Limited Number Of Regions Research Articles

Oligometastases of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Review.

Patients with oligometastases show distant relapse in only a limited number of regions. Local therapy such as surgical resection, radiotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, and radiofrequency ablation for the relapsed sites may thus improve patient survival. Oligometastases are divided into oligo-recurrence and sync-oligometastases. Oligo-recurrence indicates a primary lesion that is controlled, and sync-oligometastases indicate a primary lesion that is not controlled. The management of oligo-recurrence and sync-oligometastases in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma has not been clearly established, and treatment outcomes remain equivocal. We reviewed 14 articles, including three phase II trials, that were limited to squamous cell carcinoma. Multimodal treatment combining surgical resection and chemoradiotherapy for oligo-recurrence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma appears to be a promising treatment. With the development of more effective chemotherapy and regimens that combine immune checkpoint inhibitors, it will become more likely that sync-oligometastases that were unresectable at the initial diagnosis can be brought to conversion surgery. Currently, a randomized, controlled phase III trial is being conducted in Japan to compare a strategy for performing definitive chemoradiotherapy and, if necessary, salvage surgery with a strategy for conversion surgery in patients who can be resected by induction chemotherapy.

Lack of early sensitivity and gradual emergence of native phoneme categories: A pattern from underrepresented language learners.

Perceptual narrowing of speech perception supposes that young infants can discriminate most speech sounds early in life. During the second half of the first year, infants' phonetic sensitivity is attuned to their native phonology. However, supporting evidence for this pattern comes primarily from learners from a limited number of regions and languages. Very little evidence has accumulated on infants learning languages spoken in Asia, which accounts for most of the world's population. The present study examined the developmental trajectory of Korean-learning infants' sensitivity to a native stop contrast during the first year of life. The Korean language utilizes unusual voiceless three-way stop categories, requiring target categories to be derived from tight phonetic space. Further, two of these categories-lenis and aspirated-have undergone a diachronic change in recent decades as the primary acoustic cue for distinction has shifted among modern speakers. Consequently, the input distributions of these categories are mixed across speakers and speech styles, requiring learners to build flexible representations of target categories along these variations. The results showed that among the three age groups-4-6 months, 7-9 months, and 10-12 months-we tested, only 10-12-month-olds showed weak sensitivity to the two categories, suggesting that robust discrimination is not in place by the end of the first year. The study adds scarcely represented data, lending additional support for the lack of early sensitivity and prolonged emergence of native phonology that are inconsistent with learners of predominant studies and calls for more diverse samples to verify the generality of the typical perceptual narrowing pattern. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: We investigated Korean-learning infants' developmental trajectory of native phoneme categories and whether they show the typical perceptual narrowing pattern. Robust discrimination did not appear until 12 months, suggesting that Korean infants' native phonology is not stabilized by the end of the first year. The prolonged emergence of sensitivity could be due to restricted phonetic space and input variations but suggests the possibility of a different developmental trajectory. The current study contributes scarcely represented Korean-learning infants' phonetic discrimination data to the speech development field.

ARCHAEOPHYTES IN THE FLORA OF EUROPEAN RUSSIA

The division of alien species into groups according to the time of invasion is widely used in biogeographic and floristic studies, but such information is not available for many regions of Russia. Based on the analysis of regional floras of European Russia (ER), 184 species of archaeophytes (i.e., alien species intentionally or unintentionally introduced by humans in the early historical period, until the end of the 16th century) were identified for ER regions. The substantiation of the prescription of their invasion was carried out by a number of criteria (type of habitat, presence of fossils and historical evidence, geographic distribution, frequency of known naturalizations, identification of possible means of introduction, human use). Some species are archaeophytes only for a part of the ER regions; in neighboring areas, they can be either species of natural flora or alien neophytes according to their status. Eighty one species of the archaeophytes are confirmed by archaeobotanical data belonged to some of the early historical periods, mostly to the Middle Ages, but from a limited number of regions. Taking into account the peculiarities of natural conditions, as well as the history of the development of anthropogenic cultures, the territory of the ER is divided into six regions: Karelian-Kola, East-Baltic, Dvina-Upper-Volga, Volga-Don and South-Eastern. For each of the big regions, the more or less unified set of archaeophytes has been proposed. For the entire group of archaeophytes in ER as a whole, it should be noted 1) the great similarity of the composition of archaeophytes with other European regions, 2) the low diversity compared to European countries, given the large area of ER, 3) the heterogeneity of the status of species in different regions and differences between different parts ER by species composition, 4) a large proportion of segetal weed species as a result of high contamination of crops with weed species at the beginning of the development of agricultural culture, 5) a significant percentage of species of Asian origin as evidence of the influence of eastern vectors on the formation of flora, including the eastern centers of agricultural culture. For a significant part of the species from the list of archaeophytes, species factsheets are presented according to the criteria mentioned above.

