Consequence Of Adaptation Research Articles

Early Childhood Memories Are not Repressed: Either They Were Never Formed or Were Quickly Forgotten.

Early childhood events are rarely remembered in adulthood. In fact, memory for these early experiences declines during childhood itself. This holds regardless of whether these memories of autobiographical experiences are traumatic or mundane, everyday experiences. Indeed, what people tend to remember from their childhoods involves relatively innocuous experiences, ones often devoid of emotion. In this article, I provide an overview of the types of memories adults recall from their childhoods and the ages at which these memories are believed to have been formed. Along the way, I provide a brief exegesis of the neurobiological and cognitive underpinnings of early memory development. I will show that changes and growth in neural interconnectivity as well as the development of various cognitive structures (e.g., the inception of the cognitive self) help propel the emergence of a mature autobiographical memory system, one that can and does serve as a reconstructive base for remembering events that occur in later childhood and adulthood. During the course of this review, I detail the nature of early memories, their fragility, and the adaptive consequences of forgetting and supplanting these memories with newer, more age-appropriate experiences throughout childhood.

Development and applications of a CRISPR activation system for facile genetic overexpression in Candida albicans.

For the fungal pathogen Candida albicans, genetic overexpression readily occurs via a diversity of genomic alterations, such as aneuploidy and gain-of-function mutations, with important consequences for host adaptation, virulence, and evolution of antifungal drug resistance. Given the important role of overexpression on C. albicans biology, it is critical to develop and harness tools that enable the analysis of genes expressed at high levels in the fungal cell. Here, we describe the development, optimization, and application of a novel, single-plasmid-based CRISPR activation (CRISPRa) platform for targeted genetic overexpression in C. albicans, which employs a guide RNA to target an activator complex to the promoter region of a gene of interest, thus driving transcriptional expression of that gene. Using this system, we demonstrate the ability of CRISPRa to drive high levels of gene expression in C. albicans, and we assess optimal guide RNA targeting for robust and constitutive overexpression. We further demonstrate the specificity of the system via RNA sequencing. We highlight the application of CRISPR activation to overexpress genes involved in pathogenesis and drug susceptibility, and contribute toward the identification of novel phenotypes. Consequently, this tool will facilitate a broad range of applications for the study of C. albicans genetic overexpression.

Dyspnea in pregnancy might be related to the incomplete physiological adaptation of the heart.

Introduction: Dyspnea is a common complaint in pregnant women with no cardiac and pulmonary diseases. We aimed to assess whether physiological dyspnea of pregnancy was correlated with subtle changes in ventricular systolic and diastolic function. Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 40 healthy pregnant women in their second and third trimesters with no complaints of dyspnea and 40 healthy pregnant women in the same trimesters with a complaint of dyspnea. Parameters of echocardiography were compared between the 2 groups. Results: Global left ventricular ejection fraction (59.65±6.44 and 58.49±4.95 P=0.418 in patients without and with dyspnea respectively), and global longitudinal strain were not significantly different (18.72±2.90 and 18.94±3.07, P=0.57 in the same order). Global circumferential strain (GCS) was lower in patients with dyspnea. (20.19±4.86 vs 22.61±4.69, P=0.03). Systolic volume (33.17±8.94 vs 32.63±8.09) and diastolic volume (80.75±18.73 vs 78.37±16.63) and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (47.5±4.24 vs 46.23±3.21) were not different (P=0.784, 0.560 and 0.146 respectively). Left ventricular end-systolic diameter was significantly lower in the case group (32.52±4.66 vs 29.92±4.05, P=0.011). Left atrial area index in the patients with dyspnea was lower(8.13±1.42 vs 8.94±1.4, P=0.014). Other findings were a high E/E' and high pulmonary artery pressure in the patients with dyspnea. Conclusion: Dyspnea in pregnant women can be a consequence of incomplete physiological adaptation to volume overload in pregnancy. Lower systolic and diastolic diameters of the left ventricle, left atrial area, and left atrial index may lead to increased filling pressure, manifested by a higher E/E' ratio and pulmonary artery pressure.

