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Present-day ecology and population structure are the legacies of past climate and habitat perturbations, and this is particularly true for species that are widely distributed at high latitudes. The red knot, Calidris canutus, is an arctic-breeding, long-distance migratory shorebird with six recognized subspecies defined by differences in morphology, migration behavior, and annual-cycle phenology, in a global distribution thought to have arisen just since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). We used nextRAD sequencing of 10,881 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to assess the neutral genetic structure and phylogeographic history of 172 red knots representing all known global breeding populations. Using population genetics approaches, including model-based scenario-testing in an approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) framework, we infer that red knots derive from two main lineages that diverged ca. 34,000 years ago, and thus persisted at the LGM in both Palearctic and Nearctic refugia, followed by at least two instances of secondary contact and admixture. In two flyways, we detected clear genetic structure between population pairs with similar migrations and substantial geographic overlap in the non-breeding season. Conversely, other populations were only weakly differentiated despite clearly divergent migratory phenotypes and little or no apparent contact throughout the annual cycle. In general, the magnitude of genetic differentiation did not match that of phenotypic differences among populations, suggesting that flyway-specific phenotypes developed quite rapidly and do not necessarily impose barriers to gene flow. Our results suggest that population structure and migratory phenotypes in red knots arose from a complex interplay among phylogeography, plasticity, and selective processes.

This work studies a functional correlation between different texture parameters and the adherence of NiP coating on a metal substrate. Multiple surfaces with different milling feed rate and coated with NiP went through a pull-off adhesion test. This study determined through texture analysis functional correlation between characterization of surface topographies and the strength measured during the test. In order to study if a multi-scale approach improve the correlation, a “conventional” method based on ISO 25178 procedure and a multi-scale method based on wavelet filtering are compared.

Aims The aims of the current study were to characterize the outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of Francisella noatunensis subsp. orientalis (Fno) STIR-GUS-F2f7, and identify proteins recognized by sera from tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, (L) that survived experimental challenge with Fno. Methods and results The composition of the OMPs of a virulent strain of Fno (STIR-GUS-F2f7), isolated from diseased red Nile tilapia in the United Kingdom, was examined. The sarcosine-insoluble OMPs fraction was screened with tilapia hyperimmune sera by western blot analysis following separation of the proteins by 1D SDS-PAGE. Liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) was used to identify the various proteins present in the OMP profile. Two hundred and thirty-nine proteins were identified, of which 44 were found in the immunogenic band recognized by the tilapia hyperimmune serum. In silico analysis was performed to predict the function and location of the OMPs identified by MS. Conclusions Using a powerful proteomic-based approach in conjugation with western immunoblotting, proteins comprising the outer membrane fraction of Fno STIR-GUS-F2f7 were identified, catalogued and screened for immune recognition by tilapia sera. Significance and impact of the study The current study is the first report on the characterization of Fno-OMPs. The findings here provide preliminary data on bacterial surface proteins that exist in direct contact with the host's immune defences during infection and offer an insight into the pathogenesis of Fno.

Plautus’ Roman comedy Menaechmi (The Two Menaechmuses) of c. 200 BC anticipates in fictional form the famous Rosenhan experiment of 1973, a landmark critique of psychiatric diagnosis. An analysis of the scenes of feigned madness and psychiatric examination suggests that the play (and the earlier Greek play from which it was adapted) offers two related ethical reflections, one on the validity of psychiatric diagnoses, the other on the validity of the entire medical model of insanity—that is, of the popular notion and political truth that mental illness is a (bodily) disease “like any other.” This essay is offered as a contribution to the interpretation of the play as well as to the history of psychiatry.