Abstract 2171: The spatial landscape of clonal somatic mutations in benign and malignant tissue

Abstract Introduction: Defining the transition from benign to malignant tissue is fundamental to improve early diagnosis of cancer. In order to obtain spatial information of clonal genetic events, prior studies have used methods such as laser capture microdissection, which results in assessment of small regions or even single cells. These studies have an inherent bias as a limited number of regions per tissue section can be retrieved and examined. Furthermore, because investigators have selected such regions based on morphology, previous studies have limited their analyses to histologically defined tumour areas while excluding regions populated by benign cells. The possibility to perform unsupervised genome and tissue-wide analysis would therefore provide an important contribution to delineate clonal events. We sought study spatial genome integrity in situ to gain molecular insight into clonal relationships. Materials and Methods: We employed spatially resolved transcriptomics (Visium, 10x Genomics) to infer spatial copy number variations in >120 000 spatial regions across multiple organs, including three whole axial prostates and additional tissues from skin, breast and brain tumors. We used this information to deduce clonal relationships between regions harboring 5-20 cells. Results: We demonstrate that genome-wide copy number variation reveals distinct clonal patterns within tumours and in nearby benign tissue. We perform an in-depth spatial analysis of cancers that includes an unprecedented interrogation of up to 50,000 tissue domains in a single patient, and 120,000 tissue domains across 10 patients. In a prostate section, we observed that many CNVs occurred in histologically benign luminal epithelial cells, most notably in chromosomes 8 and 10. This clone constituted a region of exclusively benign acinar cells branching off a duct lined by largely copy neutral cells. The changes in these cells were shared with the nearby intermediate risk prostate cancer cells in the same tissue section. We observed similar findings in another patient’s cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), wherein benign squamous epithelial had alterations in chromosomes 1 and 12 that were shared with nearby cSCC. Our results suggest a model for how genomic instability arises in histo-pathologically benign tissue that may represent early events in cancer evolution. Furthermore the spatial information allowed us to identify small clonal units not evident from morphology and hence would be overlooked by pathologists. Conclusions: We present the first large-scale, comprehensive atlas of genomic evolution at high spatial resolution in prostate cancer. Our study adds an important new approach to the armamentarium of cancer molecular pathology. We highlight the power of an unsupervised approach to capture the molecular and spatial continuums in a tissue context and challenge the rationale for focal therapy in prostate cancer. Citation Format: Andrew Erickson, Emelie Berglund, Mengxiao He, Maja Marklund, Reza Mirzazadeh, Niklas Schultz, Linda Kvastad, Alma Andersson, Ludvig Bergenstråhle, Joseph Bergenstråhle, Ludvig Larsson, Alia Shamikh, Elisa Basmaci, Teresita Diaz De Ståhl, Timothy Rajakumar, Kim Thrane, Andrew L. Ji, Paul A. Khavari, Firaz Tarish, Anna Tanoglidi, Jonas Maaskola, Richard Colling, Tuomas Mirtti, Freddie Hamdy, Dan J. Woodcock, Thomas Helleday, Ian G. Mills, Alastair D. Lamb, Joakim Lundenberg. The spatial landscape of clonal somatic mutations in benign and malignant tissue [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 2171.

