The emergence and diversification of morphological novelties is a major feature of animal evolution.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 However, relatively little is known about the genetic basis of the evolution of ...novel structures and the mechanisms underlying their diversification. The epandrial posterior lobes of male genitalia are a novelty of particular Drosophila species.10,11,12,13 The lobes grasp the female ovipositor and insert between her abdominal tergites and, therefore, are important for copulation and species recognition.10,11,12,14,15,16,17 The posterior lobes likely evolved from co-option of a Hox-regulated gene network from the posterior spiracles10 and have since diversified in morphology in the D. simulans clade, in particular, over the last 240,000 years, driven by sexual selection.18,19,20,21 The genetic basis of this diversification is polygenic but, to the best of our knowledge, none of the causative genes have been identified.22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30 Identifying the genes underlying the diversification of these secondary sexual structures is essential to understanding the evolutionary impact on copulation and species recognition. Here, we show that Sox21b negatively regulates posterior lobe size. This is consistent with expanded Sox21b expression in D. mauritiana, which develops smaller posterior lobes than D. simulans. We tested this by generating reciprocal hemizygotes and confirmed that changes in Sox21b underlie posterior lobe evolution between these species. Furthermore, we found that posterior lobe size differences caused by the species-specific allele of Sox21b significantly affect copulation duration. Taken together, our study reveals the genetic basis for the sexual-selection-driven diversification of a novel morphological structure and its functional impact on copulatory behavior.
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•Sox21b regulates development of posterior lobes, novel Drosophila genital organs•Higher Sox21b expression in developing genitalia produces smaller posterior lobes•Sox21b underlies posterior lobe divergence between D. simulans and D. mauritiana•The species allele of Sox21b causes differences in the duration of copulation
Ridgway et al. show that the transcription factor Sox21b represses the size of the posterior lobes of male Drosophila genitalia. Sox21b expression differs during posterior lobe development between D. mauritiana and D. simulans, and this gene contributes to the evolution of the size of this morphological novelty between these two species.
Resistance to antibiotics is rising and threatens future antibiotic effectiveness. 'Antibiotic targeting' ensures patients who may benefit from antibiotics receive them, while being safely withheld ...from those who may not. Point-of-care tests may assist with antibiotic targeting by allowing primary care clinicians to establish if symptomatic patients have a viral, bacterial, combined, or no infection. However, because organisms can be harmlessly carried, it is important to know if the presence of the virus/bacteria is related to the illness for which the patient is being assessed. One way to do this is to look for associations with more severe/prolonged symptoms and test results. Previous research to answer this question for acute respiratory tract infections has given conflicting results with studies has not having enough participants to provide statistical confidence.
To undertake a synthesis of IPD from both randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and observational cohort studies of respiratory tract infections (RTI) in order to investigate the prognostic value of microbiological data in addition to, or instead of, clinical symptoms and signs.
A systematic search of Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid Medline and Ovid Embase will be carried out for studies of acute respiratory infection in primary care settings. The outcomes of interest are duration of disease, severity of disease, repeated consultation with new/worsening illness and complications requiring hospitalisation. Authors of eligible studies will be contacted to provide anonymised individual participant data. The data will be harmonised and aggregated. Multilevel regression analysis will be conducted to determine key outcome measures for different potential pathogens and whether these offer any additional information on prognosis beyond clinical symptoms and signs.
PROSPERO Registration number: CRD42023376769.
In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed vaccine hesitancy in its top ten threats to global health. Vaccine hesitancy is a "delay in acceptance or refusal to vaccinate despite availability ...of vaccination services". Urban areas with large amounts of vaccine hesitancy are at risk for the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). Many vaccine-hesitant (VH) parents may be unfamiliar with the consequences of VPDs, and thus might be swayed when confronted with the symptoms and dangers of VPDs. As such, we sought to educate college students (future parents) in an urban vaccine-hesitant hotspot by assigning them to interview family or community members who had experienced a VPD. Student vaccine attitudes were assessed by surveys before and after the interviews. Vaccine-hesitant students who conducted a VPD interview but received no additional vaccine educational materials were significantly more likely (interaction term
< 0.001) to become pro-vaccine (PV) (68%) than students who conducted an autoimmune interview and received no additional educational materials. Additionally, students whose interviewees experienced intense physical suffering or physical limitations or students who were enrolled in a course with intensive VPD and vaccine curriculum had significantly increased vaccine attitudes. This suggests that introducing students to VPDs can decrease vaccine hesitancy.