C/EBPα Confers Dependence to Fatty Acid Biosynthetic Pathways and Vulnerability to Lipid Oxidative Stress in FLT3-Mutant Leukemia

Despite therapeutic breakthroughs, drug resistance and relapse remain the major barrier for the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Therefore, understanding and targeting therapy-resistant AML cells responsible for relapse ("persisters") represent an urgent need in the development of new treatments. In this context, we demonstrated that the hyperactivation of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism plays a crucial role in drug resistance of AML. This high oxidative phosphorylation (OxPHOS) phenotype associated with enhanced mitochondrial BCL2 dependency and ROS detoxification is the consequence of a mitochondrial adaptation driven by inflammatory stress responses in a cAMP-PKA-ATF4-dependent manner. Targeting elevated oxidative phosphorylation (OxPHOS) activity with direct and indirect mitochondrial inhibitors sensitizes resistant cells to chemotherapy cytarabine (AraC) in AML. Furthermore, we have recently shown that the mitochondrial OxPHOS state supports IDH mutant cell proliferation and chemoresistance in a C/EBPa-dependent manner. Importantly, multi-omics analyses uncovered a coordinated activation of CEBPA and Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) to control lipid metabolism in FLT3-mutant AML cells from primary AML patient specimens, cell lines, and PDX models. Mechanistically, C/EBPα regulated FASN-SCD axis to promote uptake, biosynthesis and desaturation of fatty acids (FA). We further demonstrated that FLT3 or C/EBPα inactivation decreased mono-unsaturated FAs incorporation to membrane phospholipids through SCD downregulation in leukemic cells. Consequently, SCD inhibition enhanced susceptibility to lipid redox stress and accumulation of poly-unsaturated FA increased lipid peroxidation and vulnerability to redox stress. Accordingly, this C/EBPα-dependent adaptation of FA homeostasis was exploited by combining FLT3 and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) inhibition to trigger lipid oxidative stress, enhancing ferroptotic death of FLT3-mutant AML cells ex vivo and in vivo. Altogether, this study reveals a non-canonical C/EBPα function in lipid homeostasis and adaptation to redox stress, and a previously unreported vulnerability of FLT3-mutant AML with promising therapeutic application. Altogether, our works highlight the role of metabolic adaptations to support the plasticity and drug resistance in AML.

Chronic and Acute Effects on Skin Temperature from a Sport Consisting of Repetitive Impacts from Hitting a Ball with the Hands.

Valencian handball consists in hitting the ball with the hands and it may contribute to injury development on the hands. This study aimed to analyze skin temperature asymmetries and recovery after a cold stress test (CST) in professional players of Valencian handball before and after a competition. Thirteen professional athletes and a control group of ten physically active participants were measured. For both groups, infrared images were taken at the baseline condition; later they underwent a thermal stress test (pressing for 2 min with the palm of the hand on a metal plate) and then recovery images were taken. In athletes, the images were also taken after their competition. Athletes at baseline condition presented lower temperatures (p < 0.05) in the dominant hand compared with the non-dominant hand. There were asymmetries in all regions after their match (p < 0.05). After CST, a higher recovery rate was found after the game. The regions with the most significant differences in variation, asymmetries and recovery patterns were the index, middle and ring fingers, and the palm of the dominant hand. Taking into account that lower temperatures and the absence of temperature variation may be the consequence of a vascular adaptation, thermography could be used as a method to prevent injuries in athletes from Valencian handball.

The economics of adaptations to evidence-based practices

BackgroundEvidence-based practices (EBPs) are frequently adapted in response to the dynamic contexts in which they are implemented. Adaptation is defined as the degree to which an EBP is altered to fit the setting or to improve fit to local context and can be planned or unplanned. Although adaptations are common and necessary to maximizing the marginal impact of EBPs, little attention has been given to the economic consequences and how adaptations affect marginal costs.DiscussionIn assessing the economic consequences of adaptation, one should consider its impact on core components, the planned adaptive periphery, and the unplanned adaptive periphery. Guided by implementation science frameworks, we examine how various economic evaluation approaches accommodate the influence of adaptations and discuss the pros and cons of these approaches. Using the Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications to Evidence-based interventions (FRAME), mixed methods can elucidate the economic reasons driving the adaptations. Micro-costing approaches are applied in research that integrates the adaptation of EBPs at the planning stage using innovative, adaptive study designs. In contrast, evaluation of unplanned adaptation is subject to confounding and requires sensitivity analysis to address unobservable measures and other uncertainties. A case study is presented using the RE-AIM framework to illustrate the costing of adaptations. In addition to empirical approaches to evaluating adaptation, simulation modeling approaches can be used to overcome limited follow-up in implementation studies.ConclusionsAs implementation science evolves to improve our understanding of the mechanisms and implications of adaptations, it is increasingly important to understand the economic implications of such adaptations, in addition to their impact on clinical effectiveness. Therefore, explicit consideration is warranted of how costs can be evaluated as outcomes of adaptations to the delivery of EBPs.