Abstract PR016: The spatial landscape of clonal somatic mutations in benign and malignant tissue

Abstract Introduction: Defining the transition from benign to malignant tissue is fundamental to improve early diagnosis of cancer. In order to obtain spatial information of clonal genetic events, prior studies have used methods such as laser capture microdissection, which results in assessment of small regions or even single cells. These studies have an inherent bias as a limited number of regions per tissue section can be retrieved and examined. Furthermore, because investigators have selected such regions based on morphology, previous studies have limited their analyses to histologically defined tumor areas while excluding regions populated by benign cells. The possibility to perform unsupervised genome and tissue-wide analysis would therefore provide an important contribution to delineate clonal events. We sought study spatial genome integrity in situ to gain molecular insight into clonal relationships. Materials and Methods: We employed spatially resolved transcriptomics (Visium, 10x Genomics) to infer spatial copy number variations in >120 000 spatial regions across multiple organs, including three whole axial prostates and additional tissues from skin, breast and brain tumors. We additionally performed in silico assessment of spatial copy number inference. We used this information to deduce clonal relationships between regions harboring 5-20 cells. Results: We demonstrate that genome-wide copy number variation reveals distinct clonal patterns within tumors and in nearby benign tissue. We perform an in-depth spatial analysis of cancers that includes an unprecedented interrogation of up to 50,000 tissue domains in a single patient, and 120,000 tissue domains across 10 patients. In a prostate section, we observed that many CNVs occurred in histologically benign luminal epithelial cells, most notably in chromosomes 8 and 10. This clone constituted a region of exclusively benign acinar cells branching off a duct lined by largely copy neutral cells. The changes in these cells were shared with the nearby intermediate risk prostate cancer cells in the same tissue section. We observed similar findings in another patient’s cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), wherein benign squamous epithelial had alterations in chromosomes 1 and 12 that were shared with nearby cSCC. Our results suggest a model for how genomic instability arises in histo-pathologically benign tissue that may represent early events in cancer evolution. Furthermore the spatial information allowed us to identify small clonal units not evident from morphology and hence would be overlooked by pathologists. Conclusions: We present the first large-scale, comprehensive atlas of genomic evolution at high spatial resolution in prostate cancer. Our study adds an important new approach to the armamentarium of cancer molecular pathology. We highlight the power of an unsupervised approach to capture the molecular and spatial continuums in a tissue context and challenge the rationale for focal therapy in prostate cancer Citation Format: Andrew Erickson, Emelie Berglund, Mengxiao He, Maja Marklund, Reza Mirzazadeh, Niklas Schultz, Ludvig Bergenstråhle, Linda Kvastad, Alma Andersson, Joseph Bergenstråhle, Ludvig Larsson, Alia Shamikh, Elisa Basmaci, Teresita Diaz De Ståhl, Timothy Rajakumar, Kim Thrane, Andrew L. Ji, Paul A. Khavari, Firaz Tarish, Anna Tanoglidi, Jonas Maaskola, Richard Colling, Tuomas Mirtti, Freddie C. Hamdy, Dan J. Woodcock, Thomas Helleday, Ian G. Mills, Alastair D. Lamb, Joakim Lundeberg. The spatial landscape of clonal somatic mutations in benign and malignant tissue [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on the Evolutionary Dynamics in Carcinogenesis and Response to Therapy; 2022 Mar 14-17. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(10 Suppl):Abstract nr PR016.

Humpback whale call repertoire on a northeastern Newfoundland foraging ground

AbstractHumpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a highly vocal baleen whale species with a diverse acoustic repertoire. “Song” has been well studied, while discrete “calls” have been described in a limited number of regions. We aimed to quantitatively describe calls from coastal Newfoundland, Canada, where foraging humpback whales aggregate during the summer. Recordings were made in July–August 2015 and 2016. Extracted calls were assigned to call types using aural/visual (AV) characteristics, and then agreement between quantitative acoustic parameters and qualitative call assignments was assessed using a supervised random forest (RF) analysis. The RF classified calls well (96% agreement) into three broad classes (high frequency (HF), low frequency (LF), pulsed (P)), but agreement for call types within classes was lower (LF: 63%; P: 85%; HF: 81%). We found support for a repertoire of 13 call types based on either high (≥70%) RF agreement (9 call types) or high (≥70%) AV agreement between two observers (4 call types). Five call types (swops, droplets, teepees, growls and whups) were qualitatively similar to call types from other regions. We propose that the variable classification agreement is reflective of the graded nature of humpback whale calls and present a gradation model to demonstrate the suggested continuum.

