Bring back the audience: A discussion of the lack of audience research in the field of media development

This paper strives to highlight the significant lack of audience research in the field of media development and the consequences of this gap – both for project design and policy making – but also for broader efforts to integrate media into governance debates. Whilst this lack of evidence has been noted before, a number of recently published scoping reviews of the relevant literature now enable us to discuss, in detail, the extent and nature of this gap in our knowledge

Nur mit klarer Strategie zum Erfolg. Drei lateinamerikanische Fachbuchverlage in kirchlicher Trägerschaft im Vergleich

Das Buchverlagswesen ist in Lateinamerika unterschiedlich weit entwickelt. Das Centro Regional para el Formento del Libro en América Latina y el Caribe (CERLALC), das von der UNESCO unterstützte lateinamerikanische Zentrum zur Buchförderung mit Sitz in Bogotá (Kolumbien), unterscheidet anhand der Titelproduktion und des Buchexports vier Gruppen (...). Der ersten Gruppe eines „entwickelten Verlags- und Druckereiwesens mit hohem Exportanteil“ gehören Brasilien, Argentinien, Mexiko und Kolumbien an. Eine zweite Gruppe „mittleren Produktionsumfangs“ bilden Peru, Chile, Venezuela und Ecuador. Die dritte Gruppe „geringeren, aber im Verhältnis zur Bevölkerung und zum Pro-Kopf-Einkommen relevanten Produktionsumfangs“ besteht aus Kuba, Costa Rica, der Dominikanischen Republik, Uruguay und Bolivien. Die Schlussgruppe des „inzipienten Verlagswesens mit Buchimport“ bilden Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, Paraguay, El Salvador und Honduras. (...

Influence of light and nutrient conditions on seedling growth of native and invasive trees in the Seychelles

Several recent studies have shown that plant invasions can occur in resource-poor and relatively undisturbed habitats. It is, therefore, important to investigate whether and how life-history traits of species invasive in such habitats differ from those of species that are only invasive in disturbed and resource rich habitats. We compared the growth of seedlings of native and invasive tree species from nutrient-poor secondary forests in the tropical Seychelles. We hypothesised that the relative performance of the two groups would change predictably along resource gradients, with native species performing better at low levels of resource availability and invasive species performing better at higher levels. To test this hypothesis, we performed a common garden experiment using seedlings of six invasive and seven native tree species grown under three levels of light (65, 11 and 3.5% of ambient light) and two of nutrients (low and high). Due to large variation among species, differences in growth rates (RGR) were not significant among seedlings of the native and the invasive species. However, seedlings of the invasive species showed higher specific leaf areas (SLA) and higher leaf nutrient contents than seedlings of the native species. They also exhibited greater plasticity in biomass and nutrient allocation (i.e., greater plasticity in LAR, RSR and leaf nutrient contents) in response to varying resource availability. However, differences between the mean values of these parameters were generally small compared with variation within groups. We conclude that successful invaders on nutrient-poor soils in the Seychelles are either stress-tolerant, possessing growth traits similar to those of the native species, or fast-growing but adapted to nutrient-poor soils. In contrast, the more typical, fast-growing alien species with no particular adaptations to nutrient-poor soils seem to be restricted to relative nutrient-rich sites in the lowlands. The finding—that some introduced species thrive in resource-poor habitats—suggests that undisturbed habitats with low resource availability may be less resistant to plant invasions than was previously suppose

International Media Assistance

As an introduction to this special issue this article deals firstly with defining and clarifying terms and concepts which are used in the context of international media assistance. Secondly, the themes of the different articles in this collection are enumerated: these are broadly the how to of media assistance, evaluation and the ongoing debate about proving impact of media assistance project; negotiating the tensions between the state and the media and finally, the fundamental question of why and to what purpose is assistance to the media sector given in the first place. The first two of these themes are developed in slightly more depth. The piece is rounded off with some further reflections on the history both of the idea of media assistance and of the way it has been practiced in recent decades. It finally looks at the ways research in this field may develop in the future

