Thelytokous Reproduction of Onion Thrips, Thrips tabaci Lindeman 1889, Infesting Welsh Onion and Genetic Variation among Their Subpopulations

Parthenogenesis is not uncommon in thrips. This asexual reproduction produces males (arrhenotokous) or female (thelytokous). Only females are found in the onion thrips (Thrips tabaci Lindeman 1889) infesting Welsh onion (Allium fistulosum) in several areas of Korea. To determine the reproduction mode of T. tabaci, thrips infesting Welsh onion were collected from different localities in Korea. Cytochrome oxidase I (COI) sequences were then assessed. Results showed that all test local populations had signature motif specific to a thelytokous type. These COI sequences were clustered with other thelytokous populations separated from arrhenotokous T. tabaci populations. In a laboratory test, individual rearing produced female progeny without any males. These results support that Korean onion thrips infesting Welsh onion have the thelytokous type of parthenogenesis. Local thrips populations exhibited significant variations in susceptibility to chemical and biological insecticides. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis indicated genetic variations of local populations. However, the genetic distance estimated from RAPD was independent of the actual distance among different local populations. These results suggest that genetic variations of T. tabaci are arisen from population subdivision due to asexual thelytokous reproductive mode.

Use and abuse of the planet in non-rich regions: histories of fracking and windmills in a more than human geographical perspective

<abstract> <p>Remote and marginal areas with scarce and vulnerable populations are "comfortable" settings and suitable places for the development of new extractive activities for energy production. Fracking and modern windmills are often controversial activities in marginal areas for native and local populations, with varying political positions from local elites. The new scalar policies associated with the energy project introduce some of the resistance strategies in the form of more than human geographies or hybrid spatial relationships that characterize recent human geography. This paper explores and suggests possible ways of integrating local interests with regional or national policies based on the "health" of marginal populations, marginal rather than human materiality's and marginal more-than-human.</p> </abstract>

Adverse Economic Impacts on the Occupationally Insecure Workforce in Thailand Amid the Pandemic

The author suggests a range of public policies that the Thai government should employ so as to help Thai nationals and smaller-size businesses weather the storm of the pandemic. As the Thai economy is significantly tied to its tourism development, it is not pragmatic for Thai authorities and nationals to aim at full economic recovery in the short- and mid-term. In the short-term, Thai authorities should help local businesses and nationals to satisfy household subsistence. Then, the Thai government should create more job opportunities for the Thai workforce and financially support local businesses in the short- and mid-term. Concurrently, the Thai government should expand their delivery of social protection schemes to Thai nationals, helping local populations obtain basic social welfare services that are conducive to their survival. In the longer-term, the Thai government should welcome international tourisms in phases, and co-build transport infrastructures with neighbouring countries in order to prepare a full re-opening of national borders in due course.

Imperial and Local: Audience and Identity in the Idrimi Inscription

This article studies the Idrimi inscription from ancient Alalah, modern Tell Atchana, in order to explore how and to what effect manifestations of empire may have been socially consequential to local populations ruled by Mittani. Specifically, the article argues that Idrimi is presented as a Mittani hero, but the story of his life is told in a Northwest Semitic-Akkadian code; an imperial vision receives a local expression. From this conclusion, the article ends by trying to infer something about the inscription’s intended audience.

Social Responsibility of Mining Companies at a Time of COVID-19: Dear Shareholders!

This paper examines annual reports (ARs) of multinational mining companies Glencore, Rio Tinto and BHP framed by the challenge of COVID-19 in 2020. We apply a linguistic analysis to screening the letters of chairmen and CEOs that encapsulate an ideology of mining, prioritize the message of sustained and prospective financial success, and display commitment to employees and communities. Using critical discourse analysis, we explore how corporations involved in destructive activities managed to mask the nature of their conduct and promote positive PR when expected to document an on-the-ground involvement with employees and local communities due to the global pandemic. We accounted for the ideology of mining natural resources, the central message foregrounded in the reports, the selection and distribution of key topics and keywords, and relexicalization of critical concepts and descriptions. The CDA revealed “smart management” of COVID-19 aimed to hide facts related to the destruction of the environment and to manipulate people in exchange for education, financial rewards and social improvement. The critical contribution of our paper is that the COVID-19 crisis became an opportunity for corporations to display resilience as well as to manage, dominate and render local populations dependent and vulnerable.

The Impact of Foreign Salafi -Jihadists on Islamic Developments in Chechnya and Dagestan

This article intends to revisit the role of foreign fi ghters in the Chechen war and its aftermath, looking particularly at their impact on Islamic developments in Chechnya and Dagestan during the 1990s–2010s. The article challenges the argument, which is predominant in the literature, that foreign jihadists were primarily responsible for transforming the Chechen insurgency from a secular movement into a religious one. Instead, it argues that Islamist tendencies and Salafi circles were present in the North Caucasus before the outbreak of the First Chechen war. Secondly, this article contends that local Salafi jamaats, in conjunction with foreign jihadist fi ghters, provided the mobilization structures and the ideological framing for the radicalization of the Chechen/ North Caucasus rebel movement. By examining the Salafi -jihadist discourse of both foreign and local Salafi s operating in Chechnya and Dagestan in the 1990s and 2000s, the article shows how foreign Salafi s infl uenced and helped shape the ideological framing of local Salafi politicians and rebel jihadist groups. Yet, this article also shows that many of these Salafi -jihadist projects failed to gain broader societal support. They did not resonate with the local populations in Chechnya and Dagestan in the 1990s–2000s. A fi nal section of this article looks at events in the past decade, particularly at developments since the emergence of ISIS in Syria and Iraq. In this context, the article explains why many young Muslims in Dagestan became themselves foreign fi ghters and travelled to Syria/Iraq to fi ght for and live in the Islamic State. It concludes that Salafi projects, although not indigenous to the region, prospered as a result of the interaction between local Salafi s and foreign jihadist fi ghters and recruiters.

