HybPhaser: A workflow for the detection and phasing of hybrids in target capture data sets.

Premise: Hybrids contain divergent alleles that can confound phylogenetic analyses but can provide insights into reticulated evolution when identified and phased. We developed a workflow to detect hybrids in target capture data sets and phase reads into parental lineages using a similarity and phylogenetic framework.

Methods: We used Angiosperms353 target capture data for , including known hybrids to test the novel workflow.

Model for Mitigation of Workplace Transmission of COVID-19 Through Population-Based Testing and Surveillance.

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is having a widespread impact on societies across the globe. As part of the effort to control transmission in the United States, many businesses either closed or instituted nonpharmaceutical control measures and allowed only essential workers on-site. During summer and fall of 2020, employers began formulating "return to work" strategies designed to mitigate the risk of transmission among employees.

Potential effects of climate change on members of the Palaeotropical pitcher plant family Nepenthaceae.

Anthropogenic climate change is predicted to have profound effects on species distributions over the coming decades. In this paper, we used maximum entropy modelling (Maxent) to estimate the effects of projected changes in climate on extent of climatically-suitable habitat for two Nepenthes pitcher plant species in Borneo. The model results predicted an increase in area of climatically-suitable habitat for the lowland species Nepenthes rafflesiana by 2100; in contrast, the highland species Nepenthes tentaculata was predicted to undergo significant loss of climatically-suitable habitat over the same period.

Characterization of Shiga Toxigenic Escherichia coli O157 and Non-O157 Isolates from Ruminant Feces in Malaysia.

Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) O157 and several other serogroups of non-O157 STEC are causative agents of severe disease in humans world-wide. The present study was conducted to characterize STEC O157 and non-O157 serogroups O26, O103, O111, O121, O45, and O145 in ruminants in Malaysia. A total of 136 ruminant feces samples were collected from 6 different farms in Peninsular Malaysia.

Nepenthes ampullaria (Nepenthaceae) Pitchers Are Unattractive to Gravid Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae).

Nepenthes pitcher plants are colonized by a variety of specialized arthropods. As Aedes mosquitoes are container breeders, Nepenthes pitchers are a potential candidate oviposition site for vector species, such as Aedes aegypti (L.) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse).

Genetic diversity of Streptococcus pneumoniae causing meningitis and sepsis in Singapore during the first year of PCV7 implementation.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of sepsis, meningitis and respiratory disease worldwide. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) have now been implemented in many countries worldwide, including Singapore. To evaluate the effectiveness of these vaccines, pneumococcal surveillance studies are required.

Bacterial communities associated with the pitcher fluids of three Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae) pitcher plant species growing in the wild.

Nepenthes pitcher plants produce modified jug-shaped leaves to attract, trap and digest insect prey. We used 16S rDNA cloning and sequencing to compare bacterial communities in pitcher fluids of each of three species, namely Nepenthes ampullaria, Nepenthes gracilis and Nepenthes mirabilis, growing in the wild. In contrast to previous greenhouse-based studies, we found that both opened and unopened pitchers harbored bacterial DNA.

Interspecific variation in prey capture behavior by co-occurring Nepenthes pitcher plants: evidence for resource partitioning or sampling-scheme artifacts?

Pitcher plants of the genus Nepenthes capture a wide range of arthropod prey for nutritional benefit, using complex combinations of visual and olfactory signals and gravity-driven pitfall trapping mechanisms. In many localities throughout Southeast Asia, several Nepenthes different species occur in mixed populations. Often, the species present at any given location have strongly divergent trap structures and preliminary surveys indicate that different species trap different combinations of arthropod prey, even when growing at the same locality.

Treatment and biotransformation of highly polluted agro-industrial wastewater from a palm oil mill into vermicompost using earthworms.

In this laboratory-scale study, earthworms were introduced as biodegraders of palm oil mill effluent (POME), which is a wastewater produced from the wet process of palm oil milling. POME was absorbed into amendments (soil or rice straw) in different ratios as feedstocks for the earthworm, Eudrilus eugeniae. The presence of earthworms led to significant increases in pH, electrical conductivity, and nutrient content but decreases in the C/N ratio (0.

Capture mechanism in Palaeotropical pitcher plants (Nepenthaceae) is constrained by climate.

Background And Aims: Nepenthes (Nepenthaceae, approx. 120 species) are carnivorous pitcher plants with a centre of diversity comprising the Philippines, Borneo, Sumatra and Sulawesi. Nepenthes pitchers use three main mechanisms for capturing prey: epicuticular waxes inside the pitcher; a wettable peristome (a collar-shaped structure around the opening); and viscoelastic fluid.

Tuning of color contrast signals to visual sensitivity maxima of tree shrews by three Bornean highland Nepenthes species.

Three species of Nepenthes pitcher plants (Nepenthes rajah, Nepenthes lowii and Nepenthes macrophylla) specialize in harvesting nutrients from tree shrew excreta in their pitchers. In all three species, nectaries on the underside of the pitcher lid are the focus of the tree shrews' attention. Tree shrews are dichromats, with visual sensitivity in the blue and green wavebands.