Assessing Regional Inequality based on Revenues of the Federal Budget using the Pareto Principle

The use of fiscal instruments for regulating territorial development has both positive and negative macroeconomic effects related to the withdrawal of revenue from more economically developed regions. Therefore, using the Pareto principle, this paper assesses the negative effects of budgetary reallocation. This study considers inter-budgetary reallocation as an annually recurring four-stage process of regional budgets reproduction. The article analyses the firs t stag e o f th e process , namely , the creation of resource allocation base. A hypothesis has been tested to examine whether the centralisation of tax revenues in the federal budget and, consequently, an increase in inter-budgetary reallocation does not reduce, but exacerbates inequality in regions due to their revenue depletion and limited self-development. The study assessed the contribution of federal districts and individual constituent entities of the Russian Federation to the federal budget, withdrawal of regional revenues, and the concentration of territorial revenues to the federal budget. Based on the ranking of regional contributions to federal revenues, I built a Pareto diagram, checking the 80/20 rule for grouped and non-grouped data. Calculations and comparison of the data for 2017 and 2010 confirm numerous negative effects. For example, there is an increase in the withdrawal of regional revenues and a significant concentration of federal revenues for a limited number of regions. Additionally, negative effects include the existence of a direct relationship between regional revenues and the rate of their withdrawal, as well as the predominance of the equalising component over the stimulating one in regional socio-economic development. These effects lead to revenue depletion in the territories and increased centralisation of budgetary resources, contradicting the principles of fiscal federalism. Authorities can use the research results, conclusions and suggestions for managerial decision-making to improve intergovernmental relations in the Russian Federation.

Short supply food chains in rural development

The article presents the results of study of the possibilities and prerequisites for the development of rural territories based on the restructuring of the agri-food system at the local level. The inclusion of peasant farm enterprises, private subsidiary farms, agricultural consumer cooperatives and agricultural cooperative markets into short supply food chains has been observed. The study was conducted on the basis of Rosstat data across the subjects of the Russian Federation. The polling survey was carried out in Vologda, Leningrad and Novgorod regions. The methods of correlation and socio-economic analysis were used. Groups of regions with a high share (60-70%; 71-80%; > 80%) of peasant farms and private subsidiary farms in food production as territories with prerequisites for the formation of short supply food chains were identified. The tendencies of decreasing the number of agricultural consumer cooperatives and their localization in a limited number of regions have been established. In ten regions of Russia 52.6% of agricultural consumer cooperatives are concentrated and 49.2% of peasant farms as their members are located. Cooperatives in Russia as a whole cover only 5.2% of all peasant farms. Operating agricultural consumer cooperatives provide their services only to 4% of private subsidiary farms. Based on the correlation of Spearman's ranks, a moderate tightness of the direct relationship between the number of agricultural consumer cooperatives and the number of peasant farms - members of the agricultural consumer cooperatives (correlation coefficient is 0.56) and a weak relationship between the number of agricultural consumer cooperatives and the number of private subsidiary farms served by them (0.08) has been established. It is concluded that agricultural consumer cooperatives can have a significant impact on the formation of short supply food chains only in certain regions with a developed cooperative network. The results of the questionnaire of agricultural consumer cooperatives have revealed a number of interrelated problems concerning the sale of products, the need for the development of agricultural cooperative markets and other retail markets. It was proposed to manage markets and food chains in general on the basis of a corporate social responsibility model using rural web networks (Rural web).Conflict of interest: the authors stated that there was no conflict of interest.

Approximate Explicit Model Predictive Control via Piecewise Nonlinear System Identification

This article presents an identification methodology to capture general relationships, with application to piecewise nonlinear approximations of model predictive control for constrained (non)linear systems. The mathematical formulation takes, at each iteration, the form of a constrained linear (or quadratic) optimization problem that is mathematically feasible as well as numerically tractable. The efficiency of the devised methodology is demonstrated via two industrial applications. Results suggest the possibility to achieve high approximate precision with limited number of regions, leading to a significant reduction in computation time when compared to the state-of-the-art implicit model predictive control solvers.

