African dryland antelope trade-off behaviours in response to heat extremes.

Climate change is predicted to narrow the prescriptive zone of dryland species, potentially leading to behavioural modifications with fitness consequences. This study explores the behavioural responses of three widespread African antelope species-springbok, kudu and eland-to extreme heat in a dryland savanna. We classified the behaviour of 29 individuals during the hot, dry season on the basis of accelerometer data using supervised machine learning and analysed the impact of afternoon heat on behaviour-specific time allocation and overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA), a proxy for energy expenditure, along with compensatory changes over the 24-hour cycle.

Endoscopic Transaxillary Approach for Breast Augmentation: What does the Evidence Say and What Else Can be Done?

Breast augmentation is the most commonly performed aesthetic procedure. Transaxillary approach is one of the widely accepted techniques for breast augmentation. It has an advantage of the remote nature of the access incision related to the breasts, thereby reducing the visibility of the scar.

Amazon tree dominance across forest strata.

The forests of Amazonia are among the most biodiverse plant communities on Earth. Given the immediate threats posed by climate and land-use change, an improved understanding of how this extraordinary biodiversity is spatially organized is urgently required to develop effective conservation strategies. Most Amazonian tree species are extremely rare but a few are common across the region.

Compressive Sensing-Based Bandwidth Stitching for Multichannel Microwave Radars.

The problem of obtaining high range resolution (HRR) profiles for non-cooperative target recognition by coherently combining data from narrowband radars was investigated using sparse reconstruction techniques. If the radars concerned operate within different frequency bands, then this process increases the overall effective bandwidth and consequently enhances resolution. The case of unknown range offsets occurring between the radars' range profiles due to incorrect temporal and spatial synchronisation between the radars was considered, and the use of both pruned orthogonal matching pursuit and refined l 1 -norm regularisation solvers was explored to estimate the offsets between the radars' channels so as to attain the necessary coherence for combining their data.

Compressive Sensing for Tomographic Imaging of a Target with a Narrowband Bistatic Radar.

This paper introduces a new approach to bistatic radar tomographic imaging based on the concept of compressive sensing and sparse reconstruction. The field of compressive sensing has established a mathematical framework which guarantees sparse solutions for under-determined linear inverse problems. In this paper, we present a new formulation for the bistatic radar tomography problem based on sparse inversion, moving away from the conventional -space tomography approach.

Repeated range expansion and niche shift in a volcanic hotspot archipelago: Radiation of C Hawaiian subgenus (Euphorbiaceae).

Woody perennial plants on islands have repeatedly evolved from herbaceous mainland ancestors. Although the majority of species in subgenus section (Euphorbiaceae) are small and herbaceous, a clade of 16 woody species diversified on the Hawaiian Islands. They are found in a broad range of habitats, including the only known C plants adapted to wet forest understories.

An Image Focusing Method for Sparsity-Driven Radar Imaging of Rotating Targets.

This paper presents a new image focusing algorithm for sparsity-driven radar imaging of rotating targets. In the general formulation of off-grid scatterers, the sparse reconstruction algorithms may result in blurred and low-contrast images due to dictionary mismatch. Motivated by the natural clustering of atoms in the sparsity-based reconstructed images, the proposed algorithm first partitions the atoms into separate clusters, and then the true off-grid scatterers associated with each cluster are estimated.

A Nomenclator of (Euphorbiaceae) in Madagascar, the Comoros Archipelago, and the Mascarene Islands.

All published names of from Madagascar, the Comoros, and the Mascarenes are treated here. We indicate which names are currently accepted (123 native species and 1 introduced), which ones we consider to be heterotypic synonyms (188), which ones are doubtful (25), and which ones should be excluded (5). We newly designate lectotypes for 108 names, and epitypes for Baill.

An integrated assessment of the vascular plant species of the Americas.