Disinformation Order and Social Media Algorithmic Trap: New Challenges for Sustainability of the Indonesia’s United Nation-State Narrative and Liberal Democratic Norms

The Internet and social media have been increasingly adopted by political entities across the globe. The consequences of such adaptations on the Indonesia’s nation-state narrative and liberal democratic norms have been under-researched however. This article argues that in democratic countries, such adaptations are likely to pave the way for the emergences of disinformation order and social media algorithmic trap. Within the specific context of Indonesia’s democracy, these disinformation order and social media algorithmic trap are likely to polarize political spheres and jeopardize not merely Indonesia’s united nation-state narrative, but also Indonesia’s liberal democratic norms that evolved since the post-reform era. To evaluate such propositions, this article adopts a desk study and selects Jakarta’s 2017 Gubernatorial Election as a study case. Learning from these desk study and study case, this article proposes the following arguments. To manage the consequences of disinformation order and social media algorithmic trap on politics and democracy, we need formulate new political communication and policy research agenda based on the following dictum: who get lost by what/whom in which channel/medium and with what effects. Taking such effort may give us an opportunity to keep the current Indonesia’s united nation-state narrative prevailing and liberal democratic norms flourishing.

Geographic Variation in Note Types of Alarm Calls in Japanese Tits (Parus minor).

Simple SummaryDivergence in acoustic signal systems might play a central role in speciation. Alarm calls are part of the acoustic signal system, which can transmit information about impending threats to group members and relatives. This study focuses on geographic variation in the note types of alarm calls in Japanese tits, a small songbird species distributed broadly in China. It was found that the note types of the same population responding to different intruders were roughly the same, and that all the three populations had shared note types and their own unique note types to warn about the same intruder. Moreover, we found large differences in the acoustic parameters of shared common note types among populations. These findings provide valuable information to improve the collective understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms of alarm call systems in birds.Geographic variability in acoustic signals has been documented in many bird species. However, geographic variations in alarm calls have been so far neglected despite their crucial role on reducing risk to group members and relatives. We analyzed the note types and acoustic parameters of Japanese tit (Parus minor) alarm calls to three types of intruders (a nest predator, an adult predator, and a harmless species) from three populations in China. Our results revealed that tits in the same population produce similar note types to different intruders, but the three populations only shared six note types and each population had unique note types. The frequency and duration parameters of three shared common note types were significantly different among populations. The three populations belong to the same species, thus they have shared note types. We suspect that the unique note types occurring in each population may be related to three potential reasons: founder effect, predation pressure, and vocal learning. The differences in acoustic parameters of common notes among populations may be a consequence of adaptations to their environments. We suggest that population differences in the note levels of bird alarm calls do exist.

Multigenerational DNA methylation responses to copper exposure in Daphnia: Potential targets for epigenetic biomarkers?

Epigenetic mechanisms are moving to the forefront of environmental sciences, as environmentally induced epigenetic changes shape biological responses to chemical contamination. This work focused on Daphnia as a representative of potentially threatened freshwater biota, aiming to gain an insight into the involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in their response and eventual adaptation to metal contamination. Copper-induced DNA methylation changes, their potential transgenerational inheritance, and life-history traits were assessed. Organisms with different histories of past exposure to copper were exposed to toxic levels of the element for one generation (F0) and then monitored for three subsequent unexposed generations (F1, F2, and F3). Overall, methylation changes targeted important genes for counteracting the effects of metals and oxidative stress, including dynein light chain, ribosomal kinase and nuclear fragile X mental retardation-interacting protein. Also, contrasting overall and gene-specific methylation responses were observed in organisms differing in their history of exposure to copper, with different transgenerational methylation responses being also identified among the two groups, without apparent life-history costs. Taken together, these results demonstrate the capacity of copper to promote epigenetic transgenerational inheritance in a manner related explicitly to history of exposure, thereby supporting the development and incorporation of epigenetic biomarkers in risk assessment frameworks.

