Observing character displacement from process to pattern in a novel vertebrate community.

Ecological character displacement, whereby shifts in resource use in the presence of competing species leads to adaptive evolutionary divergence, is widely considered an important process in community assembly and adaptive radiation. However, most evidence for character displacement has been inferred from macro-scale geographic or phylogenetic patterns; direct tests of the underlying hypothesis of divergent natural selection driving character displacement in the wild are rare. Here, we document character displacement between two ecologically similar lizards (Anolis sagrei and A.

Decoupled evolution of ventral and dorsal scales in agamid lizards: ventral keels are associated with arboreality.

Arboreality has evolved in all major vertebrate lineages and is often associated with morphological adaptations and increased diversification concomitant with accessing novel niche space. In squamate reptiles, foot, claw, and tail morphology are well-studied adaptations shown to be associated with transitions to arboreality. Here, we examined a less well understood trait-the keeled scale-in relation to microhabitat, climate, and diversification dynamics across a diverse lizard radiation, Agamidae.

Assembly of the largest squamate reference genome to date: The western fence lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis.

Spiny lizards (genus Sceloporus) have long served as important systems for studies of behavior, thermal physiology, dietary ecology, vector biology, speciation, and biogeography. The western fence lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis, is found across most of the major biogeographical regions in the western United States and northern Baja California, Mexico, inhabiting a wide range of habitats, from grassland to chaparral to open woodlands. As small ectotherms, Sceloporus lizards are particularly vulnerable to climate change, and S.

Hybridization and Transgressive Evolution Generate Diversity in an Adaptive Radiation of Anolis Lizards.

Interspecific hybridization may act as a major force contributing to the evolution of biodiversity. Although generally thought to reduce or constrain divergence between 2 species, hybridization can, paradoxically, promote divergence by increasing genetic variation or providing novel combinations of alleles that selection can act upon to move lineages toward new adaptive peaks. Hybridization may, then, play a key role in adaptive radiation by allowing lineages to diversify into new ecological space.

Parallel and non-parallel phenotypic responses to environmental variation across Lesser Antillean anoles.

Species whose ranges encompass substantial environmental variation should experience heterogeneous selection, potentially resulting in local adaptation. Repeated covariation between phenotype and environment across ecologically similar species inhabiting similar environments provides strong evidence for adaptation. Lesser Antillean anoles present an excellent system in which to study repeated local adaptation because most species are widespread generalists occurring throughout environmentally heterogenous island landscapes.

Female dewlap ornaments are evolutionarily labile and associated with increased diversification rates in lizards.

The evolution of costly signalling traits has largely focused on male ornaments. However, our understanding of ornament evolution is necessarily incomplete without investigating the causes and consequences of variation in female ornamentation. Here, we study the lizard dewlap, a trait extensively studied as a male secondary sexual characteristic but present in females of several species.

Varicella-Zoster as a Cause of Aseptic Meningitis in an Immunocompetent Young Patient With Skin Rash.

We present a case of aseptic meningitis due to Varicella-Zoster infection in an immunocompetent patient. Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV) causes chickenpox disease in children, teens, and young adults. Typically, it runs its course and stays dormant in nerve tissue, which can get reactivated in elderly, immunocompromised patients.

Genome-wide epigenetic isolation by environment in a widespread Anolis lizard.

Epigenetic changes can provide a pathway for organisms to respond to local environmental conditions by influencing gene expression. However, we still know little about the spatial distribution of epigenetic variation in natural systems, how it relates to the distribution of genetic variation and the environmental structure of the landscape, and the processes that generate and maintain it. Studies examining spatial patterns of genetic and epigenetic variation can provide valuable insights into how ecological and population processes contribute to epigenetic divergence across heterogeneous landscapes.

Close-kin mating, but not inbred parents, reduces hatching rates and offspring quality in a threatened tortoise.

Inbreeding depression, the reduction in fitness due to mating of related individuals, is of particular conservation concern in species with small, isolated populations. Although inbreeding depression is widespread in natural populations, long-lived species may be buffered from its effects during population declines due to long generation times and thus are less likely to have evolved mechanisms of inbreeding avoidance than species with shorter generation times. However, empirical evidence of the consequences of inbreeding in threatened, long-lived species is limited.

Phenotypic integration between claw and toepad traits promotes microhabitat specialization in the Anolis adaptive radiation.

The performance of an organism in its environment frequently depends more on its composite phenotype than on individual phenotypic traits. Thus, understanding environmental adaptation requires investigating patterns of covariation across functionally related traits. The replicated adaptive radiations of Greater Antillean Anolis lizards are characterized by ecological and morphological convergence, thus, providing an opportunity to examine the role of multiple phenotypes in microhabitat adaptation.

Sodium ion channel alkaloid resistance does not vary with toxicity in aposematic Dendrobates poison frogs: An examination of correlated trait evolution.

Spatial heterogeneity in the strength or agents of selection can lead to geographic variation in ecologically important phenotypes. Many dendrobatid frogs sequester alkaloid toxins from their diets and often exhibit fixed mutations at NaV1.4, a voltage-gated sodium ion channel associated with alkaloid toxin resistance.

Marital Status and Outcomes in Patients With Cardiovascular Disease.

Background: Being unmarried is associated with decreased survival in the general population. Whether married, divorced, separated, widowed, or never-married status affects outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease has not been well characterized.

