Innate Capacity Research Articles

Cold Adaptation Strategies and the Potential of Psychrophilic Enzymes from the Antarctic Yeast, Glaciozyma antarctica PI12.

Psychrophilic organisms possess several adaptive strategies which allow them to sustain life at low temperatures between −20 to 20 °C. Studies on Antarctic psychrophiles are interesting due to the multiple stressors that exist on the permanently cold continent. These organisms produce, among other peculiarities, cold-active enzymes which not only have tremendous biotechnological potential but are valuable models for fundamental research into protein structure and function. Recent innovations in omics technologies such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics have contributed a remarkable perspective of the molecular basis underpinning the mechanisms of cold adaptation. This review critically discusses similar and different strategies of cold adaptation in the obligate psychrophilic yeast, Glaciozyma antarctica PI12 at the molecular (genome structure, proteins and enzymes, gene expression) and physiological (antifreeze proteins, membrane fluidity, stress-related proteins) levels. Our extensive studies on G. antarctica have revealed significant insights towards the innate capacity of- and the adaptation strategies employed by this psychrophilic yeast for life in the persistent cold. Furthermore, several cold-active enzymes and proteins with biotechnological potential are also discussed.

Ex-foliar application of glycine betaine and its impact on protein, carbohydrates and induction of ROS scavenging system during drought stress in flax (Linum usitatissimum)

Crop plants have an innate capacity to acclimatize and survive myriad stresses in field conditions. This acclimatization to stress enhances crop stand in field and productivity of plant. Inter alia field crops withstand drought stress (hydropenia) by inducing synthesis or accumulation of osmolytes such as (i) proline and other amino acids, (ii) glycine betaine (GB), (iii) soluble carbohydrates, and (iv) reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging system as intrinsic drought antagonizing molecules. Precise in vivo induction of osmolytes and their effect on ROS scavenging system in flax/linseed has not been elucidated. The investigation was carried out to identify a tolerant and susceptible cultivar of flax from a core collection of 53 core accessions and evaluate the role of compatible osmolytes in Linum usitatissimum under hydropenia. We screened eight morphometrically diverse flax genotypes in field under irrigated and un-irrigated condition and classified them as tolerant and susceptible genotypes. Further, we examined the effect of ex-foliar glycine betaine application - a signature molecule involved in drought tolerance, on selected tolerant and susceptible varieties. Our results showed stimulatory impact of glycine betaine on accumulation of ROS scavenging antioxidants, total soluble protein and on its own accumulation. While the ex-foliar application had no inhibitory effect on the growth of plants; accumulation of free proline, amino acids and carbohydrates are inhibited par se in flax. Our findings reveal, flax is a non-accumulator of glycine betaine and exogenous application of glycine betaine enhances its own levels during drought stress.

Immunosurveillance of Cancer and Viral Infections with Regard to Alterations of Human NK Cells Originating from Lifestyle and Aging.

Natural killer (NK) cells are cytotoxic immune cells with an innate capacity for eliminating cancer cells and virus- infected cells. NK cells are critical effector cells in the immunosurveillance of cancer and viral infections. Patients with low NK cell activity or NK cell deficiencies are predisposed to increased risks of cancer and severe viral infections. However, functional alterations of human NK cells are associated with lifestyles and aging. Personal lifestyles, such as cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, stress, obesity, and aging are correlated with NK cell dysfunction, whereas adequate sleep, moderate exercise, forest bathing, and listening to music are associated with functional healthy NK cells. Therefore, adherence to a healthy lifestyle is essential and will be favorable for immunosurveillance of cancer and viral infections with healthy NK cells.

An actinomycete strain of Nocardiopsis lucentensis reduces arsenic toxicity in barley and maize

