Structural Differences Research Articles

Large-scale investigation of white matter structural differences in bilingual and monolingual children: An adolescent brain cognitive development data study.

Emerging research has provided valuable insights into the structural characteristics of the bilingual brain from studies of bilingual adults; however, there is a dearth of evidence examining brain structural alterations in childhood associated with the bilingual experience. This study examined the associations between bilingualism and white matter organization in bilingual children compared to monolingual peers leveraging the large-scale data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Then, 446 bilingual children (ages 9-10) were identified from the participants in the ABCD data and rigorously matched to a group of 446 monolingual peers. Multiple regression models for selected language and cognitive control white matter pathways were used to compare white matter fractional anisotropy (FA) values between bilinguals and monolinguals, controlling for demographic and environmental factors as covariates in the models. Results revealed significantly lower FA values in bilinguals compared to monolinguals across established dorsal and ventral language network pathways bilaterally (i.e., the superior longitudinal fasciculus and inferior frontal-occipital fasciculus) and right-hemispheric pathways in areas related to cognitive control and short-term memory (i.e., cingulum and parahippocampal cingulum). In contrast to the enhanced FA values observed in adult bilinguals relative to monolinguals, our findings of lower FA in bilingual children relative to monolinguals may suggest a protracted development of white matter pathways associated with language and cognitive control resulting from dual language learning in childhood. Further, these findings underscore the need for large-scale longitudinal investigation of white matter development in bilingual children to understand neuroplasticity associated with the bilingual experience during this period of heightened language learning.

Analysis of Mexican Amber and Natural Resins Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman Spectroscopy

Amber is a semi-precious gemstone, it is a natural resin formed as a fossil and consists of labdanoid diterpenes. This study involves a compositional analysis of Mexican amber using FTIR Spectroscopy and Raman Spectroscopy, comparing it with resins mixed with sulphur, copal, and rosin, to determine the main spectral features of Mexican amber and identify differences from other fake amber resins. Samples of yellow, red, and green amber were utilised. The equipment used included an ATR FTIR spectrometer and a Raman spectrometer with a 785 nm laser source. In the FTIR analysis, the results reveal that the colour variations in Mexican amber do not reflect structural differences. The ester group is identified in amber through the C=O carbonyl bond at 1727 cm-1, confirmed by a band at 1243 cm-1 and a set of bands between 1200-1060 cm-1 corresponding to C-O-H and O-C-C bonds, respectively. The range between 1000-600 cm-1 is identified as the most crucial for distinguishing authentic amber and determining whether the resin is young or fossilised. In Raman, the main peaks to identify amber are at 1646 cm-1 and 1450 cm-1 with which the ratio of intensities was quantified to determine the maturity of the fossil resin.

The Impact of Urban Public Services on the Residence Intentions of Migrant Entrepreneurs in the Western Region of China

Balanced regional development affects high-quality and sustainable development. Previous studies have shown that regional talent allocation, technology business incubators, industrial ecology, cross-regional cooperation, and balanced investment in higher education have positive effects on sustained regional development. Therefore, discussing more influencing factors that promote regionally balanced development is necessary. As far as China is concerned, with the spread of the migrant population to the central and western regions, it is of certain significance to explore the factors affecting the development of the western region from the perspective of migrant entrepreneurs’ flow. Urban public services, as an important way for the government to attract talent, directly affect the residence intentions of migrant entrepreneurs in the future. This paper uses the matching data of the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey and 289 prefecture-level city data from the China City Statistical Yearbook to study the impact of urban public services in the western region on the residence intention of migrant entrepreneurs and further examines the heterogeneous impact of urban public services in the western region on the residence intention of migrant entrepreneurs. We find that urban public services in the western region significantly affect the residence intention of migrant entrepreneurs; that is, the higher the level of urban public services, the stronger the residence intention of migrant entrepreneurs. According to the heterogeneity analysis of household registration differences, generational differences, family structure differences, employment identity differences, and industry and flow range differences, this paper finds that public services have a positive impact on the residence intention of non-urban migrant entrepreneurs, the older generation of migrant entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs with small family structures, migrant entrepreneurs in low-tech industries, self-employed entrepreneurs, cross-province migration, and intra-province migrant entrepreneurs. Further analysis indicates that the level of education, culture, medical care, and transportation services in cities significantly enhances the permanent residence intentions of migrant entrepreneurs. The research conclusion not only provides reference and inspiration for China to achieve common prosperity through entrepreneurship and poverty reduction practices, but it can also, to some extent, alleviate population aggregation in large cities and promote the formation of a scientific and reasonable urbanization pattern. In addition, this paper explores the attractiveness of public services to migrant entrepreneurs in the western region of China from the perspective of entrepreneurs’ mobility and complements the relevant research on promoting regional balanced development.

