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In Europe, hantaviruses (Bunyaviridae) are small mammal-associated zoonotic and emerging pathogens that can cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). Puumala virus, the main etiological agent carried by the bank vole Myodes glareolus is responsible for a mild form of HFRS while Dobrava virus induces less frequent but more severe cases of HFRS.Since 2000 in Europe, more than 3000 cases of HFRS have been recorded, in average, each year, which is nearly double compared to the previous decade. In addition to this upside long-term trend, significant oscillations occur. Epidemic years appear, usually every 2-4 years, with an increased incidence, generally in localised hot spots. Moreover, the virus has been identified in new areas in the recent years.A great number of surveys have been carried out in order to assess the prevalence of the infection in the reservoir host and to identify links with different biotic and abiotic factors. The factors that drive the infections are related to the density and diversity of bank vole populations, prevalence of infection in the reservoir host, viral excretion in the environment, survival of the virus outside its host, and human behaviour, which affect the main transmission virus route through inhalation of infected rodent excreta..At the scale of a rodent population, the prevalence of the infection increases with the age of the individuals but also other parameters, such as sex and genetic variability, interfere. The contamination of the environment may be correlated to the number of newly infected rodents, which heavily excrete the virus. The interactions between these different parameters add to the complexity of the situation and explain the absence of reliable tools to predict epidemics. In this review, the factors that drive the epidemics of hantaviruses in Middle Europe are discussed through a panorama of the epidemiological situation in Belgium, France and Germany.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is unequivocally reported to produce hyperalgesia to phasic stimuli, while both hyper- and hypoalgesia to tonic stimuli. The former is spinally mediated and the latter centrally. Besides, its management is unsatisfactory. We report the effect of magnetic field (MF; 17.96 μT, 50 Hz) on tonic pain behavior and related neurotransmitters in the brain of complete thoracic (T13) SCI rats at week 8. Adult male Wistar rats were divided into Sham, SCI and SCI+MF groups. Formalin-pain behavior was compared utilizing 5 min block pain rating (PR), 60 min session-PR, time spent in various categories of increasing pain (T0-T3) and flinch incidences. Serotonin (5-HT), dopamine (DA), norepinepherine (NE), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate and glycine were estimated in brain tissue by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Session-PR, block-PR and number of flinches were significantly lower, while time spent in categories 0-1 was higher in the SCI versus Sham group. These parameters were comparable in the SCI+MF versus Sham group. 5-HT concentration in cortex, remaining forebrain areas and brain stem (BS), was lower while GABA and NE were higher in BS of SCI, which were comparable with Sham in the SCI+MF group. The concentration of DA, glutamate and glycine was comparable amongst the groups. The data indicate significant hypoalgesia in formalin pain while increased in GABA, NE and decreased in 5-HT post-SCI, which were restored in the SCI+MF group. We suggest beneficial effect of chronic (2 h/day × 8 weeks) exposure to MF (50 Hz, 17.96 μT) on tonic pain that is mediated by 5-HT, GABA and NE in complete SCI rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One hundred and four released varieties of bread wheat ( Triticum aestivum L ssp. aestivum) in India were crossed to two T. aestivum L ssp. aestivum testers, namely, C306 (Ne Ne ne ne) and HD2329 ( ne ne Ne Ne) to determine the frequency and distribution of genes for hybrid necrosis present in them. Sixty-seven varieties (65.4 %) showed the presence of Ne gene and only eight varieties (7.7 %) had Ne gene in their background. Twenty-nine varieties (27.9 %) were non carrier ( ne ne ne ne) for both the genes. Most of the Ne-carriers are of Indian origin and their pedigree revealed the involvement of landraces and old varieties as parents. Predominance of Ne gene in Indian varieties happened after the introduction of semi-dwarf Mexican wheat varieties, which are mostly Ne carriers and also due to the extensive and continuous use of germplasm from Mexican and European origin in the hybridization programme. Moreover varieties with Ne gene is selected for their linked beneficial traits mainly rust resistance genes. The phenomenon of hybrid necrosis is one among the post zygotic barrier speciation process which acts as a barrier for either intra or inter specific gene flow. The genetic architecture of hybrid necrosis in wheat is simple following the minimal predictions of the Bateson-Dobzhansky-Muller model. Widespread occurrence of dominant genes for hybrid necrosis in Indian varieties is of great concern to wheat breeders as it often interferes in the choice of elite parents and imposes restrictions on the productivity of crosses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The electronic stopping power of slow Ne ions (v >0.6a.u. per nucleon, i.e. 180keV) in polycrystalline Au was investigated in a backscattering approach. Spectra were recorded in a Time-Of-Flight Medium-Energy Ion Scattering (TOF-MEIS) experiment using a gold thin film of several nm thickness deposited on Si. The stopping power was extracted from fitting energy converted TOF-spectra by Monte-Carlo simulations for the ion trajectories. This permits an accurate disentanglement of elastic losses and inelastic losses which are due to nuclear collisions and interactions of the ion with the electronic system of the solid, respectively. The resulting electronic stopping cross section is found to exhibit excellent velocity proportionality in the whole investigated energy range. Data is compared