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The invasive parasitic fly, Philornis downsi (Muscidae), is one of the greatest threats to the avifauna of the Galapagos Islands. The larvae of this fly feed on the blood and tissues of developing nestlings of at least 18 endemic and native birds. The aim of the current study was to investigate biotic and abiotic factors that may influence the population dynamics of this invasive parasite. To study the influence of vegetation zone and related climatic factors on fly numbers, a bi-weekly monitoring program using papaya-baited traps was carried out at a dry, lowland site and at a humid, highland site on Santa Cruz Island between 2012-2014. Female flies, a large proportion of which were inseminated and gravid, were collected throughout the year at both sites, indicating females were active during and between the bird breeding seasons. This is the first evidence that female flies are able to persist even when hosts are scarce. On the other hand, catch rates of male flies declined between bird breeding seasons. Overall, catch rates of P. downsi were higher in the drier, lowland habitat, which may be a consequence of host or resource availability. Time was a stronger predictor of adult fly numbers than climate, further suggesting that P. downsi does not appear to be limited by its environment, but rather by host availability. Seasonal catch rates suggested that populations in both habitats were continuous and multivoltine. Numbers of adult female flies appeared to be regulated chiefly by simple direct density dependence, and may be governed by availability of bird nests with nestlings. Nevertheless, confounding factors such as the existence of reservoir hosts that perpetuate fly populations and changes in behavior of P. downsi may increase the vulnerability of bird hosts that are already IUCN red-listed or in decline.

Islands offer invaluable opportunities for studying evolutionary processes due to their isolation and distinct environmental conditions. The Galapagos Islands, renowned for their rich biodiversity, host several endemic gecko species of the genus Phyllodactylus (Gekkota: Phyllodactylidae). Despite their importance derived from their specialized adaptations and their crucial role in maintaining ecosystem balance, few studies have been conducted on these geckos. This highlights the need for comprehensive genomic research to understand their evolutionary patterns and population dynamics. This study elucidates the genetic diversity and population structure of six endemic Phyllodactylus species found on four human-inhabited islands in the Galapagos using a RAD-Seq approach. The analysis of over 9000 loci from 93 individuals revealed five distinct genetic clusters, corresponding to P. baurii, P. galapagensis, P. darwini, P. leei , and a combined cluster of P. simpsoni and P. andysabini . Our results indicate that P. galapagensis clusters with the combined P. simpsoni–P. andysabini group, while P. baurii shows close genetic relationships with both clusters, in accordance with the obtained phylogeny and the sequential emergence of the Galapagos Islands where each species is found. Substantial genetic differentiation was observed between species, with high F ST and D XY values. However, our analyses indicate that gecko populations from across Isabela and Fernandina islands exhibit very low genetic differentiation, leading us to propose the synonymization of P. andysabini with P. simpsoni . Within-species population structure was associated with geographic barriers and gene flow restrictions. Surprisingly, human activity does not appear to be causing significant admixture among these populations; instead, population boundaries remain intact, indicating that geographic or behavioral barriers are stronger than human influences in limiting gene flow. Overall, we found low genetic diversity across species, probably due to their endemic nature and island isolation. This genomic study provides insights into the evolutionary dynamics shaping these unique geckos and highlights the importance of employing high-resolution genomic tools in insular ecosystems for their effective conservation and management.

The invasive parasitic fly, Philornis downsi (Muscidae), is one of the greatest threats to the avifauna of the Galapagos Islands. The larvae of this fly feed on the blood and tissues of developing nestlings of at least 18 endemic and native birds. The aim of the current study was to investigate biotic and abiotic factors that may influence the population dynamics of this invasive parasite. To study the influence of vegetation zone and related climatic factors on fly numbers, a bi-weekly monitoring program using papaya-baited traps was carried out at a dry, lowland site and at a humid, highland site on Santa Cruz Island between 2012-2014. Female flies, a large proportion of which were inseminated and gravid, were collected throughout the year at both sites, indicating females were active during and between the bird breeding seasons. This is the first evidence that female flies are able to persist even when hosts are scarce. On the other hand, catch rates of male flies declined between bird breeding seasons. Overall, catch rates of P. downsi were higher in the drier, lowland habitat, which may be a consequence of host or resource availability. Time was a stronger predictor of adult fly numbers than climate, further suggesting that P. downsi does not appear to be limited by its environment, but rather by host availability. Seasonal catch rates suggested that populations in both habitats were continuous and multivoltine. Numbers of adult female flies appeared to be regulated chiefly by simple direct density dependence, and may be governed by availability of bird nests with nestlings. Nevertheless, confounding factors such as the existence of reservoir hosts that perpetuate fly populations and changes in behavior of P. downsi may increase the vulnerability of bird hosts that are already IUCN red-listed or in decline.

