Molecular markers can be used to infer the demographic history of a given species, but many historic processes simultaneously impact multiple species. Thus, comparative historical demography has the potential to provide insight into drivers of evolution. In this study, we used nuclear DNA (nDNA) sequences to corroborate (or refute) demographic inferences based on earlier mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data from 16 species of Hispaniola birds. Our previously published analysis suggested population expansion in five of six migratory species (following glacial retreat in North America), with less evidence of expansion in non-migratory species. Additional molecular markers should reduce locus-specific bias, and so we generated sequence data for several nuclear loci. Test statistics associated with the nDNA provided only equivocal evidence for population expansion in 10 of the 16 species. Discordance between mtDNA and nDNA is not uncommon because the two genomes are exposed to different selective pressures and have different effective population sizes and modes of inheritance. The nDNA analyses reported here cast some doubt on our earlier mtDNA inferences. They also suggest that the signal to noise ratio of demographic statistics is typically low because of the inherent variability in selective regimes and coalescence across loci.
The number of species of migratory Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) reported each year at a site in the south of the UK has been rising steadily. This number is very strongly linked to rising temperatures in SW Europe. It is anticipated that further climate warming within Europe will increase the numbers of migratory Lepidoptera reaching the UK and the consequences of this invasion need urgent attention.
Ceratophysella sigillata uses protrusible vesicles on its antennae and posterior end as sticky landing devices to avoid tumbling upon landing. This technique facilitates its orientated movement during winter migration. It allows the animal to use directional jumps without rebounding even when climbing tree trunks. The antennal vesicles are present only in the surface active morphs of C. sigillata, and only these individuals jump readily. The vesicles are everted only when the animal has time to prepare the jump. In an escape leap, they are not protruded and therefore the animal tumbles upon landing.
The Czech Republic is chosen by Ukrainian transnational mothers as a destination for their economic migration, mainly because it is possible, due to the geographical distance, to conduct a circulation migration between the two countries. The life “here” and “there” and the mobility of female labor migration gives, on the one hand, Ukrainian mothers the possibility of coordinating productive and reproductive work but, on the other hand, they are “trapped” in the net of unskilled work, and it is hard for them to get a stable job position. I analyze how gender operates in transnational spaces, and what impacts it has on the experience of motherhood. I describe how transnational Ukrainian mothers narratively construct and emphasize their experiences with transnational motherhood., Petra Ezzeddine., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The article, based on the study of a wide scope of literature available on the Minangkabau of West Sumatra, Indonesia, as well as on the author’s own previous ethnographic research, describes the peculiar functional symbiosis of two cultural traditions: social organization based on the principals of matrilineal kinship and institutionalized male migration, viewed from both a structural and a historical perspective. It thus provides a summary of the current state of knowledge about the problem preliminary to further field research planned by the author beginning from July of this year, which will focus on new developments resulting from major socio-political changes in the Indonesian society in the last 10 years since the fall of the regime of President Suharto.
Tinkering as a peddling job and sale developed in the northern part of the Trenčín Region (Upper Váh Area and Kysuce) and later in several villages in the northern part of Spiš. As a specific (non-farming) job of a group of male population, tinkering is a phenomenon that significantly influenced traditional culture in the above-mentioned regions. The affiliation with the tinker´s
socio-professional group was expressed not only by the itinerant livelihood, but it also was transferred to social activities and common personal contacts. The tinkers differed from peasants through their world view, peculiar morality, value guidance, but mainly through their experience and more real view of the world. They featured good dexterity in communication with authorities due to the obligation to arrange for documents which were necessary for them to be allowed to operate tinkering in the Czechoslovak Republic. Labour migration also affected incomes, possibilities of catering, dressing, habitation, and hygiene of itinerant tinkers. The essay explains these facts in relation to the tinkers from Kysuce, who migrated for work to Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia between world wars.
Significant numbers of juvenile (age 0+) and subadult (age 1+ and 2+) fish were observed migrating through a lowland pool fish pass (Elbe River, Czech Republic) from August to October in 2003 and 2004. Records of weekly catches totalled 2 148 (2003) and 6 469 (2004), mainly bleak Alburnus alburnus , barbel Barbus barbus, roach Rutilus rutilus and dace Leuciscus leuciscus. Fish migrated in the upstream direction probably to search the feeding grounds and refuges and their numbers corresponded to spring spawning migrations in the same fishpass and the year.
When reflecting on the symbolic integration of migrants into their host societies, sociological and anthropological discourses are challenged by the fact that recent migrants do not simply leave their homelands behind but make great efforts to maintain their attachments at a distance. In this article the authors examine a transnational migrant network of eight highly educated young women from the post-socialist region of southern Slovakia and devote special attention to the construction of their diasporic identity and shared life-world. They interpret the migration of these highly educated people not as a rupture but as a coherent continuation of their life course. In order to understand their recent biographical situation, it is necessary to consider the role that a particular form of habitus plays in migration. The authors claim that the experience of living in the culturally hybrid life-world of Czechoslovak Hungarians has played an important role in shaping their ability to live in the dual world of migrants.
Proliferation and migration of retinal endothelial cells (RECs) contribute to the development of diabetic retinopathy. PLAG1 (pleomorphic adenoma gene 1) functions as a zinc-finger transcription factor to participate in the development of lipoblastomas or pleomorphic adenomas of the salivary glands through regulation of cell proliferation and migration. The role of PLAG1 in diabetic retinopathy was investigated in this study. Firstly, RECs were induced under high glucose conditions, which caused reduction in viability and induction of apoptosis in the RECs. Indeed, PLAG1 was elevated in high glucosetreated RECs. Functional assays showed that silence of PLAG1 increased viability and suppressed apoptosis in high glucose-induced RECs, accompanied with up-regulation of Bcl-2 and down-regulation of Bax and cleaved caspase-3. Moreover, migration of RECs was promoted by high glucose conditions, while repressed by knockdown of PLAG1. High glucose also triggered angiogenesis of RECs through up-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). However, interference of PLAG1 reduced VEGF expression to retard the angiogenesis. Silence of PLAG1 also attenuated high glucose-induced up-regulation of Wnt3a, β-catenin and c-Myc in RECs. Moreover, silence of PLAG1 ameliorated histopathological changes in the retina of STZ-induced diabetic rats through down-regulation of β-catenin. In conclusion, knockdown of PLAG1 suppressed high glucose-induced angiogenesis and migration of RECs, and attenuated diabetic retinopathy by inactivation of Wnt/ β-catenin signalling.