Assessment of changes in Grenache grapevine maturity in a Mediterranean context over the last half-century

This study aims to i) evaluate some descriptive variables for Grenache berry composition over the last 50 years in the southern Rhône Valley wine-growing region and ii) analyse the impacts of climate on the main annual developmental phases of the Grenache berry to understand recent changes observed in the vineyard. A large and spatialised historical, open database from the Rhône Valley grape maturity network (1969–2020) was used to explore trends in grape profile during maturity and at harvest. Then, gridded climate data was used for processing phenological stages and ecoclimatic indicators. Significant changes in grapevine phenology and maturity dynamics were found and linked with changes to ecoclimatic indicators by carrying out a correlation analysis. Depending on the phenological phases, a limited number of ecoclimatic indicators had a significant effect on the maturity profile. The results highlight direct climate impacts on different maturity and yield variables over the last 50 years. These results provide important information about future issues in grape production and the implications for managing viticulture adaptation strategies and thus serve as a basis for assessing, prioritising and optimising technical means of maintaining current grape quality and yield.This study uses an ecoclimatic approach for examining in detail the effects of climate change on the Grenache grape variety in a Mediterranean context. The open database provides the latest information from a large network of plots and over a long period of time, making it possible to validate many results recorded in the literature. This is the first study to use this open database and we wish this database could lead to further explorations and results in viticulture and climate change issues.

Comparative Study of Temporal Changes in Pigments and Optical Properties in Sepals of Helleborus odorus and H. niger from Prebloom to Seed Production

Helleborus niger is an evergreen species, while H. odorus is an herbaceous understorey species. They both develop flowers before the forest canopy layer closes. Their sepals remain after flowering and have multiple biological functions. To further elucidate the functions of sepals during flower development, we examined their optical and chemical properties, and the photochemical efficiency of photosystem II in the developing, flowering, and fruiting flowers. Sepals of the two species differed significantly in the contents of photosynthetic pigments and anthocyanins, but less in the UV-absorbing substances’ contents. Significant differences in photosynthetic pigment contents were also revealed within different developmental phases. The sepal potential photochemical efficiency of photosystem II was high in all developmental phases in H. odorus, whereas in H. niger, it was initially low and later increased. In the green H. odorus sepals, we obtained typical green leaf spectra with peaks in the green and NIR regions, and a low reflectance and transmittance in the UV region. On the other hand, in the white H. niger sepals in the developing and flowering phases, the response was relatively constant along the visible and NIR regions. Pigment profiles, especially chlorophylls, were shown to be important in shaping sepal optical properties, which confirms their role in light harvesting. All significant parameters together accounted for 44% and 34% of the reflectance and transmittance spectra variability, respectively. These results may contribute to the selection of Helleborus species and to a greater understanding of the ecological diversity of understorey plants in the forests.

Young Offenders on the Camino de Santiago—Theoretical Background of the Learning Walks

Delinquent behaviour is predominantly an expression of adolescent developmental phases, but at the same time a possible entry into criminal careers. Where socio-educational measures and admonitions no longer help, society reacts with youth detention and imprisonment as a last resort, in doing so it brings the young people into an environment of violence and power. The concept of the socio-educational pilgrimage as an alternative measure to imprisonment takes the young people out of this context and offers space for reflection and self-efficacy. In this article, different concepts of Learning Walks for young offenders are discussed and theoretically analysed.

The Crush: A Proto-Romantic Relationship Across the Life Course

This presentation describes the “crush” experience as it occurs among older adults. A basic definition of a crush is a one-sided, proto-romantic relationship. The scholarly and commonsense understanding in American culture focuses on the crush as most commonly occurring during the developmental phases of adolescence and pre-adolescence. Symbolic interactionists view life course as a somewhat fluid process of adapting to changing situations in life. Experiences like the crush can potentially occur at almost any age at which romantic thoughts and feelings are possible. Our ethnographic research on older adults residing either in group facilities or in domiciliary locations indicates that crushes are fairly common. These crushes follow the same general narrative as crushes among younger people: a beginning, a middle and an end. There are two narrative styles among older adults: face-to-face and mediated. The crush in a group facility is encouraged by interaction during social hours, meals, entertainment, and religious/spiritual activities. Crushes are more observable among women who do not have to delve into their past for objects of their affection. Available paramours from the mass media include young celebrities such as Michael Buble and Josh Groban. These crushes differ from those among younger women in the denouement, to the degree affection generally fades away from memory rather than comes to a distinct end. Factors such as increased access to electronic media and music, and increased sociality in the community and in residential environments will create situations in which the security, excitement and rewards of a crush are plausible.

