Evolutionary traps as keys to understanding behavioral maladaptation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Robertson, Bruce A.; Chalfoun, Anna

2016-01-01

Evolutionary traps are severe cases of behavioral maladaptation that occur when, due to human activity, the cues animals use to guide their behavior become uncoupled from their fitness consequences. The result is that animals can prefer the most dangerous resources or behaviors, even when better options are available. Traps are increasingly common and represent a significant wildlife conservation problem. Understanding of the more proximate sensory-cognitive mechanisms underpinning traps remains poor, which highlights the need for interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to investigating traps. Key to advancing basic trap theory and its conservation applications will be the development of appropriate and tractable model systems to investigate the mechanisms that cause traps within species, and how mechanisms vary across species.

Evolutionary history of the Afro-Madagascan Ixora species (Rubiaceae): species diversification and distribution of key morphological traits inferred from dated molecular phylogenetic trees

PubMed Central

Tosh, J.; Dessein, S.; Buerki, S.; Groeninckx, I.; Mouly, A.; Bremer, B.; Smets, E. F.; De Block, P.

2013-01-01

Background and Aims Previous work on the pantropical genus Ixora has revealed an Afro-Madagascan clade, but as yet no study has focused in detail on the evolutionary history and morphological trends in this group. Here the evolutionary history of Afro-Madagascan Ixora spp. (a clade of approx. 80 taxa) is investigated and the phylogenetic trees compared with several key morphological traits in taxa occurring in Madagascar. Methods Phylogenetic relationships of Afro-Madagascan Ixora are assessed using sequence data from four plastid regions (petD, rps16, rpoB-trnC and trnL-trnF) and nuclear ribosomal external transcribed spacer (ETS) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. The phylogenetic distribution of key morphological characters is assessed. Bayesian inference (implemented in BEAST) is used to estimate the temporal origin of Ixora based on fossil evidence. Key Results Two separate lineages of Madagascan taxa are recovered, one of which is nested in a group of East African taxa. Divergence in Ixora is estimated to have commenced during the mid Miocene, with extensive cladogenesis occurring in the Afro-Madagascan clade during the Pliocene onwards. Conclusions Both lineages of Madagascan Ixora exhibit morphological innovations that are rare throughout the rest of the genus, including a trend towards pauciflorous inflorescences and a trend towards extreme corolla tube length, suggesting that the same ecological and selective pressures are acting upon taxa from both Madagascan lineages. Novel ecological opportunities resulting from climate-induced habitat fragmentation and corolla tube length diversification are likely to have facilitated species radiation on Madagascar. PMID:24142919

Key attributes of agricultural innovations in semi-arid smallholder farming systems in south-west Zimbabwe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mutsvangwa-Sammie, Eness P.; Manzungu, Emmanuel; Siziba, Shephard

2018-06-01

In Sub-Sahara Africa, which includes Zimbabwe, about 80% of the population depends on agriculture for subsistence, employment and income. Agricultural production and productivity are, however, low. This has been attributed to a lack of appropriate innovations despite the huge investments that have been made to promote 'innovations' as a means to safeguarding agriculture-based livelihoods, which raises the question of how innovations are conceptualized, designed and implemented. This paper explores the key attributes of agricultural innovations by assessing how innovations are conceptualized, designed and implemented in semi-arid smallholder farming systems in south-west Zimbabwe. The study gathered information from 13 key informants and a household survey of 239 farmer households from Gwanda and Insiza districts. Results showed a multiplicity of understandings of agricultural innovations among different stakeholders. However, novelty/newness, utility and adaptability were identified as the major attributes. In general, farmers characterized agricultural innovations as 'something new and mostly introduced by NGOs' but did not associate them with the key attributes of utility and adaptability. More crop-related innovations were identified despite the area being suitable for livestock production. The paper concludes that, rather than view the multiple and sometimes competing understandings of agricultural innovations as undesirable, this should be used to promote context specific innovations which stand a better chance of enhancing agriculture-based livelihoods.

Innovation in mental health services: what are the key components of success?

PubMed

Brooks, Helen; Pilgrim, David; Rogers, Anne

2011-10-26

Service development innovation in health technology and practice is viewed as a pressing need within the field of mental health yet is relatively poorly understood. Macro-level theories have been criticised for their limited explanatory power and they may not be appropriate for understanding local and fine-grained uncertainties of services and barriers to the sustainability of change. This study aimed to identify contextual influences inhibiting or promoting the acceptance and integration of innovations in mental health services in both National Health Service (NHS) and community settings. A comparative study using qualitative and case study data collection methods, including semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and follow-up telephone interviews over a one-year period. The analysis was informed by learning organisation theory. Drawn from 11 mental health innovation projects within community, voluntary and NHS settings, 65 participants were recruited including service users, commissioners, health and non-health professionals, managers, and caregivers. The methods deployed in this evaluation focused on process-outcome links within and between the 11 projects. Key barriers to innovation included resistance from corporate departments and middle management, complexity of the innovation, and the availability and access to resources on a prospective basis within the host organisation. The results informed the construction of a proposed model of innovation implementation within mental health services. The main components of which are context, process, and outcomes. The study produced a model of conducive and impeding factors drawn from the composite picture of 11 innovative mental health projects, and this is discussed in light of relevant literature. The model provides a rich agenda to consider for services wanting to innovate or adopt innovations from elsewhere. The evaluation suggested the importance of studying innovation with a focus on context, process

Innovation in mental health services: what are the key components of success?

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Service development innovation in health technology and practice is viewed as a pressing need within the field of mental health yet is relatively poorly understood. Macro-level theories have been criticised for their limited explanatory power and they may not be appropriate for understanding local and fine-grained uncertainties of services and barriers to the sustainability of change. This study aimed to identify contextual influences inhibiting or promoting the acceptance and integration of innovations in mental health services in both National Health Service (NHS) and community settings. Methods A comparative study using qualitative and case study data collection methods, including semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and follow-up telephone interviews over a one-year period. The analysis was informed by learning organisation theory. Drawn from 11 mental health innovation projects within community, voluntary and NHS settings, 65 participants were recruited including service users, commissioners, health and non-health professionals, managers, and caregivers. The methods deployed in this evaluation focused on process-outcome links within and between the 11 projects. Results Key barriers to innovation included resistance from corporate departments and middle management, complexity of the innovation, and the availability and access to resources on a prospective basis within the host organisation. The results informed the construction of a proposed model of innovation implementation within mental health services. The main components of which are context, process, and outcomes. Conclusions The study produced a model of conducive and impeding factors drawn from the composite picture of 11 innovative mental health projects, and this is discussed in light of relevant literature. The model provides a rich agenda to consider for services wanting to innovate or adopt innovations from elsewhere. The evaluation suggested the importance of studying

KEY ITEMS OF INNOVATION MANAGEMENT IN THE PRIMARY HEALTHCARE CENTRES CASE STUDY: FINLAND.

PubMed

Aslani, Alireza; Zolfagharzadeh, Mohammad Mahdi; Naaranoja, Marja

2015-09-01

Trends such as aging populations, excess costs, rising public expectations, and progress in medical science and technologies point out the necessity of adaptation and development of innovation in the healthcare systems particularly in developed countries. The main objective of this article is to review diffusion of innovation in the healthcare sector. Different types of innovation, diffusion characteristics, and adoption mechanisms are the subjects that are discussed in the selected case study, Finland. Finally, the key items of innovation management in the Finnish health system are introduced. The results can be implemented in other countries as well.

Innovation: an emerging focus from cells to societies.

PubMed

Hochberg, Michael E; Marquet, Pablo A; Boyd, Robert; Wagner, Andreas

2017-12-05

Innovations are generally unexpected, often spectacular changes in phenotypes and ecological functions. The contributions to this theme issue are the latest conceptual, theoretical and experimental developments, addressing how ecology, environment, ontogeny and evolution are central to understanding the complexity of the processes underlying innovations. Here, we set the stage by introducing and defining key terms relating to innovation and discuss their relevance to biological, cultural and technological change. Discovering how the generation and transmission of novel biological information, environmental interactions and selective evolutionary processes contribute to innovation as an ecosystem will shed light on how the dominant features across life come to be, generalize to social, cultural and technological evolution, and have applications in the health sciences and sustainability.This article is part of the theme issue 'Process and pattern in innovations from cells to societies'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Innovation: an emerging focus from cells to societies

PubMed Central

Boyd, Robert

2017-01-01

Innovations are generally unexpected, often spectacular changes in phenotypes and ecological functions. The contributions to this theme issue are the latest conceptual, theoretical and experimental developments, addressing how ecology, environment, ontogeny and evolution are central to understanding the complexity of the processes underlying innovations. Here, we set the stage by introducing and defining key terms relating to innovation and discuss their relevance to biological, cultural and technological change. Discovering how the generation and transmission of novel biological information, environmental interactions and selective evolutionary processes contribute to innovation as an ecosystem will shed light on how the dominant features across life come to be, generalize to social, cultural and technological evolution, and have applications in the health sciences and sustainability. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Process and pattern in innovations from cells to societies’. PMID:29061887

Innovativeness as an emergent property: a new alignment of comparative and experimental research on animal innovation

PubMed Central

Griffin, Andrea S.

2016-01-01

Innovation and creativity are key defining features of human societies. As we face the global challenges of the twenty-first century, they are also facets upon which we must become increasingly reliant. But what makes Homo sapiens so innovative and where does our high innovation propensity come from? Comparative research on innovativeness in non-human animals allows us to peer back through evolutionary time and investigate the ecological factors that drove the evolution of innovativeness, whereas experimental research identifies and manipulates underpinning creative processes. In commenting on the present theme issue, I highlight the controversies that have typified this research field and show how a paradigmatic shift in our thinking about innovativeness will contribute to resolving these tensions. In the past decade, innovativeness has been considered by many as a trait, a direct product of cognition, and a direct target of selection. The evidence I review here suggests that innovativeness will be hereon viewed as one component, or even an emergent property of a larger array of traits, which have evolved to deal with environmental variation. I illustrate how research should capitalize on taxonomic diversity to unravel the full range of psychological processes that underpin innovativeness in non-human animals. PMID:26926287

Conservation: evolutionary values for all 10,000 birds.

PubMed

Lovette, Irby J

2014-05-19

Many biologists and conservation practitioners believe that preserving evolutionary diversity should be a priority. An innovative new study measures the evolutionary distinctness of all the world's birds and identifies the species and locations that capture the highest fraction of avian evolutionary history. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Euryhalinity in an evolutionary context

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schultz, Eric T.; McCormick, Stephen D.; McCormick, Stephen D.; Farrell, Anthony Peter; Brauner, Colin J.

2013-01-01

This chapter focuses on the evolutionary importance and taxonomic distribution of euryhalinity. Euryhalinity refers to broad halotolerance and broad halohabitat distribution. Salinity exposure experiments have demonstrated that species vary tenfold in their range of tolerable salinity levels, primarily because of differences in upper limits. Halotolerance breadth varies with the species’ evolutionary history, as represented by its ordinal classification, and with the species’ halohabitat. Freshwater and seawater species tolerate brackish water; their empirically-determined fundamental haloniche is broader than their realized haloniche, as revealed by the halohabitats they occupy. With respect to halohabitat distribution, a minority of species (<10%) are euryhaline. Habitat-euryhalinity is prevalent among basal actinopterygian fishes, is largely absent from orders arising from intermediate nodes, and reappears in the most derived taxa. There is pronounced family-level variability in the tendency to be halohabitat-euryhaline, which may have arisen during a burst of diversification following the Cretaceous-Palaeogene extinction. Low prevalence notwithstanding, euryhaline species are potent sources of evolutionary diversity. Euryhalinity is regarded as a key innovation trait whose evolution enables exploitation of new adaptive zone, triggering cladogenesis. We review phylogenetically-informed studies that demonstrate freshwater species diversifying from euryhaline ancestors through processes such as landlocking. These studies indicate that some euryhaline taxa are particularly susceptible to changes in halohabitat and subsequent diversification, and some geographic regions have been hotspots for transitions to freshwater. Comparative studies on mechanisms among multiple taxa and at multiple levels of biological integration are needed to clarify evolutionary pathways to, and from, euryhalinity.

Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) as a bridge between ecology and evolutionary genomics.

PubMed

Bybee, Seth; Córdoba-Aguilar, Alex; Duryea, M Catherine; Futahashi, Ryo; Hansson, Bengt; Lorenzo-Carballa, M Olalla; Schilder, Ruud; Stoks, Robby; Suvorov, Anton; Svensson, Erik I; Swaegers, Janne; Takahashi, Yuma; Watts, Phillip C; Wellenreuther, Maren

2016-01-01

Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) present an unparalleled insect model to integrate evolutionary genomics with ecology for the study of insect evolution. Key features of Odonata include their ancient phylogenetic position, extensive phenotypic and ecological diversity, several unique evolutionary innovations, ease of study in the wild and usefulness as bioindicators for freshwater ecosystems worldwide. In this review, we synthesize studies on the evolution, ecology and physiology of odonates, highlighting those areas where the integration of ecology with genomics would yield significant insights into the evolutionary processes that would not be gained easily by working on other animal groups. We argue that the unique features of this group combined with their complex life cycle, flight behaviour, diversity in ecological niches and their sensitivity to anthropogenic change make odonates a promising and fruitful taxon for genomics focused research. Future areas of research that deserve increased attention are also briefly outlined.

Molecular and Evolutionary Mechanisms of Cuticular Wax for Plant Drought Tolerance.

PubMed

Xue, Dawei; Zhang, Xiaoqin; Lu, Xueli; Chen, Guang; Chen, Zhong-Hua

2017-01-01

Cuticular wax, the first protective layer of above ground tissues of many plant species, is a key evolutionary innovation in plants. Cuticular wax safeguards the evolution from certain green algae to flowering plants and the diversification of plant taxa during the eras of dry and adverse terrestrial living conditions and global climate changes. Cuticular wax plays significant roles in plant abiotic and biotic stress tolerance and has been implicated in defense mechanisms against excessive ultraviolet radiation, high temperature, bacterial and fungal pathogens, insects, high salinity, and low temperature. Drought, a major type of abiotic stress, poses huge threats to global food security and health of terrestrial ecosystem by limiting plant growth and crop productivity. The composition, biochemistry, structure, biosynthesis, and transport of plant cuticular wax have been reviewed extensively. However, the molecular and evolutionary mechanisms of cuticular wax in plants in response to drought stress are still lacking. In this review, we focus on potential mechanisms, from evolutionary, molecular, and physiological aspects, that control cuticular wax and its roles in plant drought tolerance. We also raise key research questions and propose important directions to be resolved in the future, leading to potential applications of cuticular wax for water use efficiency in agricultural and environmental sustainability.

Key Competencies and Characteristics for Innovative Teaching among Secondary School Teachers: A Mixed-Methods Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhu, Chang; Wang, Di

2014-01-01

This research aims to understand the key competencies and characteristics for innovative teaching as perceived by Chinese secondary teachers. A mixed-methods research was used to investigate secondary teachers' views. First, a qualitative study was conducted with interviews of teachers to understand the perceived key competencies and…

The virtue of innovation: innovation through the lenses of biological evolution.

PubMed

Kell, Douglas B; Lurie-Luke, Elena

2015-02-06

We rehearse the processes of innovation and discovery in general terms, using as our main metaphor the biological concept of an evolutionary fitness landscape. Incremental and disruptive innovations are seen, respectively, as successful searches carried out locally or more widely. They may also be understood as reflecting evolution by mutation (incremental) versus recombination (disruptive). We also bring a platonic view, focusing on virtue and memory. We use 'virtue' as a measure of efforts, including the knowledge required to come up with disruptive and incremental innovations, and 'memory' as a measure of their lifespan, i.e. how long they are remembered. Fostering innovation, in the evolutionary metaphor, means providing the wherewithal to promote novelty, good objective functions that one is trying to optimize, and means to improve one's knowledge of, and ability to navigate, the landscape one is searching. Recombination necessarily implies multi- or inter-disciplinarity. These principles are generic to all kinds of creativity, novel ideas formation and the development of new products and technologies.

Novelties of the flowering plant pollen tube underlie diversification of a key life history stage.

PubMed

Williams, Joseph H

2008-08-12

The origin and rapid diversification of flowering plants has puzzled evolutionary biologists, dating back to Charles Darwin. Since that time a number of key life history and morphological traits have been proposed as developmental correlates of the extraordinary diversity and ecological success of angiosperms. Here, I identify several innovations that were fundamental to the evolutionary lability of angiosperm reproduction, and hence to their diversification. In gymnosperms pollen reception must be near the egg largely because sperm swim or are transported by pollen tubes that grow at very slow rates (< approximately 20 microm/h). In contrast, pollen tube growth rates of taxa in ancient angiosperm lineages (Amborella, Nuphar, and Austrobaileya) range from approximately 80 to 600 microm/h. Comparative analyses point to accelerated pollen tube growth rate as a critical innovation that preceded the origin of the true closed carpel, long styles, multiseeded ovaries, and, in monocots and eudicots, much faster pollen tube growth rates. Ancient angiosperm pollen tubes all have callosic walls and callose plugs (in contrast, no gymnosperms have these features). The early association of the callose-walled growth pattern with accelerated pollen tube growth rate underlies a striking repeated pattern of faster and longer-distance pollen tube growth often within solid pathways in phylogenetically derived angiosperms. Pollen tube innovations are a key component of the spectacular diversification of carpel (flower and fruit) form and reproductive cycles in flowering plants.

The Impact of Organismal Innovation on Functional and Ecological Diversification.

PubMed

Wainwright, Peter C; Price, Samantha A

2016-09-01

Innovations in organismal functional morphology are thought to be a major force in shaping evolutionary patterns, with the potential to drive adaptive radiation and influence the evolutionary prospects for lineages. But the evolutionary consequences of innovation are diverse and usually do not result in adaptive radiation. What factors shape the macroevolutionary impact of innovations? We assert that little is known in general about the macroevolutionary outcomes associated with functional innovations and we discuss a framework for studying biological innovations in an evolutionary context. Innovations are novel functional mechanisms that enhance organismal performance. The ubiquity of trade-offs in functional systems means that enhanced performance on one axis often occurs at the expense of performance on another axis, such that many innovations result in an exchange of performance capabilities, rather than an expansion. Innovations may open up new resources for exploitation but their consequences for functional and ecological diversification depend heavily on the adaptive landscape around these novel resources. As an example of a broader program that we imagine, we survey five feeding innovations in labrid fishes, an exceptionally successful and ecologically diverse group of reef fishes, and explore their impact on the rate of evolution of jaw functional morphology. All of the innovations provide performance enhancements and result in changes in patterns of resource use, but most are not associated with subsequent functional diversification or substantial ecological diversification. Because selection acts on a specific performance enhancement and not on the evolutionary potential of an innovation, the enhancement of diversity may be highly serendipitous. The macroevolutionary potential of innovations depends critically on the interaction between the performance enhancement and the ecological opportunity that is exposed. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford

Quantum key management

DOEpatents

Hughes, Richard John; Thrasher, James Thomas; Nordholt, Jane Elizabeth

2016-11-29

Innovations for quantum key management harness quantum communications to form a cryptography system within a public key infrastructure framework. In example implementations, the quantum key management innovations combine quantum key distribution and a quantum identification protocol with a Merkle signature scheme (using Winternitz one-time digital signatures or other one-time digital signatures, and Merkle hash trees) to constitute a cryptography system. More generally, the quantum key management innovations combine quantum key distribution and a quantum identification protocol with a hash-based signature scheme. This provides a secure way to identify, authenticate, verify, and exchange secret cryptographic keys. Features of the quantum key management innovations further include secure enrollment of users with a registration authority, as well as credential checking and revocation with a certificate authority, where the registration authority and/or certificate authority can be part of the same system as a trusted authority for quantum key distribution.

The virtue of innovation: innovation through the lenses of biological evolution

PubMed Central

Kell, Douglas B.; Lurie-Luke, Elena

2015-01-01

We rehearse the processes of innovation and discovery in general terms, using as our main metaphor the biological concept of an evolutionary fitness landscape. Incremental and disruptive innovations are seen, respectively, as successful searches carried out locally or more widely. They may also be understood as reflecting evolution by mutation (incremental) versus recombination (disruptive). We also bring a platonic view, focusing on virtue and memory. We use ‘virtue’ as a measure of efforts, including the knowledge required to come up with disruptive and incremental innovations, and ‘memory’ as a measure of their lifespan, i.e. how long they are remembered. Fostering innovation, in the evolutionary metaphor, means providing the wherewithal to promote novelty, good objective functions that one is trying to optimize, and means to improve one's knowledge of, and ability to navigate, the landscape one is searching. Recombination necessarily implies multi- or inter-disciplinarity. These principles are generic to all kinds of creativity, novel ideas formation and the development of new products and technologies. PMID:25505138

The Beneficial Role of Mobility for the Emergence of Innovation.

PubMed

Armano, Giuliano; Javarone, Marco Alberto

2017-05-11

Innovation is a key ingredient for the evolution of several systems, including social and biological ones. Focused investigations and lateral thinking may lead to innovation, as well as serendipity and other random discovery processes. Some individuals are talented at proposing innovation (say innovators), while others at deeply exploring proposed novelties, at getting further insights on a theory, or at developing products, services, and so on (say developers). This separation in terms of innovators and developers raises an issue of paramount importance: under which conditions a system is able to maintain innovators? According to a simple model, this work investigates the evolutionary dynamics that characterize the emergence of innovation. In particular, we consider a population of innovators and developers, in which agents form small groups whose composition is crucial for their payoff. The latter depends on the heterogeneity of the formed groups, on the amount of innovators they include, and on an award-factor that represents the policy of the system for promoting innovation. Under the hypothesis that a "mobility" effect may support the emergence of innovation, we compare the equilibria reached by our population in different cases. Results confirm the beneficial role of "mobility", and the emergence of further interesting phenomena.

Evolutionary principles and their practical application

PubMed Central

Hendry, Andrew P; Kinnison, Michael T; Heino, Mikko; Day, Troy; Smith, Thomas B; Fitt, Gary; Bergstrom, Carl T; Oakeshott, John; Jørgensen, Peter S; Zalucki, Myron P; Gilchrist, George; Southerton, Simon; Sih, Andrew; Strauss, Sharon; Denison, Robert F; Carroll, Scott P

2011-01-01

Evolutionary principles are now routinely incorporated into medicine and agriculture. Examples include the design of treatments that slow the evolution of resistance by weeds, pests, and pathogens, and the design of breeding programs that maximize crop yield or quality. Evolutionary principles are also increasingly incorporated into conservation biology, natural resource management, and environmental science. Examples include the protection of small and isolated populations from inbreeding depression, the identification of key traits involved in adaptation to climate change, the design of harvesting regimes that minimize unwanted life-history evolution, and the setting of conservation priorities based on populations, species, or communities that harbor the greatest evolutionary diversity and potential. The adoption of evolutionary principles has proceeded somewhat independently in these different fields, even though the underlying fundamental concepts are the same. We explore these fundamental concepts under four main themes: variation, selection, connectivity, and eco-evolutionary dynamics. Within each theme, we present several key evolutionary principles and illustrate their use in addressing applied problems. We hope that the resulting primer of evolutionary concepts and their practical utility helps to advance a unified multidisciplinary field of applied evolutionary biology. PMID:25567966

Evolutionary principles and their practical application.

PubMed

Hendry, Andrew P; Kinnison, Michael T; Heino, Mikko; Day, Troy; Smith, Thomas B; Fitt, Gary; Bergstrom, Carl T; Oakeshott, John; Jørgensen, Peter S; Zalucki, Myron P; Gilchrist, George; Southerton, Simon; Sih, Andrew; Strauss, Sharon; Denison, Robert F; Carroll, Scott P

2011-03-01

Evolutionary principles are now routinely incorporated into medicine and agriculture. Examples include the design of treatments that slow the evolution of resistance by weeds, pests, and pathogens, and the design of breeding programs that maximize crop yield or quality. Evolutionary principles are also increasingly incorporated into conservation biology, natural resource management, and environmental science. Examples include the protection of small and isolated populations from inbreeding depression, the identification of key traits involved in adaptation to climate change, the design of harvesting regimes that minimize unwanted life-history evolution, and the setting of conservation priorities based on populations, species, or communities that harbor the greatest evolutionary diversity and potential. The adoption of evolutionary principles has proceeded somewhat independently in these different fields, even though the underlying fundamental concepts are the same. We explore these fundamental concepts under four main themes: variation, selection, connectivity, and eco-evolutionary dynamics. Within each theme, we present several key evolutionary principles and illustrate their use in addressing applied problems. We hope that the resulting primer of evolutionary concepts and their practical utility helps to advance a unified multidisciplinary field of applied evolutionary biology.

Novelties of the flowering plant pollen tube underlie diversification of a key life history stage

PubMed Central

Williams, Joseph H.

2008-01-01

The origin and rapid diversification of flowering plants has puzzled evolutionary biologists, dating back to Charles Darwin. Since that time a number of key life history and morphological traits have been proposed as developmental correlates of the extraordinary diversity and ecological success of angiosperms. Here, I identify several innovations that were fundamental to the evolutionary lability of angiosperm reproduction, and hence to their diversification. In gymnosperms pollen reception must be near the egg largely because sperm swim or are transported by pollen tubes that grow at very slow rates (< ≈20 μm/h). In contrast, pollen tube growth rates of taxa in ancient angiosperm lineages (Amborella, Nuphar, and Austrobaileya) range from ≈80 to 600 μm/h. Comparative analyses point to accelerated pollen tube growth rate as a critical innovation that preceded the origin of the true closed carpel, long styles, multiseeded ovaries, and, in monocots and eudicots, much faster pollen tube growth rates. Ancient angiosperm pollen tubes all have callosic walls and callose plugs (in contrast, no gymnosperms have these features). The early association of the callose-walled growth pattern with accelerated pollen tube growth rate underlies a striking repeated pattern of faster and longer-distance pollen tube growth often within solid pathways in phylogenetically derived angiosperms. Pollen tube innovations are a key component of the spectacular diversification of carpel (flower and fruit) form and reproductive cycles in flowering plants. PMID:18678915

Key Data on Learning and Innovation through ICT at School in Europe 2011

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ranguelov, Stanislav; Horvath, Anna; Dalferth, Simon; Noorani, Sogol

2011-01-01

This report on Key Data on Learning and Innovation through ICT at School in Europe 2011 builds on the previous Eurydice publications on information and communication technology in schools in Europe. It also aims to extend the theoretical framework by looking not only at the teaching and learning of ICT but also at the use of ICT to promote…

Key Knowledge Providers as Sources of Business Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernandez-Esquinas, Manuel; Merchan-Hernandez, Carmen; Ramos-Vielba, Irene; Martinez-Fernandez, Cristina

2010-01-01

Studies of innovation are giving increasing attention to the relationships that businesses maintain with different participants in the innovation process. It is generally assumed that interaction with other businesses, universities and government organizations can generate knowledge that will improve the ability to innovate. However, there is…

Network-level architecture and the evolutionary potential of underground metabolism.

PubMed

Notebaart, Richard A; Szappanos, Balázs; Kintses, Bálint; Pál, Ferenc; Györkei, Ádám; Bogos, Balázs; Lázár, Viktória; Spohn, Réka; Csörgő, Bálint; Wagner, Allon; Ruppin, Eytan; Pál, Csaba; Papp, Balázs

2014-08-12

A central unresolved issue in evolutionary biology is how metabolic innovations emerge. Low-level enzymatic side activities are frequent and can potentially be recruited for new biochemical functions. However, the role of such underground reactions in adaptation toward novel environments has remained largely unknown and out of reach of computational predictions, not least because these issues demand analyses at the level of the entire metabolic network. Here, we provide a comprehensive computational model of the underground metabolism in Escherichia coli. Most underground reactions are not isolated and 45% of them can be fully wired into the existing network and form novel pathways that produce key precursors for cell growth. This observation allowed us to conduct an integrated genome-wide in silico and experimental survey to characterize the evolutionary potential of E. coli to adapt to hundreds of nutrient conditions. We revealed that underground reactions allow growth in new environments when their activity is increased. We estimate that at least ∼20% of the underground reactions that can be connected to the existing network confer a fitness advantage under specific environments. Moreover, our results demonstrate that the genetic basis of evolutionary adaptations via underground metabolism is computationally predictable. The approach used here has potential for various application areas from bioengineering to medical genetics.

Major evolutionary transitions and innovations: the tympanic middle ear

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

One of the most amazing transitions and innovations during the evolution of mammals was the formation of a novel jaw joint and the incorporation of the original jaw joint into the middle ear to create the unique mammalian three bone/ossicle ear. In this review, we look at the key steps that led to this change and other unusual features of the middle ear and how developmental biology has been providing an understanding of the mechanisms involved. This starts with an overview of the tympanic (air-filled) middle ear, and how the ear drum (tympanic membrane) and the cavity itself form during development in amniotes. This is followed by an investigation of how the ear is connected to the pharynx and the relationship of the ear to the bony bulla in which it sits. Finally, the novel mammalian jaw joint and versatile dentary bone will be discussed with respect to evolution of the mammalian middle ear. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Evo-devo in the genomics era, and the origins of morphological diversity’. PMID:27994124

Effective Technology Insertion: The Key to Evolutionary Acquisition Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-05-03

Army War College, 7 April 2003. 47Orazia A. Di Marca ; Rejto, Stephen B. Rejto and Thomas Gomez, “ Open System Design and Evolutionary Acquisition...to Military Applications-Report No. D-2002-107. 14 June 2002. Di Marca , Orazia A.; Rejto, StephenB., and Gomez, Thomas, “ Open System Design and

Applying Evolutionary Anthropology

PubMed Central

Gibson, Mhairi A; Lawson, David W

2015-01-01

Evolutionary anthropology provides a powerful theoretical framework for understanding how both current environments and legacies of past selection shape human behavioral diversity. This integrative and pluralistic field, combining ethnographic, demographic, and sociological methods, has provided new insights into the ultimate forces and proximate pathways that guide human adaptation and variation. Here, we present the argument that evolutionary anthropological studies of human behavior also hold great, largely untapped, potential to guide the design, implementation, and evaluation of social and public health policy. Focusing on the key anthropological themes of reproduction, production, and distribution we highlight classic and recent research demonstrating the value of an evolutionary perspective to improving human well-being. The challenge now comes in transforming relevance into action and, for that, evolutionary behavioral anthropologists will need to forge deeper connections with other applied social scientists and policy-makers. We are hopeful that these developments are underway and that, with the current tide of enthusiasm for evidence-based approaches to policy, evolutionary anthropology is well positioned to make a strong contribution. PMID:25684561

Applying evolutionary anthropology.

PubMed

Gibson, Mhairi A; Lawson, David W

2015-01-01

Evolutionary anthropology provides a powerful theoretical framework for understanding how both current environments and legacies of past selection shape human behavioral diversity. This integrative and pluralistic field, combining ethnographic, demographic, and sociological methods, has provided new insights into the ultimate forces and proximate pathways that guide human adaptation and variation. Here, we present the argument that evolutionary anthropological studies of human behavior also hold great, largely untapped, potential to guide the design, implementation, and evaluation of social and public health policy. Focusing on the key anthropological themes of reproduction, production, and distribution we highlight classic and recent research demonstrating the value of an evolutionary perspective to improving human well-being. The challenge now comes in transforming relevance into action and, for that, evolutionary behavioral anthropologists will need to forge deeper connections with other applied social scientists and policy-makers. We are hopeful that these developments are underway and that, with the current tide of enthusiasm for evidence-based approaches to policy, evolutionary anthropology is well positioned to make a strong contribution. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Evolutionary medicine: its scope, interest and potential

PubMed Central

Stearns, Stephen C.

2012-01-01

This review is aimed at readers seeking an introductory overview, teaching courses and interested in visionary ideas. It first describes the range of topics covered by evolutionary medicine, which include human genetic variation, mismatches to modernity, reproductive medicine, degenerative disease, host–pathogen interactions and insights from comparisons with other species. It then discusses priorities for translational research, basic research and health management. Its conclusions are that evolutionary thinking should not displace other approaches to medical science, such as molecular medicine and cell and developmental biology, but that evolutionary insights can combine with and complement established approaches to reduce suffering and save lives. Because we are on the cusp of so much new research and innovative insights, it is hard to estimate how much impact evolutionary thinking will have on medicine, but it is already clear that its potential is enormous. PMID:22933370

Evolutionary medicine: its scope, interest and potential.

PubMed

Stearns, Stephen C

2012-11-07

This review is aimed at readers seeking an introductory overview, teaching courses and interested in visionary ideas. It first describes the range of topics covered by evolutionary medicine, which include human genetic variation, mismatches to modernity, reproductive medicine, degenerative disease, host-pathogen interactions and insights from comparisons with other species. It then discusses priorities for translational research, basic research and health management. Its conclusions are that evolutionary thinking should not displace other approaches to medical science, such as molecular medicine and cell and developmental biology, but that evolutionary insights can combine with and complement established approaches to reduce suffering and save lives. Because we are on the cusp of so much new research and innovative insights, it is hard to estimate how much impact evolutionary thinking will have on medicine, but it is already clear that its potential is enormous.

How to Identify and Interpret Evolutionary Tree Diagrams

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kong, Yi; Anderson, Trevor; Pelaez, Nancy

2016-01-01

Evolutionary trees are key tools for modern biology and are commonly portrayed in textbooks to promote learning about biological evolution. However, many people have difficulty in understanding what evolutionary trees are meant to portray. In fact, some ideas that current professional biologists depict with evolutionary trees are neither clearly…

From mechanisms to function: an integrated framework of animal innovation

PubMed Central

Tebbich, Sabine; Griffin, Andrea S.; Peschl, Markus F.; Sterelny, Kim

2016-01-01

Animal innovations range from the discovery of novel food types to the invention of completely novel behaviours. Innovations can give access to new opportunities, and thus enable innovating agents to invade and create novel niches. This in turn can pave the way for morphological adaptation and adaptive radiation. The mechanisms that make innovations possible are probably as diverse as the innovations themselves. So too are their evolutionary consequences. Perhaps because of this diversity, we lack a unifying framework that links mechanism to function. We propose a framework for animal innovation that describes the interactions between mechanism, fitness benefit and evolutionary significance, and which suggests an expanded range of experimental approaches. In doing so, we split innovation into factors (components and phases) that can be manipulated systematically, and which can be investigated both experimentally and with correlational studies. We apply this framework to a selection of cases, showing how it helps us ask more precise questions and design more revealing experiments. PMID:26926285

NSVS 7051868: A system in a key evolutionary stage. First multi-color photometric study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barani, C.; Martignoni, M.; Acerbi, F.

2017-01-01

The first CCD photometric complete light curves of the eclipsing binary NSVS 7051868 were obtained during six nights in January 2016 in the B, V and Ic bands using the 0.25 m telescope of the Stazione Astronomica Betelgeuse in Magnago, Italy. These observations confirm the short period (P = 0.517 days) variation found by Shaw and collaborators in their online list (http://www.physast.uga.edu/ jss/nsvs/) of periodic variable stars found in the Northern Sky Variability Survey. The light curves were modelled using the Wilson-Devinney code and the elements obtained from this analysis are used to compute the physical parameters of the system in order to study its evolutionary status. A grid of solutions for several fixed values of mass ratio was calculated. A reasonable fit of the synthetic light curves of the data indicate that NSVS 7051868 is an A-subtype W Ursae Majoris contact binary system, with a low mass ratio of q = 0.22, a degree of contact factor f = 35.5% and inclination i = 85°. Our light curves shows a time of constant light in the secondary eclipse of approximately 0.1 in phase. The light curve solution reveals a component temperature difference of about 700 K. Both the value of the fill-out factor and the temperature difference suggests that NSVS 7051868 is a system in a key evolutionary stage of the Thermal Relaxation Oscillation theory. The distance to NSVS 7051868 was calculated as 180 pc from this analysis, taking into account interstellar extinction.

Remembering the evolutionary Freud.

PubMed

Young, Allan

2006-03-01

Throughout his career as a writer, Sigmund Freud maintained an interest in the evolutionary origins of the human mind and its neurotic and psychotic disorders. In common with many writers then and now, he believed that the evolutionary past is conserved in the mind and the brain. Today the "evolutionary Freud" is nearly forgotten. Even among Freudians, he is regarded to be a red herring, relevant only to the extent that he diverts attention from the enduring achievements of the authentic Freud. There are three ways to explain these attitudes. First, the evolutionary Freud's key work is the "Overview of the Transference Neurosis" (1915). But it was published at an inopportune moment, forty years after the author's death, during the so-called "Freud wars." Second, Freud eventually lost interest in the "Overview" and the prospect of a comprehensive evolutionary theory of psychopathology. The publication of The Ego and the Id (1923), introducing Freud's structural theory of the psyche, marked the point of no return. Finally, Freud's evolutionary theory is simply not credible. It is based on just-so stories and a thoroughly discredited evolutionary mechanism, Lamarckian use-inheritance. Explanations one and two are probably correct but also uninteresting. Explanation number three assumes that there is a fundamental difference between Freud's evolutionary narratives (not credible) and the evolutionary accounts of psychopathology that currently circulate in psychiatry and mainstream journals (credible). The assumption is mistaken but worth investigating.

Multiple continental radiations and correlates of diversification in Lupinus (Leguminosae): testing for key innovation with incomplete taxon sampling.

PubMed

Drummond, Christopher S; Eastwood, Ruth J; Miotto, Silvia T S; Hughes, Colin E

2012-05-01

Replicate radiations provide powerful comparative systems to address questions about the interplay between opportunity and innovation in driving episodes of diversification and the factors limiting their subsequent progression. However, such systems have been rarely documented at intercontinental scales. Here, we evaluate the hypothesis of multiple radiations in the genus Lupinus (Leguminosae), which exhibits some of the highest known rates of net diversification in plants. Given that incomplete taxon sampling, background extinction, and lineage-specific variation in diversification rates can confound macroevolutionary inferences regarding the timing and mechanisms of cladogenesis, we used Bayesian relaxed clock phylogenetic analyses as well as MEDUSA and BiSSE birth-death likelihood models of diversification, to evaluate the evolutionary patterns of lineage accumulation in Lupinus. We identified 3 significant shifts to increased rates of net diversification (r) relative to background levels in the genus (r = 0.18-0.48 lineages/myr). The primary shift occurred approximately 4.6 Ma (r = 0.48-1.76) in the montane regions of western North America, followed by a secondary shift approximately 2.7 Ma (r = 0.89-3.33) associated with range expansion and diversification of allopatrically distributed sister clades in the Mexican highlands and Andes. We also recovered evidence for a third independent shift approximately 6.5 Ma at the base of a lower elevation eastern South American grassland and campo rupestre clade (r = 0.36-1.33). Bayesian ancestral state reconstructions and BiSSE likelihood analyses of correlated diversification indicated that increased rates of speciation are strongly associated with the derived evolution of perennial life history and invasion of montane ecosystems. Although we currently lack hard evidence for "replicate adaptive radiations" in the sense of convergent morphological and ecological trajectories among species in different clades, these

Multiple Continental Radiations and Correlates of Diversification in Lupinus (Leguminosae): Testing for Key Innovation with Incomplete Taxon Sampling

PubMed Central

Drummond, Christopher S.; Eastwood, Ruth J.; Miotto, Silvia T. S.; Hughes, Colin E.

2012-01-01

Replicate radiations provide powerful comparative systems to address questions about the interplay between opportunity and innovation in driving episodes of diversification and the factors limiting their subsequent progression. However, such systems have been rarely documented at intercontinental scales. Here, we evaluate the hypothesis of multiple radiations in the genus Lupinus (Leguminosae), which exhibits some of the highest known rates of net diversification in plants. Given that incomplete taxon sampling, background extinction, and lineage-specific variation in diversification rates can confound macroevolutionary inferences regarding the timing and mechanisms of cladogenesis, we used Bayesian relaxed clock phylogenetic analyses as well as MEDUSA and BiSSE birth–death likelihood models of diversification, to evaluate the evolutionary patterns of lineage accumulation in Lupinus. We identified 3 significant shifts to increased rates of net diversification (r) relative to background levels in the genus (r = 0.18–0.48 lineages/myr). The primary shift occurred approximately 4.6 Ma (r = 0.48–1.76) in the montane regions of western North America, followed by a secondary shift approximately 2.7 Ma (r = 0.89–3.33) associated with range expansion and diversification of allopatrically distributed sister clades in the Mexican highlands and Andes. We also recovered evidence for a third independent shift approximately 6.5 Ma at the base of a lower elevation eastern South American grassland and campo rupestre clade (r = 0.36–1.33). Bayesian ancestral state reconstructions and BiSSE likelihood analyses of correlated diversification indicated that increased rates of speciation are strongly associated with the derived evolution of perennial life history and invasion of montane ecosystems. Although we currently lack hard evidence for “replicate adaptive radiations” in the sense of convergent morphological and ecological trajectories among species in different

Core principles of evolutionary medicine

PubMed Central

Grunspan, Daniel Z; Nesse, Randolph M; Barnes, M Elizabeth; Brownell, Sara E

2018-01-01

Abstract Background and objectives Evolutionary medicine is a rapidly growing field that uses the principles of evolutionary biology to better understand, prevent and treat disease, and that uses studies of disease to advance basic knowledge in evolutionary biology. Over-arching principles of evolutionary medicine have been described in publications, but our study is the first to systematically elicit core principles from a diverse panel of experts in evolutionary medicine. These principles should be useful to advance recent recommendations made by The Association of American Medical Colleges and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to make evolutionary thinking a core competency for pre-medical education. Methodology The Delphi method was used to elicit and validate a list of core principles for evolutionary medicine. The study included four surveys administered in sequence to 56 expert panelists. The initial open-ended survey created a list of possible core principles; the three subsequent surveys winnowed the list and assessed the accuracy and importance of each principle. Results Fourteen core principles elicited at least 80% of the panelists to agree or strongly agree that they were important core principles for evolutionary medicine. These principles over-lapped with concepts discussed in other articles discussing key concepts in evolutionary medicine. Conclusions and implications This set of core principles will be helpful for researchers and instructors in evolutionary medicine. We recommend that evolutionary medicine instructors use the list of core principles to construct learning goals. Evolutionary medicine is a young field, so this list of core principles will likely change as the field develops further. PMID:29493660

Cultural Evolutionary Perspectives on Creativity and Human Innovation.

PubMed

Fogarty, Laurel; Creanza, Nicole; Feldman, Marcus W

2015-12-01

Cultural traits originate through creative or innovative processes, which might be crucial to understanding how culture evolves and accumulates. However, because of its complexity and apparent subjectivity, creativity has remained largely unexplored as the dynamic underpinning of cultural evolution. Here, we explore the approach to innovation commonly taken in theoretical studies of cultural evolution and discuss its limitations. Drawing insights from cognitive science, psychology, archeology, and even animal behavior, it is possible to generate a formal description of creativity and to incorporate a dynamic theory of creativity into models of cultural evolution. We discuss the implications of such models for our understanding of the archaeological record and the history of hominid culture. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emergence of Xin Demarcates a Key Innovation in Heart Evolution

PubMed Central

Grosskurth, Shaun E.; Bhattacharya, Debashish; Wang, Qinchuan; Lin, Jim Jung-Ching

2008-01-01

The mouse Xin repeat-containing proteins (mXinα and mXinβ) localize to the intercalated disc in the heart. mXinα is able to bundle actin filaments and to interact with β-catenin, suggesting a role in linking the actin cytoskeleton to N-cadherin/β-catenin adhesion. mXinα-null mouse hearts display progressively ultrastructural alterations at the intercalated discs, and develop cardiac hypertrophy and cardiomyopathy with conduction defects. The up-regulation of mXinβ in mXinα-deficient mice suggests a partial compensation for the loss of mXinα. To elucidate the evolutionary relationship between these proteins and to identify the origin of Xin, a phylogenetic analysis was done with 40 vertebrate Xins. Our results show that the ancestral Xin originated prior to the emergence of lamprey and subsequently underwent gene duplication early in the vertebrate lineage. A subsequent teleost-specific genome duplication resulted in most teleosts encoding at least three genes. All Xins contain a highly conserved β-catenin-binding domain within the Xin repeat region. Similar to mouse Xins, chicken, frog and zebrafish Xins also co-localized with β-catenin to structures that appear to be the intercalated disc. A putative DNA-binding domain in the N-terminus of all Xins is strongly conserved, whereas the previously characterized Mena/VASP-binding domain is a derived trait found only in Xinαs from placental mammals. In the C-terminus, Xinαs and Xinβs are more divergent relative to each other but each isoform from mammals shows a high degree of within-isoform sequence identity. This suggests different but conserved functions for mammalian Xinα and Xinβ. Interestingly, the origin of Xin ca. 550 million years ago coincides with the genesis of heart chambers with complete endothelial and myocardial layers. We postulate that the emergence of the Xin paralogs and their functional differentiation may have played a key role in the evolutionary development of the heart. PMID

The role of play objects and object play in human cognitive evolution and innovation.

PubMed

Riede, Felix; Johannsen, Niels N; Högberg, Anders; Nowell, April; Lombard, Marlize

2018-01-01

In this contribution, we address a major puzzle in the evolution of human material culture: If maturing individuals just learn their parental generation's material culture, then what is the origin of key innovations as documented in the archeological record? We approach this question by coupling a life-history model of the costs and benefits of experimentation with a niche-construction perspective. Niche-construction theory suggests that the behavior of organisms and their modification of the world around them have important evolutionary ramifications by altering developmental settings and selection pressures. Part of Homo sapiens' niche is the active provisioning of children with play objects - sometimes functional miniatures of adult tools - and the encouragement of object play, such as playful knapping with stones. Our model suggests that salient material culture innovation may occur or be primed in a late childhood or adolescence sweet spot when cognitive and physical abilities are sufficiently mature but before the full onset of the concerns and costs associated with reproduction. We evaluate the model against a series of archeological cases and make suggestions for future research. © 2018 The Authors Evolutionary Anthropology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Vertebral anatomy in the Florida manatee, Trichechus manatus latirostris: a developmental and evolutionary analysis.

PubMed

Buchholtz, Emily A; Booth, Amy C; Webbink, Katherine E

2007-06-01

The vertebral column of the Florida manatee presents an unusual suite of morphological traits. Key among these are a small precaudal count, elongate thoracic vertebrae, extremely short neural spines, lack of a sacral series, high lumbar variability, and the presence of six instead of seven cervical vertebrae. This study documents vertebral morphology, size, and lumbar variation in 71 skeletons of Trichechus manatus latirostris (Florida manatee) and uses the skeletons of Trichechus senegalensis (west African manatee) and Dugong dugon (dugong) in comparative analysis. Vertebral traits are used to define morphological, and by inference developmental, column modules and to propose their hierarchical relationships. A sequence of evolutionary innovations in column morphology is proposed. Results suggest that the origin of the fluke and low rates of cervical growth originated before separation of trichechids (manatees) and dugongids (dugongs). Meristic reduction in count is a later, trichechid innovation and is expressed across the entire precaudal column. Elongation of thoracic vertebrae may be an innovative strategy to generate an elongate column in an animal with a small precaudal count. Elimination of the lumbus through both meristic and homeotic reduction is currently in progress. 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Genomic signatures of evolutionary transitions from solitary to group living

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Eusociality has evolved rarely, but repeatedly, in vertebrates and invertebrates, and resulted inconvergent morphological, physiological, and behavioural innovations. It is unknown whether similar evolutionary processes are responsible for the repeated origins and further elaborations of eusociality...

Evolutionary impact of transposable elements on genomic diversity and lineage-specific innovation in vertebrates.

PubMed

Warren, Ian A; Naville, Magali; Chalopin, Domitille; Levin, Perrine; Berger, Chloé Suzanne; Galiana, Delphine; Volff, Jean-Nicolas

2015-09-01

Since their discovery, a growing body of evidence has emerged demonstrating that transposable elements are important drivers of species diversity. These mobile elements exhibit a great variety in structure, size and mechanisms of transposition, making them important putative actors in organism evolution. The vertebrates represent a highly diverse and successful lineage that has adapted to a wide range of different environments. These animals also possess a rich repertoire of transposable elements, with highly diverse content between lineages and even between species. Here, we review how transposable elements are driving genomic diversity and lineage-specific innovation within vertebrates. We discuss the large differences in TE content between different vertebrate groups and then go on to look at how they affect organisms at a variety of levels: from the structure of chromosomes to their involvement in the regulation of gene expression, as well as in the formation and evolution of non-coding RNAs and protein-coding genes. In the process of doing this, we highlight how transposable elements have been involved in the evolution of some of the key innovations observed within the vertebrate lineage, driving the group's diversity and success.

Human Behavior and Cognition in Evolutionary Economics.

PubMed

Nelson, Richard R

2011-12-01

My brand of evolutionary economics recognizes, highlights, that modern economies are always in the process of changing, never fully at rest, with much of the energy coming from innovation. This perspective obviously draws a lot from Schumpeter. Continuing innovation, and the creative destruction that innovation engenders, is driving the system. There are winners and losers in the process, but generally the changes can be regarded as progress. The processes through which economic activity and performance evolve has a lot in common with evolution in biology. In particular, at any time the economy is marked by considerable variety, there are selection forces winnowing on that variety, but also continuing emergence of new ways of doing things and often economic actors. But there also are important differences from biological evolution. In particular, both innovation and selection are to a considerable degree purposive activities, often undertaken on the basis of relatively strong knowledge.

