Family Law—The Revictimization of Survivors of Domestic Violence and Their Children: The Heartbreaking Unintended Consequence of Separating Children from Their Abused Parent

Massachusetts law governing child custody recognizes the damaging effect that witnessing domestic violence can have on a child. Accordingly, the law requires courts to give special attention to the effects of domestic violence on a child when determining custody. An unintended consequence of this scrutiny is that parents who have been the victims of domestic violence can lose custody, or even their parental rights, for failing to protect children from witnessing their abuse. This result can be prevented by requiring courts to apply the same level of attention to the effects of domestic violence when removing a child from an abused parent as they do when placing a child with an abusive parent

FAMILY LAW—THE REVICTIMIZATION OF SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND THEIR CHILDREN: THE HEARTBREAKING UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE OF SEPARATING CHILDREN FROM THEIR ABUSED PARENT

Massachusetts law governing child custody recognizes the damaging effect that witnessing domestic violence can have on a child. Accordingly, the law requires courts to give special attention to the effects of domestic violence on a child when determining custody. An unintended consequence of this scrutiny is that parents who have been the victims of domestic violence can lose custody, or even their parental rights, for failing to protect children from witnessing their abuse. This result can be prevented by requiring courts to apply the same level of attention to the effects of domestic violence when removing a child from an abused parent as they do when placing a child with an abusive parent

Species boundary and extensive hybridization and introgression in Petunia

Studying the role of hybridization in the speciation of plants is one of the most thrilling areas of evolutionary biology. Hybridization in natural populations can act in opposition to divergence, contribute to adaptation through introgression or foster the emergence of new lineages via hybrid speciation. Species of the plant genus Petunia grow in open areas in southern South America. Some natural interspecific hybrid events have been described for the genus, such as between the endemic P. exserta and the widespread P. axillaris. Both species occur in sympatry in Serra do Sudeste (Brazil), where they occur in diverse habitats and exhibit floral divergence, which has been related to the attraction of different primary pollinators. The present study evaluates the maintenance of the species boundaries front of hybridization and introgression. Direct and indirect methods of estimating gene exchange employed genotyping 720 reproductive plants and 611 progenies of both species with eight microsatellite loci. Gene exchange was found to be frequent and bidirectional between the species, indicating that introgression changes their genetic constitution in areas of sympatry. Limits of the studied species are being maintained because of the high level of inbreeding and backcrosses that are habitat-dependent

What could be the fate of secondary contact zones between closely related plant species?

Interspecific hybridization has been fundamental in plant evolution. Nevertheless, the fate of hybrid zones throughout the generations remains poorly addressed. We analyzed a pair of recently diverged, interfertile, and sympatric Petunia species to ask what fate the interspecific hybrid population has met over time. We analyzed the genetic diversity in two generations from two contact sites and evaluated the effect of introgression. To do this, we collected all adult plants from the contact zones, including canonicals and intermediary colored individuals, and compared them with purebred representatives of both species based on seven highly informative microsatellite loci. We compared the genetic diversity observed in the contact zones with what is seen in isolated populations of each species, considering two generations of these annual species. Our results have confirmed the genetic differentiation between the species and the hybrid origin of the majority of the intermediary colored individuals. We also observed a differentiation related to genetic variability and inbreeding levels among the populations. Over time, there were no significant differences per site related to genetic diversity or phenotype composition. We found two stable populations kept by high inbreeding and backcross rates that influence the genetic diversity of their parental species through introgression

What is an animal personality?

Kaiser MI, Müller C. What is an animal personality? Biology & Philosophy. 2021;36(1): 1.Individuals of many animal species are said to have a personality. It has been shown that some individuals are bolder than other individuals of the same species, or more sociable or more aggressive. In this paper, we analyse what it means to say that an animal has a personality. We clarify what an animal personality is, that is, its ontology, and how different personality concepts relate to each other, and we examine how personality traits are identified in biological practice. Our analysis shows that biologists often study specific personality traits, such as boldness, sociability or aggressiveness, rather than personalities in general. We claim that personality traits are best understood as dispositions and that they are operationally defined in terms of certain sets of behaviours, which are studied in specific experimental set-ups. Furthermore, we develop an integrative philosophical account that specifies and formalises three criteria for identifying personality traits, which are used in biological practice. For an individual animal to have a personality trait it must, first, behave differently than others (Individual Differences). Second, these behavioural differences must be stable over a certain time (Temporal Stability), and third, they must be consistent in different contexts (Contextual Consistency)

Abundanz, Masse und Artenspektrum der Regenwürmer im Boden in Abhängigkeit von der Grundbodenbearbeitung und dem Bodentyp