to other experimental datasets for similar ion energies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: It has been assumed that the basal ganglia implement links between stimulus (S) processing and motor response (R). It has also been proposed that the P3b component of the event-related EEG potential, which is usually as large in R- as in S-locked averages over trials, is a candidate marker to reveal integrity of S–R links. Therefore, the P3 complex (consisting of P3a and P3b) was here measured in averages over trials time-locked either to S or to the key-press R. P3b was expected to be equally large in healthy participants' R- and S-locked averages but to be smaller in R-locked than S-locked averages of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) (n=12 each), reflecting the loss of S–R links in PD. It has been further assumed that the basal ganglia extract unambiguous results from complex signal patterns thereby resolving discrepancies between competing responses. If so, signals arriving at PD patients' cortex may still be discrepant and produce conflicts, as indicated by error-negativity (NE)-type components even with PD patients' correct responses. As expected, healthy persons had equal S- and R- locked P3b amplitudes and topographies, and PD patients had smaller P3b amplitudes in R-locked than S-locked averages. This latter result was due to an R-related fronto-central negative shift, overlapping PD patients' P3b in the final 100ms before overt responding. This negativity might indicate response conflict even with correct responses. In line with this interpretation, PD patients had an NE-type signal in error trials not only in R-locked averages, like healthy participants, but in S-locked averages as well. These findings support the discrepancy-resolving hypothesis of the basal ganglia and suggest that the overlap of P3b by NE-type components, related both to S and R, may reflect a major pathophysiological feature in Parkinson's disease. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Norepinephrine increases apoptosis of cardiomyocytes. [•] Norepinephrine increases Bax and reduces Bcl-2 and ratio of Bcl-2/Bax. [•] CGRP increases Bcl-2 and ratio of Bcl-2/Bax in cardiomyocytes. [•] CGRP attenuates norepinephrine induced apoptosis of cardiomyocytes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Non-cooperative game theory has found many important applications in engineering. In networking research community, this theory has been adopted to represent the selfish behaviour of the network users. In video transmission over Mobile Ad hoc NETworks (MANETs), video sources try to optimize their perceived video quality unilaterally. On the other hand, network providers try to set some prices on the scarce network resources such that their associated income is maximized. In the current paper, a non-cooperative quality game framework has been introduced in which by exploiting a related quality metric, scalable video users try to optimize their perceived quality in a distributed manner. The existence of a Nash Equilibrium (NE) has been proved and the stability of the distributed resource allocation strategy has been investigated. In the proposed resource assignment game, the utility functions of all competing scalable video sources converge to some optimal value which is dictated by the resulting Nash equilibrium in the allocated rates. In this optimal point, no player (video source) can enhance its utility unilaterally without compromising other players' utility. The assigned rates in the game can be considered as rate-feedbacks for on-line rate adaptation of a moderate scalable video encoder such as H.264/MPEG4 AVC. Some numerical analysis have been presented to validate the theoretical results and to verify the claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reasons for the He supply crisis developed in the global market toward the year 2009 are discussed. The isotope demand structure is provided. Possible measures to overcome the crisis are reviewed. Primary attention is focused on development of new technologies, particularly pertaining to neutron detection methods and alternative MRT He contrasting agents. Advantages and disadvantages are discussed briefly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical models are often applied to population genetic data sets without fully considering the effect of missing data. Researchers can deal with missing data by removing individuals that have failed to yield genotypes and/or by removing loci that have failed to yield allelic determinations, but despite their best efforts, most data sets still contain some missing data. As a consequence, realized sample size differs among loci, and this poses a problem for unbiased methods that must explicitly account for random sampling error. One commonly used solution for the calculation of contemporary effective population size ( Ne) is to calculate the effective sample size as an unweighted mean or harmonic mean across loci. This is not ideal because it fails to account for the fact that loci with different numbers of alleles have different information content. Here we consider this problem for genetic estimators of contemporary effective population size ( Ne). To evaluate bias and precision of several statistical approaches for dealing with missing data, we simulated populations with known Ne and various degrees of missing data. Across all scenarios, one method of correcting for missing data (fixed-inverse variance-weighted harmonic mean) consistently performed the best for both single-sample and two-sample (temporal) methods of estimating Ne and outperformed some methods currently in widespread use. The approach adopted here may be a starting point to adjust other population genetics methods that include per-locus sample size components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical models are often applied to population genetic data sets without fully considering the effect of missing data. Researchers can deal with missing data by removing individuals that have failed to yield genotypes and/or by removing loci that