Evolutionary genetics of plant adaptation.

PubMed

Anderson, Jill T; Willis, John H; Mitchell-Olds, Thomas

2011-07-01

Plants provide unique opportunities to study the mechanistic basis and evolutionary processes of adaptation to diverse environmental conditions. Complementary laboratory and field experiments are important for testing hypotheses reflecting long-term ecological and evolutionary history. For example, these approaches can infer whether local adaptation results from genetic tradeoffs (antagonistic pleiotropy), where native alleles are best adapted to local conditions, or if local adaptation is caused by conditional neutrality at many loci, where alleles show fitness differences in one environment, but not in a contrasting environment. Ecological genetics in natural populations of perennial or outcrossing plants can also differ substantially from model systems. In this review of the evolutionary genetics of plant adaptation, we emphasize the importance of field studies for understanding the evolutionary dynamics of model and nonmodel systems, highlight a key life history trait (flowering time) and discuss emerging conservation issues. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evolutionary disarmament in interspecific competition.

PubMed

Kisdi, E; Geritz, S A

2001-12-22

Competitive asymmetry, which is the advantage of having a larger body or stronger weaponry than a contestant, drives spectacular evolutionary arms races in intraspecific competition. Similar asymmetries are well documented in interspecific competition, yet they seldom lead to exaggerated traits. Here we demonstrate that two species with substantially different size may undergo parallel coevolution towards a smaller size under the same ecological conditions where a single species would exhibit an evolutionary arms race. We show that disarmament occurs for a wide range of parameters in an ecologically explicit model of competition for a single shared resource; disarmament also occurs in a simple Lotka-Volterra competition model. A key property of both models is the interplay between evolutionary dynamics and population density. The mechanism does not rely on very specific features of the model. Thus, evolutionary disarmament may be widespread and may help to explain the lack of interspecific arms races.

[Evolutionary medicine: A new look on health and disease].

PubMed

Bauduer, F

2017-03-01

Evolutionary medicine represents an innovative approach deriving from evolutionary biology. It includes the initial Darwin's view, its actualization in the light of progresses in genetics and also dissident theories (i.e. non gene-based) particularly epigenetics. This approach enables us to reconsider the pathophysiology of numerous diseases, as for instance, infection, and our so-called diseases of civilization especially obesity, type 2 diabetes, allergy or cancer. Evolutionary medicine may also improve our knowledge regarding inter-individual variation in susceptibility to disease or drugs. Furthermore, it points out the impact of our behaviors and environment on the genesis of a series of diseases. Copyright © 2016 Société Nationale Française de Médecine Interne (SNFMI). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

Adaptive evolution of complex innovations through stepwise metabolic niche expansion.

PubMed

Szappanos, Balázs; Fritzemeier, Jonathan; Csörgő, Bálint; Lázár, Viktória; Lu, Xiaowen; Fekete, Gergely; Bálint, Balázs; Herczeg, Róbert; Nagy, István; Notebaart, Richard A; Lercher, Martin J; Pál, Csaba; Papp, Balázs

2016-05-20

A central challenge in evolutionary biology concerns the mechanisms by which complex metabolic innovations requiring multiple mutations arise. Here, we propose that metabolic innovations accessible through the addition of a single reaction serve as stepping stones towards the later establishment of complex metabolic features in another environment. We demonstrate the feasibility of this hypothesis through three complementary analyses. First, using genome-scale metabolic modelling, we show that complex metabolic innovations in Escherichia coli can arise via changing nutrient conditions. Second, using phylogenetic approaches, we demonstrate that the acquisition patterns of complex metabolic pathways during the evolutionary history of bacterial genomes support the hypothesis. Third, we show how adaptation of laboratory populations of E. coli to one carbon source facilitates the later adaptation to another carbon source. Our work demonstrates how complex innovations can evolve through series of adaptive steps without the need to invoke non-adaptive processes.

Adaptive evolution of complex innovations through stepwise metabolic niche expansion

PubMed Central

Szappanos, Balázs; Fritzemeier, Jonathan; Csörgő, Bálint; Lázár, Viktória; Lu, Xiaowen; Fekete, Gergely; Bálint, Balázs; Herczeg, Róbert; Nagy, István; Notebaart, Richard A.; Lercher, Martin J.; Pál, Csaba; Papp, Balázs

2016-01-01

A central challenge in evolutionary biology concerns the mechanisms by which complex metabolic innovations requiring multiple mutations arise. Here, we propose that metabolic innovations accessible through the addition of a single reaction serve as stepping stones towards the later establishment of complex metabolic features in another environment. We demonstrate the feasibility of this hypothesis through three complementary analyses. First, using genome-scale metabolic modelling, we show that complex metabolic innovations in Escherichia coli can arise via changing nutrient conditions. Second, using phylogenetic approaches, we demonstrate that the acquisition patterns of complex metabolic pathways during the evolutionary history of bacterial genomes support the hypothesis. Third, we show how adaptation of laboratory populations of E. coli to one carbon source facilitates the later adaptation to another carbon source. Our work demonstrates how complex innovations can evolve through series of adaptive steps without the need to invoke non-adaptive processes. PMID:27197754

Evolutionary disarmament in interspecific competition.

PubMed Central

Kisdi, E.; Geritz, S. A.

2001-01-01

Competitive asymmetry, which is the advantage of having a larger body or stronger weaponry than a contestant, drives spectacular evolutionary arms races in intraspecific competition. Similar asymmetries are well documented in interspecific competition, yet they seldom lead to exaggerated traits. Here we demonstrate that two species with substantially different size may undergo parallel coevolution towards a smaller size under the same ecological conditions where a single species would exhibit an evolutionary arms race. We show that disarmament occurs for a wide range of parameters in an ecologically explicit model of competition for a single shared resource; disarmament also occurs in a simple Lotka-Volterra competition model. A key property of both models is the interplay between evolutionary dynamics and population density. The mechanism does not rely on very specific features of the model. Thus, evolutionary disarmament may be widespread and may help to explain the lack of interspecific arms races. PMID:11749715

The Motivational Foundations of Prosocial Behavior From A Developmental Perspective-Evolutionary Roots and Key Psychological Mechanisms: Introduction to the Special Section.

PubMed

Davidov, Maayan; Vaish, Amrisha; Knafo-Noam, Ariel; Hastings, Paul D

2016-11-01

Prosocial behavior is versatile, multifaceted, and complex. This special section seeks to advance coherent, integrative understanding of prosocial development by addressing this topic through the prism of motivations. This conceptual Introduction presents key ideas that provide a framework for thinking about motivation for prosocial behavior and its development. It outlines the evolutionary roots of prosocial behavior, underscoring the interdependent roles of nature and nurture. This is followed by a discussion of several key psychological mechanisms reflecting different motivations for prosocial action (empathy for a distressed other, concern about another's goal, desire to act in accordance with internalized prosocial norms, and guilt). We discuss the critical components of each motivation and highlight pertinent contributions of the special section articles. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Evolutionary origins of a novel host plant detoxification gene in butterflies.

PubMed

Fischer, Hanna M; Wheat, Christopher W; Heckel, David G; Vogel, Heiko

2008-05-01

Chemical interactions between plants and their insect herbivores provide an excellent opportunity to study the evolution of species interactions on a molecular level. Here, we investigate the molecular evolutionary events that gave rise to a novel detoxifying enzyme (nitrile-specifier protein [NSP]) in the butterfly family Pieridae, previously identified as a coevolutionary key innovation. By generating and sequencing expressed sequence tags, genomic libraries, and screening databases we found NSP to be a member of an insect-specific gene family, which we characterized and named the NSP-like gene family. Members consist of variable tandem repeats, are gut expressed, and are found across Insecta evolving in a dynamic, ongoing birth-death process. In the Lepidoptera, multiple copies of single-domain major allergen genes are present and originate via tandem duplications. Multiple domain genes are found solely within the brassicaceous-feeding Pieridae butterflies, one of them being NSP and another called major allergen (MA). Analyses suggest that NSP and its paralog MA have a unique single-domain evolutionary origin, being formed by intragenic domain duplication followed by tandem whole-gene duplication. Duplicates subsequently experienced a period of relaxed constraint followed by an increase in constraint, perhaps after neofunctionalization. NSP and its ortholog MA are still experiencing high rates of change, reflecting a dynamic evolution consistent with the known role of NSP in plant-insect interactions. Our results provide direct evidence to the hypothesis that gene duplication is one of the driving forces for speciation and adaptation, showing that both within- and whole-gene tandem duplications are a powerful force underlying evolutionary adaptation.

Evolutionary medicine: update on the relevance to family practice.

PubMed

Naugler, Christopher T

2008-09-01

To review the relevance of evolutionary medicine to family practice and family physician training. Articles were located through a MEDLINE search, using the key words evolution, Darwin, and adaptation. Most references presented level III evidence (expert opinion), while a minority provided level II evidence (epidemiologic studies). Evolutionary medicine deals with the interplay of biology and the environment in the understanding of human disease. Yet medical schools have virtually ignored the need for family physicians to have more than a cursory knowledge of this topic. A review of the main trends in this field most relevant to family practice revealed that a basic knowledge of evolutionary medicine might help in explaining the causation of diseases to patients. Evolutionary medicine has also proven key to explaining the reasons for the development of antibiotic resistance and has the potential to explain cancer pathogenesis. As an organizing principle, this field also has potential in the teaching of family medicine. Evolutionary medicine should be studied further and incorporated into medical training and practice. Its practical utility will be proven through the generation of testable hypotheses and their application in relation to disease causation and possible prevention.

Managing Innovation in Academic Libraries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drake, Miriam A.

1979-01-01

Explores key issues related to innovation in academic libraries--performance gaps, incentives to innovate, nature of innovation, barriers and constraints, impact of innovation, and implementation of innovative strategies--and concludes that innovation requires a conducive climate, capital investment, and a leadership that is enthusiastic and…

Evolutionary games on graphs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szabó, György; Fáth, Gábor

2007-07-01

Game theory is one of the key paradigms behind many scientific disciplines from biology to behavioral sciences to economics. In its evolutionary form and especially when the interacting agents are linked in a specific social network the underlying solution concepts and methods are very similar to those applied in non-equilibrium statistical physics. This review gives a tutorial-type overview of the field for physicists. The first four sections introduce the necessary background in classical and evolutionary game theory from the basic definitions to the most important results. The fifth section surveys the topological complications implied by non-mean-field-type social network structures in general. The next three sections discuss in detail the dynamic behavior of three prominent classes of models: the Prisoner's Dilemma, the Rock-Scissors-Paper game, and Competing Associations. The major theme of the review is in what sense and how the graph structure of interactions can modify and enrich the picture of long term behavioral patterns emerging in evolutionary games.

Evolutionary mysteries in meiosis

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Meiosis is a key event of sexual life cycles in eukaryotes. Its mechanistic details have been uncovered in several model organisms, and most of its essential features have received various and often contradictory evolutionary interpretations. In this perspective, we present an overview of these often ‘weird’ features. We discuss the origin of meiosis (origin of ploidy reduction and recombination, two-step meiosis), its secondary modifications (in polyploids or asexuals, inverted meiosis), its importance in punctuating life cycles (meiotic arrests, epigenetic resetting, meiotic asymmetry, meiotic fairness) and features associated with recombination (disjunction constraints, heterochiasmy, crossover interference and hotspots). We present the various evolutionary scenarios and selective pressures that have been proposed to account for these features, and we highlight that their evolutionary significance often remains largely mysterious. Resolving these mysteries will likely provide decisive steps towards understanding why sex and recombination are found in the majority of eukaryotes. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction’. PMID:27619705

Leadership, Knowledge Sharing, and Creativity: The Key Factors in Nurses' Innovative Behaviors.

PubMed

Kim, Sung-Jin; Park, Myonghwa

2015-12-01

This study identified the factors that affect the innovative behaviors of nurses at general hospitals based on their individual and organizational characteristics. The predictors of innovative nursing behaviors, such as self-leadership, individual knowledge sharing, creative self-efficacy, organizational knowledge sharing, and innovative organizational cultures, should be explored at individual and organizational level. This study administered a cross-sectional survey to 347 registered nurses working at 6 general hospitals (with >300 beds) in central South Korea. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Self-leadership, creative self-efficacy, and individual knowledge sharing directly affected individual innovative behaviors. Organizational knowledge sharing indirectly affected individual innovative behaviors, and this effect was mediated by an innovative organizational culture. This study contributes to the knowledge base regarding the effective management of individuals and organizations through innovative behavior; furthermore, it provides future directions for nursing interventions.

Endosymbiosis and its implications for evolutionary theory.

PubMed

O'Malley, Maureen A

2015-08-18

Historically, conceptualizations of symbiosis and endosymbiosis have been pitted against Darwinian or neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory. In more recent times, Lynn Margulis has argued vigorously along these lines. However, there are only shallow grounds for finding Darwinian concepts or population genetic theory incompatible with endosymbiosis. But is population genetics sufficiently explanatory of endosymbiosis and its role in evolution? Population genetics "follows" genes, is replication-centric, and is concerned with vertically consistent genetic lineages. It may also have explanatory limitations with regard to macroevolution. Even so, asking whether population genetics explains endosymbiosis may have the question the wrong way around. We should instead be asking how explanatory of evolution endosymbiosis is, and exactly which features of evolution it might be explaining. This paper will discuss how metabolic innovations associated with endosymbioses can drive evolution and thus provide an explanatory account of important episodes in the history of life. Metabolic explanations are both proximate and ultimate, in the same way genetic explanations are. Endosymbioses, therefore, point evolutionary biology toward an important dimension of evolutionary explanation.

Core principles of evolutionary medicine: A Delphi study.

PubMed

Grunspan, Daniel Z; Nesse, Randolph M; Barnes, M Elizabeth; Brownell, Sara E

2018-01-01

Evolutionary medicine is a rapidly growing field that uses the principles of evolutionary biology to better understand, prevent and treat disease, and that uses studies of disease to advance basic knowledge in evolutionary biology. Over-arching principles of evolutionary medicine have been described in publications, but our study is the first to systematically elicit core principles from a diverse panel of experts in evolutionary medicine. These principles should be useful to advance recent recommendations made by The Association of American Medical Colleges and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to make evolutionary thinking a core competency for pre-medical education. The Delphi method was used to elicit and validate a list of core principles for evolutionary medicine. The study included four surveys administered in sequence to 56 expert panelists. The initial open-ended survey created a list of possible core principles; the three subsequent surveys winnowed the list and assessed the accuracy and importance of each principle. Fourteen core principles elicited at least 80% of the panelists to agree or strongly agree that they were important core principles for evolutionary medicine. These principles over-lapped with concepts discussed in other articles discussing key concepts in evolutionary medicine. This set of core principles will be helpful for researchers and instructors in evolutionary medicine. We recommend that evolutionary medicine instructors use the list of core principles to construct learning goals. Evolutionary medicine is a young field, so this list of core principles will likely change as the field develops further.

Analysis of Knowledge-Sharing Evolutionary Game in University Teacher Team

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huo, Mingkui

2013-01-01

The knowledge-sharing activity is a major drive force behind the progress and innovation of university teacher team. Based on the evolutionary game theory, this article analyzes the knowledge-sharing process model of this team, studies the influencing mechanism of various factors such as knowledge aggregate gap, incentive coefficient and risk…

Global evolutionary isolation measures can capture key local conservation species in Nearctic and Neotropical bird communities

PubMed Central

Redding, David W.; Mooers, Arne O.; Şekercioğlu, Çağan H.; Collen, Ben

2015-01-01

Understanding how to prioritize among the most deserving imperilled species has been a focus of biodiversity science for the past three decades. Though global metrics that integrate evolutionary history and likelihood of loss have been successfully implemented, conservation is typically carried out at sub-global scales on communities of species rather than among members of complete taxonomic assemblages. Whether and how global measures map to a local scale has received little scrutiny. At a local scale, conservation-relevant assemblages of species are likely to be made up of relatively few species spread across a large phylogenetic tree, and as a consequence there are potentially relatively large amounts of evolutionary history at stake. We ask to what extent global metrics of evolutionary history are useful for conservation priority setting at the community level by evaluating the extent to which three global measures of evolutionary isolation (evolutionary distinctiveness (ED), average pairwise distance (APD) and the pendant edge or unique phylogenetic diversity (PD) contribution) capture community-level phylogenetic and trait diversity for a large sample of Neotropical and Nearctic bird communities. We find that prioritizing the most ED species globally safeguards more than twice the total PD of local communities on average, but that this does not translate into increased local trait diversity. By contrast, global APD is strongly related to the APD of those same species at the community level, and prioritizing these species also safeguards local PD and trait diversity. The next step for biologists is to understand the variation in the concordance of global and local level scores and what this means for conservation priorities: we need more directed research on the use of different measures of evolutionary isolation to determine which might best capture desirable aspects of biodiversity. PMID:25561674

Enhancing Command Communications and Innovation with SAINT:Semantics, Adaptation, and Influence in Networked Teams

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-02-01

can be quickly reused to face new analytic tasks. Other humanities projects like Monk and Nema have also recently adopted Meandre. The evolutionary...keynote], Congresso Mexicano dc Com- putation Evolutiva (CONCEV), Aguas Calientes, Mexico, May, 2005. Evolutionary Tools for Human-Innovation and

A Study of the Relationship between Key Factors of Academic Innovation and Faculties' Teaching Goals--The Mediatory Role of Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohammadi, Mehdi; Marzooghi, Rahmatullah; Dehghani, Fatemeh

2017-01-01

The following research tries to study the Relationship between key factors of academic innovations and faculties' teaching goals with the mediatory role of their pedagogical, technological and content knowledge. The statistical population in this research included faculty members of Shiraz University. By simple random sampling, 127 faculty members…

Evolutionary dynamics from a variational principle.

PubMed

Klimek, Peter; Thurner, Stefan; Hanel, Rudolf

2010-07-01

We demonstrate with a thought experiment that fitness-based population dynamical approaches to evolution are not able to make quantitative, falsifiable predictions about the long-term behavior of some evolutionary systems. A key characteristic of evolutionary systems is the ongoing endogenous production of new species. These novel entities change the conditions for already existing species. Even Darwin's Demon, a hypothetical entity with exact knowledge of the abundance of all species and their fitness functions at a given time, could not prestate the impact of these novelties on established populations. We argue that fitness is always a posteriori knowledge--it measures but does not explain why a species has reproductive success or not. To overcome these conceptual limitations, a variational principle is proposed in a spin-model-like setup of evolutionary systems. We derive a functional which is minimized under the most general evolutionary formulation of a dynamical system, i.e., evolutionary trajectories causally emerge as a minimization of a functional. This functional allows the derivation of analytic solutions of the asymptotic diversity for stochastic evolutionary systems within a mean-field approximation. We test these approximations by numerical simulations of the corresponding model and find good agreement in the position of phase transitions in diversity curves. The model is further able to reproduce stylized facts of timeseries from several man-made and natural evolutionary systems. Light will be thrown on how species and their fitness landscapes dynamically coevolve.

Evolutionary mysteries in meiosis.

PubMed

Lenormand, Thomas; Engelstädter, Jan; Johnston, Susan E; Wijnker, Erik; Haag, Christoph R

2016-10-19

Meiosis is a key event of sexual life cycles in eukaryotes. Its mechanistic details have been uncovered in several model organisms, and most of its essential features have received various and often contradictory evolutionary interpretations. In this perspective, we present an overview of these often 'weird' features. We discuss the origin of meiosis (origin of ploidy reduction and recombination, two-step meiosis), its secondary modifications (in polyploids or asexuals, inverted meiosis), its importance in punctuating life cycles (meiotic arrests, epigenetic resetting, meiotic asymmetry, meiotic fairness) and features associated with recombination (disjunction constraints, heterochiasmy, crossover interference and hotspots). We present the various evolutionary scenarios and selective pressures that have been proposed to account for these features, and we highlight that their evolutionary significance often remains largely mysterious. Resolving these mysteries will likely provide decisive steps towards understanding why sex and recombination are found in the majority of eukaryotes.This article is part of the themed issue 'Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction'. © 2016 The Author(s).

Topology and evolution of technology innovation networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valverde, Sergi; Solé, Ricard V.; Bedau, Mark A.; Packard, Norman

2007-11-01

The web of relations linking technological innovation can be fairly described in terms of patent citations. The resulting patent citation network provides a picture of the large-scale organization of innovations and its time evolution. Here we study the patterns of change of patents registered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. We show that the scaling behavior exhibited by this network is consistent with a preferential attachment mechanism together with a Weibull-shaped aging term. Such an attachment kernel is shared by scientific citation networks, thus indicating a universal type of mechanism linking ideas and designs and their evolution. The implications for evolutionary theory of innovation are discussed.

Finding a common path: predicting gene function using inferred evolutionary trees.

PubMed

Reynolds, Kimberly A

2014-07-14

Reporting in Cell, Li and colleagues (2014) describe an innovative method to functionally classify genes using evolutionary information. This approach demonstrates broad utility for eukaryotic gene annotation and suggests an intriguing new decomposition of pathways and complexes into evolutionarily conserved modules. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The genetic basis of a plant–insect coevolutionary key innovation

PubMed Central

Wheat, Christopher W.; Vogel, Heiko; Wittstock, Ute; Braby, Michael F.; Underwood, Dessie; Mitchell-Olds, Thomas

2007-01-01

Ehrlich and Raven formally introduced the concept of stepwise coevolution using butterfly and angiosperm interactions in an attempt to account for the impressive biological diversity of these groups. However, many biologists currently envision butterflies evolving 50 to 30 million years (Myr) after the major angiosperm radiation and thus reject coevolutionary origins of butterfly biodiversity. The unresolved central tenet of Ehrlich and Raven's theory is that evolution of plant chemical defenses is followed closely by biochemical adaptation in insect herbivores, and that newly evolved detoxification mechanisms result in adaptive radiation of herbivore lineages. Using one of their original butterfly-host plant systems, the Pieridae, we identify a pierid glucosinolate detoxification mechanism, nitrile-specifier protein (NSP), as a key innovation. Larval NSP activity matches the distribution of glucosinolate in their host plants. Moreover, by using five different temporal estimates, NSP seems to have evolved shortly after the evolution of the host plant group (Brassicales) (≈10 Myr). An adaptive radiation of these glucosinolate-feeding Pierinae followed, resulting in significantly elevated species numbers compared with related clades. Mechanistic understanding in its proper historical context documents more ancient and dynamic plant–insect interactions than previously envisioned. Moreover, these mechanistic insights provide the tools for detailed molecular studies of coevolution from both the plant and insect perspectives. PMID:18077380

Evolutionary cell biology: two origins, one objective.

PubMed

Lynch, Michael; Field, Mark C; Goodson, Holly V; Malik, Harmit S; Pereira-Leal, José B; Roos, David S; Turkewitz, Aaron P; Sazer, Shelley

2014-12-02

All aspects of biological diversification ultimately trace to evolutionary modifications at the cellular level. This central role of cells frames the basic questions as to how cells work and how cells come to be the way they are. Although these two lines of inquiry lie respectively within the traditional provenance of cell biology and evolutionary biology, a comprehensive synthesis of evolutionary and cell-biological thinking is lacking. We define evolutionary cell biology as the fusion of these two eponymous fields with the theoretical and quantitative branches of biochemistry, biophysics, and population genetics. The key goals are to develop a mechanistic understanding of general evolutionary processes, while specifically infusing cell biology with an evolutionary perspective. The full development of this interdisciplinary field has the potential to solve numerous problems in diverse areas of biology, including the degree to which selection, effectively neutral processes, historical contingencies, and/or constraints at the chemical and biophysical levels dictate patterns of variation for intracellular features. These problems can now be examined at both the within- and among-species levels, with single-cell methodologies even allowing quantification of variation within genotypes. Some results from this emerging field have already had a substantial impact on cell biology, and future findings will significantly influence applications in agriculture, medicine, environmental science, and synthetic biology.

Ancient Biomolecules and Evolutionary Inference.

PubMed

Cappellini, Enrico; Prohaska, Ana; Racimo, Fernando; Welker, Frido; Pedersen, Mikkel Winther; Allentoft, Morten E; de Barros Damgaard, Peter; Gutenbrunner, Petra; Dunne, Julie; Hammann, Simon; Roffet-Salque, Mélanie; Ilardo, Melissa; Moreno-Mayar, J Víctor; Wang, Yucheng; Sikora, Martin; Vinner, Lasse; Cox, Jürgen; Evershed, Richard P; Willerslev, Eske

2018-04-25

Over the last decade, studies of ancient biomolecules-particularly ancient DNA, proteins, and lipids-have revolutionized our understanding of evolutionary history. Though initially fraught with many challenges, the field now stands on firm foundations. Researchers now successfully retrieve nucleotide and amino acid sequences, as well as lipid signatures, from progressively older samples, originating from geographic areas and depositional environments that, until recently, were regarded as hostile to long-term preservation of biomolecules. Sampling frequencies and the spatial and temporal scope of studies have also increased markedly, and with them the size and quality of the data sets generated. This progress has been made possible by continuous technical innovations in analytical methods, enhanced criteria for the selection of ancient samples, integrated experimental methods, and advanced computational approaches. Here, we discuss the history and current state of ancient biomolecule research, its applications to evolutionary inference, and future directions for this young and exciting field. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Biochemistry Volume 87 is June 20, 2018. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Eco-evolutionary feedbacks, adaptive dynamics and evolutionary rescue theory

PubMed Central

Ferriere, Regis; Legendre, Stéphane

2013-01-01

Adaptive dynamics theory has been devised to account for feedbacks between ecological and evolutionary processes. Doing so opens new dimensions to and raises new challenges about evolutionary rescue. Adaptive dynamics theory predicts that successive trait substitutions driven by eco-evolutionary feedbacks can gradually erode population size or growth rate, thus potentially raising the extinction risk. Even a single trait substitution can suffice to degrade population viability drastically at once and cause ‘evolutionary suicide’. In a changing environment, a population may track a viable evolutionary attractor that leads to evolutionary suicide, a phenomenon called ‘evolutionary trapping’. Evolutionary trapping and suicide are commonly observed in adaptive dynamics models in which the smooth variation of traits causes catastrophic changes in ecological state. In the face of trapping and suicide, evolutionary rescue requires that the population overcome evolutionary threats generated by the adaptive process itself. Evolutionary repellors play an important role in determining how variation in environmental conditions correlates with the occurrence of evolutionary trapping and suicide, and what evolutionary pathways rescue may follow. In contrast with standard predictions of evolutionary rescue theory, low genetic variation may attenuate the threat of evolutionary suicide and small population sizes may facilitate escape from evolutionary traps. PMID:23209163

Michael Akam and the rise of evolutionary developmental biology

PubMed Central

Stern, David L.; Dawes-Hoang, Rachel E.

2010-01-01

Michael Akam has been awarded the 2007 Kowalevsky medal for his many research accomplishments in the area of evolutionary developmental biology. We highlight three tributaries of Michael’s contribution to evolutionary developmental biology. First, he has made major contributions to our understanding of development of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Second, he has maintained a consistent focus on several key problems in evolutionary developmental biology, including the evolving role of Hox genes in arthropods and, more recently, the evolution of segmentation mechanisms. Third, Michael has written a series of influential reviews that have integrated progress in developmental biology into an evolutionary perspective. Michael has also made a large impact on the field through his effective mentorship style, his selfless promotion of younger colleagues, and his leadership of the University Museum of Zoology at Cambridge and the European community of evolutionary developmental biologists. PMID:20209429

Holistic Darwinism: the new evolutionary paradigm and some implications for political science.

PubMed

Corning, Peter A

2008-03-01

Holistic Darwinism is a candidate name for a major paradigm shift that is currently underway in evolutionary biology and related disciplines. Important developments include (1) a growing appreciation for the fact that evolution is a multilevel process, from genes to ecosystems, and that interdependent coevolution is a ubiquitous phenomenon in nature; (2) a revitalization of group selection theory, which was banned (prematurely) from evolutionary biology over 30 years ago (groups may in fact be important evolutionary units); (3) a growing respect for the fact that the genome is not a "bean bag" (in biologist Ernst Mayr's caricature), much less a gladiatorial arena for competing selfish genes, but a complex, interdependent, cooperating system; (4) an increased recognition that symbiosis is an important phenomenon in nature and that symbiogenesis is a major source of innovation in evolution; (5) an array of new, more advanced game theory models, which support the growing evidence that cooperation is commonplace in nature and not a rare exception; (6) new research and theoretical work that stresses the role of nurture in evolution, including developmental processes, phenotypic plasticity, social information transfer (culture), and especially the role of behavioral innovations as pacemakers of evolutionary change (e.g., niche construction theory, which is concerned with the active role of organisms in shaping the evolutionary process, and gene-culture coevolution theory, which relates especially to the dynamics of human evolution); (7) and, not least, a broad effort to account for the evolution of biological complexity--from major transition theory to the "Synergism Hypothesis." Here I will briefly review these developments and will present a case for the proposition that this paradigm shift has profound implications for the social sciences, including specifically political theory, economic theory, and political science as a discipline. Interdependent superorganisms, it

Evolutionary and differential psychology: conceptual conflicts and the path to integration

PubMed Central

Marsh, Tim; Boag, Simon

2013-01-01

Evolutionary psychology has seen the majority of its success exploring adaptive features of the mind believed to be ubiquitous across our species. This has given rise to the belief that the adaptationist approach has little to offer the field of differential psychology, which concerns itself exclusively with the ways in which individuals systematically differ. By framing the historical origins of both disciplines, and exploring the means through which they each address the unique challenges of psychological description and explanation, the present article identifies the conceptual and theoretical problems that have kept differential psychology isolated not only from evolutionary psychology, but from explanatory approaches in general. Paying special attention to these conceptual problems, the authors review how these difficulties are being overcome by contemporary evolutionary research, and offer instructive suggestions concerning how differential researchers (and others) can best build upon these innovations. PMID:24065949

Antibiotic resistance in the wild: an eco-evolutionary perspective.

PubMed

Hiltunen, Teppo; Virta, Marko; Laine, Anna-Liisa

2017-01-19

The legacy of the use and misuse of antibiotics in recent decades has left us with a global public health crisis: antibiotic-resistant bacteria are on the rise, making it harder to treat infections. At the same time, evolution of antibiotic resistance is probably the best-documented case of contemporary evolution. To date, research on antibiotic resistance has largely ignored the complexity of interactions that bacteria engage in. However, in natural populations, bacteria interact with other species; for example, competition and grazing are import interactions influencing bacterial population dynamics. Furthermore, antibiotic leakage to natural environments can radically alter bacterial communities. Overall, we argue that eco-evolutionary feedback loops in microbial communities can be modified by residual antibiotics and evolution of antibiotic resistance. The aim of this review is to connect some of the well-established key concepts in evolutionary biology and recent advances in the study of eco-evolutionary dynamics to research on antibiotic resistance. We also identify some key knowledge gaps related to eco-evolutionary dynamics of antibiotic resistance, and review some of the recent technical advantages in molecular microbiology that offer new opportunities for tackling these questions. Finally, we argue that using the full potential of evolutionary theory and active communication across the different fields is needed for solving this global crisis more efficiently.This article is part of the themed issue 'Human influences on evolution, and the ecological and societal consequences'. © 2016 The Authors.

Antibiotic resistance in the wild: an eco-evolutionary perspective

PubMed Central

Virta, Marko

2017-01-01

The legacy of the use and misuse of antibiotics in recent decades has left us with a global public health crisis: antibiotic-resistant bacteria are on the rise, making it harder to treat infections. At the same time, evolution of antibiotic resistance is probably the best-documented case of contemporary evolution. To date, research on antibiotic resistance has largely ignored the complexity of interactions that bacteria engage in. However, in natural populations, bacteria interact with other species; for example, competition and grazing are import interactions influencing bacterial population dynamics. Furthermore, antibiotic leakage to natural environments can radically alter bacterial communities. Overall, we argue that eco-evolutionary feedback loops in microbial communities can be modified by residual antibiotics and evolution of antibiotic resistance. The aim of this review is to connect some of the well-established key concepts in evolutionary biology and recent advances in the study of eco-evolutionary dynamics to research on antibiotic resistance. We also identify some key knowledge gaps related to eco-evolutionary dynamics of antibiotic resistance, and review some of the recent technical advantages in molecular microbiology that offer new opportunities for tackling these questions. Finally, we argue that using the full potential of evolutionary theory and active communication across the different fields is needed for solving this global crisis more efficiently. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Human influences on evolution, and the ecological and societal consequences'. PMID:27920384

Evolutionary adaptations: theoretical and practical implications for visual ergonomics.

PubMed

Fostervold, Knut Inge; Watten, Reidulf G; Volden, Frode

2014-01-01

The literature discussing visual ergonomics often mention that human vision is adapted to light emitted by the sun. However, theoretical and practical implications of this viewpoint is seldom discussed or taken into account. The paper discusses some of the main theoretical implications of an evolutionary approach to visual ergonomics. Based on interactional theory and ideas from ecological psychology an evolutionary stress model is proposed as a theoretical framework for future research in ergonomics and human factors. The model stresses the importance of developing work environments that fits with our evolutionary adaptations. In accordance with evolutionary psychology, the environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EEA) and evolutionarily-novel environments (EN) are used as key concepts. Using work with visual display units (VDU) as an example, the paper discusses how this knowledge can be utilized in an ergonomic analysis of risk factors in the work environment. The paper emphasises the importance of incorporating evolutionary theory in the field of ergonomics. Further, the paper encourages scientific practices that further our understanding of any phenomena beyond the borders of traditional proximal explanations.

Protein interface classification by evolutionary analysis

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Distinguishing biologically relevant interfaces from lattice contacts in protein crystals is a fundamental problem in structural biology. Despite efforts towards the computational prediction of interface character, many issues are still unresolved. Results We present here a protein-protein interface classifier that relies on evolutionary data to detect the biological character of interfaces. The classifier uses a simple geometric measure, number of core residues, and two evolutionary indicators based on the sequence entropy of homolog sequences. Both aim at detecting differential selection pressure between interface core and rim or rest of surface. The core residues, defined as fully buried residues (>95% burial), appear to be fundamental determinants of biological interfaces: their number is in itself a powerful discriminator of interface character and together with the evolutionary measures it is able to clearly distinguish evolved biological contacts from crystal ones. We demonstrate that this definition of core residues leads to distinctively better results than earlier definitions from the literature. The stringent selection and quality filtering of structural and sequence data was key to the success of the method. Most importantly we demonstrate that a more conservative selection of homolog sequences - with relatively high sequence identities to the query - is able to produce a clearer signal than previous attempts. Conclusions An evolutionary approach like the one presented here is key to the advancement of the field, which so far was missing an effective method exploiting the evolutionary character of protein interfaces. Its coverage and performance will only improve over time thanks to the incessant growth of sequence databases. Currently our method reaches an accuracy of 89% in classifying interfaces of the Ponstingl 2003 datasets and it lends itself to a variety of useful applications in structural biology and bioinformatics. We made the

The evolution of pharyngognathy: a phylogenetic and functional appraisal of the pharyngeal jaw key innovation in labroid fishes and beyond.

PubMed

Wainwright, Peter C; Smith, W Leo; Price, Samantha A; Tang, Kevin L; Sparks, John S; Ferry, Lara A; Kuhn, Kristen L; Eytan, Ron I; Near, Thomas J

2012-12-01

, Atherinomorpha, and Blennioidei. Beyond the discovery of Ovalentaria, this study provides a surprising, but well-supported, hypothesis for a convict-blenny (Pholidichthys) sister group to the charismatic cichlids and new insights into the evolution of pharyngognathy. Bayesian stochastic mapping ancestral state reconstructions indicate that pharyngognathy has evolved at least six times in percomorphs, including four separate origins in members of the former Labroidei, one origin in the Centrogenyidae, and one origin within Beloniformes. Our analyses indicate that all pharyngognathous fishes have a mechanically efficient biting mechanism enabled by the muscular sling and a single lower jaw element. However, a major distinction exists between Labridae, which lacks the widespread, generalized percomorph pharyngeal biting mechanism, and all other pharyngognathous clades, which possess this generalized biting mechanism in addition to pharyngognathy. Our results reveal a remarkable history of pharyngognathy: far from a single origin, it appears to have evolved at least six times, and its status as a major evolutionary innovation is reinforced by it being a synapomorphy for several independent major radiations, including some of the most species rich and ecologically diverse percomorph clades of coral reef and tropical freshwater fishes, Labridae and Cichlidae. [Acanthomorpha; Beloniformes; Centrogenyidae; key innovation; Labroidei; Ovalentaria; pharyngeal jaws; Perciformes.].

Evolutionary cell biology: Two origins, one objective

PubMed Central

Lynch, Michael; Field, Mark C.; Goodson, Holly V.; Malik, Harmit S.; Pereira-Leal, José B.; Roos, David S.; Turkewitz, Aaron P.; Sazer, Shelley

2014-01-01

All aspects of biological diversification ultimately trace to evolutionary modifications at the cellular level. This central role of cells frames the basic questions as to how cells work and how cells come to be the way they are. Although these two lines of inquiry lie respectively within the traditional provenance of cell biology and evolutionary biology, a comprehensive synthesis of evolutionary and cell-biological thinking is lacking. We define evolutionary cell biology as the fusion of these two eponymous fields with the theoretical and quantitative branches of biochemistry, biophysics, and population genetics. The key goals are to develop a mechanistic understanding of general evolutionary processes, while specifically infusing cell biology with an evolutionary perspective. The full development of this interdisciplinary field has the potential to solve numerous problems in diverse areas of biology, including the degree to which selection, effectively neutral processes, historical contingencies, and/or constraints at the chemical and biophysical levels dictate patterns of variation for intracellular features. These problems can now be examined at both the within- and among-species levels, with single-cell methodologies even allowing quantification of variation within genotypes. Some results from this emerging field have already had a substantial impact on cell biology, and future findings will significantly influence applications in agriculture, medicine, environmental science, and synthetic biology. PMID:25404324

Evolutionary analyses of non-genealogical bonds produced by introgressive descent.

PubMed

Bapteste, Eric; Lopez, Philippe; Bouchard, Frédéric; Baquero, Fernando; McInerney, James O; Burian, Richard M

2012-11-06

All evolutionary biologists are familiar with evolutionary units that evolve by vertical descent in a tree-like fashion in single lineages. However, many other kinds of processes contribute to evolutionary diversity. In vertical descent, the genetic material of a particular evolutionary unit is propagated by replication inside its own lineage. In what we call introgressive descent, the genetic material of a particular evolutionary unit propagates into different host structures and is replicated within these host structures. Thus, introgressive descent generates a variety of evolutionary units and leaves recognizable patterns in resemblance networks. We characterize six kinds of evolutionary units, of which five involve mosaic lineages generated by introgressive descent. To facilitate detection of these units in resemblance networks, we introduce terminology based on two notions, P3s (subgraphs of three nodes: A, B, and C) and mosaic P3s, and suggest an apparatus for systematic detection of introgressive descent. Mosaic P3s correspond to a distinct type of evolutionary bond that is orthogonal to the bonds of kinship and genealogy usually examined by evolutionary biologists. We argue that recognition of these evolutionary bonds stimulates radical rethinking of key questions in evolutionary biology (e.g., the relations among evolutionary players in very early phases of evolutionary history, the origin and emergence of novelties, and the production of new lineages). This line of research will expand the study of biological complexity beyond the usual genealogical bonds, revealing additional sources of biodiversity. It provides an important step to a more realistic pluralist treatment of evolutionary complexity.

Evolutionary Connectionism: Algorithmic Principles Underlying the Evolution of Biological Organisation in Evo-Devo, Evo-Eco and Evolutionary Transitions.

PubMed

Watson, Richard A; Mills, Rob; Buckley, C L; Kouvaris, Kostas; Jackson, Adam; Powers, Simon T; Cox, Chris; Tudge, Simon; Davies, Adam; Kounios, Loizos; Power, Daniel

2016-01-01

The mechanisms of variation, selection and inheritance, on which evolution by natural selection depends, are not fixed over evolutionary time. Current evolutionary biology is increasingly focussed on understanding how the evolution of developmental organisations modifies the distribution of phenotypic variation, the evolution of ecological relationships modifies the selective environment, and the evolution of reproductive relationships modifies the heritability of the evolutionary unit. The major transitions in evolution, in particular, involve radical changes in developmental, ecological and reproductive organisations that instantiate variation, selection and inheritance at a higher level of biological organisation. However, current evolutionary theory is poorly equipped to describe how these organisations change over evolutionary time and especially how that results in adaptive complexes at successive scales of organisation (the key problem is that evolution is self-referential, i.e. the products of evolution change the parameters of the evolutionary process). Here we first reinterpret the central open questions in these domains from a perspective that emphasises the common underlying themes. We then synthesise the findings from a developing body of work that is building a new theoretical approach to these questions by converting well-understood theory and results from models of cognitive learning. Specifically, connectionist models of memory and learning demonstrate how simple incremental mechanisms, adjusting the relationships between individually-simple components, can produce organisations that exhibit complex system-level behaviours and improve the adaptive capabilities of the system. We use the term "evolutionary connectionism" to recognise that, by functionally equivalent processes, natural selection acting on the relationships within and between evolutionary entities can result in organisations that produce complex system-level behaviours in evolutionary

Pathways and Challenges to Innovation in Aerospace

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Terrile, Richard J.

2010-01-01

This paper explores impediments to innovation in aerospace and suggests how successful pathways from other industries can be adopted to facilitate greater innovation. Because of its nature, space exploration would seem to be a ripe field of technical innovation. However, engineering can also be a frustratingly conservative endeavor when the realities of cost and risk are included. Impediments like the "find the fault" engineering culture, the treatment of technical risk as almost always evaluated in terms of negative impact, the difficult to account for expansive Moore's Law growth when making predictions, and the stove-piped structural organization of most large aerospace companies and federally funded research laboratories tend to inhibit cross-cutting technical innovation. One successful example of a multi-use cross cutting application that can scale with Moore's Law is the Evolutionary Computational Methods (ECM) technique developed at the Jet Propulsion Lab for automated spectral retrieval. Future innovations like computational engineering and automated design optimization can potentially redefine space exploration, but will require learning lessons from successful innovators.

Animal and human innovation: novel problems and novel solutions.

PubMed

Reader, Simon M; Morand-Ferron, Julie; Flynn, Emma

2016-03-19

This theme issue explores how and why behavioural innovation occurs, and the consequences of innovation for individuals, groups and populations. A vast literature on human innovation exists, from the development of problem-solving in children, to the evolution of technology, to the cultural systems supporting innovation. A more recent development is a growing literature on animal innovation, which has demonstrated links between innovation and personality traits, cognitive traits, neural measures, changing conditions, and the current state of the social and physical environment. Here, we introduce these fields, define key terms and discuss the potential for fruitful exchange between the diverse fields researching innovation. Comparisons of innovation between human and non-human animals provide opportunities, but also pitfalls. We also summarize some key findings specifying the circumstances in which innovation occurs, discussing factors such as the intrinsic nature of innovative individuals and the environmental and socio-ecological conditions that promote innovation, such as necessity, opportunity and free resources. We also highlight key controversies, including the relationship between innovation and intelligence, and the notion of innovativeness as an individual-level trait. Finally, we discuss current research methods and suggest some novel approaches that could fruitfully be deployed. © 2016 The Authors.

Animal and human innovation: novel problems and novel solutions

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

This theme issue explores how and why behavioural innovation occurs, and the consequences of innovation for individuals, groups and populations. A vast literature on human innovation exists, from the development of problem-solving in children, to the evolution of technology, to the cultural systems supporting innovation. A more recent development is a growing literature on animal innovation, which has demonstrated links between innovation and personality traits, cognitive traits, neural measures, changing conditions, and the current state of the social and physical environment. Here, we introduce these fields, define key terms and discuss the potential for fruitful exchange between the diverse fields researching innovation. Comparisons of innovation between human and non-human animals provide opportunities, but also pitfalls. We also summarize some key findings specifying the circumstances in which innovation occurs, discussing factors such as the intrinsic nature of innovative individuals and the environmental and socio-ecological conditions that promote innovation, such as necessity, opportunity and free resources. We also highlight key controversies, including the relationship between innovation and intelligence, and the notion of innovativeness as an individual-level trait. Finally, we discuss current research methods and suggest some novel approaches that could fruitfully be deployed. PMID:26926273

Diffusion of innovations dynamics, biological growth and catenary function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guseo, Renato

2016-12-01

The catenary function has a well-known role in determining the shape of chains and cables supported at their ends under the force of gravity. This enables design using a specific static equilibrium over space. Its reflected version, the catenary arch, allows the construction of bridges and arches exploiting the dual equilibrium property under uniform compression. In this paper, we emphasize a further connection with well-known aggregate biological growth models over time and the related diffusion of innovation key paradigms (e.g., logistic and Bass distributions over time) that determine self-sustaining evolutionary growth dynamics in naturalistic and socio-economic contexts. Moreover, we prove that the 'local entropy function', related to a logistic distribution, is a catenary and vice versa. This special invariance may be explained, at a deeper level, through the Verlinde's conjecture on the origin of gravity as an effect of the entropic force.

How evolutionary principles improve the understanding of human health and disease.

PubMed

Gluckman, Peter D; Low, Felicia M; Buklijas, Tatjana; Hanson, Mark A; Beedle, Alan S

2011-03-01

An appreciation of the fundamental principles of evolutionary biology provides new insights into major diseases and enables an integrated understanding of human biology and medicine. However, there is a lack of awareness of their importance amongst physicians, medical researchers, and educators, all of whom tend to focus on the mechanistic (proximate) basis for disease, excluding consideration of evolutionary (ultimate) reasons. The key principles of evolutionary medicine are that selection acts on fitness, not health or longevity; that our evolutionary history does not cause disease, but rather impacts on our risk of disease in particular environments; and that we are now living in novel environments compared to those in which we evolved. We consider these evolutionary principles in conjunction with population genetics and describe several pathways by which evolutionary processes can affect disease risk. These perspectives provide a more cohesive framework for gaining insights into the determinants of health and disease. Coupled with complementary insights offered by advances in genomic, epigenetic, and developmental biology research, evolutionary perspectives offer an important addition to understanding disease. Further, there are a number of aspects of evolutionary medicine that can add considerably to studies in other domains of contemporary evolutionary studies.

How evolutionary principles improve the understanding of human health and disease

PubMed Central

Gluckman, Peter D; Low, Felicia M; Buklijas, Tatjana; Hanson, Mark A; Beedle, Alan S

2011-01-01

An appreciation of the fundamental principles of evolutionary biology provides new insights into major diseases and enables an integrated understanding of human biology and medicine. However, there is a lack of awareness of their importance amongst physicians, medical researchers, and educators, all of whom tend to focus on the mechanistic (proximate) basis for disease, excluding consideration of evolutionary (ultimate) reasons. The key principles of evolutionary medicine are that selection acts on fitness, not health or longevity; that our evolutionary history does not cause disease, but rather impacts on our risk of disease in particular environments; and that we are now living in novel environments compared to those in which we evolved. We consider these evolutionary principles in conjunction with population genetics and describe several pathways by which evolutionary processes can affect disease risk. These perspectives provide a more cohesive framework for gaining insights into the determinants of health and disease. Coupled with complementary insights offered by advances in genomic, epigenetic, and developmental biology research, evolutionary perspectives offer an important addition to understanding disease. Further, there are a number of aspects of evolutionary medicine that can add considerably to studies in other domains of contemporary evolutionary studies. PMID:25567971

Fine-tuning citrate synthase flux potentiates and refines metabolic innovation in the Lenski evolution experiment

PubMed Central

Quandt, Erik M; Gollihar, Jimmy; Blount, Zachary D; Ellington, Andrew D; Georgiou, George; Barrick, Jeffrey E

2015-01-01

Evolutionary innovations that enable organisms to colonize new ecological niches are rare compared to gradual evolutionary changes in existing traits. We discovered that key mutations in the gltA gene, which encodes citrate synthase (CS), occurred both before and after Escherichia coli gained the ability to grow aerobically on citrate (Cit+ phenotype) during the Lenski long-term evolution experiment. The first gltA mutation, which increases CS activity by disrupting NADH-inhibition of this enzyme, is beneficial for growth on the acetate and contributed to preserving the rudimentary Cit+ trait from extinction when it first evolved. However, after Cit+ was refined by further mutations, this potentiating gltA mutation became deleterious to fitness. A second wave of beneficial gltA mutations then evolved that reduced CS activity to below the ancestral level. Thus, dynamic reorganization of central metabolism made colonizing this new nutrient niche contingent on both co-opting and overcoming a history of prior adaptation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.09696.001 PMID:26465114

Scientific Change as AN Evolutionary, Information Process: its Structural, Conceptual and Cultural Elements.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Bustany, Fatin Khalil Ismail

1989-09-01

My aim in this dissertation is to develop an evolutionary conception of science based on recent studies in evolution theory, the thermodynamics of non-equilibrium and information theory, as exemplified in the works of Prigogine, Jantsch, Wicken and Gatlin. The nature of scientific change is of interest to philosophers and historians of science. Some construe it after a revolutionary model (e.g. Kuhn), others adopt an evolutionary view (e.g. Toulmin). It appears to me that it is possible to construct an evolutionary model encompassing the revolutionary mode as well. The following strategies are employed: (1) A distinction is made between two types of growth: one represents gradual change, the other designates radical transformations, and two principles underlying the process of change, one of conservation, the other of innovation. (2) Science in general, and scientific theories in particular, are looked upon as dissipative structures. These are characterised by openness, irreversibility and self-organisation. In terms of these, one may identify a state of "normal" growth and another of violent fluctuations leading to a new order (revolutionary phase). These fluctuations are generated by the flow of information coming from the observable world. The chief merits of this evolutionary model of the development of science lie in the emphasis it puts on the relation of science to its environment, in the description of scientific change as a process of interaction between internal and external elements (structural, conceptual, and cultural), in the enhancement of our understanding progress and rationality in science, and in the post Neo -Darwinian conception of evolution, stressing self-organisation, the innovativeness of the evolutionary process and the trend toward complexification. These features are also manifested in the process of discovery, which is a fundamental part of the scientific enterprise. In addition, a distinction is made between two types of discovery

Key Trends in Institutional Changes Under Sustainable Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karpova, Olga; Pevneva, Inna; Dymova, Irina; Kostina, Tatiana; Li, Sergey

2017-11-01

The article is devoted to the consideration of the essential problems of accounting institution formation under the sustainable development of the country and the region. The research is based on the key research the field of the intuition economics and considers the trends of institutional changes including incremental, evolutionary and revolutionary. Approaches to the analysis of institutions are presented as well. The first approach states that economic efficiency is guaranteed by newly emerging institutions. The second approach involves certain internal and external incentives for changing institutions. Whereas the third approach insists on considering institutional changes to be the relation of individual economic entities to institutional innovations in terms of the net benefit from their implementation. The conclusion draws the leading role of the state in the process of the emergence and further development of newly created institutions focusing on the fact that not every change leads to greater efficiency. Thus it is crucial to consider the previous background of institutions development at implementing changes in accounting and control.