Accumulation of arsenic in plant tissues poses a substantial threat to global crop yields. The use of plant growth-promoting bacterial strains to mitigate heavy metal toxicity has been illustrated before. However, its potential to reduce plant arsenic uptake and toxicity has not been investigated to date. Here, we describe the identification and characterization of a Nocardiopsis lucentensis strain isolated from heavy metal contaminated soil. Inoculation with this bioactive actinomycete strain decreased arsenic root and shoot bioaccumulation in both C3 and C4 crop species namely barley and maize. Upon arsenate treatment, N. lucentensis S5 stimulated root citric acid production and the plant’s innate detoxification capacity in a species-specific manner. In addition, this specific strain promoted biomass gain, despite substantial tissue arsenic levels. Detoxification (metallothionein, phytochelatin, glutathione-S-transferase levels) was upregulated in arsenate-exposed shoot and roots, and this response was further enhanced upon S5 supplementation, particularly in barley and maize roots. Compared to barley, maize plants were more tolerant to arsenate-induced oxidative stress (less H2O2 and lipid peroxidation levels). However, barley plants invested more in antioxidative capacity induction (ascorbate-glutathione turnover) to mitigate arsenic oxidative stress, which was strongly enhanced by S5. We quantify and mechanistically discuss the physiological and biochemical basis of N. lucentensis-mediated plant biomass recovery on arsenate polluted soils. Our findings substantiate the potential applicability of a bactoremediation strategy to mitigate arsenic-induced yield loss in crops.

Novel cell sources for bone regeneration.

A plethora of both acute and chronic conditions, including traumatic, degenerative, malignant, or congenital disorders, commonly induce bone disorders often associated with severe persisting pain and limited mobility. Over 1 million surgical procedures involving bone excision, bone grafting, and fracture repair are performed each year in the U.S. alone, resulting in immense levels of public health challenges and corresponding financial burdens. Unfortunately, the innate self‐healing capacity of bone is often inadequate for larger defects over a critical size. Moreover, as direct transplantation of committed osteoblasts is hindered by deficient cell availability, limited cell spreading, and poor survivability, an urgent need for novel cell sources for bone regeneration is concurrent. Thanks to the development in stem cell biology and cell reprogramming technology, many multipotent and pluripotent cells that manifest promising osteogenic potential are considered the regenerative remedy for bone defects. Considering these cells' investigation is still in its relative infancy, each of them offers their own particular challenges that must be conquered before the large‐scale clinical application.

55 Equine gastric ulcers; a pilot study: associated biomarkers and polysaccharide supplementation as a solution

Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome affects roughly 90% of performance horses. The only reliable antemortem diagnostic method is endoscopy, which is an invasive process. The cornerstone of treatment is acid suppression, a cost-prohibitive option that is not viable for long-term use. The objectives of this study were to investigate the efficacy of a polysaccharide (PS) supplement on gastric ulcers in the squamous (SQ) and glandular (GL) regions of the equine stomach and identify associated serum and saliva biomarkers. It was hypothesized that severity of SQ and GL ulcers throughout the supplemental period would decrease and levels of serum and salivary proteins, as well as total antioxidant capacity (TAC), would fluctuate with ulcer scores. To test this hypothesis, 8 mature geldings were randomly assigned to a treatment (TRT) or non-treatment (CTRL) group, then underwent ulcer induction using a modified Murray method: alternating 12- and 24-h feed deprivations for a total of 108hr. Following the induction, TRT horses’ feed was top-dressed with 1oz of PS supplement twice daily. Horses were fed 1.0% BW in Fescue hay ( Festuca pratensis ) and 0.25% BW in concentrates daily (Nutrena Triumph Fiber Plus, Cargill, Inc., Holmesville, OH) with ad libitum water access, as recommended by the NRC. Horses were housed in 3.05mx3.65m stalls and turned out into 0.809ha pastures (native grasses, fescue, clover, and annual rye; 4 horses per pasture) from 0600hrs-1800hrs and 1800hrs-0600hrs, respectively. The experiment was divided into 3 periods: pre- (Day 0), mid- (Day 28), and post-supplementation (Day 43). Per period, endoscopic images were captured and saliva and blood samples were collected. The effects of date and treatment were analyzed with a factorial ANOVA. All statistical calculations were performed usuing the software JMP. The severity of ulcer scores decreased in all horses over the 6-week time span ( P = 0.001), with no difference found between TRT and CTRL horses in the SQ or GL regions. It is possible that the body's innate healing capacity was adequate in this study, which may have masked the treatment effect of the PS supplement. There was a correlation found between salivary TAC (R 2 = 0.559; P = 0.005) and serum TAC (R 2 = 0.620; P = 0.002) and ulcer score, which may indicate that oxidative stress decreases as ulcers heal. The investigation of PS supplementation as a preventative measure in ulcerative and non-ulcerative horses under stress is warranted. Additionally, the exploration of other salivary and serum biomarkers to further develop a panel for preliminary screening of equine gastric ulcers should be pursued.

