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The ecology of palm genomes: repeat-associated genome size expansion is constrained by aridity
Get PDFGenome size varies 2400-fold across plants, influencing their evolution through changes in cell size and cell division rates which impact plants' environmental stress tolerance. Repetitive element expansion explains much genome size diversity, and the processes structuring repeat ‘communities’ are analogous to those structuring ecological communities. However, which environmental stressors influence repeat community dynamics has not yet been examined from an ecological perspective.We measured genome size and leveraged climatic data for 91 of genera within the ecologically diverse palm family (Arecaceae). We then generated genomic repeat profiles for 141 palm species, and analysed repeats using phylogenetically informed linear models to explore relationships between repeat dynamics and environmental factors.We show that palm genome size and repeat ‘community’ composition are best explained by aridity. Specifically, Ty3-gypsy and TIR elements were more abundant in palm species from wetter environments, which generally had larger genomes, suggesting amplification. By contrast, Ty1-copia and LINE elements were more abundant in drier environments.Our results suggest that water stress inhibits repeat expansion through selection on upper genome size limits. However, elements that may associate with stress-response genes (e.g. Ty1-copia) have amplified in arid-adapted palm species. Overall, we provide novel evidence of climate influencing the assembly of repeat ‘communities’
Understanding the nature of face processing in early autism: a prospective study
Get PDFDimensional approaches to psychopathology interrogate the core neurocognitive domains interactingat the individual level to shape diagnostic symptoms. Embedding this approach in prospective longitudinal studies couldtransform our understanding of the mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders. Such designs require us to move beyond traditional group comparisons and determine which domain-specific alterations apply at the level of the individual, and whether they vary across distinct phenotypic subgroups. As a proof of principle, this studyexamineshow the domain of face processingcontributes to the emergenceof Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We used an event-related potentials (ERPs) task in a cohort of 8-month-oldinfants with (n=148) and without (n=68) an older sibling withASD, andcombined traditional case-control comparisonswith machine-learningtechniques for prediction of social traits and ASD diagnosisat 36 months,and Bayesian hierarchical clustering for stratification into subgroups. Abroad profile of alterations in the time-course of neural processing of faces in infancy was predictive oflaterASD, with a strong convergence in ERP features predicting social traits and diagnosis.We identified two main subgroups in ASD,defined by distinct patternsof neural responsestofaces,which differed on latersensory sensitivity. Taken together, our findings suggest that individual differences between infantscontribute to the diffuse pattern of alterations predictive of ASD in the first year of life. Moving from group-level comparisons to pattern recognition and stratification can help to understand and reduce heterogeneity in clinical cohorts, and improve our understanding of the mechanisms that lead to later neurodevelopmental outcomes
Long-term innovation outcomes of university-industry collaborations: the role of ‘bridging’ vs ‘blurring’ boundary spanning practices
Get PDFWe explore the link between the long-term innovation outcomes of university-industry collaborations (UICs) - in particular, whether the UIC has led to further exploitative or exploratory innovation - and the adoption of boundary spanning practices. This extends the current literature on UICs, which has mainly focused on short-term innovation outputs and on the features of boundary spanning individuals and teams. Relying on a unique, purposefully constructed evidence base combining information from 95 semi-structured interviews with participants in 75 UICs and from publicly available databases, we find that adopting a ‘bridging’ approach to boundary spanning – through formal and structured practices and communication procedures – increases the likelihood that the UIC will lead to further exploitative innovation. A ‘blurring’ approach to boundary spanning – through informal practices to de-emphasise boundaries between organisations – increases the likelihood that the UIC will lead to further exploratory innovation. The choice of each boundary spanning approach is in turn influenced by the collaborators’ prior experience with internal knowledge creation and collaborative knowledge co-creation. Management and policy implications are discussed
Red-Light Bases (1953): A cross-temporal contact zone
No full textThis chapter examines the gender politics at play in the cinematic imagination of post-Occupation Japan through the analysis of the controversial film Akasen kichi (Red-Light Bases, Taniguchi Senkichi, 1953). To this end, it focuses on the film’s depiction of the panpan sex worker and the returned soldier—arguably the most symbolic figures of early postwar Japan—and their interactions with other members of the community in a town marked by the presence of an American military base. It argues that, while Taniguchi’s film critically depicts the complex power dynamics at play in this sexual ‘contact zone’, it also works to disavow Japanese men’s responsibility for the war by translocating their moral accountability and trauma onto ‘fallen’ women and the Occupation
Auditory precision hypothesis-L2: dimension-specific relationships between auditory processing and second language learning
Get PDFGrowing evidence suggests a broad relationship between individual differences in auditory processing ability and the rate and ultimate attainment of language acquisition throughout the lifespan, including post-pubertal second language (L2) speech learning. However, little is known about how the precision of processing of specific auditory dimensions relates to the acquisition of specific L2 segmental contrasts. In the context of 100 late Japanese-English bilinguals with diverse profiles of classroom and immersion experience, the current study set out to investigate the link between the perception of several auditory dimensions (F3 frequency, F2 frequency, and duration) in non-verbal sounds and English [r]-[l] perception and production proficiency. Whereas participants' biographical factors (the presence/absence of immersion) accounted for a large amount of variance in the success of learning this contrast, the outcomes were also tied to their acuity to the most reliable, new auditory cues (F3 variation) and the less reliable but already-familiar cues (F2 variation). This finding suggests that individuals can vary in terms of how they perceive, utilize, and make the most of information conveyed by specific acoustic dimensions. When perceiving more naturalistic spoken input, where speech contrasts can be distinguished via a combination of numerous cues, some can attain a high-level of L2 speech proficiency by using nativelike and/or non-nativelike strategies in a complementary fashion
Periodicity and ionisation energies
No full textIssue synopsis: Welcome to the October issue of SSR in Depth, which contains a variety of Science Notes, and articles covering topics including developing learning in biology through the use of a game, luminescence in nature, an explanation of ionisation energy at the atomic level, explaining the 'Greenhouse Effect' and how to avoid misinformation in today's media
Stigma and gaming disorder: should we take a 'glass half full' or 'glass half empty' perspective?
No full textDelegazione apostolica, internati italiani e carità transnazionale in Egitto (1939-1945)
Get PDFOn the eve of the Second World War, there were about 52,462 Italians in Egypt. Fearing that they might represent a fifth column, the British authorities adopted a series of restrictive measures against them, starting in the summer of 1940, including the internment of several thousand civilians and the seizure of part of the community’s property. This article investigates the various aspects of the humanitarian assistance provided to this community by the Apostolic Delegation to Egypt and Palestine during the war, based mainly on the unpublished archives of the pontificate of Pius XII (1939-1958). The delegation intervened in such assistance diplomacy by mobilising a transnational humanitarian network between Egypt, the United States of America and Italy. Our analysis aims to reflect in particular on the role of the Apostolic Delegation in the development of Vatican charity in the Middle East supported financially by North American institutions
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