Mitochondrial Cytochrome bc1 Complex as Validated Drug Target: A Structural Perspective.

Mitochondrial respiratory chain Complex III, also known as cytochrome bc1 complex or cyt bc1, is a validated target not only for antibiotics but also for pesticides and anti-parasitic drugs. Although significant progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms of cyt bc1 function and inhibition by using various natural and synthetic compounds, important issues remain in overcoming drug resistance in agriculture and in evading cytotoxicity in medicine. In this review, we look at these issues from a structural perspective. After a brief description of the essential and common structural features, we point out the differences among various cyt bc1 complexes of different organisms, whose structures have been determined to atomic resolution. We use a few examples of cyt bc1 structures determined via bound inhibitors to illustrate both conformational changes observed and implications to the Q-cycle mechanism of cyt bc1 function. These structures not only offer views of atomic interactions between cyt bc1 complexes and inhibitors, but they also provide explanations for drug resistance when structural details are coupled to sequence changes. Examples are provided for exploiting structural differences in evolutionarily conserved enzymes to develop antifungal drugs for selectivity enhancement, which offer a unique perspective on differential interactions that can be exploited to overcome cytotoxicity in treating human infections.

Using HDX-MS and FPOP-MS/MS to identify structural differences in intrinsically disordered regions of NFkB and IκBα upon binding

Using HDX-MS and FPOP-MS/MS to identify structural differences in intrinsically disordered regions of NFkB and IκBα upon binding

Predicting brain age using partition modeling strategy and atlas-based attentional enhancement in the Chinese population.

As a biomarker of human brain health during development, brain age is estimated based on subtle differences in brain structure from those under typical developmental. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a routine diagnostic method in neuroimaging. Brain age prediction based on MRI has been widely studied. However, few studies based on Chinese population have been reported. This study aimed to construct a brain age predictive model for the Chinese population across its lifespan. We developed a partition prediction method based on transfer learning and atlas attention enhancement. The participants were separated into four age groups, and a deep learning model was trained for each group to identify the brain regions most critical for brain age prediction. The Atlas attention-enhancement method was also used to help the models focus only on critical brain regions. The proposed method was validated using 354 participants from domestic datasets. For prediction performance in the testing sets, the mean absolute error was 2.218 ± 1.801years, and the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was 0.969, exceeding previous results for wide-range brain age prediction. In conclusion, the proposed method could provide brain age estimation to assist in assessing the status of brain health.

Climatic variability, spatial heterogeneity and the presence of multiple hosts drive the population structure of the pathogen Phytophthora ramorum and the epidemiology of Sudden Oak Death