Methods And Results: A prospective cohort (inception period 2003-2015) of 6051 patients (mean age 63 years, 64% male, 23% black) undergoing cardiac catheterization for suspected or confirmed coronary artery disease was followed for a median of 3.

Assessment of Commonly Used Frailty Markers for High- and Extreme-Risk Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Background: The effect of frailty on outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) remains incompletely understood. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of four commonly used frailty markers as predictors of early and late outcomes among patients undergoing TAVR.

Methods: A review was performed of 361 high- and extreme-risk patients undergoing TAVR from 2011 to 2015.

A novel clinical decision support algorithm for constructing complete medication histories.

A patient's complete medication history is a crucial element for physicians to develop a full understanding of the patient's medical conditions and treatment options. However, due to the fragmented nature of medical data, this process can be very time-consuming and often impossible for physicians to construct a complete medication history for complex patients. In this paper, we describe an accurate, computationally efficient and scalable algorithm to construct a medication history timeline.

Depression and chest pain in patients with coronary artery disease.

Background: Depression is common in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and is associated with more frequent chest pain. It is however unclear whether this is due to differences in underlying CAD severity. We sought to determine [1] whether depressive symptoms are associated with chest pain independently of CAD severity, [2] whether improvement in depressive symptoms over time is associated with improvement in chest pain and [3] whether the impact of revascularization on chest pain differs between patients with and without depression.

Common methods for fecal sample storage in field studies yield consistent signatures of individual identity in microbiome sequencing data.

Field studies of wild vertebrates are frequently associated with extensive collections of banked fecal samples-unique resources for understanding ecological, behavioral, and phylogenetic effects on the gut microbiome. However, we do not understand whether sample storage methods confound the ability to investigate interindividual variation in gut microbiome profiles. Here, we extend previous work on storage methods for gut microbiome samples by comparing immediate freezing, the gold standard of preservation, to three methods commonly used in vertebrate field studies: lyophilization, storage in ethanol, and storage in RNAlater.

An Observational Study to Evaluate the Usability and Intent to Adopt an Artificial Intelligence-Powered Medication Reconciliation Tool.

Background: Medication reconciliation (the process of creating an accurate list of all medications a patient is taking) is a widely practiced procedure to reduce medication errors. It is mandated by the Joint Commission and reimbursed by Medicare. Yet, in practice, medication reconciliation is often not effective owing to knowledge gaps in the team.

Efficient Genome-Wide Sequencing and Low-Coverage Pedigree Analysis from Noninvasively Collected Samples.

Research on the genetics of natural populations was revolutionized in the 1990s by methods for genotyping noninvasively collected samples. However, these methods have remained largely unchanged for the past 20 years and lag far behind the genomics era. To close this gap, here we report an optimized laboratory protocol for genome-wide capture of endogenous DNA from noninvasively collected samples, coupled with a novel computational approach to reconstruct pedigree links from the resulting low-coverage data.

Influence of Ambient Illumination on the Use of Olfactory and Visual Signals by a Nocturnal Hawkmoth During Close-Range Foraging.

As a goal-directed behavior, foraging for nectar functions on the basis of a sequence of innate stereotyped movements mainly regulated by sensory input. The operation of this inherited program is shaped by selective pressures acting on its efficiency, which is largely dependent upon the way the system handles sensory information. Flowers offer a wealth of signals, from odors acting as distant attractants, to colors eliciting approximation and feeding responses, to textures guiding feeding responses toward a reservoir of nectar.

Kinship, inbreeding and fine-scale spatial structure influence gut microbiota in a hindgut-fermenting tortoise.

Herbivorous vertebrates rely on complex communities of mutualistic gut bacteria to facilitate the digestion of celluloses and hemicelluloses. Gut microbes are often convergent based on diet and gut morphology across a phylogenetically diverse group of mammals. However, little is known about microbial communities of herbivorous hindgut-fermenting reptiles.

Evolutionary change in testes tissue composition among experimental populations of house mice.

Theory assumes that postcopulatory sexual selection favors increased investment in testes size because greater numbers of sperm within the ejaculate increase the chance of success in sperm competition, and larger testes are able to produce more sperm. However, changes in the organization of the testes tissue may also affect sperm production rates. Indeed, recent comparative analyses suggest that sperm competition selects for greater proportions of sperm-producing tissue within the testes.

Evaluation of user interface and workflow design of a bedside nursing clinical decision support system.

Background: Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) are important tools to improve health care outcomes and reduce preventable medical adverse events. However, the effectiveness and success of CDSS depend on their implementation context and usability in complex health care settings. As a result, usability design and validation, especially in real world clinical settings, are crucial aspects of successful CDSS implementations.

A personalized automated messaging system to improve adherence to prostate cancer screening: research protocol.

Background: Public adherence to cancer screening guidelines is poor. Patient confusion over multiple recommendations and modalities for cancer screening has been found to be a major barrier to screening adherence. Such problems will only increase as screening guidelines and timetables become individualized.

Morphology and histology of chimpanzee primary visual striate cortex indicate that brain reorganization predated brain expansion in early hominid evolution.

Human brain evolution is characterized by an overall increase in brain size, cerebral reorganization, and cerebral lateralization. It is generally understood when brain enlargement occurred during human evolution. However, issues concerning cerebral reorganization and hemispheric lateralization are more difficult to determine from brain endocasts, and they are topics of considerable debate.