Temporal and phylogenetic evolution of the sauropod dinosaur body plan

The colossal size and body plan of sauropod dinosaurs are unparalleled in terrestrial vertebrates. However, to date, there have been only limited attempts to examine temporal and phylogenetic patterns in the sauropod bauplan. Here, we combine three-dimensional computational models with phylogenetic reconstructions to quantify the evolution of whole-body shape and body segment properties across the sauropod radiation. Limitations associated with the absence of soft tissue preservation in fossils result in large error bars about mean absolute body shape predictions. However, applying any consistent skeleton : body volume ratio to all taxa does yield changes in body shape that appear concurrent with major macroevolutionary events in sauropod history. A caudad shift in centre-of-mass (CoM) in Middle Triassic Saurischia, associated with the evolution of bipedalism in various dinosaur lineages, was reversed in Late Triassic sauropodomorphs. A craniad CoM shift coincided with the evolution of quadrupedalism in the Late Triassic, followed by a more striking craniad shift in Late Jurassic–Cretaceous titanosauriforms, which included the largest sauropods. These craniad CoM shifts are strongly correlated with neck enlargement, a key innovation in sauropod evolution and pivotal to their gigantism. By creating a much larger feeding envelope, neck elongation is thought to have increased feeding efficiency and opened up trophic niches that were inaccessible to other herbivores. However, we find that relative neck size and CoM position are not strongly correlated with inferred feeding habits. Instead the craniad CoM positions of titanosauriforms appear closely linked with locomotion and environmental distributions, potentially contributing to the continued success of this group until the end-Cretaceous, with all other sauropods having gone extinct by the early Late Cretaceous

The effects of childbirth on the pelvic-floor

Basically, vaginal delivery is associated with the risk of pelvic floor damage. The pelvic floor sequelae of childbirth includes anal incontinence, urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Pathophysiology, incidence and risk factors for the development of the respective problems are reviewed. Where possible, recommendations for reducing the risk of pelvic floor damage are given

Temporal and phylogenetic evolution of the sauropod dinosaur body plan

The colossal size and body plan of sauropod dinosaurs are unparalleled in terrestrial vertebrates. However, to-date there have been only limited attempts to examine temporal and phylogenetic patterns in the sauropod bauplan. Here we combine three-dimensional computational models with phylogenetic reconstructions to quantify the evolution of whole-body shape and body segment properties across the sauropod radiation. Limitations associated with the absence of soft tissue preservation in fossils result in large error bars about mean absolute body shape predictions. However, applying any consistent skeleton:body volume ratio to all taxa does yield changes in body shape that appear concurrent with major macroevolutionary events in sauropod history. A caudad shift in centre-of-mass in Middle Triassic Saurischia, associated with the evolution of bipedalism in various dinosaur lineages, was reversed in Late Triassic sauropodomorphs. A craniad centre-of-mass shift coincided with the evolution of quadrupedalism in the Late Triassic, followed by a more striking craniad shift in Late Jurassic–Cretaceous titanosauriforms, which included the largest sauropods. These craniad CoM shifts are strongly correlated with neck enlargement, a key innovation in sauropod evolution and pivotal to their gigantism. By creating a much larger feeding envelope, neck elongation is thought to have increased feeding efficiency and opened up trophic niches that were inaccessible to other herbivores. However, we find that relative neck size and center-of-mass position are not strongly correlated with inferred feeding habits. Instead the craniad center-of-mass positions of titanosauriforms appear closely linked with locomotion and environmental distributions, potentially contributing to the continued success of this group until the end-Cretaceous, with all other sauropods having gone extinct by the early Late Cretaceous

Initial results of multilevel principal components analysis of facial shape

Traditionally, active shape models (ASMs) do not make a distinction between groups in the subject population and they rely on methods such as (single-level) principal components analysis (PCA). Multilevel principal components analysis (PCA) allows one to model between-group effects and within-group effects explicitly. Three dimensional (3D) laser scans were taken from 240 subjects (38 Croatian female, 35 Croatian male, 40 English female, 40 English male, 23 Welsh female, 27 Welsh male, 23 Finnish female, and 24 Finnish male) and 21 landmark points were created subsequently for each scan. After Procrustes transformation, eigenvalues from mPCA and from single-level PCA based on these points were examined. mPCA indicated that the first two eigenvalues of largest magnitude related to within-groups components, but that the next largest eigenvalue related to between-groups components. Eigenvalues from single-level PCA always had a larger magnitude than either within-group or between-group eigenvectors at equivalent eigenvalue number. An examination of the first mode of variation indicated possible mixing of between-group and within-group effects in single-level PCA. Component scores for mPCA indicated clustering with country and gender for the between-groups components (as ex-pected), but not for the within-group terms (also as expected). Clustering of component scores for single-level PCA was harder to resolve. In conclusion, mPCA is viable method of forming shape models that offers distinct advantages over single-level PCA when groups occur naturally in the subject population

Nuclear Quadrupole Hyperfine Structure in HC14N/H14NC and DC15N/D15NC Isomerization: A Diagnostic Tool for Characterizing Vibrational Localization

