Atlantic Forest White Morpho butterflies, currently classified as Morpho epistrophus and M. iphitus, are endemic to the Atlantic Forest, where they are widely distributed throughout heterogeneous environmental conditions. Studies with endemic butterflies allow to elucidate questions on both patterns of diversity distribution and current and past processes acting on insect groups in this biodiversity hotspot. In the present study, we characterized one mtDNA marker (COI sequences) and developed 11 polymorphic loci of microsatellite for 22 sampling locations distributed throughout the entire Atlantic Forest domain.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/VX-770.html  We investigated both the taxonomic limits of taxa classified as White Morpho and the structure and distribution of the genetic diversity throughout their populations. Genetic markers and distribution data failed to identify species diversification, population structure, or isolation among subpopulations attributed to different taxa proposed for the White Morpho, suggesting that the current distinction between two species is unreasonable. The Bayesian coalescent tree based on COI sequences also failed to recover monophyletic clades for the putative species, and pointed instead to a north-south oriented pattern of genetic structure, with the northern clade coalescing later than the southern clade. Northern samples also showed more intragroup structure than southern samples based on mtDNA data. Clustering tests based on microsatellites indicated the existence of three genetic clusters, with turnover between the states of Paraná and São Paulo. The north-south pattern found for the White Morpho populations is showed for the first time to a endemic AF insect and coincides with the two different bioclimatic domains previously described for vertebrates and plants. Population structure observed for these butterflies is related to climate- and landscape-associated variables, mainly precipitation and elevation.Dinoflagellates in the family Symbiodiniaceae are intensively investigated as algal symbionts of corals and other invertebrates, underpinning coral reef ecosystems as primary producers. Diversity, including regional diversification, of free-living communities is less studied. In this study, an environmental Symbiodiniaceae community at an isolated island, Okinotori Island, Japan, was investigated to determine whether the community is endemic or common with other locations near continents and major ocean currents. Symbiotic algae in common corals at the island were the same type as those of the corals from other Japanese waters. In the environmental samples, genera Symbiodinium (formerly clade A), Cladocopium (clade C), Durusdinium (clade D), and clades F (including Freudenthalidium), G, and I, were identified through analysis of internal transcribed spacer region 2 of nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (ITS2) sequences. Interestingly, some sequences found were genetically different from those of previously reported genera/clades. These unknown sequences were genetically included in the Symbiodiniaceae linage, but they were differentiated from the previously known nine clades. The sequences formed a cluster in the phylogenetic tree based on 28S nrDNA. These sequences were thus considered members of a novel clade in the family (clade J). In total, 120 kinds of ITS2 sequences were produced; while 10 were identical to previously reported sequences, the majority were highly divergent. These genetically unique Symbiodiniaceae types, including novel clade J, may have evolved in isolation and reflect the environmental characteristics of the Okinotori Island.Parent-child synchrony of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) varies by risk, but novel approaches are needed to capture individual contributions to synchrony. Multilevel state-trait modeling was applied to examine how parental psychological distress and parent and child average RSA during challenge (reflecting individual regulatory capacities) shaped RSA synchrony in mother-child (n = 71) and father-child (n = 47) interactions. RSA synchrony was curvilinear such that greater in-the-moment RSA reactivity in one partner prompted greater reactivity in the other. Higher risk (lower average RSA; higher distress) predicted in-the-moment RSA withdrawal to partner RSA changes, whereas lower risk (higher average RSA; lower distress) predicted in-the-moment RSA augmentation. In some models, one's higher average RSA prompted the partner's greater reactivity and thus synchrony when parental distress was higher. However, the presence and direction of synchrony was not consistently adaptive nor maladaptive across models, suggesting its meaning relies on theory and the parent and risk factors in question.The present study investigated whether the presence of a romantic partner in daily life is associated with attenuated sympathetic nervous system responses. Additionally, romantic attachment style was tested as a moderator. For one day, 106 heterosexual young adult dating couples wore ambulatory sensors that monitored electrodermal activity (EDA) - an index of sympathetic arousal. Couples reported whether they were together or apart for every hour of the data collection day. Men and women exhibited lower EDA during hours in which their partner was present compared to hours in which they were absent. Additionally, romantic attachment style moderated this association; those who had low anxious attachment showed a stronger attenuating effect of partner presence compared to those with higher anxious attachment. Similarly, those who had low avoidant attachment showed heightened effects of partner presence compared to those with higher avoidant attachment. Romantic partner presence may facilitate everyday health-promoting physiological processes.
  The aims of this study were to investigate the dynamic changes in the vena contracta (VC) and proximal isovelocity surface area (PISA) through systole in patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and tricuspid regurgitation and to identify the stage of systole (early, mid, or late) in which VC and PISA radius are optimal.
 
  Twenty-eight patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome were prospectively studied using continuous two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography. Two-dimensional VC width, 3D VC area, and PISA radii (2D and 3D) were measured frame by frame throughout systole. The maximal 2D VC width, 3D VC area, and PISA radii in the first, middle, and last thirds of systole were compared, and correlations were explored with 3D tricuspid annular areas, right atrial volumes, and right ventricular volumes.
 
  In all, 35 data sets that met inclusion criteria were analyzed. On frame-by-frame analysis, maximal 2D VC width and 3D VC area were found in the first third of systole in 17% and 20% of studies, in the second third in 34% and 31%, and in the final third in 49% and 49%.