A set of 68 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were selected from existing databases (including Medicago, soybean, cowpea and peanut) for the purpose of exploiting the transferability of SSRs across species and/or genera within the legume family. Primers were tested for cross-species and cross-genus fragment amplification with an array of 24 different legume accessions. Nearly one-third (30.78%) of the SSR primers screened generated reproducible and cross-genus amplicons. One hundred and seventeen cross-species polymorphic amplicons were identified and could be used as DNA markers. These polymorphic markers are now being used for characterization and evaluation of our collected and donated legume germ- plasm. The transferability of SSRs, mis-/multiple-primings, homologous/heterologous amplifications, single/multiple-amplicons and application of these amplicons as DNA markers are discussed. The transfer of SSR markers across species or across genera can be a very efficient approach for DNA marker development, especially for minor crops.

The International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness with Medical and Invasive Approaches (ISCHEMIA) found that there was no statistical difference in cardiovascular events with an initial invasive strategy as compared with an initial conservative strategy of guideline-directed medical therapy for patients with moderate to severe ischemia on noninvasive testing. In this study, we describe the reasons that potentially eligible patients who were screened for participation in the ISCHEMIA trial did not advance to enrollment, the step prior to randomization. Of those who preliminarily met clinical inclusion criteria on screening logs submitted during the enrollment period, over half did not participate due to physician or patient refusal, a potentially modifiable barrier. This analysis highlights the importance of physician equipoise when advising patients about participation in randomized controlled trials.

The mechanism through which developmental programming of offspring overweight/obesity following in utero exposure to maternal overweight/obesity operates is unknown but may operate through biologic pathways involving offspring anthropometry at birth. Thus, we sought to examine to what extent the association between in utero exposure to maternal overweight/obesity and childhood overweight/obesity is mediated by birth anthropometry. Analyses were conducted on a retrospective cohort with data obtained from one hospital system. A natural effects model framework was used to estimate the natural direct effect and natural indirect effect of birth anthropometry (weight, length, head circumference, ponderal index, and small-for-gestational age [SGA] or large-for-gestational age [LGA]) for the association between pre-pregnancy maternal body mass index (BMI) category (overweight/obese vs normal weight) and offspring overweight/obesity in childhood. Models were adjusted for maternal and child socio-demographics. Three thousand nine hundred and fifty mother–child dyads were included in analyses (1467 [57.8%] of mothers and 913 [34.4%] of children were overweight/obese). Results suggest that a small percentage of the effect of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI overweight/obesity on offspring overweight/obesity operated through offspring anthropometry at birth (weight: 15.5%, length: 5.2%, head circumference: 8.5%, ponderal index: 2.2%, SGA: 2.9%, and LGA: 4.2%). There was a small increase in the percentage mediated when gestational diabetes or hypertensive disorders were added to the models. Our study suggests that some measures of birth anthropometry mediate the association between maternal pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity and offspring overweight/obesity in childhood and that the size of this mediated effect is small.

From a physiological-behavioral perspective, it has been shown that fish with a higher density of black eumelanin spots are more dominant, less sensitive to stress, have higher feed intake, better feed efficiency and therefore are larger in size. Thus, we hypothesized that genetic (co)variation between skin pigmentation patterns and growth exists and it is advantageous in rainbow trout. The objective of this study was to determine the genetic relationships between skin pigmentation patterns and BW in a breeding population of rainbow trout. We performed a genetic analysis of pigmentation traits including dorsal color (DC), lateral band (LB) intensity, amount of spotting above (SA) and below (SB) the lateral line, and BW at harvest (HW). Variance components were estimated using a multi-trait linear animal model fitted by restricted maximum likelihood. Estimated heritabilities were 0.08±0.02, 0.17±0.03, 0.44±0.04, 0.17±0.04 and 0.23±0.04 for DC, LB, SA, SB and HW, respectively. Genetic correlations between HW and skin color traits were 0.42±0.13, 0.32±0.14 and 0.25±0.11 for LB, SA and SB, respectively. These results indicate positive, but low to moderate genetic relationships between the amount of spotting and BW in rainbow trout. Thus, higher levels of spotting are genetically associated with better growth performance in this population.

