Opposite Pattern Research Articles

The relationship between neighbourhood income and youth mental health service use differs by immigration experience: analysis of population-based data in British Columbia, Canada

BackgroundWe investigated the relationship between neighbourhood income quintile and mental health service use by immigration experience among youth and explored changes during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodWe used administrative data to examine mental health service use among youth aged 10 to 24 in British Columbia, Canada, between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2022. We compared rates of community-based mental health service use, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations and the proportion of involuntary admissions by neighbourhood income quintile and immigration. We used models stratified by immigration to estimate the relationship with income.ResultsNon-immigrant youth used substantially more services than immigrant youth. Service use increased following the pandemic’s start and peaked between January and March 2021. We observed a clear income gradient for community-based service use among both immigrant and non-immigrant youth, but the direction of the gradient was reversed. Service use was highest among non-immigrant youth in lower-income neighbourhoods and lowest for immigrant youth in lower-income neighbourhoods. We observed similar patterns of income gradient for non-immigrant youth for emergency department visits and hospitalization. The proportion of involuntary admissions was higher for immigrant youth.ConclusionsMental health service use was substantially lower among immigrant youth than non-immigrant youth, but higher proportions of immigrant youth were hospitalized involuntarily. The reverse income gradient patterns observed for community-mental health service use are noteworthy and suggest significant barriers to accessing preventable care among immigrant youth, particularly those living in lower-income neighbourhoods.

Does interest rate liberalization affect corporate debt structure?

AbstractThis study examines how interest rate deregulation affects debt structure of Chinese listed firms through two quasi‐natural experiments: the cap removal (2002–2006) and floor removal (2011–2015). Following deregulation, risky firms increase short‐term debt while decreasing long‐term and total debt, whereas non‐risky firms exhibit opposite patterns. These changes are influenced by collateral requirements, industry cluster proximity, bank relationships, and ownership structure. The divergent outcomes reflect increased borrowing costs for risky firms and reduced costs for non‐risky firms due to enhanced banking competition. Post‐liberalization, risky firms face reduced risk exposure but increased asset‐liability mismatches, while experiencing declining growth prospects. Conversely, non‐risky firms demonstrate improved growth prospects and higher profitability with increased long‐term debt. These findings illuminate how banking sector liberalization shapes corporate financial strategies.

Differential effects of disease duration and dopaminergic replacement therapy on vocal emotion recognition in asymmetric Parkinson's disease.

Recently, studies have suggested a role of motor symptom asymmetry on impaired emotional recognition abilities in Parkinson's disease with a greater vulnerability in patients with a predominance of left-sided symptoms. However, none of them explored the interaction between motor symptom asymmetry and dopamine replacement therapy in different stages of the disease. We explored the recognition of vocal emotion (i.e., emotional prosody) in 15 newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease patients in the early stages of the disease, 15 patients in the advanced stages of the disease and 15 healthy controls. The early patients were studied in two conditions: ON and OFF dopaminergic replacement therapy and both Parkinson's disease groups (early and advanced) were divided into two subgroups according to the asymmetry of motor symptoms. The analyses revealed two patterns of results. First, as predicted, we observed a reduction in performance for the recognition of vocal emotions in patients with a predominance of left-sided symptoms as compared to both healthy controls and predominantly right-sided symptom patients. Secondly, in the early stages of the disease, we observed a deleterious effect of dopatherapy on the recognition of vocal emotions for the patients with left-predominant symptoms, and the reversal pattern for the patients with right-predominant symptoms. Our results bring to our knowledge the differential effects of disease duration, dopaminergic replacement therapy and motor symptom asymmetry on vocal emotion recognition in Parkinson's disease.