We implement a population genetics approach to clarify the role that temporal and environmental variability, spatially distinct locations and different hosts may have in the epidemiology of a plant disease and in the microevolution of its causative pathogen. In California and southern Oregon (USA), the introduction of the invasive pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, causal agent of the widespread disease Sudden Oak Death (SOD), has resulted in extensive mortality of various oaks Quercus sp. and of tanoak Notholithocarpus densiflorus. Although the disease can infect over a hundred hosts, California bay laurel Umbellularia californica is the most competent transmissive host but is not lethally affected by the disease. Using population genetics data, we identify the relationship among P. ramorum populations in bay laurels, oaks and tanoaks to clarify the contribution of each host on the epidemiology of SOD and on the microevolution of its causal agent and to explore differences in population structure across sites and years. We conclude that bay laurel is the primary source for infections of both tanoak and oak, and that tanoak contributes minimally to oak infection but can infect bay laurel, creating a secondary pathogen amplification process. Overall, pathogen diversity is associated with rainfall and presence of bay laurels, which sustain the largest populations of the pathogen. Additionally, we clarify that while bay laurels are a common source of inoculum, oaks and tanoaks act as sinks that maintain host‐specific pathogen genotypes not observed in bay laurel populations. Finally, we conclude that different sites support a dominance of different pathogen genotypes. Some genotypes were widespread, while others were limited to a subset of the plots. Sites with higher bay laurel densities sustained a higher genotypic diversity of the pathogen. This work provides novel insight into the ecology and evolutionary trajectories of SOD epidemics in natural ecosystems.

Structural brain morphometry differences and similarities between young patients with Crohn's disease in remission and healthy young and old controls.

Crohn's disease (CD), one of the main phenotypes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract. It can impact the function of gastrointestinal secretions, as well as increasing the intestinal permeability leading to an aberrant immunological response and subsequent intestinal inflammation. Studies have reported anatomical and functional brain changes in Crohn's Disease patients (CDs), possibly due to increased inflammatory markers and microglial cells that play key roles in communicating between the brain, gut, and systemic immune system. To date, no studies have demonstrated similarities between morphological brain changes seen in IBD and brain morphometry observed in older healthy controls.. For the present study, twelve young CDs in remission (M = 26.08 years, SD = 4.9 years, 7 male) were recruited from an IBD Clinic. Data from 12 young age-matched healthy controls (HCs) (24.5 years, SD = 3.6 years, 8 male) and 12 older HCs (59 years, SD = 8 years, 8 male), previously collected for a different study under a similar MR protocol, were analyzed as controls. T1 weighted images and structural image processing techniques were used to extract surface-based brain measures, to test our hypothesis that young CDs have different brain surface morphometry than their age-matched young HCs and furthermore, appear more similar to older HCs. The phonemic verbal fluency (VF) task (the Controlled Oral Word Association Test, COWAT) (Benton, 1976) was administered to test verbal cognitive ability and executive control. On the whole, CDs had more brain regions with differences in brain morphometry measures when compared to the young HCs as compared to the old HCs, suggesting that CD has an effect on the brain that makes it appear more similar to old HCs. Additionally, our study demonstrates this atypical brain morphometry is associated with function on a cognitive task. These results suggest that even younger CDs may be showing some evidence of structural brain changes that demonstrate increased resemblance to older HC brains rather than their similarly aged healthy counterparts.

Effects of yarn properties on aerosol filtration performance of single jersey fabrics

A pandemic caused by airborne pathogens raises a great need for N95 respirators and surgical masks. Subsequently, the risk of undersupply becomes a primary challenge requiring the prioritization of those masks for healthcare workers. Health agencies recommend wearing cloth masks in low-risk groups to reduce the demand. Unlike N95 respirators and surgical masks, cloth masks can be made from various fabrics, and their filtration performance becomes material-dependent. However, the existing literature presents limited and contradictory results on the property-performance relationship of fabrics used for cloth masks. Thus, the fundamental parameters determining the effectiveness of the fabrics remain unknown. Herein, we investigated the effects of yarn properties and multilayering on the filtration performance of single jersey fabrics. The fabrics performed up to 45% particle filtration efficiency, with the range of air permeability from 110–330 ft3/min/ft2. The results revealed that while the structural differences associated with the yarn choice had a smaller impact on the particle filtration efficiency of the fabrics compared to air permeability, their effects were great enough to yield statistically significant differences between the fabrics. In addition, our findings demonstrated that multilayering effectively improved the filtration performance of fabrics but resulted in a greater increase in airflow resistance than particle filtration efficiency. To limit the tradeoff between air permeability and particle filtration efficiency, yarn properties should be considered in the material selection of multilayer masks. We anticipate that our work will be a starting point for a guide on cloth masks with minimal filtration and breathability requirements.

