risks. ECT is widely available and its effects are relatively rapid in severe TRD, but its cognitive adverse effects may be cumbersome. TMS is safe and well tolerated, and it has been approved by FDA for adults who have failed to respond to one antidepressant, but its use in TRD is still controversial as it is not supported by rigorous double-blind randomized clinical trials. The options requiring surgical approach are VNS and DBS. VNS has been FDA-approved for TRD, however it is not indicated for management of acute illness. DBS for TRD is still an experimental area of investigation and double-blind clinical trials are underway.

Proceedings: international regulatory considerations on development pathways for cell therapies.

PubMed

Feigal, Ellen G; Tsokas, Katherine; Viswanathan, Sowmya; Zhang, Jiwen; Priest, Catherine; Pearce, Jonathan; Mount, Natalie

2014-08-01

Regenerative medicine is a rapidly evolving field that faces novel scientific and regulatory challenges. In September 2013, the International Workshop on Regulatory Pathways for Cell Therapies was convened to discuss the nature of these challenges and potential solutions and to highlight opportunities for potential convergence between different regulatory bodies that might assist the field's development. The workshop discussions generated potentially actionable steps in five main areas that could mitigate cell therapy development pathway risk and accelerate moving promising therapies to patients. These included the need for convergence of regulatory guidelines on donor eligibility and suitability of lines for use in clinical trials and subsequent commercialization for cell therapies to move forward on a global basis; the need to challenge and encourage investigators in the regenerative medicine field to share information and provide examples of comparability studies related to master cell banks; the need for convergence of guidelines across regulatory jurisdictions on requirements for tumorigenicity studies, based on particular cell types and on biodistribution studies; the need to increase transparency in sharing clinical trial information more broadly and disseminating results more rapidly; and the need to establish a forum for sharing the experiences of various approaches being developed to expedite regulatory approvals and access for patients to innovative cell and regenerative therapies in the different regulatory jurisdictions and to assess their potential strengths and weaknesses. ©AlphaMed Press.

Rapid evolution of the env gene leader sequence in cats naturally infected with feline immunodeficiency virus

PubMed Central

Hughes, Joseph; Biek, Roman; Litster, Annette; Willett, Brian J.; Hosie, Margaret J.

2015-01-01

Analysing the evolution of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) at the intra-host level is important in order to address whether the diversity and composition of viral quasispecies affect disease progression. We examined the intra-host diversity and the evolutionary rates of the entire env and structural fragments of the env sequences obtained from sequential blood samples in 43 naturally infected domestic cats that displayed different clinical outcomes. We observed in the majority of cats that FIV env showed very low levels of intra-host diversity. We estimated that env evolved at a rate of 1.16×10−3 substitutions per site per year and demonstrated that recombinant sequences evolved faster than non-recombinant sequences. It was evident that the V3–V5 fragment of FIV env displayed higher evolutionary rates in healthy cats than in those with terminal illness. Our study provided the first evidence that the leader sequence of env, rather than the V3–V5 sequence, had the highest intra-host diversity and the highest evolutionary rate of all env fragments, consistent with this region being under a strong selective pressure for genetic variation. Overall, FIV env displayed relatively low intra-host diversity and evolved slowly in naturally infected cats. The maximum evolutionary rate was observed in the leader sequence of env. Although genetic stability is not necessarily a prerequisite for clinical stability, the higher genetic stability of FIV compared with human immunodeficiency virus might explain why many naturally infected cats do not progress rapidly to AIDS. PMID:25535323

De Novo ORFs in Drosophila Are Important to Organismal Fitness and Evolved Rapidly from Previously Non-coding Sequences

PubMed Central

Reinhardt, Josephine A.; Wanjiru, Betty M.; Brant, Alicia T.; Saelao, Perot; Begun, David J.; Jones, Corbin D.

2013-01-01

How non-coding DNA gives rise to new protein-coding genes (de novo genes) is not well understood. Recent work has revealed the origins and functions of a few de novo genes, but common principles governing the evolution or biological roles of these genes are unknown. To better define these principles, we performed a parallel analysis of the evolution and function of six putatively protein-coding de novo genes described in Drosophila melanogaster. Reconstruction of the transcriptional history of de novo genes shows that two de novo genes emerged from novel long non-coding RNAs that arose at least 5 MY prior to evolution of an open reading frame. In contrast, four other de novo genes evolved a translated open reading frame and transcription within the same evolutionary interval suggesting that nascent open reading frames (proto-ORFs), while not required, can contribute to the emergence of a new de novo gene. However, none of the genes arose from proto-ORFs that existed long before expression evolved. Sequence and structural evolution of de novo genes was rapid compared to nearby genes and the structural complexity of de novo genes steadily increases over evolutionary time. Despite the fact that these genes are transcribed at a higher level in males than females, and are most strongly expressed in testes, RNAi experiments show that most of these genes are essential in both sexes during metamorphosis. This lethality suggests that protein coding de novo genes in Drosophila quickly become functionally important. PMID:24146629

Environmental change makes robust ecological networks fragile

USGS Publications Warehouse

Strona, Giovanni; Lafferty, Kevin D.

