Many bacterial and archaeal lineages have a history of extensive and ongoing horizontal gene transfer and loss, as evidenced by the large differences in genome content even among otherwise closely related isolates. How ecologically cohesive populations might evolve and be maintained under such conditions of rapid gene turnover has remained controversial. Here we synthesize recent literature dem...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to investigate the joint influence of cognitive demands and large amplitude saccades on spontaneous blink rate. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study and instructed to follow a 60-minute real-life driving circuit while a video camera recorded ocular movements and blinking. Five different complexity levels were predefined i...

We investigated whether visual complexity of novel abstract patterns affects perceived duration. Previous research has reported that complex visual stimuli led to an underestimation of durations. However, to clarify the nature of the time estimation process, it is necessary to establish which component of image complexity, spatial or semantic, plays the critical role. Here we tested the impact ...

This study examined the effects of task complexity on written narrative production under different task complexity conditions by EFL learners at different proficiency levels. Task complexity was manipulated along Robinson’s (2001b) proposed task complexity dimension of Here-and-Now (simple) vs. There-and-Then (complex) in. Accordingly, three specific measures of the written narratives were targ...

the aim of this study is to show that the measures derived from electrocardiogram (ecg) signals many a time perform better than the same measures obtained from heart rate (hr) signals. a comparison was made to investigate how far the nonlinear symbolic dynamics approach helps to characterize the nonlinear properties of ecg signals and hr signals, and thereby discriminate between normal and cong...

There is an error in the Materials and Methods section of this paper. Section 6, “Identification of Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) -derived Genes in Foc1 and Foc4,” should not appear. In addition, Lijia Guo is incorrectly designated as the corresponding author. The correct corresponding authors are: Junsheng Huang ([email protected]), Ming Peng ([email protected]), and Xiaodong Fang (fangxd@g...

Genetic control programs for scrapie in sheep build on solid knowledge of how susceptibility to scrapie is modulated by the prion protein genotype at the level of an individual sheep. In order to satisfactorily analyze the effectivity of control programs at the population level, insight is needed at the flock level, i.e., how the grouping of sheep in flocks affects the population-level transmis...

The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is involved in higher order sensory and sensory-motor integration while the planum temporale/parietal operculum (PT/PO) junction takes part in auditory motion and vestibular processing. Both regions are activated during different types of visual stimulation. Here, we describe the response characteristics of the PCC and PT/PO to basic types of visual motion s...

Hexagrid structural system is an innovated system with structural behavior which is similar to a tubular system. In this paper, a numerical study is conducted to estimate the seismic performance of horizontal hexagrid concerning the combined horizontal and vertical hexagrid, tubular and diagrid structural systems. First 30 and 50 story buildings are modeled using ETABS, then pushover and nonlin...