TECHNO-FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES OF FLOUR, STARCH, AND PROTEINS OF PEA SEED (Pisum sativum L.) CULTIVATED IN THE MIXTECA REGION OF OAXACA

Currently, the food industry is interested in using plant-based ingredients because they can improve the nutritional and technological properties of products while also providing health benefits. The application of these ingredients in food formulations is dependent on their techno-functional properties, so determining them is critical. Pea seeds (Pisum sativum L.) are a good source of nutrients such as starch, protein, and fiber, which could also be used as functional food ingredients. It has been reported that differences in nutritional content and functional properties of pea seeds are caused by environmental conditions, cultivation methods, and processing. In Mexico, in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca, creole peas are cultivated using rainfed agriculture, and the seeds are harvested when the plant is completely dry. There are currently no studies that evaluate the composition and properties of the main components of pea seeds grown under the environmental conditions of this region. The objective of this work was to determine the proximal composition and techno-functional properties of flour (PF), starch (PS), and protein (PPI) isolated from dry creole seeds cultivated in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca. Results were compared using ANOVA and Tukey’s test (p ≤ 0.05). Significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) were found in the proximal composition and the color of PF, PS, and PPI. The extracted starch contains 19.6 ± 1.3 % amylose. The granules were ellipsoidal in shape and measured 57.2 ± 11.0 mm in diameter. The FTIR spectra showed structural differences between the samples. Functional properties such as water absorption capacity, foam formation, and emulsifying capacity were significantly higher in PPI than in PF and PS (p ≤ 0.05). The results demonstrate that pea seeds grown in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca can be an unconventional source of functional ingredients for the food industry.

Modeling geographic vaccination strategies for COVID-19 in Norway.

Vaccination was a key intervention in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic globally. In early 2021, Norway faced significant regional variations in COVID-19 incidence and prevalence, with large differences in population density, necessitating efficient vaccine allocation to reduce infections and severe outcomes. This study explored alternative vaccination strategies to minimize health outcomes (infections, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, deaths) by varying regions prioritized, extra doses prioritized, and implementation start time. Using two models (individual-based and meta-population), we simulated COVID-19 transmission during the primary vaccination period in Norway, covering the first 7 months of 2021. We investigated alternative strategies to allocate more vaccine doses to regions with a higher force of infection. We also examined the robustness of our results and highlighted potential structural differences between the two models. Our findings suggest that early vaccine prioritization could reduce COVID-19 related health outcomes by 8% to 20% compared to a baseline strategy without geographic prioritization. For minimizing infections, hospitalizations, or ICU admissions, the best strategy was to initially allocate all available vaccine doses to fewer high-risk municipalities, comprising approximately one-fourth of the population. For minimizing deaths, a moderate level of geographic prioritization, with approximately one-third of the population receiving doubled doses, gave the best outcomes by balancing the trade-off between vaccinating younger people in high-risk areas and older people in low-risk areas. The actual strategy implemented in Norway was a two-step moderate level aimed at maintaining the balance and ensuring ethical considerations and public trust. However, it did not offer significant advantages over the baseline strategy without geographic prioritization. Earlier implementation of geographic prioritization could have more effectively addressed the main wave of infections, substantially reducing the national burden of the pandemic.

Exploratory genomic sequence analysis reveals structural differences at key loci for growth habit, seed dormancy, and rust resistance in barley

Exploratory genomic sequence analysis reveals structural differences at key loci for growth habit, seed dormancy, and rust resistance in barley

Functional data analysis in health informatics: A comparative review of developments and applications in the USA and Africa

