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Conventional fluoroscopic guidance can provide enough information to precisely insert an occipital screw in ordinary cases. However, the occipital screw creates a potential risk of dural venous sinus injury or thrombosis. In some cases, with dural sinus variation, surgeons must especially be cautious to avoid its injury. We present a rare case of proper occipital screw placement using a navigation system for a pathological odontoid fracture with a high risk of dural venous sinus injury because of anatomical variations in the transverse and occipital sinuses. A 60-year-old man who underwent thyroidectomy at the age of 37 years for thyroid carcinoma developed acute neck pain and quadriparesis due to falling out of bed. He urgently underwent closed reduction and temporary immobilization with a halo-vest for a pathological odontoid fracture and atlantoaxial dislocation. Preoperative contrast-enhanced CT showed an absent right transverse sinus and a prominent occipital sinus as variations of the dural venous sinush a navigation system can be a better option to prevent dural venous sinus injury in cases where there is variation in the dural venous sinuses, such as with a prominent occipital venous sinus.The increased interest in time use among transport researchers has led to a search for flexible but tractable models of time use, such as Bhat's Multiple Discrete Continuous Extreme Value (MDCEV) model. MDCEV formulations typically model aggregate time allocation into different activity types during a given period, such as the amount of time spent working and shopping in a day. While these applications provide valuable insights into activity participation, they ignore disaggregate activity-episodes, that is the fact that people might split their total time spent working in multiple separate blocks, with breaks or other activities in between. Insights into this splitting into episodes are necessary for predicting trips and understanding time use satiation. We propose a modified MDCEV model where an activity-episode, rather than an activity type, is the basic choice alternative, using a modified utility function to capture the reduced likelihood of individuals performing a very large number of episodes of the same activity. Results from two large revealed preference datasets exhibit equivalent forecast accuracy between the traditional and proposed approach at an aggregate level, but the latter also provides insights on the number and duration of activity-episodes with significant accuracy.As IUCN critically vulnerable species,the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) have attracted great public attention in recent years. The threats of human disturbance and environmental pollution to this population have been documented extensively. Sotrastaurin in vivo However, research on the sensitivity of this species to climate change is lacking. To understand the effect of climate change on the potential distribution of Sousa chinensis, we developed a weighted ensemble model based on 82 occurrence records and six predictor variables (e.g., ocean depth, distance to shore, mean temperature, salinity, ice thickness, and current velocity). According to the true skill statistic (TSS) and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), our ensemble model presented higher prediction precision than most of the single-algorithm models. It also indicated that ocean depth and distance to shore were the most important predictors in shaping the distribution patterns. The projections for the 2050s and 2100s from our ensemble model indicated a severe adverse impact of climate change on the Sousa chinensis habitat. Over 75% and 80% of the suitable habitat in the present day will be lost in all representative concentration pathway emission scenarios (RCPS) in the 2050s and 2100s, respectively. With the increased numbers of records of stranding and deaths of Sousa chinensis in recent years, strict management regulations and conservation plans are urgent to safeguard the current suitable habitats. Due to habitat contraction and poleward shift in the future, adaptive management strategies, including designing new reserves and adjusting the location and range of reserves according to the geographical distribution of Sousa chinensis, should be formulated to minimize the impacts of climate change on this species.Effector proteins translocated by the Dot/Icm type IV secretion system determine the virulence of Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila). Among these effectors, members of the SidE family (SidEs) regulate several cellular processes through a unique phosphoribosyl ubiquitination mechanism mediated by another effector, SidJ. Host-cell calmodulin (CaM) activates SidJ to glutamylate the SidEs of ubiquitin (Ub) ligases and to make a balanced Ub ligase activity. Given the central role of SidJ in this regulatory process, studying the nature of evolution of sidJ is important to understand the virulence of L. pneumophila and the interaction between the bacteria and its hosts. By studying sidJ from a large number of L. pneumophila strains and using various molecular evolution algorithms, we demonstrated that intragenic recombination drove the evolution of sidJ and contributed to sidJ diversification. Additionally, we showed that four codons of sidJ which are located in the N-terminal (NTD) (codons 58 and 200) and C-terminal (CTD) (codons 868 and 869) domains, but not in the kinase domain (KD) had been subjected to strong positive selection pressure, and variable mutation profiles of these codons were identified. Protein structural modeling of SidJ provided possible explanations for these mutations. Codons 868 and 869 mutations might engage in regulating the interactions of SidJ with CaM through hydrogen bonds and affect the CaM docking to SidJ. Mutation in codon 58 of SidJ might affect the distribution of main-chain atoms that are associated with the interaction with CaM. In contrast, mutations in codon 200 might influence the α-helix stability in the NTD. These mutations might be important to balance Ub ligase activity for different L. pneumophila hosts. This study first reported that intragenic recombination and positive Darwinian selection both shaped the genetic plasticity of sidJ, contributing to a deeper understanding of the adaptive mechanisms of this intracellular bacterium to different hosts.In recent years it has become increasingly popular to use phylogenetic comparative methods to investigate heterogeneity in the rate or process of quantitative trait evolution across the branches or clades of a phylogenetic tree. Here, I present a new method for modeling variability in the rate of evolution of a continuously-valued character trait on a reconstructed phylogeny. The underlying model of evolution is stochastic diffusion (Brownian motion), but in which the instantaneous diffusion rate (σ2) also evolves by Brownian motion on a logarithmic scale. Unfortunately, it's not possible to simultaneously estimate the rates of evolution along each edge of the tree and the rate of evolution of σ2 itself using Maximum Likelihood. As such, I propose a penalized-likelihood method in which the penalty term is equal to the log-transformed probability density of the rates under a Brownian model, multiplied by a 'smoothing' coefficient, λ, selected by the user. λ determines the magnitude of penalty that's applied tonce literature, as well as some applications and limitations of the approach.Feline oral squamous cell carcinoma (FOSCC) is a common and naturally occurring condition that recapitulates many features of human head and neck cancer (HNC). In both species, there is need for improved strategies to reduce pain caused by HNC and its treatment. Research to benefit both species could be conducted using pet cats as a comparative model, but this prospect is limited by lack of validated methods for quantifying FOSCC-associated pain. A prospective non-randomized pilot study was performed for initial validation of (1) a pet owner administered quality of life questionnaire and visual assessment scoring tool (FORQ/CLIENT); (2) a clinician assessment questionnaire (UFEPS/VET); (3) electronic von Frey testing [EVF]; and (4) Cochet-Bonnet (COBO) aesthesiometry. To assess intra-rater reliability, discriminatory ability, and responsiveness of each assay, 6 cats with sublingual SCC and 16 healthy control cats were enrolled. The intra-rater reliability was moderate-to-good for the clinical metrology instruresponse thresholds) and on the cornea (longer filament lengths) than control animals (P less then 0.03). Reduced pressure response thresholds were also observed at a distant site (P = 0.0002) in cancer cats. After giving buprenorphine, EVF pressure response thresholds increased (P = 0.04) near the mandible of cats with OSCC; the length of filament required to elicit a response in the COBO assay also improved (shortened; P = 0.017). Based on these preliminary assessments, the assays described herein had reasonable inter-rater reliability, and they were able to both discriminate between cats with and without oral cancer, and respond in a predictable manner to analgesic therapy. In cats with tongue cancer, there was evidence for regional peripheral sensitization, and widespread somatosensory sensitization. These results provide a basis for multi-dimensional assessments of pain and sensitivity in cats with oral SCC.