The life-history basis of behavioural innovations

PubMed Central

Sol, Daniel; Sayol, Ferran; Ducatez, Simon; Lefebvre, Louis

2016-01-01

The evolutionary origin of innovativeness remains puzzling because innovating means responding to novel or unusual problems and hence is unlikely to be selected by itself. A plausible alternative is considering innovativeness as a co-opted product of traits that have evolved for other functions yet together predispose individuals to solve problems by adopting novel behaviours. However, this raises the question of why these adaptations should evolve together in an animal. Here, we develop the argument that the adaptations enabling animals to innovate evolve together because they are jointly part of a life-history strategy for coping with environmental changes. In support of this claim, we present comparative evidence showing that in birds, (i) innovative propensity is linked to life histories that prioritize future over current reproduction, (ii) the link is in part explained by differences in brain size, and (iii) innovative propensity and life-history traits may evolve together in generalist species that frequently expose themselves to novel or unusual conditions. Combined with previous evidence, these findings suggest that innovativeness is not a specialized adaptation but more likely part of a broader general adaptive system to cope with changes in the environment. PMID:26926277

Barriers to innovation in human rabies prophylaxis and treatment: A causal analysis of insights from key opinion leaders and literature.

PubMed

van de Burgwal, L H M; Neevel, A M G; Pittens, C A C M; Osterhaus, A D M E; Rupprecht, C E; Claassen, E

2017-12-01

Rabies is an essentially 100% fatal, zoonotic disease, caused by Lyssaviruses. Currently, the disease is vaccine-preventable with pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP). Still, rabies virus is estimated to cause up to 60,000 human deaths annually, of which the vast majority occurs in rural Asia and Africa, due to the inaccessibility of prophylaxis and non-existence of treatment. Despite these unmet clinical needs, rabies control mainly focuses on the sylvatic reservoir and drug innovation receives relatively little attention compared to other neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). As such, the lag of innovation in human rabies prophylaxis and treatment cannot be explained by limited return on investment alone. Strategies countering rabies-specific innovation barriers are important for the acceleration of innovation in human rabies prophylaxis and treatment. Barriers throughout society, science, business development and market domains were identified through literature review and 23 semi-structured interviews with key opinion leaders worldwide. A subsequent root cause analysis revealed causal relations between innovation barriers and a limited set of root causes. Finally, prioritization by experts indicated their relative importance. Root causes, which are fundamental to barriers, were aggregated into four types: market and commercial, stakeholder collaboration, public health and awareness, and disease trajectory. These were found in all domains of the innovation process and thus are relevant for all stakeholders. This study identifies barriers that were not previously described in this specific context, for example the competition for funding between medical and veterinary approaches. The results stress the existence of barriers beyond the limited return on investment and thereby explain why innovation in human rabies medication is lagging behind NTDs with a lower burden of disease. A re-orientation on the full spectrum of barriers that hinder innovation in

Chaos or transformation? Managing innovation.

PubMed

Manion, J

1993-05-01

Nurse innovation is the key to transformation of the healthcare organization and the healthcare system. This article offers the nurse executive and the leadership team a way to assess innovative tendencies of their department or organization and determine where strengths and trouble spots exist. The author discusses a five-phase innovation management process with suggested interventions for each phase.

Economic and evolutionary hypotheses for cross-population variation in parochialism.

PubMed

Hruschka, Daniel J; Henrich, Joseph

2013-09-11

Human populations differ reliably in the degree to which people favor family, friends, and community members over strangers and outsiders. In the last decade, researchers have begun to propose several economic and evolutionary hypotheses for these cross-population differences in parochialism. In this paper, we outline major current theories and review recent attempts to test them. We also discuss the key methodological challenges in assessing these diverse economic and evolutionary theories for cross-population differences in parochialism.

Economic and evolutionary hypotheses for cross-population variation in parochialism

PubMed Central

Hruschka, Daniel J.; Henrich, Joseph

2013-01-01

Human populations differ reliably in the degree to which people favor family, friends, and community members over strangers and outsiders. In the last decade, researchers have begun to propose several economic and evolutionary hypotheses for these cross-population differences in parochialism. In this paper, we outline major current theories and review recent attempts to test them. We also discuss the key methodological challenges in assessing these diverse economic and evolutionary theories for cross-population differences in parochialism. PMID:24062662

PTH Reloaded: A New Evolutionary Perspective

PubMed Central

Suarez-Bregua, Paula; Cal, Laura; Cañestro, Cristian; Rotllant, Josep

2017-01-01

The parathyroid hormone (PTH) family is a group of structurally-related secreted peptides involved in bone mineral homeostasis and multitude of developmental processes in vertebrates. These peptides mediate actions through PTH receptors (PTHRs), which belong to the transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor group. To date, genes encoding for PTH and PTHR have only been identified in chordates, suggesting that this signaling pathway may be an evolutionary innovation of our phylum. In vertebrates, we found up to six PTH and three PTHR different paralogs, varying in number between mammals and teleost fishes due to the different rounds of whole-genome duplication and specific gene losses suffered between the two groups of animals. The diversification of the PTH gene family has been accompanied by both functional divergence and convergence, making sometimes difficult the comparison between PTH peptides of teleosts and mammals. Here, we review the roles of all Pth peptides in fishes, and based on the evolutionary history of PTH paralogs, we propose a new and simple nomenclature from PTH1 to PTH4. Moreover, the recent characterization of the Pth4 in zebrafish allows us to consider the prominent role of the brain-to-bone signaling pathway in the regulation of bone development and homeostasis. Finally, comparison between PTH peptides of fish and mammals allows us to discuss an evolutionary model for PTH functions related to bone mineral balance during the vertebrate transition from an aquatic to a terrestrial environment. PMID:29062283

Darwin in Mind: New Opportunities for Evolutionary Psychology

PubMed Central

Bolhuis, Johan J.; Brown, Gillian R.; Richardson, Robert C.; Laland, Kevin N.

2011-01-01

Evolutionary Psychology (EP) views the human mind as organized into many modules, each underpinned by psychological adaptations designed to solve problems faced by our Pleistocene ancestors. We argue that the key tenets of the established EP paradigm require modification in the light of recent findings from a number of disciplines, including human genetics, evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, and paleoecology. For instance, many human genes have been subject to recent selective sweeps; humans play an active, constructive role in co-directing their own development and evolution; and experimental evidence often favours a general process, rather than a modular account, of cognition. A redefined EP could use the theoretical insights of modern evolutionary biology as a rich source of hypotheses concerning the human mind, and could exploit novel methods from a variety of adjacent research fields. PMID:21811401

Manufacturing Innovation and Technological Superiority

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

Defense AT&L: September-October 2016 2 From the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisit ion, Technology, and Logist ics Manufacturing Innovation ...program to establish Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs) that would create incubators for advanced manufacturing technology in key

Innovation in Health Care Delivery.

PubMed

Sharan, Alok D; Schroeder, Gregory D; West, Michael E; Vaccaro, Alexander R

2016-02-01

As reimbursement transitions from a volume-based to a value-based system, innovation in health care delivery will be needed. The process of innovation begins with framing the problem that needs to be solved along with the strategic vision that has to be achieved. Similar to scientific testing, a hypothesis is generated for a new solution to a problem. Innovation requires conducting a disciplined form of experimentation and then learning from the process. This manuscript will discuss the different types of innovation, and the key steps necessary for successful innovation in the health care field.

The Origin and Evolutionary Consequences of Skeletal Traits Shaped by Embryonic Muscular Activity, from Basal Theropods to Modern Birds.

PubMed

Vargas, Alexander O; Ruiz-Flores, Macarena; Soto-Acuña, Sergio; Haidr, Nadia; Acosta-Hospitaleche, Carolina; Ossa-Fuentes, Luis; Muñoz-Walther, Vicente

2017-12-01

Embryonic muscular activity (EMA) is involved in the development of several distinctive traits of birds. Modern avian diversity and the fossil record of the dinosaur-bird transition allow special insight into their evolution. Traits shaped by EMA result from mechanical forces acting at post-morphogenetic stages, such that genes often play a very indirect role. Their origin seldom suggests direct selection for the trait, but a side-effect of other changes such as musculo-skeletal rearrangements, heterochrony in skeletal maturation, or increased incubation temperature (which increases EMA). EMA-shaped traits like sesamoids may be inconstant, highly conserved, or even disappear and then reappear in evolution. Some sesamoids may become increasingly influenced in evolution by genetic-molecular mechanisms (genetic assimilation). There is also ample evidence of evolutionary transitions from sesamoids to bony eminences at tendon insertion sites, and vice-versa. This can be explained by newfound similarities in the earliest development of both kinds of structures, which suggest these transitions are likely triggered by EMA. Other traits that require EMA for their formation will not necessarily undergo genetic assimilation, but still be conserved over tens and hundreds of millions of years, allowing evolutionary reduction and loss of other skeletal elements. Upon their origin, EMA-shaped traits may not be directly genetic, nor immediately adaptive. Nevertheless, EMA can play a key role in evolutionary innovation, and have consequences for the subsequent direction of evolutionary change. Its role may be more important and ubiquitous than currently suspected. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

[Evolutionary medicine: the future looking at the past].

PubMed

Carvalho, Serafim; Rosado, Margarida

2008-01-01

Evolutionary medicine is an emergent basic science that offers new and varied perspectives to the comprehension of the human health and disease, considering them as a result of a gap between our modern lives and the environment where human beings evolve. This work's goals are to understand the importance of the evolutionary theories on concepts of health and disease, providing a new insight on medicine investigation. This bibliography review is based on Medline and PsycINFO articles research between 1996 and 2007 about review and experimental studies published in English, using the key words evolutionary and medicine, psychiatry, psychology, behaviour, health, disease, gene. There were selected forty-five articles based on and with special interest on the authors' practice. There were also consulted some allusive books. The present human genome and phenotypes are essentially Palaeolithic ones: they are not adapted to the modern life style, thus favouring the so called diseases of civilization. Fitting evolutionary strategies, apparently protective ones, when excessive, are the core syndromes of many emotional disruptive behaviours and diseases. Having the stone age's genes, we are obliged to live in the space age. With the evolutionary approach, postmodern medicine is detecting better the vulnerabilities, restrictions, biases, adaptations and maladaptations of human body, its actual diseases and its preventions and treatment.

Recovery after mass extinction: evolutionary assembly in large-scale biosphere dynamics.

PubMed Central

Solé, Ricard V; Montoya, José M; Erwin, Douglas H

2002-01-01

Biotic recoveries following mass extinctions are characterized by a process in which whole ecologies are reconstructed from low-diversity systems, often characterized by opportunistic groups. The recovery process provides an unexpected window to ecosystem dynamics. In many aspects, recovery is very similar to ecological succession, but important differences are also apparently linked to the innovative patterns of niche construction observed in the fossil record. In this paper, we analyse the similarities and differences between ecological succession and evolutionary recovery to provide a preliminary ecological theory of recoveries. A simple evolutionary model with three trophic levels is presented, and its properties (closely resembling those observed in the fossil record) are compared with characteristic patterns of ecological response to disturbances in continuous models of three-level ecosystems. PMID:12079530

Evolutionary transitions in controls reconcile adaptation with continuity of evolution.

PubMed

Badyaev, Alexander V

2018-05-19

Evolution proceeds by accumulating functional solutions, necessarily forming an uninterrupted lineage from past solutions of ancestors to the current design of extant forms. At the population level, this process requires an organismal architecture in which the maintenance of local adaptation does not preclude the ability to innovate in the same traits and their continuous evolution. Representing complex traits as networks enables us to visualize a fundamental principle that resolves tension between adaptation and continuous evolution: phenotypic states encompassing adaptations traverse the continuous multi-layered landscape of past physical, developmental and functional associations among traits. The key concept that captures such traversing is network controllability - the ability to move a network from one state into another while maintaining its functionality (reflecting evolvability) and to efficiently propagate information or products through the network within a phenotypic state (maintaining its robustness). Here I suggest that transitions in network controllability - specifically in the topology of controls - help to explain how robustness and evolvability are balanced during evolution. I will focus on evolutionary transitions in degeneracy of metabolic networks - a ubiquitous property of phenotypic robustness where distinct pathways achieve the same end product - to suggest that associated changes in network controls is a common rule underlying phenomena as distinct as phenotypic plasticity, organismal accommodation of novelties, genetic assimilation, and macroevolutionary diversification. Capitalizing on well understood principles by which network structure translates into function of control nodes, I show that accumulating redundancy in one type of network controls inevitably leads to the emergence of another type of controls, forming evolutionary cycles of network controllability that, ultimately, reconcile local adaptation with continuity of evolution

Canadian cardiac surgeons' perspectives on biomedical innovation.

PubMed

Snyman, Gretchen; Tucker, Joseph E L; Cimini, Massimo; Narine, Kishan; Fedak, Paul W M

2012-01-01

Barriers to successful innovation can be identified and potentially addressed by exploring the perspectives of key stakeholders in the innovation process. Cardiac surgeons in Canada were surveyed for personal perspectives on biomedical innovation. Quantitative data was obtained by questionnaire and qualitative data via interviews with selected survey participants. Surgeons were asked to self-identify into 1 of 3 categories: "innovator," "early adopter," or "late adopter," and data were compared between groups. Most surgeons viewed innovation favourably and this effect was consistent irrespective of perceived level of innovativeness. Key barriers to the innovation pathway were identified: (1) support from colleagues and institutions; (2) Canada's health system; (3) sufficient investment capital; and (4) the culture of innovation within the local environment. Knowledge of the innovation process was perceived differently based on self-reported innovativeness. The majority of surgeons did not perceive themselves as having the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively translate innovative ideas to clinical practice. In general, responses indicate support for implementation of leadership and training programs focusing on the innovation process in an effort to prepare surgeons and enhance their ability to successfully innovate and translate new therapies. The perspectives of cardiac surgeons provide an intriguing portal into the challenges and opportunities for healthcare innovation in Canada. Copyright © 2012 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

What have humans done for evolutionary biology? Contributions from genes to populations.

PubMed

Briga, Michael; Griffin, Robert M; Berger, Vérane; Pettay, Jenni E; Lummaa, Virpi

2017-11-15

Many fundamental concepts in evolutionary biology were discovered using non-human study systems. Humans are poorly suited to key study designs used to advance this field, and are subject to cultural, technological, and medical influences often considered to restrict the pertinence of human studies to other species and general contexts. Whether studies using current and recent human populations provide insights that have broader biological relevance in evolutionary biology is, therefore, frequently questioned. We first surveyed researchers in evolutionary biology and related fields on their opinions regarding whether studies on contemporary humans can advance evolutionary biology. Almost all 442 participants agreed that humans still evolve, but fewer agreed that this occurs through natural selection. Most agreed that human studies made valuable contributions to evolutionary biology, although those less exposed to human studies expressed more negative views. With a series of examples, we discuss strengths and limitations of evolutionary studies on contemporary humans. These show that human studies provide fundamental insights into evolutionary processes, improve understanding of the biology of many other species, and will make valuable contributions to evolutionary biology in the future. © 2017 The Author(s).

What have humans done for evolutionary biology? Contributions from genes to populations

PubMed Central

Briga, Michael; Griffin, Robert M.; Berger, Vérane; Pettay, Jenni E.

2017-01-01

Many fundamental concepts in evolutionary biology were discovered using non-human study systems. Humans are poorly suited to key study designs used to advance this field, and are subject to cultural, technological, and medical influences often considered to restrict the pertinence of human studies to other species and general contexts. Whether studies using current and recent human populations provide insights that have broader biological relevance in evolutionary biology is, therefore, frequently questioned. We first surveyed researchers in evolutionary biology and related fields on their opinions regarding whether studies on contemporary humans can advance evolutionary biology. Almost all 442 participants agreed that humans still evolve, but fewer agreed that this occurs through natural selection. Most agreed that human studies made valuable contributions to evolutionary biology, although those less exposed to human studies expressed more negative views. With a series of examples, we discuss strengths and limitations of evolutionary studies on contemporary humans. These show that human studies provide fundamental insights into evolutionary processes, improve understanding of the biology of many other species, and will make valuable contributions to evolutionary biology in the future. PMID:29118130

Investigating the evolutionary history of irrigated agricultural technology in the Heihe River Basin, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, S.; Wei, Y.; Zhao, Y.; Zheng, H.

2017-12-01

Human's innovative abilities do not only enable rapid expansion of civilization, but also lead to enormous modifications on the natural environment. Technology, while a key factor embedded in socioeconomic developments, its impacts have been rarely appropriately considered in river basin management. This research aims to examine the evolutionary history of irrigated agricultural technology in the Heihe River Basin, China, and how its characteristics interacted with the river basin environment. It adopts a content analysis approach to collect and summarize quantitative technological information in the Heihe River Basin across a time span of more than 2000 years from the Han Dynasty (206 BC) to 2015. Two Chinese academic research databases: Wan Fang Data and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were chosen as data sources. The results show that irrigated agricultural technologies in Heihe River Basin have shifted from focusing on developing new farming tools and cultivation methods to adapting modernized, water-saving irrigation methods and water diversion infrastructures. In additions, the center of irrigated agricultural technology in the Heihe river basin has moved from downstream to middle stream since the Ming Dynasty (1368AD) as a result of degraded natural environment. The developing trend of technology in the Heihe River Basin thus coincides with the change of societal focus from agricultural production efficiency to the human-water balance and environmental remediation. This research demonstrates that irrigated agricultural technologies had a twisted evolutionary history in the Heihe River Basin, influenced by a diverse range of environmental and socioeconomic factors. It provides insights into the fact that technology exhibits a co-evolutionary characteristic with the social development history in the region, pointing towards the urgent need to maintain the balance between human and environment.

The magnitude of innovation and its evolution in social animals.

PubMed

Arbilly, Michal; Laland, Kevin N

2017-02-08

Innovative behaviour in animals, ranging from invertebrates to humans, is increasingly recognized as an important topic for investigation by behavioural researchers. However, what constitutes an innovation remains controversial, and difficult to quantify. Drawing on a broad definition whereby any behaviour with a new component to it is an innovation, we propose a quantitative measure, which we call the magnitude of innovation , to describe the extent to which an innovative behaviour is novel. This allows us to distinguish between innovations that are a slight change to existing behaviours (low magnitude), and innovations that are substantially different (high magnitude). Using mathematical modelling and evolutionary computer simulations, we explored how aspects of social interaction, cognition and natural selection affect the frequency and magnitude of innovation. We show that high-magnitude innovations are likely to arise regularly even if the frequency of innovation is low, as long as this frequency is relatively constant, and that the selectivity of social learning and the existence of social rewards, such as prestige and royalties, are crucial for innovative behaviour to evolve. We suggest that consideration of the magnitude of innovation may prove a useful tool in the study of the evolution of cognition and of culture. © 2017 The Author(s).

The magnitude of innovation and its evolution in social animals

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Innovative behaviour in animals, ranging from invertebrates to humans, is increasingly recognized as an important topic for investigation by behavioural researchers. However, what constitutes an innovation remains controversial, and difficult to quantify. Drawing on a broad definition whereby any behaviour with a new component to it is an innovation, we propose a quantitative measure, which we call the magnitude of innovation, to describe the extent to which an innovative behaviour is novel. This allows us to distinguish between innovations that are a slight change to existing behaviours (low magnitude), and innovations that are substantially different (high magnitude). Using mathematical modelling and evolutionary computer simulations, we explored how aspects of social interaction, cognition and natural selection affect the frequency and magnitude of innovation. We show that high-magnitude innovations are likely to arise regularly even if the frequency of innovation is low, as long as this frequency is relatively constant, and that the selectivity of social learning and the existence of social rewards, such as prestige and royalties, are crucial for innovative behaviour to evolve. We suggest that consideration of the magnitude of innovation may prove a useful tool in the study of the evolution of cognition and of culture. PMID:28179515

A Locomotor Innovation Enables Water-Land Transition in a Marine Fish

PubMed Central

Hsieh, Shi-Tong Tonia

2010-01-01

Background Morphological innovations that significantly enhance performance capacity may enable exploitation of new resources and invasion of new ecological niches. The invasion of land from the aquatic realm requires dramatic structural and physiological modifications to permit survival in a gravity-dominated, aerial environment. Most fishes are obligatorily aquatic, with amphibious fishes typically making slow-moving and short forays on to land. Methodology/Principal Findings Here I describe the behaviors and movements of a little known marine fish that moves extraordinarily rapidly on land. I found that the Pacific leaping blenny, Alticus arnoldorum, employs a tail-twisting movement on land, previously unreported in fishes. Focal point behavioral observations of Alticus show that they have largely abandoned the marine realm, feed and reproduce on land, and even defend terrestrial territories. Comparisons of these blennies' terrestrial kinematic and kinetic (i.e., force) measurements with those of less terrestrial sister genera show A. arnoldorum move with greater stability and locomotor control, and can move away more rapidly from impending threats. Conclusions/Significance My results demonstrate that axial tail twisting serves as a key innovation enabling invasion of a novel marine niche. This paper highlights the potential of using this system to address general evolutionary questions about water-land transitions and niche invasions. PMID:20585564

Evolutionary Nephrology.

PubMed

Chevalier, Robert L

2017-05-01

Progressive kidney disease follows nephron loss, hyperfiltration, and incomplete repair, a process described as "maladaptive." In the past 20 years, a new discipline has emerged that expands research horizons: evolutionary medicine. In contrast to physiologic (homeostatic) adaptation, evolutionary adaptation is the result of reproductive success that reflects natural selection. Evolutionary explanations for physiologically maladaptive responses can emerge from mismatch of the phenotype with environment or evolutionary tradeoffs. Evolutionary adaptation to a terrestrial environment resulted in a vulnerable energy-consuming renal tubule and a hypoxic, hyperosmolar microenvironment. Natural selection favors successful energy investment strategy: energy is allocated to maintenance of nephron integrity through reproductive years, but this declines with increasing senescence after ~40 years of age. Risk factors for chronic kidney disease include restricted fetal growth or preterm birth (life history tradeoff resulting in fewer nephrons), evolutionary selection for APOL1 mutations (that provide resistance to trypanosome infection, a tradeoff), and modern life experience (Western diet mismatch leading to diabetes and hypertension). Current advances in genomics, epigenetics, and developmental biology have revealed proximate causes of kidney disease, but attempts to slow kidney disease remain elusive. Evolutionary medicine provides a complementary approach by addressing ultimate causes of kidney disease. Marked variation in nephron number at birth, nephron heterogeneity, and changing susceptibility to kidney injury throughout life history are the result of evolutionary processes. Combined application of molecular genetics, evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), developmental programming and life history theory may yield new strategies for prevention and treatment of chronic kidney disease.

Attachment in Middle Childhood: An Evolutionary-Developmental Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Del Giudice, Marco

2015-01-01

Middle childhood is a key transitional stage in the development of attachment processes and representations. Here I discuss the middle childhood transition from an evolutionary-developmental perspective and show how this approach offers fresh insight into the function and organization of attachment in this life stage. I begin by presenting an…

Eco-evolutionary feedbacks drive species interactions

PubMed Central

Andrade-Domínguez, Andrés; Salazar, Emmanuel; del Carmen Vargas-Lagunas, María; Kolter, Roberto; Encarnación, Sergio

2014-01-01

In the biosphere, many species live in close proximity and can thus interact in many different ways. Such interactions are dynamic and fall along a continuum between antagonism and cooperation. Because interspecies interactions are the key to understanding biological communities, it is important to know how species interactions arise and evolve. Here, we show that the feedback between ecological and evolutionary processes has a fundamental role in the emergence and dynamics of species interaction. Using a two-species artificial community, we demonstrate that ecological processes and rapid evolution interact to influence the dynamics of the symbiosis between a eukaryote (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and a bacterium (Rhizobium etli). The simplicity of our experimental design enables an explicit statement of causality. The niche-constructing activities of the fungus were the key ecological process: it allowed the establishment of a commensal relationship that switched to ammensalism and provided the selective conditions necessary for the adaptive evolution of the bacteria. In this latter state, the bacterial population radiates into more than five genotypes that vary with respect to nutrient transport, metabolic strategies and global regulation. Evolutionary diversification of the bacterial populations has strong effects on the community; the nature of interaction subsequently switches from ammensalism to antagonism where bacteria promote yeast extinction. Our results demonstrate the importance of the evolution-to-ecology pathway in the persistence of interactions and the stability of communities. Thus, eco-evolutionary dynamics have the potential to transform the structure and functioning of ecosystems. Our results suggest that these dynamics should be considered to improve our understanding of beneficial and detrimental host–microbe interactions. PMID:24304674

The innovation process centre stage.

PubMed

2005-09-01

London's Olympia 2 was the venue for the first Medical Device Technology Innovation Forum. The event was characterised by dialogue and discussion that explored the key issues involved in delivering clinical need through innovative products to the end user. Highlights of the event are reported here.

Spatial evolutionary epidemiology of spreading epidemics

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Most spatial models of host–parasite interactions either neglect the possibility of pathogen evolution or consider that this process is slow enough for epidemiological dynamics to reach an equilibrium on a fast timescale. Here, we propose a novel approach to jointly model the epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of spatially structured host and pathogen populations. Starting from a multi-strain epidemiological model, we use a combination of spatial moment equations and quantitative genetics to analyse the dynamics of mean transmission and virulence in the population. A key insight of our approach is that, even in the absence of long-term evolutionary consequences, spatial structure can affect the short-term evolution of pathogens because of the build-up of spatial differentiation in mean virulence. We show that spatial differentiation is driven by a balance between epidemiological and genetic effects, and this quantity is related to the effect of kin competition discussed in previous studies of parasite evolution in spatially structured host populations. Our analysis can be used to understand and predict the transient evolutionary dynamics of pathogens and the emergence of spatial patterns of phenotypic variation. PMID:27798295

Spatial evolutionary epidemiology of spreading epidemics.

PubMed

Lion, S; Gandon, S

2016-10-26

Most spatial models of host-parasite interactions either neglect the possibility of pathogen evolution or consider that this process is slow enough for epidemiological dynamics to reach an equilibrium on a fast timescale. Here, we propose a novel approach to jointly model the epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of spatially structured host and pathogen populations. Starting from a multi-strain epidemiological model, we use a combination of spatial moment equations and quantitative genetics to analyse the dynamics of mean transmission and virulence in the population. A key insight of our approach is that, even in the absence of long-term evolutionary consequences, spatial structure can affect the short-term evolution of pathogens because of the build-up of spatial differentiation in mean virulence. We show that spatial differentiation is driven by a balance between epidemiological and genetic effects, and this quantity is related to the effect of kin competition discussed in previous studies of parasite evolution in spatially structured host populations. Our analysis can be used to understand and predict the transient evolutionary dynamics of pathogens and the emergence of spatial patterns of phenotypic variation. © 2016 The Author(s).

For the General Internist: A Summary of Key Innovations in Medical Education.

PubMed

Roy, Brita; Chheda, Shobhina G; Bates, Carol; Dunn, Kathel; Karani, Reena; Willett, Lisa L

2016-08-01

We conducted a review of published medical education articles to identify high-quality research and innovation relevant to educators in general medicine. Our review team consisted of six general internists with expertise in medical education and a professional medical librarian. We manually searched 15 journals in pairs (a total of 3062 citations) for original research articles in medical education published in 2014. Each pair of reviewers independently rated the relevance, importance, and generalizability of articles on medical education in their assigned journals using a 27-point scale (maximum of 9 points for each characteristic). From this list, each team member independently reviewed the 22 articles that received a score of 20 or higher from both initial reviewers, and for each selected article rated the quality and global relevance for the generalist educator. We included the seven top-rated articles for presentation in this review, and categorized the studies into four general themes: continuity clinic scheduling, remediation, interprofessional education, and quality improvement and patient safety. We summarized key findings and identified significant limitations of each study. Further studies assessing patient outcomes are needed to strengthen the literature in medical education. This summary of relevant medical education articles can inform future research, teaching, and practice.

How ownership rights over microorganisms affect infectious disease control and innovation: A root-cause analysis of barriers to data sharing as experienced by key stakeholders.

PubMed

Ribeiro, Carolina Dos S; van Roode, Martine Y; Haringhuizen, George B; Koopmans, Marion P; Claassen, Eric; van de Burgwal, Linda H M

2018-01-01

Genetic information of pathogens is an essential input for infectious disease control, public health and for research. Efficiency in preventing and responding to global outbreaks relies on timely access to such information. Still, ownership barriers stand in the way of timely sharing of genetic data from pathogens, frustrating efficient public health responses and ultimately the potential use of such resources in innovations. Under a One Health approach, stakeholders, their interests and ownership issues are manifold and need to be investigated. We interviewed key actors from governmental and non-governmental bodies to identify overlapping and conflicting interests, and the overall challenges for sharing pathogen data, to provide essential inputs to the further development of political and practical strategies for improved data sharing practices. To identify and prioritize barriers, 52 Key Opinion Leaders were interviewed. A root-cause analysis was performed to identify causal relations between barriers. Finally, barriers were mapped to the innovation cycle reflecting how they affect the range of surveillance, innovation, and sharing activities. Four main barrier categories were found: compliance to regulations, negative consequences, self-interest, and insufficient incentives for compliance. When grouped in sectors (research institutes, public health organizations, supra-national organizations and industry) stakeholders appear to have similar interests, more than when grouped in domains (human, veterinary and food). Considering the innovation process, most of barriers could be mapped to the initial stages of the innovation cycle as sampling and sequencing phases. These are stages of primary importance to outbreak control and public health response. A minority of barriers applied to later stages in the innovation cycle, which are of more importance to product development. Overall, barriers are complex and entangled, due to the diversity of causal factors and their

How ownership rights over microorganisms affect infectious disease control and innovation: A root-cause analysis of barriers to data sharing as experienced by key stakeholders

PubMed Central

Haringhuizen, George B.; Koopmans, Marion P.; Claassen, Eric; van de Burgwal, Linda H. M.

2018-01-01

Background Genetic information of pathogens is an essential input for infectious disease control, public health and for research. Efficiency in preventing and responding to global outbreaks relies on timely access to such information. Still, ownership barriers stand in the way of timely sharing of genetic data from pathogens, frustrating efficient public health responses and ultimately the potential use of such resources in innovations. Under a One Health approach, stakeholders, their interests and ownership issues are manifold and need to be investigated. We interviewed key actors from governmental and non-governmental bodies to identify overlapping and conflicting interests, and the overall challenges for sharing pathogen data, to provide essential inputs to the further development of political and practical strategies for improved data sharing practices. Methods & findings To identify and prioritize barriers, 52 Key Opinion Leaders were interviewed. A root-cause analysis was performed to identify causal relations between barriers. Finally, barriers were mapped to the innovation cycle reflecting how they affect the range of surveillance, innovation, and sharing activities. Four main barrier categories were found: compliance to regulations, negative consequences, self-interest, and insufficient incentives for compliance. When grouped in sectors (research institutes, public health organizations, supra-national organizations and industry) stakeholders appear to have similar interests, more than when grouped in domains (human, veterinary and food). Considering the innovation process, most of barriers could be mapped to the initial stages of the innovation cycle as sampling and sequencing phases. These are stages of primary importance to outbreak control and public health response. A minority of barriers applied to later stages in the innovation cycle, which are of more importance to product development. Conclusion Overall, barriers are complex and entangled, due to

Innovating in the Real World: Exploring Institutional Effects on Tertiary Teacher Innovations in New Zealand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawrence, Belinda

2018-01-01

Innovation is a key goal of many tertiary education and distance learning providers. This research explores how teachers and educational designers across three New Zealand tertiary institutions worked to innovatively achieve teaching goals. A longitudinal design using the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) framework explored the influence…

Species diversity vs. morphological disparity in the light of evolutionary developmental biology

PubMed Central

Minelli, Alessandro

2016-01-01

Background Two indicators of a clade’s success are its diversity (number of included species) and its disparity (extent of morphospace occupied by its members). Many large genera show high diversity with low disparity, while others such as Euphorbia and Drosophila are highly diverse but also exhibit high disparity. The largest genera are often characterized by key innovations that often, but not necessarily, coincide with their diagnostic apomorphies. In terms of their contribution to speciation, apomorphies are either permissive (e.g. flightlessness) or generative (e.g. nectariferous spurs). Scope Except for Drosophila, virtually no genus among those with the highest diversity or disparity includes species currently studied as model species in developmental genetics or evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo). An evo-devo approach is, however, potentially important to understand how diversity and disparity could rapidly increase in the largest genera currently accepted by taxonomists. The most promising directions for future research and a set of key questions to be addressed are presented in this review. Conclusions From an evo-devo perspective, the evolution of clades with high diversity and/or disparity can be addressed from three main perspectives: (1) evolvability, in terms of release from previous constraints and of the presence of genetic or developmental conditions favouring multiple parallel occurrences of a given evolutionary transition and its reversal; (2) phenotypic plasticity as a facilitator of speciation; and (3) modularity, heterochrony and a coupling between the complexity of the life cycle and the evolution of diversity and disparity in a clade. This simple preliminary analysis suggests a set of topics that deserve priority for scrutiny, including the possible role of saltational evolution in the origination of high diversity and/or disparity, the predictability of morphological evolution following release from a former constraint, and

Species diversity vs. morphological disparity in the light of evolutionary developmental biology.

PubMed

Minelli, Alessandro

2016-04-01

Two indicators of a clade's success are its diversity (number of included species) and its disparity (extent of morphospace occupied by its members). Many large genera show high diversity with low disparity, while others such as Euphorbia and Drosophila are highly diverse but also exhibit high disparity. The largest genera are often characterized by key innovations that often, but not necessarily, coincide with their diagnostic apomorphies. In terms of their contribution to speciation, apomorphies are either permissive (e.g. flightlessness) or generative (e.g. nectariferous spurs). Except for Drosophila, virtually no genus among those with the highest diversity or disparity includes species currently studied as model species in developmental genetics or evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo). An evo-devo approach is, however, potentially important to understand how diversity and disparity could rapidly increase in the largest genera currently accepted by taxonomists. The most promising directions for future research and a set of key questions to be addressed are presented in this review. From an evo-devo perspective, the evolution of clades with high diversity and/or disparity can be addressed from three main perspectives: (1) evolvability, in terms of release from previous constraints and of the presence of genetic or developmental conditions favouring multiple parallel occurrences of a given evolutionary transition and its reversal; (2) phenotypic plasticity as a facilitator of speciation; and (3) modularity, heterochrony and a coupling between the complexity of the life cycle and the evolution of diversity and disparity in a clade. This simple preliminary analysis suggests a set of topics that deserve priority for scrutiny, including the possible role of saltational evolution in the origination of high diversity and/or disparity, the predictability of morphological evolution following release from a former constraint, and the extent and the possible

An evolutionary perspective on the systems of adaptive immunity.

PubMed

Müller, Viktor; de Boer, Rob J; Bonhoeffer, Sebastian; Szathmáry, Eörs

2018-02-01

We propose an evolutionary perspective to classify and characterize the diverse systems of adaptive immunity that have been discovered across all major domains of life. We put forward a new function-based classification according to the way information is acquired by the immune systems: Darwinian immunity (currently known from, but not necessarily limited to, vertebrates) relies on the Darwinian process of clonal selection to 'learn' by cumulative trial-and-error feedback; Lamarckian immunity uses templated targeting (guided adaptation) to internalize heritable information on potential threats; finally, shotgun immunity operates through somatic mechanisms of variable targeting without feedback. We argue that the origin of Darwinian (but not Lamarckian or shotgun) immunity represents a radical innovation in the evolution of individuality and complexity, and propose to add it to the list of major evolutionary transitions. While transitions to higher-level units entail the suppression of selection at lower levels, Darwinian immunity re-opens cell-level selection within the multicellular organism, under the control of mechanisms that direct, rather than suppress, cell-level evolution for the benefit of the individual. From a conceptual point of view, the origin of Darwinian immunity can be regarded as the most radical transition in the history of life, in which evolution by natural selection has literally re-invented itself. Furthermore, the combination of clonal selection and somatic receptor diversity enabled a transition from limited to practically unlimited capacity to store information about the antigenic environment. The origin of Darwinian immunity therefore comprises both a transition in individuality and the emergence of a new information system - the two hallmarks of major evolutionary transitions. Finally, we present an evolutionary scenario for the origin of Darwinian immunity in vertebrates. We propose a revival of the concept of the 'Big Bang' of

The Education Innovator. Volume VII, No. 4

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schweitzer, Sherry, Ed.

2009-01-01

The purpose of the U.S. Department of Education's online newsletter "The Education Innovator" is to promote innovative practices in education; to offer features on promising programs and practices; to provide information on innovative research, schools, policies, and trends; and to keep readers informed of key Department priorities and…

Evolutionary molecular medicine.

PubMed

Nesse, Randolph M; Ganten, Detlev; Gregory, T Ryan; Omenn, Gilbert S

2012-05-01

Evolution has long provided a foundation for population genetics, but some major advances in evolutionary biology from the twentieth century that provide foundations for evolutionary medicine are only now being applied in molecular medicine. They include the need for both proximate and evolutionary explanations, kin selection, evolutionary models for cooperation, competition between alleles, co-evolution, and new strategies for tracing phylogenies and identifying signals of selection. Recent advances in genomics are transforming evolutionary biology in ways that create even more opportunities for progress at its interfaces with genetics, medicine, and public health. This article reviews 15 evolutionary principles and their applications in molecular medicine in hopes that readers will use them and related principles to speed the development of evolutionary molecular medicine.

The evolutionary history of the development of the pelvic fin/hindlimb

PubMed Central

Don, Emily K; Currie, Peter D; Cole, Nicholas J

2013-01-01

The arms and legs of man are evolutionarily derived from the paired fins of primitive jawed fish. Few evolutionary changes have attracted as much attention as the origin of tetrapod limbs from the paired fins of ancestral fish. The hindlimbs of tetrapods are derived from the pelvic fins of ancestral fish. These evolutionary origins can be seen in the examination of shared gene and protein expression patterns during the development of pelvic fins and tetrapod hindlimbs. The pelvic fins of fish express key limb positioning, limb bud induction and limb outgrowth genes in a similar manner to that seen in hindlimb development of higher vertebrates. We are now at a point where many of the key players in the development of pelvic fins and vertebrate hindlimbs have been identified and we can now readily examine and compare mechanisms between species. This is yielding fascinating insights into how the developmental programme has altered during evolution and how that relates to anatomical change. The role of pelvic fins has also drastically changed over evolutionary history, from playing a minor role during swimming to developing into robust weight-bearing limbs. In addition, the pelvic fins/hindlimbs have been lost repeatedly in diverse species over evolutionary time. Here we review the evolution of pelvic fins and hindlimbs within the context of the changes in anatomical structure and the molecular mechanisms involved. PMID:22913749

Automated Antenna Design with Evolutionary Algorithms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hornby, Gregory S.; Globus, Al; Linden, Derek S.; Lohn, Jason D.

2006-01-01

Current methods of designing and optimizing antennas by hand are time and labor intensive, and limit complexity. Evolutionary design techniques can overcome these limitations by searching the design space and automatically finding effective solutions. In recent years, evolutionary algorithms have shown great promise in finding practical solutions in large, poorly understood design spaces. In particular, spacecraft antenna design has proven tractable to evolutionary design techniques. Researchers have been investigating evolutionary antenna design and optimization since the early 1990s, and the field has grown in recent years as computer speed has increased and electromagnetic simulators have improved. Two requirements-compliant antennas, one for ST5 and another for TDRS-C, have been automatically designed by evolutionary algorithms. The ST5 antenna is slated to fly this year, and a TDRS-C phased array element has been fabricated and tested. Such automated evolutionary design is enabled by medium-to-high quality simulators and fast modern computers to evaluate computer-generated designs. Evolutionary algorithms automate cut-and-try engineering, substituting automated search though millions of potential designs for intelligent search by engineers through a much smaller number of designs. For evolutionary design, the engineer chooses the evolutionary technique, parameters and the basic form of the antenna, e.g., single wire for ST5 and crossed-element Yagi for TDRS-C. Evolutionary algorithms then search for optimal configurations in the space defined by the engineer. NASA's Space Technology 5 (ST5) mission will launch three small spacecraft to test innovative concepts and technologies. Advanced evolutionary algorithms were used to automatically design antennas for ST5. The combination of wide beamwidth for a circularly-polarized wave and wide impedance bandwidth made for a challenging antenna design problem. From past experience in designing wire antennas, we chose to

Individual-based modeling of ecological and evolutionary processes

USGS Publications Warehouse

DeAngelis, Donald L.; Mooij, Wolf M.

2005-01-01

Individual-based models (IBMs) allow the explicit inclusion of individual variation in greater detail than do classical differential-equation and difference-equation models. Inclusion of such variation is important for continued progress in ecological and evolutionary theory. We provide a conceptual basis for IBMs by describing five major types of individual variation in IBMs: spatial, ontogenetic, phenotypic, cognitive, and genetic. IBMs are now used in almost all subfields of ecology and evolutionary biology. We map those subfields and look more closely at selected key papers on fish recruitment, forest dynamics, sympatric speciation, metapopulation dynamics, maintenance of diversity, and species conservation. Theorists are currently divided on whether IBMs represent only a practical tool for extending classical theory to more complex situations, or whether individual-based theory represents a radically new research program. We feel that the tension between these two poles of thinking can be a source of creativity in ecology and evolutionary theory.

Galvanising the NHS to Adopt Innovation

PubMed Central

Parris, Stuart; Cochrane, Gavin; Marjanovic, Sonja; Ling, Tom; Chataway, Joanna

2016-01-01

Abstract The Department of Health and the Wellcome Trust, in co-operation with NHS England, asked RAND Europe to conduct a limited consultation with key stakeholders about the practicality of measures and incentives proposed as part of the NHS Accelerated Access Review (AAR), which aims to assess the pathways for the development, assessment, and adoption of innovative medicines and medical technology. Through a focused engagement exercise with key healthcare stakeholders this project explored the implications of selected interim AAR propositions and feasibility of implementation for key actors, in primary and secondary care as well as commissioners and academia. Specifically, the project investigated the feasibility of implementation of three specific propositions including: a new earmarked fund to encourage AHSNs and other key innovation actors to re-design systems to embrace innovation; mobilising the influence of clinical system leaders to champion change; and encouraging secondary care organisations to take on “innovation champion” roles linked to financial incentives and a new emphasis on accountable care organisations. Data was collected on the feasibility of the three AAR propositions from a workshop with AHSN CEOs and Commercial Directors and interviews with senior NHS staff in three AHSN regions (South West, University College London Partners, and North East, North Cumbria). The study concludes with reflections on the feasibility of each recommendation and identifies factors expected to facilitate or challenge their implementation, as well as considering the wider cross cutting issues that may influence the adoption and diffusion of innovation in the NHS. PMID:28083436

The role of play objects and object play in human cognitive evolution and innovation

PubMed Central

Johannsen, Niels N.; Högberg, Anders; Nowell, April; Lombard, Marlize

2018-01-01

Abstract In this contribution, we address a major puzzle in the evolution of human material culture: If maturing individuals just learn their parental generation's material culture, then what is the origin of key innovations as documented in the archeological record? We approach this question by coupling a life‐history model of the costs and benefits of experimentation with a niche‐construction perspective. Niche‐construction theory suggests that the behavior of organisms and their modification of the world around them have important evolutionary ramifications by altering developmental settings and selection pressures. Part of Homo sapiens' niche is the active provisioning of children with play objects — sometimes functional miniatures of adult tools — and the encouragement of object play, such as playful knapping with stones. Our model suggests that salient material culture innovation may occur or be primed in a late childhood or adolescence sweet spot when cognitive and physical abilities are sufficiently mature but before the full onset of the concerns and costs associated with reproduction. We evaluate the model against a series of archeological cases and make suggestions for future research. PMID:29446561

The Education Innovator. Volume VII, No. 8

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herbert, Doug, Ed.

2009-01-01

The purpose of the U.S. Department of Education's online newsletter "The Education Innovator" is to promote innovative practices in education; to offer features on promising programs and practices; to provide information on innovative research, schools, policies, and trends; and to keep readers informed of key Department priorities and activities.…

The Power of Key: Celebrating 20 Years of Innovation at the Key Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kunkel, Christine

2007-01-01

The Key Learning Community in Indianapolis was the first school in the world to base its approach on the theory of multiple intelligences. Ms. Kunkel, Key's principal, reflects on the school's continuing growth and success--even in the face of pressures to standardize--and shares the history of its founding. (Contains 5 endnotes.)

Evolutionary refugia and ecological refuges: key concepts for conserving Australian arid zone freshwater biodiversity under climate change

PubMed Central

Davis, Jenny; Pavlova, Alexandra; Thompson, Ross; Sunnucks, Paul

2013-01-01

Refugia have been suggested as priority sites for conservation under climate change because of their ability to facilitate survival of biota under adverse conditions. Here, we review the likely role of refugial habitats in conserving freshwater biota in arid Australian aquatic systems where the major long-term climatic influence has been aridification. We introduce a conceptual model that characterizes evolutionary refugia and ecological refuges based on our review of the attributes of aquatic habitats and freshwater taxa (fishes and aquatic invertebrates) in arid Australia. We also identify methods of recognizing likely future refugia and approaches to assessing the vulnerability of arid-adapted freshwater biota to a warming and drying climate. Evolutionary refugia in arid areas are characterized as permanent, groundwater-dependent habitats (subterranean aquifers and springs) supporting vicariant relicts and short-range endemics. Ecological refuges can vary across space and time, depending on the dispersal abilities of aquatic taxa and the geographical proximity and hydrological connectivity of aquatic habitats. The most important are the perennial waterbodies (both groundwater and surface water fed) that support obligate aquatic organisms. These species will persist where suitable habitats are available and dispersal pathways are maintained. For very mobile species (invertebrates with an aerial dispersal phase) evolutionary refugia may also act as ecological refuges. Evolutionary refugia are likely future refugia because their water source (groundwater) is decoupled from local precipitation. However, their biota is extremely vulnerable to changes in local conditions because population extinction risks cannot be abated by the dispersal of individuals from other sites. Conservation planning must incorporate a high level of protection for aquifers that support refugial sites. Ecological refuges are vulnerable to changes in regional climate because they have little

Evolutionary refugia and ecological refuges: key concepts for conserving Australian arid zone freshwater biodiversity under climate change.

PubMed

Davis, Jenny; Pavlova, Alexandra; Thompson, Ross; Sunnucks, Paul

2013-07-01

Refugia have been suggested as priority sites for conservation under climate change because of their ability to facilitate survival of biota under adverse conditions. Here, we review the likely role of refugial habitats in conserving freshwater biota in arid Australian aquatic systems where the major long-term climatic influence has been aridification. We introduce a conceptual model that characterizes evolutionary refugia and ecological refugees based on our review of the attributes of aquatic habitats and freshwater taxa (fishes and aquatic invertebrates) in arid Australia. We also identify methods of recognizing likely future refugia and approaches to assessing the vulnerability of arid-adapted freshwater biota to a warming and drying climate. Evolutionary refugia in arid areas are characterized as permanent, groundwater-dependent habitats (subterranean aquifers and springs) supporting vicariant relicts and short-range endemics. Ecological refugees can vary across space and time, depending on the dispersal abilities of aquatic taxa and the geographical proximity and hydrological connectivity of aquatic habitats. The most important are the perennial waterbodies (both groundwater and surface water fed) that support obligate aquatic organisms. These species will persist where suitable habitats are available and dispersal pathways are maintained. For very mobile species (invertebrates with an aerial dispersal phase) evolutionary refugia may also act as ecological refugees. Evolutionary refugia are likely future refugia because their water source (groundwater) is decoupled from local precipitation. However, their biota is extremely vulnerable to changes in local conditions because population extinction risks cannot be abated by the dispersal of individuals from other sites. Conservation planning must incorporate a high level of protection for aquifers that support refugial sites. Ecological refuges are vulnerable to changes in regional climate because they have

Education, Training, Innovation: Evidence from Transition Economies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akhmedjonov, Alisher R.