Low molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons can intercalate from the solid phase into montmorillonite (Mt) saturated with quaternary alkylammonium ions. However, the interaction and relationship between guest and host organic molecules in the interlayer space of the clay are not well understood. We have intercalated phenanthrene into tetradecyltrimethylammonium (TDTMA)-montmorillonite by a solid-solid reaction. The basal spacing of the original TDTMA-Mt complex is close to 1.8 nm, indicating the presence in the interlayer space of a double layer of TDTMA ions with the alkyl (polymethylene) chains lying parallel to the silicate layers, and the carbon zig-zags adopting an all-trans conformation. After intercalation of phenanthrene the basal spacing increases to about 3.4 nm, indicating a change in orientation of the alkyl chains with respect to the silicate layers. 13C-NMR spectroscopy shows that adding phenanthrene to TDTMA-Mt leads to a displacement by -3 ppm of the -(CH2)n- signal for TDTMA. This signal and that for interlayer phenantbrene are also broadened relative to the respective pure compounds. These observations, together with measurements of nuclear spin relaxation time constants, strongly suggest that in the complex with phenanthrene the polymethylene chains of TDTMA extend away from the silicate layers, and no longer assume a rigid all-trans carbon zig-zag conformation. Rather, the TDTMA chains become relatively disordered and intimately mixed with phenanthrene.

This review represents the Southern Ocean community’s satellite data needs for the coming decade. Developed through widespread engagement and incorporating perspectives from a range of stakeholders (both research and operational), it is designed as an important community-driven strategy paper that provides the rationale and information required for future planning and investment. The Southern Ocean is vast but globally connected, and the communities that require satellite-derived data in the region are diverse. This review includes many observable variables, including sea ice properties, sea surface temperature, sea surface height, atmospheric parameters, marine biology (both micro and macro) and related activities, terrestrial cryospheric connections, sea surface salinity, and a discussion of coincident and in situ data collection. Recommendations include commitment to data continuity, increases in particular capabilities (sensor types, spatial, temporal), improvements in dissemination of data/products/uncertainties, and innovation in calibration/validation capabilities. Full recommendations are detailed by variable as well as summarized. This review provides a starting point for scientists to understand more about Southern Ocean processes and their global roles, for funders to understand the desires of the community, for commercial operators to safely conduct their activities in the Southern Ocean, and for space agencies to gain greater impact from Southern Ocean-related acquisitions and missions.

The interaction of a helicopter tail rotor blade with the tip vortex system from the main rotor is a significant source of noise and, in some flight states, can produce marked reductions in control effectiveness. This paper describes a series of wind-tunnel tests to simulate tail rotor blade vortex interaction with a view to providing data for the development and validation of numerical simulations of the phenomenon. In the experiments, which were carried out in the Argyll wind-tunnel of Glasgow University, a single-bladed rotor located in the tunnel’s contraction was used to generate the tip vortex which travelled downstream into the working section where it interacted with a model tail rotor. The tail rotor was instrumented with miniature pressure transducers that measured the aerodynamic response during the interaction. The results suggest that the rotor blade vortex interaction is similar in form to that measured at much higher spatial resolution on a fixed, non-rotating blade. The combination of the two datasets, therefore, provides a valuable resource for the development and validation of predictive schemes.

Results of protein residue and lithic microwear analyses are reported for Paleoindian and Early Archaic stone tools from a Carolina bay sand rim on the Aiken Plateau of South Carolina, USA. Protein residue analysis is performed using crossover Immunoelectrophoresis (CIEP), and indicates positive results for Bovidae, Cervidae, Galliformes, and Meleagris gallopavo. These results are complemented by a larger immunological study of 135 diagnostic hafted bifaces from South Carolina and Georgia. Among other species identified, bovid residue was found on multiple Paleoindian hafted bifaces, an Early Archaic hafted biface, and a Middle Archaic hafted biface. Results suggest continuity of species selection and availability across the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary and provide no support for the exploitation of extinct fauna. The data do provide compelling evidence for a demographic shift and/or regional extirpation of Bovidae possibly as late as the early mid-Holocene in the Southeast. In addition, microwear analysis of artifacts from Flamingo Bay indicate intensive hide scraping, antler boring, bone graving/planing/pointing, wood whittling, and hafting traces. Microwear data suggest intentional snap-fracture or bipolarization of exhausted or broken Clovis points for reuse as hide scrapers, and use of large bifacial knives and unifacial scrapers in intensive defleshing activities consistent with large animal butchery.