Synergy modules have been used to describe activation of lower limb muscles during locomotion and hence to understand how the system controls movement. Walking and running have been shown shared synergy patterns suggesting common motor control of both symmetrical gaits. Unilateral skipping, an equivalent gait to the quadrupedal gallop in humans, has been defined as the third locomotion paradigm but the use by humans is limited due to its high metabolic cost. Synergies in skipping have been little investigated. In particular, to the best of our knowledge, the joint study of both trailing and leading limbs has never been addressed before.

How are organized muscle activation patterns in unilateral skipping? Are they organized in the same way that in symmetrical gaits? If yes, which are the muscle activation patterns in skipping that make it a different gait to walking or running? In the present research, we investigate if there are shared control strategies for all gaits in locomotion. Addressing these questivation of similar muscular groups used in symmetrical gaits, without the need for new muscular groups. The high and anticipated muscle activation in the trailing leg for landing could be the key distinctive event of unilateral skipping.

Environmental variation related to ecological habitat is the main driver of plant adaptive divergence. Longitude plays an important role in the formation of plant population structure, indicating that environmental differentiation can significantly shape population structure.

Genetic diversity and population genetic structure were estimated using 105 expressed sequence tag-derived simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) loci. A total of 249

(L.) Pers. (common bermudagrass) individuals were sampled from 13 geographic sites along the longitude (105°57'34″-119°27'06″E).

There was no obvious linear trend of intra-population genetic diversity along longitude and the intra-population genetic diversity was not related to climate in this study. Low gene flow (Nm = 0.7701) meant a rich genetic differentiation among populations of

along longitude gradients. Significantly positive Mantel correlation (

=0.438,

= 0.001) was found between genetic distance and geographical interval while no significant partial Mantel correlation after controlling the effect of mean annual precipitation, which indicated geographic distance correlated with mean annual precipitation affect genetic distance.