#HonouringIndigenousWriters: Visiting with and through Indigenous Literatures in the “Digital Turn”

In 2017, in partnership with the UBC Longhouse and UBC Libraries,the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the University of British Columbia Library began the annual “Honouring Indigenous Writers Edit-athon.” Each year, building out of events such as the Art + Feminism Wikipedia Edit-athon, our team of organizers work with Indigenous authors to improve the representation of Indigenous literatures online. We build consensual relationship with authors to revise Wikipedia pages, distribute organizer kits to interested collaborators, maintain an event dashboard, and host live readings from new and established Indigenous authors in Vancouver, Kelowna, and Alberta. The event itself is inspired by Daniel Heath Justice’s hashtag #HonouringIndigneousWriters, which he began on Twitter in 2015 to draw attention to the wide range of literatures available by Indigenous authors. With Justice’s consent, we build on his good work by furthering the reach of Indigenous literatures in digital and physical spaces.  In this article, I suggest that #HonouringIndigenousWriters illustrates that any attempt to squarely demarcate boundaries between offline and online communities risks eliding the nuanced facets of relationality that are core to Indigenous literary studies. Bronwyn Carlson argues that in Indigenous engagements with the digital, there is often “no distinction between online and offline worlds; they are seamlessly enmeshed”. Productively blurring the boundary between online and offline worlds informs what critical and ethical and relational engagement in the digital must look like. Via a history of #HonouringIndigenousWriters, written from my perspective as one if its co-founders, I hope to illustrate how, as scholars of Indigenous literary studies, we can draw online and offline worlds into closer proximity and, as Warren Cariou urges us, find places to visit with stories

Einfluss genetischer Interaktionen auf das Auftreten von Asthma und nächtlichem Asthma

Asthma ist eine komplexe Erkrankung, die klinisch durch die Trias aus chronischer Atemwegsentzündung, bronchialer Hyperreagibilität und reversibler Atemwegsobstruktion charakterisiert wird. Gleichzeitig zeigt sich der Phänotyp „Asthma“ nicht immer einheitlich. So wird angenommen, dass unterschiedlichen Ausprägungen von Asthma auch unterschiedliche pathogenetische Mechanismen zugrunde liegen könnten. Auf der Basis dieses Gedankens wird es zunehmend wichtig, Phäno- und Genotyp dieser Unterformen genau zu erforschen und zu definieren, um über das Verständnis der jeweiligen Pathogenese die klinischen Therapiemöglichkeiten verbessern zu können. In der hier vorliegenden Arbeit werden genetische Interaktionen zweier Systeme näher beleuchtet. Die erste Publikation zeigt auf, inwiefern genetische Variationen innerhalb des kürzlich entdeckten Neuropeptid S und des korrespondierenden Neuropeptid S Rezeptor 1 (NPSR1) biologisch miteinander interagieren und wie eine spezifische Kombination von genetischen Mutationen das Entstehen von asthmatischen Symptomen beeinflussen könnte. Die zweite Veröffentlichung befasst sich dann mit Interaktionen zwischen NPSR1 und dem Retinoid Acid Receptor-Related Orphan Receptor Alpha (RORA). Von diesen beiden Genen ist bekannt, dass sie biologisch interagieren und dass sie einen direkten Einfluss auf das Entstehen von asthmatischen Symptomen haben. Da beide Gene und ihre Produkte allerdings auch den zirkadianen Rhythmus beeinflussen, war unsere Hypothese, dass sie insbesondere das Auftreten von nächtlichem Asthma beeinflussen könnten. Interessanterweise konnten wir tatsächlich statistische Interaktionen zwischen NPSR1 und RORA finden und zeigen, dass diese Interaktionen spezifisch sind für nächtliches Asthma und weniger Asthma ohne nächtliche Symptome beeinflussen. Während alle bisherigen Studien zum genetischen Hintergrund von nächtlichem Asthma Mutationen im beta 2 Adrenorezeptor untersuchten, was mutmaßlich eher allgemein mit dem Schweregrad und schlechter kontrolliertem Asthma zusammenhängt, konnte diese Studie genetische Einflüsse aufdecken, die spezifisch für nächtliche Symptome sind. Die Ergebnisse dieser Doktorarbeit sind auf verschiedene Art und Weise bedeutsam für die wissenschaftliche und klinische Beurteilung von Asthma. Erstens konnten wir zeigen, dass Gen-Gen-Interaktionen bei der Beurteilung der genetischen Grundlagen von Asthma nicht zu vernachlässigen sind. Zweitens konnten wir durch unsere genetischen Daten zeigen, dass der klinische Phänotyp „Asthma“ potenziell weiter differenziert werden könnte und den Subphänotypen potenziell unterschiedliche Pathogenesen zugrunde liegen könnten. Das wiederum führt zu der Annahme, dass diese unterschiedlichen Krankheitsentitäten auch unterschiedlich therapiert werden könnten. Auf Basis der Ergebnisse dieser Dissertation wird abschließend über molekulargenetische Therapieoptionen spekuliert

