Whole genome SNP-associated signatures of local adaptation in honeybees of the Iberian Peninsula

The availability of powerful high-throughput genomic tools, combined with genome scans, has helped identifying genes and genetic changes responsible for environmental adaptation in many organisms, including the honeybee. Here, we resequenced 87 whole genomes of the honeybee native to Iberia and used conceptually different selection methods (Samβada, LFMM, PCAdapt, iHs) together with in sillico protein modelling to search for selection footprints along environmental gradients. We found 670 outlier SNPs, most of which associated with precipitation, longitude and latitude. Over 88.7% SNPs laid outside exons and there was a significant enrichment in regions adjacent to exons and UTRs. Enrichment was also detected in exonic regions. Furthermore, in silico protein modelling suggests that several non-synonymous SNPs are likely direct targets of selection, as they lead to amino acid replacements in functionally important sites of proteins. We identified genomic signatures of local adaptation in 140 genes, many of which are putatively implicated in fitness-related functions such as reproduction, immunity, olfaction, lipid biosynthesis and circadian clock. Our genome scan suggests that local adaptation in the Iberian honeybee involves variations in regions that might alter patterns of gene expression and in protein-coding genes, which are promising candidates to underpin adaptive change in the honeybee.John C. Patton, Phillip San Miguel, Paul Parker, Rick Westerman, University of Purdue, resequenced the 87 whole genomes of IHBs. Jose Rufino provided computational resources at IPB. Analyses were performed using the computational resources at the Uppsala Multidisciplinary Center for Advanced Computational Science (UPPMAX), Uppsala University. DH was supported by a PhD scholarship (SFRH/BD/84195/2012) from the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT). MAP is a member of and receives support from the COST Action FA1307 (SUPER-B). This work was supported by FCT through the programs COMPETE/QREN/EU (PTDC/BIA-BEC/099640/2008) and the 2013-2014 BiodivERsA/FACCE-JPI (joint call for research proposals, with the national funders FCT, Portugal, CNRS, France, and MEC, Spain) to MAP

Introducing the composite time trade-off: a test of feasibility and face validity

__Abstract__ __Introduction__ This study was designed to test the feasibility and face validity of the composite time trade-off (composite TTO), a new approach to TTO allowing for a more consistent elicitation of negative health state values. __Methods__ The new instrument combines a conventional TTO to elicit values for states regarded better than dead and a lead-time TTO for states worse than dead. __Results__ A total of 121 participants completed the composite TTO for ten EQ-5D-5L health states. Mean values ranged from −0.104 for health state 53555 to 0.946 for 21111. The instructions were clear to 98 % of the respondents, and 95 % found the task easy to understand, indicating feasibility. Further, the average number of steps taken in the iteration procedure to achieve the point of indifference in the TTO and the average duration of each task were indicative of a deliberate cognitive process. __Conclusion__ Face validity was confirmed by the high mean values for the mild health states (>0.90) and low mean values for the severe states (<0.42). In conclusion, this study demonstrates the feasibility and face validity of the composite TTO in a face-to-face standardized computer-assisted interview setting

Financial Liberalization in Latin-America in the 1990s: A Reassessment

This paper studies the experience of Latin-America [LATAM] with financial liberalization in the 1990s. The rush towards financial liberalizations in the early 1990s was associated with expectations that external financing would alleviate the scarcity of saving in LATAM, thereby increasing investment and growth. Yet, the data and several case studies suggest that the gains from external financing are overrated. The bottleneck inhibiting economic growth is less the scarcity of saving, and more the scarcity of good governance. A possible interpretation for these findings is that in countries where private savings and investments were taxed in an arbitrary and unpredictable way, the credibility of a new regime could not be assumed or imposed. Instead, credibility must be acquired as an outcome of a learning process. Consequently, increasing the saving and investment rates tends to be a time consuming process. This also suggests that greater political instability and polarization would induce consumers to be more cautious in increasing their saving and investment rates following a reform. Hence, reaching a sustained take-off in Latin-America is a harder task to accomplish than in Asia.

Spartan Daily, September 9, 1988

Volume 91, Issue 8https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/7734/thumbnail.jp

Reactions to the Seventh-day Adventist Evangelical Conferences and Questions on Doctrine 1955-1971

Topic The Seventh-day Adventist Evangelical Conferences of 1955-1956 resulted in the publication of articles favorable to Adventists in Eternity and Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine, both of which evoked a variety of reactions among evangelicals and Adventists. Purpose This study identifies and analyzes various evangelical and Adventist responses to the Seventh-day Adventist Evangelical Conferences and Questions on Doctrine. In particular, this investigation examines the interaction between the major theological camps that emerged within and outside the Adventist church. Sources This research is a documentary/analytical study of materials produced between 1955 and 1971 in reaction to the Seventh-day Adventist Evangelical Conferences and Questions on Doctrine. Sources of particular importance to this study have been major evangelical and Adventist periodicals and unpublished materials gathered from archival collections at Andrews University, the Ellen G. White Estate, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Loma Linda University, and the Presbyterian Historical Society. Conclusions Four distinct types of reactions were identified by this research: (1) pro-Adventist evangelicals; (2) anti-Adventist evangelicals; (3) pro-Questions on Doctrine Adventists; and (4) anti-Questions on Doctrine Adventists. The first group was represented by Walter R. Martin, Donald Grey Bamhouse, E. Schuyler English, and Frank Mead, who accepted Adventism as an evangelical church. The rest of the evangelical world belonged to the second group and continued to regard Adventism as a cult. The third group was led by those General Conference leaders who participated in the Adventist-evangelical conferences and in the publication of Questions on Doctrine. The final group was led by M. L. Andreasen, who strongly protested against the book which he considered to be significantly un-Adventist. The reactions by and interactions among these four groups until 1971 show that the controversy over the Adventist-evangelical dialogues and Questions on Doctrine was never fully resolved and the four sides remained in tension