The paper describes a process which allows a vertical circular cylinder subject to plane monochromatic surface gravity waves to appear invisible to the far-field observer. This is achieved by surrounding the cylinder with an annular region of variable bathymetry. Two approaches are taken to investigate this effect. First a mild-slope approximation is applied to the governing linearised three-dimensional water wave equations to formulate a depth-averaged two-dimensional wave equation with varying wavenumber over the variable bathmetry. This is then solved by formulating a domain integral equation, solved numerically by discretisation. For a given set of geometrical and wave parameters, the bathymetry is selected by a numerical optimisation process and it is shown that the scattering cross-section is reduced towards zero with increasing refinement of the bathymetry. A fully three-dimensional boundary-element method, based on the WAMIT solver (see www.wamit.com) but adapted here to allow for depressions in the bed, is used to assess the accuracy of the mild-slope results and then further numerically optimise the bathymetry towards a cloaking structure. Numerical results provide strong evidence that perfect cloaking is possible for the fully three-dimensional problem. One practical application of the results is that cloaking implies a reduced mean drift force on the cylinder.

We have used high-resolution, HST WFC3/IR, near-infrared imaging to conduct a detailed bulge-disk decomposition of the morphologies of ≃ 200 of the most massive (M* > 1011 M⊙) galaxies at 1 < z < 3 in the CANDELS-UDS field. We find that, while such massive galaxies at low redshift are generally bulge-dominated, at redshifts 1<z<2 they are predominantly mixed bulge+disk systems, and by z > 2 they are mostly disk-dominated. Interestingly, we find that while most of the quiescent galaxies are bulge-dominated, a significant fraction (25–40%) of the most quiescent galaxies, have disk-dominated morphologies. Thus, our results suggest that the physical mechanisms which quench star-formation activity are not simply connected to those responsible for the morphological transformation of massive galaxies.

The Duke Twins Study of Memory in Aging is an ongoing, longitudinal study of cognitive change and dementia in the population-based National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council (NAS-NRC) Twin Registry of World War II Male Veterans. The primary goal of this study has been to estimate the overall genetic and environmental contributions to dementia with a specific focus on Alzheimer's disease. An additional goal has been to examine specific genetic and environmental antecedents of cognitive decline and dementia. Since 1989, we have completed 4 waves of data collection. Each wave included a 2-phase telephone cognitive screening protocol, followed by an in-home standardized clinical assessment for those with suspected dementia. For many participants, we have obtained postmortem neuro-pathological confirmation of the diagnosis of dementia. In addition to data on cognition, we have also collected information on occupational history, medical history, medications and other lifetime experiences that may influence cognitive function in late life. We provide an overview of the study's methodology and describe the focus of recent research.

This paper identifies some of the more important diseases at the wildlife–livestock interface and the role wildlife plays in disease transmission. Domestic livestock, wildlife and humans share many similar pathogens. Pathogens of wild or domestic animal origin that can cause infections in humans are known as zoonotic organisms and the converse are termed as anthroponotic organisms. Seventy-seven percent of livestock pathogens and 91% of domestic carnivore pathogens are known to infect multiple hosts, including wildlife. Understanding this group of pathogens is critical to public health safety, because they infect a wide range of hosts and are most likely to emerge as novel causes of infection in humans and domestic animals. Diseases at the wildlife–livestock interface, particularly those that are zoonotic, must be an area of focus for public health programs and surveillance for emerging infectious diseases. Additionally, understanding wildlife and their role is a vital part of understanding the epidemiology and ecology of diseases. To do this, a multi-faceted approach combining capacity building and training, wildlife disease surveillance, wildlife–livestock interface and disease ecology studies, data and information sharing and outbreak investigation are needed.

Myxochlamys amphiloxa R.J.Searle (Zingiberaceae) from Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia is described and illustrated. An IUCN conservation assessment is made.