Impact of Restricted Contact between Grandparents and Grandchildren during the COVID-19 Pandemic

To combat the COVID-19 pandemic strict contact restrictions have been imposed on institutions for both older and younger people, social structures have been locked down, families have been urged to reduce contact with older relatives, and people over 65 have been temporarily banned from their workplaces and from attending events, both in public and private spaces. These measures are assumed to have a number of psychosocial consequences. For this questionnaire study, 268 pupils (7-to-10 years-old) of nine different schools in Hamburg, Germany, with different social index were asked about how they experienced, perceived, and behaved during the COVID-19 pandemic. 75% of the children reported on restricted contact to their grandparents: While 41% did not meet their grandparents at least for a certain time at the beginning of the pandemic, 34% did not meet their grandparents during the whole first year of the pandemic. Of those who met their grandparents, 25% kept physical distance to them. These contact restrictions were significantly higher in schools with a lower social index, chi2(8)=15.49, p=.05. Those children who never met their grandparents also reported on higher perceived stress, t(220)=-2.37, p=.019, d=-.33, tended to have lower subjective well-being, t(223)=-1.73, p=.09, d=-.24, and had higher risk perceptions concerning COVID-19 infections, t(223)=-2.18, p=.03, d=-.31. Hence social isolation and loneliness is not only an issue for older people themselves, but contact restrictions also potentially increase the stress load and impair the well-being of children who have to do without support and care of their grandparents in sensitive developmental phases.

Tcf1 Sustains the Expression of Multiple Regulators in Promoting Early Natural Killer Cell Development

T cell factor 1 (Tcf1) is known as a critical mediator for natural killer (NK) cell development and terminal maturation. However, its essential targets and precise mechanisms involved in early NK progenitors (NKP) are not well clarified. To investigate the role of Tcf1 in NK cells at distinct developmental phases, we employed three kinds of genetic mouse models, namely, Tcf7fl/flVavCre/+, Tcf7fl/flCD122Cre/+ and Tcf7fl/flNcr1Cre/+ mice, respectively. Similar to Tcf1 germline knockout mice, we found notably diminished cell number and defective development in BM NK cells from all strains. In contrast, Tcf7fl/flNcr1Cre/+ mice exhibited modest defects in splenic NK cells compared with those in the other two strains. By analyzing the published ATAC-seq and ChIP-seq data, we found that Tcf1 directly targeted 110 NK cell-related genes which displayed differential accessibility in the absence of Tcf1. Along with this clue, we further confirmed that a series of essential regulators were expressed aberrantly in distinct BM NK subsets with conditional ablating Tcf1 at NKP stage. Eomes, Ets1, Gata3, Ikzf1, Ikzf2, Nfil3, Runx3, Sh2d1a, Slamf6, Tbx21, Tox, and Zeb2 were downregulated, whereas Spi1 and Gzmb were upregulated in distinct NK subsets due to Tcf1 deficiency. The dysregulation of these genes jointly caused severe defects in NK cells lacking Tcf1. Thus, our study identified essential targets of Tcf1 in NK cells, providing new insights into Tcf1-dependent regulatory programs in step-wise governing NK cell development.

Derivedness Index for Estimating Degree of Phenotypic Evolution of Embryos: A Study of Comparative Transcriptomic Analyses of Chordates and Echinoderms

