Perfect Identity Research Articles

Generation of somatic de novo structural variation as a hallmark of cellular senescence in human lung fibroblasts.

Cellular senescence is characterized by replication arrest in response to stress stimuli. Senescent cells accumulate in aging tissues and can trigger organ-specific and possibly systemic dysfunction. Although senescent cell populations are heterogeneous, a key feature is that they exhibit epigenetic changes. Epigenetic changes such as loss of repressive constitutive heterochromatin could lead to subsequent LINE-1 derepression, a phenomenon often described in the context of senescence or somatic evolution. LINE-1 elements decode the retroposition machinery and reverse transcription generates cDNA from autonomous and non-autonomous TEs that can potentially reintegrate into genomes and cause structural variants. Another feature of cellular senescence is mitochondrial dysfunction caused by mitochondrial damage. In combination with impaired mitophagy, which is characteristic of senescent cells, this could lead to cytosolic mtDNA accumulation and, as a genomic consequence, integrations of mtDNA into nuclear DNA (nDNA), resulting in mitochondrial pseudogenes called numts. Thus, both phenomena could cause structural variants in aging genomes that go beyond epigenetic changes. We therefore compared proliferating and senescent IMR-90 cells in terms of somatic de novo numts and integrations of a non-autonomous composite retrotransposons - the so-called SVA elements-that hijack the retropositional machinery of LINE-1. We applied a subtractive and kinetic enrichment technique using proliferating cell DNA as a driver and senescent genomes as a tester for the detection of nuclear flanks of de novo SVA integrations. Coupled with deep sequencing we obtained a genomic readout for SVA retrotransposition possibly linked to cellular senescence in the IMR-90 model. Furthermore, we compared the genomes of proliferative and senescent IMR-90 cells by deep sequencing or after enrichment of nuclear DNA using AluScan technology. A total of 1,695 de novo SVA integrations were detected in senescent IMR-90 cells, of which 333 were unique. Moreover, we identified a total of 81 de novo numts with perfect identity to both mtDNA and nuclear hg38 flanks. In summary, we present evidence for possible age-dependent structural genomic changes by paralogization that go beyond epigenetic modifications. We hypothesize, that the structural variants we observe potentially impact processes associated with replicative aging of IMR-90 cells.

Molecular characterization of rabies virus in trade dogs from Plateau state, Nigeria

Rabies is one of the most dreaded diseases known to mankind and it is endemic in Nigeria. This study was aimed at the detection and molecular characterisation of the rabies virus antigen in trade dogs in Plateau State. A cross-sectional study was performed to determine the prevalence of rabies antigen in the brain tissues of slaughtered dogs, from February to June 2018 using a direct fluorescent antibody test and mouse inoculation technique. Direct Fluorescent Antibody Test, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the identified rabies virus were also undertaken. Phylogenetic analysis was done using molecular evolutionary genetic analysis (MEGA) 10 to determine their evolutionary relationship with other rabies virus sequences deposited in Genbank. Results indicated, out of 450 dog brain samples tested 14(3.1%) were positive for rabies virus antigen. Zoographic data obtained showed 66.3% of dogs were female, and the dogs were kept mainly for security (n=54) and breeding (n=28). Fourteen positive samples were used to inoculate 70 adult mice, only 8 samples were positive and 2 samples were also positive by RT PCR. Phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequences showed that the two rabies virus sequences in this study, sequence MZ148311 had very close identity with EU038106 (99.8% homology) and sequence MZ148312 had perfect identity with EU038087 (100% homology) was most closely related to lyssavirus that has been reported to be circulating previously in Plateau and Nigeria, belonging to the Africa 2 lineage.

The Cultural Identity of the Characters in the Film Scenario Ngeri-Ngeri Sedap by Bene Dion Rajagukguk

Clash and cultural identity fighting in film scenarios Ngeri-Ngeri Sedap karya Bene Dion Rajagukguk is a phenomenon of a very perfect cultural identity conflict. Cultural identity can affect social relations between characters. For this reason, it is very important to know the cultural identity of each character. Cultural identity can be known through semiotic studies. By knowing the language code, literary code, and cultural code we can find out the cultural identity of the character. This research uses Teeuw's semiotic theory. The data collection method used is the first level of semiotics reading. The results of this study are the language code used by the characters in the film scenario Ngeri-Ngeri Sedap karya Bene Dion Rajagukguk using Indonesian, but its use is mixed with the term Batak. The literary code is found from the facts of the story namely elements of characters and characterizations, plot, and background. Cultural code can be seen in cultural elements such as traditional ceremonies sulang-sulang pahoppu, tor-tor dance and ulos, Batak special songs, and special food mie gomak. From these codes can be seen the social relationships of the characters in accordance with the theory of social relations between individuals, and social relations between individuals and groups. This research is expected to be able to motivate the community to protect the culture they have but do not close themselves to the times. Keywords: identity; cultural; semiotic; scenario; figure