Subtypes of mental health difficulties and levels of resilience in Spanish adolescents

Emotional and behavioral difficulties are common among adolescents, and the role of psychological resilience in mitigating their impact needs further investigation. This study aimed to examine profiles of mental health difficulties combined with resilience levels in 1,425 Spanish adolescents at-risk. The participants were 1425 adolescents (59.9% girls). Mental health profiles were determined using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10) via Latent Profile Analysis and compared for sociodemographic variables and mental health associated variables. Five profiles emerged: Subclinical (16%), Externalizing Problems (19%), Internalizing Problems (22%), Low Risk (32.5%), and Well-Adjusted (10%). Females had higher risk. Well-Adjusted and Low-Risk profiles differed significantly in all variables. Well-Adjusted profile had the lowest distress and psychosocial difficulties, and the highest quality of life; while the Subclinical profile showed the opposite pattern. Identifying and validating risk groups for emotional and behavioral difficulties, considering resilience, enables interventions promoting emotional well-being and preventing mental health challenges.

Impact of windows on the indoor thermal environment of Chinese Chuandou-style timber residential houses: Tests and simulations

Model tests and simulations were conducted to investigate the influence of windows on the thermal environment of Chinese Chuandou-style timber residential houses. Besides, the thermal comfort of the house was also analyzed. The test results indicated that the measured temperature curves have obvious five-stage characteristics. The air temperature in the attic during the daytime was higher than that in the room, especially when the windows were open. During the daytime, when the windows were closed, the indoor air temperature was higher than the outdoor air temperature, while when the windows were fully open, the opposite pattern was observed. Numerical simulations showed that increasing the window–wall ratio could lead to an increase in indoor air temperature during the daytime, and decreasing the window width–height ratio would slightly reduce the indoor air temperature. The window opening degree has a significant impact on the indoor thermal environment, the higher the window opening degree, the lower the indoor air temperature during the daytime. Further, reducing the window heat transfer coefficient could also lead to a slight increase in indoor air temperature. The thermal comfort of the house was poor during the daytime in summer, but it was slightly improved when the windows were open.

Inducing strategies to solve a mental rotation task is possible: evidence from a sex-related eye-tracking analysis

The study of spatial skills is gaining importance due to their relevance in everyday activities and their critical role in developing competencies across various academic disciplines. The main goal of this study was to explore whether mental rotation strategies, such as the so-called holistic –rotating an entire object- and piecemeal –rotating individual parts of the object- approaches, can be induced, and whether sex differences emerge during the process of strategy induction. This objective holds a pivotal role as it could lead to the enhancement of mental rotation abilities and the development of effective interventions. To achieve this, a mental rotation task was conducted while eye movements were recorded. In the first block, participants solved the task freely, while in the second block, they received instructions to solve it through either a holistic (42 participants) or a piecemeal (43 participants) strategy in a between-subjects design. In both strategies, participants showed better performance in the second block compared to the first. Males outperformed females. The holistic strategy resulted in faster reaction times in the second block. The number of fixations and saccadic movements decreased in the second block compared to the first for the holistic strategy, while the piecemeal strategy exhibited the opposite ocular pattern. These results indicate that effective mental rotation strategies were successfully elicited. No sex differences were found in the analyzed eye movement variables.

Influence of differential source patterns in the detection of signals of disproportionate reporting for PARP inhibitors