Study, truth, and personal formation: Reflections on John Paul II’s Pastores dabo vobis

Although John Paul II published “Pastores dabo vobis” specifically for the formation of seminarians for Catholic priesthood, it nonetheless contains much wisdom regarding the formation of any young person on the cusp of full adulthood. John Paul outlines a framework of personal formation according to its human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral dimensions. I articulate those dimensions through the lens of a fourfold causal analysis, attending especially to the intellectual dimension and its proper activity, study. My thesis is that study—that is, the serious and diligent exercise of our innate capacity for truth—is the primary driver of successful personal formation.

Suffering and Salutogenesis: A Conceptual Analysis of Lessons for Psychiatry From Existential Positive Psychology (PP2.0) in the Setting of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a widespread effect on the thoughts, emotions and behavior of millions of people all around the world. In this context, a large body of scientific literature examining the mental health impact of this global crisis has emerged. The majority of these studies have framed this impact in terms of pre-defined categories derived from psychiatric nosology, such as anxiety disorders, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. These constructs often fail to capture the complexity of the actual experiences of the individuals being studied; more specifically, they describe these experiences exclusively in terms of disease, while neglecting their potentially adaptive or “salutogenic” aspects. Similarly, discussion of psychological assistance for these individuals has largely been confined to a reiteration of “evidence-based” psychological or pharmacological techniques which can be delivered using remote access technology. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, these approaches are likely to be of mixed efficacy. Conversely, “negative emotions” or distressing psychological experiences may actually be functional in the setting of a disaster or crisis, serving to minimize harm, maximize social coherence and compliance, and facilitate adherence to safety measures. The limitations of the “conventional” approach are, to a certain degree, inherent to the prevailing medical model of mental health. Beyond these considerations lies the concept of “salutogenesis,” a term which refers to the innate capacity of individuals to create and maintain health and well-being in the face of adversity. Using principles derived from the second wave of positive psychology (PP2.0), particularly its emphasis on the totality of human experience and the possibility of deriving meaning and character growth from suffering, this paper conceptually analyses the relevant aspects of salutogenesis and PP2.0, and proposes an alternate approach for addressing mental health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such an approach, while acknowledging the utility of the conventional medical-psychotherapeutic model in specific cases, reduces the risk of medicalizing human experience, and provides individuals and communities with opportunities for growth and adaptation. The benefits of this proposal could potentially extend far beyond the current crisis, offering an opportunity for the field of psychiatry and mental health research to move away from a purely “disease-centered” model.

Brain, musicality, and language aptitude: A complex interplay

AbstractMusic and language are highly intertwined auditory phenomena that largely overlap on behavioral and neural levels. While the link between the two has been widely explored on a general level, comparably few studies have addressed the relationship between musical skills and language aptitude, defined as an individual's (partly innate) capacity for learning foreign languages. Behaviorally, past research has provided evidence that individuals’ musicality levels (expressed by singing, instrument playing, and/or perceptive musical abilities) are significantly associated with their foreign language learning, particularly the acquisition of phonetic and phonological skills (e.g., pronunciation, speech imitation). On the neural level, both skills recruit a wide array of overlapping brain areas, which are also involved in cognition and memory.The neurobiology of language aptitude is an area ripe for investigation, since there has been only limited research establishing neurofunctional and neuroanatomical markers characteristic of speech imitation and overall language aptitude (e.g., in the left/right auditory cortex and left inferior parietal areas of the brain). Thus, as noted above, in this short review for ARAL, the aim is to describe the most recent neuroscientific findings on the neurobiology of language aptitude, to discuss the complex interplay between language aptitude and musicality from neural and behavioral perspectives, and to briefly outline what the promise of future research in this area holds.

The Evolved Psychology of Psychedelic Set and Setting: Inferences Regarding the Roles of Shamanism and Entheogenic Ecopsychology.