Downsizing the Parliament in Italy: A Missed Constitutional Amendment and Façade Innovation

In September 2020 a referendum on the reduction of the number of lawmakers was held in Italy and almost 70 percent of voters definitively approved it. Accordingly, effective next term of the chambers in 2023, the total number of MPs will be lowered from 945 to 600, more than one-third. In particular, the Chamber of Deputies will be slashed from 630 to 400 and the Senate from 315 to 200. Such a constitutional amendment is a façade innovation as it did not address the very question of Italian bicameralism, namely the perfect identity between its chambers.

A Truly Robust Signal Temporal Logic: Monitoring Safety Properties of Interacting Cyber-Physical Systems under Uncertain Observation

Signal Temporal Logic is a linear-time temporal logic designed for classifying the time-dependent signals originating from continuous-state or hybrid-state dynamical systems according to formal specifications. It has been conceived as a tool for systematizing the monitoring of cyber-physical systems, supporting the automatic translation of complex safety specifications into monitoring algorithms, faithfully representing their semantics. Almost all algorithms hitherto suggested do, however, assume perfect identity between the sensor readings, informing the monitor about the system state and the actual ground truth. Only recently have Visconti et al. addressed the issue of inexact measurements, taking up the simple model of interval-bounded per-sample error that is unrelated, in the sense of chosen afresh, across samples. We expand their analysis by decomposing the error into an unknown yet fixed offset and an independent per-sample error and show that in this setting, monitoring of temporal properties no longer coincides with collecting Boolean combinations of state predicates evaluated in each time instant over best-possible per-sample state estimates, but can be genuinely more informative in that it infers determinate truth values for monitoring conditions that interval-based evaluation remains inconclusive about. For the model-free as well as for the linear model-based case, we provide optimal evaluation algorithms based on affine arithmetic and SAT modulo theory, solving over linear arithmetic. The resulting algorithms provide conclusive monitoring verdicts in many cases where state estimations inherently remain inconclusive. In their model-based variants, they can simultaneously address the issues of uncertain sensing and partial observation.

The identity of the human being as a product of nature or of society and its formation in teaching


 
 
 The interpretation of David Hume's idea of personal identity teaches us that there is no self or mind endowed with simplicity and perfect identity and in which Hume defends a specific theory about the nature of the self or mind, according to which it is only a set of perceptions. Descartes is the one who assumes the self as the soul that shows itself more clearly. For this rationalist philosopher, the mind or "res cogitans" is a substance whose characteristics are simplicity and permanence, and differs from physical substances or "res extensa" because it does not possess spirituality and freedom.
 
 

PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT IN SELF-ACTUALIZING MAYER ROKITANSKY KUSTER HAUSER SYNDROME WOMEN

Background: Self-concept is an individual's mode to completely see his personality, dealing with intelligence, emotion, spirituality, physical form, or social form. It provides continuity, consistency, and completeness for an individual. An individual with excellent self-concept could maintain their feeling of stability and positive behaviors directed for himself or other people. From the data of the MRKH community, thirty-three people were suffering MRKH in Indonesia.
 Objectives: This research explored the self-concept experiences of women with Mayer Rokitansky Kuster Hauser syndrome.
 Methods: This research is qualitative research with a phenomenological approach Interpretation. The data were collected from an in-depth interview with a structured design for seven participants.
 Results: Such reproduction organ problems influence their life qualities because they think that a perfect woman's identity is to have a normal reproduction organ. This problem also influences their psychologies and have psychological and emotional traumas as well as self-concept changes. However, they tried to endure it and actualize themselves because they obtained support from their families and the MRKH community.
 Conclusion: The states suffered by women with reproduction system problems influenced their psychological stabilities. The participants' medical teams should collaborate with psychiatrists and psychologists to foster a positive self-concept of the participants. Psychological counseling could improve their self-confidence and foster positive self-concepts.
 
