Selection and the direction of phenotypic evolution.

Predicting adaptive phenotypic evolution depends on invariable selection gradients and on the stability of the genetic covariances between the component traits of the multivariate phenotype. We describe the evolution of six traits of locomotion behavior and body size in the nematode for 50 generations of adaptation to a novel environment. We show that the direction of adaptive multivariate phenotypic evolution can be predicted from the ancestral selection differentials, particularly when the traits were measured in the new environment.

Single-cell scattering and auto-fluorescence-based fast antibiotic susceptibility testing for gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.

In this study, we assess the scattering of light and auto-fluorescence from single bacterial cells to address the challenge of fast (<2 h), label-free phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). Label-free flow cytometry is used for monitoring both the respiration-related auto-fluorescence in two different fluorescence channels corresponding to FAD and NADH, and the morphological and structural information contained in the light scattered by individual bacteria during incubation with or without antibiotic. Large multi-parameter data are analyzed using dimensionality reduction methods, based either on a combination of 2D binning and Principal Component Analysis, or with a one-class Support Vector Machine approach, with the objective to predict the Susceptible or Resistant phenotype of the strain.

Phenotypic stasis with genetic divergence.

Whether or not genetic divergence in the short-term of tens to hundreds of generations is compatible with phenotypic stasis remains a relatively unexplored problem. We evolved predominantly outcrossing, genetically diverse populations of the nematode under a constant and homogeneous environment for 240 generations and followed individual locomotion behavior. Although founders of lab populations show highly diverse locomotion behavior, during lab evolution, the component traits of locomotion behavior - defined as the transition rates in activity and direction - did not show divergence from the ancestral population.

Variation in mutational (co)variances.

Because of pleiotropy, mutations affect the expression and inheritance of multiple traits and, together with selection, are expected to shape standing genetic covariances between traits and eventual phenotypic divergence between populations. It is therefore important to find if the M matrix, describing mutational variances of each trait and covariances between traits, varies between genotypes. We here estimate the M matrix for six locomotion behavior traits in lines of two genotypes of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans that accumulated mutations in a nearly neutral manner for 250 generations.

Effectiveness of Multimodal Rehabilitation Interventions for Management of Cervical Radiculopathy in Adults: An Updated Systematic Review from the Ontario Protocol for Traffic Injury Management (Optima) Collaboration.

Objective: To update the systematic review from the Ontario Protocol for Traffic Injury Management (OPTIMa) Collaboration and to evaluate the effectiveness of multimodal rehabilitation interventions for the management of adults with cervical radiculopathy.

Study Design: Systematic review and best-evidence synthesis.

Methods: Eligible studies (from January 2013 to June 2020) were critically appraised using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network and Risk of Bias 2.