Evolutionary forces shaping genomic islands of population differentiation in humans

Background Levels of differentiation among populations depend both on demographic and selective factors: genetic drift and local adaptation increase population differentiation, which is eroded by gene flow and balancing selection. We describe here the genomic distribution and the properties of genomic regions with unusually high and low levels of population differentiation in humans to assess the influence of selective and neutral processes on human genetic structure. Methods Individual SNPs of the Human Genome Diversity Panel (HGDP) showing significantly high or low levels of population differentiation were detected under a hierarchical-island model (HIM). A Hidden Markov Model allowed us to detect genomic regions or islands of high or low population differentiation. Results Under the HIM, only 1.5% of all SNPs are significant at the 1% level, but their genomic spatial distribution is significantly non-random. We find evidence that local adaptation shaped high-differentiation islands, as they are enriched for non-synonymous SNPs and overlap with previously identified candidate regions for positive selection. Moreover there is a negative relationship between the size of islands and recombination rate, which is stronger for islands overlapping with genes. Gene ontology analysis supports the role of diet as a major selective pressure in those highly differentiated islands. Low-differentiation islands are also enriched for non-synonymous SNPs, and contain an overly high proportion of genes belonging to the 'Oncogenesis' biological process. Conclusions Even though selection seems to be acting in shaping islands of high population differentiation, neutral demographic processes might have promoted the appearance of some genomic islands since i) as much as 20% of islands are in non-genic regions ii) these non-genic islands are on average two times shorter than genic islands, suggesting a more rapid erosion by recombination, and iii) most loci are strongly differentiated between Africans and non-Africans, a result consistent with known human demographic history.

The Role of the Family in Shaping Self-Concept and Cognitive Styles in Hungary

The project studied the perception of parenting styles and their relation to self-development, cognitive styles, and individualisation in adolescence. Typical parenting styles of mothers and fathers were studied in five different maternal and paternal parenting backgrounds: warm authoritarian, warm democratic, cold neglectful, cold authoritarian, and neutral. Perception of different styles of parenting (for fathers: authority, 'maintaining distance' behaviour, reciprocity, enhancing self-reliance; for mothers: authority, unpredictable behaviour, mutual trust, achievement orientation, and enhancing self-reliance) were analysed in each group using the newly developed Hungarian Parenting Questionnaire (Sallay & Munnich, 1999). This questionnaire has a theoretical basis in the ideas of Harvey (1966, 1967), where the socialisation process is combined with self-development. This categorisation of paternal and maternal parenting backgrounds enabled Sallay to explore and describe in detail how diverse parenting styles contribute to self-development, the development of cognitive complexity, and individualisation. The results show that diverse parenting by mothers and fathers produces differing impacts in nuclear and divorced families and for males and females, taking into consideration such self-components as physical, active, psychological (capabilities, personality, emotions, roles, preferences), social and reflective selves. Cognitive self-complexity varied according to parenting styles and genders: maternal and paternal parenting proved to have the most significant impact on self-complexity in a warm, democratic family. With respect to individualistic tendencies, adolescent boys were most individualistic in a cold, neglectful paternal background in nuclear families as compared to other paternal and maternal family backgrounds and to females.

Shaping the Future of Public Health: The Role of Biostatistics

Comments about the current place for the discipline of Biostatistics within Public Health (1993).

The spatiotemporal pattern of auditory cortical responses during verbal hallucinations