The Effects of Cortical Reorganization and Applications of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in Deaf People and Cochlear Implant Users.

A cochlear implant (CI) is currently the only FDA-approved biomedical device that can restore hearing for the majority of patients with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). While prelingually and postlingually deaf individuals benefit substantially from CI, the outcomes after implantation vary greatly. Numerous studies have attempted to study the variables that affect CI outcomes, including the personal characteristics of CI candidates, environmental variables, and device-related variables. Up to 80% of the results remained unexplainable because all these variables could only roughly predict auditory performance with a CI. Brain structure/function differences after hearing deprivation, that is, cortical reorganization, has gradually attracted the attention of neuroscientists. The cross-modal reorganization in the auditory cortex following deafness is thought to be a key factor in the success of CI. In recent years, the adaptive and maladaptive effects of this reorganization on CI rehabilitation have been argued because the neural mechanisms of how this reorganization impacts CI learning and rehabilitation have not been revealed. Due to the lack of brain processes describing how this plasticity affects CI learning and rehabilitation, the adaptive and deleterious consequences of this reorganization on CI outcomes have recently been the subject of debate. This review describes the evidence for different roles of cross-modal reorganization in CI performance and attempts to explore the possible reasons. Additionally, understanding the core influencing mechanism requires taking into account the cortical changes from deafness to hearing restoration. However, methodological issues have restricted longitudinal research on cortical function in CI. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has been increasingly used for the study of brain function and language assessment in CI because of its unique advantages, which are considered to have great potential. Here, we review studies on auditory cortex reorganization in deaf patients and CI recipients, and then we try to illustrate the feasibility of fNIRS as a neuroimaging tool in predicting and assessing speech performance in CI recipients. Here, we review research on the cross-modal reorganization of the auditory cortex in deaf patients and CI recipients and seek to demonstrate the viability of using fNIRS as a neuroimaging technique to predict and evaluate speech function in CI recipients.

Unusually Slow Spike Frequency Adaptation in Deep Cerebellar Nuclei Neurons Preserves Linear Transformations on the Subsecond Timescale.

Purkinje cells (PCs) are spontaneously active neurons of the cerebellar cortex that inhibit glutamatergic projection neurons within the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) that provide the primary cerebellar output. Brief reductions of PC firing rapidly increase DCN neuron firing. However, prolonged reductions of PC inhibition, as seen in some disease states, certain types of transgenic mice, during optogenetic suppression of PC firing, and in acute slices of the cerebellum, do not lead to large, sustained increases in DCN firing. Here we test whether DCN neurons undergo spike frequency adaptation that could account for these properties. We perform current-clamp recordings at near physiological temperature in acute brain slices from mice of both sexes to examine how DCN neurons respond to prolonged depolarizations. DCN neuron adaptation is exceptionally slow and bidirectional. A depolarizing current step evokes large initial increases in firing that decay to ∼20% of the initial increase within ∼10 s. We find that spike frequency adaptation in DCN neurons is mediated by a novel mechanism that is independent of the most promising candidates, including calcium entry and Na+-activated potassium channels mediated by Slo2.1 and Slo2.2 Slow adaptation allows DCN neurons to gradually and bidirectionally adapt to prolonged currents but to respond linearly to current injection on rapid timescales. This suggests that an important consequence of slow adaptation is that DCN neurons respond linearly to the rate of PC firing on rapid timescales but adapt to slow firing rate changes of PCs on long timescales.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Excitatory neurons in the cerebellar nuclei provide the primary output from the cerebellum. This study finds that these neurons exhibit very slow bidirectional spike frequency adaptation that has important implications for cerebellar function. This mechanism allows neurons in the cerebellar nuclei to adapt to long-lasting changes in synaptic drive while also remaining responsive to short-term changes in excitatory or inhibitory drive.