This study presents a comprehensive review of Functional Data Analysis (FDA) in Health Informatics, focusing on a comparative analysis between the United States and Africa. The background of the study is rooted in the growing importance of FDA in the healthcare sector, driven by technological advancements and the increasing complexity of health data. The aim of the paper is to explore and contrast the developments, applications and challenges of FDA in health informatics within these two diverse geographical contexts. The scope of the paper encompasses the historical evolution, theoretical frameworks, technological advancements, structural differences in health data management and ethical considerations in both the USA and Africa. Methodologically, the study employs a qualitative analysis framework, integrating a systematic review of relevant literature. This approach facilitates an in-depth examination of the divergent paths and shared challenges in FDA across the two regions. The main findings reveal significant disparities in the evolution, application and effectiveness of FDA in health informatics. The USA demonstrates a leading role with advanced technological integration and innovative applications, while Africa shows resilience and adaptability despite facing challenges of limited resources and infrastructure. The study concludes that while the USA has made significant strides in utilizing data to enhance public health and healthcare delivery, Africa presents a landscape of both challenges and opportunities. The divergence is influenced by disparities in educational infrastructure, access to technological resources and healthcare delivery systems. Recommendations include the need for global collaboration, investment in health informatics education, workforce development and the establishment of global standards for health data analysis and sharing.

Wh-questions in Japanese: Challenges for Vietnamese L2 learners

The study explored how Vietnamese learners of Japanese handle structural differences in wh-questions. Despite both being wh-in-situ languages, the divergent word order poses challenges for Vietnamese learners. The research involved 65 high school students with 2.5 to 13 years of Japanese learning. Survey results showed a positive correlation between Japanese proficiency and performance. Students were more accurate when Japanese wh-questions mirrored Vietnamese word order, especially in ‘why’ and ‘when’ questions. Difficulties arose when structures differed. Advanced learners could acquire L2 wh-questions with parametric values distinct from L1, but native-like interpretations in Japanese remained challenging. The study advocates for explicit classroom instruction on Japanese wh-question word order, particularly with scrambled sentences, to enhance accuracy and improve overall teaching effectiveness.

Structural differences contributing to sex-specific associations between FN BMD and whole-bone strength for adult White women and men.

Hip areal BMD (aBMD) is widely used to identify individuals with increased fracture risk. Low aBMD indicates low strength, but this association differs by sex with men showing greater strength for a given aBMD than women. To better understand the structural basis giving rise to this sex-specific discrepancy, cadaveric proximal femurs from White female and male donors were imaged using nano-CT and loaded in a sideways fall configuration to assess strength. FN pseudoDXA images were generated to identify associations among structure, aBMD, and strength that differ by sex. Strength correlated significantly with pseudoDXA aBMD for females (R2 = 0.468, P < .001) and males (R2 = 0.393, P < .001), but the elevations (y-intercepts) of the linear regressions differed between sexes (P < .001). Male proximal femurs were 1045 N stronger than females for a given pseudoDXA aBMD. However, strength correlated with pseudoDXA BMC for females (R2 = 0.433, P < .001) and males (R2 = 0.443, P < .001) but without significant slope (P = .431) or elevation (P = .058) differences. Dividing pseudoDXA BMC by FN-width, total cross-sectional area, or FN-volume led to significantly different associations between strength and the size-adjusted BMC measures for women and men. Three structural differences were identified that differentially affected aBMD and strength for women and men: First, men had more bone mass per unit volume than women; second, different cross-sectional shapes resulted in larger proportions of bone mass orthogonal to the DXA image for men than women; and third, men and women had different proportions of cortical and trabecular bone relative to BMC. Thus, the proximal femurs of women were not smaller versions of men but were constructed in fundamentally different manners. Dividing BMC by a bone size measure was responsible for the sex-specific associations between hip aBMD and strength. Thus, a new approach for adjusting measures of bone mass for bone size and stature is warranted.

