The Future of Our Seas: Marine scientists and creative professionals collaborate for science communication

To increase awareness of the current challenges facing the marine environment, the Future of Our Seas (FOOS) project brought together the expertise of scientists, public engagement experts and creatives to train and support a group of marine scientists in effective science communication and innovative public engagement. This case study aims to inspire scientists and artists to use the FOOS approach in training, activity design and development support (hereafter called the ‘FOOS programme’) to collaboratively deliver novel and creative engagement activities. The authors reflect on the experiences of the marine scientists: (1) attending the FOOS communication and engagement training; (2) creating and delivering public engagement activities; (3) understanding our audience; and (4) collaborating with artists. The authors also share what the artists and audiences learned from participating in the FOOS public engagement activities. These different perspectives provide new insights for the field with respect to designing collaborative training which maximizes the impact of the training on participants, creative collaborators and the public. Long-term benefits of taking part in the FOOS programme, such as initiating future collaborative engagement activities and positively impacting the scientists’ research processes, are also highlighted

Short-range correlations and meson exchange currents in photonucleon emission

One-nucleon emission processes induced by photon absorption are studied by considering short-range correlations effects. At energies above the giant resonance region the validity of the direct knock-out model has been tested by comparison with continuum Random Phase Approximation results. Nucleon re-scattering effects have been considered by using an optical potential. The role of the electromagnetic convection, magnetization and meson exchange currents has been investigated as a function of both excitation energy and momentum transfer. The short-range correlation effects have been studied by using various correlation functions. We found that the nucleon photo-emission cross section is rather sensitive to the presence of short-range correlations at large values of nucleon emission angle. In this region, however, the effects of meson exchange currents are even larger than those produced by short-range correlations.Comment: 37 pages, 20 figures in postscript, Text in LaTe

Effects of eight neuropsychiatric copy number variants on human brain structure

peer reviewedMany copy number variants (CNVs) confer risk for the same range of neurodevelopmental symptoms and psychiatric conditions including autism and schizophrenia. Yet, to date neuroimaging studies have typically been carried out one mutation at a time, showing that CNVs have large effects on brain anatomy. Here, we aimed to characterize and quantify the distinct brain morphometry effects and latent dimensions across 8 neuropsychiatric CNVs. We analyzed T1-weighted MRI data from clinically and non-clinically ascertained CNV carriers (deletion/duplication) at the 1q21.1 (n = 39/28), 16p11.2 (n = 87/78), 22q11.2 (n = 75/30), and 15q11.2 (n = 72/76) loci as well as 1296 non-carriers (controls). Case-control contrasts of all examined genomic loci demonstrated effects on brain anatomy, with deletions and duplications showing mirror effects at the global and regional levels. Although CNVs mainly showed distinct brain patterns, principal component analysis (PCA) loaded subsets of CNVs on two latent brain dimensions, which explained 32 and 29% of the variance of the 8 Cohen’s d maps. The cingulate gyrus, insula, supplementary motor cortex, and cerebellum were identified by PCA and multi-view pattern learning as top regions contributing to latent dimension shared across subsets of CNVs. The large proportion of distinct CNV effects on brain morphology may explain the small neuroimaging effect sizes reported in polygenic psychiatric conditions. Nevertheless, latent gene brain morphology dimensions will help subgroup the rapidly expanding landscape of neuropsychiatric variants and dissect the heterogeneity of idiopathic conditions. © 2021, The Author(s)

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

What's in a research agenda? An evaluation of research developments in the arena of skilled international migration

Research on skilled international migration has developed significantly in the last 25 years. This paper reviews progress in understanding the structuring power of transnational companies and international recruitment agencies in shaping global talent flows. It argues that four main strands in the research literature flow from this: work in international human resource management; analysis of the migration-development nexus; studies of city development associated with creative knowledge workers; and cultural geographies of expatriate identities. This paper interprets trends in research on these topics in relation to the wider issue of how some social scientists have become more reflexive about their engagement with research and thus have re-positioned the nature of what is considered to be the contemporary research agenda on skilled migration. This re-positioning is recognised to have strengths but also difficulties from a policy perspective

Migration, economy and environment: a review of contemporary drivers of migration to Scotland

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What's in a research agenda? An evaluation of research developments in the arena of skilled international migration

Research on skilled international migration has developed significantly in the last 25 years. This paper reviews progress in understanding the structuring power of transnational companies and international recruitment agencies in shaping global talent flows. It argues that four main strands in the research literature flow from this: work in international human resource management; analysis of the migration-development nexus; studies of city development associated with creative knowledge workers; and cultural geographies of expatriate identities. This paper interprets trends in research on these topics in relation to the wider issue of how some social scientists have become more reflexive about their engagement with research and thus have re-positioned the nature of what is considered to be the contemporary research agenda on skilled migration. This re-positioning is recognised to have strengths but also difficulties from a policy perspective