2016-01-01

Complex ecological networks appear robust to primary extinctions, possibly due to consumers’ tendency to specialize on dependable (available and persistent) resources. However, modifications to the conditions under which the network has evolved might alter resource dependability. Here, we ask whether adaptation to historical conditions can increase community robustness, and whether such robustness can protect communities from collapse when conditions change. Using artificial life simulations, we first evolved digital consumer-resource networks that we subsequently subjected to rapid environmental change. We then investigated how empirical host–parasite networks would respond to historical, random and expected extinction sequences. In both the cases, networks were far more robust to historical conditions than new ones, suggesting that new environmental challenges, as expected under global change, might collapse otherwise robust natural ecosystems.

Rapidly Evolving Transients in the Dark Energy Survey

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

Pursiainen, M.; et al.

We present the results of a search for rapidly evolving transients in the Dark Energy Survey Supernova Programme. These events are characterized by fast light curve evolution (rise to peak inmore » $$\\lesssim 10$$ d and exponential decline in $$\\lesssim30$$ d after peak). We discovered 72 events, including 37 transients with a spectroscopic redshift from host galaxy spectral features. The 37 events increase the total number of rapid optical transients by more than factor of two. They are found at a wide range of redshifts ($0.05M_\\mathrm{g}>-22.25$$). The multiband photometry is well fit by a blackbody up to few weeks after peak. The events appear to be hot ($$T\\approx10000-30000$$ K) and large ($$R\\approx 10^{14}-2\\cdot10^{15}$$ cm) at peak, and generally expand and cool in time, though some events show evidence for a receding photosphere with roughly constant temperature. Spectra taken around peak are dominated by a blue featureless continuum consistent with hot, optically thick ejecta. We compare our events with a previously suggested physical scenario involving shock breakout in an optically thick wind surrounding a core-collapse supernova (CCSNe), we conclude that current models for such a scenario might need an additional power source to describe the exponential decline. We find these transients tend to favor star-forming host galaxies, which could be consistent with a core-collapse origin. However, more detailed modeling of the light curves is necessary to determine their physical origin.« less

Drosophila Nnf1 paralogs are partially redundant for somatic and germ line kinetochore function.

PubMed

Blattner, Ariane C; Aguilar-Rodríguez, José; Kränzlin, Marcella; Wagner, Andreas; Lehner, Christian F

2017-02-01

Kinetochores allow attachment of chromosomes to spindle microtubules. Moreover, they host proteins that permit correction of erroneous attachments and prevent premature anaphase onset before bi-orientation of all chromosomes in metaphase has been achieved. Kinetochores are assembled from subcomplexes. Kinetochore proteins as well as the underlying centromere proteins and the centromeric DNA sequences evolve rapidly despite their fundamental importance for faithful chromosome segregation during mitotic and meiotic divisions. During evolution of Drosophila melanogaster, several centromere proteins were lost and a recent gene duplication has resulted in two Nnf1 paralogs, Nnf1a and Nnf1b, which code for alternative forms of a Mis12 kinetochore complex component. The rapid evolutionary divergence of centromere/kinetochore constituents in animals and plants has been proposed to be driven by an intragenome conflict resulting from centromere drive during female meiosis. Thus, a female meiosis-specific paralog might be expected to evolve rapidly under positive selection. While our characterization of the D. melanogaster Nnf1 paralogs hints at some partial functional specialization of Nnf1b for meiosis, we have failed to detect evidence for positive selection in our analysis of Nnf1 sequence evolution in the Drosophilid lineage. Neither paralog is essential, even though we find some clear differences in subcellular localization and expression during development. Loss of both paralogs results in developmental lethality. We therefore conclude that the two paralogs are still in early stages of differentiation.

A rapid method for assessing social versus independent interest in health issues: a case study of 'bird flu' and 'swine flu'.