 Keywords: Psychosocial Supports, Self-Actualization, Mayer Rokitansky Kuster Hauser Syndrome.

High-throughput sequencing defines donor and recipient HLA B-cell epitope frequencies for prospective matching in transplantation

Compatibility for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes between transplant donors and recipients improves graft survival but prospective matching is rarely performed due to the vast heterogeneity of this gene complex. To reduce complexity, we have combined next-generation sequencing and in silico mapping to determine transplant population frequencies and matching probabilities of 150 antibody-binding eplets across all 11 classical HLA genes in 2000 ethnically heterogeneous renal patients and donors. We show that eplets are more common and uniformly distributed between donors and recipients than the respective HLA isoforms. Simulations of targeted eplet matching shows that a high degree of overall compatibility, and perfect identity at the clinically important HLA class II loci, can be obtained within a patient waiting list of approximately 250 subjects. Internal epitope-based allocation is thus feasible for most major renal transplant programs, while regional or national sharing may be required for other solid organs.

Non-Target Effects of dsRNA Molecules in Hemipteran Insects.

Insect pest control by RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated gene expression knockdown can be undermined by many factors, including small sequence differences between double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and the target gene. It can also be compromised by effects that are independent of the dsRNA sequence on non-target organisms (known as sequence-non-specific effects). This study investigated the species-specificity of RNAi in plant sap-feeding hemipteran pests. We first demonstrated sequence-non-specific suppression of aphid feeding by dsRNA at dietary concentrations ≥0.5 µg µL−1. Then we quantified the expression of NUC (nuclease) genes in insects administered homologous dsRNA (with perfect sequence identity to the target species) or heterologous dsRNA (generated against a related gene of non-identical sequence in a different insect species). For the aphids Acyrthosiphon pisum and Myzus persicae, significantly reduced NUC expression was obtained with the homologous but not heterologous dsRNA at 0.2 µg µL−1, despite high dsNUC sequence identity. Follow-up experiments demonstrated significantly reduced expression of NUC genes in the whitefly Bemisia tabaci and mealybug Planococcus maritimus administered homologous dsNUCs, but not heterologous aphid dsNUCs. Our demonstration of inefficient expression knockdown by heterologous dsRNA in these insects suggests that maximal dsRNA sequence identity is required for RNAi targeting of related pest species, and that heterologous dsRNAs at appropriate concentrations may not be a major risk to non-target sap-feeding hemipterans.

Investigation on the parameter sensitivity of bladed assemblies undergoing mistuning features

The present study's objectives are primarily to reveal the mistuning effects on the coupling system's nonlinear vibration performance with a mechanical model of the flexible bladed disk system. And the sensitivities of the coupling system to different mistuning cases are also compared and estimated. Firstly, the tuned system's nonlinear characteristics are presented for providing a reference to interpret the nonlinear dynamics of the mistuning case. Then present analysis exploits the nonlinear response spectrum of the coupling system undergoing a series of parameter mistuning conditions. The numerical simulation reveals that the response characteristics of cycle blades exhibit perfect identity in the tuned system. When the parameter mistuning condition occurs, the identity characteristics are destroyed, especially the blade length mistuning case. The mistuning feature can also lead to new resonances at the modal frequency of flexible disk, which exhibits distinctive sensitivity to the different mistuning case. Besides, the vibration localization phenomenon occurs due to the broken cyclic periodicity of the bladed disk structure. Furthermore, enough attention should be paid to the coupling effects in the bladed disk system undergoing parameter mistuning in engineering practice.

Epidemiologic Linkage of COVID-19 Outbreaks at Two University-affiliated Hospitals in the Seoul Metropolitan Area in March 2020

BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks emerged at two university-affiliated hospitals in Seoul (hospital A) and Uijeongbu City (hospital S) in the metropolitan Seoul area in March 2020. The aim of this study was to investigate epidemiological links between the outbreaks using whole genome sequencing (WGS) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).MethodsFifteen patients were enrolled in the study, including four non-outbreak (A1–A4) and three outbreak cases (A5–A7) in hospital A and eight cases (S1–S8) in hospital S. Patients' hospital stays, COVID-19 symptoms, and transfer history were reviewed. RNA samples were submitted for WGS and genome-wide single nucleotide variants and phylogenetic relationships were analyzed.ResultsThe index patient (A5) in hospital A was transferred from hospital S on 26 March. Patients A6 and A7 were the family caregiver and sister, respectively, of the patient who shared a room with A5 for 4 days. Prior to transfer, A5 was at the next bed to S8 in the emergency room on 25 March. Patient S6, a professional caregiver, took care of the patient in the room next to S8's room for 5 days until 22 March and then S5 for another 3 days. WGS revealed that SARS-CoV-2 in A2, A3, and A4 belong to clades V/B.2, S/A, and G/B.1, respectively, whereas that of A5–A7 and S1-S5 are of the V/B.2.1 clade and closely clustered. In particular, SARS-CoV-2 in patients A5 and S5 showed perfect identity.ConclusionWGS is a useful tool to understand epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2. It is the first study to elucidate the role of patient transfer and caregivers as links of nosocomial outbreaks of COVID-19 in multiple hospitals.

Potential reservoirs of a ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma pruni’-related strains (16SrIII-X) associated with HLB-like symptoms in citrus in Brazil

Plants of beggarticks (Bidens pilosa L.), honeyweed (Leonurus sibiricus L.), and citrus (Citrus ssp.) trees exhibiting phyllody and virescence, leaf distortion, and yellow shoots symptoms, respectively, were found in orchards at the state of Sao Paulo. Based on PCR assays, computer-simulated RFLP, and phylogenetic analyses, it was confirmed that these plants were infected with a phytoplasma of the subgroup 16SrIII-X, belonging to the ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma pruni’ species. This finding suggested that beggartick and honeyweed plants may be possible reservoirs of 16SrIII-X phytoplasma to citrus tree. The phytoplasma identified in this study presented perfect identity with the phytoplasma previously reported in association with citrus plants harboring HLB-like symptoms, in Brazil.

Morphological and Molecular Analysis of Parasitoid Wasp, Cheiropachus quadrum (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae) Infesting Bark Beetles of Wide Host Trees

Cheiropachus quadrum Fabricius, 1787 (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae) is a Pteromalid parasitoid wasp infesting wood boring beetles predominantly family Scolytidae. Owing to their profound diversity and small size, their identification is bit tricky. The present study involves molecular analysis and morphological identification including new host record, distribution and key identification characters of species. Morphologically, Cheiropachus quadrum is easily characterised by its large propleura, maculate forewings and enlarged fore-femur. Cytochrome Oxidase gene 1 was used as marker gene for DNA barcoding purposes. Sequences edited and trimmed in BioEdit were submitted to GenBank for accession number generation. BLAST and MEGA tools were used for molecular analysis to confirm the corresponding taxonomy. Generated sequence was found to have no perfect identity matches and hence was morphologically confirmed and submitted as novel sequence to the database. Molecular characterisation involving phylogenetic analysis was performed with top hits from blast database using Neighbour Joining and Maximum Likelihood tree construction methods. It was found that the mean A+T content is 74.19% and estimated Transition/Transversion bias (R) is 0.71. Among the COI sequences, we found no overlap between the maximum K2P distance within species (0.02%) and minimum distance between species (3.6%). Phylogenetic analysis concluded DNA barcoding is helpful for identification of parasitoid species and complements morphological taxonomy for easy identification purposes.

Identification of The Canidae Iron Regulatory Hormone Hepcidin

Hepcidins are an evolutionarily conserved class of liver-expressed peptide, from which the twenty-five amino acid hormone, hepcidin-25 (herein hepcidin), has gained significant notoriety as the master regulator of iron homeostasis in mammals. Hepcidin maintains iron homeostasis by controlling the dietary absorption of iron and the mechanisms of recycling cellular iron stores. With the physiological significance of this hormone well established, it has emerged as an informative biomarker. In a comparison of the genome, transcriptome and peptidome of Canis lupis familiaris, we reveal the size of the hepcidin peptide in the canine, previous reports of which were contradictory to the evolutionary conservation predicted by genome annotation. Here, measurement of the peptide by mass spectrometry, following isolation from greyhound blood serum, revealed an amino acid sequence and peptide mass, differing from all accounts to date, yet demonstrating perfect sequence identity to that of the greater Canidae lineage of the Carnivora. Importantly, in the greyhound, the measured hepcidin peptide showed a similar temporal pattern to total serum iron, consistent with our understanding of hepcidin regulating iron homeostasis, in agreement with human diagnostics, and providing added translational evidence of the measured peptide being the iron regulatory hormone of the Canidae.

