When can cultural selection explain adaptation?

Cultural selection models aim to explain cultural phenomena as the products of a selective process, often characterising institutions, practices, norms or behaviours as adaptations. I argue that a lack of attention has been paid to the explanatory power of cultural selection frameworks. Arguments for cultural selection frequently depend on demonstrating only that selection models can in principle be applied to culture, rather than explicitly demonstrating the explanatory payoffs that could arise from their application. Understanding when and how cultural selection generates powerful explanations is crucial to evaluating cultural selection, as well as realising its promised epistemic and practical benefits. I argue that the ability for cultural selection to explain ‘design without a designer’ is crucial to successful and powerful cultural selection explanations. I introduce the strategy of comparing cultural selection to goal-directed agent accounts in order to evaluate when cultural selection can provide distinctive explanatory payoffs, drawing on two case studies to illustrate the benefits of this strategy. I argue that a focus on phenomena which cannot be explained through intention or agency-based explanations in particular could provide a fruitful avenue to identifying the cases where cultural selection can be insightfully applied.

INFLUENCE OF ALLOYING Ti, Mo AND W ON THE KINETIC AND STRENGTH CHARACTERISTICS OF MEMBRANE ALLOYS BASED ON Nb AND V

Проведен анализ влияния Ti, Mo и W на характер аморфной нано- и кристаллической структуры на прочностные и кинетические характеристики - диффузии D и проницаемости Ф водорода в мембранных сплавах, созданных на основе бинарных Ni - Nb и V - Ni. Легирование сплавов Ni - V титаном, молибденом и вольфрамом ведет к постепенному замещению ими ниобия и ванадия и способствует образованию нескольких второстепенных фаз хотя и действующих как барьеры для диффузии водорода, но способствующих снижению процессов гидридообразования. Выявлена строгая зависимость кинетики водорода не только от термодинамических параметров -температуры и давления, но и от наличия свободного объема в формируемых аморфных, нано-кристаллических и кристаллических сплавов. Установлено, что процессы селективности, динамика водорода - его поток J, определяемый произведением диффузии и проницаемости (J = D×Ф), зависят от базового состава, выбора легирующих элементов (Ti,Mo и W ), а также формируемых структур - аморфной, нанокристаллической и полифазной дуплексной кристаллической микроструктурой. Установлено, что тщательно подобранный состав определяет производительность селективного процесса и способствует выделению высокочистого водорода с последующими его приложениями для зеленой энергетики. An analysis was carried out of influence of Ti, Mo and W on the nature of the amorphous nano- and crystalline structures on the strength and kinetic characteristics - diffusion D and permeability Ф of hydrogen in membrane alloys based on binary Nb - Ni, V - Ni. Doping with Nb - V alloys, titanium, molybdenum and tungsten leads to the gradual replacement of niobium and vanadium, and promotes the formation of several minor phases while acting as barriers for hydrogen diffusion, but contributing hydride reduction processes. A close dependence of the hydrogen kinetics was revealed not only on thermodynamic parameters - temperature and pressure, but also on the presence of free volume in the formed amorphous, nanocrystalline and crystalline alloys. So, the processes of selectivity, the dynamics of hydrogen - its flux J determined by the product of diffusion D and permeability Ф, J = D×Ф depend on the basic composition and the choice of alloying elements (Ti,Mo and W ), as well as the formed structures - amorphous, nanocrystalline and duplex, represented by multiphase crystalline microstructures. It was found that a carefully selected composition determines the productivity of the selective process and promotes the release of high-purity hydrogen with its subsequent applications for green energy.

Trophic Transfer without Biomagnification of Cadmium in a Soybean-Dodder Parasitic System

Cadmium (Cd) is among the most available and most toxic heavy metals taken up by plants from soil. Compared to the classic plant-animal food chains, the host-parasitic plant food chains have, thus far, been largely overlooked in the studies of Cd trophic transfer. To investigate the pattern of Cd transfer during the infection of parasitic plants on Cd-contaminated hosts, we conducted a controlled experiment that grew soybeans parasitized by Chinese dodders (Cuscuta chinensis) in soil with different levels of Cd treatment, and examined the concentration, accumulation, allocation and transfer coefficients of Cd within this parasitic system. Results showed that among all components, dodders accounted for more than 40% biomass of the whole system but had the lowest Cd concentration and accumulated the least amount of Cd. The transfer coefficient of Cd between soybean stems and dodders was much lower than 1, and was also significantly lower than that between soybean stems and soybean leaves. All these features were continuously strengthened with the increase of Cd treatment levels. The results suggested no evidence of Cd biomagnification in dodders parasitizing Cd-contaminated hosts, and implied that the Cd transfer from hosts to dodders may be a selective process.