The impact of alternative land and yield assumptions in herbaceous biomass supply modeling: one‐size‐fits‐all resource assessment?

The Billion-ton Reports series has addressed the technical economic potential of supplying additional biomass from farmland and forests.1-3 Underlying each of the reports and supporting scenarios is a series of assumptions that drive the modeled output. The assumptions have developed over time with the support of technical experts from industry, academia, and government.4 Energy crops have not yet reached commodity scale, and only exist in commercial production in a limited number of regions, so many of the key assumptions of biomass potential are not supported by commercial demonstrations across multiple regions. This report examines the biomass potential of herbaceous energy crops from US farmland when alternative assumptions concerning production are modeled. In particular, the assumption of energy grasses, both perennial and annual, is modified with respect to land eligibility, annual rotations, and yield growth. The results of these changes are presented in six scenarios – three of which are modifications to the base-case scenario and three to the high-yield scenario. The impact on land enrolled and biomass supply are discussed with respect to the most recent 2016 Billion-ton Report results. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

A Randomized Framework for Estimating Image Saliency Through Sparse Signal Reconstruction

This article proposes a randomized framework that estimates image saliency through sparse signal reconstruction. The authors simulate the measuring process of ground-truth saliency and assume that an image is free-viewed by several subjects. In the free-viewing process, each subject attends to a limited number of regions randomly selected, and a mental map of the image is reconstructed by using the subject-specific prior knowledge. By assuming that a region is difficult to be reconstructed will become conspicuous, the authors represent the prior knowledge of a subject by a dictionary of sparse bases pre-trained on random images and estimate the conspicuity score of a region according to the activation costs of sparse bases as well as the sparse reconstruction error. Finally, the saliency map of an image is generated by summing up all conspicuity maps obtained. Experimental results show proposed approach achieves impressive performance in comparisons with 16 state-of-the-art approaches.

Characteristics, Features of Development, Regional and Sectoral Determinants of High-tech Business in Russia

The paper deals with the research devoted to characteristics of high tech business development in Russia. Companies’ performance indicators have been analyzed with the help of regression analysis and author’s scheme of leadership stability and sustainability assessment. Data provided by Russia’s Fast Growing High-Tech Companies’ National Rating (TechUp) during 2012-2016 were used. The results have revealed that the high tech sector is characterized by high level of uncertainty. Limited number of regions and sectors which form the basis for high tech business have been defined. Relationship between innovation activity’s indicators and export potential is determined.

Analysis of the long-term availability of uranium: The influence of dynamic constraints and market competition

Abstract` The availability of natural uranium has a direct impact on the global capability to sustain the demand from nuclear power plants in the coming decades. Therefore, the expansion scenarios of nuclear power should be analysed in conjunction with long-term dynamics of the uranium market. This paper presents three forms of a partial-equilibrium model of the uranium market. All forms consider global demand as exogenous (input scenarios from the literature) and regional estimates of the quantities and the costs of ultimate resources (results obtained from previous work). The three forms differ by the market constraints and the market structure considered. Comparing them highlights the role of the market structure and the impact of some key parameters of the market dynamics on the long-term availability of uranium. An important finding is the influence of two constraints: the anticipation of demand and the significant role played by the correlation between price and exploration expenses in shaping the price trends. In addition, results from simulations highlight different long-term dynamics when the producers are allocated into a limited number of regions (to simulate an oligopoly) compared to a single region (undefined number of players to simulate perfect competition).

