The common tokay gecko (Gekko gecko gecko) is widely distributed across southern China, Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia. It includes two distinct morphological forms with largely allopatric distributions, which are referred to as the black-spotted tokay and the red-spotted tokay. Considering their different morphological features and distributions, a question has been proposed by taxonomists and still not resolved: do these two forms belong to one subspecies? Previous studies indicated a high genetic variability between them, but did not give a consistent conclusion regarding their taxonomic status. In this work, we employed two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and cytochrome b) and nine microsatellite DNA loci to explore the phylogenetic relationship and population genetic structure in the two forms from southern China and northern Vietnam. MtDNA results revealed four deeply divergent lineages. Redspotted tokays were clustered into one lineage, and black-spotted tokays were clustered into three lineages. Microsatellite DNA results confirmed significant levels of genetic differentiation between the red-spotted tokay lineage and one black-spotted tokay lineage, consistent with the mtDNA pattern. In conclusion, considering both morphological and genetic information, we suggest that the red-spotted tokay lineage and one of the black-spotted tokay lineages have probably differentiated into two subspecies. However, more extensive sampling and genetic information are needed to further understand the taxonomic relationships of tokay gecko, particularly the three lineages within the black-spotted tokay.
What are the novel findings of this work?There is an ongoing debate regarding whether the impact of fetal endoscopic tracheal occlusion (FETO) varies in severe and moderate congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). We demonstrate that FETO is associated with a reduction in mortality, rate of pulmonary hypertension and use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in severe CDH, but reduces only mortality in moderate CDH. In addition, FETO is associated with late preterm birth (but not extreme prematurity) regardless of CDH severity or timing of FETO.
What are the clinical implications of this work?FETO should be recommended primarily for severe CDH to reduce mortality, risk of pulmonary hypertension and ECMO usage. Patients should be informed regarding the increased risk of late prematurity but not of extreme prematurity. Further evaluation is warranted to clarify the risk/benefit ratio of FETO in moderate CDH.
The wide field of view Cherenkov telescope array (WFCTA) of the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) is intended to detect atmospheric Cherenkov light or fluorescence. The photomultiplier tube (PMT) array is designed to enable atmospheric monitoring in real time and telescope calibration. This paper introduces the design of the analog circuit for the PMT array. The analog board has 16 channels, where each channel contains a shaping circuit, a high gain circuit and a low gain circuit. The shaping circuit uses a charge integrating circuit, and the amplifier module is composed of a noninverting amplifier circuit and a full differential amplifier circuit. Test results indicate that the dynamic range of the designed circuit is more than 3.2 orders of magnitude, the small signal resolution is less than 20%, the corresponding resolution of large signals is less than 4%, and the relative deviation from linearity is less than 5%. These performance indicators exceed the requirements of the project.
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