Visualizing Metaphor: Teaching Metaphor to Conceptualize Personal Experiences

Language power lies behind the iconicity of metaphor, which evokes sensory perceptions and integrates them into meaningful constellations selectively. This selective process makes it possible to conceptualize experiences and also to link new and prior experiences. Thus, the power of metaphor calls for great attention from teachers to focus on figurative language when teaching English language learners so that they achieve the uppermost goal of teaching the target language. This study aims at investigating forms of metaphor, specifically visual ones, and how to teach them in order to help students discover the connection between those constructions and the way of communicating the intended meaning.

Comparable prediction of breast cancer risk from a glimpse or a first impression of a mammogram

Expert radiologists can discern normal from abnormal mammograms with above-chance accuracy after brief (e.g. 500 ms) exposure. They can even predict cancer risk viewing currently normal images (priors) from women who will later develop cancer. This involves a rapid, global, non-selective process called “gist extraction”. It is not yet known whether prolonged exposure can strengthen the gist signal, or if it is available solely in the early exposure. This is of particular interest for the priors that do not contain any localizable signal of abnormality. The current study compared performance with brief (500 ms) or unlimited exposure for four types of mammograms (normal, abnormal, contralateral, priors). Groups of expert radiologists and untrained observers were tested. As expected, radiologists outperformed naïve participants. Replicating prior work, they exceeded chance performance though the gist signal was weak. However, we found no consistent performance differences in radiologists or naïves between timing conditions. Exposure time neither increased nor decreased ability to identify the gist of abnormality or predict cancer risk. If gist signals are to have a place in cancer risk assessments, more efforts should be made to strengthen the signal.

Biocatalytic oxidative cross-coupling reactions for biaryl bond formation

Despite their varied purposes, many indispensable molecules in medicine, materials, and asymmetric catalysis share a biaryl core. The necessity of joining arene building blocks to access these valuable compounds has inspired multiple approaches for biaryl bond formation and challenged chemists to develop increasingly concise and robust methods for this task. Oxidative coupling of two C–H bonds offers an efficient strategy for the formation of a biaryl C–C bond, however, fundamental challenges remain in controlling the reactivity and selectivity for uniting a given pair of substrates. Biocatalytic oxidative cross-coupling reactions have the potential to overcome limitations inherent to small molecule- mediated methods by providing a paradigm with catalyst-controlled selectivity. In this article, we disclose a strategy for biocatalytic cross-coupling through oxidative C–C bond formation using cytochrome P450 enzymes. We demonstrate the ability to catalyze cross-coupling reactions on a panel of phenolic substrates using natural P450 catalysts. Moreover, we engineer a P450 to possess the desired reactivity, site- selectivity, and atroposelectivity by transforming a low-yielding, unselective reaction into a highly efficient and selective process. This streamlined method for constructing sterically hindered biaryl bonds provides a programmable platform for assembling molecules with catalyst-controlled reactivity and selectivity.

Stochastic modeling uncovers a novel mechanism underlying the evolution of mutation rates in sexually reproducing populations

Natural selection is believed to universally work to lower mutation rates (MR) due to the negative impact of mutations on individual fitness. Mutator alleles have only been found to be co-selected by genetic linkage with adaptive alleles in prokaryotes. Sexual reproduction substantially reduces genetic linkage, allowing selection to effectively eradicate mutator alleles. The current understanding, therefore, is that in sexually reproducing populations selection always works to lower MR, limited by the effective population size that determines the overall selection efficiency. In the present paper, we apply a Monte Carlo model of a sexually reproducing population and demonstrate that selection acting on MR does not universally favor lower MR but depends on the mode of selection acting on adaptive phenotypic traits. We demonstrate a unique previously unreported co-selective process that can drive the evolution of higher MR in sexually reproducing populations. Our results show that MR evolution is significantly influenced by multigenic inheritance of both MR and adaptive traits that are under selection. Our results also show that, contrary to the generally accepted axiom, population size appears not to affect the strength of selection uniformly but likely forms an intra-population gradient that generates a "biased sampling" process that has an opposite effect on selection strength and thus modulates or even negates the effect of population size on MR evolution. Based on our results, we propose an expanded population genetics theory of the evolution of mutation rates in sexually reproducing organisms. Our results have potential implications for understanding processes underlying rapid adaptive change in speciation and related macroevolutionary patterns

Distribution of Triterpenoids and Steroids in Developing Rugosa Rose (Rosarugosa Thunb.) Accessory Fruit

