Eudicot phylogenetics: new publication from Mike Moore

Sun Y; Moore Michael J, Associate Professor of Biology; Zhang S; Soltis PS; Soltis DE; Zhao T; Meng A; Li X; Li J; Wang H. 2016. Phylogenomic and structural analyses of 18 complete plastomes across nearly all families of early-diverging eudicots, including an angiosperm-wide analysis of IR gene content evolution. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 96:93-101

http://tinyurl.com/ISSN1055-7903

Partial abstract:  The grade of early-diverging eudicots includes five major lineages: Ranunculales, Trochodendrales, Buxales, Proteales and Sabiaceae. To examine the evolution of plastome structure in early-diverging eudicots, we determined the complete plastome sequences of eight previously unsequenced early-diverging eudicot taxa… and compared them to previously published plastomes of the early-diverging eudicots… Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis of a 79-gene, 97-taxon data set that included all available early-diverging eudicots and representative sampling of remaining angiosperm diversity largely agreed with previous estimates of early-diverging eudicot relationships.

Full text at OhioLINK EJC or Sciencedirect.com

Best Book Return of the Day: Body by Darwin

Science library: QH366.2 .T374 2015

We are frequently distracted by books just returned by a library borrower.  Today it was Body by Darwin that caught my attention - how evolution shapes our health and transforms medicine. Author Jeremy Taylor states, "I do try to describe the deep evolutionary background to some human medical conditions and to explain why they exist in the first place... [to] leave readers with a new respect for evolution as the prime mover for the structure and function of human bodies, even if it does, on occasion, cause them to break down and drive us into the ER!"

It is fascinating reading for Spring Break - from barefoot running (don't try this without understanding the importance of pace and posture) to neuroimmune responses that contribute to developing Alzheimer's, and the multiple, negative impacts of depleting "old friends" microbiota in the human body, better understanding of human evolution is giving remarkable insights into the cause, prevention and treatment of ailments.   Check it out!

Itchin' for Spring Break? Get Into the Swing of It.

If your spring break plans include a bit of golf, consider taking this book with you:

The science of the perfect swing / Peter Dewhurst.  Now on the new book shelf.

Does spring bring thoughts of baseball opening day?  You might like to know something about that science of that sport:

Physics of baseball & softball / Rod Cross
online at Springer books, access through OBIS.

Wherever you're going, here's hoping that you'll have time for relaxation and renewal.  There are some delightful titles on the new book shelf that can entertain and enlighten you through the week ahead.  Skunk, for example.  Goodness knows they are becoming more active this time of year.  Find out why in this book from the Reaktion Animal series.

Crystal structure, pulsar timing: new publications from faculty and alumni

Lai, Holden W. H. '15, Ren A. Wisconsin '15, Cassandra A. Zentner '13, M. Zeller, and Jesse L. C. Rowsell ✝ 2016. Supramolecular Assembly of Tris(4-carboxyphenyl)arenes: Relationship between Molecular Structure and Solid-State Catenation Motifs. Crystal Growth & Design 16:821-833.

abbreviated abstract:
The crystal structures of seven 1,3,5-tris(4-carboxyphenyl)arenes with functionalized central arene rings are reported... To better understand and appreciate these complicated crystal structures, they were categorized into four distinct stacking/catenation families: simple stacking, single-layer offset catenation, double-layer offset catenation, and rotated-layer catenation. The unique structure of the unfunctionalized parent compound 1,3,5-tris(4-carboxyphenyl)benzene is rationalized in light of the structural behavior of its derivatives.   ✝ deceased
subscriber access at American Chemical Society

Cordes, J. M., R. M. Shannon, and Daniel R. Stinebring. 2016. Frequency-Dependent Dispersion Measures and Implications for Pulsar Timing. Astrophysical Journal 817:16.
abbreviated abstract:
The dispersion measure (DM), the column density of free electrons to a pulsar, is shown to be frequency dependent because of multipath scattering from small-scale electron-density fluctuations. DMs vary between propagation paths whose transverse extent varies strongly with frequency, yielding arrival times that deviate from the highfrequency scaling ... We discuss implications for methodologies that use large frequency separations or wide bandwidth receivers for timing measurements. Chromatic DMs are partially mitigable by including an additional chromatic term in arrival time models. Without mitigation, an additional term in the noise model for pulsar timing is implied. In combination with measurement errors from radiometer noise, an arbitrarily large increase in total frequency range (or bandwidth) will yield diminishing benefits and may be detrimental to overall timing precision.
subscriber access at Institute of Physics IOPScience