Structural basis for selective targeting of Rac subfamily GTPases by a bacterial effector protein

Ras-homology (Rho) family GTPases are conserved molecular switches controlling fundamental cellular activities in eukaryotic cells. As such, they are targeted by numerous bacterial toxins and effector proteins, which have been intensively investigated regarding their biochemical activities and discrete target spectra; however, molecular mechanisms of target selectivity have remained elusive. Here, we report a bacterial effector protein that targets all four Rac subfamily members of Rho family GTPases, but none of the closely related Cdc42 or RhoA subfamilies. This exquisite target selectivity of the FIC domain AMP-transferase Bep1 from Bartonella rochalimae is based on electrostatic interactions with a subfamily-specific pair of residues in the nucleotide-binding motif and the Rho insert helix. Residue substitutions at the identified positions in Cdc42 facilitate modification by Bep1, while corresponding Cdc42-like substitutions in Rac1 greatly diminish modification. Our study establishes a structural paradigm for target selectivity towards Rac subfamily GTPases and provides a highly selective tool for their functional analysis

Acquired heart block: A possible complication of patent ductus arteriosus in a preterm infant

A large patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a frequently encountered clinical problem in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants. It leads to an increased pulmonary blood flow and in a decreased or reversed diastolic flow in the systemic circulation, resulting in complications. Here we report a possible complication of PDA not previously published. On day 8 of life, a male ELBW infant (birth weight 650 g) born at a gestational age of 23 weeks and 3 days developed an atrioventricular block (AV block). The heart rate dropped from 168/min to 90/min, and the ECG showed a Wenckebach second-degree AV block and intraventricular conduction disturbances. Echocardiography demonstrated a PDA with a large left-to-right shunt and large left atrium and left ventricle with high contractility. Within several minutes after surgical closure of the PDA, the heart rate increased, and after 30 min the AV block had improved to a 1: 1 conduction ratio. Echocardiography after 2 h revealed a significant decrease of the left ventricular and atrial dimensions. Within 12 h, the AV block completely reversed together with the intraventricular conduction disturbances. We suggest that PDA with a large left-to-right shunt and left ventricular volume overload may lead to an AV block in an ELBW infant. Surgical closure of the PDA may be indicated. Copyright (C) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

Environmental drivers of circum-Antarctic glacier and ice shelf front retreat over the last two decades

The safety band of Antarctica, consisting of floating glacier tongues and ice shelves, buttresses ice discharge of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Recent disintegration events of ice shelves along with glacier retreat indicate a weakening of this important safety band. Predicting calving front retreat is a real challenge due to complex ice dynamics in a data-scarce environment that are unique for each ice shelf and glacier. We explore the extent to which easy-to-access remote sensing and modeling data can help to define environmental conditions leading to calving front retreat. For the first time, we present a circum-Antarctic record of glacier and ice shelf front change over the last two decades in combination with environmental variables such as air temperature, sea ice days, snowmelt, sea surface temperature, and wind direction. We find that the Antarctic Ice Sheet area decreased by −29 618 ± 1193 km2 in extent between 1997–2008 and gained an area of 7108 ± 1029 km2 between 2009 and 2018. Retreat concentrated along the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica including the biggest ice shelves (Ross and Ronne). In several cases, glacier and ice shelf retreat occurred in conjunction with one or several changes in environmental variables. Decreasing sea ice days, intense snowmelt, weakening easterlies, and relative changes in sea surface temperature were identified as enabling factors for retreat. In contrast, relative increases in mean air temperature did not correlate with calving front retreat. For future studies a more appropriate measure for atmospheric forcing should be considered, including above-zero-degree days and temperature extreme events. To better understand drivers of glacier and ice shelf retreat, it is critical to analyze the magnitude of basal melt through the intrusion of warm Circumpolar Deep Water that is driven by strengthening westerlies and to further assess surface hydrology processes such as meltwater ponding, runoff, and lake drainage

Combining morphological and genomic evidence to resolve species diversity and study speciation processes of the Pallenopsis patagonica (Pycnogonida) species complex