IntroductionCurrent individual case safety report (ICSR) databases contain almost 56 million unique spontaneous declarations of drug-event associations by health professionals but also by patients themselves. These databases have become a useful source for detecting signals of disproportionate reporting (SDR). However, since health professionals use a medical jargon that is often distant from the more colloquial terms used by patients, they usually report more frequently certain adverse events than patients and vice versa. The main objective of this work is to illustrate the existence of different reporting patterns among drugs within a class and to analyze their potential impact on SDR detection.MethodsFour ICSR databases were considered, namely, FAERS, VAERS, JADER, and VigiBase, with reports up until March 2024. They were all integrated in a single database following a careful deduplication and COVID-19 correction protocol. Measures of reporting odds ratio, proportional reporting ratio and empirical Bayesian geometric mean were used to evaluate disproportionate reporting.ResultsThe reporting patterns of four marketed oncology drugs, namely, olaparib, rucaparib, niraparib, and talazoparib, and an investigational drug, veliparib, were compared to those of a diverse set of eight clinically observed SDR, namely, fatigue, asthenia, anaemia, thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, insomnia, intestinal obstruction, and pneumonitis. The source pattern analysis revealed that olaparib and talazoparib are most frequently reported by physicians, and physicians are the main reporters of events such as neutropenia and pneumonitis, predisposing these events to be detected as SDR for those PARP inhibitors. In contrast, rucaparib and niraparib are most frequently reported by American consumers, and American consumers are the main reporters of events such as insomnia and intestinal obstruction, facilitating their detection as SDR for those two drugs. SDR detection was found to be robust to ICSR data completeness.DiscussionMatched reporting patterns between drugs and events may predispose certain drugs to be disproportionally associated with adverse events. Therefore, SDR detected from matched drug-event source patterns in ICSR databases should be challenged during signal validation. Class SDR for drugs with differential source patterns (such as fatigue, asthenia, anaemia, thrombocytopenia, and neutropenia for all PARP inhibitors) usually involve correcting opposite drug-event source patterns.

How does teaching experience impact brain processes underlying the theory of mind? Study on primary school educators

ABSTRACT Despite its importance for daily social interactions, few studies have explored interindividual differences in the Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities of healthy adults. We used Children’s False-Attribution (CFA), Children’s False-Beliefs (CFB), and Belief-Desire Reasoning tasks, along with fMRI-based assessments, in a comparative analysis of ToM among primary school teachers (PST; n = 27), skilled in social interactions with children, and matched controls (MC; n = 24), who lacked such experience. PST demonstrated slower reaction times than MC in Adult and Child false-belief stories of CFB. However, no other behavioral differences between the groups and between-group differences were observed at the brain level. Both groups presented similar valence ratings for stories in the CFA. Notably, fMRI analysis revealed a group-by-condition interaction effect in the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). In PSTs, OFC activation decreased during negative false-attribution stories regarding children compared to stories related to adults, whereas MC demonstrated an opposite activation pattern. Between-group differences in right lateral OFC activity possibly signify a neural efficiency effect secondary to frequent social interactions of PSTs, unlike the MCs, with children in the working environment. These results underscore the significance of everyday social experiences in the functional plasticity of ToM networks.

Difference in summer heatwave-induced damage between desert native and urban greening plants in an arid desert region.

Summer heatwaves have caused a distinct mortality between urban greening and native plants. However, there are insufficient studies revealing the underlying mechanisms. We hypothesized that differentiation in hydraulic traits and their integration cause the varied heatwave-induced damages between the two plant types. To prove it, three desert native species and five urban greening species were selected as the experimental objects. Then, the number of damaged individuals caused by summer heatwaves were investigated based on the 100 individuals for each species. The hydraulic traits (including hydraulic transport, photosynthetic and leaf traits) of 3-5 mature individuals were measured for each species. The comparative analysis (independent sample t test and one-way ANOVA) and the collaborative analysis (Pearson correlation and network analysis) were used to reveal the differences in heatwave-induced damage, hydraulic traits and their integration between urban greening and native plants. Our results showed that the heatwave-induced damage to urban greening plants was larger than that to native species. Water potentials of leaf and branch in pre-dawn and midday, P50, leaf dry matter content, net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate and stomatal conductance of desert native species were significantly lower than those of urban greening plants (P < 0.05), while twig specific hydraulic conductivity, Huber value, wood density, intrinsic water use efficiency and the specific leaf area showed opposite patterns (P < 0.05). Trait integration of desert native species (0.63) was much higher than greening plants (0.24). Our results indicate that artificial urban greening plants are more susceptible to drought stress caused by heatwaves than native desert species. In the context of global climate change, in order to maintain the stability and function of urban ecosystems in extreme climate, the screening of greening plants should start from the perspective of hydraulics and trait integration, and more native species with strong drought adaptability should be planted.