The cataloging of the vascular plants of the Americas has a centuries-long history, but it is only in recent decades that an overview of the entire flora has become possible. We present an integrated assessment of all known native species of vascular plants in the Americas. Twelve regional and national checklists, prepared over the past 25 years and including two large ongoing flora projects, were merged into a single list.

Force of habit: shrubs, trees and contingent evolution of wood anatomical diversity using Croton (Euphorbiaceae) as a model system.

Background And Aims: Wood is a major innovation of land plants, and is usually a central component of the body plan for two major plant habits: shrubs and trees. Wood anatomical syndromes vary between shrubs and trees, but no prior work has explicitly evaluated the contingent evolution of wood anatomical diversity in the context of these plant habits.

Methods: Phylogenetic comparative methods were used to test for contingent evolution of habit, habitat and wood anatomy in the mega-diverse genus Croton (Euphorbiaceae), across the largest and most complete molecular phylogeny of the genus to date.

Evolutionary bursts in Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae) are linked with photosynthetic pathway.

The mid-Cenozoic decline of atmospheric CO2 levels that promoted global climate change was critical to shaping contemporary arid ecosystems. Within angiosperms, two CO2 -concentrating mechanisms (CCMs)-crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) and C4 -evolved from the C3 photosynthetic pathway, enabling more efficient whole-plant function in such environments. Many angiosperm clades with CCMs are thought to have diversified rapidly due to Miocene aridification, but links between this climate change, CCM evolution, and increased net diversification rates (r) remain to be further understood.

Adaptive radiation, correlated and contingent evolution, and net species diversification in Bromeliaceae.

We present an integrative model predicting associations among epiphytism, the tank habit, entangling seeds, C₃ vs. CAM photosynthesis, avian pollinators, life in fertile, moist montane habitats, and net rates of species diversification in the monocot family Bromeliaceae. We test these predictions by relating evolutionary shifts in form, physiology, and ecology to time and ancestral distributions, quantifying patterns of correlated and contingent evolution among pairs of traits and analyzing the apparent impact of individual traits on rates of net species diversification and geographic expansion beyond the ancestral Guayana Shield.

Use of winged infusion devices in intravenous therapy.

This article has been written to highlight the licensed use of winged infusion devices for short-term intravenous (IV) therapy. There is limited published literature on the subject, yet this clinical audit has demonstrated that the use of winged infusion devices has clear advantages for patients and nurses. The audit was conducted in the community setting but could be replicated in any community or hospital environment where short-term intravenous therapy of nonvesicant fluids are administered.

Use of winged infusion devices in intravenous therapy.

This article has been written to highlight the licensed use of winged infusion devices for short-term intravenous (IV) therapy. There is limited published literature on the subject, yet this clinical audit has demonstrated that the use of winged infusion devices has clear advantages for patients and nurses. The audit was conducted in the community setting but could be replicated in any community or hospital environment where short-term intravenous therapy of non-vesicant fluids are administered.

JAK-STAT blockade inhibits tumor initiation and clonogenic recovery of prostate cancer stem-like cells.

Interleukin (IL)-6 overexpression and constitutive STAT3 activation occur in many cancers, including prostate cancer. However, their contribution to prostate stem and progenitor cells has not been explored. In this study, we show that stem-like cells from patients with prostate cancer secrete higher levels of IL-6 than their counterparts in non-neoplastic prostate.

Phylogenetics and the evolution of major structural characters in the giant genus Euphorbia L. (Euphorbiaceae).

Euphorbia is among the largest genera of angiosperms, with about 2000 species that are renowned for their remarkably diverse growth forms. To clarify phylogenetic relationships in the genus, we used maximum likelihood, bayesian, and parsimony analyses of DNA sequence data from 10 markers representing all three plant genomes, averaging more than 16kbp for each accession. Taxon sampling included 176 representatives from Euphorbioideae (including 161 of Euphorbia).

Phylogenetics of the Chamaesyce clade (Euphorbia, Euphorbiaceae): reticulate evolution and long-distance dispersal in a prominent C4 lineage.