Triterpenoids and steroids are considered to be important for the fruit quality and health-promoting properties for the consumers. The aim of the study was the determination of the changes in triterpenoid and steroid biosynthesis and the accumulation in hypanthium and achenes of rugosa rose (Rosa rugosa Thunb.) hip during fruit development and ripening at three different phenological stages (young fruits, fully developed unripe fruits, and matured fruits). Triterpenoids and steroids were also determined in the peel and the pulp of the matured hips. The obtained results indicated that the distribution of the analyzed compounds in different fruit tissues is a selective process. The increased rate of hydroxylation of triterpenoids, the deposition of hydroxylated acids in fruit surface layer, and the continuous biosynthesis of phytosterols in achenes versus its gradual repression in hypanthium accompanied by the accumulation of their biosynthetic intermediates and ketone derivatives seem to be characteristic metabolic features of maturation of rugosa rose accessory fruit. These observations, apart from providing the important data on metabolic modifications occurring in developing fruits, might have a practical application in defining fruit parts, particularly rich in bioactive constituents, to enable the development of novel functional products.

EVALUATION OF THE BREEDING VALUE AND GENETIC POTENTIAL OF THE STUD BULLS USED IN THE STUD FARM

Определена племенная ценность и генетический потенциал 21 быка-производителя голштинской породы, используемого в стаде племенного завода Тверской области, где проводилась их ранговая оценка по ряду селекционных признаков. Удой дочерей оцениваемых быков 8700—10804 кг молока с массовой долей жира от 3,81 до 3,95% и выходом молочного жира — 346,4—414,9 кг. Белок в молоке у дочерей разных производителей был на одном уровне — от 3,17 до 3,19%. По суммарному выходу молочного белка из-за колебаний в удое, размах признака варьировал от 279 до 344 кг. Племенная ценность (ПЦ) быков по удою составила 91,6—113,3%, 13 из них имели ПЦ ниже 100%, 8 голов — выше 100%. ПЦ по массовой доле жира равнялась 97,7—100,3%, по массовой доле белка — 99,6—100,3%. Суммарная ранговая оценка производителей по сочетаемости признаков их дочерей и женских предков показала, что бык АльтаПилснер 70344827 имеет явное преимущество по ПЦ перед другими производителями, его интегрированный коэффициент связи самый высокий и составляет — 0,78. Производитель Тач 69774799, напротив, занимает последнее место. Дана экономическая оценка использования производителей. Полученные материалы позволяют обеспечить положительную динамику селекционного процесса в молочном скотоводстве. The breeding value and genetic potential of 21 Holstein-stud bulls used in the herd of the stud farm of the Tver region were determined, where they were ranked according to a number of selectional features. The milk yield of the daughters of the evaluated bulls is 8700—10804 kg of milk with a mass fraction of fat from 3.81 to 3.95% and a milk fat yield of 346.4—414.9 kg. The protein in the milk of the daughters of different studs was at the same level-from 3.17 to 3.19%. According to the total yield of milk protein due to fluctuations in milk yield, the range of the trait varied from 279 to 344 kg. The breeding value (BV) of bulls according to the milk yield was 91.6—113.3%, 13 of them had a BV below 100%, 8 heads - above 100%. The BV for the mass fraction of fat was equal 97.7-100.3%, for the mass fraction of protein - 99.6-100.3%. The total ranking of the studs by the combination of the characteristics of their daughters and female ancestors demonstrated that the Altapilsner bull 70344827 has a clear advantage in BV over other studs, its integrated coupling coefficient is the highest and amounts 0.78. Tach 69774799 stud, on the contrary, takes the last place. There is given the economic evaluation of the studs usage. The obtained materials allow to ensure the positive dynamics of the selective process in dairy cattle breeding.

One-pot synthesis and structure of isomeric aryl-substituted triazolohexahydroquinazolines

Aryl-substituted triazolohexahydroquinazolines have been synthesized by means of three-component condensation of pnitro(pbromo) benzaldehydes, cyclohexanone, 1,2,4-triazol-3-amine. A scheme of the reaction mechanism is proposed, which makes it possible to explain the features of the behavior of p-nitro(bromo) benzaldehydes in condensation reactions in comparison with their ortho-substituted analogs. It has been found that the movement of the substituent from the ortho- tо -para-position of the benzene ring while maintaining the general direction of the reaction has a decisive effect on the number and ratio of the formed isomers and leads to the absence of hydroxylated forms of triazolohexahydroquinazolines. The composition and structure of the products have been confirmed by the data of elemental analysis, IR and one-dimensional, two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. One-pot synthesis of aryl-substituted triazohexahydroquinazolines is a non-selective process that leads to a mixture of isomers, the structure and ratio of which is determined by the nature and position of the substituent groups in the aldehyde component.