Osteoblast-derived exosomal miR-140-3p targets ACER2 and increases the progression of prostate cancer via the AKT/mTOR pathway-mediated inhibition of autophagy.

Advanced prostate cancer (aPCa) often results in bone metastases (BM). However, the mechanism underlying its progression and metastasis to bones remains unclear. Therefore, we examined whether exosomal miR-140-3p affects prostate cancer (PCa) progression. We obtained from cell lines, clinical data analyses, and animal models consistently provide important evidence. Patients with PCa having BM had higher miR-140-3p expression in their serum exosomes than those without BM. Clinical investigations have manifested that the exosomal miR-140-3p overexpression connects with serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels and Gleason grade in patients with PCa. Osteoblast-derived exosomal miR-140-3p targeting ACER2 activates the AKT/mTOR pathway invitro, inhibits autophagy, and promotes PCa cell proliferation, invasion, and migration. miR-140-3p significantly increased tumorigenesis and metastasis of LNCaP invitro. Bone metastatic PCa tissues exhibited elevated levels of miR-140-3p, p-GSK3, p-mTOR, p62, p-AKT (S473), and p-AKT (T308) contrasted with non-BM tissues. Moreover, their expression was intensified in the metastatic bone tissues. However, ACER2 and LC3 II showed opposite expression patterns. Based on our study outcomes, the evidence suggests that osteoblast-derived miR-140-3p inhibition of autophagy through the AKT/mTOR pathway is involved in PCa progression. Osteoblast-secreted exosomal miR-140-3p activates the AKT/mTOR pathway by targeting ACER2, inhibiting autophagy, and promoting the progression of PCa cells invitro. Moreover, miR-140-3p induces the progression and metastasis of PCa invivo.

Reversible Electron-Beam Patterning of Colloidal Nanoparticles at Fluid Interfaces.

The directed self-assembly of colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) using external fields guides the formation of sophisticated hierarchical materials but becomes less effective with decreasing particle size. As an alternative, electron-beam-driven assembly offers a potential avenue for targeted nanoscale manipulation, yet remains poorly controlled due to the variety and complexity of beam interaction mechanisms. Here, we investigate the beam-particle interaction of silica NPs pinned to the fluid-vacuum interface of ionic liquid droplets. In these experiments, scanning electron microscopy of the droplet surface resolves NP trajectories over space and time while simultaneously driving their reorganization. With this platform, we demonstrate the ability to direct particle transport and create transient, reversible colloidal patterns on the droplet surface. By tuning the beam voltage, we achieve precise control over both the strength and sign of the beam-particle interaction, with low voltages repelling particles and high voltages attracting them. This response stems from the formation of well-defined solvent flow fields generated from trace radiolysis of the ionic liquid, as determined through statistical analysis of single-particle trajectories under varying solvent composition. Altogether, electron-beam-guided assembly introduces a versatile strategy for nanoscale colloidal manipulation, offering new possibilities for the design of dynamic, reconfigurable systems with applications in adaptive photonics and catalysis.

Effects of magnetized ionized water and Bacillus subtilis on water and salt transport characteristics and ion composition in saline soil

AbstractMagnetized ionized water and Bacillus subtilis are essential for enhancing soil salinity leaching and improving soil structure. To explore the combined effects of magnetized ionized water and B. subtilis on water–salt transport in saline soil, a one‐dimensional vertical infiltration experiment was conducted. This study evaluated the soil water and salt distributions, infiltration model parameters and composition of exchangeable base ions with magnetized ionized water (M) and nonmagnetized‐ionized water, alongside varying amounts of B. subtilis [B0 (0%), B1 (1.5%), B2 (3.0%), B3 (4.5%), B4 (6.0%)]. The results showed that magnetized ionized water increased the infiltration volume and wetting front depth. As the application amount of B. subtilis increased, the changes in these two indicators initially increased but then decreased. The sorptivity parameter (S) mirrored this trend, whereas the shape coefficient (α) showed the opposite pattern. Compared with the B0 treatment, the MB1 treatment increased the 0–20 cm soil water content by 14%, decreased the salt content by 13% and improved the desalination rate by 98%, with the efficiency increasing by 62%. Moreover, the total exchangeable base ions increased, with the highest (Ca2++ Mg2+) and lowest Na+ contents observed under B1. MB1 notably enhanced infiltration and water–salt transport, demonstrating significant desalination effects.