Mating-induced transient inhibition of responses to sex pheromone in a male moth is not mediated by octopamine or serotonin

In the male moth, Agrotis ipsilon, mating induces a transient inhibition of behavioural and central nervous responses to sex pheromone. Newly mated males are not attracted to sex pheromone, and the sensitivity of their antennal lobe (AL) neurons is lower than in virgin males. This rapid transient olfactory inhibition prevents them from re-mating unsuccessfully until they have refilled their sex glands. We hypothesized that this olfactory ‘switch off’ might be controlled by neuromodulators such as biogenic amines. To test our hypothesis, we studied the effects of octopamine (OA) and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) on the coding properties of pheromone-sensitive AL neurons in virgin and newly mated males. We show that AL neuron sensitivity increased in newly mated males after injection of OA or 5-HT, but only OA treatment affected certain response characteristics of AL neurons in virgin males. Whereas all measured AL neuron response characteristics were different between virgin and newly mated males, amine treatment in newly mated males restored only the latency and spike frequency, but not the duration of excitatory and inhibitory phases, which were initially found in virgin males. Additionally, we investigated the behavioural effects of OA and 5-HT treatments in virgin and mated males. Although OA and 5-HT enhanced the general flight activity of newly mated males, amine treatments did not restore the behavioural pheromone response of mated moths. Altogether, these results show that, although biogenic amines modulate the olfactory system in moths, OA and 5-HT are probably not involved in the post-mating inhibition of responses to sex pheromone in A. ipsilon males.Fil: Barrozo, Romina. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Francia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Jarriault, David. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; FranciaFil: Simeone, Xenia. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; FranciaFil: Gaertner, Cyril. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; FranciaFil: Gadenne, Christophe. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; FranciaFil: Anton, Sylvia. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Franci

Group status drives majority and minority integration preferences

WOS:000300955100009 (Nº de Acesso Web of Science)“Prémio Científico ISCTE-IUL 2013”This research examined preferences for national-and campus-level assimilative and pluralistic policies among Black and White students under different contexts, as majority-and minority-group members. We targeted attitudes at two universities, one where 85% of the student body is White, and another where 76% of students are Black. The results revealed that when a group constituted the majority, its members generally preferred assimilationist policies, and when a group constituted the minority, its members generally preferred pluralistic policies. The results support a functional perspective: Both majority and minority groups seek to protect and enhance their collective identities

A fine-scale assessment of the ecosystem service-disservice dichotomy in the context of urban ecosystems affected by alien plant invasions