Genome instability is a common feature of human cancer, contributing both to tumorigenesis itself, and to disease outcome. Transcription of the genome directly contributes to genome instability, particularly under conditions producing transcription stress. Various transcriptional impediments promote genome instability, in part, by leading to aberrant accumulation of RNA:DNA hybrid structures (R-loops) and associated DNA damage. The RB1 tumor suppressor actively maintains genome stability by suppressing inappropriate DNA replication, by facilitating DNA repair and by promoting mitotic fidelity. Although Rb1 broadly regulates transcription, it is unknown whether RB1 also maintains genome stability in part by limiting the impact of transcription stress. Here, acute genetic deletion of the RNA processing factor Thoc1 is used as a model for inducing transcription stress in the presence or absence of Rb1 deletion. The effects of deletion are investigated in Rosa26CreERT2/+ transgenic mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) using tamoxifen-mediated recombination of floxed alleles. In spontaneously immortalized MEFs, acute Rb1 deletion increases global transcription rate and R-loop accumulation, suggesting that RB1 normally suppresses accumulation of R-loops, in part, by repressing transcription. These data support the possibility that RB1 defends genome stability in part by limiting the potential impact of transcription-related stress. Combined deletion of Rb1 and Thoc1 in an immortal MEF cell line leads to an early loss of proliferative capacity and an exaggerated DNA damage response to THOC1 loss compared to Thoc1 deletion alone. Thus, in immortal MEFs, RB1 may limit both the potential for R-loop-mediated transcription stress, and the toxicity of genetically induced transcription stress. Unlike immortal MEFs, early passage primary MEFs possess normal checkpoint function and maintain a diploid genome. In primary MEFs, Rb1 deletion alone confers a proliferative advantage, facilitating G1/S progression and early tetraploidization. Deletion of Thoc1 alone impedes proliferation, inducing a DNA damage response and cell death, without inducing early tetraploidization. Deleting Rb1 and Thoc1 in combination leads to more widespread tetraploidization than Rb1 deletion alone and more rapid cell loss than Thoc1 deletion alone. Overexpression of the R-loop-resolving enzyme RNASEH1 appears to suppress early tetraploidization after Rb1 deletion alone, and after Rb1/Thoc1 co-deletion. Thus, in primary MEFs, RB1 is required to suppress early tetraploidization due to acute transcription stress. Since tetraploidy facilitates genomic instability and tumor evolution, these data encourage the hypothesis that RB1 suppresses tumorigenesis in part by limiting the genomic impact of transcription stress. Altogether, the present findings further support a growing body of evidence that transcription stress is a central player in the genomic instability enabling oncogenesis and cancer progression.

In this paper, a method to exactly sample the trajectories of inverse subordinators (in the sense of the finite dimensional distributions), jointly with the undershooting or overshooting process, is provided. The method applies to general subordinators with infinite activity. The (random) running times of these algorithms have finite moments and explicit bounds for the expectations are provided. Additionally, the Monte Carlo approximation of functionals of subdiffusive processes (in the form of time-changed Feller processes) is considered where a central limit theorem and the Berry-Esseen bounds are proved. The approximation of time-changed Itô diffusions is also studied. The strong error, as a function of the time step, is explicitly evaluated demonstrating the strong convergence, and the algorithm's complexity is provided. The Monte Carlo approximation of functionals and its properties for the approximate method is studied as well.

Advanced basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) are driven by the Hedgehog (HH) pathway and often possess inherent resistance to SMO inhibitors. Identifying and targeting pathways that bypass SMO could provide alternative treatments for patients with advanced or metastatic BCC. Here, we use a combination of RNA-sequencing analysis of advanced human BCC tumor-normal pairs and immunostaining of human and mouse BCC samples to identify an MTOR expression signature in BCC. Pharmacological inhibition of MTOR activity in BCC cells significantly reduces cell proliferation without affecting HH signaling. Similarly, treatment of the Ptch1fl/fl; Gli1-CreERT2 mouse BCC tumor model with everolimus reduces tumor growth. aPKC, a downstream target of MTOR, shows reduced activity, suggesting that MTOR promotes tumor growth by activating aPKC and demonstrating that suppressing MTOR could be a promising target for BCC patients. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) are excellent biocontrol agents and stimulators of plant growth, nutrition, and production. Therefore, these plant-associated bacteria are considered an excellent alternative to reduce or eliminate the use of toxic agrochemicals. In this work, we review the current state of the beneficial mechanisms (direct and indirect), including the production of antibiotic compounds and enzymes, facilitation of resource acquisition, or production of stimulating phytohormones/metabolites. Some aspects of the formulation technology and bioinoculant efficiency of diverse PGPBs (e.g., rhizobacteria, phyllobacteria and endophytic bacteria) in the field are also discussed. However, the commercialization and application of these biological agents in agriculture occur mainly in developed countries, limiting their success in developing regions. The possible causes of the delay in the application of bioinoculants for sustainable agriculture and the plausible solutions are also discussed in this study. Finally, the use of PGPBs is currently a priority for sustainable production in agriculture.