have failed to yield allelic determinations, but despite their best efforts, most data sets still contain some missing data. As a consequence, realized sample size differs among loci, and this poses a problem for unbiased methods that must explicitly account for random sampling error. One commonly used solution for the calculation of contemporary effective population size ( Ne) is to calculate the effective sample size as an unweighted mean or harmonic mean across loci. This is not ideal because it fails to account for the fact that loci with different numbers of alleles have different information content. Here we consider this problem for genetic estimators of contemporary effective population size ( Ne). To evaluate bias and precision of several statistical approaches for dealing with missing data, we simulated populations with known Ne and various degrees of missing data. Across all scenarios, one method of correcting for missing data (fixed-inverse variance-weighted harmonic mean) consistently performed the best for both single-sample and two-sample (temporal) methods of estimating Ne and outperformed some methods currently in widespread use. The approach adopted here may be a starting point to adjust other population genetics methods that include per-locus sample size components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimates of effective population size are critical for species of conservation concern. Genetic datasets can be used to provide robust estimates of this important parameter. However, the methods used to obtain these estimates assume that generations are discrete. We used simulated data to assess the influences of overlapping generations on the estimates of effective size provided by the linkage disequilibrium (LD) method. Our simulations focus on two factors: the degree of reproductive skew exhibited by the focal species and the generation time, without considering sample size or the level of polymorphism at marker loci. In situations where a majority of reproduction is achieved by a small fraction of the population, the effective number of breeders can be much smaller than the per-generation effective population size. The LD in samples of newborns can provide estimates of the former size, while our results indicate that the latter size is best estimated using random samples of reproductively mature adults. Using samples of adults, the downwards bias was less than approximately 15% across our simulated life histories. As noted in previous assessments, precision of the estimate depends on the magnitude of effective size itself, with greater precision achieved for small populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We isolated and characterised ten microsatellite loci from the reef manta ray, Manta alfredi. Loci were screened for 60 individuals from Japan. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 10 and observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.033 to 0.867. Cross-species amplification was successful in the sister species M. birostris (9/10 loci) and other mobulids, Mobula japanica (7/10), M. thurstoni (8/10) and M. tarapacana (5/10). These loci provide new tools for assessing population genetic structuring and genetic monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Describing the landscape variables that accurately reflect how environmental and topographic variations affect population connectivity and demography is a major goal of landscape genetics and conservation biology. However, few landscape genetics studies have quantified the relationships between landscape variables and effective population size ( Ne), although Ne is a key conservation and population genetics parameter. In this study, I estimated genetic structure and effective population sizes in the Yosemite toad ( Bufo canorus) and tested for associations with environmental and geographic variables. Location Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Methods I estimated FST, Dps and Ne using 10 microsatellite loci amplified from 781 individuals from 24 populations. I used three landscape variables (environmental variation, topography and slope) to generate geographic distance models and a series of regression analyses to identify the variables that contributed to genetic structure in this species. I also tested for correlations between Ne and a suite of variables, including geographic and genetic isolation, habitat suitability, elevation, temperature and precipitation. Results I found substantial variation in genetic distances between populations ( FST = 0.004-0.396, Dps = 0.045-0.839) and in effective population sizes ( Ne = 9-52). Environmental variation and slope played important roles in explaining variation in genetic distances, and precipitation variables were significantly correlated with Ne. Main conclusions These results show that environmental and topographic variables are both important for understanding population connectivity in B. canorus and provide some of the first evidence, in any species, for a link between environmental variables and effective population size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas socialization influences in early childhood have been linked to children's emerging internalizing problems and prosocial behavior, relatively few studies have examined how NE might moderate such associations in both advantageous and maladaptive ways. Furthermore, more research is needed to evaluate the impact of sibling relationships as an influential socialization influence on these child outcomes. In the current study we examined how NE might differentially moderate the associations between quality of relationships with siblings and both internalizing problems and social skills at school entry. NE moderated the effects of positive and destructive sibling relationship quality on child internalizing problems. Specifically, for boys high on NE, more positive sibling relationship quality predicted fewer internalizing problems, but more destructive sibling conflict predicted more internalizing problems. NE also moderated the effects of destructive sibling conflict on child