PubMed

Bentley, R Alexander; Ormerod, Paul

2010-08-01

Effective communication strategies regarding health issues are affected by the way in which the public obtain their knowledge, particularly whether people become interested independently, or through their social networks. This is often investigated through localized ethnography or surveys. In rapidly-evolving situations, however, there may also be a need for swift, case-specific assessment as a guide to initial strategy development. With this aim, we analyze real-time online data, provided by the new 'Google Trends' tool, concerning Internet search frequency for health-related issues. To these data we apply a simple model to characterise the effective degree of social transmission versus decisions made individually. As case examples, we explore two rapidly-evolved issues, namely the world-wide interest in avian influenza, or 'bird flu', in 2005, and in H1N1, or 'swine flu', from late April to early May 2009. The 2005 'bird flu' scare demonstrated almost pure imitation for two months initially, followed by a spike of independent decision that corresponded with an announcement by US president George Bush. For 'swine flu' in 2009, imitation was the more prevalent throughout. Overall, the results show how interest in health scares can spread primarily by social means, and that engaging more independent decisions at the population scale may require a dramatic announcement to push a populace over the 'tipping point'. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GeoNet's `Felt Rapid': Collecting What Is Needed, When You Need It, No More, No Less. Rapid, Volumous Data For Response Versus Detailed, Precise Data For Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Little, C. L.; McBride, S.; Balfour, N.

2016-12-01

New Zealand's geohazard monitoring agency, GeoNet, recently implemented `Felt Rapid': earthquake felt reporting that is quick and simple. GeoNet locates 20,000 earthquakes each year with hundreds of those reported as being felt. Starting in the late 1800s, the New Zealand public has become adept at completing felt reports but feedback since the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence suggested that traditional felt reporting was not meeting researchers' or the public's needs. GeoNet required something rapid, adaptable and robust. The solution was Felt Rapid, a mobile app and website where respondents simply pick from 6 cartoon images - representing Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) 3-8 - that best aligned to what they felt. For the last decade, felt reporting has been conducted via the GeoNet website, with additional targeted surveys after damaging earthquakes. The vast majority of the submitted felt reports were for earthquakes too small to cause damage, as these are by far the most frequent. Reports from small events are of little interest to researchers who are only concerned with damaging, MMI6 and above. However, we found that when damaging earthquakes did occur, such as Christchurch's M6.3, they were only sparsely reported (3,776 reports). Understandably, sitting at a computer and completing a lengthy online form wasn't a priority for people after a devastating earthquake. With Felt Rapid, reporting has to be completed within an hour of an earthquake, the use of GeoNet's automatically compiled felt reporting maps had evolved; their main purpose is immediate assessment of an earthquake's impact on populations, and is used by Civil Defence agencies. Reports are immediately displayed on an interactive map via the website and mobile app. With over 250,000 users this provides rapid and robust information regarding the experienced shaking. When a damaging earthquake occurs and researchers want to collect important and rare damaging felt reports, a separate in-depth survey is commissioned targeted to areas that experienced the highest levels of shaking. These surveys will be distributed via a range of mediums including posted as well an online call for submissions. GeoNet maintains an engaged and trusting community via social media channels which makes these calls for submissions effective.

Who Writes the Past? Student Perceptions of Wikipedia Knowledge and Credibility in a World History Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calkins, Susanna; Kelley, Matthew R.

2009-01-01

The authors describe an inquiry-based learning project that required students in a first-year world history course to reflect on and analyze critically the nature of the knowledge found in Wikipedia--the free, open-content, rapidly evolving, internet encyclopedia. Using a rubric, the authors explored students' perceptions of the collaborative and…

The draft genome of whitefly Bemisia tabaci MEAM1, a global crop pest, provides novel insights into virus transmission, host adaptation, and insecticide resistance

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Whiteflies are among the most important agricultural pests. They have a broad range of host plants and exceptional ability to transmit a large number of plant viruses, and can rapidly evolve insecticide resistance. Here we present a high-quality draft genome of the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci. Comparat...

Full Speed Ahead: Our Leadership Summit Examines the Wildly Changing World of Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

School Library Journal, 2011

2011-01-01

The face of reading is changing, and it is happening at a much faster rate than most people had imagined. Where is it all going? What factors are driving the most significant developments? And what role do librarians play in this rapidly evolving world? These are some of the key questions that stakeholders--including educators, publishers,…

Examining the Impact of Culture and Human Elements on OLAP Tools Usefulness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sharoupim, Magdy S.