P14. Analysis of physiological stress shielding within the lumbar musculoskeletal system as a consequence of mechanical adaptations associated with bilateral and unilateral low back pain: a finite element study

<h3>BACKGROUND CONTEXT</h3> Low back pain (LBP) is a public health crisis with nearly 85% of cases considered idiopathic. With the emergence of research analyzing the role of the thoracolumbar fascia (TLF) in spinal biomechanics, it is possible that the fascia may play a role in the progression of LBP. Previous studies have demonstrated changes to the TLF thickness and shear strain, as well as stiffness and morphological changes within lumbar spine-stabilizing muscles (eg, erector spinae [ES] and multifidus [MF]) in LBP patients. Such modifications to lumbar soft tissues suggest the plausibility of stress shielding, defining a load allocation bias, within the lumbar spine's soft tissues. <h3>PURPOSE</h3> The aim of this study is to develop and compare finite element models representing healthy, along with both bilateral and unilateral LBP-affected lumbar musculoskeletal systems to determine the potential for stress shielding within the lumbar spine from soft tissue property augmentation associated with LBP. <h3>METHODS</h3> Using a finite element platform, three models depicting the lumbar musculoskeletal system undergoing trunk flexion were created and compared. The first model represented the tissues of a healthy lumbar spine. The remaining models depicted lumbar soft tissues reflective of bilateral LBP (bLBP) and unilateral LBP (uLBP) patients. Each model was composed of vertebrae, intervertebral discs (IVDs) and soft tissues (including the MF, ES, TLF and tendons) from L1-S1. Material properties were selected from published literature. For the bLBP model, tissues on either side of the vertebral column were modified to reflect the changes in morphology and stiffness in the MF, and TLF as documented in literature involving bLBP patients. For the uLBP model, the MF and TLF located laterally to the right of the vertebral column ("symptomatic tissues") were augmented to reflect changes found within clinical studies involving uLBP patients. Remaining uLBP tissues were unchanged. Relevant model context of use validation preceded testing. <h3>RESULTS</h3> Validation was achieved as results demonstrated agreement in IVD pressure and intervertebral rotation with clinical data and in silico spine models. Compared to the healthy model, the cumulative average tension exhibited by soft tissues in the bLBP and uLBP model increased by 15.6 and 9.24%, respectively. The average tension exhibited by the bLBP model's MF, ES, and TLF changed by 13.0, -4.03, and 15.6%, while the uLBP model's symptomatic MF, ES, and TLF exhibited changes of 19.0%, -10.4%, and 16.1%, respectively. <h3>CONCLUSIONS</h3> The bLBP and uLBP models exhibited an increase in soft tissue tension by 18.4kPa and 10.9kPa relative to the healthy model soft tissues. In each LBP model, 99.8% of the overall stress increase, relative to the healthy model, was distributed towards the TLF. This demonstrates potential for the TLF in both the bLBP and uLBP scenarios to withstand the majority of increased tension, indicating a stress allocation bias within the lumbar soft tissues. This may initiate stress shielding whereby the TLF prevents adjacent spine-stabilizing soft tissues, such as the MF and ES, from receiving loading. Tissues may thus undergo atrophy and become less capable to withstand loading. To compensate, patients may depend on additional soft tissues, leading to irregular muscle activation and force balances, trapping the soft tissues in cyclical stress shielding. Ultimately, stress shielding within lumbar soft tissues may potentially lead to the progression of LBP. <h3>FDA DEVICE/DRUG STATUS</h3> This abstract does not discuss or include any applicable devices or drugs.

Age-related performance fatigability: a comprehensive review of dynamic tasks.

Adult aging is associated with a myriad of changes within the neuromuscular system, leading to reductions in contractile function of old adults. One of the consequences of these age-related neuromuscular adaptations is altered performance fatigability, which can limit the ability of old adults to perform activities of daily living. Whereas age-related fatigability during isometric tasks has been well characterized, considerably less is known about fatigability of old adults during dynamic tasks involving movement about a joint, which provides a more functionally relevant task compared with static contractions. This review provides a comprehensive summary of age-related fatigability during dynamic contractions, where the importance of task specificity is highlighted with a brief discussion of the potential mechanisms responsible for differences in fatigability between young and old adults. The angular velocity of the task is critical for evaluating age-related fatigability, as tasks that constrain angular velocity (i.e., isokinetic) produce equivocal age-related differences in fatigability, whereas tasks involving unconstrained velocity (i.e., isotonic-like) consistently induce greater fatigability for old compared with young adults. These unconstrained velocity tasks, which are more closely associated with natural movements, offer an excellent model to uncover the underlying age-related mechanisms of increased fatigability. Future work evaluating the mechanisms of increased age-related fatigability during dynamic tasks should be evaluated using contraction modes that are specific to the task (i.e., dynamic), rather than isometric, particularly for the assessment of spinal and supra spinal components. Advancing our understanding of age-related fatigability is likely to yield novel insights and approaches for improving mobility limitations in old adults.

