Evolutionary responses of marine invertebrates to insular isolation in Galapagos

I examine the natural barriers to distribution and colonization that have shaped the Galapagos marine invertebrate biota. While diversity is high for some groups, such as hydroids and bryozoans, it is low for many others. Porcelain crabs and molluscs are examples with reduced or unbalanced representation in Galapagos, resulting from their dependency on dispersal of relatively short-lived planktonic larvae by ocean currents and on habitat limitations in Galapagos. Because Galapagos shorelines are predominantly rocky, without the wide expanses of silt typical of much of the Ecuadorian mainland that are favored by infaunal bivalves, gastropod diversity in Galapagos far exceeds that of bivalves. Nearly all hermatypic corals in Galapagos are members of the Panamic province; none is endemic to Galapagos. This suggests that colonization occurred by larval dispersal from there. The ahermatypic (azooxanthellate) coral fauna of Galapagos, with 43 species, is richer and more diverse than the hermatypic corals, with 29% of the shallow-water ahermatypes endemic and the remainder with Panamic, Indo-Pacific, and cosmopolitan affinities. The 73 verified species of Galapagos shallow-water echinoderms are dominated by Panamic species, with additional affinities to the Indo-Pacific and the California province; 8% are cosmopolitan and 8% endemic. With species richness roughly equivalent to that of Pacific Colombia, Galapagos echinoderm representation is not depauperate, but is sufficiently distinctive to characterize it as an isolated, insular biota. Hydroids and bryozoans, two groups with high diversity in Galapagos, accomplish long-distance transport mainly as adults on floating debris and hulls of ships, rather than by the free-swimming reproductive stage. Endemism among marine invertebrates averages 18.3 %, but varies widely among major taxa, from 0% for reef corals to 71% for gorgonians. Unlike the Galapagos terrestrial biota, in which endemic genera are common, the absence of endemic genera among marine invertebrates may be attributed to low isolation arising from greater dispersal and gene flow in the marine environment

CENP-meta, an essential kinetochore kinesin required for the maintenance of metaphase chromosome alignment in Drosophila.

CENP-meta has been identified as an essential, kinesin-like motor protein in Drosophila. The 257-kD CENP-meta protein is most similar to the vertebrate kinetochore-associated kinesin-like protein CENP-E, and like CENP-E, is shown to be a component of centromeric/kinetochore regions of Drosophila chromosomes. However, unlike CENP-E, which leaves the centromere/kinetochore region at the end of anaphase A, the CENP-meta protein remains associated with the centromeric/kinetochore region of the chromosome during all stages of the Drosophila cell cycle. P-element-mediated disruption of the CENP-meta gene leads to late larval/pupal stage lethality with incomplete chromosome alignment at metaphase. Complete removal of CENP-meta from the female germline leads to lethality in early embryos resulting from defects in metaphase chromosome alignment. Real-time imaging of these mutants with GFP-labeled chromosomes demonstrates that CENP-meta is required for the maintenance of chromosomes at the metaphase plate, demonstrating that the functions required to establish and maintain chromosome congression have distinguishable requirements

Octocorals in the Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos octocorals were almost unknown until recent years. Of the three orders within the subclass Octocorallia (Anthozoa, Cnidaria), the Pennatulacea (sea pens) and Alcyonacea (soft corals and gorgonians) occur in the Galapagos. Recent collections and research bring the total known octocorallian fauna to three sea pens (Virgularia galapagensis, Ptilosarcus undulatus and Cavernulina darwini) and 15 gorgonians. Of the 13 gorgonians that we have collected, several are new species. Pacifigorgia is widely distributed in the archipelago, with four named species (P. dampieri, P. symbiotica, P. rubripunctata, and P. darwinii), three of them recently described, and two others yet to be described. The genus Muricea contains three widely distributed undescribed species, one of which appears in three chromotypes, and one deepwater species that has not been collected recently. Two species of Heterogorgia occur in the central archipelago, H. verrucosa and the recently described and widely distributed H. hickmani. The remaining gorgonians are Eugorgia daniana, Leptogorgia alba and Adelogorgia telones

Investigation of DC-8 nacelle modifications to reduce fan-compressor noise in airport communities. Part 5 - Economic implications of retrofit Technical report, May 1967 - Oct. 1969

Economic impact of modifications to DC-8 aircraft nacelles to reduce fan-compressor noise - Part

Preliminary survey of zooxanthellate zoanthids (Cnidaria : Hexacorallia) of the Galapagos, and associated symbiotic dinoflagellates (Symbiodinium spp.)