Auf einem Versuchsfeld in Rheinhessen, auf dem seit 14 Jahren fünf verschiedene Bodenbearbeitungssysteme praktiziert werden, wurden an 60 systematisch eingemessenen Positionen die Abundanz, die Biomasse und das Artenspektrum der Regenwürmer ermittelt. Das Versuchsfeld beinhaltete unterschiedliche Bodentypen, vor allem Pararendzina und degradierte Schwarzerde. Unsere Erwartung, dass die Regenwürmer in der Schwarzerde im Vergleich zur Pararendzina besonders häufig auftreten, bestätigte sich nicht. Überraschend war außerdem, dass die Arten mit endogäischer Lebensweise in der Schwarzerde besonders empfindlich auf die Intensität der Bodenbearbeitung reagierten. Wir hatten erwartet, dass sie im humosen Unterboden der Schwarzede einen Rückzugsraum zur Verfügung hätten, der ihnen die Regeneration nach der Bodenbearbeitung erleichtert. Insgesamt war es nicht möglich, ein Verteilungsmuster der Regenwürmer in Abhängigkeit von der Bodenbearbeitung und dem Bodentyp zu erkennen

Could the reproductive system explain the stability and long-term persistence in a natural hybrid zone of Petunia (Solanaceae)?

The long-term success of populations is dependent on individual reproductive success, and in general, increased population size and genetic diversity contribute to population maintenance, reducing the risk of local extinction. Interspecific hybridization has consequences that can vary according to the hybrids' fate, which can be strongly influenced by the reproductive capacity of hybrids and canonical individuals from the contact zone. We examined the reproductive biology and morphology of two closely related Petunia (Solanaceae) species and their interspecific hybrids from Serra do Sudeste, Southern Brazil, and we measured their reproductive success under controlled conditions based on seed production and germination from five pollination treatments. We found differences in self-compatibility degree among individuals, lineages, and pollination treatments based on high total seed production (> 204,000 seeds) and germination (630 seedlings evaluated). No correlation was observed between corolla colour and reproductive success or between floral morphological traits and compatibility. High self-compatibility and inter-lineage compatibility can explain the hybrid populations' maintenance and origin, favouring the two analysed species' introgression

New complete genome sequences of human rhinoviruses shed light on their phylogeny and genomic features

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human rhinoviruses (HRV), the most frequent cause of respiratory infections, include 99 different serotypes segregating into two species, A and B. Rhinoviruses share extensive genomic sequence similarity with enteroviruses and both are part of the picornavirus family. Nevertheless they differ significantly at the phenotypic level. The lack of HRV full-length genome sequences and the absence of analysis comparing picornaviruses at the whole genome level limit our knowledge of the genomic features supporting these differences.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we report complete genome sequences of 12 HRV-A and HRV-B serotypes, more than doubling the current number of available HRV sequences. The whole-genome maximum-likelihood phylogenetic analysis suggests that HRV-B and human enteroviruses (HEV) diverged from the last common ancestor after their separation from HRV-A. On the other hand, compared to HEV, HRV-B are more related to HRV-A in the capsid and 3B-C regions. We also identified the presence of a 2C <it>cis</it>-acting replication element (<it>cre</it>) in HRV-B that is not present in HRV-A, and that had been previously characterized only in HEV. In contrast to HEV viruses, HRV-A and HRV-B share also markedly lower GC content along the whole genome length.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings provide basis to speculate about both the biological similarities and the differences (e.g. tissue tropism, temperature adaptation or acid lability) of these three groups of viruses.</p

2020 North Carolina Election Protection Report

North Carolinians -- particularly our Black and Latiné neighbors -- have always faced an evolving array of barriers that prevented them from exercising their freedom to vote. Last century's literacy tests and poll taxes, used to keep Black and low-resourced voters away from the polls, have evolved into more insidious tactics like complex vote-by-mail procedures, intimidation, and felony disenfranchisement.Each year, Democracy North Carolina and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) work to identify and remove voting barriers. The 2020 Election Protection report documents our work during one of the state's highest turnout and safest elections on record. Central to our report is an analysis of over 13,000 phone calls voters made to our statewide voter assistance hotline (888-OUR-VOTE) as well as from thousands of volunteers (also known as "Vote Protectors"), who observed polling places and helped voters during the 2020 elections

Digital transformation of the textile process chain – state-of-the-art

New digital technologies, the internet age, and ever-increasing customer expectations are changing industries worldwide. Companies in the apparel industry must digitally transform to remain competitive. Traditional approaches will no longer work in the face of change because digital transformation is inevitable, irreversible, enormously fast, and unfortunately marked by challenges in implementation and uncertainties in execution. However, it also brings many benefits for which it is worth striving for the complete digitization of the value chain. This research paper aims to clarify the benefits and challenges companies face in digital transformation. For this purpose, it shows a report on the current state of digitalization in the apparel industry. The article ends with an approach on the implementation of digitization in the apparel companies