From Threat to Challenge: Understanding the Impact of Historical Collective Trauma on Contemporary Intergroup Conflict

Collective memories of trauma can have profound impact on the affected individuals and communities. In the context of intergroup conflict, in the present article, we propose a novel theoretical framework to understand the long-term impact of historical trauma on contemporary intergroup relations from both victim and perpetrator perspectives. Integrating past research on intergroup conflict and the biopsychosocial model of threat and challenge, we argue that people appraise their group’s past victimization and perpetration differently, either as a threat or as a challenge. Shaped by contextual factors and individual differences, these differential appraisals will subsequently influence how group members respond to contemporary intergroup conflict, with both adaptive and maladaptive consequences. This model contributes to unifying the previous research that has shown diverse effects of historical trauma on present-day intergroup dynamics. We present preliminary empirical evidence in support of the framework and discuss its theoretical and practical implications.

Atomic-Level View of the Functional Transition in Vertebrate Hemoglobins: The Case of Antarctic Fish Hbs.

Tetrameric hemoglobins (Hbs) are prototypal systems for studies aimed at unveiling basic structure–function relationships as well as investigating the molecular/structural basis of adaptation of living organisms to extreme conditions. However, a chronological analysis of decade-long studies conducted on Hbs is illuminating on the difficulties associated with the attempts of gaining functional insights from static structures. Here, we applied molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to explore the functional transition from the T to the R state of the hemoglobin of the Antarctic fish Trematomus bernacchii (HbTb). Our study clearly demonstrates the ability of the MD technique to accurately describe the transition of HbTb from the T to R-like states, as shown by a number of global and local structural indicators. A comparative analysis of the structural states that HbTb assumes in the simulations with those detected in previous MD analyses conducted on HbA (human Hb) highlights interesting analogies (similarity of the transition pathway) and differences (distinct population of intermediate states). In particular, the ability of HbTb to significantly populate intermediate states along the functional pathway explains the observed propensity of this protein to assume these structures in the crystalline state. It also explains some functional data reported on the protein that indicate the occurrence of other functional states in addition to the canonical R and T ones. These findings are in line with the emerging idea that the classical two-state view underlying tetrameric Hb functionality is probably an oversimplification and that other structural states play important roles in these proteins. The ability of MD simulations to accurately describe the functional pathway in tetrameric Hbs suggests that this approach may be effectively applied to unravel the molecular and structural basis of Hbs exhibiting peculiar functional properties as a consequence of the environmental adaptation of the host organism.

Multiscale nest-site selection of ducks in the western boreal forest of Alberta.

There is limited data regarding the nesting ecology of boreal ducks and their response to industrial development, despite this region being an important North American breeding area. We investigated how landcover and oil and gas development affect third‐order nest‐site selection of boreal ducks. We located duck nests in Alberta's western boreal forest between 2016 and 2018. We used multiscale analysis to identify how scale affects the selection of a resource using generalized linear mixed‐effects models and determined what scale‐optimized combination of landscape features were most important in describing where ducks nest. We located 136 nests of six species of upland nesting ducks between 2016 and 2018. The magnitude, direction, and best spatial scale varied by resource. For landcover, ducks selected nest‐sites associated with mineral wetlands (300 m) and open water (300 m). Ducks avoided greater densities of seismic lines (300 m) and pipelines (2500 m) but selected nest‐sites associated with borrow pits (300 m) and roads (1000 m). We used our models to predict important duck nesting habitat in the boreal forest, which can support conservation and management decisions. We recommend conservation actions target the conservation of mineral wetlands and associated habitats within this working landscape. Further research is necessary to understand the adaptive consequences of nest‐site selection and how industrial development influences important nest predators.

The meiotic cohesin subunit REC8 contributes to multigenic adaptive evolution of autopolyploid meiosis in Arabidopsis arenosa.