This review illustrates the relevance of shamanism and its evolution under effects of psilocybin as a framework for identifying evolved aspects of psychedelic set and setting. Effects of 5HT2 psychedelics on serotonin, stress adaptation, visual systems and personality illustrate adaptive mechanisms through which psychedelics could have enhanced hominin evolution as an environmental factor influencing selection for features of our evolved psychology. Evolutionary psychology perspectives on ritual, shamanism and psychedelics provides bases for inferences regarding psychedelics’ likely roles in hominin evolution as exogenous neurotransmitter sources through their effects in selection for innate dispositions for psychedelic set and setting. Psychedelics stimulate ancient brain structures and innate modular thought modules, especially self-awareness, other awareness, “mind reading,” spatial and visual intelligences. The integration of these innate modules are also core features of shamanism. Cross-cultural research illustrates shamanism is an empirical phenomenon of foraging societies, with its ancient basis in collective hominid displays, ritual alterations of consciousness, and endogenous healing responses. Shamanic practices employed psychedelics and manipulated extrapharmacological effects through stimulation of serotonin and dopamine systems and augmenting processes of the reptilian and paleomammalian brains. Differences between chimpanzee maximal displays and shamanic rituals reveal a zone of proximal development in hominin evolution. The evolution of the mimetic capacity for enactment, dance, music, and imitation provided central capacities underlying shamanic performances. Other chimp-human differences in ritualized behaviors are directly related to psychedelic effects and their integration of innate modular thought processes. Psychedelics and other ritual alterations of consciousness stimulate these and other innate responses such as soul flight and death-and-rebirth experiences. These findings provided bases for making inferences regarding foundations of our evolved set, setting and psychology. Shamanic setting is eminently communal with singing, drumming, dancing and dramatic displays. Innate modular thought structures are prominent features of the set of shamanism, exemplified in animism, animal identities, perceptions of spirits, and psychological incorporation of spirit others. A shamanic-informed psychedelic therapy includes: a preparatory set with practices such as sexual abstinence, fasting and dream incubation; a set derived from innate modular cognitive capacities and their integration expressed in a relational animistic worldview; a focus on internal imagery manifesting a presentational intelligence; and spirit relations involving incorporation of animals as personal powers. Psychedelic research and treatment can adopt this shamanic biogenetic paradigm to optimize set, setting and ritual frameworks to enhance psychedelic effects.

Themistius on Concept Formation

Abstract This paper reconstructs the account of concept formation developed in the 4th Century A.D. by Themistius in the most ancient extant commentary on Aristotle’s Posterior Analytics. Themistius’ account can be contrasted with two widespread modern interpretations of Aristotle. Unlike psychological empiricists, Themistius ascribes an active role in concept formation to our innate capacity of understanding (νοῦς). Unlike intuitionists, he would not be satisfied by saying that νοῦς “intuits” or “spots” concepts. Rather, the question is what makes our νοῦς capable of “finding” and “recognizing” concepts in experience, and this can only be an understanding prior to all experience. Themistius seems to be responding here to Platonist arguments against Aristotle’s epistemology: postulating a “potential νοῦς” is not enough, for one can apply Meno’s dilemma to it and ask how it can recognize that it has found what it was looking for. But, contrary to the judgment of some modern scholars, Themistius never embraced the theory of recollection either (he rejects it decisively). He argued that both empiricism and Platonist innatism are wrong and developed a middle path marked by a strong interdependence between the perceptive and the rational capacity. This holds for all rational learning, and concept formation is its first stage: to form a concept means to learn something genuinely new, but also to recognize it as falling, e. g., under one of the ten categories. While being presented as a mere “paraphrasis” of Aristotle’s words, Themistius’ account is a well-advised and original response to the epistemological debates of his time.

Unlocking the Secrets of the Regenerating Fish Heart: Comparing Regenerative Models to Shed Light on Successful Regeneration.

The adult human heart cannot repair itself after injury and, instead, forms a permanent fibrotic scar that impairs cardiac function and can lead to incurable heart failure. The zebrafish, amongst other organisms, has been extensively studied for its innate capacity to repair its heart after injury. Understanding the signals that govern successful regeneration in models such as the zebrafish will lead to the development of effective therapies that can stimulate endogenous repair in humans. To date, many studies have investigated cardiac regeneration using a reverse genetics candidate gene approach. However, this approach is limited in its ability to unbiasedly identify novel genes and signalling pathways that are essential to successful regeneration. In contrast, drawing comparisons between different models of regeneration enables unbiased screens to be performed, identifying signals that have not previously been linked to regeneration. Here, we will review in detail what has been learnt from the comparative approach, highlighting the techniques used and how these studies have influenced the field. We will also discuss what further comparisons would enhance our knowledge of successful regeneration and scarring. Finally, we focus on the Astyanax mexicanus, an intraspecies comparative fish model that holds great promise for revealing the secrets of the regenerating heart.