Is Lotus zhegulensis Klok. (Fabaceae) a separate species endemic of the Middle Volga Region or just a variety of a widespread L. corniculatus L.?

We have studied several samples from Lotus corniculatus s. l. and L. zhegulensis populations with the use of SSR and sequenced nuclear (ITS) and plastid (atpB-rbcL, ndhC-trnV, rpl32-trnL(UAG), trnH-psbA, trnL-trnF) markers. We analysed 9 local populations from the Volga River valley ranging from Ulyanovsk in the north to Volgograd in the south, as well as two local populations from Moscow and Lipetsk Provinces. Analyses of SSR markers using the STRUCRURE program divided the sample into three genetic clusters. Populations from Moscow and Lipetsk Provinces, and three local populations from the ‘locus classicus’ location of L. zhegulensis in Samara Province appeared to be the most genetically differentiated while all the other populations were variously genetically admixed. Low pairwise Fst values indicate low genetic differentiation of Lotus populations and the intraspecific nature of the revealed diversity. The nuclear and plastid DNA sequences analyzed yielded little information. Substitutions and indels revealed were mostly autapomorphies characteristic of separate specimens or small groups of specimens but not of populations. Our study enables to firmly conclude that Lotus populations from the right bank of the Volga River in vicinity of Zhiguli upland described as L. zhegulensis are weakly genetically differentiated from other populations of Lotus corniculatus s. l. and, hence, cannot be regarded as a separate species.

The maintenance of law and order in the china–vietnam borderlands during the french colonial period (1896–1940)

The item about border between China and Vietnam is not just a contemporary issue. Its building and its story takes its roots in the past and the colonial period played a major role. This article aims to analyse how the French colonial administration tried to keep order on the Tonkin border. First, the structure of the maintenance of law and order along the border is analysed to better understand how these diverse borderlands areas with a harsh climate and a multi-ethnic population resulted in many issues, giving birth to the challenges of law and order on border. Then, dynamics of cross border criminal activities are studied. The authority of these isolated French colonial troops in the borderlands is usually fragile. In front of this situation, the author will question the colonial administrations response against the threat of cross border criminality. Military actions and police operations are mixed and order and law is kept thanks to an auxiliary force made up of local populations, the partisans, that is the real backbone to maintain law and order in the borderlands.

Disruption of Metapopulation Structure Reduces Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease Spread at the Expense of Abundance and Genetic Diversity

Metapopulation structure plays a fundamental role in the persistence of wildlife populations. It can also drive the spread of infectious diseases and transmissible cancers such as the Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease (DFTD). While disrupting this structure can reduce disease spread, it can also impair host resilience by disrupting gene flow and colonisation dynamics. Using an individual-based metapopulation model we investigated the synergistic effects of host dispersal, disease transmission rate and inter-individual contact distance for transmission, on the spread and persistence of DFTD from local to regional scales. Disease spread, and the ensuing population declines, are synergistically determined by individuals’ dispersal, disease transmission rate and within-population mixing. Transmission rates can be magnified by high dispersal and inter-individual transmission distance. The isolation of local populations effectively reduced metapopulation-level disease prevalence but caused severe declines in metapopulation size and genetic diversity. The relative position of managed (i.e., isolated) local populations had a significant effect on disease prevalence, highlighting the importance of considering metapopulation structure when implementing metapopulation-scale disease control measures. Our findings suggest that population isolation is not an ideal management method for preventing disease spread in species inhabiting already fragmented landscapes, where genetic diversity and extinction risk are already a concern.

The local populations of the fungus Schizophyllum commune Fr. as drivers of its biodiversity

Changes that occur on the local level can explain the processes on the population level and, at the same time, are the driving force of species adaptation. This manuscript reports data about genetic diversities of the fungus Schizophyllum commune on the level of a local population. Objects of the study were dicarious cultures of S. commune collected from 38 basidiocarps grown on the territory of Holosiivskyi National Nature Park, Lysa Hora Regional Landscape Park and Feofaniya forest parcel (Ukraine). Results showed similarity of genetic variability of S. commune in different local populations. The heterozygote deficiency of some loci that was discovered might have resulted from new forms of allozymes that have not become widespread or due to small population sizes. The degree of differentiation of genes between local studied populations was moderate due to the high flow of genes. The absence of spatial structuration of genotypes is established, and the Mantel test showed a lack of interconnection between the genetic component and the geographical coordinates of the samples. It has been suggested that wind direction and terrain are the factors that influence the genetic structure of local populations.