Genome duplication, which leads to polyploidy, poses challenges to the meiotic segregation of the now-multiple homologous chromosome copies. Genome scan data showed previously that adaptation to polyploid meiosis in autotetraploid Arabidopsis arenosa is likely multigenic, involving genes encoding interacting proteins. But what does this really mean? Functional follow-up studies to genome scans for multigenic traits remain rare in most systems, and thus many mysteries remain about the “functional architecture” of polygenic adaptations. Do different genes all contribute subtle and additive progression towards a fitness optimum, or are there more complex interactions? We previously showed that derived alleles of genes encoding two interacting meiotic axis proteins (ASY1 and ASY3) have additive functional consequences for meiotic adaptation. Here we study derived versus ancestral alleles of the meiotic cohesin subunit REC8, which has roles in chromatin condensation, recruiting the axes, and other critical functions in meiosis. We use genetic and cytological approaches to assess the functional effects of REC8 diploid versus tetraploid alleles, as well as their interaction with ancestral versus derived alleles of ASY1 and ASY3. We show that homozygotes for derived (tetraploid) REC8 alleles have significantly fewer unpaired univalents, a common problem in neotetraploids. Interactions with ASY1 and ASY3 are complex, with the genes in some cases affecting distinct traits, and additive or even antagonistic effects on others. These findings suggest that the road to meiotic adaptation in A. arenosa was perhaps neither straight nor smooth.

Socio-environmental problems of the Mekong delta in Vietnam

The article discusses the features of the socio-environmental situation in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. The first part analyzes the causes of its degradation under the influence of factors related to the economic development of the river both in Vietnam and abroad and multiplied by the consequences of climate change. The destruction of the Mekong Delta ecosystem calls into question the sustainability of the regions future economic development and threatens the countrys food security. The second part of the article analyzes the policy promoted by the state to minimize the environmental consequences of ongoing development projects and adaptation to climate change. The author comes to the conclusion that despite the existing difficulties in implementing the planned measures, the state is ready to create conditions for the transition to sustainable development in the Mekong Delta.

Effect of salinity on somatic growth and gonadal enhancement of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816)

Salinity plays a major role in several physiological processes in sea urchins, including reproduction and growth, ultimately affecting survival. Optimal salinity ranges vary considerably between species, as a consequence of ecological adaptations. However, related research in the context of aquaculture is quite scarce, particularly for the stenohaline sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816), a target species for aquaculture diversification in Europe. It is thus important to better understand the response of this species to hyposalinity conditions over an extended rearing period. Four salinity treatments (20, 25, 30 and 35 psu) were evaluated, over 120 days, in terms of survival, feed intake, growth, gametogenic development and gonadal colour in P. lividus. While a 100% survival was obtained in all treatments, salinity significantly affected all other parameters. Sea urchins reared at 20 psu presented significantly lower linear and specific growth rates, feed intake, gonadosomatic index, as well as a higher feed conversion ratio. While sea urchins reared at 30 and 35 psu were mostly mature, hyposalinity led to a slower gametogenic progression in the lower salinities, particularly at 20 psu. Gonad colouration was only affected in males, as individuals reared at 20 psu presented less brighter, but more reddish and yellowish gonads. The results clearly demonstrate that despite the absence of mortality, rearing salinities of 20 and 25 psu promote a negative effect on somatic and gonadal yield of P. lividus.

Genomic dynamics of brown trout populations released to a novel environment.

Population translocations occur for a variety of reasons, from displacement due to climate change to human‐induced transfers. Such actions have adverse effects on genetic variation and understanding their microevolutionary consequences requires monitoring. Here, we return to an experimental release of brown trout (Salmo trutta) in order to monitor the genomic effects of population translocations. In 1979, fish from each of two genetically (F ST = 0.16) and ecologically separate populations were simultaneously released, at one point in time, to a lake system previously void of brown trout. Here, whole‐genome sequencing of pooled DNA (Pool‐seq) is used to characterize diversity within and divergence between the introduced populations and fish inhabiting two lakes downstream of the release sites, sampled 30 years later (c. 5 generations). Present results suggest that while extensive hybridization has occurred, the two introduced populations are unequally represented in the lakes downstream of the release sites. One population, which is ecologically resident in its original habitat, mainly contributes to the lake closest to the release site. The other population, migratory in its natal habitat, is genetically more represented in the lake further downstream. Genomic regions putatively under directional selection in the new habitat are identified, where allele frequencies in both established populations are more similar to the introduced population stemming from a resident population than the migratory one. Results suggest that the microevolutionary consequences of population translocations, for example, hybridization and adaptation, can be rapid and that Pool‐seq can be used as an initial tool to monitor genome‐wide effects.