Inhibitory effect of Zhujing Pill on myopia progression: Mechanistic insights based on metabonomics and network pharmacology.

This study endeavored to uncover the mechanisms by which Zhujing pill (ZJP) slows myopia progression. We employed biometric analyses to track diopter and axial length changes in guinea pigs with negative lens-induced myopia (LIM). Through integrating metabonomics and network pharmacology, we aimed to predict the anti-myopic targets and active ingredients of ZJP. Subsequent analysis, including real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qPCR) and Western blotting (WB), assessed the expression levels of CHRNA7, LPCAT1, and NOS2 in retinal tissues. Our findings demonstrate that ZJP significantly mitigates diopter increase and axial elongation in LIM guinea pigs. Metabonomic analysis revealed significant changes in 13 serum metabolites, with ZJP reversing the expression of 5 key metabolites. By integrating metabonomics with network pharmacology, we identified core targets of ZJP against myopia and constructed a compound-gene-disease-metabolite network. The expressions of LPCAT1 and CHRNA7 were found to decrease in the LIM group but increase with ZJP treatment, whereas NOS2 expression showed the opposite pattern. This investigation provides the first evidence of ZJP's multifaceted effectiveness in managing myopia, highlighting its impact on multiple components, targets, and pathways, including the novel involvement of LPCAT1 and CHRNA7 in myopia pathogenesis.

Is a picture worth the same emotions everywhere? Validation of images from the Nencki affective picture system in Malaysia

Several validated image sets, such as NAPS, IAPS, GAPED, and OASIS, have been developed to elicit affective states. However, these image sets were primarily validated on Western populations within European and American contexts, and none have been fully validated in a Southeast Asian sample, where emotional restraint may also be valued similarly to the East Asian contexts. This study aimed to validate and provide norms for the Nencki Affective Picture System (NAPS; Marchewka et al., 2014) within a Malaysian sample. Subsets from the 1356 NAPS images consisting of five image categories (faces, people, objects, landscapes, animals) were presented sequentially to 409 Malaysian adults aged 18 and above, who rated images for valence, arousal and approach/avoidance on a 9-point Likert scale. Valence, arousal and approach/avoidance norms were compared against the original European sample. Malaysian men and women rated images with lower valence and motivation than Europeans, but Malaysian men showed higher arousal ratings compared to European men, while Malaysian women exhibited the opposite pattern, with lower arousal ratings than European women. A linear regression was found instead of a classic ‘boomerang’ shaped quadratic regression previously observed in Western samples, suggesting that emotional suppression may be at play, in line with social norms. The Malaysian normative ratings will be freely available to all researchers.

Prevalence and Genetic Diversity of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Reinfections in Young Thai Children, 2016-2023.

Although a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is now available for pregnant women and the elderly, RSV remains a significant cause of respiratory illness in children globally. Reinfections by the same or different RSV subgroups in children residing in the tropics are currently under-studied. Therefore, we examined the patterns of RSV infection and reinfection in Thai children aged ≤ 5 years with respiratory symptoms from 2016 to 2023. Screening of 7710 pediatric respiratory specimens identified 1245 RSV-positive samples (16.1%), mostly from the rainy months (July-November). Interestingly, 74 children experienced two infections, and 6 had three infections. Reinfection by different RSV subgroups occurred in 30 children: 21 were initially infected with RSV-B and later with RSV-A, while 9 had the reverse pattern. Reinfections only by either RSV-A or RSV-B were observed in 22 and 2 children, respectively, with one child infected with RSV-A three times. All RSV-A reinfections belonged to the ON1 genotype, while RSV-B reinfections were BA9. Notably, reinfections across different seasons were observed within homologous pairs. These findings suggest a transitory immunity to natural RSV infection and provide the knowledge that may help optimize pediatric vaccination schedule. Ongoing epidemiological data on RSV are essential in monitoring genotype circulation and vaccine effectiveness.

