The forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria Hübner (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae), is an irruptive forest pest found throughout North America. Widespread species such as M. disstria are exposed to historical and contemporary processes that are not uniform and can generate regionally distinct genomic variation. Previous analyses used a short mitochondrial fragment to infer broad-scale phylogeographic patterns in M. disstria, whereas nuclear markers have been previously applied only in a smaller geographic region. In this study, we quantified M. disstria population variation with genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms and cytochrome c oxidase from mitochondrial DNA. Using highly variable genome-wide markers, we resolved clear genomic differences among populations of M. disstria east of the Rocky Mountains that were not detected using mitochondrial variation alone. We also did not detect host-associated divergence in either our genomic or mitochondrial data. Our results highlight the utility of genome-wide markers to resolve intraspecific population structure within a widespread species and support the need for further biogeographic sampling of this forest insect pest.

Case identification is an ongoing issue for the COVID-19 epidemic, in particular for outpatient care where physicians must decide which patients to prioritise for further testing. This paper reports tools to classify patients based on symptom profiles based on 236 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 positive cases and 564 controls, accounting for the time course of illness using generalised multivariate logistic regression. Significant symptoms included abdominal pain, cough, diarrhoea, fever, headache, muscle ache, runny nose, sore throat, temperature between 37.5 and 37.9 °C and temperature above 38 °C, but their importance varied by day of illness at assessment. With a high percentile threshold for specificity at 0.95, the baseline model had reasonable sensitivity at 0.67. To further evaluate accuracy of model predictions, leave-one-out cross-validation confirmed high classification accuracy with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.92. For the baseline model, sensitivity decreased to 0.56. External validation datasets reported similar result. Our study provides a tool to discern COVID-19 patients from controls using symptoms and day from illness onset with good predictive performance. It could be considered as a framework to complement laboratory testing in order to differentiate COVID-19 from other patients presenting with acute symptoms in outpatient care.

The ‘Landscapes of Production and Punishment’ project aims to examine how convict labour from 1830–1877 affected the built and natural landscapes of the Tasman Peninsula, as well as the lives of the convicts themselves.

Chemical constituents trapped within glacial ice provide a unique record of climate, as well as repositories for biological material such as pollen grains, fungal spores, viruses, bacteria and dissolved organic carbon. Past research suggests that the veins of polycrystalline ice may provide a liquid microenvironment for active microbial metabolism fueled by concentrated impurities in the veins. Despite these claims, no direct measurements of impurity concentration in ice veins have been made. Using micro-Raman spectroscopy, we show that sulfate and nitrate concentrations in the veins of glacial ice from Greenland (Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2) and Antarctic (Newall Glacier and a Dominion Range glacier) core samples were 104 and 105 times greater than the concentrations measured in melted (bulk) core water. Methanesulfonate was not found in the veins, consistent with its presence as particulate matter within the ice. The measured vein concentration of molecular anions implies a highly acidic (pH < 3) vein environment with high ionic strength (mM-M). We estimate that the vein volume provides 16.7 and 576 km3 of habitable space within the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, respectively, which could support the metabolism of organisms that are capable of growing in cold, high ionic strength solutions with low pH.

We analyzed the recent (< 25 yr) spread in New Hampshire, USA, of the exotic tree Kalopanax septemlobus, native to Asia. The invasion was likely initiated by a single tree planted ca. 1972. Our objective was to assess the viability of the invasion, especially in light of the small propagule size. We tallied, mapped, aged, and measured the height and growth of K. septemlobus individuals at two sites, the University of New Hampshire campus (UC) and Thompson Farm (TF), both in Durham. We found over 3,800 plants at UC and 270 at TF in < 120 ha (296 ac) total area. Plant age ranged from 0 to 22 yr, and UC plants were as far as 775 m (2,543 ft) from the purported parent tree. Annual height growth was comparable to midtolerant native trees. Plants occurred in both open and forested habitats, and the mean level of photosynthetically active radiation incident on understory plants was 4 to 6% of full sun. The large population size, shade tolerance, rapid height growth, and ability to sprout from damaged stems suggest potential for K. septemlobus to invade and persist in forests, the most common natural ecosystem in the northeastern United States. We further suggest that small propagule size, likely a single tree, has not prevented K. septemlobus from initiating a spatially extensive and vigorous population. Kalopanax septemlobus has been planted as an ornamental in the northeastern United States, and prevention of region-wide invasion might depend on removal of these trees, even when they occur as single individuals.