A Corpus-Based Study on the Pragmatic Use of the ba Construction in Early Childhood Mandarin Chinese.

This article reports on an inquiry that investigated the development of ba constructions in early childhood Mandarin. All cases of ba construction were extracted from the Early Childhood Mandarin Corpus collected from 168 preschoolers aged 2;6, 3;6, 4;6, and 5;6 (year; month; Li and Tse, 2011). Early Childhood Mandarin Corpus, University of Hong Kong. Data analysis indicated that: (1) Mandarin-speaking children produced a repertoire of 11 types of ba construction, and the children in the youngest age group (age 2;6) were able to produce six types of them; (2) children at 4 years old (age 4;6) experienced a critical developmental period of pragmatic use, and at 5 years old (age 5;6) they had attained cognitive and linguistic maturity in understanding the semantic and syntactic features of ba constructions; and (3) there was a significant age effect on the production of three types of ba construction, but no significant association between the children’s gender and their production of ba constructions. These findings offer fresh insights into understanding Chinese children’s innate capacity to understand the co-occurrence constraints concerning the syntactic, semantic and verb features inherent in ba construction, and their developmental ability to denote telic events by resorting to the appropriate ba sentence patterns.

Attentional focus modulates automatic finger-tapping movements

The majority of human behaviors are composed of automatic movements (e.g., walking or finger-tapping) which are learned during nurturing and can be performed simultaneously without interfering with other tasks. One critical and yet to be examined assumption is that the attention system has the innate capacity to modulate automatic movements. The present study tests this assumption. Setting no deliberate goals for movement, we required sixteen participants to perform personalized and well-practiced finger-tapping movements in three experiments while focusing their attention on either different component fingers or away from movements. Using cutting-edge pose estimation techniques to quantify tapping trajectory, we showed that attention to movement can disrupt movement automaticity, as indicated by decreased inter-finger and inter-trial temporal coherence; facilitate the attended and inhibit the unattended movements in terms of tapping amplitude; and re-organize the action sequence into distinctive patterns according to the focus of attention. These findings demonstrate compelling evidence that attention can modulate automatic movements and provide an empirical foundation for theories based on such modulation in controlling human behavior.

Career counselling: A way to choose right career life

These days life is becoming full of challenges and with so match career opportunities students are getting confused and puzzled up in making the right decision and therefore career counsellor with his counselling, advice, analysis, research can play a major role in making the right decision for students. Individual have different innate capacities and abilities and hence aptitudes for different kind of work. A career should be chosen with utmost care, thought, and planning. The purpose of career counselling is to match the individuals and the occupation optimally for mutual benefits. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to know about the needs and importance of career counselling in choosing right career with its proper implementation. Findings show that the career counselling is very much effective to our career achievement and as well as life achievement if it became starting in our institutions. The Career counselling plays an important role in helping students in choosing the right path and to meet their goals.

Differences in the Activities of Serum Antioxidant and Immune Factors between Wild and Captive Spotted Seal (Phoca largha) Pups from the Liaodong Bay Colony

The innate immune system plays a vital role to resist the environmental stresses and infectious pathogens in marine mammal pups. To get a baseline level of innate immune capacity in spotted seals, the concentrations of several antioxidant and immune-related factors in the serum of wild and captive spotted seal (Phoca largha) pups from the Liaodong Bay colony were measured and compared. Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase and peroxidase were mainly responsible for the antioxidant system of spotted seal pups, and wild pups possessed stronger antioxidant capacity than captive ones. Against infectious pathogens, wild spotted seal pups also had an advantage over the captive counterparts. Specifically, the activities of acid phosphatase, phenoloxidase, and lysozyme in the serum of wild spotted seal pups were significantly higher than those in captive animals. The present study provides the normal activities of several serum immune enzymes for wild and captive spotted seal pups from the Liaodong Bay colony, which is benefit to the conservation of this species.

