A natural population of Vriesea friburgensis var. paludosa was genetically and demographically characterized. Four selected enzymatic systems were used. In total, 10 allozymic loci were analysed. The proportion of polymorphic loci was 70% and the number of alleles per locus was 2.3· The mean observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.234 and 0.226, respectively. An excess of heterozygotes was revealed by the value of the fixation index (—0.035). These indices showed the presence of high levels of genetic diversity in the population studied. A demographic survey revealed almost six times more vegetative than sexually reproductive plants. Reproductive plants were found only in clusters. The genetic diversity exhibited by this population, associated with vegetative as well as sexual propagation, resulting in clusters or colonies, would allow the employment of a sustainable management strategy for species conservation as well as its exploitation as an ornamental.

The use of plant genetic resources (PGR) in crop improvement, followed by adoption, cultivation and consumption or marketing of the improved cultivars by farmers, is one of the most sustainable methods to conserve valuable genetic resources for the future, and simultaneously to increase agricultural production and food security. The objective of this review is to summarize issues related to the use of PGR in crop improvement. Specific topics are: definition of genetic resources for crop improvement; information sources on the internet; documentation and evaluation of PGR; access to PGR, equitable sharing of profits, and material transfer agreements; impediments to the use of PGR in crop improvement; classical methods of using PGR in crop improvement (introgression, incorporation, prebreeding and wide crosses); use of landraces in breeding for specific adaptation to stress environments; utility of molecular markers and genomic research for using PGR in crop improvement (diversity assessment, mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) and marker-assisted selection (MAS), advanced backcross QTL analysis and introgression libraries, association studies and direct allele selection); and gene transfer. Practical examples or experimental results are given for most aspects.

Comics are one of the paradigmatic forms of hybrid media, and coming up with a satisfactory definition for it has been difficult. Cowling, S. & Wesley D. C. (2022) take a functional approach and offer an Intentional Picture-Reading View which defines comics as something that is “aptly intended to be picture-read.” I show that the view is extensionally inadequate as is because formally ambitious prose and concrete poetry, too, are aptly intended to be picture-read. The way forward, I argue, is to look at more medium-specific non-depictive images (such as speech balloons and panels) to set comics apart from other hybrid media.

This article explores the potential barriers for emerging composers to constructing and maintaining a career in the field of composition in Scotland, viewed through the lens of both those early in their careers and the experience of others who have worked professionally for many years. Thirty-nine composers responded to a survey that highlighted the role of educational mentoring, the need for monetary stability and the challenges faced by female and older emerging composers. The professional lives of current Scottish composers have been seldom studied, and the purpose of this investigation is to explore, inform and provide suggestions for future consideration.

The COVID-19 pandemic had an unprecedented impact on healthcare systems and exists globally. To control pandemic progression, COVID-19 vaccines were developed and licensed for use in the adult population in early 2021 and became available in paediatric cohorts several months later. Since then, several studies have reported adverse events and severe adverse events in the adult and paediatric cohorts. The question remains whether there exists a significant risk to paediatric COVID-19 vaccination. This study reviews the classification and presentation of severe adverse events and discusses relevant reports in the literature. An emphasis is put on cardiovascular severe adverse events and adverse events. This paper also provides current and future perspectives relative to the pandemic, its control, and the future of vaccine immunology.

Wild bees (Hymenoptera) that visit croplands rely on adjacent habitat to provide essential resources such as pollen, nectar, and nesting locations. This study compared wild bee assemblages on salt marshes and dykes, two coastal habitats proximal to cropland in Nova Scotia, Canada. We hypothesised that dykes would have a greater wild bee abundance and richness compared to salt marshes due to greater floral abundance and richness and nesting habitat availability. Wild bee richness and abundance differences between habitats were not significant. Most notably, Bombus (Latreille) and Megachildae (Latreille) bees were observed visiting a wind-pollinated salt marsh grass, Sporobolus michauxianus (Peterson and Saarela) (Poaceae). Several notable species were also observed, including the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada species of concern, Bombus terricola (Kirby) (Hymenoptera: Apidae), and Lasioglossum taylorae (Gibbs) (Hymenoptera: Halictidae), a first Nova Scotia record. Floral abundance and richness were significantly greater in dyke habitats. These results contradict other studies that indicate a tight relationship between wild bees and floral abundance and richness. To help conserve these wild bees and their contributions to agriculture, more research is needed to understand how these species use salt marshes and dykes.

Proteins are vital biological macromolecules that execute biological functions and form the core of synthetic biological systems. The history of de novo protein has evolved from initial successes in subordinate structural design to more intricate protein creation, challenging the complexities of natural proteins. Recent strides in protein design have leveraged computational methods to craft proteins for functions beyond their natural capabilities. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have emerged as a crucial tool for comprehending the structural and dynamic properties of de novo-designed proteins. In this study, we examined the pivotal role of MD simulations in elucidating the sampling methods, force field, water models, stability, and dynamics of de novo-designed proteins, highlighting their potential applications in diverse fields. The synergy between computational modeling and experimental validation continued to play a crucial role in the creation of novel proteins tailored for specific functions and applications.