Two hypotheses about belief in high gods supportive of human morality were tested with data from the Ethnographic Atlas and the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample. A significant positive relation between the size of societies and such a belief is demonstrated, and this relation appears to be independent of both regional differences and differences in stratification of the societies. On the other hand, stratification itself is also significantly related with the belief in high gods supportive of human morality, but this relation could not be shown to be independent of regional differences or differences in size.

Six ideas explaining the existence of moralizing gods are mentioned, and I discuss the words prosocial and antisocial.

To examine the contribution of genetic factors to food choice, we determined dietary patterns from food frequency questionnaires in 3262 UK female twins aged 18 to 79 years. Five distinct dietary patterns were identified (fruit and vegetable, high alcohol, traditional English, dieting, low meat) that accounted for 22% of the total variance. These patterns are similar to those found in other singleton Western populations, and were related to body mass index, smoking status, physical activity and deprivation scores. Older subjects had higher scores on the fruit and vegetable and traditional English patterns, while lower social deprivation was associated with higher scores for fruit and vegetable, and lower scores for traditional English patterns. All 5 patterns were heritable, with estimates ranging from 41% to 48%. Among individual dietary components, a strongly heritable component was identified for garlic (46%), coffee (41%), fruit and vegetable sources (49%), and red meat (39%). Our results indicate that genetic factors have an important influence in determining food choice and dietary habits in Western populations. The relatively high heritability of specific dietary components implicates taste perception as a possible target for future genetic studies.

Fifteen healthy volunteers were given three weekly subcutaneous injections of a new polyvalent Pseudomonas aeruginosa vaccine (PEV-01). Four doses – 1·0 RHD (manufacturer's recommended human dose), 0·75 RHD, 0·5 RHD and 0·1 RHD – were used in separate groups of volunteers. Blood samples taken before each of the injections and one taken 7 days after the last injection were examined for immune response to the vaccine and for possible adverse clinical, biochemical and haematological effects.

Raised titres of antibody in serum of volunteers given 0·5–1·0 RHD vaccine were shown, often by the seventh day, in passive haemagglutination tests against all of the 16 serotypes of Ps. aeruginosa represented in the vaccine; serum from volunteers who received 0·1 RHD usually showed a reduced antibody titre. Tests of mouse protection by serum against intraperitoneal challenge with Ps. aeruginosa P14 showed increased titres of mouse protective antibody in the blood of volunteers given 1·0, 0·75 or 0·5 RHD of vaccine but a reduced mouse-protective titre in two out of three sera from volunteers given 0·1 RHD vaccine. There was a suggestion of enhanced phagocytic ingestion and intracellular killing of two strains of Ps. aeruginosa by the blood of vaccinated volunteers, and more definite enhancement of ingestion of inert latex particles, which were less well ingested than were the bacterial cells by phagocytes from unvaccinated volunteers.

Apart from slight or moderate local reactions and a transient rise of temperature in some volunteers, there were no clinical, biochemical or haematological abnormalities in the vaccinated volunteers.

A computer-based dietary assessment tool, the meal-based intake assessment tool (MBIAT), is described. In the current study, dietary intakes of Fe and Zn fractions (total Fe, non-haem Fe, haem Fe, meat Fe, total Zn) and dietary components that influence Fe and Zn absorption (vitamin C, phytate, Ca, grams of meat/fish/poultry, black tea equivalents, phytate:Zn molar ratio) were assessed. The relative validity of the MBIAT was determined in forty-eight UK men aged 40 years and over by comparing its results with those from weighed diet records collected over 12 d. There was good agreement between the MBIAT and the weighed diet records for median intakes of total, non-haem, haem and meat Fe, Zn, vitamin C, phytate, grams of meat/fish/poultry and phytate:Zn molar ratio. Correlations between the two methods ranged from 0·32 (for Ca) to 0·80 (for haem Fe), with 0·76 for total Fe and 0·75 for Zn. The percentage of participants classified by the MBIAT into the same/opposite weighed diet record quartiles ranged from 56/0 for Fe and 60/0 for Zn to 33/10 for Ca. The questionnaire also showed an acceptable level of agreement between repeat administrations (e.g. a correlation for total Fe of 0·74). In conclusion, the MBIAT is appropriate for assessing group dietary intakes of total Fe and Zn and their absorption modifiers in UK men aged 40 years and over.