Characterizing white matter changes in chronic schizophrenia: A free-water imaging multi-site study

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies in chronic schizophrenia have found widespread but often inconsistent patterns of white matter abnormalities. These studies have typically used the conventional measure of fractional anisotropy, which can be contaminated by extracellular free-water. A recent free-water imaging study reported reduced free-water corrected fractional anisotropy (FAT) in chronic schizophrenia across several brain regions, but limited changes in the extracellular volume. The present study set out to validate these findings in a substantially larger sample. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was performed in 188 healthy controls and 281 chronic schizophrenia patients. Forty-two regions of interest (ROIs), as well as average whole-brain FAT and FW were extracted from free-water corrected diffusion tensor maps. Compared to healthy controls, reduced FAT was found in the chronic schizophrenia group in the anterior limb of the internal capsule bilaterally, the posterior thalamic radiation bilaterally, as well as the genu and body of the corpus callosum. While a significant main effect of group was observed for FW, none of the follow-up contrasts survived correction for multiple comparisons. The observed FAT reductions in the absence of extracellular FW changes, in a large, multi-site sample of chronic schizophrenia patients, validate the pattern of findings reported by a previous, smaller free-water imaging study of a similar sample. The limited number of regions in which FAT was reduced in the schizophrenia group suggests that actual white matter tissue degeneration in chronic schizophrenia, independent of extracellular FW, might be more localized than suggested previously.

The regional primary elections in Italy: a general overview

ABSTRACTPrimary elections are frequently used by Italian parties, particularly those of the centre-left. Primaries are used not only at the local and national levels, but also at the regional level. Until 2013, primary elections had been held in a limited number of regions where there were presidential and legislative-assembly elections. The 2014–15 period, however, has seen an explosion in the use of primaries with eight taking place in a few months, almost as many as in the previous 8 years. To these should be added the closed and online primaries of the Five Star Movement. These, given their characteristics, can hardly be compared with the primaries of the centre-left. This article will look at the 17 regional primaries organised by the Italian centre–left parties. We analyse the level of participation of the selectors, the results and the level of competitiveness. Finally, particular attention will be paid to the performances of the primary-election candidates and those of the selected candidates in the subsequent elections. This will help us to understand whether the primaries affected the outcome of the regional elections.

Investigating the contribution of the upper and lower lumbar spine, relative to hip motion, in everyday tasks

BackgroundIt is commonplace for clinicians to measure range of motion (ROM) in the assessment of the lumbar spine. Traditional single ‘joint’ models afford measuring only a limited number of regions along the spine and may, therefore, over-simplify the description of movement. It remains to be determined if additional, useful information can be gleaned by considering the traditional ‘lumbar region’ as two regions. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine whether modelling the lumbar spine as two separate regions (i.e. upper and lower), yields a different understanding of spinal movement relative to hip motion, than a traditional single-joint model. This study is unique in adopting this approach to evaluate a range of everyday tasks. MethodLumbar spine motion was measured both by being considered as a whole region (S1 to T12), and where the lumbar spine was modelled as two regions (the upper (L3-T12) and lower (S1-L3)). ResultsA significant difference was evident between the relative contribution from the lower and upper spine across all movements, with the lower lumbar spine consistently contributing on average 63% of the total ROM. A significant difference was also evident between the whole lumbar spine-hip ratio, and the lower lumbar spine-hip ratio, for the movement of lifting only. The lower lumbar spine achieved greater velocity for all tasks, when compared to the upper lumbar spine. ConclusionThis study has consistently demonstrated differences in the contribution of the upper and lower spinal regions across a range of everyday tasks; hence, it would appear that greater focus should be given to performing more detailed assessments to fully appreciate spinal movement.

Foreign Direct Investment in Russia: Unfavorable Investment Climate, Uneven Distribution

Foreign direct investment may be an important source of economic development for nations. Acceleration of mobility of capital with globalization has increased foreign direct investment flows around the world. Although being one of the largest economies in the world, Russia has not been getting expected amount of foreign direct investment. Furthermore, foreign direct investment to Russia has been concentrating in a limited number of regions, amplifying regional inequalities. Inadequate foreign direct investment performance of Russia is a result of structural imbalances and legal background. In this study, importance and development of foreign direct investment in the Russian economy are investigated. In this context, benefits and negative impacts of foreign direct investment to the Russian economy and its negative impacts on it were discussed. Factors which make the country attractive to the foreign direct investment and impede foreign investment were examined as well as the sources of and solutions to the problem of uneven regional distribution of foreign direct investment. In order for Russia to attract more foreign direct investment, a favorable investment climate must be formed with modifications at the state policy level. Strategic participatory regional planning approach must be adopted to increase FDI flows to the Russian regions.