social skills. For boys high on NE, destructive sibling conflict predicted fewer social skills. Boys high on NE appear to show greater susceptibility to the effects of sibling socialization on child outcomes, relative to boys low on NE. The implications of these interactions are discussed with respect to differential susceptibility theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe, hantaviruses (Bunyaviridae) are small mammal-associated zoonotic and emerging pathogens that can cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). Puumala virus, the main etiological agent carried by the bank vole Myodes glareolus is responsible for a mild form of HFRS while Dobrava virus induces less frequent but more severe cases of HFRS. Since 2000 in Europe, more than 3000 cases of HFRS have been recorded, in average, each year, which is nearly double compared to the previous decade. In addition to this upside long-term trend, significant oscillations occur. Epidemic years appear, usually every 2-4 years, with an increased incidence, generally in localized hot spots. Moreover, the virus has been identified in new areas in the recent years. A great number of surveys have been carried out in order to assess the prevalence of the infection in the reservoir host and to identify links with different biotic and abiotic factors. The factors that drive the infections are related to the density and diversity of bank vole populations, prevalence of infection in the reservoir host, viral excretion in the environment, survival of the virus outside its host, and human behavior, which affect the main transmission virus route through inhalation of infected rodent excreta. At the scale of a rodent population, the prevalence of the infection increases with the age of the individuals but also other parameters, such as sex and genetic variability, interfere. The contamination of the environment may be correlated to the number of newly infected rodents, which heavily excrete the virus. The interactions between these different parameters add to the complexity of the situation and explain the absence of reliable tools to predict epidemics. In this review, the factors that drive the epidemics of hantaviruses in Middle Europe are discussed through a panorama of the epidemiological situation in Belgium, France, and Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In the present study, we investigated the performance of adult and juvenile rats in the Object Recognition Task (ORT). While it is well known that the performance of rat in ORT differs with age, the reason for the difference as well as the underlying neurotransmitter that may have led to these differences were investigated. In the present study, juvenile rats of postnatal day 40–45 (PND 40–45) and adult rats of postnatal day 60+ (PND 60+) were subjected to a two trial ORT. The juvenile rats did not discriminate between the novel object and the familiar object, while the adult rats discriminated the novel from the familiar object. On estimating brain concentrations of norepinephrine (NE), it was observed that the NE level in MTL (medial temporal lobe) of adult experimental rats was significantly higher than the adult non-experimental rats. In juvenile rats, no significant difference was observed in the NE levels of experimental rats in comparison to its non-experimental counterparts. Administration of yohimbine (α2A adrenergic receptor antagonist) enhanced the level of NE in juvenile rats and reversed the difference seen with age. From the present study, we conclude that the deficit in memory seen is likely due to the difference in NE levels with task and this can be reversed by yohimbine which enhance NE levels. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Cognitive control functions decline with increasing age. The present study examines if different types of group-based and trainer-guided training effectively enhance performance of older adults in a task switching task, and how this expected enhancement is reflected in changes of cognitive functions, as measured in electrophysiological brain activity (event-related potentials). One hundred forty-one healthy participants aged 65 years and older were randomly assigned to one of four groups: physical training (combined aerobic and strength training), cognitive training (paper-pencil and computer-aided), relaxation and wellness (social control group), and a control group that did not receive any intervention. Training sessions took place twice a week for 90 min for a period of 4 months. The results showed a greater improvement of performance for attendants of the cognitive training group compared to the other groups. This improvement was evident in a reduction of mixing costs in accuracy and intraindividual variability of speed, indexing improved maintenance of multiple task sets in working memory, and an enhanced coherence of neuronal processing. These findings were supported by event-related brain potentials which showed higher amplitudes in a number of potentials associated with response selection (N2), allocation of cognitive resources (P3b), and error detection (Ne). Taken together, our findings suggest neurocognitive plasticity of aging brains which can be stimulated by broad and multilayered cognitive training and assessed in detail by electrophysiological methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Error-Related Negativity (Ne or ERN) is a reliable electrophysiological index of error processing, which has been found to be independent of whether a subject is aware of an error or not. A large Ne was equally seen after errors that were consciously detected (Aware errors) and those that were not (Unaware errors), compared to a small negativity for correct responses (CRN). This suggests a dissociation between an automatic, preconscious error processing mechanism and subjective evaluation. A common concern regarding this finding is that subjects could have been somewhat aware of their errors, but did not report them due to lack of confidence. Here we tested this possibility directly using a betting paradigm which allowed us to separate occasions