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies can provide insight into the neural correlates of hallucinations. Commonly, such studies require self-reports about the timing of the hallucination events. While many studies have found activity in higher-order sensory cortical areas, only a few have demonstrated activity of the primary auditory cortex during auditory verbal hallucinations. In this case, using self-reports as a model of brain activity may not be sensitive enough to capture all neurophysiological signals related to hallucinations. We used spatial independent component analysis (sICA) to extract the activity patterns associated with auditory verbal hallucinations in six schizophrenia patients. SICA decomposes the functional data set into a set of spatial maps without the use of any input function. The resulting activity patterns from auditory and sensorimotor components were further analyzed in a single-subject fashion using a visualization tool that allows for easy inspection of the variability of regional brain responses. We found bilateral auditory cortex activity, including Heschl's gyrus, during hallucinations of one patient, and unilateral auditory cortex activity in two more patients. The associated time courses showed a large variability in the shape, amplitude, and time of onset relative to the self-reports. However, the average of the time courses during hallucinations showed a clear association with this clinical phenomenon. We suggest that detection of this activity may be facilitated by examining hallucination epochs of sufficient length, in combination with a data-driven approach.

Shaping a Bright Future for Montana Tech: Developing State, National and Global Leaders in Resource Sectors

Presentation by Leigh W. Freeman. Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring published in 1962 marked the birth of concepts leading to the development of mineral resources with a balance of economic, environmental and social imperatives. Montana plays a special role in this story. It is 'the last best place.' As such it can serve as a bell-weather state for Carson's revelations. Consider: Butte as a poster child for legacy problems resulting from resource development under solely economic imperatives; and Montana as a first-adapter in 1971 of state environmental laws based on imperatives heralded with Silent Spring. What better place is there to educate and develop leaders and incubate the future of resource development in global sustainability?

Agricultural land use and biodiversity in the Alps - How cultural tradition and socioeconomically motivated changes are shaping grassland biodiversity in the Swiss Alps

Alpine grasslands are ecosystems with a great diversity of plant species. However, little is known about other levels of biodiversity, such as landscape diversity, diversity of biological interactions of plants with herbivores or fungal pathogens, and genetic diversity. We therefore explored natural and anthropogenic determinants of grassland biodiversity at several levels of biological integration, from the genetic to the landscape level in the Swiss Alps. Differences between cultural traditions (Romanic, Germanic, and Walser) turned out to still affect land use diversity and thus landscape diversity. Increasing land use diversity, in turn, increased plant species diversity per village. However, recent land use changes have reduced this diversity. Within grassland parcels, plant species diversity was higher on unfertilized mown grasslands than on fertilized or grazed ones. Most individual plants were affected by herbivores and fungal leaf pathogens, reflecting that parcels harbored a great diversity of herbivores and pathogens. However, as plant damage by herbivores and pathogens was not severe, conserving these biological interactions among plants is hardly compromising agricultural goals. A common-garden experiment revealed genetic differentiation of the important fodder grass Poa alpina between mown and grazed sites, suggesting adaptation. Per-village genetic diversity of Poa alpina was greater in villages with higher land use diversity, analogous to the higher plant species diversity there. Overall, landscape diversity and biodiversity within grassland parcels are currently declining. As this contradicts the intention of Swiss law and international agreements, financial incentives need to be re-allocated and should focus on promoting high biodiversity at the local and the landscape level. At the same time, this will benefit landscape attractiveness for tourists and help preserve a precious cultural heritage in the Swiss Alps.

The Increasing Importance of Administrative Practices in the Shaping of the Welfare State

Dans cet article, nous analysons les changements de l' Etat-providence suédois a l' exemple des services municipaux de soins pour personnes agées. On montre qu'il est possible de tracer des processus de transformation à trois niveaux. Analysées comme phénomènes complèmentaires cela montre à quelle envergure les pratiques administratives sont devenues le lieu primordial de la mise en forme de l' Etat-providence. L'incorporation du managérialisme, comme mode prévalent de gouvernance et d'organisation de services et des politiques sociales mène a la conclusion qu'on devient temoin d'une transformation d' un regime (d Etat-providence) moral et politique à un regime administratif. Dans le dernier paragraphe, nous argumentons que cette transformation affaiblit la citoyenneté sociale et transfère les valeurs et principes de la politique sociale a la sphère administrative. Nous argumentons dès lors que cette perspective analytique a des implications plus larges pour la charactérization des “Welfare regimes” et pour l'analyse des différences transnationales.