2010-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of culture and human-related elements on the On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP) usability in generating decision-making information. The use of OLAP technology has evolved rapidly and gained momentum, mainly due to the ability of OLAP tools to examine and query large amounts of data sets…

Improving Systems Engineering Effectiveness in Rapid Response Development Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-02

environments where large, complex, brownfield systems of systems are evolved through parallel development of new capabilities in response to external, time...license 14. ABSTRACT Systems engineering is often ineffective in development environments where large, complex, brownfield systems of systems are...IEEE Press, Hoboken, NJ, 2008 [18] Boehm, B.: Applying the Incremental Commitment Model to Brownfield Systems Development, Proceedings, CSER 2009

Introduction to special issue on remote sensing for advanced forest inventory

Treesearch

Andrew T. Hudak; E. Louise Loudermilk; Joanne C. White

2016-01-01

Information needs associated with sustainable forest management are evolving rapidly as the forest sector works to satisfy an increasingly complex set of economic, environmental, and social policy goals. A barrier to the sustainable management of forests and the provision of ecosystem goods and services under these new pressures is a lack of up-to-date and detailed...

Inferring Learning from Big Data: The Importance of a Transdisciplinary and Multidimensional Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lodge, Jason M.; Alhadad, Sakinah S. J.; Lewis, Melinda J.; Gaševic, Dragan

2017-01-01

The use of big data in higher education has evolved rapidly with a focus on the practical application of new tools and methods for supporting learning. In this paper, we depart from the core emphasis on application and delve into a mostly neglected aspect of the big data conversation in higher education. Drawing on developments in cognate…

Bringing the Real World into the Classroom: Career Change Business Educators and the Pedagogies of Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pazin, Bonnie M.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the influences of prior work experience in the classroom of career change secondary business educators. The 21st century workforce is rapidly evolving due to increases in innovative technology and global competition. Educators are expected to prepare a digital generation of students to face…

A Case Study of the Development of WebPA: An Online Peer-Moderated Marking Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loddington, Steve; Pond, Keith; Wilkinson, Nicola; Willmot, Peter

2009-01-01

Peer moderation of group work in higher education is rapidly advancing through the use of technological developments and is increasingly being informed by pedagogical research. The highly successful WebPA online assessment system has gone through a number of development phases over its 15-year history and has now evolved into a relatively mature…

The Security of Machine Learning

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-04-24

Machine learning has become a fundamental tool for computer security, since it can rapidly evolve to changing and complex situations. That...adaptability is also a vulnerability: attackers can exploit machine learning systems. We present a taxonomy identifying and analyzing attacks against machine ...We use our framework to survey and analyze the literature of attacks against machine learning systems. We also illustrate our taxonomy by showing

Study of Motives of Chinese Business English Development Based on the Theory of Human Capital

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meichang, Ouyang; Wenzhong, Zhu; Dan, Liu

2017-01-01

Business English in China has evolved into a cross-disciplinary program from ESP, with more than 1000 universities having set the program of business English in bachelor, master or doctor degree levels. In general, it has undergone a rapid development and enjoyed a more and more social recognition. This paper tries to uncover the underlying…

Using the Chemistry Classroom as the Starting Point for Engaging Urban High School Students and Their Families in Pro-Environmental Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daubenmire, Patrick L.; van Opstal, Mary T.; Hall, Natalie J.; Wunar, Bryan; Kowrach, Nicole

2017-01-01

Evolving mobile technology and the rapid spread of STEM-focused informal learning environments have created a unique opportunity to break through the barriers that have traditionally separated diverse learning contexts such as school, family, and community. Previous research suggest that in a well-designed family learning environment, both parents…

"Capping Off" the Development of Graduate Capabilities in the Final Semester Unit for Biological Science Students: Review and Recommendations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Firn, Jennifer

2015-01-01

Biology is the most rapidly evolving scientific field of the 21st century. Biology graduates must be able to integrate concepts and collaborate outside their discipline to solve the most pressing questions of our time, e.g. world hunger, malnutrition, climate change, infectious disease and biosecurity. University educators are attempting to…

State Requirements for Teacher Evaluation Policies Promoted by Race to the Top. NCEE Evaluation Brief. NCEE 2014-4016

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hallgren, Kristin; James-Burdumy, Susanne; Perez-Johnson, Irma

2014-01-01

This brief describes the extent to which states required teacher evaluation policies aligned with the Race to the Top (RTT) initiative as of spring 2012. Although teacher evaluation policies appear to be rapidly evolving, documenting policy requirements in the early years of RTT implementation can help inform policymakers about the pace of policy…

Meaningful Informed Consent with Young Children: Looking Forward through an Interactive Narrative Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayne, Fiona; Howitt, Christine; Rennie, Léonie

2016-01-01

Ideas about ethical research with young children are evolving at a rapid rate. Not only can young children participate in the informed consent process, but researchers now also recognize that the process must be meaningful for them. As part of a larger study, this article reviews children's rights and informed consent literature as the foundation…