in which the subjects were confident of their response and trials in which they were unsure. In a choice reaction time task, subjects directly judged the accuracy of each response (correct or error) and then bet on this judgment using a high, medium, or low amount of money. The bets were used to determine the level of confidence the subjects had of their response. The average across all subjects regardless of confidence (betting) measure replicated the reported finding of an equal Ne for Aware and Unaware errors which was larger than the CRN. However, when Ne measurement was confined to high confidence (high bet) trials in confident subjects, a prominent Ne was seen only for Aware errors, while confident Unaware errors (i.e., error trials on which subjects made high bets that they were correct) elicited a response that did not differ from the CRN elicited by truly correct answers. In contrast, for low confidence trials in unconfident subjects, an intermediate and equal Ne/CRN was elicited by CRN, Aware and Unaware errors. These results provide direct evidence that the Ne is related to error awareness, and suggest the amplitude of the Ne/CRN depends on individual differences in error reporting and confidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the question whether NE can be separated from the reduction closures of tally sets, sparse sets and NP. We show that (1) $\mathrm{NE}\not\subseteq R^{\mathrm{NP}}_{n^{o(1)}-T}(\mathrm{TALLY})$; (2) $\mathrm{NE}\not\subseteq R^{SN}_{m}(\mathrm{SPARSE})$; (3) $\mathrm{NEXP}\not\subseteq \mathrm{P}^{\mathrm{NP}}_{n^{k}-T}/n^{k}$ for all k≥1; and (4) $\mathrm{NE}\not\subseteq \mathrm{P}_{btt}(\mathrm{NP}\oplus\mathrm{SPARSE})$. Result (3) extends a previous result by Mocas to nonuniform reductions. We also investigate how different an NE-hard set is from an NP-set. We show that for any NP subset A of a many-one-hard set H for NE, there exists another NP subset A′ of H such that A′ ⊇ A and A′− A is not of sub-exponential density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ), the triple point of neon was measured using an NMIJ sealed cell, NMIJ Ne-5, and a modular sealed-cell model, Ec2Ne, made by the Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRiM) in Italy, and the results were compared. The melting curves obtained with the NMIJ Ne-5 cell show narrow widths (0.1 mK) over a wide range of the inverse of the melted fraction (1/ F) from 1/ F = 1 to 1/ F = 10, which is consistent with a previous report. On the other hand, the width of the melting curves obtained with the Ec2Ne cell is 0.15 mK from 1/ F = 1 to 1/ F = 10. The liquidus point T estimated by the melting curves from F ~ 0.35 to F ~ 0.85 using the NMIJ cell is 0.05 mK higher than that using the Ec2Ne cell. The difference does not agree with the results obtained in an assay of the isotopic concentration from samples of the original Ne sources. The origin of the discrepancy has not been clarified yet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The temperature dependence of the Cs clock transition frequency in a vapor cell filled with Ne buffer gas has been measured. The experimental setup is based on the coherent population trapping technique and a temporal Ramsey interrogation allowing a high resolution. A quadratic dependence of the frequency shift is shown. The temperature of the shift cancellation is evaluated. The actual Ne pressure in the cell is determined from the frequency shift of the 895-nm optical transition. We can then determine the Cs–Ne collisional temperature coefficients of the clock frequency. These results can be useful for vapor cell clocks and, particularly, for future microclocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While currently in a state of recovery in the United Kingdom (UK), the grayling ( Thymallus thymallus) remains of conservation interest due to its historical decline, socio-economic value and the potential impact of hatchery-reared stock fish on the genetic structure and diversity of wild populations. However, little is known about the levels and distribution of genetic diversity among UK grayling populations. To this end, 27 UK populations of grayling were genotyped across 10 microsatellite loci and sequenced at the mtDNA D-Loop. All populations clustered into four higher-level groups: Northern England, Southern England, Wales, and group consisting of a mixture of native and introduced populations. Ten populations showed evidence of bottleneck or founder effects, and the effective population size (Ne) was low in all populations. In most cases, historical stocking records agreed with the genetic relationships revealed in the study. A D-Loop haplotype network supported the groupings observed in the nuclear data, while phylogenetic inference places the UK populations amongst Central European samples. The combined datasets demonstrate that many of the UK populations can be treated as separate Management Units and we recommend that to preserve population specific genetic diversity, that stocking should be an intervention of last resort. However, if stocking is deemed essential, brood stock should originate from the river to be stocked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report is on analysis on GSM fault management unit in operation and support system (Operation and maintenance centre) or OMC of GSM system. To obtain a reliable Telecommunication system which is free of various degree of faults. The integrated faults management unit that was design is a sub-section of the OMC known as operation and maintenance centre, the integrated faults management unit was design with various software such as Netcool Omnibus, AVAPM, Java script for managing of event collection and alarm correlation management. An alarms system was used to notify the operator of various degree of faults with their locations. Form the analysis carried out the unexpected tributary bit rate faults has the highest occurrence, 88.418 in a year. Follow by resource isolation, September and May transition failure 65.354 in a year. The highest number of faults occurrence, base on change of weather condition, from