Molecular and morphological patterns of introgression between two large white-headed gull species in a zone of recent secondary contact

Incomplete reproductive isolation promotes gene flow between diverging taxa. However, any gene encoding for traits involved in the reproductive barriers will be less prone to introgression than neutral markers. Comparing introgression rates among loci is thus informative of the number and functions of loci involved in the reproductive barriers. This study aimed at identifying possible mechanisms of restriction to gene flow across a zone of recent secondary contact between Larus argentatus and Larus cachinnans by comparing introgression patterns for nine microsatellite loci, a fragment of mitochondrial DNA and a set of phenotypic traits. The low linkage disequilibrium between neutral nuclear markers indicated introgression without any barrier to gene flow. However, asymmetric introgression of mitochondrial DNA suggested that interspecific crosses may be more successful in one direction. The introgression rate for phenotypic traits was variable and low compared to neutral molecular markers. This was particularly evident in colouration of bare parts: individuals with intermediate colouration were scarcer in sympatry than expected if the genomes recombined freely. We hypothesized that one of these variables, the orbital ring colour, may play a role in mate choice, acting as an incomplete premating barrier through assortative mating. This study emphasizes that multilocus approaches are useful to discriminate among possible mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of hybrid zones.     

Multivariate analysis of climatic patterns of the Meditrranean basin

Climatic data from 444 weather-recording stations in the Mediterranean basin are examined by cluster analysis and principal component analysis. The application of numerical clustering distinguished several groups of climatic stations clearly interpretable in geographic and climatic terms. The hierarchical structure of the dendrograms could be used to identify at different scales uniform climatic regions. The complementary application of principal component analysis produced an ordination of climatic types, which clearly showed the main trends of variation in the precipitation and temperature patterns.     

东北主要造林树种的营养元素含量特征分析

 本文分析测定了东北地区9个主要针阔叶树种的营养元素含量和季节动态,并应用主成分分析和系统聚类分析方法,分析了各树种之间的营养元素相互关系。从而证明了N,P,Ca是植物重要的临界营养元素,Fe和Mn是表土中高度积累元素,树木对前者的吸收与土壤表土中含量有关,而对后者则表现相对的独立性和选择吸收能力。从营养元素的吸收与利用角度考虑,红松与胡桃楸混交,落叶松与水曲柳混交,硬阔叶树与软阔叶树混交,针阔叶树之间混交或白桦与其它各树种混交都是合理的。     

基于不同分类模型的基因芯片癌症诊断方法研究

基因芯片技术的发展为生物信息学带来了机遇,使在基因表达水平上进行癌症诊断成为可能。但基因芯片数据高维小样本的特征也使传统机器学习方法面临挑战。本文利用真实的基因表达数据,测试了目前主要的分类方法和降维方法在癌症诊断方面的效果,通过实验对比发现：基于线性核函数的支持向量机可以有效地分类肿瘤与非肿瘤的基因表达,从而为癌症诊断提供借鉴。     

Hidden pattern discovery on event related potential EEG signals

EEG signals are important to capture brain disorders. They are useful for analyzing the cognitive activity of the brain and diagnosing types of seizure and potential mental health problems. The Event Related Potential can be measured through the EEG signal. However, it is always difficult to interpret due to its low amplitude and sensitivity to changes of the mental activity. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to incrementally detect the pattern of this kind of EEG signal. This approach successfully summarizes the whole stream of the EEG signal by finding the correlations across the electrodes and discriminates the signals corresponding to various tasks into different patterns. It is also able to detect the transition period between different EEG signals and identify the electrodes which contribute the most to these signals. The experimental results show that the proposed method allows the significant meaning of the EEG signal to be obtained from the extracted pattern.     

Rapid adaptive evolution of northeastern coyotes via hybridization with wolves

The dramatic expansion of the geographical range of coyotes over the last 90 years is partly explained by changes to the landscape and local extinctions of wolves, but hybridization may also have facilitated their movement. We present mtDNA sequence data from 686 eastern coyotes and measurements of 196 skulls related to their two-front colonization pattern. We find evidence for hybridization with Great Lakes wolves only along the northern front, which is correlated with larger skull size, increased sexual dimorphism and a five times faster colonization rate than the southern front. Northeastern haplotype diversity is low, suggesting that this population was founded by very few females moving across the Saint Lawrence River. This northern front then spread south and west, eventually coming in contact with an expanding front of non-hybrid coyotes in western New York and Pennsylvania. We suggest that hybridization with wolves in Canada introduced adaptive variation that contributed to larger size, which in turn allowed eastern coyotes to better hunt deer, allowing a more rapid colonization of new areas than coyotes without introgressed wolf genes. Thus, hybridization is a conduit by which genetic variation from an extirpated species has been reintroduced into northeastern USA, enabling northeastern coyotes to occupy a portion of the niche left vacant by wolves.     

