Re-imaging the Periphery: The Reproduction of Space in Cairo

This chapter examines Cairo’s path towards reassembling a modern spatial order in one of its oldest quarters, Bulaq Abul Ela, and the implications of this on the spatial experience of its inhabitants. The ambitions of space reproduction in Cairo are revealed during the attempt to engender a debate as to how this vision affected Bulaq’s riverfront zone as its periphery; how it was spatialised and to what extent the planners’ conception of urban space actually responded to the people’s needs when creating a new spatial reality. It uncovers the peripheral/central position that residents assume with regards to their living spaces to reveal new meanings, images, stories and places to replace the increasingly undesirable authentic fabric of Bulaq.

Stereotypes of Age Differences in Personality Traits: Universal and Accurate?

Age trajectories for personality traits are known to be similar across cultures. To address whether stereotypes of age groups reflect these age-related changes in personality, we asked participants in 26 countries (N = 3,323) to rate typical adolescents, adults, and old persons in their own country. Raters across nations tended to share similar beliefs about different age groups; adolescents were seen as impulsive, rebellious, undisciplined, preferring excitement and novelty, whereas old people were consistently considered lower on impulsivity, activity, antagonism, and Openness. These consensual age group stereotypes correlated strongly with published age differences on the five major dimensions of personality and most of 30 specific traits, using as criteria of accuracy both self-reports and observer ratings, different survey methodologies, and data from up to 50 nations. However, personal stereotypes were considerably less accurate, and consensual stereotypes tended to exaggerate differences across age groups.

Are phenotypic traits useful for differentiating among a priori Coregonus taxa?

A key for three putative species apparently found in three geographic areas, i.e. Coregonus clupeoides (in Scotland), Coregonus stigmaticus (in England), and Coregonus pennantii (in Wales) given in a recent review was tested quantitatively using 544 individuals from nine populations. The classification success of the key was very low (27%). It was concluded that there is currently no robust evidence for the recognition of the three putative species. Furthermore, the use of phenotypic characters alone to distinguish putative species in postglacial fish species such as those of the genus Coregonus that show homoplasy in many of these traits is questioned. In the absence of further evidence, it was concluded that a single highly variable species best describes the pattern of phenotypic variation in these U.K. populations. On this basis it is argued that taxonomic subdivision of U.K. European coregonids is inappropriate and that Coregonus lavaretus should prevail as the species name applicable to all populations.

Conservation status and reproduction of the critically endangered freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera).

1. Freshwater unionoids are one of the most threatened animal groups worldwide and the freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera is currently listed as critically endangered in Europe. The ‘EC Habitats & Species Directive’ requires that EU member states monitor the distribution and abundance of this species and report regularly on its conservation status.
2. The pearl mussel meta-population in Northern Ireland was surveyed to assess temporal population trends in Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and mussel reproduction throughout its range.
3. Mussels occurred in six rivers and numbers within three SAC designated sites remained stable between 2004-07 and 2011. The discovery of >8,000 previously unknown individuals in the Owenreagh River contributed to an overall increase (+56.8%) in the total known population. All populations actively reproduced during 2010 with approximately half of all individuals gravid. Moreover, suitable salmonid hosts occurred at all sites with 10.7% of salmon and 22.8% of trout carrying encysted glochidia. Populations were composed entirely of aged individuals with little evidence of recent recruitment.
4. We infer that the break in the life cycle must occur during the juvenile stage when glochidia metamorphose and settle into the interstitial spaces within the substrate. Water quality parameters, most notably levels of suspended solids, exceeded the recommended maximum thresholds in all rivers.
5. We posit that the deposition of silt may be the main cause of juvenile mortality contributing to a lack of recruitment. Consequently, all populations were judged to be in ‘unfavourable’ conservation status. Catchment-level management plans are urgently needed to reduce siltation with the aim of improving recruitment. Our results have implications for the success of ex-situ conservation programmes; specifically, the size at which captive bred juveniles are released into the wild. Further research is required to assess the vulnerabilities of early life stages of M. margaritifera to siltation.

Are systemizing and autistic traits related to talent and interest in mathematics and engineering? Testing some of the central claims of the empathizing-systemizing theory.

In two experiments, we tested some of the central claims of the empathizing-systemizing (E-S) theory. Experiment 1 showed that the systemizing quotient (SQ) was unrelated to performance on a mathematics test, although it was correlated with statistics-related attitudes, self-efficacy, and anxiety. In Experiment 2, systemizing skills, and gender differences in these skills, were more strongly related to spatial thinking styles than to SQ. In fact, when we partialled the effect of spatial thinking styles, SQ was no longer related to systemizing skills. Additionally, there was no relationship between the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and the SQ, or skills and interest in mathematics and mechanical reasoning. We discuss the implications of our findings for the E-S theory, and for understanding the autistic cognitive profile.