Quantifying the causal effects of race is one of the more controversial and consequential endeavors to have emerged from the causal revolution in the social sciences. The predominant view within the causal inference literature defines the effect of race as the effect of race perception and commonly equates this effect with “disparate treatment” racial discrimination. If these concepts are indeed equivalent, the stakes of these studies are incredibly high as they stand to establish or discredit claims of discrimination in courts, policymaking circles and public opinion. This paper interrogates the assumptions upon which this enterprise has been built. We ask: what is a perception of race, a perception of, exactly? Drawing on a rich tradition of work in critical race theory and social psychology on racial cognition, we argue that perception of race and perception of other decision-relevant features of an action situation are often co-constituted; hence, efforts to distinguish and separate these effects from each other are theoretically misguided. We conclude that empirical studies of discrimination must turn to defining what constitutes just treatment in light of the social differences that define race.

One of the most prominent problems related to biological invasions is the variation of local species composition, which often leads to ex novo interspecific interactions. Here, we explored and analysed the native species composition of gall inducers and their associated parasitoids and inquilines in Spanish areas invaded by Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu 1951 (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae), an invasive pest of chestnut trees. After a quantitative description of these species' assemblages, we analysed through bipartite networks the level of the trophic specialisation of parasitoids and inquilines when considering either the host taxonomic identity, the host plant species or the host gall morphological type. We sampled galls of D. kuriphilus and native species of Cynipidae in different Spanish areas, including those where the exotic parasitoid Torymus sinensis Kamijo 1982 (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) had been released for D. kuriphilus biological control. The results indicate that the native parasitoids recruited by D. kuriphilus come almost exclusively from native communities on Quercus galls, except for one species from Rosa. Galls of D. kuriphilus had the second most diverse species composition; despite this species assemblage arose ex novo in less than a decade. The bipartite networks resulted more specialised when considering host plant taxa than when gall types and the host taxa were accounted. In such trophic webs, there were few parasitoid/inquiline specialist and many generalist species, which agrees with the rapid recruitment by D. kuriphilus. Higher parasitoid species richness in D. kuriphilus galls is likely due to their being a largely unexploited available resource for the native natural enemies of cynipid wasps.

Tima has a typologically unusual 12-vowel advanced tongue root (ATR) harmony system, contrasting six [+ATR] vowels /i e ɨ ʌ o u/ with six [−ATR] vowels /ɪ ɛ ɘ a ɔ ʊ/. This harmony system provides a test case for generalisations about ATR systems: for example, that [−ATR] is less compatible with higher vowels; that [+ATR] is less compatible with lower vowels and that central vowels are incompatible with [ATR] systems. After showing that all vowels participate fully in ATR harmony, this article presents an acoustic study of the Tima ATR contrast. We show that /ʌ/, the [+ATR] counterpart of /a/, patterns as a mid vowel, and that duration and voice quality differences characterise Tima’s crowded vowel inventory. Though F1 is the primary individual correlate of the ATR contrast, as is true cross-linguistically, a number of measures support voice quality differences as well, as predicted by the Laryngeal Articulator Model account of ATR systems.

Optical microrobots are activated by a laser in a liquid medium using optical tweezers. To create visual control loops for robotic automation, this work describes a deep learning-based method for orientation estimation of optical microrobots, focusing on detecting 3-D rotational movements and localizing microrobots and trapping points (TPs). We integrated and fine-tuned You Only Look Once (YOLOv7) and Deep Simple Online Real-time Tracking (DeepSORT) algorithms, improving microrobot and TP detection accuracy by $\sim 3$% and $\sim 11$%, respectively, at the 0.95 Intersection over Union (IoU) threshold in our test set. Additionally, it increased mean average precision (mAP) by 3% at the 0.5:0.95 IoU threshold during training. Our results showed a 99% success rate in trapping events with no false-positive detection. We introduced a model that employs EfficientNet as a feature extractor combined with custom convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and feature fusion layers. To demonstrate its generalization ability, we evaluated the model on an independent in-house dataset comprising 4,757 image frames, where microrobots executed simultaneous rotations across all three axes. Our method provided mean rotation angle errors of $1.871^\circ$, $2.308^\circ$, and $2.808^\circ$ for X (yaw), Y (roll), and Z (pitch) axes, respectively. Compared to pre-trained models, our model provided the lowest error in the Y and Z axes while offering competitive results for X-axis. Finally, we demonstrated the explainability and transparency of the model’s decision-making process. Our work contributes to the field of microrobotics by providing an efficient 3-axis orientation estimation pipeline, with a clear focus on automation.