2010-01-01

Innovation is the key to productivity growth and prosperity. Most empirical cross-country analysis of the determinants of innovation focus mainly on developed countries. The objective of this study is to fill this gap in the research and analyze the determinants of innovation in transition countries of Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union.…

Education, Training, Innovation--Evidence from Transition Economies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akhmedjonov, Alisher

2010-01-01

Innovation is the key to productivity growth and prosperity. Most empirical cross-country analysis of the determinants of innovation focus mainly on developed countries. The objective of this study is to fill this gap in the research and analyze the determinants of innovation in transition countries of Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union.…

A comparative examination of neural circuit and brain patterning between the lamprey and amphioxus reveals the evolutionary origin of the vertebrate visual center.

PubMed

Suzuki, Daichi G; Murakami, Yasunori; Escriva, Hector; Wada, Hiroshi

2015-02-01

Vertebrates are equipped with so-called camera eyes, which provide them with image-forming vision. Vertebrate image-forming vision evolved independently from that of other animals and is regarded as a key innovation for enhancing predatory ability and ecological success. Evolutionary changes in the neural circuits, particularly the visual center, were central for the acquisition of image-forming vision. However, the evolutionary steps, from protochordates to jaw-less primitive vertebrates and then to jawed vertebrates, remain largely unknown. To bridge this gap, we present the detailed development of retinofugal projections in the lamprey, the neuroarchitecture in amphioxus, and the brain patterning in both animals. Both the lateral eye in larval lamprey and the frontal eye in amphioxus project to a light-detecting visual center in the caudal prosencephalic region marked by Pax6, which possibly represents the ancestral state of the chordate visual system. Our results indicate that the visual system of the larval lamprey represents an evolutionarily primitive state, forming a link from protochordates to vertebrates and providing a new perspective of brain evolution based on developmental mechanisms and neural functions. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Skills for Innovation and Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

OECD Publishing (NJ3), 2011

2011-01-01

Innovation holds the key to ongoing improvements in living standards, as well as to solving pressing social challenges. Skilled people play a crucial role in innovation through the new knowledge they generate, how they adopt and develop existing ideas, and through their ability to learn new competencies and adapt to a changing environment. This…

Evolutionary view of acyl-CoA diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT), a key enzyme in neutral lipid biosynthesis.

PubMed

Turchetto-Zolet, Andreia C; Maraschin, Felipe S; de Morais, Guilherme L; Cagliari, Alexandro; Andrade, Cláudia M B; Margis-Pinheiro, Marcia; Margis, Rogerio

2011-09-20

Triacylglycerides (TAGs) are a class of neutral lipids that represent the most important storage form of energy for eukaryotic cells. DGAT (acyl-CoA: diacylglycerol acyltransferase; EC 2.3.1.20) is a transmembrane enzyme that acts in the final and committed step of TAG synthesis, and it has been proposed to be the rate-limiting enzyme in plant storage lipid accumulation. In fact, two different enzymes identified in several eukaryotic species, DGAT1 and DGAT2, are the main enzymes responsible for TAG synthesis. These enzymes do not share high DNA or protein sequence similarities, and it has been suggested that they play non-redundant roles in different tissues and in some species in TAG synthesis. Despite a number of previous studies on the DGAT1 and DGAT2 genes, which have emphasized their importance as potential obesity treatment targets to increase triacylglycerol accumulation, little is known about their evolutionary timeline in eukaryotes. The goal of this study was to examine the evolutionary relationship of the DGAT1 and DGAT2 genes across eukaryotic organisms in order to infer their origin. We have conducted a broad survey of fully sequenced genomes, including representatives of Amoebozoa, yeasts, fungi, algae, musses, plants, vertebrate and invertebrate species, for the presence of DGAT1 and DGAT2 gene homologs. We found that the DGAT1 and DGAT2 genes are nearly ubiquitous in eukaryotes and are readily identifiable in all the major eukaryotic groups and genomes examined. Phylogenetic analyses of the DGAT1 and DGAT2 amino acid sequences revealed evolutionary partitioning of the DGAT protein family into two major DGAT1 and DGAT2 clades. Protein secondary structure and hydrophobic-transmembrane analysis also showed differences between these enzymes. The analysis also revealed that the MGAT2 and AWAT genes may have arisen from DGAT2 duplication events. In this study, we identified several DGAT1 and DGAT2 homologs in eukaryote taxa. Overall, the data show that

Evolutionary view of acyl-CoA diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT), a key enzyme in neutral lipid biosynthesis

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Triacylglycerides (TAGs) are a class of neutral lipids that represent the most important storage form of energy for eukaryotic cells. DGAT (acyl-CoA: diacylglycerol acyltransferase; EC 2.3.1.20) is a transmembrane enzyme that acts in the final and committed step of TAG synthesis, and it has been proposed to be the rate-limiting enzyme in plant storage lipid accumulation. In fact, two different enzymes identified in several eukaryotic species, DGAT1 and DGAT2, are the main enzymes responsible for TAG synthesis. These enzymes do not share high DNA or protein sequence similarities, and it has been suggested that they play non-redundant roles in different tissues and in some species in TAG synthesis. Despite a number of previous studies on the DGAT1 and DGAT2 genes, which have emphasized their importance as potential obesity treatment targets to increase triacylglycerol accumulation, little is known about their evolutionary timeline in eukaryotes. The goal of this study was to examine the evolutionary relationship of the DGAT1 and DGAT2 genes across eukaryotic organisms in order to infer their origin. Results We have conducted a broad survey of fully sequenced genomes, including representatives of Amoebozoa, yeasts, fungi, algae, musses, plants, vertebrate and invertebrate species, for the presence of DGAT1 and DGAT2 gene homologs. We found that the DGAT1 and DGAT2 genes are nearly ubiquitous in eukaryotes and are readily identifiable in all the major eukaryotic groups and genomes examined. Phylogenetic analyses of the DGAT1 and DGAT2 amino acid sequences revealed evolutionary partitioning of the DGAT protein family into two major DGAT1 and DGAT2 clades. Protein secondary structure and hydrophobic-transmembrane analysis also showed differences between these enzymes. The analysis also revealed that the MGAT2 and AWAT genes may have arisen from DGAT2 duplication events. Conclusions In this study, we identified several DGAT1 and DGAT2 homologs in eukaryote taxa

Targeted sequencing for high-resolution evolutionary analyses following genome duplication in salmonid fish: Proof of concept for key components of the insulin-like growth factor axis.

PubMed

Lappin, Fiona M; Shaw, Rebecca L; Macqueen, Daniel J

2016-12-01

High-throughput sequencing has revolutionised comparative and evolutionary genome biology. It has now become relatively commonplace to generate multiple genomes and/or transcriptomes to characterize the evolution of large taxonomic groups of interest. Nevertheless, such efforts may be unsuited to some research questions or remain beyond the scope of some research groups. Here we show that targeted high-throughput sequencing offers a viable alternative to study genome evolution across a vertebrate family of great scientific interest. Specifically, we exploited sequence capture and Illumina sequencing to characterize the evolution of key components from the insulin-like growth (IGF) signalling axis of salmonid fish at unprecedented phylogenetic resolution. The IGF axis represents a central governor of vertebrate growth and its core components were expanded by whole genome duplication in the salmonid ancestor ~95Ma. Using RNA baits synthesised to genes encoding the complete family of IGF binding proteins (IGFBP) and an IGF hormone (IGF2), we captured, sequenced and assembled orthologous and paralogous exons from species representing all ten salmonid genera. This approach generated 299 novel sequences, most as complete or near-complete protein-coding sequences. Phylogenetic analyses confirmed congruent evolutionary histories for all nineteen recognized salmonid IGFBP family members and identified novel salmonid-specific IGF2 paralogues. Moreover, we reconstructed the evolution of duplicated IGF axis paralogues across a replete salmonid phylogeny, revealing complex historic selection regimes - both ancestral to salmonids and lineage-restricted - that frequently involved asymmetric paralogue divergence under positive and/or relaxed purifying selection. Our findings add to an emerging literature highlighting diverse applications for targeted sequencing in comparative-evolutionary genomics. We also set out a viable approach to obtain large sets of nuclear genes for any

Innovation in patient-centered care: lessons from a qualitative study of innovative health care organizations in Washington State

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Growing interest in the promise of patient-centered care has led to numerous health care innovations, including the patient-centered medical home, shared decision-making, and payment reforms. How best to vet and adopt innovations is an open question. Washington State has been a leader in health care reform and is a rich laboratory for patient-centered innovations. We sought to understand the process of patient-centered care innovation undertaken by innovative health care organizations – from strategic planning to goal selection to implementation to maintenance. Methods We conducted key-informant interviews with executives at five health plans, five provider organizations, and ten primary care clinics in Washington State. At least two readers of each interview transcript identified themes inductively; final themes were determined by consensus. Results Innovation in patient-centered care was a strategic objective chosen by nearly every organization in this study. However, other goals were paramount: cost containment, quality improvement, and organization survival. Organizations commonly perceived effective chronic disease management and integrated health information technology as key elements for successful patient-centered care innovation. Inertia, resource deficits, fee-for-service payment, and regulatory limits on scope of practice were cited as barriers to innovation, while organization leadership, human capital, and adaptive culture facilitated innovation. Conclusions Patient-centered care innovations reflected organizational perspectives: health plans emphasized cost-effectiveness while providers emphasized health care delivery processes. Health plans and providers shared many objectives, yet the two rarely collaborated to achieve them. The process of innovation is heavily dependent on organizational culture and leadership. Policymakers can improve the pace and quality of patient-centered innovation by setting targets and addressing conditions for

Innovation in patient-centered care: lessons from a qualitative study of innovative health care organizations in Washington State.

PubMed

Reed, Peter; Conrad, Douglas A; Hernandez, Susan E; Watts, Carolyn; Marcus-Smith, Miriam

2012-12-14

Growing interest in the promise of patient-centered care has led to numerous health care innovations, including the patient-centered medical home, shared decision-making, and payment reforms. How best to vet and adopt innovations is an open question. Washington State has been a leader in health care reform and is a rich laboratory for patient-centered innovations. We sought to understand the process of patient-centered care innovation undertaken by innovative health care organizations - from strategic planning to goal selection to implementation to maintenance. We conducted key-informant interviews with executives at five health plans, five provider organizations, and ten primary care clinics in Washington State. At least two readers of each interview transcript identified themes inductively; final themes were determined by consensus. Innovation in patient-centered care was a strategic objective chosen by nearly every organization in this study. However, other goals were paramount: cost containment, quality improvement, and organization survival. Organizations commonly perceived effective chronic disease management and integrated health information technology as key elements for successful patient-centered care innovation. Inertia, resource deficits, fee-for-service payment, and regulatory limits on scope of practice were cited as barriers to innovation, while organization leadership, human capital, and adaptive culture facilitated innovation. Patient-centered care innovations reflected organizational perspectives: health plans emphasized cost-effectiveness while providers emphasized health care delivery processes. Health plans and providers shared many objectives, yet the two rarely collaborated to achieve them. The process of innovation is heavily dependent on organizational culture and leadership. Policymakers can improve the pace and quality of patient-centered innovation by setting targets and addressing conditions for innovation.

On joint subtree distributions under two evolutionary models.

PubMed

Wu, Taoyang; Choi, Kwok Pui

2016-04-01

In population and evolutionary biology, hypotheses about micro-evolutionary and macro-evolutionary processes are commonly tested by comparing the shape indices of empirical evolutionary trees with those predicted by neutral models. A key ingredient in this approach is the ability to compute and quantify distributions of various tree shape indices under random models of interest. As a step to meet this challenge, in this paper we investigate the joint distribution of cherries and pitchforks (that is, subtrees with two and three leaves) under two widely used null models: the Yule-Harding-Kingman (YHK) model and the proportional to distinguishable arrangements (PDA) model. Based on two novel recursive formulae, we propose a dynamic approach to numerically compute the exact joint distribution (and hence the marginal distributions) for trees of any size. We also obtained insights into the statistical properties of trees generated under these two models, including a constant correlation between the cherry and the pitchfork distributions under the YHK model, and the log-concavity and unimodality of the cherry distributions under both models. In addition, we show that there exists a unique change point for the cherry distributions between these two models. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sensing marine biomolecules: smell, taste, and the evolutionary transition from aquatic to terrestrial life

PubMed Central

Mollo, Ernesto; Fontana, Angelo; Roussis, Vassilios; Polese, Gianluca; Amodeo, Pietro; Ghiselin, Michael T.

2014-01-01

The usual definition of smell and taste as distance and contact forms of chemoreception, respectively, has resulted in the belief that, during the shift from aquatic to terrestrial life, odorant receptors (ORs) were selected mainly to recognize airborne hydrophobic ligands, instead of the hydrophilic molecules involved in marine remote-sensing. This post-adaptive evolutionary scenario, however, neglects the fact that marine organisms 1) produce and detect a wide range of small hydrophobic and volatile molecules, especially terpenoids, and 2) contain genes coding for ORs that are able to bind those compounds. These apparent anomalies can be resolved by adopting an alternative, pre-adaptive scenario. Before becoming airborne on land, small molecules, almost insoluble in water, already played a key role in aquatic communication, but acting in “contact” forms of olfaction that did not require major molecular innovations to become effective at a distance in air. Rather, when air was “invaded” by volatile marine terpenoids, an expansion of the spatial range of olfaction was an incidental consequence rather than an adaptation. PMID:25360437

An evolutionary ecology of individual differences

PubMed Central

Dall, Sasha R. X.; Bell, Alison M.; Bolnick, Daniel I.; Ratnieks, Francis L. W.

2014-01-01

Individuals often differ in what they do. This has been recognised since antiquity. Nevertheless, the ecological and evolutionary significance of such variation is attracting widespread interest, which is burgeoning to an extent that is fragmenting the literature. As a first attempt at synthesis, we focus on individual differences in behaviour within populations that exceed the day-to-day variation in individual behaviour (i.e. behavioural specialisation). Indeed, the factors promoting ecologically relevant behavioural specialisation within natural populations are likely to have far-reaching ecological and evolutionary consequences. We discuss such individual differences from three distinct perspectives: individual niche specialisations, the division of labour within insect societies and animal personality variation. In the process, while recognising that each area has its own unique motivations, we identify a number of opportunities for productive ‘crossfertilisation’ among the (largely independent) bodies of work. We conclude that a complete understanding of evolutionarily and ecologically relevant individual differences must specify how ecological interactions impact the basic biological process (e.g. Darwinian selection, development and information processing) that underpin the organismal features determining behavioural specialisations. Moreover, there is likely to be covariation amongst behavioural specialisations. Thus, we sketch the key elements of a general framework for studying the evolutionary ecology of individual differences. PMID:22897772

Quantifying rates of evolutionary adaptation in response to ocean acidification.

PubMed

Sunday, Jennifer M; Crim, Ryan N; Harley, Christopher D G; Hart, Michael W

2011-01-01

The global acidification of the earth's oceans is predicted to impact biodiversity via physiological effects impacting growth, survival, reproduction, and immunology, leading to changes in species abundances and global distributions. However, the degree to which these changes will play out critically depends on the evolutionary rate at which populations will respond to natural selection imposed by ocean acidification, which remains largely unquantified. Here we measure the potential for an evolutionary response to ocean acidification in larval development rate in two coastal invertebrates using a full-factorial breeding design. We show that the sea urchin species Strongylocentrotus franciscanus has vastly greater levels of phenotypic and genetic variation for larval size in future CO(2) conditions compared to the mussel species Mytilus trossulus. Using these measures we demonstrate that S. franciscanus may have faster evolutionary responses within 50 years of the onset of predicted year-2100 CO(2) conditions despite having lower population turnover rates. Our comparisons suggest that information on genetic variation, phenotypic variation, and key demographic parameters, may lend valuable insight into relative evolutionary potentials across a large number of species.

Limited evolutionary rescue of locally adapted populations facing climate change.

PubMed

Schiffers, Katja; Bourne, Elizabeth C; Lavergne, Sébastien; Thuiller, Wilfried; Travis, Justin M J

2013-01-19

Dispersal is a key determinant of a population's evolutionary potential. It facilitates the propagation of beneficial alleles throughout the distributional range of spatially outspread populations and increases the speed of adaptation. However, when habitat is heterogeneous and individuals are locally adapted, dispersal may, at the same time, reduce fitness through increasing maladaptation. Here, we use a spatially explicit, allelic simulation model to quantify how these equivocal effects of dispersal affect a population's evolutionary response to changing climate. Individuals carry a diploid set of chromosomes, with alleles coding for adaptation to non-climatic environmental conditions and climatic conditions, respectively. Our model results demonstrate that the interplay between gene flow and habitat heterogeneity may decrease effective dispersal and population size to such an extent that substantially reduces the likelihood of evolutionary rescue. Importantly, even when evolutionary rescue saves a population from extinction, its spatial range following climate change may be strongly narrowed, that is, the rescue is only partial. These findings emphasize that neglecting the impact of non-climatic, local adaptation might lead to a considerable overestimation of a population's evolvability under rapid environmental change.

The Rise and Fall of an Evolutionary Innovation: Contrasting Strategies of Venom Evolution in Ancient and Young Animals

PubMed Central

Sunagar, Kartik; Moran, Yehu

2015-01-01

Animal venoms are theorized to evolve under the significant influence of positive Darwinian selection in a chemical arms race scenario, where the evolution of venom resistance in prey and the invention of potent venom in the secreting animal exert reciprocal selection pressures. Venom research to date has mainly focused on evolutionarily younger lineages, such as snakes and cone snails, while mostly neglecting ancient clades (e.g., cnidarians, coleoids, spiders and centipedes). By examining genome, venom-gland transcriptome and sequences from the public repositories, we report the molecular evolutionary regimes of several centipede and spider toxin families, which surprisingly accumulated low-levels of sequence variations, despite their long evolutionary histories. Molecular evolutionary assessment of over 3500 nucleotide sequences from 85 toxin families spanning the breadth of the animal kingdom has unraveled a contrasting evolutionary strategy employed by ancient and evolutionarily young clades. We show that the venoms of ancient lineages remarkably evolve under the heavy constraints of negative selection, while toxin families in lineages that originated relatively recently rapidly diversify under the influence of positive selection. We propose that animal venoms mostly employ a ‘two-speed’ mode of evolution, where the major influence of diversifying selection accompanies the earlier stages of ecological specialization (e.g., diet and range expansion) in the evolutionary history of the species–the period of expansion, resulting in the rapid diversification of the venom arsenal, followed by longer periods of purifying selection that preserve the potent toxin pharmacopeia–the period of purification and fixation. However, species in the period of purification may re-enter the period of expansion upon experiencing a major shift in ecology or environment. Thus, we highlight for the first time the significant roles of purifying and episodic selections in

Evolutionary thinking

PubMed Central

Hunt, Tam

2014-01-01

Evolution as an idea has a lengthy history, even though the idea of evolution is generally associated with Darwin today. Rebecca Stott provides an engaging and thoughtful overview of this history of evolutionary thinking in her 2013 book, Darwin's Ghosts: The Secret History of Evolution. Since Darwin, the debate over evolution—both how it takes place and, in a long war of words with religiously-oriented thinkers, whether it takes place—has been sustained and heated. A growing share of this debate is now devoted to examining how evolutionary thinking affects areas outside of biology. How do our lives change when we recognize that all is in flux? What can we learn about life more generally if we study change instead of stasis? Carter Phipps’ book, Evolutionaries: Unlocking the Spiritual and Cultural Potential of Science's Greatest Idea, delves deep into this relatively new development. Phipps generally takes as a given the validity of the Modern Synthesis of evolutionary biology. His story takes us into, as the subtitle suggests, the spiritual and cultural implications of evolutionary thinking. Can religion and evolution be reconciled? Can evolutionary thinking lead to a new type of spirituality? Is our culture already being changed in ways that we don't realize by evolutionary thinking? These are all important questions and Phipps book is a great introduction to this discussion. Phipps is an author, journalist, and contributor to the emerging “integral” or “evolutionary” cultural movement that combines the insights of Integral Philosophy, evolutionary science, developmental psychology, and the social sciences. He has served as the Executive Editor of EnlightenNext magazine (no longer published) and more recently is the co-founder of the Institute for Cultural Evolution, a public policy think tank addressing the cultural roots of America's political challenges. What follows is an email interview with Phipps. PMID:26478766

Relative evolutionary rate inference in HyPhy with LEISR.

PubMed

Spielman, Stephanie J; Kosakovsky Pond, Sergei L

2018-01-01

We introduce LEISR (Likehood Estimation of Individual Site Rates, pronounced "laser"), a tool to infer relative evolutionary rates from protein and nucleotide data, implemented in HyPhy. LEISR is based on the popular Rate4Site (Pupko et al., 2002) approach for inferring relative site-wise evolutionary rates, primarily from protein data. We extend the original method for more general use in several key ways: (i) we increase the support for nucleotide data with additional models, (ii) we allow for datasets of arbitrary size, (iii) we support analysis of site-partitioned datasets to correct for the presence of recombination breakpoints, (iv) we produce rate estimates at all sites rather than at just a subset of sites, and (v) we implemented LEISR as MPI-enabled to support rapid, high-throughput analysis. LEISR is available in HyPhy starting with version 2.3.8, and it is accessible as an option in the HyPhy analysis menu ("Relative evolutionary rate inference"), which calls the HyPhy batchfile LEISR.bf.

Innovative problem solving by wild spotted hyenas

PubMed Central

Benson-Amram, Sarah; Holekamp, Kay E.

2012-01-01

Innovative animals are those able to solve novel problems or invent novel solutions to existing problems. Despite the important ecological and evolutionary consequences of innovation, we still know very little about the traits that vary among individuals within a species to make them more or less innovative. Here we examine innovative problem solving by spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) in their natural habitat, and demonstrate for the first time in a non-human animal that those individuals exhibiting a greater diversity of initial exploratory behaviours are more successful problem solvers. Additionally, as in earlier work, we found that neophobia was a critical inhibitor of problem-solving success. Interestingly, although juveniles and adults were equally successful in solving the problem, juveniles were significantly more diverse in their initial exploratory behaviours, more persistent and less neophobic than were adults. We found no significant effects of social rank or sex on success, the diversity of initial exploratory behaviours, behavioural persistence or neophobia. Our results suggest that the diversity of initial exploratory behaviours, akin to some measures of human creativity, is an important, but largely overlooked, determinant of problem-solving success in non-human animals. PMID:22874748

The neurosurgeon as innovator and entrepreneur.

PubMed

Firlik, A D; Lowry, D W; Levy, A J; Hirsch, R C

2000-07-01

INNOVATION IS THE driving force behind progress in neurosurgery. Most significant innovations require commercialization to ensure appropriate development and ultimate distribution to patients. There are several key factors that determine whether a particular innovation is likely to be commercially successful. Relationships between academic neurosurgeons and industry are likely to increase in the future. Stronger and more productive relationships between academic neurosurgeons and commercial ventures will provide new opportunities for neurosurgeons to bring innovations to patients more effectively and efficiently. The transfer of innovation from the academic environment to the commercial setting is consistent with the academic mission and can increase funding for basic and clinical neuroscience research.

The butterfly plant arms-race escalated by gene and genome duplications.

PubMed

Edger, Patrick P; Heidel-Fischer, Hanna M; Bekaert, Michaël; Rota, Jadranka; Glöckner, Gernot; Platts, Adrian E; Heckel, David G; Der, Joshua P; Wafula, Eric K; Tang, Michelle; Hofberger, Johannes A; Smithson, Ann; Hall, Jocelyn C; Blanchette, Matthieu; Bureau, Thomas E; Wright, Stephen I; dePamphilis, Claude W; Eric Schranz, M; Barker, Michael S; Conant, Gavin C; Wahlberg, Niklas; Vogel, Heiko; Pires, J Chris; Wheat, Christopher W

2015-07-07

Coevolutionary interactions are thought to have spurred the evolution of key innovations and driven the diversification of much of life on Earth. However, the genetic and evolutionary basis of the innovations that facilitate such interactions remains poorly understood. We examined the coevolutionary interactions between plants (Brassicales) and butterflies (Pieridae), and uncovered evidence for an escalating evolutionary arms-race. Although gradual changes in trait complexity appear to have been facilitated by allelic turnover, key innovations are associated with gene and genome duplications. Furthermore, we show that the origins of both chemical defenses and of molecular counter adaptations were associated with shifts in diversification rates during the arms-race. These findings provide an important connection between the origins of biodiversity, coevolution, and the role of gene and genome duplications as a substrate for novel traits.

The butterfly plant arms-race escalated by gene and genome duplications

PubMed Central

Edger, Patrick P.; Heidel-Fischer, Hanna M.; Bekaert, Michaël; Rota, Jadranka; Glöckner, Gernot; Platts, Adrian E.; Heckel, David G.; Der, Joshua P.; Wafula, Eric K.; Tang, Michelle; Hofberger, Johannes A.; Smithson, Ann; Hall, Jocelyn C.; Blanchette, Matthieu; Bureau, Thomas E.; Wright, Stephen I.; dePamphilis, Claude W.; Eric Schranz, M.; Barker, Michael S.; Conant, Gavin C.; Wahlberg, Niklas; Vogel, Heiko; Pires, J. Chris; Wheat, Christopher W.

2015-01-01

Coevolutionary interactions are thought to have spurred the evolution of key innovations and driven the diversification of much of life on Earth. However, the genetic and evolutionary basis of the innovations that facilitate such interactions remains poorly understood. We examined the coevolutionary interactions between plants (Brassicales) and butterflies (Pieridae), and uncovered evidence for an escalating evolutionary arms-race. Although gradual changes in trait complexity appear to have been facilitated by allelic turnover, key innovations are associated with gene and genome duplications. Furthermore, we show that the origins of both chemical defenses and of molecular counter adaptations were associated with shifts in diversification rates during the arms-race. These findings provide an important connection between the origins of biodiversity, coevolution, and the role of gene and genome duplications as a substrate for novel traits. PMID:26100883

[The nature of personality: a co-evolutionary perspective].

PubMed

Asendorpf, J B

1996-01-01

Personality psychologists' attempts to explain human diversity have traditionally focused upon processes of person-situation interaction, and genotype-environment interaction. The great variability of genotypes and environments within cultures has remained unexplained in these efforts. Which processes may be responsible for the genetic and environmental variability within cultures? Answers to this question are sought in processes of genetic-cultural coevolution: mutation and sexual recombination of genes, innovation and synthesis of memes (units of cultural transmission), genotype-->environment and meme-->environment effects, and frequency-dependent natural and cultural selection. This twofold evolutionary explanation of personality differences within cultures suggests that a solid foundation of personality psychology requires bridging biology and cultural science.

A Blueprint for Innovation to Achieve Health System Transformation.

PubMed

Snowdon, Anne W

2017-01-01

Global health systems are challenged by escalating costs and growing demands for care created by the demands of aging populations and rising rates of chronic illness which place unsustainable pressure on health systems to meet population health needs. To overcome these challenges, transformational change is needed to strengthen health system performance and sustainability. Innovation is widely viewed as the strategy to drive transformational change in health systems; yet to date, innovation has lacked a clearly defined focus or agenda to achieve transformation. An actionable innovation agenda is needed to achieve transformational change for health systems. The key conditions for success as an innovation strategy are examined, including clearly defined innovation objectives, key milestones, and actionable steps every system stakeholder must pursue in order to guide the innovation agenda and ultimately accelerate the transformational changes needed for a sustainable healthcare system that delivers value to populations.

Identification of the Key Fields and Their Key Technical Points of Oncology by Patent Analysis.

PubMed

Zhang, Ting; Chen, Juan; Jia, Xiaofeng

2015-01-01

This paper aims to identify the key fields and their key technical points of oncology by patent analysis. Patents of oncology applied from 2006 to 2012 were searched in the Thomson Innovation database. The key fields and their key technical points were determined by analyzing the Derwent Classification (DC) and the International Patent Classification (IPC), respectively. Patent applications in the top ten DC occupied 80% of all the patent applications of oncology, which were the ten fields of oncology to be analyzed. The number of patent applications in these ten fields of oncology was standardized based on patent applications of oncology from 2006 to 2012. For each field, standardization was conducted separately for each of the seven years (2006-2012) and the mean of the seven standardized values was calculated to reflect the relative amount of patent applications in that field; meanwhile, regression analysis using time (year) and the standardized values of patent applications in seven years (2006-2012) was conducted so as to evaluate the trend of patent applications in each field. Two-dimensional quadrant analysis, together with the professional knowledge of oncology, was taken into consideration in determining the key fields of oncology. The fields located in the quadrant with high relative amount or increasing trend of patent applications are identified as key ones. By using the same method, the key technical points in each key field were identified. Altogether 116,820 patents of oncology applied from 2006 to 2012 were retrieved, and four key fields with twenty-nine key technical points were identified, including "natural products and polymers" with nine key technical points, "fermentation industry" with twelve ones, "electrical medical equipment" with four ones, and "diagnosis, surgery" with four ones. The results of this study could provide guidance on the development direction of oncology, and also help researchers broaden innovative ideas and discover new

Evolutionary biology of harvestmen (Arachnida, Opiliones).

PubMed

Giribet, Gonzalo; Sharma, Prashant P

2015-01-07

Opiliones are one of the largest arachnid orders, with more than 6,500 species in 50 families. Many of these families have been erected or reorganized in the last few years since the publication of The Biology of Opiliones. Recent years have also seen an explosion in phylogenetic work on Opiliones, as well as in studies using Opiliones as test cases to address biogeographic and evolutionary questions more broadly. Accelerated activity in the study of Opiliones evolution has been facilitated by the discovery of several key fossils, including the oldest known Opiliones fossil, which represents a new, extinct suborder. Study of the group's biology has also benefited from rapid accrual of genomic resources, particularly with respect to transcriptomes and functional genetic tools. The rapid emergence and utility of Phalangium opilio as a model for evolutionary developmental biology of arthropods serve as demonstrative evidence of a new area of study in Opiliones biology, made possible through transcriptomic data.

Predicting Innovation Acceptance by Simulation in Virtual Environments (Theoretical Foundations)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

León, Noel; Duran, Roberto; Aguayo, Humberto; Flores, Myrna

This paper extends the current development of a methodology for Computer Aided Innovation. It begins with a presentation of concepts related to the perceived capabilities of virtual environments in the Innovation Cycle. The main premise establishes that it is possible to predict the acceptance of a new product in a specific market, by releasing an early prototype in a virtual scenario to quantify its general reception and to receive early feedback from potential customers. The paper continues to focus this research on a synergistic extension of techniques that have their origins in optimization and innovation disciplines. TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving), extends the generation of variants with Evolutionary Algorithms (EA) and finally to present the designer and the intended customer, creative and innovative alternatives. All of this developed on a virtual software interface (Virtual World). The work continues with a general description of the project as a step forward to improve the overall strategy.

Symbioses: a key driver of insect physiological processes, ecological interactions, evolutionary diversification, and impacts on humans

Treesearch

K.D. Klepzig; A.S. Adams; J. Handelsman; K.F. Raffa

2009-01-01

Symbiosis is receiving increased attention among all aspects of biology because of the unifying themes it helps construct across ecological,evolutionary, developmental, semiochemical, and pest management theory. Insects show a vast array of symbiotic relationships with a wide diversity of microorganisms. These relationships may confer a variety of benefits to the host...

Symbioses: A key driver of insect physiological processes, ecological interactions, evolutionary diversification, and impacts on humans

Treesearch

Kier Klepzig; A.S. Adams; J Handelsman; K.F. Raffa

2009-01-01

Symbiosis is receiving increased attention among all aspects of biology because of the unifying themes it helps construct across ecological, evolutionary, developmental, semiochemical, and pest management theory. Insects show a vast array of symbiotic relationships with a wide diversity of microorganisms. These relationships may confer a variety of benefits to the host...

Controlled recovery of phylogenetic communities from an evolutionary model using a network approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sousa, Arthur M. Y. R.; Vieira, André P.; Prado, Carmen P. C.; Andrade, Roberto F. S.

2016-04-01

This works reports the use of a complex network approach to produce a phylogenetic classification tree of a simple evolutionary model. This approach has already been used to treat proteomic data of actual extant organisms, but an investigation of its reliability to retrieve a traceable evolutionary history is missing. The used evolutionary model includes key ingredients for the emergence of groups of related organisms by differentiation through random mutations and population growth, but purposefully omits other realistic ingredients that are not strictly necessary to originate an evolutionary history. This choice causes the model to depend only on a small set of parameters, controlling the mutation probability and the population of different species. Our results indicate that for a set of parameter values, the phylogenetic classification produced by the used framework reproduces the actual evolutionary history with a very high average degree of accuracy. This includes parameter values where the species originated by the evolutionary dynamics have modular structures. In the more general context of community identification in complex networks, our model offers a simple setting for evaluating the effects, on the efficiency of community formation and identification, of the underlying dynamics generating the network itself.

Ecological and evolutionary approaches to managing honeybee disease.

PubMed

Brosi, Berry J; Delaplane, Keith S; Boots, Michael; de Roode, Jacobus C

2017-09-01

Honeybee declines are a serious threat to global agricultural security and productivity. Although multiple factors contribute to these declines, parasites are a key driver. Disease problems in honeybees have intensified in recent years, despite increasing attention to addressing them. Here we argue that we must focus on the principles of disease ecology and evolution to understand disease dynamics, assess the severity of disease threats, and control these threats via honeybee management. We cover the ecological context of honeybee disease, including both host and parasite factors driving current transmission dynamics, and then discuss evolutionary dynamics including how beekeeping management practices may drive selection for more virulent parasites. We then outline how ecological and evolutionary principles can guide disease mitigation in honeybees, including several practical management suggestions for addressing short- and long-term disease dynamics and consequences.

Co-creation and Co-innovation in a Collaborative Networked Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klen, Edmilson Rampazzo

Leveraged by the advances in communication and information Technologies, producers and consumers are developing a new behavior. Together with the new emerging collaborative manifestations this behavior may directly impact the way products are developed. This powerful combination indicates that consumers will be involved in a very early stage in product development processes supporting even more the creation and innovation of products. This new way of collaboration gives rise to a new collaborative networked environment based on co-creation and co-innovation. This work will present some evolutionary steps that point to the development of this environment where prosumer communities and virtual organizations interact and collaborate.

EvoluCode: Evolutionary Barcodes as a Unifying Framework for Multilevel Evolutionary Data.

PubMed

Linard, Benjamin; Nguyen, Ngoc Hoan; Prosdocimi, Francisco; Poch, Olivier; Thompson, Julie D

2012-01-01

Evolutionary systems biology aims to uncover the general trends and principles governing the evolution of biological networks. An essential part of this process is the reconstruction and analysis of the evolutionary histories of these complex, dynamic networks. Unfortunately, the methodologies for representing and exploiting such complex evolutionary histories in large scale studies are currently limited. Here, we propose a new formalism, called EvoluCode (Evolutionary barCode), which allows the integration of different evolutionary parameters (eg, sequence conservation, orthology, synteny …) in a unifying format and facilitates the multilevel analysis and visualization of complex evolutionary histories at the genome scale. The advantages of the approach are demonstrated by constructing barcodes representing the evolution of the complete human proteome. Two large-scale studies are then described: (i) the mapping and visualization of the barcodes on the human chromosomes and (ii) automatic clustering of the barcodes to highlight protein subsets sharing similar evolutionary histories and their functional analysis. The methodologies developed here open the way to the efficient application of other data mining and knowledge extraction techniques in evolutionary systems biology studies. A database containing all EvoluCode data is available at: http://lbgi.igbmc.fr/barcodes.

Cognition and Culture in Evolutionary Context.

PubMed

Colmenares, Fernando; Hernández-Lloreda, María Victoria

2017-01-09

In humans and other animals, the individuals' ability to adapt efficiently and effectively to the niches they have actively contributed to construct relies heavily on an evolved psychology which has been shaped by biological, social, and cultural processes over evolutionary time. As expected, although many of the behavioral and cognitive components of this evolved psychology are widely shared across species, many others are species-unique. Although many animal species are known to acquire group-specific traditions (or cultures) via social learning, human culture is unique in terms of its contents and characteristics (observable and unobservable products, cumulative effects, norm conformity, and norm enforcement) and of its cognitive underpinnings (imitation, instructed teaching, and language). Here we provide a brief overview of some of the issues that are currently tackled in the field. We also highlight some of the strengths of a biological, comparative, non-anthropocentric and evolutionarily grounded approach to the study of culture. The main contributions of this approach to the science of culture are its emphasis (a) on the integration of information on mechanisms, function, and evolution, and on mechanistic factors located at different levels of the biological hierarchy, and (b) on the search for general principles that account for commonalities and differences between species, both in the cultural products and in the processes of innovation, dissemination, and accumulation involved that operate during developmental and evolutionary timespans.

Individual heterogeneity in life histories and eco-evolutionary dynamics

PubMed Central

Vindenes, Yngvild; Langangen, Øystein

2015-01-01

Individual heterogeneity in life history shapes eco-evolutionary processes, and unobserved heterogeneity can affect demographic outputs characterising life history and population dynamical properties. Demographic frameworks like matrix models or integral projection models represent powerful approaches to disentangle mechanisms linking individual life histories and population-level processes. Recent developments have provided important steps towards their application to study eco-evolutionary dynamics, but so far individual heterogeneity has largely been ignored. Here, we present a general demographic framework that incorporates individual heterogeneity in a flexible way, by separating static and dynamic traits (discrete or continuous). First, we apply the framework to derive the consequences of ignoring heterogeneity for a range of widely used demographic outputs. A general conclusion is that besides the long-term growth rate lambda, all parameters can be affected. Second, we discuss how the framework can help advance current demographic models of eco-evolutionary dynamics, by incorporating individual heterogeneity. For both applications numerical examples are provided, including an empirical example for pike. For instance, we demonstrate that predicted demographic responses to climate warming can be reversed by increased heritability. We discuss how applications of this demographic framework incorporating individual heterogeneity can help answer key biological questions that require a detailed understanding of eco-evolutionary dynamics. PMID:25807980

Evolutionary distinctiveness of fatty acid and polyketide synthesis in eukaryotes

PubMed Central

Kohli, Gurjeet S; John, Uwe; Van Dolah, Frances M; Murray, Shauna A

2016-01-01

Fatty acids, which are essential cell membrane constituents and fuel storage molecules, are thought to share a common evolutionary origin with polyketide toxins in eukaryotes. While fatty acids are primary metabolic products, polyketide toxins are secondary metabolites that are involved in ecologically relevant processes, such as chemical defence, and produce the adverse effects of harmful algal blooms. Selection pressures on such compounds may be different, resulting in differing evolutionary histories. Surprisingly, some studies of dinoflagellates have suggested that the same enzymes may catalyse these processes. Here we show the presence and evolutionary distinctiveness of genes encoding six key enzymes essential for fatty acid production in 13 eukaryotic lineages for which no previous sequence data were available (alveolates: dinoflagellates, Vitrella, Chromera; stramenopiles: bolidophytes, chrysophytes, pelagophytes, raphidophytes, dictyochophytes, pinguiophytes, xanthophytes; Rhizaria: chlorarachniophytes, haplosporida; euglenids) and 8 other lineages (apicomplexans, bacillariophytes, synurophytes, cryptophytes, haptophytes, chlorophyceans, prasinophytes, trebouxiophytes). The phylogeny of fatty acid synthase genes reflects the evolutionary history of the organism, indicating selection to maintain conserved functionality. In contrast, polyketide synthase gene families are highly expanded in dinoflagellates and haptophytes, suggesting relaxed constraints in their evolutionary history, while completely absent from some protist lineages. This demonstrates a vast potential for the production of bioactive polyketide compounds in some lineages of microbial eukaryotes, indicating that the evolution of these compounds may have played an important role in their ecological success. PMID:26784357

Developmental finite element analysis of cichlid pharyngeal jaws: Quantifying the generation of a key innovation.

PubMed

Peterson, Tim; Müller, Gerd B

2018-01-01

Advances in imaging and modeling facilitate the calculation of biomechanical forces in biological specimens. These factors play a significant role during ontogenetic development of cichlid pharyngeal jaws, a key innovation responsible for one of the most prolific species diversifications in recent times. MicroCT imaging of radiopaque-stained vertebrate embryos were used to accurately capture the spatial relationships of the pharyngeal jaw apparatus in two cichlid species (Haplochromis elegans and Amatitlania nigrofasciata) for the purpose of creating a time series of developmental stages using finite element models, which can be used to assess the effects of biomechanical forces present in a system at multiple points of its ontogeny. Changes in muscle vector orientations, bite forces, force on the neurocranium where cartilage originates, and stress on upper pharyngeal jaws are analyzed in a comparative context. In addition, microCT scanning revealed the presence of previously unreported cement glands in A. nigrofasciata. The data obtained provide an underrepresented dimension of information on physical forces present in developmental processes and assist in interpreting the role of developmental dynamics in evolution.

Developmental finite element analysis of cichlid pharyngeal jaws: Quantifying the generation of a key innovation

PubMed Central

Müller, Gerd B.

2018-01-01

Advances in imaging and modeling facilitate the calculation of biomechanical forces in biological specimens. These factors play a significant role during ontogenetic development of cichlid pharyngeal jaws, a key innovation responsible for one of the most prolific species diversifications in recent times. MicroCT imaging of radiopaque-stained vertebrate embryos were used to accurately capture the spatial relationships of the pharyngeal jaw apparatus in two cichlid species (Haplochromis elegans and Amatitlania nigrofasciata) for the purpose of creating a time series of developmental stages using finite element models, which can be used to assess the effects of biomechanical forces present in a system at multiple points of its ontogeny. Changes in muscle vector orientations, bite forces, force on the neurocranium where cartilage originates, and stress on upper pharyngeal jaws are analyzed in a comparative context. In addition, microCT scanning revealed the presence of previously unreported cement glands in A. nigrofasciata. The data obtained provide an underrepresented dimension of information on physical forces present in developmental processes and assist in interpreting the role of developmental dynamics in evolution. PMID:29320528

Mitochondrial phylogenomics of Hemiptera reveals adaptive innovations driving the diversification of true bugs

PubMed Central

Li, Hu; Leavengood, John M.; Chapman, Eric G.; Burkhardt, Daniel; Song, Fan; Jiang, Pei; Liu, Jinpeng; Cai, Wanzhi

2017-01-01

Hemiptera, the largest non-holometabolous order of insects, represents approximately 7% of metazoan diversity. With extraordinary life histories and highly specialized morphological adaptations, hemipterans have exploited diverse habitats and food sources through approximately 300 Myr of evolution. To elucidate the phylogeny and evolutionary history of Hemiptera, we carried out the most comprehensive mitogenomics analysis on the richest taxon sampling to date covering all the suborders and infraorders, including 34 newly sequenced and 94 published mitogenomes. With optimized branch length and sequence heterogeneity, Bayesian analyses using a site-heterogeneous mixture model resolved the higher-level hemipteran phylogeny as (Sternorrhyncha, (Auchenorrhyncha, (Coleorrhyncha, Heteroptera))). Ancestral character state reconstruction and divergence time estimation suggest that the success of true bugs (Heteroptera) is probably due to angiosperm coevolution, but key adaptive innovations (e.g. prognathous mouthpart, predatory behaviour, and haemelytron) facilitated multiple independent shifts among diverse feeding habits and multiple independent colonizations of aquatic habitats. PMID:28878063

The evolutionary origin and diversification of feathers.

PubMed

Prum, Richard O; Brush, Alan H

2002-09-01

Progress on the evolutionary origin and diversification of feathers has been hampered by conceptual problems and by the lack of plesiomorphic feather fossils. Recently, both of these limitations have been overcome by the proposal of the developmental theory of the origin of feathers, and the discovery of primitive feather fossils on nonavian theropod dinosaurs. The conceptual problems of previous theories of the origin of feathers are reviewed, and the alternative developmental theory is presented and discussed. The developmental theory proposes that feathers evolved through a series of evolutionary novelties in developmental mechanisms of the follicle and feather germ. The discovery of primitive and derived fossil feathers on a diversity of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs documents that feathers evolved and diversified in nonavian theropods before the origin of birds and before the origin of flight. The morphologies of these primitive feathers are congruent with the predictions of the developmental theory. Alternatives to the theropod origin of feathers are critique and rejected. Hypotheses for the initial function of feathers are reviewed. The aerodynamic theory of feather origins is falsified, but many other functions remain developmentally and phylogenetically plausible. Whatever their function, feathers evolved by selection for a follicle that would grow an emergent tubular appendage. Feathers are inherently tubular structures. The homology of feathers and scales is weakly supported. Feathers are composed of a suite of evolutionary novelties that evolved by the duplication, hierarchical organization, interaction, dissociation, and differentiation of morphological modules. The unique capacity for modular subdivision of the tubular feather follicle and germ has fostered the evolution of numerous innovations that characterize feathers. The evolution of feather keratin and the molecular basis of feather development are also discussed.

A comprehensive and integrative reconstruction of evolutionary history for Anomura (Crustacea: Decapoda)

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

time analysis provides key insights into the origins of major lineages and events and the timing of morphological (body form) and ecological (habitat) transitions. Living anomuran biodiversity is the product of 2 major changes in the tempo of diversification; our initial insights suggest that the acquisition of a crab-like form did not act as a key innovation. PMID:23786343

Evolutionary ethics from Darwin to Moore.

PubMed

Allhoff, Fritz

2003-01-01

Evolutionary ethics has a long history, dating all the way back to Charles Darwin. Almost immediately after the publication of the Origin, an immense interest arose in the moral implications of Darwinism and whether the truth of Darwinism would undermine traditional ethics. Though the biological thesis was certainly exciting, nobody suspected that the impact of the Origin would be confined to the scientific arena. As one historian wrote, 'whether or not ancient populations of armadillos were transformed into the species that currently inhabit the new world was certainly a topic about which zoologists could disagree. But it was in discussing the broader implications of the theory...that tempers flared and statements were made which could transform what otherwise would have been a quiet scholarly meeting into a social scandal' (Farber 1994, 22). Some resistance to the biological thesis of Darwinism sprung from the thought that it was incompatible with traditional morality and, since one of them had to go, many thought that Darwinism should be rejected. However, some people did realize that a secular ethics was possible so, even if Darwinism did undermine traditional religious beliefs, it need not have any effects on moral thought. Before I begin my discussion of evolutionary ethics from Darwin to Moore, I would like to make some more general remarks about its development. There are three key events during this history of evolutionary ethics. First, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of the Species (Darwin 1859). Since one did not have a fully developed theory of evolution until 1859, there exists little work on evolutionary ethics until then. Shortly thereafter, Herbert Spencer (1898) penned the first systematic theory of evolutionary ethics, which was promptly attacked by T.H. Huxley (Huxley 1894). Second, at about the turn of the century, moral philosophers entered the fray and attempted to demonstrate logical errors in Spencer's work; such errors were alluded

Joint scaling laws in functional and evolutionary categories in prokaryotic genomes

PubMed Central

Grilli, J.; Bassetti, B.; Maslov, S.; Cosentino Lagomarsino, M.

2012-01-01

We propose and study a class-expansion/innovation/loss model of genome evolution taking into account biological roles of genes and their constituent domains. In our model, numbers of genes in different functional categories are coupled to each other. For example, an increase in the number of metabolic enzymes in a genome is usually accompanied by addition of new transcription factors regulating these enzymes. Such coupling can be thought of as a proportional ‘recipe’ for genome composition of the type ‘a spoonful of sugar for each egg yolk’. The model jointly reproduces two known empirical laws: the distribution of family sizes and the non-linear scaling of the number of genes in certain functional categories (e.g. transcription factors) with genome size. In addition, it allows us to derive a novel relation between the exponents characterizing these two scaling laws, establishing a direct quantitative connection between evolutionary and functional categories. It predicts that functional categories that grow faster-than-linearly with genome size to be characterized by flatter-than-average family size distributions. This relation is confirmed by our bioinformatics analysis of prokaryotic genomes. This proves that the joint quantitative trends of functional and evolutionary classes can be understood in terms of evolutionary growth with proportional recipes. PMID:21937509

How educational innovations and attention to competencies in postgraduate medical education relate to preparedness for practice: the key role of the learning environment.

PubMed

Dijkstra, Ids S; Pols, Jan; Remmelts, Pine; Rietzschel, Eric F; Cohen-Schotanus, Janke; Brand, Paul L P

2015-12-01

Many training programmes in postgraduate medical education (PGME) have introduced competency frameworks, but the effects of this change on preparedness for practice are unknown. Therefore, we explored how elements of competency-based programmes in PGME (educational innovations, attention to competencies and learning environment) were related to perceived preparedness for practice among new consultants. A questionnaire was distributed among 330 new consultants. Respondents rated how well their PGME training programme prepared them for practice, the extent to which educational innovations (portfolio, Mini-CEX) were implemented, and how much attention was paid to CanMEDS competencies during feedback and coaching, and they answered questions on the learning environment and general self-efficacy. Multiple regression and mediation analyses were used to analyze data. The response rate was 43 % (143/330). Controlling for self-efficacy and gender, the learning environment was the strongest predictor of preparedness for practice (B = 0.42, p < 0.001), followed by attention to competencies (B = 0.29, p < 0.01). Educational innovations were not directly related to preparedness for practice. The overall model explained 52 % of the variance in preparedness for practice. Attention to competencies mediated the relationship between educational innovations and preparedness for practice. This mediation became stronger at higher learning environment values. The learning environment plays a key role in determining the degree to which competency-based PGME prepares trainees for independent practice.