Cooperative traits of technology adoption: Website adoption in Irish credit unions

The purpose of this paper is to examine website adoption and its resultant effects on credit union performance in Ireland. Credit union specific factors influence adoption as does the socio-economic profile of the population from where the credit union draws its membership. Website adoption results in a reduction in the spread between the loan and dividend rate with this primarily driven by a fall in the loan rate. Given that the adoption of a website, albeit with limited functionality, translates into cost benefits this augurs well for the current restructuring process underway for Irish credit unions which has as one of its objectives the upgrade of credit union ICT sophistication.

Trade-offs between personal immunity and reproduction in the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides

How are resources split between caring for offspring and self-maintenance? Is the timing of immune challenge important? In burying beetles challenging the immune system prior to breeding does not affect the total number and quality of offspring produced during the individual's lifetime. However, the immune system is suppressed during breeding and if an immune challenge is presented during this time the beetle will upregulate its immune system, but at the detriment to the number of offspring produced during that breeding opportunity.We know that parental investment and immune investment are costly processes, but it is unclear which trait will be prioritized when both may be required. Here, we address this question using the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides, carrion breeders that exhibit biparental care of young. Our results show that immunosuppression occurs during provision of parental care. We measured phenoloxidase (PO) on Days 1-8 of the breeding bout and results show a clear decrease in PO immediately from presentation of the breeding resource onward. Having established baseline immune investment during breeding we then manipulated immune investment at different times by applying a wounding challenge. Beetles were wounded prior to and during the parental care period and reproductive investment quantified. Different effects on reproductive output occur depending on the timing of wounding. Challenging the immune system with wounding prior to breeding does not affect reproductive output and subsequent lifetime reproductive success (LRS). LRS is also unaffected by applying an immune elicitor prior to breeding, though different arms of the immune system are up/downregulated, perhaps indicating a trade-off between cellular and humoral immunity. In contrast, wounding during breeding reduces reproductive output and to the greatest extent if the challenge is applied early in the breeding bout. Despite being immunosuppressed, breeding beetles can still respond to wounding by increasing PO, albeit not to prebreeding levels. This upregulation of PO during breeding may affect parental investment, resulting in a reduction in reproductive output. The potential role of juvenile hormone in controlling this trade-off is discussed.

The role of adiposity in cardiometabolic traits:a Mendelian randomization analysis

The association between adiposity and cardiometabolic traits is well known from epidemiological studies. Whilst the causal relationship is clear for some of these traits, for others it is not. We aimed to determine whether adiposity is causally related to various cardiometabolic traits using the Mendelian randomization approach.

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies 11 new loci for anthropometric traits and provides insights into genetic architecture

Approaches exploiting trait distribution extremes may be used to identify loci associated with common traits, but it is unknown whether these loci are generalizable to the broader population. In a genome-wide search for loci associated with the upper versus the lower 5th percentiles of body mass index, height and waist-to-hip ratio, as well as clinical classes of obesity, including up to 263,407 individuals of European ancestry, we identified 4 new loci (IGFBP4, H6PD, RSRC1 and PPP2R2A) influencing height detected in the distribution tails and 7 new loci (HNF4G, RPTOR, GNAT2, MRPS33P4, ADCY9, HS6ST3 and ZZZ3) for clinical classes of obesity. Further, we find a large overlap in genetic structure and the distribution of variants between traits based on extremes and the general population and little etiological heterogeneity between obesity subgroups.

Coexistence of congeneric native and invasive species: The case of the green algae Codium spp. in northwestern Spain

We examined the patterns of distribution and abundance, and reproductive traits (presence of gametophytes and size at time of reproduction) in the invasive Codium fragile ssp. fragile and the native C. tomentosum and C. vermilara on intertidal habitats of NW Spain at two dates. All three species coexist in the locations and habitats studied, although abundances were low. We found a greater proportion of C. fragile ssp. fragile towards the east of the Cantabrian coast and on upper levels on the shore, where conditions are more stressful. The proportion of thalli bearing gametangia in C. fragile ssp. fragile was greater than in the native species in all habitats. The presence of gametangia was size-dependent for all species, with the invasive species maturing at a smaller size, which combined with the previous features, might confer competitive advantages to this species over the native species. We also demonstrated that molecular analyses are necessary for the correct identification of C. fragile subspecies.