Premise Of The Study: The Chamaesyce clade of Euphorbia is the largest lineage of C(4) plants among the eudicots, with 350 species including both narrow endemics and cosmopolitan weeds. We sampled this group worldwide to address questions about subclade relationships, the origin of C(4) photosynthesis, the evolution of weeds, and the role of hybridization and long-distance dispersal in the diversification of the group. •

Methods: Two nuclear (ITS and exon 9 of EMB2765) and three chloroplast markers (matK, rpl16, and trnL-F) were sequenced for 138 ingroup and six outgroup species.

Phylogeny, adaptive radiation, and historical biogeography in Bromeliaceae: insights from an eight-locus plastid phylogeny.

Premise: Bromeliaceae form a large, ecologically diverse family of angiosperms native to the New World. We use a bromeliad phylogeny based on eight plastid regions to analyze relationships within the family, test a new, eight-subfamily classification, infer the chronology of bromeliad evolution and invasion of different regions, and provide the basis for future analyses of trait evolution and rates of diversification.

Methods: We employed maximum-parsimony, maximum-likelihood, and Bayesian approaches to analyze 9341 aligned bases for four outgroups and 90 bromeliad species representing 46 of 58 described genera.

Molecular phylogenetics and character evolution of the "sacaca" clade: novel relationships of Croton section Cleodora (Euphorbiaceae).

Phylogenetic relationships of Croton section Cleodora (Klotzsch) Baill. were evaluated using the nuclear ribosomal ITS and the chloroplast trnL-F and trnH-psbA regions. Our results show a strongly supported clade containing most previously recognized section Cleodora species, plus some other species morphologically similar to them.

The calcium sensor STIM1 is regulated by androgens in prostate stromal cells.

Background: Prostate development and maintenance in the adult results from an interaction of stromal and glandular components. Androgens can drive this process by direct action on the stroma. We investigated whether there was a direct link between androgens and another key regulator of stromal cells, intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+ ]i ).

Are spurred cyathia a key innovation? Molecular systematics and trait evolution in the slipper spurges (Pedilanthus clade: Euphorbia, Euphorbiaceae).

The study of traits that play a key role in promoting diversification is central to evolutionary biology. Floral nectar spurs are among the few plant traits that correlate with an enhanced rate of diversification, supporting the claim that they are key innovations. Slight changes in spur morphology could confer some degree of premating isolation, explaining why clades with spurs tend to include more species than their spurless close relatives.

Molecular phylogeny, divergence time estimates, and historical biogeography of Circaea (Onagraceae) in the Northern Hemisphere.

Circaea (Onagraceae) consists of eight species and six subspecies distributed in Eurasia and North America. The sister group of Circaea was recently shown to be Fuchsia, which comprises 107 species primarily distributed in montane Central and South America, including four species occurring in the South Pacific islands. Three plastid markers (petB-petD, rpl16, and trnL-F) and nrITS sequences from 13 of the 14 taxa of Circaea were sequenced and used to reconstruct the phylogenetic and biogeographic history of the genus.

Gene expression profiling of human prostate cancer stem cells reveals a pro-inflammatory phenotype and the importance of extracellular matrix interactions.

Background: The tumor-initiating capacity of many cancers is considered to reside in a small subpopulation of cells (cancer stem cells). We have previously shown that rare prostate epithelial cells with a CD133+/alpha2beta1hi phenotype have the properties of prostate cancer stem cells. We have compared gene expression in these cells relative to their normal and differentiated (CD133-/alpha2beta1low) counterparts, resulting in an informative cancer stem cell gene-expression signature.

Androgen receptor signalling in prostate: effects of stromal factors on normal and cancer stem cells.

The prostate gland is the most common site for cancer in males within the developed world. Androgens play a vital role in prostate development, maintenance of tissue function and pathogenesis of prostate disease. The androgen receptor signalling pathway facilitates that role in both the epithelial compartment and in the underlying stroma.