The Concept of Innovation as Perceived by Public Sector Frontline Staff--Outline of a Tripartite Empirical Model of Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wegener, Charlotte; Tanggaard, Lene

2013-01-01

This article investigates the innovation concept in two key welfare areas where the demands for innovation are substantial, namely vocational education and elder care. On the basis of ethnographic fieldwork and interviews on the collaboration between an educational institution and elder care services, the article develops a tripartite empirical…

Impact of surgical innovation on tissue repair in the surgical patient.

PubMed

Tevlin, R; Atashroo, D; Duscher, D; Mc Ardle, A; Gurtner, G C; Wan, D C; Longaker, M T

2015-01-01

Throughout history, surgeons have been prolific innovators, which is hardly surprising as most surgeons innovate daily, tailoring their intervention to the intrinsic uniqueness of each operation, each patient and each disease. Innovation can be defined as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated needs or existing market needs. In the past two decades, surgical innovation has significantly improved patient outcomes, complication rates and length of hospital stay. There is one key area that has great potential to change the face of surgical practice and which is still in its infancy: the realm of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. A literature review was performed using PubMed; peer-reviewed publications were screened for relevance in order to identify key surgical innovations influencing regenerative medicine, with a focus on osseous, cutaneous and soft tissue reconstruction. This review describes recent advances in regenerative medicine, documenting key innovations in osseous, cutaneous and soft tissue regeneration that have brought regenerative medicine to the forefront of the surgical imagination. Surgical innovation in the emerging field of regenerative medicine has the ability to make a major impact on surgery on a daily basis. © 2015 BJS Society Ltd. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Identification of the Key Fields and Their Key Technical Points of Oncology by Patent Analysis

PubMed Central

Zhang, Ting; Chen, Juan; Jia, Xiaofeng

2015-01-01

Background This paper aims to identify the key fields and their key technical points of oncology by patent analysis. Methodology/Principal Findings Patents of oncology applied from 2006 to 2012 were searched in the Thomson Innovation database. The key fields and their key technical points were determined by analyzing the Derwent Classification (DC) and the International Patent Classification (IPC), respectively. Patent applications in the top ten DC occupied 80% of all the patent applications of oncology, which were the ten fields of oncology to be analyzed. The number of patent applications in these ten fields of oncology was standardized based on patent applications of oncology from 2006 to 2012. For each field, standardization was conducted separately for each of the seven years (2006–2012) and the mean of the seven standardized values was calculated to reflect the relative amount of patent applications in that field; meanwhile, regression analysis using time (year) and the standardized values of patent applications in seven years (2006–2012) was conducted so as to evaluate the trend of patent applications in each field. Two-dimensional quadrant analysis, together with the professional knowledge of oncology, was taken into consideration in determining the key fields of oncology. The fields located in the quadrant with high relative amount or increasing trend of patent applications are identified as key ones. By using the same method, the key technical points in each key field were identified. Altogether 116,820 patents of oncology applied from 2006 to 2012 were retrieved, and four key fields with twenty-nine key technical points were identified, including “natural products and polymers” with nine key technical points, “fermentation industry” with twelve ones, “electrical medical equipment” with four ones, and “diagnosis, surgery” with four ones. Conclusions/Significance The results of this study could provide guidance on the development

An evolutionary cascade model for sauropod dinosaur gigantism--overview, update and tests.

PubMed

Sander, P Martin

2013-01-01

Sauropod dinosaurs are a group of herbivorous dinosaurs which exceeded all other terrestrial vertebrates in mean and maximal body size. Sauropod dinosaurs were also the most successful and long-lived herbivorous tetrapod clade, but no abiological factors such as global environmental parameters conducive to their gigantism can be identified. These facts justify major efforts by evolutionary biologists and paleontologists to understand sauropods as living animals and to explain their evolutionary success and uniquely gigantic body size. Contributions to this research program have come from many fields and can be synthesized into a biological evolutionary cascade model of sauropod dinosaur gigantism (sauropod gigantism ECM). This review focuses on the sauropod gigantism ECM, providing an updated version based on the contributions to the PLoS ONE sauropod gigantism collection and on other very recent published evidence. The model consist of five separate evolutionary cascades ("Reproduction", "Feeding", "Head and neck", "Avian-style lung", and "Metabolism"). Each cascade starts with observed or inferred basal traits that either may be plesiomorphic or derived at the level of Sauropoda. Each trait confers hypothetical selective advantages which permit the evolution of the next trait. Feedback loops in the ECM consist of selective advantages originating from traits higher in the cascades but affecting lower traits. All cascades end in the trait "Very high body mass". Each cascade is linked to at least one other cascade. Important plesiomorphic traits of sauropod dinosaurs that entered the model were ovipary as well as no mastication of food. Important evolutionary innovations (derived traits) were an avian-style respiratory system and an elevated basal metabolic rate. Comparison with other tetrapod lineages identifies factors limiting body size.

Illinois Innovation Talent Project: Implications for Two-Year Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tyszko, Jason A.; Sheets, Robert G.

2012-01-01

There is a growing consensus that the United States and its regions, including the Midwest region, will increasingly compete on innovation. This also is widely recognized in the business world. There is also growing consensus that innovation talent--the human talent to drive and support innovation--will be a major key. Despite this consensus,…

The risks of innovation in health care.

PubMed

Enzmann, Dieter R

2015-04-01

Innovation in health care creates risks that are unevenly distributed. An evolutionary analogy using species to represent business models helps categorize innovation experiments and their risks. This classification reveals two qualitative categories: early and late diversification experiments. Early diversification has prolific innovations with high risk because they encounter a "decimation" stage, during which most experiments disappear. Participants face high risk. The few decimation survivors can be sustaining or disruptive according to Christensen's criteria. Survivors enter late diversification, during which they again expand, but within a design range limited to variations of the previous surviving designs. Late diversifications carry lower risk. The exception is when disruptive survivors "diversify," which amplifies their disruption. Health care and radiology will experience both early and late diversifications, often simultaneously. Although oversimplifying Christensen's concepts, early diversifications are likely to deliver disruptive innovation, whereas late diversifications tend to produce sustaining innovations. Current health care consolidation is a manifestation of late diversification. Early diversifications will appear outside traditional care models and physical health care sites, as well as with new science such as molecular diagnostics. They warrant attention because decimation survivors will present both disruptive and sustaining opportunities to radiology. Radiology must participate in late diversification by incorporating sustaining innovations to its value chain. Given the likelihood of disruptive survivors, radiology should seriously consider disrupting itself rather than waiting for others to do so. Disruption entails significant modifications of its value chain, hence, its business model, for which lessons may become available from the pharmaceutical industry's current simultaneous experience with early and late diversifications. Copyright

Chromosomal polymorphism in mammals: an evolutionary perspective.

PubMed

Dobigny, Gauthier; Britton-Davidian, Janice; Robinson, Terence J

2017-02-01

Although chromosome rearrangements (CRs) are central to studies of genome evolution, our understanding of the evolutionary consequences of the early stages of karyotypic differentiation (i.e. polymorphism), especially the non-meiotic impacts, is surprisingly limited. We review the available data on chromosomal polymorphisms in mammals so as to identify taxa that hold promise for developing a more comprehensive understanding of chromosomal change. In doing so, we address several key questions: (i) to what extent are mammalian karyotypes polymorphic, and what types of rearrangements are principally involved? (ii) Are some mammalian lineages more prone to chromosomal polymorphism than others? More specifically, do (karyotypically) polymorphic mammalian species belong to lineages that are also characterized by past, extensive karyotype repatterning? (iii) How long can chromosomal polymorphisms persist in mammals? We discuss the evolutionary implications of these questions and propose several research avenues that may shed light on the role of chromosome change in the diversification of mammalian populations and species. © 2015 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Polymorphic Evolutionary Games.

PubMed

Fishman, Michael A

2016-06-07

In this paper, I present an analytical framework for polymorphic evolutionary games suitable for explicitly modeling evolutionary processes in diploid populations with sexual reproduction. The principal aspect of the proposed approach is adding diploid genetics cum sexual recombination to a traditional evolutionary game, and switching from phenotypes to haplotypes as the new game׳s pure strategies. Here, the relevant pure strategy׳s payoffs derived by summing the payoffs of all the phenotypes capable of producing gametes containing that particular haplotype weighted by the pertinent probabilities. The resulting game is structurally identical to the familiar Evolutionary Games with non-linear pure strategy payoffs (Hofbauer and Sigmund, 1998. Cambridge University Press), and can be analyzed in terms of an established analytical framework for such games. And these results can be translated into the terms of genotypic, and whence, phenotypic evolutionary stability pertinent to the original game. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding the mind from an evolutionary perspective: an overview of evolutionary psychology.

PubMed

Shackelford, Todd K; Liddle, James R

2014-05-01

The theory of evolution by natural selection provides the only scientific explanation for the existence of complex adaptations. The design features of the brain, like any organ, are the result of selection pressures operating over deep time. Evolutionary psychology posits that the human brain comprises a multitude of evolved psychological mechanisms, adaptations to specific and recurrent problems of survival and reproduction faced over human evolutionary history. Although some mistakenly view evolutionary psychology as promoting genetic determinism, evolutionary psychologists appreciate and emphasize the interactions between genes and environments. This approach to psychology has led to a richer understanding of a variety of psychological phenomena, and has provided a powerful foundation for generating novel hypotheses. Critics argue that evolutionary psychologists resort to storytelling, but as with any branch of science, empirical testing is a vital component of the field, with hypotheses standing or falling with the weight of the evidence. Evolutionary psychology is uniquely suited to provide a unifying theoretical framework for the disparate subdisciplines of psychology. An evolutionary perspective has provided insights into several subdisciplines of psychology, while simultaneously demonstrating the arbitrary nature of dividing psychological science into such subdisciplines. Evolutionary psychologists have amassed a substantial empirical and theoretical literature, but as a relatively new approach to psychology, many questions remain, with several promising directions for future research. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Skills for Innovation: Envisioning an Education that Prepares for the Changing World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cobo, Cristobal

2013-01-01

This article explores and discusses key conditions needed to develop skills for innovation. This article analyses five trends that can contribute to fostering the development of skills for innovation within and outside formal educational institutions. These key trends, identified through a literature review, are elements that foster learning and…

Mapping your innovation strategy.

PubMed

Anthony, Scott D; Eyring, Matt; Gibson, Lib

2006-05-01

In the complex sport of American football, teams rely on playbooks as thick as the Manhattan phone directory. But when it comes to creating innovative growth businesses-which is at least as complicated as professional football--most companies have not developed detailed game plans. Indeed, many managers have concluded that a fog enshrouds the world of innovation, obscuring high-potential opportunities. The authors believe that companies can penetrate that fog by developing growth strategies based on disruptive innovations, as defined by Clayton Christensen. Such innovations conform to a pattern: They offer an entirely new solution; they perform adequately along traditional dimensions and much better along other dimensions that matter more to target customers; and they are not initially appealing to powerful incumbents. Companies can develop customized checklists, or playbooks, by combining this basic pattern with analysis of major innovations in their markets. The key early on is to focus not on detailed financial estimates--which will always guide companies toward the markets most hostile to disruptive innovations--but on how well the innovation fits the pattern of success. It's also crucial to encourage flexibility: Companies must be willing to kill projects that are going nowhere, exempt innovations from standard development processes, and avoid burdening project teams with extra financing, which can keep them heading in the wrong direction. Companies can create competitive advantage by becoming champions at defining the pattern of successful innovations and executing against it. But as that pattern becomes obvious--and others emerge-building a sustainable advantage on innovation competencies will again prove elusive.

Automatic detection of key innovations, rate shifts, and diversity-dependence on phylogenetic trees.

PubMed

Rabosky, Daniel L

2014-01-01

A number of methods have been developed to infer differential rates of species diversification through time and among clades using time-calibrated phylogenetic trees. However, we lack a general framework that can delineate and quantify heterogeneous mixtures of dynamic processes within single phylogenies. I developed a method that can identify arbitrary numbers of time-varying diversification processes on phylogenies without specifying their locations in advance. The method uses reversible-jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo to move between model subspaces that vary in the number of distinct diversification regimes. The model assumes that changes in evolutionary regimes occur across the branches of phylogenetic trees under a compound Poisson process and explicitly accounts for rate variation through time and among lineages. Using simulated datasets, I demonstrate that the method can be used to quantify complex mixtures of time-dependent, diversity-dependent, and constant-rate diversification processes. I compared the performance of the method to the MEDUSA model of rate variation among lineages. As an empirical example, I analyzed the history of speciation and extinction during the radiation of modern whales. The method described here will greatly facilitate the exploration of macroevolutionary dynamics across large phylogenetic trees, which may have been shaped by heterogeneous mixtures of distinct evolutionary processes.

Automatic Detection of Key Innovations, Rate Shifts, and Diversity-Dependence on Phylogenetic Trees

PubMed Central

Rabosky, Daniel L.

2014-01-01

A number of methods have been developed to infer differential rates of species diversification through time and among clades using time-calibrated phylogenetic trees. However, we lack a general framework that can delineate and quantify heterogeneous mixtures of dynamic processes within single phylogenies. I developed a method that can identify arbitrary numbers of time-varying diversification processes on phylogenies without specifying their locations in advance. The method uses reversible-jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo to move between model subspaces that vary in the number of distinct diversification regimes. The model assumes that changes in evolutionary regimes occur across the branches of phylogenetic trees under a compound Poisson process and explicitly accounts for rate variation through time and among lineages. Using simulated datasets, I demonstrate that the method can be used to quantify complex mixtures of time-dependent, diversity-dependent, and constant-rate diversification processes. I compared the performance of the method to the MEDUSA model of rate variation among lineages. As an empirical example, I analyzed the history of speciation and extinction during the radiation of modern whales. The method described here will greatly facilitate the exploration of macroevolutionary dynamics across large phylogenetic trees, which may have been shaped by heterogeneous mixtures of distinct evolutionary processes. PMID:24586858

Determinants of Students' Innovation in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martín, P.; Potocnik, K.; Fras, A. B.

2017-01-01

Innovation in the workplace has been claimed to be a key factor in organizational survival and success. As future workers, university students are a major source of future innovations in organizational settings. Before they enter the labour market, it is in the context of Higher Education that they start developing some of their long-term…

The Evolution of Human Cells in Terms of Protein Innovation

PubMed Central

Sardar, Adam J.; Oates, Matt E.; Fang, Hai; Forrest, Alistair R.R.; Kawaji, Hideya; Gough, Julian; Rackham, Owen J.L.

2014-01-01

Humans are composed of hundreds of cell types. As the genomic DNA of each somatic cell is identical, cell type is determined by what is expressed and when. Until recently, little has been reported about the determinants of human cell identity, particularly from the joint perspective of gene evolution and expression. Here, we chart the evolutionary past of all documented human cell types via the collective histories of proteins, the principal product of gene expression. FANTOM5 data provide cell-type–specific digital expression of human protein-coding genes and the SUPERFAMILY resource is used to provide protein domain annotation. The evolutionary epoch in which each protein was created is inferred by comparison with domain annotation of all other completely sequenced genomes. Studying the distribution across epochs of genes expressed in each cell type reveals insights into human cellular evolution in terms of protein innovation. For each cell type, its history of protein innovation is charted based on the genes it expresses. Combining the histories of all cell types enables us to create a timeline of cell evolution. This timeline identifies the possibility that our common ancestor Coelomata (cavity-forming animals) provided the innovation required for the innate immune system, whereas cells which now form the brain of human have followed a trajectory of continually accumulating novel proteins since Opisthokonta (boundary of animals and fungi). We conclude that exaptation of existing domain architectures into new contexts is the dominant source of cell-type–specific domain architectures. PMID:24692656

[Evolutionary medicine].

PubMed

Wjst, M

2013-12-01

Evolutionary medicine allows new insights into long standing medical problems. Are we "really stoneagers on the fast lane"? This insight might have enormous consequences and will allow new answers that could never been provided by traditional anthropology. Only now this is made possible using data from molecular medicine and systems biology. Thereby evolutionary medicine takes a leap from a merely theoretical discipline to practical fields - reproductive, nutritional and preventive medicine, as well as microbiology, immunology and psychiatry. Evolutionary medicine is not another "just so story" but a serious candidate for the medical curriculum providing a universal understanding of health and disease based on our biological origin. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Evolutionary awareness.

PubMed

Gorelik, Gregory; Shackelford, Todd K

2014-08-27

In this article, we advance the concept of "evolutionary awareness," a metacognitive framework that examines human thought and emotion from a naturalistic, evolutionary perspective. We begin by discussing the evolution and current functioning of the moral foundations on which our framework rests. Next, we discuss the possible applications of such an evolutionarily-informed ethical framework to several domains of human behavior, namely: sexual maturation, mate attraction, intrasexual competition, culture, and the separation between various academic disciplines. Finally, we discuss ways in which an evolutionary awareness can inform our cross-generational activities-which we refer to as "intergenerational extended phenotypes"-by helping us to construct a better future for ourselves, for other sentient beings, and for our environment.

Shaping innovation in health care: A content analysis of innovation policies in the English NHS, 1948-2015.

PubMed

Farchi, Tomas; Salge, Torsten-Oliver

2017-11-01

Governments around the world seek to design policies that enhance the innovative capacity of public service. Hence, identifying the underlying meanings attributed to innovation concepts in public policies is critical, as these very understandings inform not only the policy discourses, but also the overall institutional landscape regulating innovation activities. This paper examines such fundamental definitional aspects in the specific context of the National Health Service in England. For this purpose, it traces the evolution of the innovation concept in policy discourse based on the analysis of 21 key policy documents published or commissioned by the English Department of Health between 1948 and 2015. Systematic analysis of these texts reveals that policymakers' conception of healthcare innovation broadened considerably over time. English health innovation policy initially focused on basic biomedical research. Subsequently, it entered a transitional period, zeroing in on science- and technology-based innovation. Finally, this focus gradually shifted to a broader conception of innovation translating into health, economic, and service design benefits. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fuzzy AHP Analysis on Enterprises’ Independent Innovation Capability Evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Yu; Lei, Huai-ying

Independent innovation has become a key factor in the rapid and healthy development of the enterprises. Therefore, an effective and reasonable comprehensive evaluation on the independent innovation capability of the businesses is especially important. This paper applies fuzzy AHP in the evaluation of the independent innovation capability of the businesses, and validates the rationality and feasibility of the evaluation methods and the indicators.

Key Strengths of an Innovative Volunteer Training Workshop

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sellick, Angelika; Bournot-Trites, Monique; Reeder, Ken; Scales, Andrew; Smith, Mark; Zappa-Hollman, Sandra

2011-01-01

The study involved 14 volunteer facilitators, four UBC staff members, and the researcher as participant; the data collected were observation notes, questionnaires, results from focus groups, and interviews. The study revealed that the key strengths of the training workshop lay in its approach to training, its focus on confidence and capacity…

The Relationship Between College Zoology Students' Religious Beliefs and Their Ability to Objectively View the Scientific Evidence Supporting Evolutionary Theory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinclair, Anne; Baldwin, Beatrice

An anonymous 12-item, multiple-choice questionnaire was administered to 218 southern college, introductory zoology students prior to and following a study of evolutionary theory to assess their understanding and acceptance of the credibility of the evidence supporting the theory. Key topics addressed were the history of evolutionary thought, basic…

Managing innovation: lessons from the cardiac-pacing industry.

PubMed

Gobeli, D H; Rudelius, W

1985-01-01

In this article, the authors argue that innovation is a surefire way for a firm to increase its sales and market share. This, in turn, can stimulate American industries and make American firms more competitive in international markets. Through their study of the cardiac-pacing industry, they draw conclusions about what factors contribute to a successful innovation in other industries besides medical electronics. They identify general patterns and stages of the innovation process, key roles top management must fill in an organization, and effective policies that foster important innovations.

Coping with Multiple Innovations in Schools: An Exploratory Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wallace, Mike

1991-01-01

Reviews small-scale, exploratory research into British schools' management of concurrent educational reform innovations generated by government, local education authorities, and the schools themselves. Describes changing innovations patterns, key factors influencing their adoption and implementation, the central management strategies employed, and…

??Enhancing Work Place Competency through Innovative Integrated Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rao, A. V. Nageswara; Mohan, V. Krishna; Sahu, Dasarathi

2009-01-01

The present business environment demands innovative integrated learning which is a key driver of growth and productivity. In an economy driven by knowledge management the emphasis is on continuous and instant innovative learning in the organization. The holistic approach to Integrated learning involves the understanding of business requirements…

Testing co-evolutionary hypotheses over geological timescales: interactions between Mesozoic non-avian dinosaurs and cycads.

PubMed

Butler, Richard J; Barrett, Paul M; Kenrick, Paul; Penn, Malcolm G

2009-02-01

The significance of co-evolution over ecological timescales is well established, yet it remains unclear to what extent co-evolutionary processes contribute to driving large-scale evolutionary and ecological changes over geological timescales. Some of the most intriguing and pervasive long-term co-evolutionary hypotheses relate to proposed interactions between herbivorous non-avian dinosaurs and Mesozoic plants, including cycads. Dinosaurs have been proposed as key dispersers of cycad seeds during the Mesozoic, and temporal variation in cycad diversity and abundance has been linked to dinosaur faunal changes. Here we assess the evidence for proposed hypotheses of trophic and evolutionary interactions between these two groups using diversity analyses, a new database of Cretaceous dinosaur and plant co-occurrence data, and a geographical information system (GIS) as a visualisation tool. Phylogenetic evidence suggests that the origins of several key biological properties of cycads (e.g. toxins, bright-coloured seeds) likely predated the origin of dinosaurs. Direct evidence of dinosaur-cycad interactions is lacking, but evidence from extant ecosystems suggests that dinosaurs may plausibly have acted as seed dispersers for cycads, although it is likely that other vertebrate groups (e.g. birds, early mammals) also played a role. Although the Late Triassic radiations of dinosaurs and cycads appear to have been approximately contemporaneous, few significant changes in dinosaur faunas coincide with the late Early Cretaceous cycad decline. No significant spatiotemporal associations between particular dinosaur groups and cycads can be identified - GIS visualisation reveals disparities between the spatiotemporal distributions of some dinosaur groups (e.g. sauropodomorphs) and cycads that are inconsistent with co-evolutionary hypotheses. The available data provide no unequivocal support for any of the proposed co-evolutionary interactions between cycads and herbivorous dinosaurs

Understanding the Emergence of Disruptive Innovation in Air Force Science and Technology Organizations

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

respect to various key attributes. Although the principles of low-end and new market disruption play the most significant role in the fluid and...crucial role in the emergence of breakthrough and game changing ideas. By examining these key elements with regard to industry innovation, a base...that help define the key characteristics of an innovative culture: strong customer focus, collaboration, effective processes , creative people

Functional innovations and morphological diversification in parrotfish.

PubMed

Price, Samantha A; Wainwright, Peter C; Bellwood, David R; Kazancioglu, Erem; Collar, David C; Near, Thomas J

2010-10-01

The association between diversification and evolutionary innovations has been well documented and tested in studies of taxonomic richness but the impact that such innovations have on the diversity of form and function is less well understood. Using phylogenetically rigorous techniques, we investigated the association between morphological diversity and two design breakthroughs within the jaws of parrotfish. Similar intramandibular joints and other modifications of the pharyngeal jaws have evolved repeatedly in teleost fish and are frequently hypothesized to promote diversity. We quantified morphological diversity within six functionally important oral jaw traits using the Brownian motion rate of evolution to correct for phylogenetic and time-related biases and compared these rates across clades that did and did not possess the intramandibular joint and the parrotfish pharyngeal jaw. No change in morphological diversity was associated with the pharyngeal jaw modification alone but rates of oral jaw diversification were up to 8× faster in parrotfish species that possessed both innovations. Interestingly, this morphological diversity may not have led to differential resource uses as available data suggest that members of this clade show remarkable homogeneity of diet. © 2010 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2010 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

An Evolutionary Cascade Model for Sauropod Dinosaur Gigantism - Overview, Update and Tests

PubMed Central

Sander, P. Martin

2013-01-01

Sauropod dinosaurs are a group of herbivorous dinosaurs which exceeded all other terrestrial vertebrates in mean and maximal body size. Sauropod dinosaurs were also the most successful and long-lived herbivorous tetrapod clade, but no abiological factors such as global environmental parameters conducive to their gigantism can be identified. These facts justify major efforts by evolutionary biologists and paleontologists to understand sauropods as living animals and to explain their evolutionary success and uniquely gigantic body size. Contributions to this research program have come from many fields and can be synthesized into a biological evolutionary cascade model of sauropod dinosaur gigantism (sauropod gigantism ECM). This review focuses on the sauropod gigantism ECM, providing an updated version based on the contributions to the PLoS ONE sauropod gigantism collection and on other very recent published evidence. The model consist of five separate evolutionary cascades (“Reproduction”, “Feeding”, “Head and neck”, “Avian-style lung”, and “Metabolism”). Each cascade starts with observed or inferred basal traits that either may be plesiomorphic or derived at the level of Sauropoda. Each trait confers hypothetical selective advantages which permit the evolution of the next trait. Feedback loops in the ECM consist of selective advantages originating from traits higher in the cascades but affecting lower traits. All cascades end in the trait “Very high body mass”. Each cascade is linked to at least one other cascade. Important plesiomorphic traits of sauropod dinosaurs that entered the model were ovipary as well as no mastication of food. Important evolutionary innovations (derived traits) were an avian-style respiratory system and an elevated basal metabolic rate. Comparison with other tetrapod lineages identifies factors limiting body size. PMID:24205267

Cyclical parthenogenesis and viviparity in aphids as evolutionary novelties.

PubMed

Davis, Gregory K

2012-09-01

Evolutionary novelties represent challenges to biologists, particularly those who would like to understand the developmental and genetic changes responsible for their appearance. Most modern aphids possess two apparent evolutionary novelties: cyclical parthenogenesis (a life cycle with both sexual and asexual phases) and viviparity (internal development and live birth of progeny) in their asexual phase. Here I discuss the evolution of these apparent novelties from a developmental standpoint. Although a full understanding of the evolution of cyclical parthenogenesis and viviparity in aphids can seem a daunting task, these complex transitions can at least be broken down into a handful of steps. I argue that these should include the following: a differentiation of two developmentally distinct oocytes; de novo synthesis of centrosomes and modification of meiosis during asexual oogenesis; a loss or bypass of any cell cycle arrest and changes in key developmental events during viviparous oogenesis; and a change in how mothers specify the sexual vs. asexual fates of their progeny. Grappling with the nature of such steps and the order in which they occurred ought to increase our understanding and reduce the apparent novelty of complex evolutionary transitions. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Evolutionary model of the growth and size of firms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaldasch, Joachim

2012-07-01

The key idea of this model is that firms are the result of an evolutionary process. Based on demand and supply considerations the evolutionary model presented here derives explicitly Gibrat's law of proportionate effects as the result of the competition between products. Applying a preferential attachment mechanism for firms, the theory allows to establish the size distribution of products and firms. Also established are the growth rate and price distribution of consumer goods. Taking into account the characteristic property of human activities to occur in bursts, the model allows also an explanation of the size-variance relationship of the growth rate distribution of products and firms. Further the product life cycle, the learning (experience) curve and the market size in terms of the mean number of firms that can survive in a market are derived. The model also suggests the existence of an invariant of a market as the ratio of total profit to total revenue. The relationship between a neo-classic and an evolutionary view of a market is discussed. The comparison with empirical investigations suggests that the theory is able to describe the main stylized facts concerning the size and growth of firms.

Is retinoic acid genetic machinery a chordate innovation?

PubMed

Cañestro, Cristian; Postlethwait, John H; Gonzàlez-Duarte, Roser; Albalat, Ricard

2006-01-01

Development of many chordate features depends on retinoic acid (RA). Because the action of RA during development seems to be restricted to chordates, it had been previously proposed that the "invention" of RA genetic machinery, including RA-binding nuclear hormone receptors (Rars), and the RA-synthesizing and RA-degrading enzymes Aldh1a (Raldh) and Cyp26, respectively, was an important step for the origin of developmental mechanisms leading to the chordate body plan. We tested this hypothesis by conducting an exhaustive survey of the RA machinery in genomic databases for twelve deuterostomes. We reconstructed the evolution of these genes in deuterostomes and showed for the first time that RA genetic machinery--that is Aldh1a, Cyp26, and Rar orthologs--is present in nonchordate deuterostomes. This finding implies that RA genetic machinery was already present during early deuterostome evolution, and therefore, is not a chordate innovation. This new evolutionary viewpoint argues against the hypothesis that the acquisition of gene families underlying RA metabolism and signaling was a key event for the origin of chordates. We propose a new hypothesis in which lineage-specific duplication and loss of RA machinery genes could be related to the morphological radiation of deuterostomes.

Innovative Work in School Development: Exploring Leadership Enactment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vennebo, Kirsten Foshaug

2017-01-01

Leadership is recognised in both policy and research as a key enabler of innovation in schools. Numerous researchers have focused on how school leaders formally narrate their experiences of leading innovations including their observations of effect; however, modest attention has been paid to the processes through which leaders engage in innovative…

Major evolutionary transitions in individuality

PubMed Central

West, Stuart A.; Fisher, Roberta M.; Gardner, Andy; Kiers, E. Toby

2015-01-01

The evolution of life on earth has been driven by a small number of major evolutionary transitions. These transitions have been characterized by individuals that could previously replicate independently, cooperating to form a new, more complex life form. For example, archaea and eubacteria formed eukaryotic cells, and cells formed multicellular organisms. However, not all cooperative groups are en route to major transitions. How can we explain why major evolutionary transitions have or haven’t taken place on different branches of the tree of life? We break down major transitions into two steps: the formation of a cooperative group and the transformation of that group into an integrated entity. We show how these steps require cooperation, division of labor, communication, mutual dependence, and negligible within-group conflict. We find that certain ecological conditions and the ways in which groups form have played recurrent roles in driving multiple transitions. In contrast, we find that other factors have played relatively minor roles at many key points, such as within-group kin discrimination and mechanisms to actively repress competition. More generally, by identifying the small number of factors that have driven major transitions, we provide a simpler and more unified description of how life on earth has evolved. PMID:25964342

Genome of the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis), a globally significant invasive species, reveals key functional and evolutionary innovations at the beetle-plant interface.

PubMed

McKenna, Duane D; Scully, Erin D; Pauchet, Yannick; Hoover, Kelli; Kirsch, Roy; Geib, Scott M; Mitchell, Robert F; Waterhouse, Robert M; Ahn, Seung-Joon; Arsala, Deanna; Benoit, Joshua B; Blackmon, Heath; Bledsoe, Tiffany; Bowsher, Julia H; Busch, André; Calla, Bernarda; Chao, Hsu; Childers, Anna K; Childers, Christopher; Clarke, Dave J; Cohen, Lorna; Demuth, Jeffery P; Dinh, Huyen; Doddapaneni, HarshaVardhan; Dolan, Amanda; Duan, Jian J; Dugan, Shannon; Friedrich, Markus; Glastad, Karl M; Goodisman, Michael A D; Haddad, Stephanie; Han, Yi; Hughes, Daniel S T; Ioannidis, Panagiotis; Johnston, J Spencer; Jones, Jeffery W; Kuhn, Leslie A; Lance, David R; Lee, Chien-Yueh; Lee, Sandra L; Lin, Han; Lynch, Jeremy A; Moczek, Armin P; Murali, Shwetha C; Muzny, Donna M; Nelson, David R; Palli, Subba R; Panfilio, Kristen A; Pers, Dan; Poelchau, Monica F; Quan, Honghu; Qu, Jiaxin; Ray, Ann M; Rinehart, Joseph P; Robertson, Hugh M; Roehrdanz, Richard; Rosendale, Andrew J; Shin, Seunggwan; Silva, Christian; Torson, Alex S; Jentzsch, Iris M Vargas; Werren, John H; Worley, Kim C; Yocum, George; Zdobnov, Evgeny M; Gibbs, Richard A; Richards, Stephen

2016-11-11

Relatively little is known about the genomic basis and evolution of wood-feeding in beetles. We undertook genome sequencing and annotation, gene expression assays, studies of plant cell wall degrading enzymes, and other functional and comparative studies of the Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, a globally significant invasive species capable of inflicting severe feeding damage on many important tree species. Complementary studies of genes encoding enzymes involved in digestion of woody plant tissues or detoxification of plant allelochemicals were undertaken with the genomes of 14 additional insects, including the newly sequenced emerald ash borer and bull-headed dung beetle. The Asian longhorned beetle genome encodes a uniquely diverse arsenal of enzymes that can degrade the main polysaccharide networks in plant cell walls, detoxify plant allelochemicals, and otherwise facilitate feeding on woody plants. It has the metabolic plasticity needed to feed on diverse plant species, contributing to its highly invasive nature. Large expansions of chemosensory genes involved in the reception of pheromones and plant kairomones are consistent with the complexity of chemical cues it uses to find host plants and mates. Amplification and functional divergence of genes associated with specialized feeding on plants, including genes originally obtained via horizontal gene transfer from fungi and bacteria, contributed to the addition, expansion, and enhancement of the metabolic repertoire of the Asian longhorned beetle, certain other phytophagous beetles, and to a lesser degree, other phytophagous insects. Our results thus begin to establish a genomic basis for the evolutionary success of beetles on plants.

The Role of Reticulate Evolution in Creating Innovation and Complexity

PubMed Central

Swithers, Kristen S.; Soucy, Shannon M.; Gogarten, J. Peter

2012-01-01

Reticulate evolution encompasses processes that conflict with traditional Tree of Life efforts. These processes, horizontal gene transfer (HGT), gene and whole-genome duplications through allopolyploidization, are some of the main driving forces for generating innovation and complexity. HGT has a profound impact on prokaryotic and eukaryotic evolution. HGTs can lead to the invention of new metabolic pathways and the expansion and enhancement of previously existing pathways. It allows for organismal adaptation into new ecological niches and new host ranges. Although many HGTs appear to be selected for because they provide some benefit to their recipient lineage, other HGTs may be maintained by chance through random genetic drift. Moreover, some HGTs that may initially seem parasitic in nature can cause complexity to arise through pathways of neutral evolution. Another mechanism for generating innovation and complexity, occurring more frequently in eukaryotes than in prokaryotes, is gene and genome duplications, which often occur through allopolyploidizations. We discuss how these different evolutionary processes contribute to generating innovation and complexity. PMID:22844638

The Principal as a Key Actor in Promoting Teachers' Innovativeness--Analyzing the Innovativeness of Teaching Staff with Variance-Based Partial Least Square Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buske, Ramona

2018-01-01

The study examines the correlation between collective innovativeness of the teaching staff and the principal's leadership style as well as additional school structure characteristics. The construct of collective innovativeness is examined as a precondition of successful school improvement processes driven by the teaching staff. Based on…

EVOLUTIONARY FOUNDATIONS FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE

PubMed Central

Nesse, Randolph M.; Ganten, Detlev; Gregory, T. Ryan; Omenn, Gilbert S.

2015-01-01

Evolution has long provided a foundation for population genetics, but many major advances in evolutionary biology from the 20th century are only now being applied in molecular medicine. They include the distinction between proximate and evolutionary explanations, kin selection, evolutionary models for cooperation, and new strategies for tracing phylogenies and identifying signals of selection. Recent advances in genomics are further transforming evolutionary biology and creating yet more opportunities for progress at the interface of evolution with genetics, medicine, and public health. This article reviews 15 evolutionary principles and their applications in molecular medicine in hopes that readers will use them and others to speed the development of evolutionary molecular medicine. PMID:22544168

Ecological and evolutionary approaches to managing honey bee disease

PubMed Central

Brosi, Berry J.; Delaplane, Keith S.; Boots, Michael; de Roode, Jacobus C.

2017-01-01

Honey bee declines are a serious threat to global agricultural security and productivity. While multiple factors contribute to these declines, parasites are a key driver. Disease problems in honey bees have intensified in recent years, despite increasing attention to addressing them. Here we argue that we must focus on the principles of disease ecology and evolution to understand disease dynamics, assess the severity of disease threats, and manage these threats via honey bee management. We cover the ecological context of honey bee disease, including both host and parasite factors driving current transmission dynamics, and then discuss evolutionary dynamics including how beekeeping management practices may drive selection for more virulent parasites. We then outline how ecological and evolutionary principles can guide disease mitigation in honey bees, including several practical management suggestions for addressing short- and long-term disease dynamics and consequences. PMID:29046562

Tracking changing environments: innovators are fast, but not flexible learners.

PubMed

Griffin, Andrea S; Guez, David; Lermite, Françoise; Patience, Madeleine

2013-01-01

Behavioural innovations are increasingly thought to provide a rich source of phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary change. Innovation propensity shows substantial variation across avian taxa and provides an adaptive mechanism by which behaviour is flexibly adjusted to changing environmental conditions. Here, we tested for the first time the prediction that inter-individual variation in innovation propensity is equally a measure of behavioural flexibility. We used Indian mynas, Sturnus tristis, a highly successful worldwide invader. Results revealed that mynas that solved an extractive foraging task more quickly learnt to discriminate between a cue that predicted food, and one that did not more quickly. However, fast innovators were slower to change their behaviour when the significance of the food cues changed. This unexpected finding appears at odds with the well-established view that avian taxa with larger brains relative to their body size, and therefore greater neural processing power, are both faster, and more flexible learners. We speculate that the existence of this relationship across taxa can be reconciled with its absence within species by assuming that fast, innovative learners and non innovative, slow, flexible learners constitute two separate individual strategies, which are both underpinned by enhanced neural processing power. This idea is consistent with the recent proposal that individuals may differ consistently in 'cognitive style', differentially trading off speed against accuracy in cognitive tasks.

The future of academic innovation in the field of medical devices: is innovation still possible in orthopedics?

PubMed

Courvoisier, Aurélien

2016-09-01

Academic research is essential to bring disruptive innovation on medical devices market because the risk-taking is too high for companies and their investors. Performing clinical trials is essential to technical files but no one wants to accept responsibility for implanted off-label devices. The paper explains the academic process for innovation. We see that academic research depends, at the end, on the motivation of companies to develop a product. The key to innovation stands in the early collaboration between the surgeons, the research teams and the companies in a project. Innovation is a good idea supported by the expertise of the right people at the right moment. In orthopaedics, we need, more than ever, to stay focused on the patient benefits.

Evolutionary domestication in Drosophila subobscura.

PubMed

Simões, P; Rose, M R; Duarte, A; Gonçalves, R; Matos, M

2007-03-01

The domestication of plants and animals is historically one of the most important topics in evolutionary biology. The evolutionary genetic changes arising from human cultivation are complex because of the effects of such varied processes as continuing natural selection, artificial selection, deliberate inbreeding, genetic drift and hybridization of different lineages. Despite the interest of domestication as an evolutionary process, few studies of multicellular sexual species have approached this topic using well-replicated experiments. Here we present a comprehensive study in which replicated evolutionary trajectories from several Drosophila subobscura populations provide a detailed view of the evolutionary dynamics of domestication in an outbreeding animal species. Our results show a clear evolutionary response in fecundity traits, but no clear pattern for adult starvation resistance and juvenile traits such as development time and viability. These results supply new perspectives on the confounding of adaptation with other evolutionary mechanisms in the process of domestication.

National Implications: Closed Systems Stifle Innovation, Collaboration and Flexibility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cloud, Michelle; Kritsonis, William Allan

2006-01-01

Educational leaders must work to establish organizational structures that help schools achieve and sustain their vision. The intent of this article is to briefly examine how closed systems stifle innovation, collaboration and flexibility in schooling. Innovation, collaboration and flexibility are key ingredients for creating successful…

Innovation and Transformation in California’s Safety-net Healthcare Settings: An Inside Perspective

PubMed Central

Lyles, Courtney R.; Aulakh, Veenu; Jameson, Wendy; Schillinger, Dean; Yee, Hal; Sarkar, Urmimala

2016-01-01

Background Health reform requires safety-net settings to transform care delivery, but how they will innovate in order to achieve this transformation is unknown. Methods We conducted two series of key informant interviews (N= 28) in 2012 with leadership from both California’s public hospital systems and community health centers. Interviews focused on how innovation was conceptualized and solicited examples of successful innovations. Results In contrast to disruptive innovation, interviewees often defined innovation as improving implementation, making incremental changes, and promoting integration. Many leaders gave examples of existing innovative practices such as patient-centered approaches to meeting their diverse patient needs. Participants expressed challenges to adapting quickly, but a desire to partner together. Conclusions Safety-net systems have already begun implementing innovative practices supporting their key priority areas. However, more support is needed, specifically to accelerate the change needed to succeed under health reform. PMID:24170938

Evolutionary theory of ageing and the problem of correlated Gompertz parameters.

PubMed

Burger, Oskar; Missov, Trifon I

2016-11-07

The Gompertz mortality model is often used to evaluate evolutionary theories of ageing, such as the Medawar-Williams' hypothesis that high extrinsic mortality leads to faster ageing. However, fits of the Gompertz mortality model to data often find the opposite result that mortality is negatively correlated with the rate of ageing. This negative correlation has been independently discovered in several taxa and is known in actuarial studies of ageing as the Strehler-Mildvan correlation. We examine the role of mortality selection in determining late-life variation in susceptibility to death, which has been suggested to be the cause of this negative correlation. We demonstrate that fixed-frailty models that account for heterogeneity in frailty do not remove the correlation and that the correlation is an inherent statistical property of the Gompertz distribution. Linking actuarial and biological rates of ageing will continue to be a pressing challenge, but the Strehler-Mildvan correlation itself should not be used to diagnose any biological, physiological, or evolutionary process. These findings resolve some key tensions between theory and data that affect evolutionary and biological studies of ageing and mortality. Tests of evolutionary theories of ageing should include direct measures of physiological performance or condition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Open Issues in Evolutionary Robotics.

PubMed

Silva, Fernando; Duarte, Miguel; Correia, Luís; Oliveira, Sancho Moura; Christensen, Anders Lyhne

2016-01-01

One of the long-term goals in evolutionary robotics is to be able to automatically synthesize controllers for real autonomous robots based only on a task specification. While a number of studies have shown the applicability of evolutionary robotics techniques for the synthesis of behavioral control, researchers have consistently been faced with a number of issues preventing the widespread adoption of evolutionary robotics for engineering purposes. In this article, we review and discuss the open issues in evolutionary robotics. First, we analyze the benefits and challenges of simulation-based evolution and subsequent deployment of controllers versus evolution on real robotic hardware. Second, we discuss specific evolutionary computation issues that have plagued evolutionary robotics: (1) the bootstrap problem, (2) deception, and (3) the role of genomic encoding and genotype-phenotype mapping in the evolution of controllers for complex tasks. Finally, we address the absence of standard research practices in the field. We also discuss promising avenues of research. Our underlying motivation is the reduction of the current gap between evolutionary robotics and mainstream robotics, and the establishment of evolutionary robotics as a canonical approach for the engineering of autonomous robots.

Evolutionary versatility of eukaryotic protein domains revealed by their bigram networks

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

versatility appear to be evolutionary adaptive, potentially through functional innovations. Domain bigram networks are informative as a model of biological functions. The networking versatility indices extracted from such networks for individual domains reflect the strength of evolutionary selection that the domains have experienced. PMID:21849086

Evolutionary versatility of eukaryotic protein domains revealed by their bigram networks.

PubMed

Xie, Xueying; Jin, Jing; Mao, Yongyi

2011-08-18

adaptive, potentially through functional innovations. Domain bigram networks are informative as a model of biological functions. The networking versatility indices extracted from such networks for individual domains reflect the strength of evolutionary selection that the domains have experienced.

Consumer co-evolution as an important component of the eco-evolutionary feedback.

PubMed

Hiltunen, Teppo; Becks, Lutz

2014-10-22

Rapid evolution in ecologically relevant traits has recently been recognized to significantly alter the interaction between consumers and their resources, a key interaction in all ecological communities. While these eco-evolutionary dynamics have been shown to occur when prey populations are evolving, little is known about the role of predator evolution and co-evolution between predator and prey in this context. Here, we investigate the role of consumer co-evolution for eco-evolutionary feedback in bacteria-ciliate microcosm experiments by manipulating the initial trait variation in the predator populations. With co-evolved predators, prey evolve anti-predatory defences faster, trait values are more variable, and predator and prey population sizes are larger at the end of the experiment compared with the non-co-evolved predators. Most importantly, differences in predator traits results in a shift from evolution driving ecology, to ecology driving evolution. Thus we demonstrate that predator co-evolution has important effects on eco-evolutionary dynamics.

The ConSurf-DB: pre-calculated evolutionary conservation profiles of protein structures.

PubMed

Goldenberg, Ofir; Erez, Elana; Nimrod, Guy; Ben-Tal, Nir

2009-01-01

ConSurf-DB is a repository for evolutionary conservation analysis of the proteins of known structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Sequence homologues of each of the PDB entries were collected and aligned using standard methods. The evolutionary conservation of each amino acid position in the alignment was calculated using the Rate4Site algorithm, implemented in the ConSurf web server. The algorithm takes into account the phylogenetic relations between the aligned proteins and the stochastic nature of the evolutionary process explicitly. Rate4Site assigns a conservation level for each position in the multiple sequence alignment using an empirical Bayesian inference. Visual inspection of the conservation patterns on the 3D structure often enables the identification of key residues that comprise the functionally important regions of the protein. The repository is updated with the latest PDB entries on a monthly basis and will be rebuilt annually. ConSurf-DB is available online at http://consurfdb.tau.ac.il/

The ConSurf-DB: pre-calculated evolutionary conservation profiles of protein structures

PubMed Central

Goldenberg, Ofir; Erez, Elana; Nimrod, Guy; Ben-Tal, Nir

2009-01-01

ConSurf-DB is a repository for evolutionary conservation analysis of the proteins of known structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Sequence homologues of each of the PDB entries were collected and aligned using standard methods. The evolutionary conservation of each amino acid position in the alignment was calculated using the Rate4Site algorithm, implemented in the ConSurf web server. The algorithm takes into account the phylogenetic relations between the aligned proteins and the stochastic nature of the evolutionary process explicitly. Rate4Site assigns a conservation level for each position in the multiple sequence alignment using an empirical Bayesian inference. Visual inspection of the conservation patterns on the 3D structure often enables the identification of key residues that comprise the functionally important regions of the protein. The repository is updated with the latest PDB entries on a monthly basis and will be rebuilt annually. ConSurf-DB is available online at http://consurfdb.tau.ac.il/ PMID:18971256

From an Analytical Framework for Understanding the Innovation Process in Higher Education to an Emerging Research Field of Innovations in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cai, Yuzhuo

2017-01-01

While studies dealing with issues related to innovations in higher education proliferate, there has been little consensus on key concepts and central issues for research. To respond to the challenges, this paper calls for developing a new research field--studies on innovations in higher education, by integrating two disciplines, namely innovation…

Evolutionary tree reconstruction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cheeseman, Peter; Kanefsky, Bob

1990-01-01

It is described how Minimum Description Length (MDL) can be applied to the problem of DNA and protein evolutionary tree reconstruction. If there is a set of mutations that transform a common ancestor into a set of the known sequences, and this description is shorter than the information to encode the known sequences directly, then strong evidence for an evolutionary relationship has been found. A heuristic algorithm is described that searches for the simplest tree (smallest MDL) that finds close to optimal trees on the test data. Various ways of extending the MDL theory to more complex evolutionary relationships are discussed.

The application of evolutionary medicine principles for sustainable malaria control: a scoping study.

PubMed

Ocampo, Denise; Booth, Mark

2016-07-22

Current interventions against malaria have significantly reduced the number of people infected and the number of deaths. Concerns about emerging resistance of both mosquitoes and parasites to intervention have been raised, and questions remain about how best to generate wider knowledge of the underlying evolutionary processes. The pedagogical and research principles of evolutionary medicine may provide an answer to this problem. Eight programme managers and five academic researchers were interviewed by telephone or videoconference to elicit their first-hand views and experiences of malaria control given that evolution is a constant threat to sustainable control. Interviewees were asked about their views on the relationship between practit groups and academics and for their thoughts on whether or not evolutionary medicine may provide a solution to reported tensions. There was broad agreement that evolution of both parasites and vectors presents an obstacle to sustainable control. It was also widely agreed that through more efficient monitoring, evolution could be widely monitored. Interviewees also expressed the view that even well planned interventions may fail if the evolutionary biology of the disease is not considered, potentially making current tools redundant. This scoping study suggests that it is important to make research, including evolutionary principles, available and easily applicable for programme managers and key decision-makers, including donors and politicians. The main conclusion is that sharing knowledge through the educational and research processes embedded within evolutionary medicine has potential to relieve tensions and facilitate sustainable control of malaria and other parasitic infections.

Recent advances in the evolutionary engineering of industrial biocatalysts.