Endeavour, altitude and risk: reflections on a lifetime of mountaineering and exploration.

In July 2012 thousands of competitors from many nations arrive for the London Olympics, each striving to be a champion. Oh, the drive, resolve, heartache and pain. Our capital will be taken over, the press will both celebrate and criticize events; sponsorship deals will soon dominate the results.

The use of light in prey capture by the tropical pitcher plant Nepenthes aristolochioides.

Nepenthes pitcher plants deploy tube-shaped pitchers to catch invertebrate prey; those of Nepenthes aristolochioides possess an unusual translucent dome. The hypothesis was tested that N. aristolochioides pitchers operate as light traps, by quantifying prey capture under three shade treatments.

A unique resource mutualism between the giant Bornean pitcher plant, Nepenthes rajah, and members of a small mammal community.

The carnivorous pitcher plant genus Nepenthes grows in nutrient-deficient substrates and produce jug-shaped leaf organs (pitchers) that trap arthropods as a source of N and P. A number of Bornean Nepenthes demonstrate novel nutrient acquisition strategies. Notably, three giant montane species are engaged in a mutualistic association with the mountain treeshrew, Tupaia montana, in which the treeshrew defecates into the pitchers while visiting them to feed on nectar secretions on the pitchers' lids.

Rhythmic delta activity represents a form of nonconvulsive status epilepticus in anti-NMDA receptor antibody encephalitis.

Anti-NMDA receptor antibody encephalitis is a limbic encephalitis with psychiatric manifestations, abnormal movements, coma, and seizures. The coma and abnormal movements are not typically attributed to seizure activity, and slow activity is the most common EEG finding. We report drug-resistant nonconvulsive status epilepticus as the basis for coma in a 19-year-old woman with anti-NMDA receptor antibodies and a mediastinal teratoma.

The carnivorous syndrome in Nepenthes pitcher plants: current state of knowledge and potential future directions.

Nepenthes is the largest genus of pitcher plants, with its centre of diversity in SE Asia. The plants grow in substrates that are deficient in N and offset this deficiency by trapping animal prey, primarily arthropods. Recent research has provided new insights into the function of the pitchers, particularly with regard to prey tapping and retention.

Tetracycline resistance-encoding plasmid from Bacillus sp. strain #24, isolated from the marine sponge Haliclona simulans.

Knowledge of the nature of resistance determinants in natural habitats is fundamental to increasing our understanding of the development of antibiotic resistance in clinical settings. Here we provide the first report of a tetracycline resistance-encoding plasmid, pBHS24, from a marine sponge-associated bacterium, Bacillus sp. strain #24, isolated from Haliclona simulans.

Mutualism between tree shrews and pitcher plants: perspectives and avenues for future research.

Three species of Nepenthes pitcher plants from Borneo engage in a mutualistic interaction with mountain tree shrews, the basis of which is the exchange of nutritional resources. The plants produce modified "toilet pitchers" that produce copious amounts of exudates, the latter serving as a food source for tree shrews. The exudates are only accessible to the tree shrews when they position their hindquarters over the pitcher orifice.

Trap geometry in three giant montane pitcher plant species from Borneo is a function of tree shrew body size.

*Three Bornean pitcher plant species, Nepenthes lowii, N. rajah and N. macrophylla, produce modified pitchers that 'capture' tree shrew faeces for nutritional benefit.

Tree shrew lavatories: a novel nitrogen sequestration strategy in a tropical pitcher plant.

Nepenthes pitcher plants are typically carnivorous, producing pitchers with varying combinations of epicuticular wax crystals, viscoelastic fluids and slippery peristomes to trap arthropod prey, especially ants. However, ant densities are low in tropical montane habitats, thereby limiting the potential benefits of the carnivorous syndrome. Nepenthes lowii, a montane species from Borneo, produces two types of pitchers that differ greatly in form and function.

A case of poststreptococcal opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome.

High antistreptococcal antibody titer (ASOT) was measured in a 31-year-old Caucasian lady presenting with opsoclonus and myoclonus. She was treated with oral steroids and 8 weeks after the onset of symptoms she had a normal ASOT and only mild residual symptoms. This is one of the first cases of opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome developing, following a streptococcal infection in adults.

Conspicuous involvement of desmin tail mutations in diverse cardiac and skeletal myopathies.

Myofibrillar myopathy (MFM) encompasses a genetically heterogeneous group of human diseases caused by mutations in genes coding for structural proteins of muscle. Mutations in the intermediate filament (IF) protein desmin (DES), a major cytoskeletal component of myocytes, lead to severe forms of "desminopathy," which affects cardiac, skeletal, and smooth muscle. Most mutations described reside in the central alpha-helical rod domain of desmin.

Management of malignant mesothelioma by decortication and adjunct phototherapy.

Malignant mesothelioma is a relatively rare tumor that originates in the pleural space and almost invariably results from exposure to asbestos. Between September 1989 and December 1999, 100 patients were managed with curative intent using a combination of full decortication, adjunct phototherapy after administration of hematoporphyrin derivative, and strip radiotherapy to any areas where adequate clearance was not obtained. The survival curve was compared to that of 17 matched patients treated by decortication alone.