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Madagascar is one of the world’s foremost biodiversity hotspots with more than 90% of its species endemic to the island. Malagasy carnivorans are one of only four extant terrestrial mammalian clades endemic to Madagascar. Although there are only eight extant species, these carnivorans exhibit remarkable phenotypic and ecological diversity that is often hypothesized to have diversified through an adaptive radiation. Here, we investigated the evolution of skull diversity in Malagasy carnivorans and tested if they exhibited characteristics of convergence and an adaptive radiation. We found that their skull disparity exceeds that of any other feliform family, as their skulls vary widely and strikingly capture a large amount of the morphological variation found across all feliforms. We also found evidence of shared adaptive zones in cranial shape between euplerid subclades and felids, herpestids and viverrids. Lastly, contrary to predictions of adaptive radiation, we found that Malagasy carnivorans do not exhibit rapid lineage diversification and only marginally faster rates of mandibular shape evolution and to a lesser extent cranial shape evolution, compared to other feliforms. These results reveal that exceptional diversification rates are not necessary to generate the striking phenotypic diversity that evolved in carnivorans after their dispersal to and isolation on Madagascar. 

The primary advantage of the high energy ball milling (HEBM) process is its ability to synthesize a homogeneous mixture with submicron (up to nanoscale) particle size. This approach is a viable process for particle size reduction and grain refinement of magnetic powders, which affects their domain structure and by extension the resulting magnetic properties. In this research, we designed a 9-ball milling experiment by keeping the rotational speed constant at 300rpm and varying the ball-to-powder ratio of 5:1, 8:1, and 10:1 for 6hrs, lOhrs, and 14hrs milling times. The strontium ferrite magnetic powders subjected to HEBM were analyzed for crystallite size and behavior via XRD, particle size reduction via SEM/ImageJ software/originLabPro, and magnetic performance via powder-based VSM measurement. The magnetic performance of the ball-milled strontium ferrite powders shows a good combination of appreciable increment in the S-values (a ratio of the remanence to saturation magnetization) and a considerable decline in coercivity (<10% decrease) at 6hrs of milling duration. The particle size obtained at 6hr-8:1BPR is 0.59 µm with about 44% reduction from the 1.05 µm particle size of the unmilled strontium ferrites, which is within the reported single-domain particle critical size (0.5 µm - 0.65 µm). The particle size reduction of 0.59 µm at 6hr-8: lBPR would be beneficial in enabling strong interfacial bonding when the ball­milled strontium ferrite powders are used in polymer-bonded magnets. 

Bonded magnetic composites combine the cost-effectiveness, low density, and manufacturing flexibility of conventional polymer binders with the unique magnetic characteristics of magnetic powders/fillers to form multifunctional magneto polymeric composites that offer superior properties to conventional sintered magnets. In this study, a co-rotating twin screw extruder was used to fabricate 20 and 40 wt.% strontium ferrite/polyamide 4.6 bonded magnetic composites viable for fused filament fabrication 3D printing. The characterization conducted on the bonded magnetic composites was scanning electron microscopy, simultaneous differential thermogravimetry, and vibrating sample magnetometry. The microstructure of the bonded composite exhibited a uniform platelet morphology of the strontium ferrite magnetic particles. There was no observable depreciation in the melting transitions, which suggests a thermally resistant magnetic composite. An appreciable increment in % crystallinity of 13 and 20% for 20wt. % and 40wt. % strontium ferrites bonded magnets were observed. This is attributable to the heterogeneous nucleation phenomenon, where the metal powders act as nucleation sites for increased crystalline domains. The bonded composite exhibited significant magnetic anisotropy, with the remanence (Mr), which is the most important property for magnetic application significantly increasing to 49.8% along the easy direction in comparison to the hard axis. This suggests the viability of the fabricated bonded composites in viable in producing anisotropic bonded magnetic devices, which are considered to exhibit stronger magnetic properties. 

Abstract This study focuses on understanding what drives the previously observed deep nighttime ionospheric hole in the American sector during the January 2013 sudden stratospheric warming (SSW). Performing a set of numerical experiments with the thermosphere‐ionosphere‐mesosphere‐electrodynamics general circulation model (TIME‐GCM) constrained by a high‐altitude version of the Navy Global Environmental Model, we demonstrate that this nighttime ionospheric hole was the result of increased poleward and down magnetic field line plasma motion at low and midlatitudes in response to alteredF‐region neutral meridional winds. Thermospheric meridional wind modifications that produced this nighttime depletion resulted from the well‐known enhancements in semidiurnal tidal amplitudes associated with stratospheric warming (SSWs) in the upper mesosphere and thermosphere. Investigations into other deep nighttime ionospheric depletions and their cause were also considered. Measurements of total electron content from Global Navigation Satellite System receivers and additional constrained TIME‐GCM simulations showed that nighttime ionospheric depletions were also observed on several nights during the January‐February 2010 SSW, which resulted from the same forcing mechanisms as those observed in January 2013. Lastly, the recent January 2021 SSW was examined using Modern‐Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2, COSMIC‐2 Global Ionospheric Specification electron density, and ICON Michelson Interferometer for Global High‐Resolution Thermospheric Imaging horizontal wind data and revealed a deep nighttime ionospheric depletion in the American sector was likely driven by modified meridional winds in the thermosphere. The results shown herein highlight the importance of thermospheric winds in driving nighttime ionospheric variability over a wide latitude range. 

Body size is often hypothesized to facilitate or constrain morphological diversity in the cranial, appendicular, and axial skeletons. However, how overall body shape scales with body size ( i.e. , body shape allometry) and whether these scaling patterns differ between ecological groups remains poorly investigated. Here, we test whether and how the relationships between body shape, body size, and limb lengths differ among species with different locomotor specializations, and describe the underlying morphological components that contribute to body shape evolution among squirrel (Sciuridae) ecotypes. We quantified the body size and shape of 87 squirrel species from osteological specimens held at museum collections. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we first found that body shape and its underlying morphological components scale allometrically with body size, but these allometric patterns differ among squirrel ecotypes: chipmunks and gliding squirrels exhibited more elongate bodies with increasing body sizes whereas ground squirrels exhibited more robust bodies with increasing body size. Second, we found that only ground squirrels exhibit a relationship between forelimb length and body shape, where more elongate species exhibit relatively shorter forelimbs. Third, we found that the relative length of the ribs and elongation or shortening of the thoracic region contributes the most to body shape evolution across squirrels. Overall, our work contributes to the growing understanding of mammalian body shape evolution and how it is influenced by body size and locomotor ecology, in this case from robust subterranean to gracile gliding squirrels.