PubMed

Winkler, James D; Kao, Katy C

2014-12-01

Evolutionary engineering has been used to improve key industrial strain traits, such as carbon source utilization, tolerance to adverse environmental conditions, and resistance to chemical inhibitors, for many decades due to its technical simplicity and effectiveness. The lack of need for prior genetic knowledge underlying the phenotypes of interest makes this a powerful approach for strain development for even species with minimal genotypic information. While the basic experimental procedure for laboratory adaptive evolution has remained broadly similar for many years, a range of recent advances show promise for improving the experimental workflows for evolutionary engineering by accelerating the pace of evolution, simplifying the analysis of evolved mutants, and providing new ways of linking desirable phenotypes to selectable characteristics. This review aims to highlight some of these recent advances and discuss how they may be used to improve industrially relevant microbial phenotypes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Canadians Speak on Innovation and Learning=Les Canadiens, L'Innovation et L'Apprentissage.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

2003

This publication captures the thoughts, suggestions, and concerns Canadians expressed through an engagement process on behalf of the Government of Canada to animate discussion on Canada's innovation and learning challenges. The chapters provide summaries of what different groups had to say in relation to these key challenge areas and themes set…

Legal and Regulatory Barriers to Reverse Innovation.

PubMed

Rowthorn, Virginia; Plum, Alexander J; Zervos, John

Reverse innovation, or the importation of new, affordable, and efficacious models to high-income countries from the developing world, has emerged as a way to improve the health care system in the United States. Reverse innovation has been identified as a key emerging trend in global health systems in part because low-resourced settings are particularly good laboratories for low-cost/high-impact innovations that are developed out of necessity. A difficult question receiving scant attention is that of legal and regulatory barriers. The objective of this paper is to understand and elucidate the legal barriers faced by innovators bringing health interventions to the United States. Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with 9 key informants who have directly participated in the introduction of global health care approaches to the United States health system. A purposive sampling scheme was employed to identify participants. Phone interviews were conducted over one week in July 2016 with each participant and lasted an average of 35 minutes each. Purely legal barriers included questions surrounding tort liability, standard of care, and concerns around patient-administered self-care. Regulatory burdens included issues of international medical licensure, reimbursement, and task shifting and scope of work challenges among nonprofessionals (e.g. community health workers). Finally, perceived (i.e. not realized or experienced) legal and regulatory barriers to innovative modalities served as disincentives to bringing products or services developed outside of the United States to the United States market. Conflicting interests within the health care system, safety concerns, and little value placed on low-cost interventions inhibit innovation. Legal and regulatory barriers rank among, and contribute to, an anti-innovation atmosphere in healthcare for domestic and reverse innovators alike. Reverse innovation should be fostered through the thoughtful development of

Evolutionary toxicology: Meta-analysis of evolutionary events in response to chemical stressors.

PubMed

M Oziolor, Elias; De Schamphelaere, Karel; Matson, Cole W

2016-12-01

The regulatory decision-making process regarding chemical safety is most often informed by evidence based on ecotoxicity tests that consider growth, reproduction and survival as end-points, which can be quantitatively linked to short-term population outcomes. Changes in these end-points resulting from chemical exposure can cause alterations in micro-evolutionary forces (mutation, drift, selection and gene flow) that control the genetic composition of populations. With multi-generation exposures, anthropogenic contamination can lead to a population with an altered genetic composition, which may respond differently to future stressors. These evolutionary changes are rarely discussed in regulatory or risk assessment frameworks, but the growing body of literature that documents their existence suggests that these important population-level impacts should be considered. In this meta-analysis we have compared existing contamination levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that have been documented to be associated with evolutionary changes in resident aquatic organisms to regulatory benchmarks for these contaminants. The original intent of this project was to perform a meta-analysis on evolutionary events associated with PCB and PAH contamination. However, this effort was hindered by a lack of consistency in congener selection for "total" PCB or PAH measurements. We expanded this manuscript to include a discussion of methods used to determine PCB and PAH total contamination in addition to comparing regulatory guidelines and contamination that has caused evolutionary effects. Micro-evolutionary responses often lead populations onto unique and unpredictable trajectories. Therefore, to better understand the risk of population-wide alterations occurring, we need to improve comparisons of chemical contamination between affected locations. In this manuscript we offer several possibilities to unify chemical comparisons for PCBs and

Evolutionary and molecular foundations of multiple contemporary functions of the nitroreductase superfamily

PubMed Central

Akiva, Eyal; Copp, Janine N.; Tokuriki, Nobuhiko; Babbitt, Patricia C.

2017-01-01

Insight regarding how diverse enzymatic functions and reactions have evolved from ancestral scaffolds is fundamental to understanding chemical and evolutionary biology, and for the exploitation of enzymes for biotechnology. We undertook an extensive computational analysis using a unique and comprehensive combination of tools that include large-scale phylogenetic reconstruction to determine the sequence, structural, and functional relationships of the functionally diverse flavin mononucleotide-dependent nitroreductase (NTR) superfamily (>24,000 sequences from all domains of life, 54 structures, and >10 enzymatic functions). Our results suggest an evolutionary model in which contemporary subgroups of the superfamily have diverged in a radial manner from a minimal flavin-binding scaffold. We identified the structural design principle for this divergence: Insertions at key positions in the minimal scaffold that, combined with the fixation of key residues, have led to functional specialization. These results will aid future efforts to delineate the emergence of functional diversity in enzyme superfamilies, provide clues for functional inference for superfamily members of unknown function, and facilitate rational redesign of the NTR scaffold. PMID:29078300

Metabolic flexibility: the key to long-term evolutionary success in Bryozoa?

PubMed

Peck, Lloyd S; Barnes, David K A

2004-02-07

Oxygen consumption (MO2) and activity were evaluated in Antarctic Bryozoa. Three species representing two different morphologies, flat sheet, laminar forms, Isoseculiflustra tenuis and Kymella polaris, and the bush form Camptoplites bicornis were used. In Bryozoa, activity is measured as the proportion of colony zooids with their lophophores extended. In I. tenuis and K. polaris, residual analysis showed that the percentage of zooids with extended lophophores was not correlated with colony MO2. Lophophore extension is, therefore, a poor measure of activity, and other costs (e.g. growth, reproduction, storage) probably form the major metabolic costs. MO2 per unit of ash-free dry mass (AFDM) in the laminar forms was low compared with other Antarctic marine invertebrates, but not lower than brachiopods and echinoderms. However, the lowest rate here, 16.8 microg O2 g AFDM(-1) h(-1) for a K. polaris colony, is (to our knowledge) the lowest for any animal so far reported. MO2 per unit of AFDM for C. bicornis, however, is among the highest reported for sessile or slow moving Antarctic marine ectotherms, with values similar to those for bivalve and gastropod molluscs. The highest rate, 527 microg O2 g AFDM(-1) h(-1) for one colony is (to our knowledge) the highest reported for polar animals of this type. Extreme diversity in metabolic strategy may explain the bryozoan long evolutionary record and great success in shallow marine environments worldwide.

Bellagio conference and book. Symbiosis as Source of Evolutionary Innovation: Speciation and Morphogenesis. Conference--June 25-30, 1989, Bellagio Conference Center, Italy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Margulis, L.; Fester, R.

1991-01-01

This conference at the Bellagio Conference Center, Italy, from June 25-30, 1989, provided a unique opportunity for evolutionary theorists and symbiosis biologists to cross the boundaries of their respective disciplines and share ideas. A major task was to address the adequacy of the prevailing neodarwinian concept of evolution with respect to the relative importance of symbiosis in the origin of morphological and evolutionary novelty.

Robust Design of Biological Circuits: Evolutionary Systems Biology Approach

PubMed Central

Chen, Bor-Sen; Hsu, Chih-Yuan; Liou, Jing-Jia

2011-01-01

Artificial gene circuits have been proposed to be embedded into microbial cells that function as switches, timers, oscillators, and the Boolean logic gates. Building more complex systems from these basic gene circuit components is one key advance for biologic circuit design and synthetic biology. However, the behavior of bioengineered gene circuits remains unstable and uncertain. In this study, a nonlinear stochastic system is proposed to model the biological systems with intrinsic parameter fluctuations and environmental molecular noise from the cellular context in the host cell. Based on evolutionary systems biology algorithm, the design parameters of target gene circuits can evolve to specific values in order to robustly track a desired biologic function in spite of intrinsic and environmental noise. The fitness function is selected to be inversely proportional to the tracking error so that the evolutionary biological circuit can achieve the optimal tracking mimicking the evolutionary process of a gene circuit. Finally, several design examples are given in silico with the Monte Carlo simulation to illustrate the design procedure and to confirm the robust performance of the proposed design method. The result shows that the designed gene circuits can robustly track desired behaviors with minimal errors even with nontrivial intrinsic and external noise. PMID:22187523

Robust design of biological circuits: evolutionary systems biology approach.

PubMed

Chen, Bor-Sen; Hsu, Chih-Yuan; Liou, Jing-Jia

2011-01-01

Artificial gene circuits have been proposed to be embedded into microbial cells that function as switches, timers, oscillators, and the Boolean logic gates. Building more complex systems from these basic gene circuit components is one key advance for biologic circuit design and synthetic biology. However, the behavior of bioengineered gene circuits remains unstable and uncertain. In this study, a nonlinear stochastic system is proposed to model the biological systems with intrinsic parameter fluctuations and environmental molecular noise from the cellular context in the host cell. Based on evolutionary systems biology algorithm, the design parameters of target gene circuits can evolve to specific values in order to robustly track a desired biologic function in spite of intrinsic and environmental noise. The fitness function is selected to be inversely proportional to the tracking error so that the evolutionary biological circuit can achieve the optimal tracking mimicking the evolutionary process of a gene circuit. Finally, several design examples are given in silico with the Monte Carlo simulation to illustrate the design procedure and to confirm the robust performance of the proposed design method. The result shows that the designed gene circuits can robustly track desired behaviors with minimal errors even with nontrivial intrinsic and external noise.

Keys and the crisis in taxonomy: extinction or reinvention?

PubMed

Walter, David Evans; Winterton, Shaun

2007-01-01

Dichotomous keys that follow a single pathway of character state choices to an end point have been the primary tools for the identification of unknown organisms for more than two centuries. However, a revolution in computer diagnostics is now under way that may result in the replacement of traditional keys by matrix-based computer interactive keys that have many paths to a correct identification and make extensive use of hypertext to link to images, glossaries, and other support material. Progress is also being made on replacing keys entirely by optical matching of specimens to digital databases and DNA sequences. These new tools may go some way toward alleviating the taxonomic impediment to biodiversity studies and other ecological and evolutionary research, especially with better coordination between those who produce keys and those who use them and by integrating interactive keys into larger biological Web sites.

Ecological divergence and evolutionary transition of resprouting types in Banksia attenuata.

PubMed

He, Tianhua

2014-08-01

Resprouting is a key functional trait that allows plants to survive diverse disturbances. The fitness benefits associated with resprouting include a rapid return to adult growth, early flowering, and setting seed. The resprouting responses observed following fire are varied, as are the ecological outcomes. Understanding the ecological divergence and evolutionary pathways of different resprouting types and how the environment and genetics interact to drive such morphological evolution represents an important, but under-studied, topic. In the present study, microsatellite markers and microevolutionary approaches were used to better understand: (1) whether genetic differentiation is related to morphological divergence among resprouting types and if so, whether there are any specific genetic variations associated with morphological divergence and (2) the evolutionary pathway of the transitions between two resprouting types in Banksia attenuata (epicormic resprouting from aerial stems or branch; resprouting from a underground lignotuber). The results revealed an association between population genetic differentiation and the morphological divergence of postfire resprouting types in B. attenuata. A microsatellite allele has been shown to be associated with epicormic populations. Approximate Bayesian Computation analysis revealed a likely evolutionary transition from epicormic to lignotuberous resprouting in B. attenuata. It is concluded that the postfire resprouting type in B. attenuata is likely determined by the fire's characteristics. The differentiated expression of postfire resprouting types in different environments is likely a consequence of local genetic adaptation. The capacity to shift the postfire resprouting type to adapt to diverse fire regimes is most likely the key factor explaining why B. attenuata is the most widespread member of the Banksia genus.

Promoting Innovative Thinking

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Innovation is the engine of scientific progress, yet we do not train public health students to think creatively. I present the key concepts within an evidence-based method currently taught at the University of Texas. Habitual thought patterns involve deeply held framed expectations. Finding alternatives generates originality. Because frame breaking is difficult, a series of innovation heuristics and tools are offered including enhancing observation, using analogies, changing point of view, juggling opposites, broadening perspective, reversal, reorganization and combination, and getting the most from groups. Gaining cognitive attributes such as nonjudgment, willingness to question, mindfulness, and plasticity is also emphasized. Students completing the class demonstrate substantial increases on a standardized test of idea fluency and originality, more joyful attitudes toward science, and more pluralistic approaches. PMID:25706005

Uncovering middle managers' role in healthcare innovation implementation.

PubMed

Birken, Sarah A; Lee, Shoou-Yih Daniel; Weiner, Bryan J

2012-04-03

Middle managers have received little attention in extant health services research, yet they may have a key role in healthcare innovation implementation. The gap between evidence of effective care and practice may be attributed in part to poor healthcare innovation implementation. Investigating middle managers' role in healthcare innovation implementation may reveal an opportunity for improvement. In this paper, we present a theory of middle managers' role in healthcare innovation implementation to fill the gap in the literature and to stimulate research that empirically examines middle managers' influence on innovation implementation in healthcare organizations. Extant healthcare innovation implementation research has primarily focused on the roles of physicians and top managers. Largely overlooked is the role of middle managers. We suggest that middle managers influence healthcare innovation implementation by diffusing information, synthesizing information, mediating between strategy and day-to-day activities, and selling innovation implementation. Teamwork designs have become popular in healthcare organizations. Because middle managers oversee these team initiatives, their potential to influence innovation implementation has grown. Future research should investigate middle managers' role in healthcare innovation implementation. Findings may aid top managers in leveraging middle managers' influence to improve the effectiveness of healthcare innovation implementation.

Can Innovation Save Gifted Education? 2010 NAGC Presidential Address

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Ann

2012-01-01

Connecting innovation with gifted education is a necessity not only in the current political climate but also because it is a field with deeply held beliefs about the importance of problem solving, creativity, imagination, and invention--all critical components of innovation. In this address, the author focuses on three key ideas. First, she…

Are we alone? Lessons from the evolution of life on earth.

PubMed

Via, S

2001-12-01

The understanding of life on Earth that we have obtained from the science of evolutionary biology offers clues to the qustion of what life might be like if found elsewhere. After presenting the basics of the evolutionary process, I discuss the factors that determine the outcome of evolution, the role of key innovations and extinction in evolution, and whether the evolution of human life is inevitable.

Ancient Origin of the Tryptophan Operon and the Dynamics of Evolutionary Change†

PubMed Central

Xie, Gary; Keyhani, Nemat O.; Bonner; Jensen, Roy A.

2003-01-01

The seven conserved enzymatic domains required for tryptophan (Trp) biosynthesis are encoded in seven genetic regions that are organized differently (whole-pathway operons, multiple partial-pathway operons, and dispersed genes) in prokaryotes. A comparative bioinformatics evaluation of the conservation and organization of the genes of Trp biosynthesis in prokaryotic operons should serve as an excellent model for assessing the feasibility of predicting the evolutionary histories of genes and operons associated with other biochemical pathways. These comparisons should provide a better understanding of possible explanations for differences in operon organization in different organisms at a genomics level. These analyses may also permit identification of some of the prevailing forces that dictated specific gene rearrangements during the course of evolution. Operons concerned with Trp biosynthesis in prokaryotes have been in a dynamic state of flux. Analysis of closely related organisms among the Bacteria at various phylogenetic nodes reveals many examples of operon scission, gene dispersal, gene fusion, gene scrambling, and gene loss from which the direction of evolutionary events can be deduced. Two milestone evolutionary events have been mapped to the 16S rRNA tree of Bacteria, one splitting the operon in two, and the other rejoining it by gene fusion. The Archaea, though less resolved due to a lesser genome representation, appear to exhibit more gene scrambling than the Bacteria. The trp operon appears to have been an ancient innovation; it was already present in the common ancestor of Bacteria and Archaea. Although the operon has been subjected, even in recent times, to dynamic changes in gene rearrangement, the ancestral gene order can be deduced with confidence. The evolutionary history of the genes of the pathway is discernible in rough outline as a vertical line of descent, with events of lateral gene transfer or paralogy enriching the analysis as interesting

In the Shadow of Schumpeter: W. Rupert Maclaurin and the Study of Technological Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Godin, Benoit

2008-01-01

J. Schumpeter is a key figure, even a seminal one, on technological innovation. Most economists who study technological innovation refer to Schumpeter and his pioneering role in introducing innovation into economic studies. However, despite having brought forth the concept of innovation in economic theory, Schumpeter provided few if any analyses…

From Our Practices to Yours: Key Messages for the Journey to Integrated Behavioral Health.

PubMed

Gold, Stephanie B; Green, Larry A; Peek, C J

The historic, cultural separation of primary care and behavioral health has caused the spread of integrated care to lag behind other practice transformation efforts. The Advancing Care Together study was a 3-year evaluation of how practices implemented integrated care in their local contexts; at its culmination, practice leaders ("innovators") identified lessons learned to pass on to others. Individual feedback from innovators, key messages created by workgroups of innovators and the study team, and a synthesis of key messages from a facilitated discussion were analyzed for themes via immersion/crystallization. Five key themes were captured: (1) frame integrated care as a necessary paradigm shift to patient-centered, whole-person health care; (2) initialize: define relationships and protocols up-front, understanding they will evolve; (3) build inclusive, empowered teams to provide the foundation for integration; (4) develop a change management strategy of continuous evaluation and course-correction; and (5) use targeted data collection pertinent to integrated care to drive improvement and impart accountability. Innovators integrating primary care and behavioral health discerned key messages from their practical experience that they felt were worth sharing with others. Their messages present insight into the challenges unique to integrating care beyond other practice transformation efforts. © Copyright 2017 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

Climate change and evolutionary adaptation.

PubMed

Hoffmann, Ary A; Sgrò, Carla M

2011-02-24

Evolutionary adaptation can be rapid and potentially help species counter stressful conditions or realize ecological opportunities arising from climate change. The challenges are to understand when evolution will occur and to identify potential evolutionary winners as well as losers, such as species lacking adaptive capacity living near physiological limits. Evolutionary processes also need to be incorporated into management programmes designed to minimize biodiversity loss under rapid climate change. These challenges can be met through realistic models of evolutionary change linked to experimental data across a range of taxa.

Evolutionary routes to biochemical innovation revealed by integrative analysis of a plant-defense related specialized metabolic pathway

PubMed Central

Moghe, Gaurav D; Leong, Bryan J; Hurney, Steven M; Daniel Jones, A

2017-01-01

The diversity of life on Earth is a result of continual innovations in molecular networks influencing morphology and physiology. Plant specialized metabolism produces hundreds of thousands of compounds, offering striking examples of these innovations. To understand how this novelty is generated, we investigated the evolution of the Solanaceae family-specific, trichome-localized acylsugar biosynthetic pathway using a combination of mass spectrometry, RNA-seq, enzyme assays, RNAi and phylogenomics in different non-model species. Our results reveal hundreds of acylsugars produced across the Solanaceae family and even within a single plant, built on simple sugar cores. The relatively short biosynthetic pathway experienced repeated cycles of innovation over the last 100 million years that include gene duplication and divergence, gene loss, evolution of substrate preference and promiscuity. This study provides mechanistic insights into the emergence of plant chemical novelty, and offers a template for investigating the ~300,000 non-model plant species that remain underexplored. PMID:28853706

Evolutionary routes to biochemical innovation revealed by integrative analysis of a plant-defense related specialized metabolic pathway.

PubMed

Moghe, Gaurav D; Leong, Bryan J; Hurney, Steven M; Daniel Jones, A; Last, Robert L

2017-08-30

The diversity of life on Earth is a result of continual innovations in molecular networks influencing morphology and physiology. Plant specialized metabolism produces hundreds of thousands of compounds, offering striking examples of these innovations. To understand how this novelty is generated, we investigated the evolution of the Solanaceae family-specific, trichome-localized acylsugar biosynthetic pathway using a combination of mass spectrometry, RNA-seq, enzyme assays, RNAi and phylogenomics in different non-model species. Our results reveal hundreds of acylsugars produced across the Solanaceae family and even within a single plant, built on simple sugar cores. The relatively short biosynthetic pathway experienced repeated cycles of innovation over the last 100 million years that include gene duplication and divergence, gene loss, evolution of substrate preference and promiscuity. This study provides mechanistic insights into the emergence of plant chemical novelty, and offers a template for investigating the ~300,000 non-model plant species that remain underexplored.

InnoTube: A Video-Based Connection Tool Supporting Collaborative Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Angehrn, Albert A.; Luccini, Angelo Marco; Maxwell, Katrina

2009-01-01

Innovation is a key driver of organizational renewal and success. However, providing the right environment for innovative ideas to emerge and develop is not easy. This is further complicated by the fact that the professional environment is increasingly virtual as globally dispersed organizational and inter-organizational teams collaborate on…

Evolutionary medicine.

PubMed

Swynghedauw, B

2004-04-01

Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution. Evolutionary, or darwinian, medicine takes the view that contemporary diseases result from incompatibility between the conditions under which the evolutionary pressure had modified our genetic endowment and the lifestyle and dietary habits in which we are currently living, including the enhanced lifespan, the changes in dietary habits and the lack of physical activity. An evolutionary trait express a genetic polymorphism which finally improve fitness, it needs million years to become functional. A limited genetic diversity is a necessary prerequisite for evolutionary medicine. Nevertheless, search for a genetic endowment would become nearly impossible if the human races were genetically different. From a genetic point of view, homo sapiens, is homogeneous, and the so-called human races have only a socio-economic definition. Historically, Heart Failure, HF, had an infectious origin and resulted from mechanical overload which triggered mechanoconversion by using phylogenically ancient pleiotropic pathways. Adaptation was mainly caused by negative inotropism. Recently, HF was caused by a complex remodelling caused by the trophic effects of mechanics, ischemia, senescence, diabetes and, neurohormones. The generally admitted hypothesis is that cancers were largely caused by a combination of modern reproductive and dietary lifestyles mismatched with genotypic traits, plus the longer time available for a confrontation. Such a concept is illustrated for skin and breast cancers, and also for the link between cancer risk and dietary habits.

Energy Innovations: Science & Technology at NREL, Fall 2009

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

2009-09-01

The Energy Innovations newsletter serves as a key outreach tool for NREL to tout the lab's accomplishments, progress, and activities to key stakeholders who can impact the lab's level of funding and potential resources. Audiences include VIP visitors to NREL, current and potential partners in our work, and key decision makers who want to know about NREL's R&D directions and the quality and significance of our results.

How Much U.S. Technological Innovation Begins in Universities?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Jinyoung; Marschke, Gerald

2007-01-01

Technological progress has been the key to improved living standards, but how and where do new ideas get their start? The answer might give us some insight into how we can support greater innovation. Some suggest universities have been an important source of innovative technology. A look at the people involved in the development of patented…

Palliative Care Leadership Centers Are Key To The Diffusion Of Palliative Care Innovation.

PubMed

Cassel, J Brian; Bowman, Brynn; Rogers, Maggie; Spragens, Lynn H; Meier, Diane E

2018-02-01

Between 2000 and 2015 the proportion of US hospitals with more than fifty beds that had palliative care programs tripled, from 25 percent to 75 percent. The rapid adoption of this high-value program, which is voluntary and runs counter to the dominant culture in US hospitals, was catalyzed by tens of millions of dollars in philanthropic support for innovation, dissemination, and professionalization in the palliative care field. We describe the dissemination strategies of the Center to Advance Palliative Care in the context of the principles of social entrepreneurship, and we provide an in-depth look at its hallmark training initiative, Palliative Care Leadership Centers. Over 1,240 hospital palliative care teams have trained at the Leadership Centers to date, with 80 percent of them instituting palliative care services within two years. We conclude with lessons learned about the role of purposeful technical assistance in promoting the rapid diffusion of high-value health care innovation.

CMS Innovation Center Health Care Innovation Awards

PubMed Central

Berry, Sandra H.; Concannon, Thomas W.; Morganti, Kristy Gonzalez; Auerbach, David I.; Beckett, Megan K.; Chen, Peggy G.; Farley, Donna O.; Han, Bing; Harris, Katherine M.; Jones, Spencer S.; Liu, Hangsheng; Lovejoy, Susan L.; Marsh, Terry; Martsolf, Grant R.; Nelson, Christopher; Okeke, Edward N.; Pearson, Marjorie L.; Pillemer, Francesca; Sorbero, Melony E.; Towe, Vivian; Weinick, Robin M.

2013-01-01

Abstract The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has funded 108 Health Care Innovation Awards, funded through the Affordable Care Act, for applicants who proposed compelling new models of service delivery or payment improvements that promise to deliver better health, better health care, and lower costs through improved quality of care for Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Program enrollees. CMS is also interested in learning how new models would affect subpopulations of beneficiaries (e.g., those eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and complex patients) who have unique characteristics or health care needs that could be related to poor outcomes. In addition, the initiative seeks to identify new models of workforce development and deployment, as well as models that can be rapidly deployed and have the promise of sustainability. This article describes a strategy for evaluating the results. The goal for the evaluation design process is to create standardized approaches for answering key questions that can be customized to similar groups of awardees and that allow for rapid and comparable assessment across awardees. The evaluation plan envisions that data collection and analysis will be carried out on three levels: at the level of the individual awardee, at the level of the awardee grouping, and as a summary evaluation that includes all awardees. Key dimensions for the evaluation framework include implementation effectiveness, program effectiveness, workforce issues, impact on priority populations, and context. The ultimate goal is to identify strategies that can be employed widely to lower cost while improving care. PMID:28083297

Uncovering middle managers' role in healthcare innovation implementation

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Middle managers have received little attention in extant health services research, yet they may have a key role in healthcare innovation implementation. The gap between evidence of effective care and practice may be attributed in part to poor healthcare innovation implementation. Investigating middle managers' role in healthcare innovation implementation may reveal an opportunity for improvement. In this paper, we present a theory of middle managers' role in healthcare innovation implementation to fill the gap in the literature and to stimulate research that empirically examines middle managers' influence on innovation implementation in healthcare organizations. Discussion Extant healthcare innovation implementation research has primarily focused on the roles of physicians and top managers. Largely overlooked is the role of middle managers. We suggest that middle managers influence healthcare innovation implementation by diffusing information, synthesizing information, mediating between strategy and day-to-day activities, and selling innovation implementation. Summary Teamwork designs have become popular in healthcare organizations. Because middle managers oversee these team initiatives, their potential to influence innovation implementation has grown. Future research should investigate middle managers' role in healthcare innovation implementation. Findings may aid top managers in leveraging middle managers' influence to improve the effectiveness of healthcare innovation implementation. PMID:22472001

Sources of Information as Determinants of Product and Process Innovation.

PubMed

Gómez, Jaime; Salazar, Idana; Vargas, Pilar

2016-01-01

In this paper we use a panel of manufacturing firms in Spain to examine the extent to which they use internal and external sources of information (customers, suppliers, competitors, consultants and universities) to generate product and process innovation. Our results show that, although internal sources are influential, external sources of information are key to achieve innovation performance. These results are in line with the open innovation literature because they show that firms that are opening up their innovation process and that use different information sources have a greater capacity to generate innovations. We also find that the importance of external sources of information varies depending on the type of innovation (product or process) considered. To generate process innovation, firms mainly rely on suppliers while, to generate product innovation, the main contribution is from customers. The potential simultaneity between product and process innovation is also taken into consideration. We find that the generation of both types of innovation is not independent.

Sources of Information as Determinants of Product and Process Innovation

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

In this paper we use a panel of manufacturing firms in Spain to examine the extent to which they use internal and external sources of information (customers, suppliers, competitors, consultants and universities) to generate product and process innovation. Our results show that, although internal sources are influential, external sources of information are key to achieve innovation performance. These results are in line with the open innovation literature because they show that firms that are opening up their innovation process and that use different information sources have a greater capacity to generate innovations. We also find that the importance of external sources of information varies depending on the type of innovation (product or process) considered. To generate process innovation, firms mainly rely on suppliers while, to generate product innovation, the main contribution is from customers. The potential simultaneity between product and process innovation is also taken into consideration. We find that the generation of both types of innovation is not independent. PMID:27035456

Research on Upgrade Path to Technology Innovation of Resource-based SMEs in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jie, Xu

2017-08-01

Complexity, diversity and coordination are features of technology innovation of resource-based SMEs in China. This paper studies on the key factors of macro-environment, cooperation among enterprises and enterprise interior, which influence the upgrading of technology innovation of resource-based SMEs in China. This paper constructs integrated system of technology innovation to analyse the upgrade path to technology innovation of resource-based SMEs in China, so that enterprises would improve their technology innovation and get a new way to accomplish sustainable innovated development.

Information Technology to Help Drive Business Innovation and Growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alonso, Igor Aguilar; Verdún, José Carrillo; Caro, Edmundo Tovar

This paper outlines how information technology (IT) can help to drive business innovation and growth. Today innovation is a key to properly managing business growth from all angles. IT governance is responsible for managing and aligning IT with the business objectives; managing strategic demand through the projects portfolio or managing operational demand through the services portfolio. IT portfolios offer the possibility of finding new opportunities to make changes and improve through innovation, enabling savings in capital expenditure and the company's IT operations staff time.

Free Energy Landscape - Settlements of Key Residues.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aroutiounian, Svetlana

2007-03-01

FEL perspective in studies of protein folding transitions reflects notion that since there are ˜10^N conformations to scan in search of lowest free energy state, random search is beyond biological timescale. Protein folding must follow certain fel pathways and folding kinetics of evolutionary selected proteins dominates kinetic traps. Good model for functional robustness of natural proteins - coarse-grained model protein is not very accurate but affords bringing simulations closer to biological realm; Go-like potential secures the fel funnel shape; biochemical contacts signify the funnel bottleneck. Boltzmann-weighted ensemble of protein conformations and histogram method are used to obtain from MC sampling of protein conformational space the approximate probability distribution. The fel is F(rmsd) = -1/βLn[Hist(rmsd)], β=kBT and rmsd is root-mean-square-deviation from native conformation. The sperm whale myoglobin has rich dynamic behavior, is small and large - on computational scale, has a symmetry in architecture and unusual sextet of residue pairs. Main idea: there is a mathematical relation between protein fel and a key residues set providing stability to folding transition. Is the set evolutionary conserved also for functional reasons? Hypothesis: primary sequence determines the key residues positions conserved as stabilizers and the fel is the battlefield for the folding stability. Preliminary results: primary sequence - not the architecture, is the rule settler, indeed.

Evolutionary diversifications of plants on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

PubMed Central

Wen, Jun; Zhang, Jian-Qiang; Nie, Ze-Long; Zhong, Yang; Sun, Hang

2014-01-01

The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) is the highest and one of the most extensive plateaus in the world. Phylogenetic, phylogeographic, and ecological studies support plant diversifications on the QTP through multiple mechanisms such as allopatric speciation via geographic isolation, climatic oscillations and divergences, pollinator-mediated isolation, diploid hybridization and introgression, and allopolyploidy. These mechanisms have driven spectacular radiations and/or species diversifications in various groups of plants such as Pedicularis L., Saussurea DC., Rhododendron L., Primula L., Meconopsis Vig., Rhodiola L., and many lineages of gymnosperms. Nevertheless, much work is needed toward understanding the evolutionary mechanisms of plant diversifications on the QTP. Well-sampled biogeographic analyses of the QTP plants in the broad framework of the Northern Hemisphere as well as the Southern Hemisphere are still relatively few and should be encouraged in the next decade. This paper reviews recent evidence from phylogenetic and biogeographic studies in plants, in the context of rapid radiations, mechanisms of species diversifications on the QTP, and the biogeographic significance of the QTP in the broader context of both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere biogeography. Integrative multidimensional analyses of phylogeny, morphological innovations, geography, ecology, development, species interactions and diversifications, and geology are needed and should shed insights into the patterns of evolutionary assembly and radiations in this fascinating region. PMID:24575120

How Can Parents and Teachers Cultivate Creative Climates to Help Children Become Innovators?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, KH

2018-01-01

When we consider the ultimate goal of bringing innovation to our education programs, a key consideration is whether or not we are helping our students themselves become innovative, creative thinkers and actors.

Making technological innovation work for sustainable development.

PubMed

Anadon, Laura Diaz; Chan, Gabriel; Harley, Alicia G; Matus, Kira; Moon, Suerie; Murthy, Sharmila L; Clark, William C

2016-08-30

This paper presents insights and action proposals to better harness technological innovation for sustainable development. We begin with three key insights from scholarship and practice. First, technological innovation processes do not follow a set sequence but rather emerge from complex adaptive systems involving many actors and institutions operating simultaneously from local to global scales. Barriers arise at all stages of innovation, from the invention of a technology through its selection, production, adaptation, adoption, and retirement. Second, learning from past efforts to mobilize innovation for sustainable development can be greatly improved through structured cross-sectoral comparisons that recognize the socio-technical nature of innovation systems. Third, current institutions (rules, norms, and incentives) shaping technological innovation are often not aligned toward the goals of sustainable development because impoverished, marginalized, and unborn populations too often lack the economic and political power to shape innovation systems to meet their needs. However, these institutions can be reformed, and many actors have the power to do so through research, advocacy, training, convening, policymaking, and financing. We conclude with three practice-oriented recommendations to further realize the potential of innovation for sustainable development: (i) channels for regularized learning across domains of practice should be established; (ii) measures that systematically take into account the interests of underserved populations throughout the innovation process should be developed; and (iii) institutions should be reformed to reorient innovation systems toward sustainable development and ensure that all innovation stages and scales are considered at the outset.

Making technological innovation work for sustainable development

PubMed Central

Anadon, Laura Diaz; Harley, Alicia G.; Matus, Kira; Moon, Suerie; Murthy, Sharmila L.

2016-01-01

This paper presents insights and action proposals to better harness technological innovation for sustainable development. We begin with three key insights from scholarship and practice. First, technological innovation processes do not follow a set sequence but rather emerge from complex adaptive systems involving many actors and institutions operating simultaneously from local to global scales. Barriers arise at all stages of innovation, from the invention of a technology through its selection, production, adaptation, adoption, and retirement. Second, learning from past efforts to mobilize innovation for sustainable development can be greatly improved through structured cross-sectoral comparisons that recognize the socio-technical nature of innovation systems. Third, current institutions (rules, norms, and incentives) shaping technological innovation are often not aligned toward the goals of sustainable development because impoverished, marginalized, and unborn populations too often lack the economic and political power to shape innovation systems to meet their needs. However, these institutions can be reformed, and many actors have the power to do so through research, advocacy, training, convening, policymaking, and financing. We conclude with three practice-oriented recommendations to further realize the potential of innovation for sustainable development: (i) channels for regularized learning across domains of practice should be established; (ii) measures that systematically take into account the interests of underserved populations throughout the innovation process should be developed; and (iii) institutions should be reformed to reorient innovation systems toward sustainable development and ensure that all innovation stages and scales are considered at the outset. PMID:27519800

The genome of the Gulf pipefish enables understanding of evolutionary innovations.

PubMed

Small, C M; Bassham, S; Catchen, J; Amores, A; Fuiten, A M; Brown, R S; Jones, A G; Cresko, W A

2016-12-20

Evolutionary origins of derived morphologies ultimately stem from changes in protein structure, gene regulation, and gene content. A well-assembled, annotated reference genome is a central resource for pursuing these molecular phenomena underlying phenotypic evolution. We explored the genome of the Gulf pipefish (Syngnathus scovelli), which belongs to family Syngnathidae (pipefishes, seahorses, and seadragons). These fishes have dramatically derived bodies and a remarkable novelty among vertebrates, the male brood pouch. We produce a reference genome, condensed into chromosomes, for the Gulf pipefish. Gene losses and other changes have occurred in pipefish hox and dlx clusters and in the tbx and pitx gene families, candidate mechanisms for the evolution of syngnathid traits, including an elongated axis and the loss of ribs, pelvic fins, and teeth. We measure gene expression changes in pregnant versus non-pregnant brood pouch tissue and characterize the genomic organization of duplicated metalloprotease genes (patristacins) recruited into the function of this novel structure. Phylogenetic inference using ultraconserved sequences provides an alternative hypothesis for the relationship between orders Syngnathiformes and Scombriformes. Comparisons of chromosome structure among percomorphs show that chromosome number in a pipefish ancestor became reduced via chromosomal fusions. The collected findings from this first syngnathid reference genome open a window into the genomic underpinnings of highly derived morphologies, demonstrating that de novo production of high quality and useful reference genomes is within reach of even small research groups.

Digital Based Media Design: The Innovative Contribution of Design Graduates from Vocational and Higher Education Sectors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doloswala, Kalika Navin; Thompson, Darrall; Toner, Phillip

2013-01-01

Design is increasingly being recognised as a key source of competitive advantage in the innovation economy of many countries. The key objective of this research was to understand the contribution by design graduates to creative industries innovative activities. Primary research was conducted to understand barriers and limitations of graduate…

Spaces of Innovation: Experiences from Two Small High-Tech Firms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heiskanen, Tuula; Heiskanen, Hannu

2011-01-01

Purpose: By comparing two small high-tech firms specialising in medical technology this article seeks to answer the following questions: What are the key characteristics of innovation processes in the case firms? How do the mutual relationships between mental, social and physical spaces explain the different pathways in the innovation processes in…

National Innovation and Knowledge Performance: The Role of Higher Education Teaching and Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saad, Mohammed; Guermat, Cherif; Brodie, Lisa

2015-01-01

This paper investigates the role of the higher education system (HES) in the production of national innovation. We focus on the issue of institutional diversity of HESs and its impact on national innovation systems. We identify four key HES characteristics and hypothesize their influence on the production of national innovation. The empirical…

The Key Technologies. Some Implications for Education and Training. An Occasional Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mansell, Jack; And Others

National competitiveness depends in large part on the practical application of technologies. Educational planners must, therefore, identify key (newly emerging) topics in science and engineering that are likely to have a major evolutionary effect on industry and incorporate these areas into existing vocational and technical curricula. Because…

The evolutionary and ecological consequences of animal social networks: emerging issues.

PubMed

Kurvers, Ralf H J M; Krause, Jens; Croft, Darren P; Wilson, Alexander D M; Wolf, Max

2014-06-01

The first generation of research on animal social networks was primarily aimed at introducing the concept of social networks to the fields of animal behaviour and behavioural ecology. More recently, a diverse body of evidence has shown that social fine structure matters on a broader scale than initially expected, affecting many key ecological and evolutionary processes. Here, we review this development. We discuss the effects of social network structure on evolutionary dynamics (genetic drift, fixation probabilities, and frequency-dependent selection) and social evolution (cooperation and between-individual behavioural differences). We discuss how social network structure can affect important coevolutionary processes (host-pathogen interactions and mutualisms) and population stability. We also discuss the potentially important, but poorly studied, role of social network structure on dispersal and invasion. Throughout, we highlight important areas for future research. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Acoustic communication at the water's edge: evolutionary insights from a mudskipper.

PubMed

Polgar, Gianluca; Malavasi, Stefano; Cipolato, Giacomo; Georgalas, Vyron; Clack, Jennifer A; Torricelli, Patrizia

2011-01-01

Coupled behavioural observations and acoustical recordings of aggressive dyadic contests showed that the mudskipper Periophthalmodon septemradiatus communicates acoustically while out of water. An analysis of intraspecific variability showed that specific acoustic components may act as tags for individual recognition, further supporting the sounds' communicative value. A correlative analysis amongst acoustical properties and video-acoustical recordings in slow-motion supported first hypotheses on the emission mechanism. Acoustic transmission through the wet exposed substrate was also discussed. These observations were used to support an "exaptation hypothesis", i.e. the maintenance of key adaptations during the first stages of water-to-land vertebrate eco-evolutionary transitions (based on eco-evolutionary and palaeontological considerations), through a comparative bioacoustic analysis of aquatic and semiterrestrial gobiid taxa. In fact, a remarkable similarity was found between mudskipper vocalisations and those emitted by gobioids and other soniferous benthonic fishes.

Algorithmic Mechanism Design of Evolutionary Computation.

PubMed

Pei, Yan

2015-01-01

We consider algorithmic design, enhancement, and improvement of evolutionary computation as a mechanism design problem. All individuals or several groups of individuals can be considered as self-interested agents. The individuals in evolutionary computation can manipulate parameter settings and operations by satisfying their own preferences, which are defined by an evolutionary computation algorithm designer, rather than by following a fixed algorithm rule. Evolutionary computation algorithm designers or self-adaptive methods should construct proper rules and mechanisms for all agents (individuals) to conduct their evolution behaviour correctly in order to definitely achieve the desired and preset objective(s). As a case study, we propose a formal framework on parameter setting, strategy selection, and algorithmic design of evolutionary computation by considering the Nash strategy equilibrium of a mechanism design in the search process. The evaluation results present the efficiency of the framework. This primary principle can be implemented in any evolutionary computation algorithm that needs to consider strategy selection issues in its optimization process. The final objective of our work is to solve evolutionary computation design as an algorithmic mechanism design problem and establish its fundamental aspect by taking this perspective. This paper is the first step towards achieving this objective by implementing a strategy equilibrium solution (such as Nash equilibrium) in evolutionary computation algorithm.

Algorithmic Mechanism Design of Evolutionary Computation

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

We consider algorithmic design, enhancement, and improvement of evolutionary computation as a mechanism design problem. All individuals or several groups of individuals can be considered as self-interested agents. The individuals in evolutionary computation can manipulate parameter settings and operations by satisfying their own preferences, which are defined by an evolutionary computation algorithm designer, rather than by following a fixed algorithm rule. Evolutionary computation algorithm designers or self-adaptive methods should construct proper rules and mechanisms for all agents (individuals) to conduct their evolution behaviour correctly in order to definitely achieve the desired and preset objective(s). As a case study, we propose a formal framework on parameter setting, strategy selection, and algorithmic design of evolutionary computation by considering the Nash strategy equilibrium of a mechanism design in the search process. The evaluation results present the efficiency of the framework. This primary principle can be implemented in any evolutionary computation algorithm that needs to consider strategy selection issues in its optimization process. The final objective of our work is to solve evolutionary computation design as an algorithmic mechanism design problem and establish its fundamental aspect by taking this perspective. This paper is the first step towards achieving this objective by implementing a strategy equilibrium solution (such as Nash equilibrium) in evolutionary computation algorithm. PMID:26257777

Reinventing R&D in an open innovation ecosystem.

PubMed

Traitler, Helmut; Watzke, Heribert J; Saguy, I Sam

2011-03-01

Today, the idea that random collisions and interactions offer solutions and business opportunities is no longer acceptable. Instead, partnerships and alignments, both downstream and upstream, are paramount for cross-fertilization and synergy. To survive, and thrive, in today's world of global innovation, alliances based on compatible differences must be sought. Innovation Partnerships and the Sharing-is-Winning model represent a paradigm shift toward accelerating co-development of sustainable innovation, with alignment of the entire value chain with consumer-centric innovations being one of its main pillars. It includes 3 levels of typical joint development: universities, research institutes, and centers; start-ups and individual inventors; a select number of key strategic suppliers. Reinventing R&D in an open innovation ecosystem and increasing success rates in an increasingly competitive marketplace require implementing significant steps--both perceived and tangible. Specific recommendations are provided for 10 major identified topics: leadership, strategy, the consumer, the value chain, internal experts and championship, metrics, IP, culture, academia, and passion. The Sharing-is-Winning model extends the scope of open innovation to sustainable and enhanced processes of co-innovation.

Evolutionary consequences of multidriver environmental change in an aquatic primary producer.

PubMed

Brennan, Georgina L; Colegrave, Nick; Collins, Sinéad

2017-09-12

Climate change is altering aquatic environments in a complex way, and simultaneous shifts in many properties will drive evolutionary responses in primary producers at the base of both freshwater and marine ecosystems. So far, evolutionary studies have shown how changes in environmental drivers, either alone or in pairs, affect the evolution of growth and other traits in primary producers. Here, we evolve a primary producer in 96 unique environments with different combinations of between one and eight environmental drivers to understand how evolutionary responses to environmental change depend on the identity and number of drivers. Even in multidriver environments, only a few dominant drivers explain most of the evolutionary changes in population growth rates. Most populations converge on the same growth rate by the end of the evolution experiment. However, populations adapt more when these dominant drivers occur in the presence of other drivers. This is due to an increase in the intensity of selection in environments with more drivers, which are more likely to include dominant drivers. Concurrently, many of the trait changes that occur during the initial short-term response to both single and multidriver environmental change revert after about 450 generations of evolution. In future aquatic environments, populations will encounter differing combinations of drivers and intensities of selection, which will alter the adaptive potential of primary producers. Accurately gauging the intensity of selection on key primary producers will help in predicting population size and trait evolution at the base of aquatic food webs.

Research on the Mode of Technology Innovation Alliance of the New Material Industry in Hunan Province

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Fan

2018-03-01

One of the main directions of technology development in the 21st century is the development and application of new materials, and the key to the development of the new material industry lies in the industrial technology innovation. The gross scale of the new material industry in Hunan Province ranks the first array in China. Based on the present situation of Hunan’s new material industry, three modes of technology innovation alliance are put forward in this paper, namely the government-driven mode, the research-driven and the market-oriented mode. The government-driven mode is applicable to the major technology innovation fields with uncertain market prospect, high risk of innovation and government’s direct or indirect intervention;the research-driven mode is applicable to the key technology innovation fields with a high technology content; and the market-oriented mode is applicable to the general innovation fields in which enterprises have demands for technology innovation but such innovation must be achieved via cooperative research and development.

Young People and Sexuality Education: Rethinking Key Debates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Louisa

2011-01-01

This book innovatively re-envisions the possibilities of sexuality education. Utilizing student critiques of programs it reconfigures key debates in sexuality education including: Should pleasure be part of the curriculum? Who makes the best educators? Do students prefer single or mixed gender classes?

Dynamic evolutionary change in post-Paleozoic echinoids and the importance of scale when interpreting changes in rates of evolution

PubMed Central

Hopkins, Melanie J.; Smith, Andrew B.

2015-01-01

How ecological and morphological diversity accrues over geological time has been much debated by paleobiologists. Evidence from the fossil record suggests that many clades reach maximal diversity early in their evolutionary history, followed by a decline in evolutionary rates as ecological space fills or due to internal constraints. Here, we apply recently developed methods for estimating rates of morphological evolution during the post-Paleozoic history of a major invertebrate clade, the Echinoidea. Contrary to expectation, rates of evolution were lowest during the initial phase of diversification following the Permo-Triassic mass extinction and increased over time. Furthermore, although several subclades show high initial rates and net decreases in rates of evolution, consistent with “early bursts” of morphological diversification, at more inclusive taxonomic levels, these bursts appear as episodic peaks. Peak rates coincided with major shifts in ecological morphology, primarily associated with innovations in feeding strategies. Despite having similar numbers of species in today’s oceans, regular echinoids have accrued far less morphological diversity than irregular echinoids due to lower intrinsic rates of morphological evolution and less morphological innovation, the latter indicative of constrained or bounded evolution. These results indicate that rates of evolution are extremely heterogenous through time and their interpretation depends on the temporal and taxonomic scale of analysis. PMID:25713369

Dynamic evolutionary change in post-Paleozoic echinoids and the importance of scale when interpreting changes in rates of evolution.

PubMed

Hopkins, Melanie J; Smith, Andrew B

2015-03-24

How ecological and morphological diversity accrues over geological time has been much debated by paleobiologists. Evidence from the fossil record suggests that many clades reach maximal diversity early in their evolutionary history, followed by a decline in evolutionary rates as ecological space fills or due to internal constraints. Here, we apply recently developed methods for estimating rates of morphological evolution during the post-Paleozoic history of a major invertebrate clade, the Echinoidea. Contrary to expectation, rates of evolution were lowest during the initial phase of diversification following the Permo-Triassic mass extinction and increased over time. Furthermore, although several subclades show high initial rates and net decreases in rates of evolution, consistent with "early bursts" of morphological diversification, at more inclusive taxonomic levels, these bursts appear as episodic peaks. Peak rates coincided with major shifts in ecological morphology, primarily associated with innovations in feeding strategies. Despite having similar numbers of species in today's oceans, regular echinoids have accrued far less morphological diversity than irregular echinoids due to lower intrinsic rates of morphological evolution and less morphological innovation, the latter indicative of constrained or bounded evolution. These results indicate that rates of evolution are extremely heterogenous through time and their interpretation depends on the temporal and taxonomic scale of analysis.

Cooperative combinatorial optimization: evolutionary computation case study.

PubMed

Burgin, Mark; Eberbach, Eugene

2008-01-01

This paper presents a formalization of the notion of cooperation and competition of multiple systems that work toward a common optimization goal of the population using evolutionary computation techniques. It is proved that evolutionary algorithms are more expressive than conventional recursive algorithms, such as Turing machines. Three classes of evolutionary computations are introduced and studied: bounded finite, unbounded finite, and infinite computations. Universal evolutionary algorithms are constructed. Such properties of evolutionary algorithms as completeness, optimality, and search decidability are examined. A natural extension of evolutionary Turing machine (ETM) model is proposed to properly reflect phenomena of cooperation and competition in the whole population.

Evolutionary inevitability of sexual antagonism.

