Spatial structure and inter-firm networks of technical and information producer services in Seoul,Korea

A spatial and sectoral reorganisation of producer services has begun to change the urban structure of Seoul. In addition to the existing centre of the CBD, two areas, Kangnam and Yongdeungpo, have emerged as the new centres of producer services in Seoul resulting from relocations from the CBD and the location of firm start-ups and spin-offs, so creating a multi-centred structure. There is a difference between the centres related to the fact that Kangnam is specialised in advanced services and has strong local networks among service firms, firms in Yongdeungpo have strong forward linkages to nearby manufacturing firms and to larger producer service firms, while firms in the CBD are relatively older and have much more intensive overseas ties. This outcome illustrates that shifts in the organisation of producer services in favour of outsourcing have been felt in shifts in spatial patterns. These new structures illustrate that producer service location and operation have a powerful influence upon the pattern of development in Seoul.     

Heavy Metal Determination in Atmospheric Deposition and Other Fluxes in Northern France Agrosystems

Water, Air, &; Soil Pollution - The aim of this study is to assess the annual balance of the fluxes of Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn within different cropping systems, in an experimental site located...     

Population structure of the rice sheath blight pathogen <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rhizoctonia solani</Emphasis> AG-1 IA from India

The population structure of Rhizoctonia solani AG-1 IA causing rice sheath blight from India was evaluated for 96 isolates using seven RFLP loci. Nineteen of the isolates did not hybridise to R. solani AG-1 IA RFLP probes and rDNA analyses subsequently confirmed that they were either Ceratobasidium oryzae-sativae isolates or another Rhizoctonia sp. The population structure of the remaining 77 R. solani AG-1 IA Indian isolates was similar to that of a previously characterized Texas population. Clonal dispersal of R. solani AG-1 IA in India was moderate within fields and no clones were shared among field populations. Low levels of population subdivision and small genetic distances among populations were consistent with high levels of gene flow. Frequent sexual reproduction was indicated by the fact that most populations were in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). The two loci (R68 and R111) that deviated significantly from HWE showed an excess of heterozygosity. Although Texas and Indian populations were geographically very distant, they exhibited only moderate population subdivision, with an F_ST value of 0.193.     

The effect of non-genetic factors on the reproductive performance of Sanga and Friesian × Sanga crossbred dairy cattle breeds kept under hot and humid environment

A study was conducted to assess the effect of non-genetic factors on the reproductive performance of Sanga and Friesian?×?Sanga crossbred dairy cattle kept at Amrahia Dairy Farm, Ghana. Records on 66 crossbred Friesian?×?Sanga and 105 purebred Sanga cattle from 2005 to 2012 were used. The effect of sex of calf (male or female), season of calving (major, minor and dry), year of calving (2005–2012) and parity (first to third) on birthweight, calving interval and age at first calving were determined. The data were analyzed using the general linear model procedures of GenStat (Discovery Edition). The effect of parity of dam, year of calving, season of calving and sex of calf were considered as fixed effects for evaluating the different reproductive traits. Data on calving and conception rates over the period were 74.3 and 76.1 %, respectively. The overall mean values for birthweight, age at first calving and calving interval obtained were 23.9?±?1.5 and 22.8?±?1.4 kg, 38.8?±?2.5 and 40.2?±?2.4 months and 390.8?±?12.5 and 413.6?±?12.1 days for the crossbred and Sanga, respectively. It was observed that all the major determinants of reproductive performance studied apart from birthweight were significantly influenced by year of birth, parity, season of calving and sex.     

Occurrence of rift valley fever in cattle in Ijara district,Kenya

Ijara district in Kenya was one of the hotspots of rift valley fever (RVF) during the 2006/2007 outbreak which led to human and animal deaths causing huge economic and public health losses. The main constraint in the control and prevention of RVF is inadequate knowledge on its occurrence during the interepidemic period. This study was aimed at understanding the occurrence of RVF in cattle in Ijara to enable the development of improved community-based disease surveillance, prediction, control and prevention.     

Social and ecological complexity is associated with gestural repertoire size of wild chimpanzees

Increasing our understanding of primate gestural communication can provide new insights into language evolution. A key question in primate communication is the association between the social relationships of primates and their repertoire of gestures. Such analyses can reveal how primates use their repertoire of gestural communication to maintain their networks of family and friends, much as humans use language to maintain their social networks. In this study we examined the association between the repertoire of gestures (overall, manual and bodily gestures, and gestures of different modalities) and social bonds (presence of reciprocated grooming), coordinated behaviors (travel, resting, co‐feeding), and the complexity of ecology (e.g. noise, illumination) and sociality (party size, audience), in wild East African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). A larger repertoire size of manual, visual gestures was associated with the presence of a relationship based on reciprocated grooming and increases in social complexity. A smaller repertoire of manual tactile gestures occurred when the relationship was based on reciprocated grooming. A smaller repertoire of bodily gestures occurred between partners who jointly traveled for longer. Whereas gesture repertoire size was associated with social complexity, complex ecology also influenced repertoire size. The evolution of a large repertoire of manual, visual gestures may have been a key factor that enabled larger social groups to emerge during evolution. Thus, the evolution of the larger brains in hominins may have co‐occurred with an increase in the cognitive complexity underpinning gestural communication and this, in turn, may have enabled hominins to live in more complex social groups.     

Focused evolution of HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies revealed by structures and deep sequencing

Antibody VRC01 is a human immunoglobulin that neutralizes about 90% of HIV-1 isolates. To understand how such broadly neutralizing antibodies develop, we used x-ray crystallography and 454 pyrosequencing to characterize additional VRC01-like antibodies from HIV-1-infected individuals. Crystal structures revealed a convergent mode of binding for diverse antibodies to the same CD4-binding-site epitope. A functional genomics analysis of expressed heavy and light chains revealed common pathways of antibody-heavy chain maturation, confined to the IGHV1-2*02 lineage, involving dozens of somatic changes, and capable of pairing with different light chains. Broadly neutralizing HIV-1 immunity associated with VRC01-like antibodies thus involves the evolution of antibodies to a highly affinity-matured state required to recognize an invariant viral structure, with lineages defined from thousands of sequences providing a genetic roadmap of their development.     

Brown bear conservation and the ghost of persecution past

Large carnivores, such as brown bears, are focal species for conservation efforts. Historically, brown bears were persecuted in Europe for centuries before their gradual elimination from much of Western Europe. In contrast, large carnivore populations in North America were eradicated within two centuries in the east and within a few decades in the west. After a change towards conservation-oriented management in the 20th century, many bear populations are again increasing on both continents. Europe is seemingly less suited (i.e. higher human densities, greater habitat alteration and landscape fragmentation) than in North America, however bears seem to respond faster to conservation measures in Europe. We analyzed ecological and historical factors that may affect differences in reproductive allocation (mean litter size in relation to mean adult female body mass) and help explain why different brown bear populations react differently to conservation measures. The results indicated that mean litter size increased significantly with mean adult female body mass and a long persecution history. Our results suggest that high and long-term rates of nonselective harvesting can change life-history traits of large mammals, as has also been shown by modeling, but only has been documented for morphological traits. Incidentally, this “ghost of persecution past” may have helped some brown bear populations to be more productive and therefore to respond more positively to protective management policies than populations with short exploitation histories.