In this work, the Duffing’s type analytical frequency–amplitude relationship for nonlinear oscillators is derived by using Hés formulation and Jacobi elliptic functions. Comparison of the numerical results obtained from the derived analytical expression using Jacobi elliptic functions with respect to the exact ones is performed by considering weak and strong Duffing’s nonlinear oscillators.

Understanding how environmental variables influence biofilm formation becomes relevant for managing Vibrio biofilm-related infections in shrimp production. Therefore, we evaluated the impact of temperature, time, and initial inoculum in the biofilm development of these two Vibrio species using a multifactorial experimental design. Planktonic growth inhibition and inhibition/eradication of Vibrio biofilms, more exactly V . parahaemolyticus (VP87 and VP275) and V . cholerae (VC112) isolated from shrimp farms were evaluated by Eucalyptus and Guava aqueous leaf extracts and compared to tetracycline and ceftriaxone. Preliminary results showed that the best growth conditions of biofilm development for V . parahaemolyticus were 24 h and 24°C ( p <0.001), while V . cholerae biofilms were 72 h and 30°C ( p <0.001). Multivariate linear regression ANOVA was applied using colony-forming unit (CFU) counting assays as a reference, and R-squared values were applied as goodness-of-fit measurements for biofilm analysis. Then, both plant extracts were analyzed with HPLC using double online detection by diode array detector (DAD) and mass spectrometry (MS) for the evaluation of their chemical composition, where the main identified compounds for Eucalyptus extract were cypellogin A, cypellogin B, and cypellocarpin C, while guavinoside A, B, and C compounds were the main compounds for Guava extract. For planktonic growth inhibition, Eucalyptus extract showed its maximum effect at 200 μg/mL with an inhibition of 75% ( p < 0.0001) against all Vibrio strains, while Guava extract exhibited its maximum inhibition at 1600 μg/mL with an inhibition of 70% ( p < 0.0001). Both biofilm inhibition and eradication assays were performed by the two conditions (24 h at 24°C and 72 h at 30°C) on Vibrio strains according to desirability analysis. Regarding 24 h at 24°C, differences were observed in the CFU counting between antibiotics and plant extracts, where both plant extracts demonstrated a higher reduction of viable cells when compared with both antibiotics at 8x, 16x, and 32x MIC values (Eucalyptus extract: 1600, 3200, and 6400 μg/mL; while Guava extract: 12800, 25600, and 52000 μg/mL). Concerning 72 h at 30°C, results showed a less notorious biomass inhibition by Guava leaf extract and tetracycline. However, Eucalyptus extract significantly reduced the total number of viable cells within Vibrio biofilms from 2x to 32x MIC values (400–6400 μg/mL) when compared to the same MIC values of ceftriaxone (5–80 μg/mL), which was not able to reduce viable cells. Eucalyptus extract demonstrated similar results at both growth conditions, showing an average inhibition of approximately 80% at 400 μg/mL concentration for all Vibrio isolates ( p < 0.0001). Moreover, eradication biofilm assays demonstrated significant eradication against all Vibrio strains at both growth conditions, but biofilm eradication values were substantially lower. Both extract plants demonstrated a higher reduction of viable cells when compared with both antibiotics at 8x, 16x, and 32x MIC values at both growth sets, where Eucalyptus extract at 800 μg/mL reduced 70% of biomass and 90% of viable cells for all Vibrio strains ( p < 0.0001). Overall results suggested a viable alternative against vibriosis in the shrimp industry in Ecuador.

The concert, titled \"Music for a Summer's Eve,\" is a farewell concert for [Rebecca Matteson], who is retiring from her position as director of music at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in New Britain and is moving to New York state. Their daughter, Laura Williams, and her husband, Greg Williams, of South Hadley, Mass., will join the Mattesons in Wednesday's concert. Greg Williams is a singer who will teach instrument classes in Granby, Mass., this fall. Laura Williams is an oboist and public school music teacher in Enfield. The concert will feature the Mattesons' favorite music for piano duets, organ and piano and a new piece for four hands on the church's Austin pipe organ. [Richard Matteson] AND REBECCA MATTESON of West Hartford rehearse last week at Central Baptist Church in Hartford, where they will perform their last concert together on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.