PubMed

Connallon, Tim; Clark, Andrew G

2014-02-07

Sexual antagonism, whereby mutations are favourable in one sex and disfavourable in the other, is common in natural populations, yet the root causes of sexual antagonism are rarely considered in evolutionary theories of adaptation. Here, we explore the evolutionary consequences of sex-differential selection and genotype-by-sex interactions for adaptation in species with separate sexes. We show that sexual antagonism emerges naturally from sex differences in the direction of selection on phenotypes expressed by both sexes or from sex-by-genotype interactions affecting the expression of such phenotypes. Moreover, modest sex differences in selection or genotype-by-sex effects profoundly influence the long-term evolutionary trajectories of populations with separate sexes, as these conditions trigger the evolution of strong sexual antagonism as a by-product of adaptively driven evolutionary change. The theory demonstrates that sexual antagonism is an inescapable by-product of adaptation in species with separate sexes, whether or not selection favours evolutionary divergence between males and females.

On the origins of anticipation as an evolutionary framework: functional systems perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurismaa, Andres

2015-08-01

This paper discusses the problem of anticipation from an evolutionary and systems-theoretical perspective, developed in the context of Russian/Soviet evolutionary biological and neurophysiological schools in the early and mid-twentieth century. On this background, an outline is given of the epigenetic interpretation of anticipatory capacities formulated and substantiated by the eminent Russian neurophysiologist academician Peter K. Anokhin in the framework of functional systems theory. It is considered that several key positions of this theory are well confirmed by recent evidence on anticipation as an evolutionarily basic adaptive capacity, possibly inherent to the organization of life. In the field of neuroscience, the theory of functional systems may potentially facilitate future studies at the intersection of learning, development and evolution by representing an integrative approach to the problem of anticipation.

Comparing Evolutionary Programs and Evolutionary Pattern Search Algorithms: A Drug Docking Application

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hart, W.E.

1999-02-10

Evolutionary programs (EPs) and evolutionary pattern search algorithms (EPSAS) are two general classes of evolutionary methods for optimizing on continuous domains. The relative performance of these methods has been evaluated on standard global optimization test functions, and these results suggest that EPSAs more robustly converge to near-optimal solutions than EPs. In this paper we evaluate the relative performance of EPSAs and EPs on a real-world application: flexible ligand binding in the Autodock docking software. We compare the performance of these methods on a suite of docking test problems. Our results confirm that EPSAs and EPs have comparable performance, and theymore » suggest that EPSAs may be more robust on larger, more complex problems.« less

Towards a mechanistic foundation of evolutionary theory.

PubMed

Doebeli, Michael; Ispolatov, Yaroslav; Simon, Burt

2017-02-15

Most evolutionary thinking is based on the notion of fitness and related ideas such as fitness landscapes and evolutionary optima. Nevertheless, it is often unclear what fitness actually is, and its meaning often depends on the context. Here we argue that fitness should not be a basal ingredient in verbal or mathematical descriptions of evolution. Instead, we propose that evolutionary birth-death processes, in which individuals give birth and die at ever-changing rates, should be the basis of evolutionary theory, because such processes capture the fundamental events that generate evolutionary dynamics. In evolutionary birth-death processes, fitness is at best a derived quantity, and owing to the potential complexity of such processes, there is no guarantee that there is a simple scalar, such as fitness, that would describe long-term evolutionary outcomes. We discuss how evolutionary birth-death processes can provide useful perspectives on a number of central issues in evolution.

Evolutionary dynamics of public goods games with diverse contributions in finite populations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jing; Wu, Bin; Chen, Xiaojie; Wang, Long

2010-05-01

The public goods game is a powerful metaphor for exploring the maintenance of social cooperative behavior in a group of interactional selfish players. Here we study the emergence of cooperation in the public goods games with diverse contributions in finite populations. The theory of stochastic process is innovatively adopted to investigate the evolutionary dynamics of the public goods games involving a diversity of contributions. In the limit of rare mutations, the general stationary distribution of this stochastic process can be analytically approximated by means of diffusion theory. Moreover, we demonstrate that increasing the diversity of contributions greatly reduces the probability of finding the population in a homogeneous state full of defectors. This increase also raises the expectation of the total contribution in the entire population and thus promotes social cooperation. Furthermore, by investigating the evolutionary dynamics of optional public goods games with diverse contributions, we find that nonparticipation can assist players who contribute more in resisting invasion and taking over individuals who contribute less. In addition, numerical simulations are performed to confirm our analytical results. Our results may provide insight into the effect of diverse contributions on cooperative behaviors in the real world.

Transformation and diversification in early mammal evolution.

PubMed

Luo, Zhe-Xi

2007-12-13

Evolution of the earliest mammals shows successive episodes of diversification. Lineage-splitting in Mesozoic mammals is coupled with many independent evolutionary experiments and ecological specializations. Classic scenarios of mammalian morphological evolution tend to posit an orderly acquisition of key evolutionary innovations leading to adaptive diversification, but newly discovered fossils show that evolution of such key characters as the middle ear and the tribosphenic teeth is far more labile among Mesozoic mammals. Successive diversifications of Mesozoic mammal groups multiplied the opportunities for many dead-end lineages to iteratively evolve developmental homoplasies and convergent ecological specializations, parallel to those in modern mammal groups.

Experiments with a Parallel Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm for Scheduling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Matthew; Johnston, Mark D.

2013-01-01

Evolutionary multi-objective algorithms have great potential for scheduling in those situations where tradeoffs among competing objectives represent a key requirement. One challenge, however, is runtime performance, as a consequence of evolving not just a single schedule, but an entire population, while attempting to sample the Pareto frontier as accurately and uniformly as possible. The growing availability of multi-core processors in end user workstations, and even laptops, has raised the question of the extent to which such hardware can be used to speed up evolutionary algorithms. In this paper we report on early experiments in parallelizing a Generalized Differential Evolution (GDE) algorithm for scheduling long-range activities on NASA's Deep Space Network. Initial results show that significant speedups can be achieved, but that performance does not necessarily improve as more cores are utilized. We describe our preliminary results and some initial suggestions from parallelizing the GDE algorithm. Directions for future work are outlined.

Evolutionary thinking: "A conversation with Carter Phipps about the role of evolutionary thinking in modern culture".

PubMed

Hunt, Tam

2014-12-01

Evolution as an idea has a lengthy history, even though the idea of evolution is generally associated with Darwin today. Rebecca Stott provides an engaging and thoughtful overview of this history of evolutionary thinking in her 2013 book, Darwin's Ghosts: The Secret History of Evolution. Since Darwin, the debate over evolution-both how it takes place and, in a long war of words with religiously-oriented thinkers, whether it takes place-has been sustained and heated. A growing share of this debate is now devoted to examining how evolutionary thinking affects areas outside of biology. How do our lives change when we recognize that all is in flux? What can we learn about life more generally if we study change instead of stasis? Carter Phipps' book, Evolutionaries: Unlocking the Spiritual and Cultural Potential of Science's Greatest Idea, delves deep into this relatively new development. Phipps generally takes as a given the validity of the Modern Synthesis of evolutionary biology. His story takes us into, as the subtitle suggests, the spiritual and cultural implications of evolutionary thinking. Can religion and evolution be reconciled? Can evolutionary thinking lead to a new type of spirituality? Is our culture already being changed in ways that we don't realize by evolutionary thinking? These are all important questions and Phipps book is a great introduction to this discussion. Phipps is an author, journalist, and contributor to the emerging "integral" or "evolutionary" cultural movement that combines the insights of Integral Philosophy, evolutionary science, developmental psychology, and the social sciences. He has served as the Executive Editor of EnlightenNext magazine (no longer published) and more recently is the co-founder of the Institute for Cultural Evolution, a public policy think tank addressing the cultural roots of America's political challenges. What follows is an email interview with Phipps.

Energy Innovations: Science & Technology at NREL, Winter 2010 (Brochure)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

2010-02-01

The Energy Innovations newsletter serves as a key outreach tool for NREL to tout the lab's accomplishments, progress, and activities to key stakeholders who can impact the lab's level of funding and potential resources. Audiences include VIP visitors to NREL, current and potential partners in our work, and key decision makers who want to know about NREL's R&D directions and the quality and significance of our results.

High-Trust Leadership and Blended Learning in the Age of Disruptive Innovation: Strategic Thinking for Colleges and Schools of Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holland, Denise D.; Piper, Randy T.

2016-01-01

We introduce diverse definitions of leadership and its evolutionary history and then we integrate this idea network: strategic thinking, high-trust leadership, blended learning, and disruptive innovation. Following the lead of Marx's (2014) model of Teaching Leadership and Strategy and Rehm's (2014) model of High School Student Leadership…

Evolutionary Conflict Between Maternal and Paternal Interests: Integration with Evolutionary Endocrinology.

PubMed

Mokkonen, Mikael; Koskela, Esa; Mappes, Tapio; Mills, Suzanne C

2016-08-01

Conflict between mates, as well as conflict between parents and offspring are due to divergent evolutionary interests of the interacting individuals. Hormone systems provide genetically based proximate mechanisms for mediating phenotypic adaptation and maladaptation characteristic of evolutionary conflict between individuals. Testosterone (T) is among the most commonly studied hormones in evolutionary biology, and as such, its role in shaping sexually dimorphic behaviors and physiology is relatively well understood, but its role in evolutionary conflict is not as clear. In this review, we outline the genomic conflicts arising within the family unit, and incorporate multiple lines of evidence from the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) system to outline how T impacts traits associated with reproduction and survival, resulting in a sexually antagonistic genetic trade-off in fitness. A major prediction arising from this work is that lower T is favored in females, whereas the optimal T level in males fluctuates in relation to social and ecological factors. We additionally discuss future directions to further integrate endocrinology into the study of sexual and parent-offspring conflicts. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Phases in the Adoption of Educational Innovations in Teacher Training Institutions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Gene E.

An attempt has been made to categorize phenomena observed as 20 teacher training institutions have adopted innovations and to extrapolate from these findings key concepts and principles that could form the basis for developing empirically testable hypotheses and could be of some immediate utility to those involved in innovation adoption. The…

The National Issues Forum: Bridging the Human Gap through Innovative Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMahan, Eva M.

The National Issues Forum model, a series of community based public discussions on key domestic issues, may be a partial solution to the "human gap" between growing complexity and a capacity to deal with it, by exemplifying "innovative learning." To engage in innovative learning, characterized by anticipation and participation,…

Empirical verification of evolutionary theories of aging.

PubMed

Kyryakov, Pavlo; Gomez-Perez, Alejandra; Glebov, Anastasia; Asbah, Nimara; Bruno, Luigi; Meunier, Carolynne; Iouk, Tatiana; Titorenko, Vladimir I

2016-10-25

We recently selected 3 long-lived mutant strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by a lasting exposure to exogenous lithocholic acid. Each mutant strain can maintain the extended chronological lifespan after numerous passages in medium without lithocholic acid. In this study, we used these long-lived yeast mutants for empirical verification of evolutionary theories of aging. We provide evidence that the dominant polygenic trait extending longevity of each of these mutants 1) does not affect such key features of early-life fitness as the exponential growth rate, efficacy of post-exponential growth and fecundity; and 2) enhances such features of early-life fitness as susceptibility to chronic exogenous stresses, and the resistance to apoptotic and liponecrotic forms of programmed cell death. These findings validate evolutionary theories of programmed aging. We also demonstrate that under laboratory conditions that imitate the process of natural selection within an ecosystem, each of these long-lived mutant strains is forced out of the ecosystem by the parental wild-type strain exhibiting shorter lifespan. We therefore concluded that yeast cells have evolved some mechanisms for limiting their lifespan upon reaching a certain chronological age. These mechanisms drive the evolution of yeast longevity towards maintaining a finite yeast chronological lifespan within ecosystems.

Evolutionary inference via the Poisson Indel Process.

PubMed

Bouchard-Côté, Alexandre; Jordan, Michael I

2013-01-22

We address the problem of the joint statistical inference of phylogenetic trees and multiple sequence alignments from unaligned molecular sequences. This problem is generally formulated in terms of string-valued evolutionary processes along the branches of a phylogenetic tree. The classic evolutionary process, the TKF91 model [Thorne JL, Kishino H, Felsenstein J (1991) J Mol Evol 33(2):114-124] is a continuous-time Markov chain model composed of insertion, deletion, and substitution events. Unfortunately, this model gives rise to an intractable computational problem: The computation of the marginal likelihood under the TKF91 model is exponential in the number of taxa. In this work, we present a stochastic process, the Poisson Indel Process (PIP), in which the complexity of this computation is reduced to linear. The Poisson Indel Process is closely related to the TKF91 model, differing only in its treatment of insertions, but it has a global characterization as a Poisson process on the phylogeny. Standard results for Poisson processes allow key computations to be decoupled, which yields the favorable computational profile of inference under the PIP model. We present illustrative experiments in which Bayesian inference under the PIP model is compared with separate inference of phylogenies and alignments.

Evolutionary inference via the Poisson Indel Process

PubMed Central

Bouchard-Côté, Alexandre; Jordan, Michael I.

2013-01-01

We address the problem of the joint statistical inference of phylogenetic trees and multiple sequence alignments from unaligned molecular sequences. This problem is generally formulated in terms of string-valued evolutionary processes along the branches of a phylogenetic tree. The classic evolutionary process, the TKF91 model [Thorne JL, Kishino H, Felsenstein J (1991) J Mol Evol 33(2):114–124] is a continuous-time Markov chain model composed of insertion, deletion, and substitution events. Unfortunately, this model gives rise to an intractable computational problem: The computation of the marginal likelihood under the TKF91 model is exponential in the number of taxa. In this work, we present a stochastic process, the Poisson Indel Process (PIP), in which the complexity of this computation is reduced to linear. The Poisson Indel Process is closely related to the TKF91 model, differing only in its treatment of insertions, but it has a global characterization as a Poisson process on the phylogeny. Standard results for Poisson processes allow key computations to be decoupled, which yields the favorable computational profile of inference under the PIP model. We present illustrative experiments in which Bayesian inference under the PIP model is compared with separate inference of phylogenies and alignments. PMID:23275296

Research on TRIZ and CAIs Application Problems for Technology Innovation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiangdong; Li, Qinghai; Bai, Zhonghang; Geng, Lixiao

In order to realize application of invent problem solve theory (TRIZ) and computer aided innovation software (CAIs) , need to solve some key problems, such as the mode choice of technology innovation, establishment of technology innovation organization network(TION), and achievement of innovative process based on TRIZ and CAIs, etc.. This paper shows that the demands for TRIZ and CAIs according to the characteristics and existing problem of the manufacturing enterprises. Have explained that the manufacturing enterprises need to set up an open TION of enterprise leading type, and achieve the longitudinal cooperation innovation with institution of higher learning. The process of technology innovation based on TRIZ and CAIs has been set up from researching and developing point of view. Application of TRIZ and CAIs in FY Company has been summarized. The application effect of TRIZ and CAIs has been explained using technology innovation of the close goggle valve product.

Evolutionary demography of agricultural expansion in preindustrial northern Finland

PubMed Central

Helle, Samuli; Brommer, Jon E.; Pettay, Jenni E.; Lummaa, Virpi; Enbuske, Matti; Jokela, Jukka

2014-01-01

A shift from nomadic foraging to sedentary agriculture was a major turning point in human evolutionary history, increasing our population size and eventually leading to the development of modern societies. We however lack understanding of the changes in life histories that contributed to the increased population growth rate of agriculturalists, because comparable individual-based reproductive records of sympatric populations of agriculturalists and foragers are rarely found. Here, we compared key life-history traits and population growth rate using comprehensive data from the seventieth to nineteenth century Northern Finland: indigenous Sami were nomadic hunter-fishers and reindeer herders, whereas sympatric agricultural Finns relied predominantly on animal husbandry. We found that agriculture-based families had higher lifetime fecundity, faster birth spacing and lower maternal mortality. Furthermore, agricultural Finns had 6.2% higher annual population growth rate than traditional Sami, which was accounted by differences between the subsistence modes in age-specific fecundity but not in mortality. Our results provide, to our knowledge, the most detailed demonstration yet of the demographic changes and evolutionary benefits that resulted from agricultural revolution. PMID:25232134

Integrating genomics into evolutionary medicine.

PubMed

Rodríguez, Juan Antonio; Marigorta, Urko M; Navarro, Arcadi

2014-12-01

The application of the principles of evolutionary biology into medicine was suggested long ago and is already providing insight into the ultimate causes of disease. However, a full systematic integration of medical genomics and evolutionary medicine is still missing. Here, we briefly review some cases where the combination of the two fields has proven profitable and highlight two of the main issues hindering the development of evolutionary genomic medicine as a mature field, namely the dissociation between fitness and health and the still considerable difficulties in predicting phenotypes from genotypes. We use publicly available data to illustrate both problems and conclude that new approaches are needed for evolutionary genomic medicine to overcome these obstacles. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Form of an evolutionary tradeoff affects eco-evolutionary dynamics in a predator-prey system.

PubMed

Kasada, Minoru; Yamamichi, Masato; Yoshida, Takehito

2014-11-11

Evolution on a time scale similar to ecological dynamics has been increasingly recognized for the last three decades. Selection mediated by ecological interactions can change heritable phenotypic variation (i.e., evolution), and evolution of traits, in turn, can affect ecological interactions. Hence, ecological and evolutionary dynamics can be tightly linked and important to predict future dynamics, but our understanding of eco-evolutionary dynamics is still in its infancy and there is a significant gap between theoretical predictions and empirical tests. Empirical studies have demonstrated that the presence of genetic variation can dramatically change ecological dynamics, whereas theoretical studies predict that eco-evolutionary dynamics depend on the details of the genetic variation, such as the form of a tradeoff among genotypes, which can be more important than the presence or absence of the genetic variation. Using a predator-prey (rotifer-algal) experimental system in laboratory microcosms, we studied how different forms of a tradeoff between prey defense and growth affect eco-evolutionary dynamics. Our experimental results show for the first time to our knowledge that different forms of the tradeoff produce remarkably divergent eco-evolutionary dynamics, including near fixation, near extinction, and coexistence of algal genotypes, with quantitatively different population dynamics. A mathematical model, parameterized from completely independent experiments, explains the observed dynamics. The results suggest that knowing the details of heritable trait variation and covariation within a population is essential for understanding how evolution and ecology will interact and what form of eco-evolutionary dynamics will result.

Toward a unifying framework for evolutionary processes.

PubMed

Paixão, Tiago; Badkobeh, Golnaz; Barton, Nick; Çörüş, Doğan; Dang, Duc-Cuong; Friedrich, Tobias; Lehre, Per Kristian; Sudholt, Dirk; Sutton, Andrew M; Trubenová, Barbora

2015-10-21

The theory of population genetics and evolutionary computation have been evolving separately for nearly 30 years. Many results have been independently obtained in both fields and many others are unique to its respective field. We aim to bridge this gap by developing a unifying framework for evolutionary processes that allows both evolutionary algorithms and population genetics models to be cast in the same formal framework. The framework we present here decomposes the evolutionary process into its several components in order to facilitate the identification of similarities between different models. In particular, we propose a classification of evolutionary operators based on the defining properties of the different components. We cast several commonly used operators from both fields into this common framework. Using this, we map different evolutionary and genetic algorithms to different evolutionary regimes and identify candidates with the most potential for the translation of results between the fields. This provides a unified description of evolutionary processes and represents a stepping stone towards new tools and results to both fields. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Why evolutionary biologists should get seriously involved in ecological monitoring and applied biodiversity assessment programs

PubMed Central

Brodersen, Jakob; Seehausen, Ole

2014-01-01

While ecological monitoring and biodiversity assessment programs are widely implemented and relatively well developed to survey and monitor the structure and dynamics of populations and communities in many ecosystems, quantitative assessment and monitoring of genetic and phenotypic diversity that is important to understand evolutionary dynamics is only rarely integrated. As a consequence, monitoring programs often fail to detect changes in these key components of biodiversity until after major loss of diversity has occurred. The extensive efforts in ecological monitoring have generated large data sets of unique value to macro-scale and long-term ecological research, but the insights gained from such data sets could be multiplied by the inclusion of evolutionary biological approaches. We argue that the lack of process-based evolutionary thinking in ecological monitoring means a significant loss of opportunity for research and conservation. Assessment of genetic and phenotypic variation within and between species needs to be fully integrated to safeguard biodiversity and the ecological and evolutionary dynamics in natural ecosystems. We illustrate our case with examples from fishes and conclude with examples of ongoing monitoring programs and provide suggestions on how to improve future quantitative diversity surveys. PMID:25553061

Practical advantages of evolutionary computation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fogel, David B.

1997-10-01

Evolutionary computation is becoming a common technique for solving difficult, real-world problems in industry, medicine, and defense. This paper reviews some of the practical advantages to using evolutionary algorithms as compared with classic methods of optimization or artificial intelligence. Specific advantages include the flexibility of the procedures, as well as their ability to self-adapt the search for optimum solutions on the fly. As desktop computers increase in speed, the application of evolutionary algorithms will become routine.

Expert-guided evolutionary algorithm for layout design of complex space stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Zhiqin; Bi, Zhuming; Cao, Qun; Ju, Weiguo; Teng, Hongfei; Zheng, Yang; Zheng, Siyu

2017-08-01

The layout of a space station should be designed in such a way that different equipment and instruments are placed for the station as a whole to achieve the best overall performance. The station layout design is a typical nondeterministic polynomial problem. In particular, how to manage the design complexity to achieve an acceptable solution within a reasonable timeframe poses a great challenge. In this article, a new evolutionary algorithm has been proposed to meet such a challenge. It is called as the expert-guided evolutionary algorithm with a tree-like structure decomposition (EGEA-TSD). Two innovations in EGEA-TSD are (i) to deal with the design complexity, the entire design space is divided into subspaces with a tree-like structure; it reduces the computation and facilitates experts' involvement in the solving process. (ii) A human-intervention interface is developed to allow experts' involvement in avoiding local optimums and accelerating convergence. To validate the proposed algorithm, the layout design of one-space station is formulated as a multi-disciplinary design problem, the developed algorithm is programmed and executed, and the result is compared with those from other two algorithms; it has illustrated the superior performance of the proposed EGEA-TSD.

The Future of Transportation: Safety, Opportunity, and Innovation

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-12-30

This report summarizes key findings from the Future of Transportation: Safety, Opportunity, and Innovation thought leadership speaker series held at Volpe, The National Transportation Systems Center, during the summer and fall of 2016.

Tracing the evolutionary origin of vertebrate skeletal tissues: insights from cephalochordate amphioxus.

PubMed

Yong, Luok Wen; Yu, Jr-Kai

2016-08-01

Vertebrate mineralized skeletal tissues are widely considered as an evolutionary novelty. Despite the importance of these tissues to the adaptation and radiation of vertebrate animals, the evolutionary origin of vertebrate skeletal tissues remains largely unclear. Cephalochordates (Amphioxus) occupy a key phylogenetic position and can serve as a valuable model for studying the evolution of vertebrate skeletal tissues. Here we summarize recent advances in amphioxus developmental biology and comparative genomics that can help to elucidate the evolutionary origins of the vertebrate skeletal tissues and their underlying developmental gene regulatory networks (GRN). By making comparisons to the developmental studies in vertebrate models and recent discoveries in paleontology and genomics, it becomes evident that the collagen matrix-based connective tissues secreted by the somite-derived cells in amphioxus likely represent the rudimentary skeletal tissues in chordates. We propose that upon the foundation of this collagenous precursor, novel tissue mineralization genes that arose from gene duplications were incorporated into an ancestral mesodermal GRN that makes connective and supporting tissues, leading to the emergence of highly-mineralized skeletal tissues in early vertebrates. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Acoustic Communication at the Water's Edge: Evolutionary Insights from a Mudskipper

PubMed Central

Polgar, Gianluca; Malavasi, Stefano; Cipolato, Giacomo; Georgalas, Vyron; Clack, Jennifer A.; Torricelli, Patrizia

2011-01-01

Coupled behavioural observations and acoustical recordings of aggressive dyadic contests showed that the mudskipper Periophthalmodon septemradiatus communicates acoustically while out of water. An analysis of intraspecific variability showed that specific acoustic components may act as tags for individual recognition, further supporting the sounds' communicative value. A correlative analysis amongst acoustical properties and video-acoustical recordings in slow-motion supported first hypotheses on the emission mechanism. Acoustic transmission through the wet exposed substrate was also discussed. These observations were used to support an “exaptation hypothesis”, i.e. the maintenance of key adaptations during the first stages of water-to-land vertebrate eco-evolutionary transitions (based on eco-evolutionary and palaeontological considerations), through a comparative bioacoustic analysis of aquatic and semiterrestrial gobiid taxa. In fact, a remarkable similarity was found between mudskipper vocalisations and those emitted by gobioids and other soniferous benthonic fishes. PMID:21738663

Longevity and ageing: appraising the evolutionary consequences of growing old

PubMed Central

Bonsall, Michael B

2005-01-01

Senescence or ageing is an increase in mortality and/or decline in fertility with increasing age. Evolutionary theories predict that ageing or longevity evolves in response to patterns of extrinsic mortality or intrinsic damage. If ageing is viewed as the outcome of the processes of behaviour, growth and reproduction then it should be possible to predict mortality rate. Recent developments have shown that it is now possible to integrate these ecological and physiological processes and predict the shape of mortality trajectories. By drawing on the key exciting developments in the cellular, physiological and ecological process of longevity the evolutionary consequences of ageing are reviewed. In presenting these ideas an evolutionary demographic framework is used to argue how trade-offs in life-history strategies are important in the maintenance of variation in longevity within and between species. Evolutionary processes associated with longevity have an important role in explaining levels of biological diversity and speciation. In particular, the effects of life-history trait trade-offs in maintaining and promoting species diversity are explored. Such trade-offs can alleviate the effects of intense competition between species and promote species coexistence and diversification. These results have important implications for understanding a number of core ecological processes such as how species are divided among niches, how closely related species co-occur and the rules by which species assemble into food-webs. Theoretical work reveals that the proximate physiological processes are as important as the ecological factors in explaining the variation in the evolution of longevity. Possible future research challenges integrating work on the evolution and mechanisms of growing old are briefly discussed. PMID:16553312

Innovation in Extraterrestrial Service Systems - A Challenge for Service Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bergner, David

2010-01-01

This presentation was prepared at the invitation of Professor Yukio Ohsawa, Department of Systems Innovation, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, for delivery at the International Workshop on Innovating Service Systems, sponsored by the Japanese Society of Artificial Intelligence (JSAI) as part of the JSAI Internation Symposium on AI, 2010. It offers several challenges for Service Science and Service Innovation. the goal of the presentation is to stimulate thinking about how service systems viII evolve in the future, as human society advances from its terrestrial base toward a permanent presence in space. First we will consider the complexity of the International Space Station (ISS) as it is today, with particular emphasis of its research facilities, and focus on a current challenge - to maximize the utilization of ISS research facilities for the benefit of society. After briefly reviewing the basic principles of Service Science, we will discuss the potential application of Service Innovation methodology to this challenge. Then we viII consider how game-changing technologies - in particular Synthetic Biology - could accelerate the pace of sociocultural evolution and consequently, the progression of human society into space. We will use this provocative vision to advance thinking about how the emerging field of Service Science, Management, and Engineering (SSME) might help us anticipate and better handle the challenges of this inevitable evolutionary process.

Evolutionary and Functional Relationships in the Truncated Hemoglobin Family.

PubMed

Bustamante, Juan P; Radusky, Leandro; Boechi, Leonardo; Estrin, Darío A; Ten Have, Arjen; Martí, Marcelo A

2016-01-01

Predicting function from sequence is an important goal in current biological research, and although, broad functional assignment is possible when a protein is assigned to a family, predicting functional specificity with accuracy is not straightforward. If function is provided by key structural properties and the relevant properties can be computed using the sequence as the starting point, it should in principle be possible to predict function in detail. The truncated hemoglobin family presents an interesting benchmark study due to their ubiquity, sequence diversity in the context of a conserved fold and the number of characterized members. Their functions are tightly related to O2 affinity and reactivity, as determined by the association and dissociation rate constants, both of which can be predicted and analyzed using in-silico based tools. In the present work we have applied a strategy, which combines homology modeling with molecular based energy calculations, to predict and analyze function of all known truncated hemoglobins in an evolutionary context. Our results show that truncated hemoglobins present conserved family features, but that its structure is flexible enough to allow the switch from high to low affinity in a few evolutionary steps. Most proteins display moderate to high oxygen affinities and multiple ligand migration paths, which, besides some minor trends, show heterogeneous distributions throughout the phylogenetic tree, again suggesting fast functional adaptation. Our data not only deepens our comprehension of the structural basis governing ligand affinity, but they also highlight some interesting functional evolutionary trends.

Evolutionary and Functional Relationships in the Truncated Hemoglobin Family

PubMed Central

Bustamante, Juan P.; Radusky, Leandro; Boechi, Leonardo; Estrin, Darío A.; ten Have, Arjen; Martí, Marcelo A.

2016-01-01

Predicting function from sequence is an important goal in current biological research, and although, broad functional assignment is possible when a protein is assigned to a family, predicting functional specificity with accuracy is not straightforward. If function is provided by key structural properties and the relevant properties can be computed using the sequence as the starting point, it should in principle be possible to predict function in detail. The truncated hemoglobin family presents an interesting benchmark study due to their ubiquity, sequence diversity in the context of a conserved fold and the number of characterized members. Their functions are tightly related to O2 affinity and reactivity, as determined by the association and dissociation rate constants, both of which can be predicted and analyzed using in-silico based tools. In the present work we have applied a strategy, which combines homology modeling with molecular based energy calculations, to predict and analyze function of all known truncated hemoglobins in an evolutionary context. Our results show that truncated hemoglobins present conserved family features, but that its structure is flexible enough to allow the switch from high to low affinity in a few evolutionary steps. Most proteins display moderate to high oxygen affinities and multiple ligand migration paths, which, besides some minor trends, show heterogeneous distributions throughout the phylogenetic tree, again suggesting fast functional adaptation. Our data not only deepens our comprehension of the structural basis governing ligand affinity, but they also highlight some interesting functional evolutionary trends. PMID:26788940

Applying Structural Systems Thinking to Frame Perspectives on Social Work Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stringfellow, Erin J.

2017-01-01

Objective: Innovation will be key to the success of the Grand Challenges Initiative in social work. A structural systems framework based in system dynamics could be useful for considering how to advance innovation. Method: Diagrams using system dynamics conventions were developed to link common themes across concept papers written by social work…

Evolution in agriculture: the application of evolutionary approaches to the management of biotic interactions in agro-ecosystems

PubMed Central

Thrall, Peter H; Oakeshott, John G; Fitt, Gary; Southerton, Simon; Burdon, Jeremy J; Sheppard, Andy; Russell, Robyn J; Zalucki, Myron; Heino, Mikko; Ford Denison, R

2011-01-01

Anthropogenic impacts increasingly drive ecological and evolutionary processes at many spatio-temporal scales, demanding greater capacity to predict and manage their consequences. This is particularly true for agro-ecosystems, which not only comprise a significant proportion of land use, but which also involve conflicting imperatives to expand or intensify production while simultaneously reducing environmental impacts. These imperatives reinforce the likelihood of further major changes in agriculture over the next 30–40 years. Key transformations include genetic technologies as well as changes in land use. The use of evolutionary principles is not new in agriculture (e.g. crop breeding, domestication of animals, management of selection for pest resistance), but given land-use trends and other transformative processes in production landscapes, ecological and evolutionary research in agro-ecosystems must consider such issues in a broader systems context. Here, we focus on biotic interactions involving pests and pathogens as exemplars of situations where integration of agronomic, ecological and evolutionary perspectives has practical value. Although their presence in agro-ecosystems may be new, many traits involved in these associations evolved in natural settings. We advocate the use of predictive frameworks based on evolutionary models as pre-emptive management tools and identify some specific research opportunities to facilitate this. We conclude with a brief discussion of multidisciplinary approaches in applied evolutionary problems. PMID:25567968

Asynchronous spatial evolutionary games.

PubMed

Newth, David; Cornforth, David

2009-02-01

Over the past 50 years, much attention has been given to the Prisoner's Dilemma as a metaphor for problems surrounding the evolution and maintenance of cooperative and altruistic behavior. The bulk of this work has dealt with the successfulness and robustness of various strategies. Nowak and May (1992) considered an alternative approach to studying evolutionary games. They assumed that players were distributed across a two-dimensional (2D) lattice, interactions between players occurred locally, rather than at long range as in the well mixed situation. The resulting spatial evolutionary games display dynamics not seen in their well-mixed counterparts. An assumption underlying much of the work on spatial evolutionary games is that the state of all players is updated in unison or in synchrony. Using the framework outlined in Nowak and May (1992), we examine the effect of various asynchronous updating schemes on the dynamics of spatial evolutionary games. There are potential implications for the dynamics of a wide variety of spatially extended systems in biology, physics and chemistry.

Evolutionary pattern search algorithms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hart, W.E.

1995-09-19

This paper defines a class of evolutionary algorithms called evolutionary pattern search algorithms (EPSAs) and analyzes their convergence properties. This class of algorithms is closely related to evolutionary programming, evolutionary strategie and real-coded genetic algorithms. EPSAs are self-adapting systems that modify the step size of the mutation operator in response to the success of previous optimization steps. The rule used to adapt the step size can be used to provide a stationary point convergence theory for EPSAs on any continuous function. This convergence theory is based on an extension of the convergence theory for generalized pattern search methods. An experimentalmore » analysis of the performance of EPSAs demonstrates that these algorithms can perform a level of global search that is comparable to that of canonical EAs. We also describe a stopping rule for EPSAs, which reliably terminated near stationary points in our experiments. This is the first stopping rule for any class of EAs that can terminate at a given distance from stationary points.« less

Firms navigating through innovation spaces: a conceptualization of how firms search and perceive technological, market and productive opportunities globally.

PubMed

McKelvey, Maureen

2016-01-01

The main contribution of this paper is a theory-based conceptual framework of innovation spaces, and how firms must navigate through them to innovate. The concept of innovation systems - at the regional, sectoral and national levels - have been highly influential. Previous literature developing the concept of innovation systems has stressed the importance of institutions, networks and knowledge bases at the regional, sectoral and national levels. This paper primarily draws upon an evolutionary and Schumpeterian economics perspective, in the following three senses. The conceptualization of 'innnovation spaces' focuses upon how and why firm search for innovations is influenced the opportunities within certain geographical contexts. This means that the firm create opportunities and can span different context, but they are influence by the context in term of the access, flow and co-evolution of ideas, resources, technology, people and knowledge, which help stimulate business innovation in terms of products, process and services. The paper concludes with an agenda for future research and especially the need to focus on globalization as a process of intensifying linkages across the globe.

The significance and scope of evolutionary developmental biology: a vision for the 21st century.

PubMed

Moczek, Armin P; Sears, Karen E; Stollewerk, Angelika; Wittkopp, Patricia J; Diggle, Pamela; Dworkin, Ian; Ledon-Rettig, Cristina; Matus, David Q; Roth, Siegfried; Abouheif, Ehab; Brown, Federico D; Chiu, Chi-Hua; Cohen, C Sarah; Tomaso, Anthony W De; Gilbert, Scott F; Hall, Brian; Love, Alan C; Lyons, Deirdre C; Sanger, Thomas J; Smith, Joel; Specht, Chelsea; Vallejo-Marin, Mario; Extavour, Cassandra G

2015-01-01

Evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) has undergone dramatic transformations since its emergence as a distinct discipline. This paper aims to highlight the scope, power, and future promise of evo-devo to transform and unify diverse aspects of biology. We articulate key questions at the core of eleven biological disciplines-from Evolution, Development, Paleontology, and Neurobiology to Cellular and Molecular Biology, Quantitative Genetics, Human Diseases, Ecology, Agriculture and Science Education, and lastly, Evolutionary Developmental Biology itself-and discuss why evo-devo is uniquely situated to substantially improve our ability to find meaningful answers to these fundamental questions. We posit that the tools, concepts, and ways of thinking developed by evo-devo have profound potential to advance, integrate, and unify biological sciences as well as inform policy decisions and illuminate science education. We look to the next generation of evolutionary developmental biologists to help shape this process as we confront the scientific challenges of the 21st century. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

National Summit on Innovation and Learning=Sommet National sur L'Innovation et L'Apprentissage. Summary=Sommaire.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conference Board of Canada, Ottawa (Ontario).

This report provides a summary of the objectives, proceedings, and major outcomes of a summit meeting of over 500 leaders from across Canada convened to validate and prioritize strategic recommendations from an innovation and learning engagement process and to discuss key challenges to realization of Canada's vision to become one of the most…

Introduction to the special issue: Tree invasions: towards a better understanding of their complex evolutionary dynamics.

PubMed

Hirsch, Heidi; Richardson, David M; Le Roux, Johannes J

2017-05-01

Many invasive plants show evidence of trait-based evolutionary change, but these remain largely unexplored for invasive trees. The increasing number of invasive trees and their tremendous impacts worldwide, however, illustrates the urgent need to bridge this knowledge gap to apply efficient management. Consequently, an interdisciplinary workshop, held in 2015 at Stellenbosch University in Stellenbosch, South Africa, brought together international researchers to discuss our understanding of evolutionary dynamics in invasive trees. The main outcome of this workshop is this Special Issue of AoB PLANTS . The collection of papers in this issue has helped to identify and assess the evolutionary mechanisms that are likely to influence tree invasions. It also facilitated expansion of the unified framework for biological invasions to incorporate key evolutionary processes. The papers cover a wide range of evolutionary mechanisms in tree genomes (adaptation), epigenomes (phenotypic plasticity) and their second genomes (mutualists), and show how such mechanisms can impact tree invasion processes and management. The special issue provides a comprehensive overview of the factors that promote and mitigate the invasive success of tree species in many parts of the world. It also shows that incorporating evolutionary concepts is crucial for understanding the complex drivers of tree invasions and has much potential to improve management. The contributions of the special issue also highlight many priorities for further work in the face of ever-increasing tree invasions; the complexity of this research needs calls for expanded interdisciplinary research collaborations.

Oil-producing flowers within the Iridoideae (Iridaceae): evolutionary trends in the flowers of the New World genera

PubMed Central

Chauveau, Olivier; Eggers, Lilian; Souza-Chies, Tatiana T.; Nadot, Sophie

2012-01-01

Background and Aims Oil-producing flowers related to oil-bee pollination are a major innovation in Neotropical and Mexican Iridaceae. In this study, phylogenetic relationships were investigated among a wide array of New World genera of the tribes Sisyrinchieae, Trimezieae and Tigridieae (Iridaceae: Iridoideae) and the evolution of floral glandular structures, which are predominantly trichomal elaiophores, was examined in relation to the diversification of New World Iridaceae. Methods Phylogenetic analyses based on seven molecular markers obtained from 97 species were conducted to produce the first extensive phylogeny of the New World tribes of subfamily Iridoideae. The resulting phylogenetic hypothesis was used to trace the evolutionary history of glandular structures present in the flowers of numerous species in each tribe. Hypotheses of differential diversification rates among lineages were also investigated using both topological and Binary-State Speciation and Extinction methods. Key Results and Conclusions Floral glandular structures and especially trichomal elaiophores evolved multiple times independently in the American tribes of Iridoideae. The distribution pattern of species displaying glandular trichomes across the phylogeny reveals lability in the pollination system and suggests that these structures may have played a significant role in the diversification of the Iridoideae on the American continent. PMID:22782239

Profiles of innovators in a semi-arid smallholder agricultural environment in south west Zimbabwe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mutsvangwa-Sammie, Eness P.; Manzungu, Emmanuel; Siziba, Shephard

2017-08-01

Innovations are regarded as critical to improving the efficiency, productivity and effectiveness of African agriculture. However, few efforts have been directed at understanding 'agricultural innovators', especially among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa who face low agricultural productivity and widespread food insecurity. This paper investigates the profile of innovators from a local perspective in a semi-arid smallholder farming area in south-west Zimbabwe. The paper is based on data collected from key informant interviews and a household questionnaire survey administered to 239 households from Gwanda and Insiza districts between 2013 and 2014. Qualities or attributes of an innovator (which constitute the profile of an innovator) identified by key informants included: resource endowment; social networks; education; and enthusiasm (passionate and hardworking). The attributes were used in a logit regression model to estimate the probability of the 239 households exhibiting the attributes of an innovator. Social networks and resource endowment, as depicted by amount of land cultivated, were found to significantly influence the probability of an individual being an innovator. Interestingly, the common attributes of education or belonging to an innovation platform used by extension and development agents, were found not to influence the probability of one being an innovator. The paper concludes that understanding local perceptions of innovators, which is based on appreciation of the socio-economic and biophysical circumstances, should be used to identify a 'basket' of context specific innovations that have potential to address the diverse needs of rural households farming households.

Bioinformatics education dissemination with an evolutionary problem solving perspective.

PubMed

Jungck, John R; Donovan, Samuel S; Weisstein, Anton E; Khiripet, Noppadon; Everse, Stephen J

2010-11-01

Bioinformatics is central to biology education in the 21st century. With the generation of terabytes of data per day, the application of computer-based tools to stored and distributed data is fundamentally changing research and its application to problems in medicine, agriculture, conservation and forensics. In light of this 'information revolution,' undergraduate biology curricula must be redesigned to prepare the next generation of informed citizens as well as those who will pursue careers in the life sciences. The BEDROCK initiative (Bioinformatics Education Dissemination: Reaching Out, Connecting and Knitting together) has fostered an international community of bioinformatics educators. The initiative's goals are to: (i) Identify and support faculty who can take leadership roles in bioinformatics education; (ii) Highlight and distribute innovative approaches to incorporating evolutionary bioinformatics data and techniques throughout undergraduate education; (iii) Establish mechanisms for the broad dissemination of bioinformatics resource materials and teaching models; (iv) Emphasize phylogenetic thinking and problem solving; and (v) Develop and publish new software tools to help students develop and test evolutionary hypotheses. Since 2002, BEDROCK has offered more than 50 faculty workshops around the world, published many resources and supported an environment for developing and sharing bioinformatics education approaches. The BEDROCK initiative builds on the established pedagogical philosophy and academic community of the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium to assemble the diverse intellectual and human resources required to sustain an international reform effort in undergraduate bioinformatics education.

Evolutionary Debunking Arguments

PubMed Central

Kahane, Guy

2011-01-01

Evolutionary debunking arguments (EDAs) are arguments that appeal to the evolutionary origins of evaluative beliefs to undermine their justification. This paper aims to clarify the premises and presuppositions of EDAs—a form of argument that is increasingly put to use in normative ethics. I argue that such arguments face serious obstacles. It is often overlooked, for example, that they presuppose the truth of metaethical objectivism. More importantly, even if objectivism is assumed, the use of EDAs in normative ethics is incompatible with a parallel and more sweeping global evolutionary debunking argument that has been discussed in recent metaethics. After examining several ways of responding to this global debunking argument, I end by arguing that even if we could resist it, this would still not rehabilitate the current targeted use of EDAs in normative ethics given that, if EDAs work at all, they will in any case lead to a truly radical revision of our evaluative outlook. PMID:21949447

Asymmetric Evolutionary Games.

PubMed

McAvoy, Alex; Hauert, Christoph

2015-08-01

Evolutionary game theory is a powerful framework for studying evolution in populations of interacting individuals. A common assumption in evolutionary game theory is that interactions are symmetric, which means that the players are distinguished by only their strategies. In nature, however, the microscopic interactions between players are nearly always asymmetric due to environmental effects, differing baseline characteristics, and other possible sources of heterogeneity. To model these phenomena, we introduce into evolutionary game theory two broad classes of asymmetric interactions: ecological and genotypic. Ecological asymmetry results from variation in the environments of the players, while genotypic asymmetry is a consequence of the players having differing baseline genotypes. We develop a theory of these forms of asymmetry for games in structured populations and use the classical social dilemmas, the Prisoner's Dilemma and the Snowdrift Game, for illustrations. Interestingly, asymmetric games reveal essential differences between models of genetic evolution based on reproduction and models of cultural evolution based on imitation that are not apparent in symmetric games.

Asymmetric Evolutionary Games

PubMed Central

McAvoy, Alex; Hauert, Christoph

2015-01-01

Evolutionary game theory is a powerful framework for studying evolution in populations of interacting individuals. A common assumption in evolutionary game theory is that interactions are symmetric, which means that the players are distinguished by only their strategies. In nature, however, the microscopic interactions between players are nearly always asymmetric due to environmental effects, differing baseline characteristics, and other possible sources of heterogeneity. To model these phenomena, we introduce into evolutionary game theory two broad classes of asymmetric interactions: ecological and genotypic. Ecological asymmetry results from variation in the environments of the players, while genotypic asymmetry is a consequence of the players having differing baseline genotypes. We develop a theory of these forms of asymmetry for games in structured populations and use the classical social dilemmas, the Prisoner’s Dilemma and the Snowdrift Game, for illustrations. Interestingly, asymmetric games reveal essential differences between models of genetic evolution based on reproduction and models of cultural evolution based on imitation that are not apparent in symmetric games. PMID:26308326

From innovation to implementation: the long and winding road.

PubMed

Galavotti, Christine; Kuhlmann, Anne K Sebert; Kraft, Joan Marie; Harford, Nicola; Petraglia, Joseph

2008-06-01

Building on theory and past research, in early 2000 scientists in the Division of Reproductive Health developed a prevention innovation for CDC's Global AIDS Program for use in countries severely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This innovative program model is called MARCH: Modeling and Reinforcement to Combat HIV/AIDS (Galavotti et al. Am J Public Health 91:1602-1607, 2001). MARCH promotes behavioral changes that reduce the risk of HIV infection and creates normative environments that sustain these changes through two key program components: entertainment-education using mass media, particularly long-running radio serial dramas, and reinforcement activities at the community level. Using the framework developed by Wandersman et al. (Am J Commun Psychol, 41(3-4), 2008), we describe the key elements of the MARCH prevention innovation and outline how we support its adaptation and implementation. We focus on the following questions: How do we get from an innovative model to effective program implementation in the field? How do we support implementation with fidelity when adaptation is required? And, once implemented, can we demonstrate fidelity of the adaptation to the original program model? Because our program model requires local adaptation for every instance of implementation, we suggest a potential enhancement to the Interactive Systems Framework-support for adaptation of the innovation-as part of the Prevention Support System. In this paper we describe how we supported adaptation of the radio serial drama component for unique contexts in several African countries. We focus attention on the tools and trainings we developed to build innovation specific capacity for implementation, including capacities for adaptation. We then present results of a qualitative analysis of scripts from the MARCH radio serial drama in Zimbabwe to assess the adapted program's fidelity to the original design of the innovation. Finally, we discuss lessons learned and explore

Stochastic evolutionary dynamics in minimum-effort coordination games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Kun; Cong, Rui; Wang, Long

2016-08-01

The minimum-effort coordination game draws recently more attention for the fact that human behavior in this social dilemma is often inconsistent with the predictions of classical game theory. Here, we combine evolutionary game theory and coalescence theory to investigate this game in finite populations. Both analytic results and individual-based simulations show that effort costs play a key role in the evolution of contribution levels, which is in good agreement with those observed experimentally. Besides well-mixed populations, set structured populations have also been taken into consideration. Therein we find that large number of sets and moderate migration rate greatly promote effort levels, especially for high effort costs.

Conceptual Barriers to Progress Within Evolutionary Biology

PubMed Central

Laland, Kevin N.; Odling-Smee, John; Feldman, Marcus W.; Kendal, Jeremy

2011-01-01

In spite of its success, Neo-Darwinism is faced with major conceptual barriers to further progress, deriving directly from its metaphysical foundations. Most importantly, neo-Darwinism fails to recognize a fundamental cause of evolutionary change, “niche construction”. This failure restricts the generality of evolutionary theory, and introduces inaccuracies. It also hinders the integration of evolutionary biology with neighbouring disciplines, including ecosystem ecology, developmental biology, and the human sciences. Ecology is forced to become a divided discipline, developmental biology is stubbornly difficult to reconcile with evolutionary theory, and the majority of biologists and social scientists are still unhappy with evolutionary accounts of human behaviour. The incorporation of niche construction as both a cause and a product of evolution removes these disciplinary boundaries while greatly generalizing the explanatory power of evolutionary theory. PMID:21572912

Conceptual Barriers to Progress Within Evolutionary Biology.

PubMed

Laland, Kevin N; Odling-Smee, John; Feldman, Marcus W; Kendal, Jeremy

2009-08-01

In spite of its success, Neo-Darwinism is faced with major conceptual barriers to further progress, deriving directly from its metaphysical foundations. Most importantly, neo-Darwinism fails to recognize a fundamental cause of evolutionary change, "niche construction". This failure restricts the generality of evolutionary theory, and introduces inaccuracies. It also hinders the integration of evolutionary biology with neighbouring disciplines, including ecosystem ecology, developmental biology, and the human sciences. Ecology is forced to become a divided discipline, developmental biology is stubbornly difficult to reconcile with evolutionary theory, and the majority of biologists and social scientists are still unhappy with evolutionary accounts of human behaviour. The incorporation of niche construction as both a cause and a product of evolution removes these disciplinary boundaries while greatly generalizing the explanatory power of evolutionary theory.

Action Learning for Strategic Innovation in Mature Organizations: Key Cognitive, Design and Contextual Considerations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuhn, Jeffrey S.; Marsick, Victoria J.