Background: Pallenopsis patagonica (Hoek, 1881) is a morphologically and genetically variable sea spider species whose taxonomic classification is challenging. Currently, it is considered as a species complex including several genetic lineages, many of which have not been formally described as species. Members of this species complex occur on the Patagonian and Antarctic continental shelves as well as around sub-Antarctic islands. These habitats have been strongly influenced by historical large-scale glaciations and previous studies suggested that communities were limited to very few refugia during glacial maxima. Therefore, allopatric speciation in these independent refugia is regarded as a common mechanism leading to high biodiversity of marine benthic taxa in the high-latitude Southern Hemisphere. However, other mechanisms such as ecological speciation have rarely been considered or tested. Therefore, we conducted an integrative morphological and genetic study on the P. patagonica species complex to i) resolve species diversity using a target hybrid enrichment approach to obtain multiple genomic markers, ii) find morphological characters and analyze morphometric measurements to distinguish species, and iii) investigate the speciation processes that led to multiple lineages within the species complex. Results: Phylogenomic results support most of the previously reported lineages within the P. patagonica species complex and morphological data show that several lineages are distinct species with diagnostic characters. Two lineages are proposed as new species, P. aulaeturcarum sp. nov. Dömel & Melzer, 2019 and P. obstaculumsuperavit sp. nov. Dömel, 2019, respectively. However, not all lineages could be distinguished morphologically and thus likely represent cryptic species that can only be identified with genetic tools. Further, morphometric data of 135 measurements showed a high amount of variability within and between species without clear support of adaptive divergence in sympatry. Conclusions: We generated an unprecedented molecular data set for members of the P. patagonica sea spider species complex with a target hybrid enrichment approach, which we combined with extensive morphological and morphometric analyses to investigate the taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of this group. The extensive data set enabled us to delineate species boundaries, on the basis of which we formally described two new species. No consistent evidence for positive selection was found, rendering speciation in allopatric glacial refugia as the most likely model of speciation

Subcellular distribution of the V-ATPase complex in plant cells, and in vivo localisation of the 100 kDa subunit VHA-a within the complex

BACKGROUND: Vacuolar H(+)-ATPases are large protein complexes of more than 700 kDa that acidify endomembrane compartments and are part of the secretory system of eukaryotic cells. They are built from 14 different (VHA)-subunits. The paper addresses the question of sub-cellular localisation and subunit composition of plant V-ATPase in vivo and in vitro mainly by using colocalization and fluorescence resonance energy transfer techniques (FRET). Focus is placed on the examination and function of the 95 kDa membrane spanning subunit VHA-a. Showing similarities to the already described Vph1 and Stv1 vacuolar ATPase subunits from yeast, VHA-a revealed a bipartite structure with (i) a less conserved cytoplasmically orientated N-terminus and (ii) a membrane-spanning C-terminus with a higher extent of conservation including all amino acids shown to be essential for proton translocation in the yeast. On the basis of sequence data VHA-a appears to be an essential structural and functional element of V-ATPase, although previously a sole function in assembly has been proposed. RESULTS: To elucidate the presence and function of VHA-a in the plant complex, three approaches were undertaken: (i) co-immunoprecipitation with antibodies directed to epitopes in the N- and C-terminal part of VHA-a, respectively, (ii) immunocytochemistry approach including co-localisation studies with known plant endomembrane markers, and (iii) in vivo-FRET between subunits fused to variants of green fluorescence protein (CFP, YFP) in transfected cells. CONCLUSIONS: All three sets of results show that V-ATPase contains VHA-a protein that interacts in a specific manner with other subunits. The genomes of plants encode three genes of the 95 kDa subunit (VHA-a) of the vacuolar type H(+)-ATPase. Immuno-localisation of VHA-a shows that the recognized subunit is exclusively located on the endoplasmic reticulum. This result is in agreement with the hypothesis that the different isoforms of VHA-a may localize on distinct endomembrane compartments, as it was shown for its yeast counterpart Vph1