Microhabitat characterization in the home range of the Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in arid zones

Knowing the home range of a species helps to identify the resources it needs to survive and reproduce and how this behavior is expressed spatially. Within home ranges, core areas are the sites where the main resources are abundant. The microhabitat is a spatial area composed of variables that can affect individual behavior. In this sense, the characterization of this inner part of the home range can contribute significantly to understanding the elements that these areas offer compared to the rest of the habitat of a population. This work characterized the home range and areas outside it, as well as the core areas of female mule deer on a microhabitat scale in the Chihuahuan Desert, México. The structure and composition of the vegetation were characterized according to three habitat use hierarchies: interior of the core areas and zones within and outside the home ranges of seven female mule deer. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed, and a hierarchical clustering was used to relate the variables. The variation in structure and composition in each hierarchy was evaluated by performing multivariate permutation tests. Twenty-five plant species were recorded in the transects. The PCA showed the most similar use hierarchies are the core and home range inner areas. The core area presents higher density and cover-dominance values, and the zone outside the home range showed high values of distance to the individual closest to the central point and greater variation in this parameter. The MANOVA indicated a significant variation in vegetation structure and composition in relation to use hierarchies. Significant differences in vegetation structure and composition were found at the microhabitat level between the core area of activity and the zones within and outside the home range. The core area has a greater structural complexity of vegetation, with greater plant coverage-abundance and density; this suggests that the core area is located in a more competitive and saturated environment. Outside the home range, the microhabitat has greater spatial heterogeneity of vegetation, with greater distance and variation of plant cover. Future research could address the spatial (micro-macro) and temporal scales to better understand the ecological dynamics of the species in different habitat use hierarchies.

Effect of lateral flushing on emitter clogging in drip irrigation using high-sediment water

High sediment content in irrigation water is a common challenge in agricultural regions, leading to increased clogging of emitters and reduced system efficiency. Lateral flushing (LF) is an effective measure to reduce emitter clogging for drip irrigation systems. However, the effect of LF on the clogging with high sediment water in different types of emitters remains largely unknown. Thus the effects of LF on the clogging of 8 flat emitters (FE), 3 cylindrical emitters (CE), 3 single wing labyrinth emitters (SL) and 2 inlaid strip emitters (SE) were evaluated. The degree of emitter clogging fluctuation values was 5.4–25.6% higher in the non-flushed drip lines compared to the flushing treatments. Additionally, the average discharge ratio variation (Dra) and coefficient of uniformity (CU) were improved by 7.7–21.9% and 11.6–67.4%, respectively, in the flushed drip lines compared to the non-flushed ones. The CE, FE, SL and SE drip lines that underwent flushing treatment operated for an additional 240, 180, 120 and 60 hourse, respectively, compared to those without flushing treatment. The results indicate that the flushing effect is better for FE and CE due to the accumulation of clogging material at varying rates and locations within the emitters, as well as differences in emitter structure.

Foreword

Dear Linguistic Enthusiasts and Scholars, It is with our great pleasure to announce that the new issue of Acta Linguistica Asiatica is now available. As you pursue this issue, you will notice a refreshed look inspired by the new outlines of the University of Ljubljana, reflecting our commitment to growth and innovation. We take pride in our dedicated team whose expertise drives our exploration of linguistic intricacies and cultural nuances. This issue features four scientific articles and one review article, offering diverse perspectives on Chinese and Japanese as the East Asian languages in focus. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all contributors and reviewers whose scholarly rigor enriches our journal. To begin with, Tereza SLAMĚNÍKOVÁ and David UHER wrote an article entitled “Rhythmical Features of Spontaneous Spoken Narrative in Mandarin Chinese”, in which they introduce and expand a notation system for teaching Chinese rhythm pioneered by Oldřich Švarný, a Czech phonetician. They analyze spontaneous speech to outline rhythmical features in personal narratives and compare these features with a contemporary understanding of Chinese speech rhythm, showcasing the applicability of Švarný’s framework in diverse spoken discourses. Following is the work by KUANG Lincai “A Colexficational Analysis of Chū in Modern Chinese” that deals with directional verbs in modern Chinese, in particular with chū. The author delves into colexification and mechanisms surrounding chū, using the CLICS3 database. It explores colexified pairs of chū and constructs a colexificational network, emphasizing conceptual metaphor and metonymy as core mechanisms. Yet another scientific paper was authored by YANG Yongzhong and is entitled “The Structure of Chinese Compounds: The Perspective of Predicative Implicitness”, which explored Chinese nominal compounds' structure, relations, generation, and constraints, emphasizing predicate implicitness. Findings reveal varying constituent functions aligning morphological and syntactic structures, and the author offers a detailed account of their hierarchy. Trang PHAN and Giang VU submitted the paper “Wh-questions in Japanese: Challenges for Vietnamese L2 learners” in which they explored how Vietnamese learners handle structural differences in Japanese wh-questions. Results showed a correlation between Japanese proficiency and performance. Though learners were evaluated as more accurate with mirrored word orders, advanced learners also struggled with native-like interpretations. The study suggests explicit instruction to enhance accuracy in teaching. Last but not least is the survey article by Duc Du HUYNH, “Sino-Vietnamese Bilingual Dictionaries from the Middle Ages to the Present”, in which the author thoroughly surveys Sino-Vietnamese bilingual dictionaries from the Middle Ages to the Modern Ages, often overlooked in scholarly discourse. It delineates their evolution, regional differences, and historical context, aiming to catalyze further research in this field. Editors and Editorial Board invite the regular and new readers to engage with the content, to question, challenge, and reflect. We hope you have a pleasant read full of inspiration and a rise of new research ideas inspired by these papers. Editors