dry season to rain season in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in the triple points of neon isotopes has recently arisen as a result of the multi-institute project to understand how variations in the isotopic composition of natural neon influence the triple-point temperature of a particular sample. Given the challenges in determining with sufficiently low uncertainty both the relative isotopic concentrations, particularly of Ne relative to Ne, and the temperature differences among cells filled from different gas sources in order to determine the sensitivity coefficient with adequate confidence, modeling of the isotopic influence becomes an attractive alternative for correcting the triple points of 'natural' neon samples to a common composition. The modeling requires, among other things, knowledge of the triple-point temperatures of Ne and Ne. The triple points of these pure neon isotopes have utility in their own right as secondary reference temperatures on the ITS-90, and one or both of these could replace 'natural' neon in a revised International Temperature Scale or approximation to the ITS. The neon isotope triple-point temperatures (on the IPTS-68) reported by Furukawa, Kemp, and Sakurai in various publications from 1972 to 1986 predate the ITS-90, and so there is utility in contemporary measurements (on the ITS-90) with gas samples of recent production. At NRC, we find the triple point of Ne to be at 24.54230 K (13.80 mK below the triple point of 'natural' neon) and that of Ne to be at 24.68889 K (132.79 mK above the triple point of 'natural' neon), assuming the reference sample of 'natural' neon realizes the ideal ITS-90 temperature of 24.5561 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In a cross-sectional, electrophysiological study 91 workers of a big car factory performed a series of switch tasks to assess their cognitive control functions. Four groups of workers participated in the study: 23 young and 23 middle aged assembly line employees and 22 young and 23 middle aged employees with flexible job demands like service and maintenance. Participants performed three digit categorisation tasks. In addition to single task blocks, a cue-based (externally guided) and a memory-based (internally guided) task switch block was administered. Compared to young participants, older ones showed the typical RT-decline. No differences between younger and older participants regarding the local switch costs could be detected despite the source of the current task information. In contrast, whereas the groups did not differ in mixing costs in the cued condition, clear performance decrements in the memory-based mixing block were observed in the group of older employees with repetitive work demands. These findings were corroborated by a number of electrophysiological results showing a reduced CNV suggesting an impairment of task specific preparation, an attenuated P3b suggesting reduced working memory capacity and a decreased Ne suggesting deficits in error monitoring in older participants with repetitive job demands. The results are compatible with the assumption that long lasting, unchallenging job demands may induce several neurocognitive impairments which are already evident in the early fifties. Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm this assumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study, anti-convulsant effect of Sidr leaf extract was examined by using pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) model on male albino rat by evaluating the changes in norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) contents in different brain regions (cerebellum, brainstem, striatum, cerebral cortex, hypothalamus and hippocampus). The administration of subconvulsive dose of PTZ (40mg/kg i.p.) every other day for 9days caused a significant decrease in monoamine content in different brain areas, this is may be due to the increase in nitric oxide levels, although antagonized the GABAA receptors which led to neurotransmitter release so the content is decreased. Administration of PTZ after treatment with Sidr (50mg/kg i.p.) leaf extract for 3weeks as a protective group and administration of Sidr leaf extract for 3weeks after treatment of PTZ as a therapeutic group caused significant increase in NE, DA, and 5-HT contents in all tested brain regions at most of the time intervals studied. This may be due to the presence of peptide and cyclopeptide alkaloids in the extract which inhibit neurotransmitter activity which led to the inhibition of neurotransmitter release. From these results, we can say that the Sidr leaf extract has neuroprotective and therapeutic roles against pentylenetetrazol convulsant effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genome sizes vary widely among species, but comprehensive explanations for the emergence of this variation have not been validated. Lynch and Conery (2003) hypothesized that genome expansion is maladaptive, and that lineages with small effective population size ( Ne) evolve larger genomes than those with large Ne as a consequence of the lowered efficacy of natural selection in small populations. In addition, mating systems likely affect genome size evolution via effects on both Ne and the spread of transposable elements (TEs). We present a comparative analysis of the effects of Ne and mating system on genome size evolution in seed plants. The dataset includes 205 species with monoploid genome size estimates (corrected for recent polyploidy) ranging from 2Cx = 0.3 to 65.9 pg. The raw data exhibited a strong positive relationship between outcrossing and genome size, a negative relationship between Ne and genome size, but no detectable Ne× outcrossing interaction. In contrast, phylogenetically independent contrast analyses found only a weak relationship between outcrossing and genome size and no relationship between Ne and genome size. Thus, seed plants do not support the Lynch and Conery mechanism of genome size evolution. Further work is needed to disentangle contrasting effects of mating systems on the efficacy of selection and TE transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Ascophyllum nodosum (L.) Le Jolis is a dominant fucoid seaweed occurring along sheltered, rocky shores throughout the North Atlantic (but not in the Pacific), where it is a foundational species of the intertidal community. Its large size and vulnerability to ice-scour have led to the hypothesis that contemporary populations in the north-west Atlantic may be the result of de novo recolonization from the north-east Atlantic since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ( c. 20 ka). We tested this hypothesis. Location Temperate North Atlantic rocky intertidal between c. 42 and 65° N latitude. Methods More than 1300 individuals from 28 populations were sampled from across the entire range of A. nodosum and genotyped for six microsatellite loci, and > 500 individuals were genotyped for two mitochondrial loci, an intergenic spacer (IGS) and the tRNA (W) gene ( trnW). Population structure and historical demography were analysed in a standard population genetics and coalescence framework. Results Based on the presence of private alleles and haplotypes, we found that A. nodosum has survived on both sides of the Atlantic (since before the LGM, dating back to at least the penultimate Eemian interglacial) with similar effective population sizes and divergence times (1.2 and 0.8 Ma). Dispersal has been predominantly from Europe to North America, and there is very weak present-day population differentiation across the North Atlantic. Diversity measures provided additional support for determining the location of refugia. Main conclusions Ascophyllum nodosum was apparently little affected by the LGM, although contemporary climate change is likely to have major effects on its latitudinal distribution on both sides of the North Atlantic. It is a very long-lived species, analogous in virtually all demographic aspects to a tree – resistant to extinction but vulnerable to catastrophic events. The Brittany peninsula is a hotspot of genetic diversity worthy of conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study compared children with ADHD, reading disorder (RD), ADHD+RD, and control children on behavioural (post-error slowing and post-error accuracy) and event-related potential (Ne and Pe) measures of error monitoring. Children with ADHD did not differ from children without ADHD in post-error slowing but showed less post-error accuracy enhancement, as evidenced by a higher proportion of double-errors. We found a smaller Ne but normal Pe amplitude in children with RD, and a smaller Pe but normal Ne amplitude in children with ADHD. Children from the comorbid group showed both a smaller Ne and a smaller Pe amplitude, which suggests that they showed the additive combination of the deficits found in both separate disorders. The results of the present study suggest that it might be important to control for the presence of comorbid RD when examining error monitoring in ADHD and that various measures of post-error adaptation should be included. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Various sources of Ne and Ne exist in surface rocks: cosmogenic, in situ nucleogenic from internal U and Th, trapped crustal nucleogenic and trapped atmospheric. This paper reports the first measurement, in China, of cosmogenic Ne and Ne in surface bedrocks. We developed a unique sample pre-treatment procedure that effectively removed inclusions inside quartz grains, and thus maximally reduced nucleogenic contributions of Ne and Ne. Step-heating experiments show that concentrations of cosmogenic Ne and Ne in summit bedrock samples R9202 and R9203 from Grove Mountains, Antarctica, are (3.83±0.87)×10 and (5.2280.51)×10 atoms/g, respectively. The corresponding minimum exposure ages are 2.2±0.5 and 3.0±0.3 Ma. This indicates that the ice sheet in East Antarctica was uncovered the crest of Mount Harding, a typical nunatak in Grove Mountains, since at least mid-Pliocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effective population size ( N e) is a critical evolutionary and conservation parameter that can indicate the adaptive potential of populations. Robust estimates of N e of endangered taxa have been previously hampered by estimators that are sensitive to sample size. We estimated N e on two remaining populations of the endangered Miami blue butterfly, a formerly widespread taxon in Florida. Our goal was to determine the consistency of various temporal and point estimators on inferring N e and to determine the utility of this information for understanding the role of genetic stochasticity. We found that recently developed ‘unbiased estimators’ generally performed better than some older methods in that the former had more realistic N e estimates and were more consistent with what is known about adult population size. Overall, N e/ N ratios based on census point counts were high. We suggest that this pattern may reflect genetic compensation caused by reduced reproductive variance due to breeding population size not being limited by resources. Assuming N e and N are not heavily biased, it appears that the lack of gene flow between distant populations may be a greater genetic threat in the short term than the loss of heterozygosity due to inbreeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: People are usually faster before and slower after committing an error. This finding has traditionally been explained by strategic changes of response criteria to less or more conservative thresholds. This idea has been implemented in current cognitive control frameworks, where it is proposed that high or low levels of processing conflict can dynamically change these response thresholds to achieve optimal performance. However, recent evidence suggests that evaluation of conflict is time consuming and can potentially interfere with subsequent processing [Jentzsch, I., Dudschig, C., 2009. Why do we slow down after an error? Mechanisms underlying the effects of posterror slowing. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62, 209-218]. The present study aims to extend this finding by investigating whether similar mechanisms underlie effects of pre-error speeding and posterror slowing and whether the amplitude of the Ne/ERN predicts posterror slowing in the current task setting. The response stimulus interval (RSI) was systematically manipulated. Speed-up in pre-error trials was unaffected by RSI, suggesting that this effect is not the result of strategic, time-consuming control processes. Posterror slowing dramatically increased and performance became more error prone with decreasing RSI, providing further evidence for the idea that error evaluation can produce substantial interference with subsequent trial processing, particularly when there is insufficient time between the error and the subsequent event. Importantly, we did not find a positive relationship between the RSI-dependent change in posterror slowing and the Ne/ERN amplitude, questioning a direct link between the amplitude of this component and the amount of subsequent performance adjustments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A novel series of monoamine reuptake inhibitors, the 1-amino-3-(1H-indol-1-yl)-3-phenylpropan-2-ols, have been discovered by combining virtual and focused screening efforts with design techniques. Synthesis of the two diastereomeric isomers of the molecule followed by chiral resolution of each enantiomer revealed the (2R,3S)-isomer to be a potent norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (IC50 =28nM) with excellent selectivity over the dopamine transporter and 13-fold selectivity over the serotonin transporter. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• SNP markers were used to study genetic diversity of domestic and wild Iranian sheep and goats. • Inbreeding coefficients (FGRM, FHOM and FROH), linkage disequilibrium (LD), and effective population size (Ne) were used. • Wild species had lower genetic diversity than domestic species. • Lower genetic diversity for wild sheep and goat species was due to decrease in Ne in recent generations. • Wild sheep population is in a more critical conditions from genetic diversity point of view. In present study, genetic diversity of domestic and wild Iranian sheep and goats were evaluated using inbreeding coefficients (F GRM , F HOM and F ROH), linkage disequilibrium (LD), and effective population size (Ne). Genomic data of Iranian sheep and goat species were obtained from the NEXTGEN project. Animals consisted of 20 domestic sheep (Ovis aries), 14 wild sheep (Ovis orientalis), 20 domestic goats (Capra hircus) and 18 wild goats (Capra aegagrus). Mutations equivalent to the IlluminaSNPchip50 K were extracted to study mutations for each animal. Based on F GRM , F HOM and F ROH , higher rates of inbreeding were observed in wild species than domestic species. Wild sheep had the highest rate of inbreeding among studied populations. Our results showed a decreasing in LD with increasing in distance between pairs of SNPs so that the average LD in short distance was in the range of 0.11−0.12, and in long distance was in the range of 0.091−0.093. The analysis of LD also demonstrated higher genetic diversity in domestic sheep and goat than wild species and wild sheep had the lowest genetic diversity among studied populations. The results indicated that Ne in 13 generations ago was higher in domestic species compared to wild species. In general, present results revealed that wild species had lower genetic diversity compared to the domestic species in Iran. Meanwhile, wild sheep population is in critical conditions from genetic diversity point of view and required more attention. Designing appropriate breeding programs to improve genetic diversity in wild species, especially in wild sheep in Iran is necessary to protect them from extinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Introduction: Action monitoring has been reported to be disturbed in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Well-known markers for this action monitoring process are the error negativity/error-related negativity (Ne/ERN) and error positivity (Pe), both event-related potentials (ERP) generated in the anterior cingulate cortex. This study aims to explore the impact of symptom severity reduction on the Ne/ERN and Pe in MDD. Methods: Behavioural and ERP measurements were obtained in 15 MDD patients during performance on a speeded flankers task during the early stages of a depressive episode and compared with those recorded after 7 weeks of treatment. The same schedule was used in 15 healthy controls. Results: Whereas overall Ne/ERN and Pe peak amplitudes did not improve from sessions 1 to 2 in the patients, positive correlations emerged between between-session changes in symptom severity and Ne/ERN amplitudes. No such correlations were observed for the Pe. ERP amplitudes in the controls also remained unchanged between both sessions. Significant group differences were observed between MDD patients and controls for the Pe, but not for the Ne/ERN. Conclusions: Whereas a clear association was observed between the level of symptom reduction and the level of improvement in Ne/ERN amplitudes in a MDD sample, no overall Ne/ERN enhancements were observed during symptom remission. Subsequent research is needed to further investigate the possible impact of depressive symptom reduction on the action monitoring in MDD. Several factors that might explain the absence of Ne/ERN group differences between patients and healthy controls in the current sample will also be discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: One-electron transfer processes resulting from Ne+ and Ne2+collisions with Ne rare-gas atoms have been studied using the time-of-flight technique for energy range of 0.6–2keV. The dependence of the total single-electron capture cross-sections on the incident laboratory energy has been reported. The present measurements and earlier high-energy data are compared. Extrapolation of the present low-energy data to the high-energy regime exhibits good agreement. The Ne2+–Ne data were compared with the theoretical calculations. The data agree qualitatively with the theory. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]