First North African record of a melanistic common genet (Genetta genetta Linnaeus, 1758)

The common genet (Genetta genetta Linnaeus, 1758) is a rare and protected mammal species in Algeria. We report the first melanistic individual of this species ever recorded in North Africa. Such animals have only been recorded in Spain and Portugal so far. It is unclear why melanistic common genets seem to be so rare in its African range. More research is needed to determine the true occurrence of melanistic individuals, and what the evolutionary history of melanism is in common genets.

Are all RR Lyrae stars modulated?

We analyzed 151 variables previously classified as fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars from Campaigns 01–04 of the Kepler two-wheel (K2) archive. By employing a method based on the application of systematics filtering with the aid of co-trending light curves in the presence of a large amplitude signal component, we searched for additional Fourier signals in the close neighborhood of the fundamental period. We found only 13 stars without such components, yielding the highest rate of modulated (Blazhko) stars detected so far (91 %). A detection efficiency test suggests that this occurrence rate likely implies a 100 % underlying rate. Furthermore, the same test performed on a subset of the Large Magellanic Cloud RR Lyrae stars from the MACHO archive shows that the conjecture of high true occurrence rate fits well to the low observed rate derived from this database.

Is Congenital Syphilis Really Congenital Syphilis?

Detroit has recently been distinguished as having the highest congenital syphilis rate in the United States (250.3 cases per100 000live births in Detroit versus 10.3 in the US). However, depending on each health department's followup and CDC reporting, these data may not accurately reflect the true congenital syphilis rate. This study examines the reported cases over a three-year time period with focus on the criteria used for diagnosis. All local health department congenital syphilis CDC collection forms (form 73.126) were reviewed for the years in question. The reported congenital syphilis cases in the year 2002–2004 in Detroit were reviewed. No cases met confirmed case criteria and few probable cases were based on neonatal evaluations. The majority of “congenital syphilis” cases were established based on incomplete maternal data such as missing followup serologic titers in the absence of complete neonatal information. In conclusion, although the reported congenital syphilis rate in Detroit is alarmingly high, the true occurrence of congenital syphilis is likely to have been overstated. A health department reporting program that includes more diligent neonatal followup would allow for a more accurate representation of this public health concern.

Heterogeneity, Spatial Population Dynamics, and the Migration Rate

The literature on the impacts of heterogeneity and selection in population analysis has been limited largely to the conventional unistate perspective in which only decrements are considered; and their temporal (selectivity) impacts on independent subpopulations examined. In this paper, the focus is on the evolutionary dynamics of (multistate) multiregional populations whose interdependent subpopulations can experience increments as well as decrements. It is shown that in such instances migration rates that are not true occurrence-exposure rates are ambiguous, because they depend on the relative weightings existing during the initial model-fitting period. Net migration rates, lifetime migration rates, and return migration proportions all are imperfect measures of migration propensities, and their use as input measures to an analysis should be avoided whenever possible.