We Are All Monsters: How Deviant Organisms Came to Define Us, by Andrew Mangham

Andrew Mangham’s monograph entitled We Are All Monsters: How Deviant Organisms Came to Define Us (2023, The MIT Press) explores the polyvocal nature of monster science across the period 1750-1900 and its dialogue with nineteenth-century literature. Mangham’s “monsters,” as defined in biological sciences, are “organisms … born with at least one permanent physiological defect” (p. 1). Guided by the approach disability studies takes towards the term “disability,” he explores how monster science defines monstrosity “not as a failure, but as an embodiment of, or a cog in the machine of, organic law” (p. 2). Monsters with their corporeal singularities and differences are integral to the laws of nature. They are not “by-products of the laws of natural development which they had failed in varying ways to embody,” but “the adaptive workings and the dynamic forces to which all life forms, normal and abnormal, owe their being” (p. 2). In other words, congenital anomalies or corporeal deviations are structural variations which are not the antithesis of what is “normal” or “natural,” but significations of life’s variety and the ingenuities of nature. Mangham’s choice of literary works from the long nineteenth century helps explore the interplay between monster science and literary or imaginary monsters, emphasizing how they represent monstrosity as central to the interpretation of nature’s diversity and creativity. Offering an in-depth survey of monster science across the period and its literary reverberations in nineteenth-century novels, We Are All Monsters interrogates the causes and meanings of monstrosities with the claim that congenital structural deformities or differences are not failures or violations of nature’s laws, but symbols of vital creativity. With this claim at the center of his work, Mangham explores how Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), Charles Dickens’s The Old Curiosity Shop (1840-1841), and Lucas Malet’s The History of Sir Richard Calmady (1901) engage in dialogue with the ideas developed in monster science and problematize the meanings of difference and normalcy.

Bilingual Spatial Cognition: Spatial Cue Use in Bilinguals and Monolinguals.

Structural plasticity changes and functional differences in executive control tasks have been reported in bilinguals compared to monolinguals, supporting a proposed bilingual 'advantage' in executive control functions (e.g., task switching) due to continual usage of control mechanisms that inhibit one of the coexisting languages. However, it remains unknown whether these differences are also apparent in the spatial domain. The present fMRI study explores the use of spatial cues in 15 bilinguals and 14 monolinguals while navigating in an open-field virtual environment. In each trial, participants had to navigate towards a target object that was visible during encoding but hidden in retrieval. An extensive network was activated in bilinguals compared to monolinguals in the encoding and retrieval phase. During encoding, bilinguals activated the right temporal and left parietal regions (object trials) and left inferior frontal, precentral, and lingual regions more than monolinguals. During retrieval, the same contrasts activated the left caudate nucleus and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), the left parahippocampal gyrus, as well as caudate regions. These results suggest that bilinguals may recruit neural networks known to subserve not only executive control processes but also spatial strategies.