International Academic Mobility: Towards a Concentration of the Minds in Europe

International mobility of academics has risen over the last few decades, especially among PhD students and post-docs. This may be the result of deliberate policies to stimulate such mobility on the one hand and of growing imbalances in academic career opportunities on the other. The general belief that attracting international talents helps to ensure that a country plays a leading role in research and innovation, stimulates countries to develop initiatives to attract international students to doctoral programmes or to attract researchers who emigrated back to the country of origin. More traditional intercontinental mobility patterns from the south to the north and the east to the west, are now paralleled within Europe, where the disparities between countries in terms of R&D investment and skills shortages increase, related to the economic crisis. Consequently, brain circulation may easily turn into brain drain, and cultural diversity may decline. Related policy questions are whether this will unavoidably result in a (further) concentration of the minds in a limited number of regions or hubs and how this should be considered from the point of view of quality, competitiveness, diversity, and the future of the comprehensive research university in Europe.

Carbon Storage in Seagrass Beds of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

“Blue Carbon” initiatives have highlighted the significant role of seagrasses in organic carbon (C org) burial and sequestration. However, global databases on the extent of C org stocks in seagrass ecosystems are largely comprised of studies conducted in monospecific beds from a limited number of regions, thus potentially biasing global estimates. To better characterize carbon stocks in seagrass beds of varying structure and composition, and to further expand the current “Blue Carbon” database to under-represented regions, we evaluate the extent of C org stocks in the relatively undocumented seagrass meadows of the Arabian Gulf. Surveys were conducted along the coast of Abu Dhabi (UAE) and encompassed sites ranging from sheltered embayments to offshore islands. Seagrass beds consisted of Halodule uninervis, Halophila ovalis and Halophila stipulacea. While seagrasses were widely distributed along the coast, both living and soil C org stores were relatively modest on an areal basis. Total seagrass biomass ranged from 0.03 to 1.13 Mg C ha−1, with a mean of 0.4 ± 0.1 (±SEM), and soil C org stocks (as estimated over the top meter) ranged from 1.9 to 109 Mg C ha−1, with a mean of 49.1 ± 7.0 (±SEM). However, owing to the expansive distribution of seagrasses in the Arabian Gulf, seagrass “Blue Carbon” stocks were large, with 400 Gg C stored in living seagrass biomass and 49.1 Tg C stored in soils. Thus, despite low C org stores for any given location, the overall contribution of seagrass beds to carbon storage are relatively large given their extensive coverage. This research adds to a growing global dataset on carbon stocks and further demonstrates that even seagrass beds dominated by small-bodied species function to store carbon in coastal environments.

Domain-general Signals in the Cingulo-opercular Network for Visuospatial Attention and Episodic Memory

We investigated the functional properties of a previously described cingulo-opercular network (CON) putatively involved in cognitive control. Analyses of common fMRI task-evoked activity during perceptual and episodic memory search tasks that differently recruited the dorsal attention (DAN) and default mode network (DMN) established the generality of this network. Regions within the CON (anterior insula/frontal operculum and anterior cingulate/presupplementary cortex) displayed sustained signals during extended periods in which participants searched for behaviorally relevant information in a dynamically changing environment or from episodic memory in the absence of sensory stimulation. The CON was activated during all phases of both tasks, which involved trial initiation, target detection, decision, and response, indicating its consistent involvement in a broad range of cognitive processes. Functional connectivity analyses showed that the CON flexibly linked with the DAN or DMN regions during perceptual or memory search, respectively. Aside from the CON, only a limited number of regions, including the lateral pFC, showed evidence of domain-general sustained activity, although in some cases the common activations may have reflected the functional-anatomical variability of domain-specific regions rather than a true domain generality. These additional regions also showed task-dependent functional connectivity with the DMN and DAN, suggesting that this feature is not a specific marker of cognitive control. Finally, multivariate clustering analyses separated the CON from other frontoparietal regions previously associated with cognitive control, indicating a unique fingerprint. We conclude that the CON's functional properties and interactions with other brain regions support a broad role in cognition, consistent with its characterization as a task control network.