Machine Learning for Automated Oil Palm Fruit Grading: The Role of Fuzzy C-Means Segmentation and Textural Features

Oil palm fruit, a high-demand and economically valuable crop, faces grading challenges in Malaysia due to labour-intensive methods, resulting in unharvested ripe fruits and yield losses. Extensive research has been conducted on outdoor palm fruit classifiers, but most high-accuracy research in this field relies heavily on large image datasets. This creates a trade-off between employing more sophisticated deep-learning approaches that require extensive data and utilising traditional techniques that have lower data requirements. Therefore, the aim is to propose an outdoor image-based fresh fruit bunch (FFB) classification system, emphasising pre-processing technique and feature extraction techniques suitable for limited datasets. To achieve this, the FFB was localised within the original images using the YOLOv4-Tiny algorithm. Subsequently, a salient segmentation method utilising superpixel-based Fast Fuzzy C-means (FFCM) clustering is employed to remove the background from the images. Next, colour moment and opposite colour local binary pattern (OCLBP) features are extracted from the segmented images to capture important information for classification. Finally, the extracted features are fed into a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) classifier, which enables the system to predict five classes: damaged, empty, unripe, ripe, and overripe. The developed system demonstrated a commendable performance in accurately classifying fruit bunches, achieving an accuracy of 93.68%. In conclusion, the proposed system effectively addresses the issue of unripe fruit harvesting and contributes to the advancement of state-of-the-art methods in classifying outdoor FFB images.

The Effort Heuristic in Little-c Evaluations: An Effort-Derogation Effect

Previous studies suggest that the effort invested by the producer can serve as a cue for product quality. People tend to infer better quality from high-effort information. This relationship, termed the effort heuristic, has been repeatedly identified in evaluating Pro-c level accomplishments; however, whether it holds in little-c level evaluations remains unclear. Therefore, this study examined the impact of effort information on evaluating little-c products. Twenty drawings from a previous figural test of little-c were used as assessment materials. Undergraduate participants rated the creative quality of drawings under high- and low-effort conditions across three experiments. The results demonstrated that while participants used effort as a heuristic in identifying creative little-c outputs, a reverse pattern emerged—high-effort information was associated with lower ratings. When evaluating little-c (vs. Pro-c) products, individuals tended to devalue (vs. praise) the creator's effort. We suggest that when judging different levels of creativity, information about the creator's effort may prime different creative beliefs in raters, resulting in divergent attribution tendencies and opposite rating biases. Our findings highlight the necessity of considering the level of creative products and the raters’ creative mindsets when evaluating creativity.

