Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Article (18)
- Part of Periodical (1)
- Working Paper (1)
Has Fulltext
- yes (20)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (20) (remove)
Keywords
- adaptation (20) (remove)
Institute
- Medizin (5)
- Institut für Ökologie, Evolution und Diversität (3)
- Biodiversität und Klima Forschungszentrum (BiK-F) (1)
- Center for Financial Studies (CFS) (1)
- Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) (1)
- Geowissenschaften (1)
- Gesellschaftswissenschaften (1)
- House of Finance (HoF) (1)
- Institut für Sozialforschung (IFS) (1)
- Institut für sozial-ökologische Forschung (ISOE) (1)
Environmental gradients have emerged as important barriers to structuring populations and species distributions. We set out to test whether the strong salinity gradient from the marine North Sea to the brackish Baltic Sea in northern Europe represents an ecological and genetic break, and to identify life history traits that correlate with the strength of this break. We accumulated mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 sequence data, and data on the distribution, salinity tolerance, and life history for 28 species belonging to the Cnidaria, Crustacea, Echinodermata, Mollusca, Polychaeta, and Gastrotricha. We included seven non-native species covering a broad range of times since introduction, in order to gain insight into the pace of adaptation and differentiation. We calculated measures of genetic diversity and differentiation across the environmental gradient, coalescent times, and migration rates between North and Baltic Sea populations, and analyzed correlations between genetic and life history data. The majority of investigated species is either genetically differentiated and/or adapted to the lower salinity conditions of the Baltic Sea. Species exhibiting population structure have a range of patterns of genetic diversity in comparison with the North Sea, from lower in the Baltic Sea to higher in the Baltic Sea, or equally diverse in North and Baltic Sea. Two of the non-native species showed signs of genetic differentiation, their times since introduction to the Baltic Sea being about 80 and >700 years, respectively. Our results indicate that the transition from North Sea to Baltic Sea represents a genetic and ecological break: The diversity of genetic patterns points toward independent trajectories in the Baltic compared with the North Sea, and ecological differences with regard to salinity tolerance are common. The North Sea–Baltic Sea region provides a unique setting to study evolutionary adaptation during colonization processes at different stages by jointly considering native and non-native species.
Inhibitors against the NS3-4A protease of hepatitis C virus (HCV) have proven to be useful drugs in the treatment of HCV infection. Although variants have been identified with mutations that confer resistance to these inhibitors, the mutations do not restore replicative fitness and no secondary mutations that rescue fitness have been found. To gain insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the lack of fitness compensation, we screened known resistance mutations in infectious HCV cell culture with different genomic backgrounds. We observed that the Q41R mutation of NS3-4A efficiently rescues the replicative fitness in cell culture for virus variants containing mutations at NS3-Asp168. To understand how the Q41R mutation rescues activity, we performed protease activity assays complemented by molecular dynamics simulations, which showed that protease-peptide interactions far outside the targeted peptide cleavage sites mediate substrate recognition by NS3-4A and support protease cleavage kinetics. These interactions shed new light on the mechanisms by which NS3-4A cleaves its substrates, viral polyproteins and a prime cellular antiviral adaptor protein, the mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein MAVS. Peptide binding is mediated by an extended hydrogen-bond network in NS3-4A that was effectively optimized for protease-MAVS binding in Asp168 variants with rescued replicative fitness from NS3-Q41R. In the protease harboring NS3-Q41R, the N-terminal cleavage products of MAVS retained high affinity to the active site, rendering the protease susceptible for potential product inhibition. Our findings reveal delicately balanced protease-peptide interactions in viral replication and immune escape that likely restrict the protease adaptive capability and narrow the virus evolutionary space.
This review considers a fascinating, from a zoogeographical viewpoint, group of closely related species: Melitaea lutko Evans, 1932, M. timandra Coutsis & van Oorschot, 2014, M. mimetica Higgins, 1940 stat. rev. and M. shahvarica sp. nov. It is a taxonomical and geographical review of these species, and data on the biology of M. shahvarica sp. nov. and nominate subspecies of M. timandra are discussed. A new species, M. shahvarica sp. nov. from Shahvar Mt. (Iran), and a new subspecies, M. timandra binaludica subsp. nov. from Kuh-e-Binalud Mts (Iran), are described. The specific structure of the group given in previous publications is critically evaluated. Hypotheses about a possible phylogenesis of the study group are provided.
Resilience has been defined as the maintenance or quick recovery of mental health during and after times of adversity. How to operationalize resilience and to determine the factors and processes that lead to good long-term mental health outcomes in stressor-exposed individuals is a matter of ongoing debate and of critical importance for the advancement of the field. One of the biggest challenges for implementing an outcome-based definition of resilience in longitudinal observational study designs lies in the fact that real-life adversity is usually unpredictable and that its substantial qualitative as well as temporal variability between subjects often precludes defining circumscribed time windows of inter-individually comparable stressor exposure relative to which the maintenance or recovery of mental health can be determined. To address this pertinent issue, we propose to frequently and regularly monitor stressor exposure (E) and mental health problems (P) throughout a study's observation period [Frequent Stressor and Mental Health Monitoring (FRESHMO)-paradigm]. On this basis, a subject's deviation at any single monitoring time point from the study sample's normative E–P relationship (the regression residual) can be used to calculate that subject's current mental health reactivity to stressor exposure (“stressor reactivity,” SR). The SR score takes into account the individual extent of experienced adversity and is comparable between and within subjects. Individual SR time courses across monitoring time points reflect intra-individual temporal variability in SR, where periods of under-reactivity (negative SR score) are associated with accumulation of fewer mental health problems than is normal for the sample. If FRESHMO is accompanied by regular measurement of potential resilience factors, temporal changes in resilience factors can be used to predict SR time courses. An increase in a resilience factor measurement explaining a lagged decrease in SR can then be considered to index a process of adaptation to stressor exposure that promotes a resilient outcome (an allostatic resilience process). This design principle allows resilience research to move beyond merely determining baseline predictors of resilience outcomes, which cannot inform about how individuals successfully adjust and adapt when confronted with adversity. Hence, FRESHMO plus regular resilience factor monitoring incorporates a dynamic-systems perspective into resilience research.