Despite their presence in almost all marine ecosystems, the zoanthids (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia: Zoantharia) are poorly studied, in large part due to a lack of useful morphological identification characters. Recent research combining morphology with DNA markers has begun to shed new light on diversity and distribution of the order Zoantharia. Here, preliminary findings on the diversity and distribution of zooxanthellate zoanthid species from the genera Zoanthus and Palythoa are presented, documenting these genera in the Galapagos for the first time. A brief description of the species found is provided. Zoanthus and Palythoa appear to be limited in the Galapagos to rocky shores in warm shallow sublittoral and infralittoral waters (minimum temperature >18°C), isolated from the colder water that dominates much of the archipelago. Preliminary results from the internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA sequences of symbiotic dinoflagellates suggest that both Zoanthus and Palythoa spp. in the Galapagos possess only Symbiodinium clade C. Brief descriptions of the zooxanthellate zoanthid species found in the Galapagos are provided

Data mining via ILP: The application of progol to a

As far as this author is aware, this is the first paper to describe the application of Progol to enantioseparations. A scheme is proposed for data mining a relational database of published enantioseparations using Progol. The application of the scheme is described and a preliminary assessment of the usefulness of the resulting generalisations is made using their accuracy, size, ease of interpretation and chemical justification

Combined analysis of solar neutrino and solar irradiance data: further evidence for variability of the solar neutrino flux and its implications concerning the solar core

A search for any particular feature in any single solar neutrino dataset is unlikely to establish variability of the solar neutrino flux since the count rates are very low. It helps to combine datasets, and in this article we examine data from both the Homestake and GALLEX experiments. These show evidence of modulation with a frequency of 11.85 yr-1, which could be indicative of rotational modulation originating in the solar core. We find that precisely the same frequency is prominent in power spectrum analyses of the ACRIM irradiance data for both the Homestake and GALLEX time intervals. These results suggest that the solar core is inhomogeneous and rotates with sidereal frequency 12.85 yr-1. We find, by Monte Carlo calculations, that the probability that the neutrino data would by chance match the irradiance data in this way is only 2 parts in 10,000. This rotation rate is significantly lower than that of the inner radiative zone (13.97 yr-1) as recently inferred from analysis of Super-Kamiokande data, suggesting that there may be a second, inner tachocline separating the core from the radiative zone. This opens up the possibility that there may be an inner dynamo that could produce a strong internal magnetic field and a second solar cycle.Comment: 22 pages, 9 tables, 10 figure

Factors that influence traditional-age, high-achieving students to enroll at a research-extensive university in the Southern region of the United States

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if a model existed that significantly increased the researcher\u27s ability to accurately explain the enrollment status of high-achieving freshmen based on the influence of selected demographic and academic characteristics. Since World War II, the need for students to obtain an outstanding postsecondary education in order to compete for the best positions in today\u27s job market has become increasingly important. Thus, the need exists for higher education institutions to offer competitive academic programs that will attract top students and faculty. Since the number of graduating high school students is predicted to decline during the next decade, competition for students is fierce among institutions as enrollment managers strive to enroll outstanding students. This study\u27s population was defined as all high-achieving freshmen (ACT ≥ 28 and academic GPA ≥ 3.0) who were admitted to one selected research-extensive university for the fall 2005 semester. There were 13 independent variables that were collected from the admissions and student aid databases and then transferred to a computerized, recording form, which served as the research instrument. Using stepwise multiple discriminant analysis, the researcher identified a substantively and statistically significant model that increased the researcher\u27s ability to accurately explain the enrollment status of high-achieving freshman. The model correctly classified 65.0% of the cases, which was a 30.1% improvement over chance that was obtained on these subjects using this model. The variable that had the greatest impact on enrollment was whether or not the student\u27s parent graduated from the institution. Other variables that contributed significantly were: student\u27s residency status, college entrance examination score (ACT), gender, offer of admission to the Honors College, academic high school GPA, whether or not the student\u27s race was Hispanic, and whether the student graduated from a public or private high school. The researcher recommended additional studies that would increase the percentage of correctly classified students by integrating these variables with others that could further explain future freshman classes. Variables suggested were: the institution\u27s image, student\u27s academic major, high school counselor influence, student\u27s relationship with enrollment management offices, communication with students, and the campus visit program

Peromyscus Populations as Related to Seasons and Vegetative Types at the Hardware Ranch, Cache County, Utah

Members of the genus Peromyscus, White-footed Mice, are known to occur in nearly all habitats of North America. Because of their numerical abundance and widespread distribution, these mice are extensively used in the study of the dynamics of animal populations. Thus, information perteining to the local distruibution and activities of these mice is of value to the more comprehensive studies that are being carried out in the field of zoological research