Large-amplitude molecular motions which occur during isomerization can cause significant changes in electronic structure. These variations in electronic properties can be used to identify vibrationally-excited eigenstates which are localized along the potential energy surface. This work demonstrates that nuclear quadrupole hyperfine interactions can be used as a diagnostic marker of progress along the isomerization path in both the HC14N/H14NC and DC15N/D15NC chemical systems. Ab initio calculations at the CCSD(T)/cc-pCVQZ level indicate that the hyperfine interaction is extremely sensitive to the chemical bonding of the quadrupolar 14N nucleus and can therefore be used to determine in which potential well the vibrational wavefunction is localized. A natural bonding orbital analysis along the isomerization path further demonstrates that hyperfine interactions arise from the asphericity of the electron density at the quadrupolar nucleus. Using the CCSD(T) potential surface, the quadrupole coupling constants of highly-excited vibrational states are computed from a one-dimensional internal coordinate path Hamiltonian. The excellent agreement between ab initio calculations and recent measurements demonstrates that nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure can be used as a diagnostic tool for characterizing localized HCN and HNC vibrational states.Comment: Accepted by Physical Chemistry Chemical Physic

Assessment of oxidative metabolism

Oxidative metabolism is one of the central physiological processes that regulate multiple functions in a cell including cell death and survival, proliferation, gene transcription, and protein modification. There are multitudes of techniques that are used to evaluate oxidative activity. Here, we summarize how to measure oxidative activity by flow cytometry. This versatile technique allows the evaluation of the level of oxidative activity within heterogeneous populations of cells and in cell culture. Flow cytometry is a quick method that yields highly reproducible results with small sample volumes. Therefore, it is an ideal technique for evaluating changes in oxidative activity in samples from mice

Revisiting soliton contributions to perturbative amplitudes

Open Access funded by SCOAP3. CP is a Royal Society Research Fellow and partly supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under grants DOE-SC0010008, DOE-ARRA-SC0003883 and DOE-DE-SC0007897. ABR is supported by the Mitchell Family Foundation. We would like to thank the Mitchell Institute at Texas A&M and the NHETC at Rutgers University respectively for hospitality during the course of this work. We would also like to acknowledge the Aspen Center for Physics and NSF grant 1066293 for a stimulating research environment

Зміст та основні цілі стимулювання збуту на підприємстві

Стаття присвячена висвітленню сутності стимулювання підприємства, як важливої складової для забезпечення ефективного його функціонування, а також проаналізовано головні завдання, та основні переваги та недоліки заходів, які використовуються у системі стимулювання збуту. У статті розглянуто зміст стимулювання збуту продукції підприємства, його цілі та завдання. Виявлено, що стимулювання збуту ‒ це система короткострокових спонукальних заходів на тимчасовій або територіальній основі, що чинить вплив на трьох учасників ринку (споживачів, торгових посередників, торговий персонал), яка покликана стимулювати негайне здійснення покупки і прискорений збут продукції. Наведена характеристика сучасних засобів і прийомів стимулювання збуту. Розглянуто класифікацію стимулювання збуту продукції підприємства за виникненням і впливом на покупців. Дістали подальшого розвитку теоретичні положе ння стимулювання збуту, в тому числі визначення його основних напрямків.The article is devoted to highlighting the essence of stimulating the enterprise as an important component for ensuring its effective functioning, and also analyzed the main tasks and the main advantages and disadvantages of those used in the sales promotion system. The article deals with the content of sales’ promotion in the complex of product promotion, its goals and tasks. It is found that sales promotion is a system of short-term incentives on a temporary or territorial basis, affects three market part icipants (consumers, resellers, sales personnel), which is designed to stimulate immediate purchase and accelerated sales. The characteristic of modern means and methods of sales’ promotion is given. The classification of sales promotion in the work on occurrence and influence on buyers is described. The theoretical positions of sales’ promotion were furt her developed, the main directions of sales promotion were established

Quantitative study of hydration of C3S and C2S by thermal analysis. Evolution and composition of C-S-H gels formed

This research is part of a European project (namely, CODICE project), main objective of which is modelling, at a multi-scale, the evolution of the mechanical performance of non-degraded and degraded cementitious matrices. For that, a series of experiments were planned with pure synthetic tri-calcium silicate (C3S) and bi-calcium silicate (C2S) (main components of the Portland cement clinker) to obtain different calcium–silicate–hydrate (C–S–H) gel structures during their hydration. The characterization of those C–S–H gels and matrices will provide experimental parameters for the validation of the multi-scale modelling scheme proposed. In this article, a quantitative method, based on thermal analyses, has been used for the determination of the chemical composition of the C–S–H gel together with the degree of hydration and quantitative evolution of all the components of the pastes. Besides, the microstructure and type of silicate tetrahedron and mean chain length (MCL) were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and 29Si magic-angle-spinning (MAS) NMR, respectively. The main results showed that the chemical compositions for the C–S–H gels have a CaO/SiO2 M ratio almost constant of 1.7 for both C3S and C2S compounds. Small differences were found in the gel water content: the H2O/SiO2 M ratio ranged from 2.9 ± 0.2 to 2.6 ± 0.2 for the C3S (decrease) and from 2.4 ± 0.2 to 3.2 ± 0.2 for the C2S (increase). The MCL values of the C–S–H gels, determined from 29Si MAS NMR, were 3.5 and 4 silicate tetrahedron, for the hydrated C3S and C2S, respectively, remaining almost constant at all hydration periods

Genetic Background Can Result in a Marked or Minimal Effect of Gene Knockout (GPR55 and CB2 Receptor) in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Models of Multiple Sclerosis

PMCID: PMC379391