Studies of stationary features in jets: BL Lacertae

Context. High-resolution very long baseline interferometry observations have revealed a quasi-stationary component (QSC) in the relativistic jets of many blazars, which represents a standing recollimation shock. VLBA monitoring of the BL Lacertae jet at 15 GHz shows the QSC at a projected distance of about 0.26 mas from the radio core. Aims. We study the trajectory and kinematics of the QSC in BL Lacertae on sub-parsec scales using 15 GHz VLBA data of 164 observations over 20 years from the MOJAVE program and 2 cm VLBA Survey. Methods. To reconstruct the QSC’s intrinsic trajectory, we used moving average and trajectory refinement procedures to smooth out the effects of core displacement and account for QSC positioning errors. Results. We identified 22 QSC reversal patterns with a frequency of ∼1.5 per year. Most reversals have an acute angle &lt; 90° and a few have a loop-shaped or arc-shaped trajectory. Where observed, combinations of reversals show reversible and quasi-oscillatory motion. We propose a model in which a relativistic transverse wave passes through the QSC, generating a short-lived reverse motion, similar to the transverse motion of a seagull on a wave. According to the model, relativistic waves are generated upstream and the reverse motion of the QSC is governed by the amplitude, velocity, and tilt of the wave as it passes through. The apparent superluminal speeds of the QSC (∼2 c) are then due to the relativistic speed of the jet’s transverse wave (&lt; 0.3 c in the host galaxy rest frame) combined with the relativistic motion towards the observer. The measured superluminal speeds of the QSC indirectly indicate the presence of relativistic transverse waves, and the size of the QSC scattering on the sky is proportional to the maximum amplitude of the wave. We find that most of the transverse waves are twisted in space. In the active state of the jet, the directions of the twisting waves are random, similar to the behaviour of the wave in a high-pressure hose, while in the jet stable state, the wave makes quasi-oscillations with regular twisting. Conclusions. The study of QSC dynamics in BL Lac-type blazars is important for evaluating the physical characteristics of relativistic transverse jet waves. The latter have important implications for jet physics and open up possibilities for modelling the physical conditions and location in the jet necessary for the excitation of relativistic transverse waves.

A Tale of Two Lakes: Divergent Evolutionary Trajectories of Two Daphnia Populations Experiencing Distinct Environments.

Most studies of local adaptation substitute the correlation between spatial distance and environmental heterogeneity for the temporal dynamics over which local adaptation evolves. The availability of detailed ecological and genomic information from lake sediments provides an opportunity to study local adaptation with unparalleled clarity from the temporal perspective. Inference can be further enhanced by including multiple lakes along ecological axes to further isolate the effects of ecological change in driving local adaptation. Lakes throughout the world face the impact of numerous anthropogenically induced environmental changes. Top among these is the eutrophication of freshwaters from agriculture, development, and land-use change. Here, we use the genetic information recorded in lake sediments of two lakes experiencing contrasting histories of land-use change to study the evolution of local adaptation in the lakes' Daphnia pulicaria populations. Utilizing nextRAD derived single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in resurrected clonal lineages, we studied the evolutionary trajectories of Daphnia pulicaria in both lakes. Using gene-environment correlations and F st tests for selection, we found SNPs that appear to be under selection in both lakes. Specifically, we found more outlier SNPs in the highly impacted lake using F st-based tests for selection. Conversely, gene-environment tests revealed the reverse pattern. We discuss numerous facets of experimental design that must be considered when using resurrection ecology to study local adaptation and critically evaluate how they may have impacted the of this investigation.

A 2-Year Longitudinal Neuropsychological Study in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: A Selective Decline in Social Cognition?

Background/Objectives. Social cognition (SC), which implies the emotional and intellectual understanding of oneself and others, is an important facet of neuropsychological functioning concurrently to academic cognition (AC), which concerns non-social abilities (memory, language…). In relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), it is not clear whether a cognitive decline occurs in both SC and AC nor whether a link exists between these two cognitive domains. The objective of the present longitudinal study was to conduct an extensive examination of both AC and SC in RRMS to document a 2-year evolution and to look for potential correlations between AC and SC. Methods. The neuropsychological results (AC and SC) of 48 RRMS patients obtained in clinical practice were retrospectively considered; 38 of the patients (30 females) were assessed again about 2 years later. Non-parametric tests were applied to test the intra-group cognitive evolution (Wilcoxon) and the link between AC and SC evolution (Spearman). Results. Whereas AC showed a stability or an improvement of performances during the retest, SC presented the reverse pattern, with a stability or a significant decline in facial emotion (recognition and discrimination) and humor perception. No significant statistical correlation was found between the significant modification of AC and SC during follow-up. Conclusions. The short-term deleterious evolution observed selectively for SC in the present study suggests that SC should be selected as a cognitive marker for RRMS follow-up, and that extensive examination may be preferred to investigate specific SC changes.