The nearby super-Earth 55 Cnc e orbits a bright (V = 5.95 mag) star with a period of ∼18 hr and a mass of ∼8M⊕. Its atmosphere may be water-rich and have a large-scale height; though, attempts to ...characterize it have yielded ambiguous results. Here we present a sensitive search for water and TiO in its atmosphere at high spectral resolution using the Gemini North telescope and the GRACES spectrograph. We combine observations with previous observations from Subaru and CFHT, improving the constraints on the presence of water vapor. We adopt parametric models with an updated planet radius based on recent measurements, and use a cross-correlation technique to maximize sensitivity. Our results are consistent with atmospheres that are cloudy or contain minimal amounts of water and TiO. Using these parametric models, we rule out a water-rich atmosphere (VMR 0.1%) with a mean molecular weight of 15 g mol−1 at a 3 confidence level, improving on the previous limit by a significant margin. For TiO, we rule out a mean molecular weight of 5 g mol−1 with a 3 confidence level for a VMR greater than 10−8; for a VMR of greater than 10−7, the limit rises to a mean molecular weight of 10 g mol−1. We can rule out low mean-molecular-weight chemical equilibrium models both including and excluding TiO/VO at very high confidence levels (>10 ). Overall, our results are consistent with an atmosphere with a high mean molecular weight and/or clouds, or no atmosphere.
Abstract
We present high-resolution transmission spectroscopy of WASP-76b with Gemini Remote Access to CFHT ESPaDOnS Spectrograph (GRACES)/Gemini North obtained as part of the ExoGemS survey. With a ...broad spectral range of 400–1050 nm and a relatively high resolution of ∼66,000, these observations are particularly well suited to searching for atomic and molecular atmospheric species via the Doppler cross-correlation technique. We recover absorption features due to neutral iron (Fe
i
), sodium (Na
i
), and ionized calcium (Ca
ii
) at high significance (>5
σ
), and investigate possible atmospheric temperatures and wind speeds. We also report tentative (>3
σ
) detections of Li
i
, K
i
, Cr
i
, and V
i
in the atmosphere of WASP-76b. Finally, we report nondetections of a number of other species, some of which have previously been detected with other instruments. Through model injection/recovery tests, we demonstrate that many of these species are not expected to be detected in our observations. These results allow us to place GRACES and the ExoGemS survey in context with other high-resolution optical spectrographs.
Abstract
Recent observations of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-76b have revealed a diversity of atmospheric species. Here we present new high-resolution transit spectroscopy of WASP-76b with GRACES at ...the Gemini North Observatory, serving as a baseline for the Large and Long Program “Exploring the Diversity of Exoplanet Atmospheres at High Spectral Resolution” (Exoplanets with Gemini Spectroscopy, or ExoGemS for short). With a broad spectral range of 400–1050 nm, these observations allow us to search for a suite of atomic species. We recover absorption features due to neutral sodium (Na
i
), and report a new detection of the ionized calcium (Ca
ii
) triplet at ∼850 nm in the atmosphere of WASP-76b, complementing a previous detection of the Ca
ii
H and K lines. The triplet has line depths of 0.295% ± 0.034% at ∼849.2 nm, 0.574% ± 0.041% at ∼854.2 nm, and 0.454% ± 0.024% at ∼866.2 nm, corresponding to effective radii close to (but within) the planet’s Roche radius. These measured line depths are significantly larger than those predicted by model LTE and NLTE spectra obtained on the basis of a pressure–temperature profile computed assuming radiative equilibrium. The discrepancy suggests that the layers probed by our observations are either significantly hotter than predicted by radiative equilibrium and/or in a hydrodynamic state. Our results shed light on the exotic atmosphere of this ultra-hot world, and will inform future analyses from the ExoGemS survey.