Jakub Eberle: Discourse and Affect in Foreign Policy. Germany and the Iraq War

Foreign and security policy have long been removed from the politicalpressures that influence other areas of policymaking. This has led to atendency to separate the analytical levels of the individual and thecollective. Using Lacanian theory, which views the subject as ontologicallyincomplete and desiring a perfect identity which is realised in fantasies, ornarrative scenarios, this book shows that the making of foreign policy is amuch more complex process. Emotions and affect play an important role,even where ‘hard’ security issues, such as the use of military force, areconcerned. Eberle constructs a new theoretical framework for analysingforeign policy by capturing the interweaving of both discursive and affectiveaspects in policymaking. He uses this framework to explain Germany’s oftencontradictory foreign policy towards the Iraq crisis of 2002/2003, and theemotional, even existential, public debate that accompanied it. This bookadds to ongoing theoretical debates in International Political Sociology andCritical Security Studies and will be required reading for all scholars workingin these areas.

Align to Define: Ecologically Meaningful Populations from Genomes.

Microbes in the same community but with distinct niches can have unique long stretches of perfect sequence identity due to recent genetic exchange. Arevalo etal. (2019) use this as a starting point for defining ecologically-relevant populations within a community and to identify the genes that appear to be driving divergence between populations.

Comparison of efficiency and specificity of CRISPR-associated (Cas) nucleases in plants: An expanded toolkit for precision genome engineering.

Molecular tools adapted from bacterial CRISPR (Clustered Regulatory Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) systems for adaptive immunity have become widely used for plant genome engineering, both to investigate gene functions and to engineer desirable traits. A number of different Cas (CRISPR-associated) nucleases are now used but, as most studies performed to date have engineered different targets using a variety of plant species and molecular tools, it has been difficult to draw conclusions about the comparative performance of different nucleases. Due to the time and effort required to regenerate engineered plants, efficiency is critical. In addition, there have been several reports of mutations at sequences with less than perfect identity to the target. While in some plant species it is possible to remove these so-called 'off-targets' by backcrossing to a parental line, the specificity of genome engineering tools is important when targeting specific members of closely-related gene families, especially when recent paralogues are co-located in the genome and unlikely to segregate. Specificity is also important for species that take years to reach sexual maturity or that are clonally propagated. Here, we directly compare the efficiency and specificity of Cas nucleases from different bacterial species together with engineered variants of Cas9. We find that the nucleotide content of the target correlates with efficiency and that Cas9 from Staphylococcus aureus (SaCas9) is comparatively most efficient at inducing mutations. We also demonstrate that 'high-fidelity' variants of Cas9 can reduce off-target mutations in plants. We present these molecular tools as standardised DNA parts to facilitate their re-use.