73份亚洲水稻恢复系农艺性状的主成分与聚类分析

选取来自亚洲主要产稻国家的73份恢复系资源,种植在四川省德阳市和泸州市2个环境下,根据株高、单株有效穗、千粒重、单株生物量、单株稻谷产量、每穗实粒数、每穗颖花数、每日稻谷产量、每日生物量、结实率、收获指数等11个性状进行主成分与聚类分析。结果表明:通过主成分分析,将11个性状简化为4个主成分,即稻谷产量因子、生物产量因子、穗数因子和粒重因子,以上因子提供的信息量占总信息量的87.640%(德阳)和88.861%(泸州)。利用4个主成分因子进行系统聚类,在2个环境下,73份资源均聚为4大类,其中来自中国60.71%的资源聚在Ⅰ类群,主要特点是千粒重大,株高偏高,产量较高。来自印度45.45%的资源聚在Ⅱ类群,主要特点是千粒重偏小,产量、收获指数等性状均较高。4类群间差异明显,分类结果与地理来源基本一致。     

响应面结合主成分分析方法优化黄瓜种子GA3包衣浓度和贮藏时间组合

采用响应面结合主成分分析方法优化黄瓜种子GA_3包衣浓度和贮藏时间的组合.采用响应面试验设计的二因素14个组合对黄瓜种子GA_3浓度和贮藏时间进行处理,然后进行发芽试验.对得到的苗高、叶绿素含量和根系活力指数进行主成分分析,对得到的主成分向量进行响应面分析,找到了提高黄瓜幼苗苗高、叶绿素含量和根系活力的最佳处理组合.     

Suitability of Kinect for measuring whole body movement patterns during exergaming

Exergames provide a challenging opportunity for home-based training and evaluation of postural control in the elderly population, but affordable sensor technology and algorithms for assessment of whole body movement patterns in the home environment are yet to be developed. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the use of Kinect, a commonly available video game sensor, for capturing and analyzing whole body movement patterns. Healthy adults (n=20) played a weight shifting exergame under five different conditions with varying amplitudes and speed of sway movement, while 3D positions of ten body segments were recorded in the frontal plane using Kinect and a Vicon 3D camera system. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to extract and compare movement patterns and the variance in individual body segment positions explained by these patterns. Using the identified patterns, balance outcome measures based on spatiotemporal sway characteristics were computed. The results showed that both Vicon and Kinect capture >90% variance of all body segment movements within three PCs. Kinect-derived movement patterns were found to explain variance in trunk movements accurately, yet explained variance in hand and foot segments was underestimated and overestimated respectively by as much as 30%. Differences between both systems with respect to balance outcome measures range 0.3–64.3%. The results imply that Kinect provides the unique possibility of quantifying balance ability while performing complex tasks in an exergame environment.     

Diagnostic challenges in retinitis pigmentosa: genotypic multiplicity and phenotypic variability

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a heterogeneous group of inherited retinal disorders. Diagnosis can be challenging as more than 40 genes are known to cause non-syndromic RP and phenotypic expression can differ significantly resulting in variations in disease severity, age of onset, rate of progression, and clinical findings. We describe the clinical manifestations of RP, the more commonly known causative gene mutations, and the genotypic-phenotypic correlation of RP.     

A method for subgrouping the S-type of CMS forms in maize

Summary Simple correlations were calculated between nine different cms sources (cms-S, -R, -ML, -L, -CA, -EK, -C, -Rb, -T) on the basis of the weighted restoring reactions of 41 inbred lines. The Principal Component Analysis was applied to a 9 × 9 matrix which clearly grouped cytoplasms according to their similarities. The Principal Component I included S, R, ML, L, CA and EK cytoplasms; the Principal Component II contained C and Rb cytoplasms while T-cytoplasms was placed in Principal Component III. This corresponds to the main groupings indicated in the literature (Beckett 1971). However, after varimax rotation of the Principal Components, the S main group, including the 6 tested cytoplasms, fell into 3 subgroups: I.: S, R, ML; II.: L, CA; III.: EK.These data indicate that the Principal Component Analysis can be used to select a limited number of cms sources from the S group, representing the variability of the cytoplasmic gene pool of that group.     

Ecological responses of selected vascular plants to water chemistry parameters in habitat types 3120, 3130 and 3170* (Habitat Directive 92/43/EEC)

Abstract

The article aims to examine the main water chemistry parameters (i.e. conductivity, pH, dissolved O₂) and the ecological responses of 20 guide species in Mediterranean Temporary Ponds (MTPs). A complete data-set of 37 MTPs located in two different regions of Italy, Sardinia and Apulia, was compiled and the data were examined by means of Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The pattern of MTPs into the water chemistry space showed a clear separation between the two geographical regions. A “daisy diagram” obtained by overlapping five typologies of MTPs, obtained by the fuzzy cluster analysis and the PCA, revealed a good agreement between the sequence of groups and the water chemistry gradient. Groups of species sharing similar responses to the same chemical features were finally identified. These groups could be effective to acquire detailed information on the characteristics of MTPs and to improve their classification into different typologies. The guide species respond selectively to the wide variability range of conductivity, pH and dissolved oxygen. Despite the small size and the short hydroperiod water parameters in MTPs presented specific patterns to which the guide species are able to give specific responses.