Species retaining ancestral features, such as species called living fossils, are often regarded as less derived than their sister groups, but such discussions are usually based on qualitative enumeration of conserved traits. This approach creates a major barrier, especially when quantifying the degree of phenotypic evolution or degree of derivedness, since it focuses only on commonly shared traits, and newly acquired or lost traits are often overlooked. To provide a potential solution to this problem, especially for inter-species comparison of gene expression profiles, we propose a new method named “derivedness index” to quantify the degree of derivedness. In contrast to the conservation-based approach, which deals with expressions of commonly shared genes among species being compared, the derivedness index also considers those that were potentially lost or duplicated during evolution. By applying our method, we found that the gene expression profiles of penta-radial phases in echinoderm tended to be more highly derived than those of the bilateral phase. However, our results suggest that echinoderms may not have experienced much larger modifications to their developmental systems than chordates, at least at the transcriptomic level. In vertebrates, we found that the mid-embryonic and organogenesis stages were generally less derived than the earlier or later stages, indicating that the conserved phylotypic period is also less derived. We also found genes that potentially explain less derivedness, such as Hox genes. Finally, we highlight technical concerns that may influence the measured transcriptomic derivedness, such as read depth and library preparation protocols, for further improvement of our method through future studies. We anticipate that this index will serve as a quantitative guide in the search for constrained developmental phases or processes.

Applying the theory of human development by Erik and Joan Erikson when communicating with persons with advanced dementia diseases

Persons with advanced dementia disease (ADD), here labelled PADDs, are shown to preserve parts of their self, which has opened up possibilities for involving them in their own care and establishing strategies for improving their communication with the surrounding world. Using the well-known theory of human development proposed by Erik and Joan Erikson, here labelled EJET, can operate as an efficient structure for formal caregivers to support PADDs in reclaiming their space. However, very few studies have used EJET as a framework in improving formal caregivers’ competence and the quality of care. This article aims to demonstrate the feasibility of applying EJET in the care of PADDs through two examples of successful application of this framework in interacting with PADDs in residential care settings. The examples demonstrate the significance of competent caregivers and the important role of tailoring nursing care plans to specific situations of the PADDs in their present and previous developmental phases.

The genome variation and developmental transcriptome maps reveal genetic differentiation of skeletal muscle in pigs

Natural and artificial directional selections have resulted in significantly genetic and phenotypic differences across breeds in domestic animals. However, the molecular regulation of skeletal muscle diversity remains largely unknown. Here, we conducted transcriptome profiling of skeletal muscle across 27 time points, and performed whole-genome re-sequencing in Landrace (lean-type) and Tongcheng (obese-type) pigs. The transcription activity decreased with development, and the high-resolution transcriptome precisely captured the characterizations of skeletal muscle with distinct biological events in four developmental phases: Embryonic, Fetal, Neonatal, and Adult. A divergence in the developmental timing and asynchronous development between the two breeds was observed; Landrace showed a developmental lag and stronger abilities of myoblast proliferation and cell migration, whereas Tongcheng had higher ATP synthase activity in postnatal periods. The miR-24-3p driven network targeting insulin signaling pathway regulated glucose metabolism. Notably, integrated analysis suggested SATB2 and XLOC_036765 contributed to skeletal muscle diversity via regulating the myoblast migration and proliferation, respectively. Overall, our results provide insights into the molecular regulation of skeletal muscle development and diversity in mammals.

An Evolutionary Analysis of B-Box Transcription Factors in Strawberry Reveals the Role of FaBBx28c1 in the Regulation of Flowering Time

Flowering connects vegetative and generative developmental phases and plays a significant role in strawberry production. The mechanisms that regulate strawberry flowering time are unclear. B-box transcription factors (BBXs) play important roles in the flowering time regulation of plants. Nevertheless, BBXs in octoploid cultivated strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) and their functions in flowering time regulation have not been identified. Here, we identified 51 FaBBXs from cultivated strawberry and 16 FvBBXs from diploid wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca), which were classified into five groups according to phylogenetic analysis. Further evolutionary analysis showed that whole-genome duplication or segmental duplication is a crucial factor that leads to the expansion of the BBX gene family in two strawberry species. Moreover, some loss and acquisition events of FaBBX genes were identified in the genome of cultivated strawberry that could have affected traits of agronomic interest, such as fruit quality. The promoters of FaBBX genes showed an enrichment in light-responsive, cis-regulatory elements, with 16 of these genes showing changes in their transcriptional activity in response to blue light treatment. On the other hand, FaBBX28c1, whose transcriptional activity is reduced in response to blue light, showed a delay in flowering time in Arabidopsis transgenic lines, suggesting its role in the regulation of flowering time in cultivated strawberry. Our results provide new evolutionary insight into the BBX gene family in cultivated strawberry and clues regarding their function in flowering time regulation in plants.