Précis of Imagined Causes

Précis of Imagined Causes Stefanie Rocknak (bio) By Hume's own account, his most ambitious project, the Treatise on Human Nature, was a notoriously immature undertaking, choked with immutable difficulties.1 Perhaps as a result of this immaturity, and perhaps because, as Kant suggests above, Hume is perpetually misread, his view on objects remains obscured. What are they? Are they ideas? Impressions? Mindindependent objects? All three? None of the above? To date, scholars have not provided a unified, much less exhaustive, answer to these questions. Rather, four somewhat fragmented interpretations have been circulating in the literature. We may characterize them (in partial response to Marjorie Grene)2 as follows: 1.) The phenomenonalist reading, where objects are impressions (for example, Grene, "The Objects of Hume's Treatise"; Bennett, Locke, Berkeley and Hume; Steinberg, "Hume on the Continued Existence and the Identity of Changing Things"; and Dicker, "Hume on the Intermittent Existence of the Objects of the Senses"); 2.) The intentional reading, where objects are the objects of thought (for example, Salmon, The Central Problem of Hume's Philosophy); 3.) The realist reading, where objects are mind-independent things (for example, Wilson, "Is Hume a Skeptic with Regard to the Senses?"; Flage, David Hume's Theory of Mind; Costa, "Hume and Causal Realism"; Strawson, "David Hume: Objects and Power"; Wright, "Hume's Causal Realism: Recovering a Traditional Interpretation"; 4) The imagined, but non-causal reading, where objects, to varying degrees (depending on the scholar at hand) are imagined, but are not imagined as causes (for instance, Price, Hume's Theory of the External World; Kemp Smith, The Philosophy of David Hume; Wilbanks, Hume's Theory of Imagination; and Waxman, Hume's Theory of Consciousness). This book presents a new interpretation of Humean objects, where I focus on just Book 1 of the Treatise. In the course of doing so, I show that although in places, Hume surely does suggest that objects are impressions, or are intentional, or are imagined but are not imagined as [End Page 47] causes, these intermittent uses of the word "object" do not reflect Hume's more comprehensive position. Nor does Hume think that objects are mind independent things; he is not a realist. Rather, throughout Book 1 of the Treatise, Hume struggled with two positions on the nature of objects. On the one hand, Hume believed that despite what we, in our common, that is, "vulgar" state of mind, or alternatively, in our more sophisticated "philosophical" state of mind, think that objects are, what we actually and always do, is imagine that objects are the causes of our various and interrupted perceptions. Objects are nothing more than complex, imagined ideas, as such, they are perceptions. Moreover, objects are necessarily imagined (as causes) because they constitute certain conditions of possibility for experience, making them functions of what we may refer to as a "transcendental" faculty of the imagination: "we always imagine that there is some cause that separates or unites [objects]" (T 1.3.2.2; SBN 74; emphasis added). In this very general respect, Hume anticipates the Kantian transcendental turn. But Hume also seemed to think that we only imagine causes (although unwittingly) when we reach a certain "philosophical" level of thought. Thus, when we imagine a cause of a set of interrupted and varying perceptions—where we believe that this cause is a real mind-independent thing—we are "philosophers," as they are described at the end of 1.4.2 ("Of skepticism with regard to the senses"). However, such philosophers are not aware that they are imagining causes. Instead, they mistakenly think that they are using reason to conclude that objects are real, mind-independent things. As a result, on this second reading, imagining causes is a natural, although unacknowledged, culmination of human thought, as opposed to being something that all of us, always—although unknowingly—do. The tension between these two positions on objects manifests itself in Hume's much discussed account of personal identity, presented in 1.4.6 of the Treatise. In fact, Hume openly acknowledges this tension in the Appendix to the Treatise. Here, he suggests that the philosophical account of perfect identity is mistaken, while his account of...

An Ultraconserved Element Containing lncRNA Preserves Transcriptional Dynamics and Maintains ESC Self-Renewal.

SummaryUltraconserved elements (UCEs) show the peculiar feature to retain extended perfect sequence identity among human, mouse, and rat genomes. Most of them are transcribed and represent a new family of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), the transcribed UCEs (T-UCEs). Despite their involvement in human cancer, the physiological role of T-UCEs is still unknown. Here, we identify a lncRNA containing the uc.170+, named T-UCstem1, and provide in vitro and in vivo evidence that it plays essential roles in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) by modulating cytoplasmic miRNA levels and preserving transcriptional dynamics. Specifically, while T-UCstem1::miR-9 cytoplasmic interplay regulates ESC proliferation by reducing miR-9 levels, nuclear T-UCstem1 maintains ESC self-renewal and transcriptional identity by stabilizing polycomb repressive complex 2 on bivalent domains. Altogether, our findings provide unprecedented evidence that T-UCEs regulate physiological cellular functions and point to an essential role of T-UCstem1 in preserving ESC identity.

Evaluating the feature comparison strategy for forensic face identification.

Face recognition is thought to rely on representations that encode holistic properties. Paradoxically, professional forensic examiners who identify unfamiliar faces by comparing facial images are trained to adopt a feature-by-feature comparison strategy. Here we tested the effectiveness of this strategy by asking participants to rate facial feature similarity prior to making same/different identity decisions to pairs of face images. Experiment 1 provided preliminary evidence that rating feature similarity improves unfamiliar face matching accuracy in novice participants. In Experiment 2, we found benefits of this procedure over and above rating similarity of personality traits and image quality parameters, suggesting that benefits are not solely attributable to general increases in attention. In Experiment 3, we then compared performance of trained forensic facial image examiners to novice participants, and found that examiners displayed: i) superior face matching accuracy; ii) smaller face inversion and feature inversion effects; and iii) feature ratings that were more diagnostic of identity. Further, aggregating feature ratings of multiple examiners produced perfect identity discrimination. Based on these quantitative and qualitative differences between experts and novices, we conclude that comparison based on local features confers specific benefits to trained forensic examiners. (PsycINFO Database Record