Peptide-Based Supramolecular Vaccine Systems

Currently approved replication-competent and inactivated vaccines are limited by excessive reactogenicity and poor safety profiles, while subunit vaccines are often insufficiently immunogenic without exogenous adjuvants. Self-assembling peptide-, peptidomimetic-, and protein-based biomaterials offer a means to overcome these challenges through their inherent modularity, multivalency, and biocompatibility. As these scaffolds are biologically derived and present antigenic arrays reminiscent of natural viruses, they are prone to immune recognition and are uniquely capable of acting as self-adjuvanting vaccine delivery vehicles that improve humoral and cellular responses. Beyond this intrinsic immunological advantage, the wide range of available amino acids allows for facile de novo design or straightforward modifications to existing sequences. This has permitted the development of vaccines and immunotherapies tailored to specific disease models, as well as generalizable platforms that have been successfully applied to prevent or treat numerous infectious and non-infectious diseases. In this review, we briefly introduce the immune system, discuss the structural determinants of coiled coils, β-sheets, peptide amphiphiles, and protein subunit nanoparticles, and highlight the utility of these materials using notable examples of their innate and adaptive immunomodulatory capacity.

A Self-Adaptive Deep Learning-Based Algorithm for Predictive Analysis of Bitcoin Price

Bitcoin generates a massive amount of data every day due to its innate transparency and capacity of operating completely decentralised. In this paper, we introduce on-chain metrics derived from data on the bitcoin network that enable us to describe the state and usage of the underlying network. Based on their characteristics, we classify them into user, miner, exchange activities and run a correlation analysis with the price to understand the dynamics of bitcoin’s price and its underlying mechanics. Using the correlated data, we develop a deep learning model. However, determining the best values of parameters in a deep learning model can be a very challenging and time-consuming task. Hence, we propose a self-adaptive technique using a jSO optimization algorithm to find the best values of these parameters to accurately predict the price of bitcoin. Compared to traditional LSTM model, our approach is highly accurate and optimised with a minimum error rate.

Examining Community Participation in Crime Prevention in Rural Peshawar, Pakistan

Crime is a common phenomenon in rural and urban sectors, yet both the settings are not uniformly exposed to it. Indigenous communities’ engagement in crime deterrence activities has now appeared as an alternative and effective approach towards crime prevention and security maintenance around the globe. Like urban areas, the rural areas in Pakistan are also notorious with all kinds of criminal acts. Scarcity of required updated equipment, resources and poor infrastructure is the main bottleneck that has circumscribed the police capacity to detect and prevent criminal acts in rural societies. Subsequently, alarming crime rate and ineffective functioning of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) has led rural sectors to adopt community policing strategy to protect the society from potential criminal threats. Considering the aforementioned debate, this study was designed to examine community participation in crime prevention in rural areas of Peshawar district of Pakistan. This study has incorporated social capital theory to analyze the prospects of community policing in crime control. Mixed data collection method was used to find out innate capacity of crime prevention of local rural communities of Peshawar. The researcher adopted simple random sampling technique where 370 respondents were selected for information collection. In-depth interviews were also conducted with Station House Officers (SHOs), to find out more about the situation of the criminal activities in the area. Comprehensive survey was conducted, and the collected data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics and Markov chain analysis. It was found that the study area was vulnerable to multifarious criminal acts. Ranging from drug trafficking, violent conflicts, and aggravated assault to the theft being conspicuously prevalent in the rural sector and agricultural commodities were mostly stolen during harvest period. The results validate that dearth of developed infrastructure, inadequate police presence, and government reluctance in providing job opportunities to the emerging youth bulge has unpleasant the crime situation in the research area. Although local community policing was found as an effective strategy to deter crime from the past five years, unfortunately it lacks the institutional capacity to deter crime at broader level. Poor allocation of funds by the government and no surveillance of higher officials were creating hindrance in effective implementation of community policing. This study also found a communication gap between LAEs and local community because of police infectiveness and departmental trust deficit. It was concluded that despite countrywide adoption of community policing strategy in Pakistan, its rural sector is drastically lagging behind in implementation. Hence, the study suggests skill development and training programs that will not only absorb unemployed youth but will also help to reduce crime rate. Moreover, inclusive public-police partnership is mandatory to bridge the trust gap and to secure peace and security. Similarly, through effective socialization regarding crime awareness by all social agents such as family, schools, neighborhood and religious institutions, community can reduce deviant acts can promote compliance behaviors of its members. Infrastructure such as good roads, electricity, CCTV and communication facilities should be developed by the government and private organizations without excluding community members who constitute the social capital. As, developed infrastructure not only act as a buttress to socio-economic development of any society but also help in crime prevention and deterrence.

Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreign Language Learning by Robert J. Blake and Gabriel Guillén, and: Teaching Languages in Blended Synchronous Learning Classrooms: A Practical Guide by Alba Girons and Nicholas Swinehart

Reviewed by: Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreign Language Learning by Robert J. Blake and Gabriel Guillén, and: Teaching Languages in Blended Synchronous Learning Classrooms: A Practical Guide by Alba Girons and Nicholas Swinehart Christine Campbell Blake, Robert J., and Gabriel Guillén. Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreign Language Learning. Georgetown UP, 2020. Pp. 231. ISBN 978-1-62616-740-7. Girons, Alba, and Nicholas Swinehart. Teaching Languages in Blended Synchronous Learning Classrooms: A Practical Guide. Georgetown UP, 2020. Pp. 51. ISBN 978-1-62616-806-0. The widespread discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of online learning, especially in this time of a world pandemic that has necessitated its increased use in academia, business, and government, is fortuitous for the publication of the two books, cited above, which focus on the topic. This review will describe and analyze both, sequentially. Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreign Language Learning, focused on computer-assisted language learning (CALL), first appeared in 2008, then, in a second edition, in 2013. At the time, it constituted an important contribution to language learning given many educators were struggling with understanding the role of technology in the profession, the integration of mobile devices in daily life, and the new terminology. Written in a straightforward prose replete with references, the tome was a welcome addition to both the practitioner’s and researcher’s library. The substantially revised third edition of the book does not disappoint. Once again, its thoughtful exploration of why to integrate certain technological tools in the learning space render it a “must read” for language learning professionals interested in technology. Intended for “both neophyte and experienced CALL practitioners” in education, it “is not a how-to manual” (3 and 10, respectively). Below, comments on the organization and content of the book. The tome is divided into six chapters preceded by a foreword by Thorne, a well-known sociocultural researcher whose work examines intercultural competence. He posits the volume “provides a comprehensive topological map that will help to guide us forward on the path of creating more developmentally effective technology-mediated language learning environments at a time when bi- and multilingualism are most needed” (xi). The introduction has an intriguing title, “From Talking to Telling Tales in a Multilingual Digital World.” The title is a reference to the organization of the book around six qualities displayed [End Page 312] by learners, who are “(1) speakers of tongues, homo loquens; (2) both conscious and intuitive analyzers, homo analyticus; (3) social beings, homo socius; (4) tool users, homo faber; (5) game players, homo ludens; and, above all else, (6) storytellers, homo fabulans” (1). The authors assert they are promoting an interactional framework, which has as its premise that CALL digital tools and the social practices they generate can be the source of more input for learners but can also serve to direct and enhance learner attention during language development. Chapter 1 “Can Technology Help with L2 Learning?” examines the learner’s innate capacity to learn languages before reviewing four common misunderstanding about technology and L2 acquisition. An overview of SLA theories and how they relate to technology follow. Chapter 2 “What is the Right Technological Fit for L2 Learning?” focuses on both the learner’s and the teacher’s analytical abilities, which are put to use when engaging in their different roles within a particular instructional approach such as the interactionist approach, task-based language teaching, tandem learning, autonomous learning, and online learning. The chapter also provides information about evaluation frameworks that can be used to assess CALL materials for use in the L2 curriculum. Chapter 3 “How Does the Digital World Shape Our Social Interactions?” explores the learner’s social orientation, which can be satisfied through the use of digital tools such as email, instant messaging, blogs, microblogging, wikis, social networks, and video chat. All part of social CALL, they become “telecollaboration” when involving people in other countries. Chapter 4 “Which Digital Tools Work for L2 Learning?” describes learner tools, specifically computer programs and applications within the context of tutorial CALL. The chapter suggests ways to help teachers choose appropriate and meaningful tools for learning about and practicing new L2 structures...