The paper aims at pointing out some characteristics of postmodern theatre, starting from the fact that, theatre no longer favors the traditional concept of the Aristotelian drama, but tends to a mixture of discourses, of verbal and non verbal types of communication, as well as of interdisciplinary, intercultural and intertextual means of expression. Theoretical considerations are followed by the analysis of: the play Nyktophobie, oder: Mephistos später Gruß an Faust (Fear of the Dark, or Mephisto’s Belated Greetings to Faustus), an adaptation by C.E. Puchianu and R.G. Elekes, known as Duo Bastet. The analysis points out some didactic aspects of drama and theatre as well.
The paper aims at the discussion of some major aspects of postmodern theatre from the vantage point of actual staging and performing. Theatre should be regarded as the result of varied cross-cultural, intermedial and intertextual elements merged into a hybrid art form. The paper illustrates my statements by referring to the theatrical activity of the German language players known as DUO BASTET from Braºov and some of their adaptations.
People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) experience a gradual loss of functional abilities that affects all facets of their daily life. There is a lack of longitudinal studies on coping styles in relation to the disease progression among people with PD. The aim of this study was to explore how coping styles in PD evolve over a 3-year period. Data from the longitudinal project “Home and Health in People Ageing with PD” was utilized (N = 158), including baseline and 3-year follow-up assessments. Coping was captured by ratings of 13 different coping styles. A factor analysis was conducted to analyse patterns of coping styles. Stability and change were analysed for each of the 13 styles with respect to the course of the disease. The factor analysis revealed four coping patterns: pessimistic, optimistic, persistent and support-seeking. The stability of each coping style over time ranged from 75.3% to 90.5%. Those who experienced a worsening of the disease were most inclined to change their coping style (p = 0.006). The results suggest that even when facing severe challenges due to PD in daily life, coping styles remain relatively stable over time. However, a worsening in PD severity appeared to trigger a certain re-evaluation of coping styles.
Теорія напівосвіти Адорно була вперше представлена як доповідь на З’їзді німецьких соціологів (1959). В ній розглядаються тенденції, що відбуваються у сучасній освіті і обумовлюють її кризу, яка загострюється у соціокультурних контекстах пізнього капіталізму. Теорія напівосвіти переосмислює і актуалізує концептуалізації освіти та культури у німецькій класичній філософії, марксизмі і фройдизмі, розкриваючи діалектику просвітництва через діагностику спотворень і деформацій освіти в опціях відчуженого духа, що криє у собі небезпеку ліквідації культури, яка перетворюється на масову, і руйнації людського буття через інструменталізацію свідомості та примусову адаптацію. Напівосвіта паразитує на ідеї освіти, яка є внутрішньо суперечливою через поєднання настанов на автономію та адаптацію. Подолання цієї суперечності можливе через негативну діалектику, яка комплементарно поєднує критику суспільства і критику освіти, відкриваючи для них нові горизонти
Washingtonia robusta (Mexican Fan palm) is endemic to the semi-arid zone of California and northern Mexico. Dispersed globally by the horticultural trade, the species has demonstrated its ability to successfully invade disturbed areas and urban landscapes in warm temperate climates. Once established, the plant is extremely hardy. This paper presents the first documented instance of the successful establishment and growth of Washingtonia robusta in a pond in continually flooded wetlands at Albury, the first record of it naturalising in New South Wales.
This article presents an analysis of the police television series A Touch of Frost (Yorkshire Television, 1992) and the crime novels by Rodney Wingfield upon which it is based.
In order to analyse the way the protagonist, Inspector Jack Frost, is characterised in either version, data is drawn from the pilot episode of the series and Wingfield’s debut novel Frost at Christmas (1984). Wingfield was less than impressed with television’s version of Frost, stating, ‘He just isn’t my Frost’. The rationale for this article is to apply established models in stylistics to investigate the differences between the original and the adaptation. A core motivation for stylistics is to ‘support initial impressions in various extracts’ readings’ and to ‘describe the readers’ response with some precision’ (Gregoriou 2007: 19); this article therefore offers a close linguistic explanation for an author’s dissatisfaction with the adaptation of his own work. The famously reticent Wingfield did not elaborate in detail on why he disapproved of the television version of Frost, although several critics observed that Wingfield felt television had ‘softened’ his creation. This article contends that ‘softness’ is represented in language through politeness strategies adopted by speakers whilst impoliteness represents the ‘tougher’ speech of Wingfield’s original iteration of Jack Frost. In order to demonstrate this contention, this study will analyse pragmatic elements of the dialogue of both novel and television versions of Frost through the analytical framework for impoliteness developed by Culpeper (1996; 2010). This framework will be integrated into the model for analysing the elements of narrative outlined by Simpson and Montgomery (1995), in turn suggesting an elaboration of this model. In investigating whether television’s Jack Frost is ‘softer’ than the character envisaged by Wingfield, free direct speech and accompanying physical behaviour in novel and television adaptation are analysed, focussing on whether the perceived softness of the latter has been partly achieved by making the speech of Frost less impolite on television.