Historical review and redescription of three poorly known species of the catfish genus Trichomycterus from south-eastern Brazil (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae)

ABSTRACT

This study is primarily directed to the most poorly known species of the genus Trichomycterus, comprising five nominal species (T. florensis, T. immaculatus, T. nigricans, T. paquequerensis and T. santaeritae) endemic to south-eastern Brazil. One of them, T. nigricans, is the type species of the genus, involved in taxonomic problems for over 150 years. A detailed historical review, accompanied by examination of type specimens and recent collections, revealed that the correct type locality of T. nigricans is in the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro, not Santa Catarina as commonly appears in the literature; specimens previously misidentified as T. nigricans from Santa Catarina belong to a possibly undescribed species of the genus Cambeva; T. paquequerensis is a synonym of T. immaculatus, and T. florensis is a synonym of T. santaeritae; and the hypothesis that T. santaeritae is closely related to the Amazon Sarcoglanidinae is refuted. The three valid species are redescribed. These species are members of a clade also including T. caipora that is highly supported by molecular data, diagnosed by a pronounced posterior maxillary process and caudal fin emarginate at least in larger specimens. A subclade comprising T. caipora, T. nigricans and T. santaeritae is diagnosed by a long maxilla and a bifid anterior extremity of hypobranchial 3.     

Babylonian solar theory on the Antikythera mechanism

This article analyzes the angular spacing of the degree marks on the zodiac scale of the Antikythera mechanism and demonstrates that over the entire preserved 88° of the zodiac, the marks are systematically placed too close together to be consistent with a uniform distribution over 360°. Thus, in some other part of the zodiac scale (not preserved), the degree marks have been spaced farther apart. By contrast, the day marks on the Egyptian calendar scale are spaced uniformly, apart from minor errors. A solar equation of center is apparent which rises by nearly 2.7° over the preserved portion of the zodiac. The placement of the degree marks indicates that, in the preserved portion of the zodiac, the Sun was considered to run at a uniform pace of about 30° per synodic month, which is consistent with the Sun’s speed in the fast zone of the Babylonian solar theory of System A.

     

A Proposal for the Automatic Computation of Envelopes of Families of Plane Curves

Journal of Systems Science and Complexity - The idea of envelope of a family of plane curves is an elementary notion in differential geometry. As such, its implementation in dynamic geometry...     

Erratum to: Hesperomyces virescens (Fungi,Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales) attacking Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera,Coccinellidae) in its native range

正Published online:14 March 2014óScience China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014Erratum to:Chin.Sci.Bull.(2014)59(5–6):528–532DOI 10.1007/s11434-013-0060-1In the original publication of this paper,the first name and the last name of the first author has been documented     

New insights on the external features of egg capsules and embryo development in the squid Loligo vulgaris

The embryonic development of the squid Loligo vulgaris was observed from 183 egg masses collected from special devices deployed throughout Cabrera National Park (Baleares Islands, western Mediterranean Sea). Sequence alignment analysis of the cytochrome oxidase I gene revealed that all embryos belonged to L. vulgaris. In total, 549 egg capsules were examined. Viable egg capsules (n = 420) were classified into one of five maturation stages according to the primary external features. The length of the viable egg capsules varied between 40 and 170 mm, and increased with embryonic development. The non-viable capsules (n = 129) were categorized into four groups: I (Ginger root), non-viable II and III, and empty egg capsule (IV). The percentage of non-viable capsules (i.e. grades I, II and III) was 92.25%. Empty capsules accounted for 7.75% of the total non-viable egg capsules. Embryonic development was classified into a second scale of eight stages. Egg capsule stage and embryonic stage were significantly related (n = 420; p < 0.001), facilitating the determination of the embryo developmental phase based on the outward appearance of the egg capsules. The embryo development stage based on the external features of the egg capsules might constitute an innovative tool for in situ embryological data collection. This new method is neither time consuming nor invasive, and could be helpful in fishing cruises, for scuba diving visual census in natural habitats and for laboratory culture. Slight variability in the developmental embryonic stages within egg capsules from the same egg mass was identified. The origin of this asynchrony is discussed. Chronological appearance of organs was similar to that of the six loliginid species previously examined. However, some developmental changes in the timing or rate of events (heterochronies) were observed: Hoyle’s organ was formed earlier in L. vulgaris and the appearance of ventral chromatophores was slightly delayed (2 days) compared with the other species considered.     

Adaptation in the innate immune system and heterologous innate immunity

The innate immune system recognizes deviation from homeostasis caused by infectious or non-infectious assaults. The threshold for its activation seems to be established by a calibration process that includes sensing of microbial molecular patterns from commensal bacteria and of endogenous signals. It is becoming increasingly clear that adaptive features, a hallmark of the adaptive immune system, can also be identified in the innate immune system. Such adaptations can result in the manifestation of a primed state of immune and tissue cells with a decreased activation threshold. This keeps the system poised to react quickly. Moreover, the fact that the innate immune system recognizes a wide variety of danger signals via pattern recognition receptors that often activate the same signaling pathways allows for heterologous innate immune stimulation. This implies that, for example, the innate immune response to an infection can be modified by co-infections or other innate stimuli. This “design feature” of the innate immune system has many implications for our understanding of individual susceptibility to diseases or responsiveness to therapies and vaccinations. In this article, adaptive features of the innate immune system as well as heterologous innate immunity and their implications are discussed.     

Dealing with Distances and Transformations for Fuzzy C-Means Clustering of Compositional Data

Clustering techniques are based upon a dissimilarity or distance measure between objects and clusters. This paper focuses on the simplex space, whose elements??compositions??are subject to non-negativity and constant-sum constraints. Any data analysis involving compositions should fulfill two main principles: scale invariance and subcompositional coherence. Among fuzzy clustering methods, the FCM algorithm is broadly applied in a variety of fields, but it is not well-behaved when dealing with compositions. Here, the adequacy of different dissimilarities in the simplex, together with the behavior of the common log-ratio transformations, is discussed in the basis of compositional principles. As a result, a well-founded strategy for FCM clustering of compositions is suggested. Theoretical findings are accompanied by numerical evidence, and a detailed account of our proposal is provided. Finally, a case study is illustrated using a nutritional data set known in the clustering literature.     

Empirical factors and structure transference: Returning to the London account

We offer a framework to represent the roles of empirical and theoretical factors in theory construction, and examine a case study to illustrate how the framework can be used to illuminate central features of scientific reasoning. The case study provides an extension of French and Ladyman's (1997) analysis of Fritz and Heinz London's model of superconductivity to accommodate the role of the analogy between superconductivity and diamagnetic phenomena in the development of the model between 1935 and 1937. We focus on this case since it allows us to separate the roles of empirical and theoretical factors, and so provides an example of the utility of the approach that we have adopted. We conclude the paper by drawing on the particular framework here developed to address a range of concerns.