Abstract Background Natural resources within and around urban landscapes are under increasing pressure from ongoing urbanisation, and management efforts aimed at ensuring the sustainable provision of ecosystem services (ES) are an important response. Given the limited resources available for assessing urban ES in many cities, practical approaches for integrating ES in decision-making process are needed. Methods We apply remote sensing techniques (integrating LiDAR data with high-resolution multispectral imagery) and combined these with supplementary spatial data to develop a replicable approach for assessing the role of urban vegetation (including invasive alien plants) in providing ES and ecosystem disservices (EDS). We identify areas denoting potential management trade-offs based on the spatial distribution of ES and EDS using a local-scale case study in the city of Cape Town, South Africa. Situated within a global biodiversity hotspot, Cape Town must contend with widespread invasions of alien plants (especially trees and shrubs) along with complex socio-political challenges. This represents a useful system to examine the challenges in managing ES and EDS in the context of urban plant invasions. Results Areas of high ES provision (for example carbon sequestration, shade and visual amenity) are characterized by the presence of large trees. However, many of these areas also result in numerous EDS due to invasions of alien trees and shrubs – particularly along rivers, in wetlands and along the urban edge where tall alien trees have established and spread into the natural vegetation (for example increased water consumption, increased fire risk and reduced soil quality). This suggests significant trade-offs regarding the management of species and the ES and EDS they provide. Conclusions The approach applied here can be used to provide recommendations and to guide city planners and managers to fine-tune management interventions at local scales to maximise the provision of ES

Small urban centres as launching sites for plant invasions in natural areas : insights from South Africa

CITATION: McLean, P. et al. 2017. Small urban centres as launching sites for plant invasions in natural areas: insights from South Africa. Biological Invasions, 19(12):3541-3555. doi:10.1007/s10530-017-1600-4The original publication is available at https://www.springer.com/journal/10530Alien species are often first introduced to urban areas, so it is unsurprising that towns and cities are often hotspots for invasions. However, while large cities are usually the first sites of introduction, small towns are more numerous and have a greater chance of launching invasions into natural areas as they have proportionally larger interfaces with their surroundings. In this paper we develop a set of scenarios as hypotheses to explore the role of small towns in facilitating within-country dispersal of alien plants. In particular, we developed ten scenarios for how introductions to small towns, agricultural and natural areas can lead to landscape-scale invasions. We tested a part of these scenarios using a case study of a highly invaded region in South Africa (the Berg River catchment in the Western Cape). We specifically investigated the main plant invasion routes between 12 small towns and their surrounding agricultural and natural areas. This was accomplished by conducting urban-specific alien plant surveys in towns, then comparing these results to regional databases of naturalized and/or invasive plants. Many of the alien plants found in urban areas were listed as invasive or naturalized in the catchment (over 30% of the total alien species pool). Despite marked environmental gradients across the study area, we found no relationships between the alien plant species richness in towns and climatic variables or with levels of anthropogenic disturbances. All towns hosted large numbers of invasive plant species and nearly half of the alien species found in towns were naturalized or invasive in surrounding areas. The likelihood of alien plants being naturalized or invasive outside urban areas increased in proportion to their local abundance in towns and if they were tall and woody. Ornamental horticulture was the main reason for introduction of these alien species (69%). Small towns can and do harbour significant populations of plant taxa that are able to spread to surrounding natural areas to launch invasions. Comparing lists of species from urban alien plant surveys with those from naturalisation records for the region is a useful protocol for identifying species which may be moving along the introduction– naturalization–invasion continuum.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-017-1600-4Publisher’s versio

Ecological Impacts of Alien Species: Quantification, Scope, Caveats, and Recommendations

Despite intensive research during the past decade on the effects of alien species, invasion science still lacks the capacity to accurately predict the impacts of those species and, therefore, to provide timely advice to managers on where limited resources should be allocated. This capacity has been limited partly by the context-dependent nature of ecological impacts, research highly skewed toward certain taxa and habitat types, and the lack of standardized methods for detecting and quantifying impacts. We review different strategies, including specific experimental and observational approaches, for detecting and quantifying the ecological impacts of alien species. These include a four-way experimental plot design for comparing impact studies of different organisms. Furthermore, we identify hypothesis-driven parameters that should be measured at invaded sites to maximize insights into the nature of the impact. We also present strategies for recognizing high-impact species. Our recommendations provide a foundation for developing systematic quantitative measurements to allow comparisons of impacts across alien species, sites, and tim