We report 78 secondary eclipse depths for a sample of 36 transiting hot Jupiters observed at 3.6 and 4.5 μm using the Spitzer Space Telescope. Our eclipse results for 27 of these planets are new, and ...include highly irradiated worlds such as KELT-7b, WASP-87b, WASP-76b, and WASP-64b, and important targets for James Webb Space Telescope such as WASP-62b. We find that WASP-62b has a slightly eccentric orbit (e cos w = 0.00614 ± 0.00064), and we confirm the eccentricity of HAT-P-13b and WASP-14b. The remainder are individually consistent with circular orbits, but we find statistical evidence for eccentricity increasing with orbital period in our range from 1 to 5 days. Our day-side brightness temperatures for the planets yield information on albedo and heat redistribution, following Cowan & Agol (2011). Planets having maximum day-side temperatures exceeding ∼2200 K are consistent with having zero albedo and a distribution of stellar irradiance uniformly over the day-side hemisphere. Our most intriguing result is that we detect a systematic difference between the emergent spectra of these hot Jupiters as compared to blackbodies. The ratio of observed brightness temperatures, Tb(4.5)/Tb(3.6), increases with equilibrium temperature by 100 ± 24 parts-per-million per Kelvin, over the entire temperature range in our sample (800–2500 K). No existing model predicts this trend over such a large range of temperature. We suggest that this may be due to a structural difference in the atmospheric temperature profiles of real planetary atmospheres as compared to models.
•African Americans are at heightened risk for coronary heart disease.•Biologic pathways are poorly understood.•In this study, depressive symptoms were associated with allostatic load in ...females.•Depressive symptoms and allostatic load predicted incident coronary heart disease.•Metabolic allostatic load was a partial mediator in the pathway among females.
African Americans are at heightened risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), with biologic pathways poorly understood. We examined the role of allostatic load (AL) in the association of depressive symptoms with incident CHD among 2,670 African American men and women in the prospective Jackson Heart Study. Depressive symptoms were quantified using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Incident CHD was ascertained by self-report, death certificate survey, and adjudicated medical record surveillance. Baseline AL was quantified using biologic parameters of metabolic, cardiovascular, immune, and neuroendocrine subsystems and as a combined meta-factor. Sequential models adjusted for demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral covariates, stratified to examine differences by sex. Greater depressive symptomatology was associated with greater metabolic, cardiovascular, and immune AL (p-values≤0.036) and AL meta-factor z-scores (p = 0.007), with findings driven by observations among females. Each 1-point increase in baseline depressive symptomatology, and 1-SD increase in metabolic AL, neuroendocrine AL, and AL meta-factor z-scores was associated with 3.3%, 88%, 39%, and 130% increases in CHD risk, respectively (p-values <0.001). Neuroendocrine AL and AL meta-factor scores predicted incident CHD among males but not females in stratified analyses. Metabolic AL partially mediated the association of depressive symptoms with incident CHD (5.79% mediation, p = 0.044), a finding present among females (p = 0.016) but not males (p = 0.840). Among African American adults, we present novel findings of an association between depressive symptomatology and incident CHD, partially mediated by metabolic AL. These findings appear to be unique to females, an important consideration in the design of targeted interventions for CHD prevention.
Observations to characterize planets larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune have led to largely inconclusive interpretations at low spectral resolution due to hazes or clouds that obscure ...molecular features in their spectra. However, here we show that high-resolution spectroscopy (R ∼ 25,000-100,000) enables one to probe the regions in these atmospheres above the clouds where the cores of the strongest spectral lines are formed. We present models of transmission spectra for a suite of GJ 1214b-like planets with thick photochemical hazes covering 1-5 m at a range of resolutions relevant to current and future ground-based spectrographs. Furthermore, we compare the utility of the cross-correlation function that is typically used with a more formal likelihood-based approach, finding that only the likelihood-based method is sensitive to the presence of haze opacity. We calculate the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of these spectra, including telluric contamination, Required to robustly detect a host of molecules such as CO, CO2, H2O, and CH4 and photochemical products like HCN as a function of wavelength range and spectral resolution. Spectra in the M band require the lowest S/Nres to detect multiple molecules simultaneously. CH4 is only observable for the coolest models (Teff = 412 K) and only in the L band. We quantitatively assess how these requirements compare to what is achievable with current and future instruments, demonstrating that characterization of small cool worlds with ground-based high-resolution spectroscopy is well within reach.
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