2005-01-01

This article lays out a model of action learning for catalyzing strategic innovation in mature organizations that are faced with a new competitive playing field. Central to this model is the development of a set of sophisticated cognitive capabilities--sensemaking, strategic thinking, critical thinking, divergent thinking, conceptual capacity and…

Exhaustive Analysis of a Genotype Space Comprising 1015 Central Carbon Metabolisms Reveals an Organization Conducive to Metabolic Innovation

PubMed Central

Hosseini, Sayed-Rzgar; Barve, Aditya; Wagner, Andreas

2015-01-01

All biological evolution takes place in a space of possible genotypes and their phenotypes. The structure of this space defines the evolutionary potential and limitations of an evolving system. Metabolism is one of the most ancient and fundamental evolving systems, sustaining life by extracting energy from extracellular nutrients. Here we study metabolism’s potential for innovation by analyzing an exhaustive genotype-phenotype map for a space of 1015 metabolisms that encodes all possible subsets of 51 reactions in central carbon metabolism. Using flux balance analysis, we predict the viability of these metabolisms on 10 different carbon sources which give rise to 1024 potential metabolic phenotypes. Although viable metabolisms with any one phenotype comprise a tiny fraction of genotype space, their absolute numbers exceed 109 for some phenotypes. Metabolisms with any one phenotype typically form a single network of genotypes that extends far or all the way through metabolic genotype space, where any two genotypes can be reached from each other through a series of single reaction changes. The minimal distance of genotype networks associated with different phenotypes is small, such that one can reach metabolisms with novel phenotypes – viable on new carbon sources – through one or few genotypic changes. Exceptions to these principles exist for those metabolisms whose complexity (number of reactions) is close to the minimum needed for viability. Increasing metabolic complexity enhances the potential for both evolutionary conservation and evolutionary innovation. PMID:26252881

Research traditions and evolutionary explanations in medicine.

PubMed

Méthot, Pierre-Olivier

2011-02-01

In this article, I argue that distinguishing 'evolutionary' from 'Darwinian' medicine will help us assess the variety of roles that evolutionary explanations can play in a number of medical contexts. Because the boundaries of evolutionary and Darwinian medicine overlap to some extent, however, they are best described as distinct 'research traditions' rather than as competing paradigms. But while evolutionary medicine does not stand out as a new scientific field of its own, Darwinian medicine is united by a number of distinctive theoretical and methodological claims. For example, evolutionary medicine and Darwinian medicine can be distinguished with respect to the styles of evolutionary explanations they employ. While the former primarily involves 'forward looking' explanations, the latter depends mostly on 'backward looking' explanations. A forward looking explanation tries to predict the effects of ongoing evolutionary processes on human health and disease in contemporary environments (e.g., hospitals). In contrast, a backward looking explanation typically applies evolutionary principles from the vantage point of humans' distant biological past in order to assess present states of health and disease. Both approaches, however, are concerned with the prevention and control of human diseases. In conclusion, I raise some concerns about the claim that 'nothing in medicine makes sense except in the light of evolution'.

Factors Forming Collaboration within the Knowledge Triangle of Education, Research and Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zascerinska, Jelena; Ahrens, Andreas; Bassus, Olaf

2009-01-01

A proper combination of education, research and innovation is provided by varied cooperative networks. However, the success of collaboration within a multicultural environment requires that the key factors enabling synergy between education, research and innovation have to be considered. Aim of the following paper is to identify and to analyze…

Early Learning Assessment Innovation in South Africa: A Locally Appropriate Monitoring Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dawes, Andrew; Biersteker, Linda; Girdwood, Elizabeth; Snelling, Matthew; Tredoux, C. G.

2018-01-01

In 2015, Innovation Edge commissioned the development of South Africa's first national-level preschool child assessment tool. The project's key innovations were that the tool should fairly assess children from across the cultural and socio-economic spectrum, be inexpensive in terms of equipment and administration costs, and be administered in…

Evolutionary branching under multi-dimensional evolutionary constraints.

PubMed

Ito, Hiroshi; Sasaki, Akira

2016-10-21

The fitness of an existing phenotype and of a potential mutant should generally depend on the frequencies of other existing phenotypes. Adaptive evolution driven by such frequency-dependent fitness functions can be analyzed effectively using adaptive dynamics theory, assuming rare mutation and asexual reproduction. When possible mutations are restricted to certain directions due to developmental, physiological, or physical constraints, the resulting adaptive evolution may be restricted to subspaces (constraint surfaces) with fewer dimensionalities than the original trait spaces. To analyze such dynamics along constraint surfaces efficiently, we develop a Lagrange multiplier method in the framework of adaptive dynamics theory. On constraint surfaces of arbitrary dimensionalities described with equality constraints, our method efficiently finds local evolutionarily stable strategies, convergence stable points, and evolutionary branching points. We also derive the conditions for the existence of evolutionary branching points on constraint surfaces when the shapes of the surfaces can be chosen freely. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An analysis of parameter sensitivities of preference-inspired co-evolutionary algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Rui; Mansor, Maszatul M.; Purshouse, Robin C.; Fleming, Peter J.

2015-10-01

Many-objective optimisation problems remain challenging for many state-of-the-art multi-objective evolutionary algorithms. Preference-inspired co-evolutionary algorithms (PICEAs) which co-evolve the usual population of candidate solutions with a family of decision-maker preferences during the search have been demonstrated to be effective on such problems. However, it is unknown whether PICEAs are robust with respect to the parameter settings. This study aims to address this question. First, a global sensitivity analysis method - the Sobol' variance decomposition method - is employed to determine the relative importance of the parameters controlling the performance of PICEAs. Experimental results show that the performance of PICEAs is controlled for the most part by the number of function evaluations. Next, we investigate the effect of key parameters identified from the Sobol' test and the genetic operators employed in PICEAs. Experimental results show improved performance of the PICEAs as more preferences are co-evolved. Additionally, some suggestions for genetic operator settings are provided for non-expert users.

Lagrange Point Missions: the Key to Next-Generation Integrated Earth Observations. DSCOVR Innovation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valero, F. P. J.

2016-12-01

From L-1 DSCOVR is capable of new, unique observations potentially conducive to a deeper scientific understanding of the Earth sciences. At L-1 and L-2 the net gravitational pull of the Earth and Sun equals the centripetal force required to orbit the Sun with the same period as the Earth. Satellites at or near L-1 and L-2 keep the same position relative to the Sun and the Earth. DSCOVR does not orbit the Earth but the Sun in synchronism with Earth, acts like a planetoid (orbits the Sun in the ecliptic plane) while acquiring integrated plus spatially and time resolved scientific data as Earth rotates around its axis. Because of the planet's axial tilt relative to the ecliptic plane, the Polar Regions are visible during local summer from L-1 and local winter from L-2 (Fig. 1). DSCOVR's synoptic and continuous observations solve most of the temporal and spatial limitations associated with low Earth (LEO) and Geostationary (GEO) orbits. Two observatories, one at L-1 (daytime) and one at L-2 (nighttime), would acquire minute-by-minute climate quality data for essentially every point on Earth. The integration of L-1, L-2, LEO, and GEO satellites plus the Moon offers new scientific tools and enriched data sets for Earth sciences. Lagrange points observatories are key to next-generation integrated Earth observations. For example, DSCOVR at L-1 views the Earth plus the Moon (a reference) and simultaneously, at one time or another, all LEO and GEO satellites. The L-1 and L-2 satellites would be the link between the Moon, LEO and GEO satellites while providing the data needed to build an integrated Earth observational system. The above properties are the bases for DSCOVR's innovation and scientific approach that systematically observes climate drivers (radiation, aerosols, ozone, clouds, water vapor, vegetation) from L-1 in a way not possible but synergistic with other satellites. Next step: more capable L-1 plus L-2 satellites. The way of the future.

Biomedical device innovation methodology: applications in biophotonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beswick, Daniel M.; Kaushik, Arjun; Beinart, Dylan; McGarry, Sarah; Yew, Ming Khoon; Kennedy, Brendan F.; Maria, Peter Luke Santa

2018-02-01

The process of medical device innovation involves an iterative method that focuses on designing innovative, device-oriented solutions that address unmet clinical needs. This process has been applied to the field of biophotonics with many notable successes. Device innovation begins with identifying an unmet clinical need and evaluating this need through a variety of lenses, including currently existing solutions for the need, stakeholders who are interested in the need, and the market that will support an innovative solution. Only once the clinical need is understood in detail can the invention process begin. The ideation phase often involves multiple levels of brainstorming and prototyping with the aim of addressing technical and clinical questions early and in a cost-efficient manner. Once potential solutions are found, they are tested against a number of known translational factors, including intellectual property, regulatory, and reimbursement landscapes. Only when the solution matches the clinical need, the next phase of building a "to market" strategy should begin. Most aspects of the innovation process can be conducted relatively quickly and without significant capital expense. This white paper focuses on key points of the medical device innovation method and how the field of biophotonics has been applied within this framework to generate clinical and commercial success.

Foreign Languages: Key Links in the Chain of Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mead, Robert G., Jr., Ed.

The articles discuss the necessity of including foreign language as an integral part of the curriculum at all levels of instruction. The following chapters are included: "Elementary School Foreign Language: Key Link in the Chain of Learning" (rationale, innovations, immersion programs, and interdisciplinary approaches); "Foreign…

Reservoir and vector evolutionary pressures shaped the adaptation of Borrelia.

PubMed

Estrada-Peña, Agustín; Álvarez-Jarreta, Jorge; Cabezas-Cruz, Alejandro

2018-04-12

The life cycle of spirochetes of the genus Borrelia includes complex networks of vertebrates and ticks. The tripartite association of Borrelia-vertebrate-tick has proved ecologically successful for these bacteria, which have become some of the most prominent tick-borne pathogens in the northern hemisphere. To keep evolutionary pace with its double-host life history, Borrelia must adapt to the evolutionary pressures exerted by both sets of hosts. In this review, we attempt to reconcile functional, phylogenetic, and ecological perspectives to propose a coherent scenario of Borrelia evolution. Available empirical information supports that the association of Borrelia with ticks is very old. The major split between the tick families Argasidae-Ixodidae (dated some 230-290 Mya) resulted in most relapsing fever (Rf) species being restricted to Argasidae and few associated with Ixodidae. A further key event produced the diversification of the Lyme borreliosis (Lb) species: the radiation of ticks of the genus Ixodes from the primitive stock of Ixodidae (around 217 Mya). The ecological interactions of Borrelia demonstrate that Argasidae-transmitted Rf species remain restricted to small niches of one tick species and few vertebrates. The evolutionary pressures on this group are consequently low, and speciation processes seem to be driven by geographical isolation. In contrast to Rf, Lb species circulate in nested networks of dozens of tick species and hundreds of vertebrate species. This greater variety confers a remarkably variable pool of evolutionary pressures, resulting in large speciation of the Lb group, where different species adapt to circulate through different groups of vertebrates. Available data, based on ospA and multilocus sequence typing (including eight concatenated in-house genes) phylogenetic trees, suggest that ticks could constitute a secondary bottleneck that contributes to Lb specialization. Both sets of adaptive pressures contribute to the resilience of

Evolutionary rescue in vertebrates: evidence, applications and uncertainty

PubMed Central

Vander Wal, E.; Garant, D.; Festa-Bianchet, M.; Pelletier, F.

2013-01-01

The current rapid rate of human-driven environmental change presents wild populations with novel conditions and stresses. Theory and experimental evidence for evolutionary rescue present a promising case for species facing environmental change persisting via adaptation. Here, we assess the potential for evolutionary rescue in wild vertebrates. Available information on evolutionary rescue was rare and restricted to abundant and highly fecund species that faced severe intentional anthropogenic selective pressures. However, examples from adaptive tracking in common species and genetic rescues in species of conservation concern provide convincing evidence in favour of the mechanisms of evolutionary rescue. We conclude that low population size, long generation times and limited genetic variability will result in evolutionary rescue occurring rarely for endangered species without intervention. Owing to the risks presented by current environmental change and the possibility of evolutionary rescue in nature, we suggest means to study evolutionary rescue by mapping genotype → phenotype → demography → fitness relationships, and priorities for applying evolutionary rescue to wild populations. PMID:23209171

Implementing Innovation: The Creation of an iUnit and the Role of Nursing.

PubMed

Tiase, Victoria L; Ventura, Rosemary; Sorbello, Daniel; Robinson, Kenya

2016-01-01

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital took on the challenge of thinking about innovation differently with the implementation of an innovation unit or iUnit to create the patient care unit of the future. Goals were to understand more about the innovation process and to test new service models, technology platforms, devices, and deployment models. Key findings from the focus groups included the need for additional training and technical support. In general, the initiative was felt to improve overall communication and represents a starting point for further innovation programs.

Phylostratigraphic profiles reveal a deep evolutionary history of the vertebrate head sensory systems

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The vertebrate head is a highly derived trait with a heavy concentration of sophisticated sensory organs that allow complex behaviour in this lineage. The head sensory structures arise during vertebrate development from cranial placodes and the neural crest. It is generally thought that derivatives of these ectodermal embryonic tissues played a central role in the evolutionary transition at the onset of vertebrates. Despite the obvious importance of head sensory organs for vertebrate biology, their evolutionary history is still uncertain. Results To give a fresh perspective on the adaptive history of the vertebrate head sensory organs, we applied genomic phylostratigraphy to large-scale in situ expression data of the developing zebrafish Danio rerio. Contrary to traditional predictions, we found that dominant adaptive signals in the analyzed sensory structures largely precede the evolutionary advent of vertebrates. The leading adaptive signals at the bilaterian-chordate transition suggested that the visual system was the first sensory structure to evolve. The olfactory, vestibuloauditory, and lateral line sensory organs displayed a strong link with the urochordate-vertebrate ancestor. The only structures that qualified as genuine vertebrate innovations were the neural crest derivatives, trigeminal ganglion and adenohypophysis. We also found evidence that the cranial placodes evolved before the neural crest despite their proposed embryological relatedness. Conclusions Taken together, our findings reveal pre-vertebrate roots and a stepwise adaptive history of the vertebrate sensory systems. This study also underscores that large genomic and expression datasets are rich sources of macroevolutionary information that can be recovered by phylostratigraphic mining. PMID:23587066

[Substance basis research on Chinese materia medica is one of key scientific problems of inheriting, development and innovation of Chinese materia medica].

PubMed

Yang, Xiu-wei

2015-09-01

The compound Chinese materia medica is the medication pattern of the traditional Chinese medicine for the disease prevention and treatment. The single Chinese materia medica (mostly in decoction pieces) is the prescription composition of the compound Chinese materia medica. The study of the effective substance basis of Chinese materia medica should be based on the chemical compositions of the compound Chinese materia medica as an entry point considering the different status of "Monarch, Minister, Assistant, and Guide" for a certain single Chinese materia medica in the different compound Chinese materia medica while substance basis research of a certain single Chinese materia medica should be a full component analysis as well as both stable and controllable quality. Substance basis research on Chinese materia medica is one of key scientific problems of inheriting, development and innovation of Chinese materia medica.

Large-scale patterns of diversification in the widespread legume genus Senna and the evolutionary role of extrafloral nectaries.

PubMed

Marazzi, Brigitte; Sanderson, Michael J

2010-12-01

Unraveling the diversification history of old, species-rich and widespread clades is difficult because of extinction, undersampling, and taxonomic uncertainty. In the context of these challenges, we investigated the timing and mode of lineage diversification in Senna (Leguminosae) to gain insights into the evolutionary role of extrafloral nectaries (EFNs). EFNs secrete nectar, attracting ants and forming ecologically important ant-plant mutualisms. In Senna, EFNs characterize one large clade (EFN clade), including 80% of its 350 species. Taxonomic accounts make Senna the largest caesalpinioid genus, but quantitative comparisons to other taxa require inferences about rates. Molecular dating analyses suggest that Senna originated in the early Eocene, and its major lineages appeared during early/mid Eocene to early Oligocene. EFNs evolved in the late Eocene, after the main radiation of ants. The EFN clade diversified faster, becoming significantly more species-rich than non-EFN clades. The shift in diversification rates associated with EFN evolution supports the hypothesis that EFNs represent a (relatively old) key innovation in Senna. EFNs may have promoted the colonization of new habitats appearing with the early uplift of the Andes. This would explain the distinctive geographic concentration of the EFN clade in South America. © 2010 The Author(s). Evolution© 2010 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Policy, Practice and Innovative Governance in the English Further Education and Skills Sector

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clapham, Andrew; Vickers, Rob

2017-01-01

This paper examines "innovative" governance in the English further education and skills (FE) sector. Drawing on the work of Lyotard, Foucault and Ball, the paper explores how practitioners enacted innovative governance in a sector facing increasingly performative conditions. Analysis identified the key category of opportunity and risk…

Fostering Creativity and Innovation through Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaidyanathan, Sheena

2012-01-01

To compete in the global workforce, educators know that their students must be well educated in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. But, as outlined in the NETS, they must also develop the key skills of creativity and innovation. How can educators teach the typically left-brained STEM subjects along with the more…

Toward an evidence-based system for innovation support for implementing innovations with quality: tools, training, technical assistance, and quality assurance/quality improvement.

PubMed

Wandersman, Abraham; Chien, Victoria H; Katz, Jason

2012-12-01

An individual or organization that sets out to implement an innovation (e.g., a new technology, program, or policy) generally requires support. In the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation, a Support System should work with Delivery Systems (national, state and/or local entities such as health and human service organizations, community-based organizations, schools) to enhance their capacity for quality implementation of innovations. The literature on the Support System [corrected] has been underresearched and under-developedThis article begins to conceptualize theory, research, and action for an evidence-based system for innovation support (EBSIS). EBSIS describes key priorities for strengthening the science and practice of support. The major goal of EBSIS is to enhance the research and practice of support in order to build capacity in the Delivery System for implementing innovations with quality, and thereby, help the Delivery System achieve outcomes. EBSIS is guided by a logic model that includes four key support components: tools, training, technical assistance, and quality assurance/quality improvement. EBSIS uses the Getting To Outcomes approach to accountability to aid the identification and synthesis of concepts, tools, and evidence for support. We conclude with some discussion of the current status of EBSIS and possible next steps, including the development of collaborative researcher-practitioner-funder-consumer partnerships to accelerate accumulation of knowledge on the Support System.

Evolutionary institutionalism.

PubMed

Fürstenberg, Dr Kai

Institutions are hard to define and hard to study. Long prominent in political science have been two theories: Rational Choice Institutionalism (RCI) and Historical Institutionalism (HI). Arising from the life sciences is now a third: Evolutionary Institutionalism (EI). Comparative strengths and weaknesses of these three theories warrant review, and the value-to-be-added by expanding the third beyond Darwinian evolutionary theory deserves consideration. Should evolutionary institutionalism expand to accommodate new understanding in ecology, such as might apply to the emergence of stability, and in genetics, such as might apply to political behavior? Core arguments are reviewed for each theory with more detailed exposition of the third, EI. Particular attention is paid to EI's gene-institution analogy; to variation, selection, and retention of institutional traits; to endogeneity and exogeneity; to agency and structure; and to ecosystem effects, institutional stability, and empirical limitations in behavioral genetics. RCI, HI, and EI are distinct but complementary. Institutional change, while amenable to rational-choice analysis and, retrospectively, to criticaljuncture and path-dependency analysis, is also, and importantly, ecological. Stability, like change, is an emergent property of institutions, which tend to stabilize after change in a manner analogous to allopatric speciation. EI is more than metaphorically biological in that institutional behaviors are driven by human behaviors whose evolution long preceded the appearance of institutions themselves.

Evolutionary foundations for cancer biology.

PubMed

Aktipis, C Athena; Nesse, Randolph M

2013-01-01

New applications of evolutionary biology are transforming our understanding of cancer. The articles in this special issue provide many specific examples, such as microorganisms inducing cancers, the significance of within-tumor heterogeneity, and the possibility that lower dose chemotherapy may sometimes promote longer survival. Underlying these specific advances is a large-scale transformation, as cancer research incorporates evolutionary methods into its toolkit, and asks new evolutionary questions about why we are vulnerable to cancer. Evolution explains why cancer exists at all, how neoplasms grow, why cancer is remarkably rare, and why it occurs despite powerful cancer suppression mechanisms. Cancer exists because of somatic selection; mutations in somatic cells result in some dividing faster than others, in some cases generating neoplasms. Neoplasms grow, or do not, in complex cellular ecosystems. Cancer is relatively rare because of natural selection; our genomes were derived disproportionally from individuals with effective mechanisms for suppressing cancer. Cancer occurs nonetheless for the same six evolutionary reasons that explain why we remain vulnerable to other diseases. These four principles-cancers evolve by somatic selection, neoplasms grow in complex ecosystems, natural selection has shaped powerful cancer defenses, and the limitations of those defenses have evolutionary explanations-provide a foundation for understanding, preventing, and treating cancer.

Structural symmetry in evolutionary games.

PubMed

McAvoy, Alex; Hauert, Christoph

2015-10-06

In evolutionary game theory, an important measure of a mutant trait (strategy) is its ability to invade and take over an otherwise-monomorphic population. Typically, one quantifies the success of a mutant strategy via the probability that a randomly occurring mutant will fixate in the population. However, in a structured population, this fixation probability may depend on where the mutant arises. Moreover, the fixation probability is just one quantity by which one can measure the success of a mutant; fixation time, for instance, is another. We define a notion of homogeneity for evolutionary games that captures what it means for two single-mutant states, i.e. two configurations of a single mutant in an otherwise-monomorphic population, to be 'evolutionarily equivalent' in the sense that all measures of evolutionary success are the same for both configurations. Using asymmetric games, we argue that the term 'homogeneous' should apply to the evolutionary process as a whole rather than to just the population structure. For evolutionary matrix games in graph-structured populations, we give precise conditions under which the resulting process is homogeneous. Finally, we show that asymmetric matrix games can be reduced to symmetric games if the population structure possesses a sufficient degree of symmetry. © 2015 The Author(s).

Structural symmetry in evolutionary games

PubMed Central

McAvoy, Alex; Hauert, Christoph

2015-01-01

In evolutionary game theory, an important measure of a mutant trait (strategy) is its ability to invade and take over an otherwise-monomorphic population. Typically, one quantifies the success of a mutant strategy via the probability that a randomly occurring mutant will fixate in the population. However, in a structured population, this fixation probability may depend on where the mutant arises. Moreover, the fixation probability is just one quantity by which one can measure the success of a mutant; fixation time, for instance, is another. We define a notion of homogeneity for evolutionary games that captures what it means for two single-mutant states, i.e. two configurations of a single mutant in an otherwise-monomorphic population, to be ‘evolutionarily equivalent’ in the sense that all measures of evolutionary success are the same for both configurations. Using asymmetric games, we argue that the term ‘homogeneous’ should apply to the evolutionary process as a whole rather than to just the population structure. For evolutionary matrix games in graph-structured populations, we give precise conditions under which the resulting process is homogeneous. Finally, we show that asymmetric matrix games can be reduced to symmetric games if the population structure possesses a sufficient degree of symmetry. PMID:26423436

Evolutionary foundations for cancer biology

PubMed Central

Aktipis, C Athena; Nesse, Randolph M

2013-01-01

New applications of evolutionary biology are transforming our understanding of cancer. The articles in this special issue provide many specific examples, such as microorganisms inducing cancers, the significance of within-tumor heterogeneity, and the possibility that lower dose chemotherapy may sometimes promote longer survival. Underlying these specific advances is a large-scale transformation, as cancer research incorporates evolutionary methods into its toolkit, and asks new evolutionary questions about why we are vulnerable to cancer. Evolution explains why cancer exists at all, how neoplasms grow, why cancer is remarkably rare, and why it occurs despite powerful cancer suppression mechanisms. Cancer exists because of somatic selection; mutations in somatic cells result in some dividing faster than others, in some cases generating neoplasms. Neoplasms grow, or do not, in complex cellular ecosystems. Cancer is relatively rare because of natural selection; our genomes were derived disproportionally from individuals with effective mechanisms for suppressing cancer. Cancer occurs nonetheless for the same six evolutionary reasons that explain why we remain vulnerable to other diseases. These four principles—cancers evolve by somatic selection, neoplasms grow in complex ecosystems, natural selection has shaped powerful cancer defenses, and the limitations of those defenses have evolutionary explanations—provide a foundation for understanding, preventing, and treating cancer. PMID:23396885

Evolutionary genetics of maternal effects

PubMed Central

Wolf, Jason B.; Wade, Michael J.

2016-01-01

Maternal genetic effects (MGEs), where genes expressed by mothers affect the phenotype of their offspring, are important sources of phenotypic diversity in a myriad of organisms. We use a single‐locus model to examine how MGEs contribute patterns of heritable and nonheritable variation and influence evolutionary dynamics in randomly mating and inbreeding populations. We elucidate the influence of MGEs by examining the offspring genotype‐phenotype relationship, which determines how MGEs affect evolutionary dynamics in response to selection on offspring phenotypes. This approach reveals important results that are not apparent from classic quantitative genetic treatments of MGEs. We show that additive and dominance MGEs make different contributions to evolutionary dynamics and patterns of variation, which are differentially affected by inbreeding. Dominance MGEs make the offspring genotype‐phenotype relationship frequency dependent, resulting in the appearance of negative frequency‐dependent selection, while additive MGEs contribute a component of parent‐of‐origin dependent variation. Inbreeding amplifies the contribution of MGEs to the additive genetic variance and, therefore enhances their evolutionary response. Considering evolutionary dynamics of allele frequency change on an adaptive landscape, we show that this landscape differs from the mean fitness surface, and therefore, under some condition, fitness peaks can exist but not be “available” to the evolving population. PMID:26969266

The Science And Art Of Delivery: Accelerating The Diffusion Of Health Care Innovation.

PubMed

Parston, Greg; McQueen, Julie; Patel, Hannah; Keown, Oliver P; Fontana, Gianluca; Al Kuwari, Hanan; Al Kuwari, Hannan; Darzi, Ara

2015-12-01

There is a widely acknowledged time lag in health care between an invention or innovation and its widespread use across a health system. Much is known about the factors that can aid the uptake of innovations within discrete organizations. Less is known about what needs to be done to enable innovations to transform large systems of health care. This article describes the results of in-depth case studies aimed at assessing the role of key agents and agencies that facilitate the rapid adoption of innovations. The case studies-from Argentina, England, Nepal, Singapore, Sweden, the United States, and Zambia-represent widely varying health systems and economies. The implications of the findings for policy makers are discussed in terms of key factors within a phased approach for creating a climate for change, engaging and enabling the whole organization, and implementing and sustaining change. Purposeful and directed change management is needed to drive system transformation. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Evolutionary plasticity of plasma membrane interaction in DREPP family proteins.

PubMed

Vosolsobě, Stanislav; Petrášek, Jan; Schwarzerová, Kateřina

2017-05-01

The plant-specific DREPP protein family comprises proteins that were shown to regulate the actin and microtubular cytoskeleton in a calcium-dependent manner. Our phylogenetic analysis showed that DREPPs first appeared in ferns and that DREPPs have a rapid and plastic evolutionary history in plants. Arabidopsis DREPP paralogues called AtMDP25/PCaP1 and AtMAP18/PCaP2 are N-myristoylated, which has been reported as a key factor in plasma membrane localization. Here we show that N-myristoylation is neither conserved nor ancestral for the DREPP family. Instead, by using confocal microscopy and a new method for quantitative evaluation of protein membrane localization, we show that DREPPs rely on two mechanisms ensuring their plasma membrane localization. These include N-myristoylation and electrostatic interaction of a polybasic amino acid cluster. We propose that various plasma membrane association mechanisms resulting from the evolutionary plasticity of DREPPs are important for refining plasma membrane interaction of these signalling proteins under various conditions and in various cells. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evolutionary origins of leadership and followership.

PubMed

Van Vugt, Mark

2006-01-01

Drawing upon evolutionary logic, leadership is reconceptualized in terms of the outcome of strategic interactions among individuals who are following different, yet complementary, decision rules to solve recurrent coordination problems. This article uses the vast psychological literature on leadership as a database to test several evolutionary hypotheses about the origins of leadership and followership in humans. As expected, leadership correlates with initiative taking, trait measures of intelligence, specific task competencies, and several indicators of generosity. The review finds no link between leadership and dominance. The evolutionary analysis accounts for reliable age, health, and sex differences in leadership emergence. In general, evolutionary theory provides a useful, integrative framework for studying leader-follower relationships and generates various novel research hypotheses.

Medical innovation laws: an unnecessary innovation.

PubMed

Richards, Bernadette

2016-06-01

Objective This paper aims to demonstrate that any suggestion that there is a need for specific innovation laws is flawed. Innovation is central to good medical practice and is adequately supported by current law. Methods The paper reviews the nature of medical innovation and outlines recent attempts in the UK to introduce specific laws aimed at 'encouraging' and 'supporting' innovation. The current legal framework is outlined and the role of the law in relation to medical innovation explored. Results The analysis demonstrates the cyclic relationship between medical advancement and the law and concludes that there is no requirement for specific innovation laws. Conclusions The law not only supports innovation and development in medical treatment but encourages it as central to a functioning medical system. There is no need to introduce specific laws aimed at medical innovation; to do so represents an unnecessary legal innovation and serves to complicate matters. What is known about the topic? Over recent months, there has been a great deal of discussion surrounding the law in the context of medical innovation. This was driven by the attempts in the UK to introduce specific laws in the Medical Innovation Bill. The general subject matter - negligence and the expected standard of care in the provision of treatment - is very well understood, but not in cases where the treatment can be described as innovative. The general rhetoric in both the UK and Australia around the Medical Innovation Bill demonstrates a lack of understanding of the position of the law with regards to innovative treatment. What does this paper add? This paper adds clarity to the debate. It presents the law and explains the manner in which the law can operate around innovative treatment. The paper asserts that medical innovation is both supported and encouraged by existing legal principles. What are the implications for practitioners? The paper presents an argument that can guide the policy position

A test of genetic models for the evolutionary maintenance of same-sex sexual behaviour.

PubMed

Hoskins, Jessica L; Ritchie, Michael G; Bailey, Nathan W

2015-06-22

The evolutionary maintenance of same-sex sexual behaviour (SSB) has received increasing attention because it is perceived to be an evolutionary paradox. The genetic basis of SSB is almost wholly unknown in non-human animals, though this is key to understanding its persistence. Recent theoretical work has yielded broadly applicable predictions centred on two genetic models for SSB: overdominance and sexual antagonism. Using Drosophila melanogaster, we assayed natural genetic variation for male SSB and empirically tested predictions about the mode of inheritance and fitness consequences of alleles influencing its expression. We screened 50 inbred lines derived from a wild population for male-male courtship and copulation behaviour, and examined crosses between the lines for evidence of overdominance and antagonistic fecundity selection. Consistent variation among lines revealed heritable genetic variation for SSB, but the nature of the genetic variation was complex. Phenotypic and fitness variation was consistent with expectations under overdominance, although predictions of the sexual antagonism model were also supported. We found an unexpected and strong paternal effect on the expression of SSB, suggesting possible Y-linkage of the trait. Our results inform evolutionary genetic mechanisms that might maintain low but persistently observed levels of male SSB in D. melanogaster, but highlight a need for broader taxonomic representation in studies of its evolutionary causes. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Preserving the evolutionary potential of floras in biodiversity hotspots.

PubMed

Forest, Félix; Grenyer, Richard; Rouget, Mathieu; Davies, T Jonathan; Cowling, Richard M; Faith, Daniel P; Balmford, Andrew; Manning, John C; Procheş, Serban; van der Bank, Michelle; Reeves, Gail; Hedderson, Terry A J; Savolainen, Vincent

2007-02-15

One of the biggest challenges for conservation biology is to provide conservation planners with ways to prioritize effort. Much attention has been focused on biodiversity hotspots. However, the conservation of evolutionary process is now also acknowledged as a priority in the face of global change. Phylogenetic diversity (PD) is a biodiversity index that measures the length of evolutionary pathways that connect a given set of taxa. PD therefore identifies sets of taxa that maximize the accumulation of 'feature diversity'. Recent studies, however, concluded that taxon richness is a good surrogate for PD. Here we show taxon richness to be decoupled from PD, using a biome-wide phylogenetic analysis of the flora of an undisputed biodiversity hotspot--the Cape of South Africa. We demonstrate that this decoupling has real-world importance for conservation planning. Finally, using a database of medicinal and economic plant use, we demonstrate that PD protection is the best strategy for preserving feature diversity in the Cape. We should be able to use PD to identify those key regions that maximize future options, both for the continuing evolution of life on Earth and for the benefit of society.

Degeneration of the Y chromosome in evolutionary aging models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lobo, M. P.; Onody, R. N.

2005-06-01

The Y chromosomes are genetically degenerated and do not recombine with their matching partners X. Recombination of XX pairs is pointed out as the key factor for the Y chromosome degeneration. However, there is an additional evolutionary force driving sex-chromosomes evolution. Here we show this mechanism by means of two different evolutionary models, in which sex chromosomes with non-recombining XX and XY pairs of chromosomes is considered. Our results show three curious effects. First, we observed that even when both XX and XY pairs of chromosomes do not recombine, the Y chromosomes still degenerate. Second, the accumulation of mutations on Y chromosomes followed a completely different pattern then those accumulated on X chromosomes. And third, the models may differ with respect to sexual proportion. These findings suggest that a more primeval mechanism rules the evolution of Y chromosomes due exclusively to the sex-chromosomes asymmetry itself, i.e., the fact that Y chromosomes never experience female bodies. Over aeons, natural selection favored X chromosomes spontaneously, even if at the very beginning of evolution, both XX and XY pairs of chromosomes did not recombine.

Wavelet evolutionary network for complex-constrained portfolio rebalancing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suganya, N. C.; Vijayalakshmi Pai, G. A.

2012-07-01

Portfolio rebalancing problem deals with resetting the proportion of different assets in a portfolio with respect to changing market conditions. The constraints included in the portfolio rebalancing problem are basic, cardinality, bounding, class and proportional transaction cost. In this study, a new heuristic algorithm named wavelet evolutionary network (WEN) is proposed for the solution of complex-constrained portfolio rebalancing problem. Initially, the empirical covariance matrix, one of the key inputs to the problem, is estimated using the wavelet shrinkage denoising technique to obtain better optimal portfolios. Secondly, the complex cardinality constraint is eliminated using k-means cluster analysis. Finally, WEN strategy with logical procedures is employed to find the initial proportion of investment in portfolio of assets and also rebalance them after certain period. Experimental studies of WEN are undertaken on Bombay Stock Exchange, India (BSE200 index, period: July 2001-July 2006) and Tokyo Stock Exchange, Japan (Nikkei225 index, period: March 2002-March 2007) data sets. The result obtained using WEN is compared with the only existing counterpart named Hopfield evolutionary network (HEN) strategy and also verifies that WEN performs better than HEN. In addition, different performance metrics and data envelopment analysis are carried out to prove the robustness and efficiency of WEN over HEN strategy.

Gender Inequality in Interaction--An Evolutionary Account

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hopcroft, Rosemary L.

2009-01-01

In this article I argue that evolutionary theorizing can help sociologists and feminists better understand gender inequality. Evolutionary theory explains why control of the sexuality of young women is a priority across most human societies both past and present. Evolutionary psychology has extended our understanding of male violence against…

Exploring tool innovation: a comparison of Western and Bushman children.

PubMed

Nielsen, Mark; Tomaselli, Keyan; Mushin, Ilana; Whiten, Andrew

2014-10-01

A capacity for constructing new tools, or using old tools in new ways, to solve novel problems is a core feature of what it means to be human. Yet current evidence suggests that young children are surprisingly poor at innovating tools. However, all studies of tool innovation to date have been conducted with children from comparatively privileged Western backgrounds. This raises questions as to whether or not previously documented tool innovation failure is culturally and economically specific. In the current study, thus, we explored the innovation capacities of children from Westernized urban backgrounds and from remote communities of South African Bushmen. Consistent with past research, we found tool innovation to occur at extremely low rates and that cultural background had no bearing on this. The current study is the first to empirically test tool innovation in children from non-Western backgrounds, with our data being consistent with the view that despite its key role in human evolution, a capacity for innovation in tool making remains remarkably undeveloped during early childhood. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using single cell sequencing data to model the evolutionary history of a tumor.

PubMed

Kim, Kyung In; Simon, Richard

2014-01-24

The introduction of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has made it possible to detect genomic alterations within tumor cells on a large scale. However, most applications of NGS show the genetic content of mixtures of cells. Recently developed single cell sequencing technology can identify variation within a single cell. Characterization of multiple samples from a tumor using single cell sequencing can potentially provide information on the evolutionary history of that tumor. This may facilitate understanding how key mutations accumulate and evolve in lineages to form a heterogeneous tumor. We provide a computational method to infer an evolutionary mutation tree based on single cell sequencing data. Our approach differs from traditional phylogenetic tree approaches in that our mutation tree directly describes temporal order relationships among mutation sites. Our method also accommodates sequencing errors. Furthermore, we provide a method for estimating the proportion of time from the earliest mutation event of the sample to the most recent common ancestor of the sample of cells. Finally, we discuss current limitations on modeling with single cell sequencing data and possible improvements under those limitations. Inferring the temporal ordering of mutational sites using current single cell sequencing data is a challenge. Our proposed method may help elucidate relationships among key mutations and their role in tumor progression.

Innovations in primary mental healthcare.

PubMed

Reifels, Lennart; Bassilios, Bridget; King, Kylie E; Fletcher, Justine R; Blashki, Grant; Pirkis, Jane E

2013-06-01

We review the evidence on innovations in Tier 2 of the Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) program, which is designed to facilitate the provision of primary mental healthcare to hard-to-reach and at-risk population groups (including women with perinatal depression, people at risk of self-harm or suicide, people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, people affected by the 2009 Victorian bushfires, people in remote locations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and children with mental disorders) and the trialling of new modalities of service delivery (e.g. telephone-based or web-based CBT). The primary focus is on the uptake, outcomes and issues associated with the provision of ATAPS Tier 2. Drawing on data from an ongoing national ATAPS evaluation, including a national minimum dataset, key informant interviews and surveys, the impact of ATAPS innovations is analysed and illustrated through program examples. ATAPS Tier 2 facilitates access to, uptake of and positive clinical outcomes from primary mental healthcare for population groups with particular needs, although it requires periods of time to implement locally. Relatively simple innovations in mental health program design can have important practical ramifications for service provision, extending program reach and improving mental health outcomes for target populations. What is known about the topic? It is recognised that innovative approaches are required to tailor mental health programs for hard-to-reach and at-risk population groups. Divisions of General Practice have implemented innovations in the Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) program for several years. What does this paper add? Drawing on data from an ongoing national ATAPS evaluation, this paper presents a systematic analysis of the uptake, outcomes and issues associated with provision of the innovative ATAPS program. What are the implications for practitioners? The findings highlight the benefits of introducing

Evolutionary Game Model Study of Construction Green Supply Chain Management under the Government Intervention

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xing, Yuanzhi; Deng, Xiaoyi

2017-11-01

The paper first has defined the concepts of green supply chain management and evolution game theory, and pointed out the characteristics of green supply chain management in construction. The main participants and key links of the construction green supply chain management are determined by constructing the organization framework. This paper established the evolutionary game model between construction enterprises and recycling enterprises for the green supply chain closed-loop structure. The waste recycling evolutionary stability equilibrium solution is obtained to explore the principle and effective scope of government policy intervention. This paper put forward the relevant countermeasures to the green supply chain management in construction recycling stage from the government point of view. The conclusion has reference value and guidance to the final product construction enterprises, recycling enterprises and the government during green supply chain.

The use of information theory in evolutionary biology.

PubMed

Adami, Christoph

2012-05-01

Information is a key concept in evolutionary biology. Information stored in a biological organism's genome is used to generate the organism and to maintain and control it. Information is also that which evolves. When a population adapts to a local environment, information about this environment is fixed in a representative genome. However, when an environment changes, information can be lost. At the same time, information is processed by animal brains to survive in complex environments, and the capacity for information processing also evolves. Here, I review applications of information theory to the evolution of proteins and to the evolution of information processing in simulated agents that adapt to perform a complex task. © 2012 New York Academy of Sciences.

Making evolutionary biology a basic science for medicine

PubMed Central

Nesse, Randolph M.; Bergstrom, Carl T.; Ellison, Peter T.; Flier, Jeffrey S.; Gluckman, Peter; Govindaraju, Diddahally R.; Niethammer, Dietrich; Omenn, Gilbert S.; Perlman, Robert L.; Schwartz, Mark D.; Thomas, Mark G.; Stearns, Stephen C.; Valle, David

2010-01-01

New applications of evolutionary biology in medicine are being discovered at an accelerating rate, but few physicians have sufficient educational background to use them fully. This article summarizes suggestions from several groups that have considered how evolutionary biology can be useful in medicine, what physicians should learn about it, and when and how they should learn it. Our general conclusion is that evolutionary biology is a crucial basic science for medicine. In addition to looking at established evolutionary methods and topics, such as population genetics and pathogen evolution, we highlight questions about why natural selection leaves bodies vulnerable to disease. Knowledge about evolution provides physicians with an integrative framework that links otherwise disparate bits of knowledge. It replaces the prevalent view of bodies as machines with a biological view of bodies shaped by evolutionary processes. Like other basic sciences, evolutionary biology needs to be taught both before and during medical school. Most introductory biology courses are insufficient to establish competency in evolutionary biology. Premedical students need evolution courses, possibly ones that emphasize medically relevant aspects. In medical school, evolutionary biology should be taught as one of the basic medical sciences. This will require a course that reviews basic principles and specific medical applications, followed by an integrated presentation of evolutionary aspects that apply to each disease and organ system. Evolutionary biology is not just another topic vying for inclusion in the curriculum; it is an essential foundation for a biological understanding of health and disease. PMID:19918069

[Key morphofunctional transformations in the evolution of chiropterans (Bats, Chiroptera)].

PubMed

Kovaleva, I M

2014-01-01

Study on the morphology and morphogenesis of wing membranes in Bats has revealed some peculiarities in their structure and development. Understanding the embryogenesis of these animals, as well as attraction of data obtained on their molecular genetics and paleontology, allows one to single out some factors that could have initiated evolutionary modifications in development programs. A scenario of the key morphofunctional transformations in the forelimbs during the evolution of chiropterans is given.

ROADIDEA- Roadmap for radical innovations in European transport services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saarikivi, P.

2009-09-01

Weather plays a key role in most traffic accidents, in which over 40.000 European citizens are killed and more than 1,2 million injured every year. It is thus clear that innovations are needed to develop better road weather services to make traffic safer. As transport is responsible of 20% of green house gas emissions in Europe, such services are also needed that make traffic more efficient and reduce congestion. ROADIDEA "Roadmap for radical innovations in European transport services” is a FP7/INFSO Collaboration project that started in 2007 and continues until mid-2010, see www.roadidea.eu. The main objective is to study the potential of the European transport service sector for innovations, analysing available data sources, revealing existing problems and bottlenecks, and developing better methods and models to be utilised in service platforms. These will be capable of providing new, innovative services for various transport user groups. The fourteen partners of ROADIDEA come from Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia. The differences of the existing transport systems and available data sources in these countries are analysed as well as the problems caused by local climate and geography. The innovation process is key activity of the project and will be described in detail in the presentation. It has produced more than 100 ideas during two consecutive brainstorming seminars. Ideas have been analysed and the most potential ones shortlisted for further development. These include e.g. advanced friction models, road condition and fog warning systems, which receive input from hybrid (mobile and fixed combined) observing systems and automated messages from private cars. The Hamburg Port with increasing congestion needs multi-modal traffic model that takes weather into account. New semi-public high-quality ways to travel need to be innovated to reduce the use of private cars in the battle against climate change.

Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hess, Frederick M.; Boser, Ulrich

2009-01-01

This report, produced jointly by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Center for American Progress, and Frederick M. Hess of the American Enterprise Institute, is a call to action in response to how poorly states measured up on key indicators of educational innovation. The report is the first-ever attempt to evaluate the innovation gap in American…

An Evolutionary Algorithm for Fast Intensity Based Image Matching Between Optical and SAR Satellite Imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, Peter; Schuegraf, Philipp; Merkle, Nina; Storch, Tobias

2018-04-01

This paper presents a hybrid evolutionary algorithm for fast intensity based matching between satellite imagery from SAR and very high-resolution (VHR) optical sensor systems. The precise and accurate co-registration of image time series and images of different sensors is a key task in multi-sensor image processing scenarios. The necessary preprocessing step of image matching and tie-point detection is divided into a search problem and a similarity measurement. Within this paper we evaluate the use of an evolutionary search strategy for establishing the spatial correspondence between satellite imagery of optical and radar sensors. The aim of the proposed algorithm is to decrease the computational costs during the search process by formulating the search as an optimization problem. Based upon the canonical evolutionary algorithm, the proposed algorithm is adapted for SAR/optical imagery intensity based matching. Extensions are drawn using techniques like hybridization (e.g. local search) and others to lower the number of objective function calls and refine the result. The algorithm significantely decreases the computational costs whilst finding the optimal solution in a reliable way.

[Pioneering surgical innovations in Germany : Part 2: public funding and origins of surgical innovations].

PubMed

Weber, S; Haverich, A

2016-05-01

In recent years research that conforms with evidence-based medicine (EBM) has been demanded even in surgery. Uniform studies were carried out to prove the benefits of new procedures; however, compared to other research sectors, public third party funding for surgical research was significantly cut back. Collation of special features in surgery with respect to external funding of surgical top level research. Examination of the benefits of a continuous promotion and of organizations involved in research. Part one of this investigation presented the methods used to identify and analyze pioneering research in surgery. Out of a total of 15 revolutionary innovations only 3 projects were financed by external funding and 2 projects received indirect financial support as a result of a cooperation with the medical industry. This demonstrates that the majority of projects were neither directly nor indirectly subsidized. Apart from one instance the majority of innovations were generated by university hospitals highly active in research. In effect, the non-existing external funding for outstanding surgical innovations and hospitals suggests that a reformation of surgical research is required. To strengthen the quality of innovations in surgery a concentration of funding to institutions that are highly active in research makes sense. Institutional funding directly linked to a project should form a key component of support particularly in the early stages of development.

Creating innovative programs for the future.

PubMed

Allen, Patricia E; Keough, Vicki A; Armstrong, Myrna L

2013-09-01

Although several major national mandates advocate for a better educated workforce, this push comes at a time when the competition for faculty, financial resources, advanced technology, and students remains strong. If nurse educators are seriously considering creating a new nurse program at their school, some key points are essential during the development stage. Using the innovation frameworks from the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, from the global design firm IDEO, and from Gladwell's The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, this article examines the informal, formal, internal, and external work needed during program conceptualization, initial program exploration, resource infrastructure, support, and evaluation for an effective and innovative plan. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

DiscML: an R package for estimating evolutionary rates of discrete characters using maximum likelihood.

PubMed

Kim, Tane; Hao, Weilong

2014-09-27

The study of discrete characters is crucial for the understanding of evolutionary processes. Even though great advances have been made in the analysis of nucleotide sequences, computer programs for non-DNA discrete characters are often dedicated to specific analyses and lack flexibility. Discrete characters often have different transition rate matrices, variable rates among sites and sometimes contain unobservable states. To obtain the ability to accurately estimate a variety of discrete characters, programs with sophisticated methodologies and flexible settings are desired. DiscML performs maximum likelihood estimation for evolutionary rates of discrete characters on a provided phylogeny with the options that correct for unobservable data, rate variations, and unknown prior root probabilities from the empirical data. It gives users options to customize the instantaneous transition rate matrices, or to choose pre-determined matrices from models such as birth-and-death (BD), birth-death-and-innovation (BDI), equal rates (ER), symmetric (SYM), general time-reversible (GTR) and all rates different (ARD). Moreover, we show application examples of DiscML on gene family data and on intron presence/absence data. DiscML was developed as a unified R program for estimating evolutionary rates of discrete characters with no restriction on the number of character states, and with flexibility to use different transition models. DiscML is ideal for the analyses of binary (1s/0s) patterns, multi-gene families, and multistate discrete morphological characteristics.

Evolutionary contributions to the study of human fertility.

PubMed

Sear, Rebecca

2015-01-01

Demography, lacking an overarching theoretical framework of its own, has drawn on theories in many other social sciences to inform its analyses. The aim of this paper is to bring to the demographic community's attention research in the evolutionary sciences on fertility, and to demonstrate that evolutionary theory can be another useful tool in the demographer's toolkit. I first dispel some myths which impede the incorporation of evolutionary theory into demography: I make it clear that evolutionary explanations do not assume that all human behaviour is hardwired and functions to maximize genetic fitness; that they are able to explain variation in human behaviour; and that they are not necessarily alternatives to social science explanations. I then describe the diversity of work on fertility by evolutionary researchers, particularly human evolutionary ecologists and cultural evolutionists, and illustrate the usefulness of the evolutionary approach with examples of its application to age at first birth and the fertility transition.

Developmental and Evolutionary Lexicon Acquisition in Cognitive Agents/Robots with Grounding Principle: A Short Review.

PubMed

Rasheed, Nadia; Amin, Shamsudin H M

2016-01-01

Grounded language acquisition is an important issue, particularly to facilitate human-robot interactions in an intelligent and effective way. The evolutionary and developmental language acquisition are two innovative and important methodologies for the grounding of language in cognitive agents or robots, the aim of which is to address current limitations in robot design. This paper concentrates on these two main modelling methods with the grounding principle for the acquisition of linguistic ability in cognitive agents or robots. This review not only presents a survey of the methodologies and relevant computational cognitive agents or robotic models, but also highlights the advantages and progress of these approaches for the language grounding issue.

How the Contents of a Bachelor's Degree Final Project of Engineering Evolve towards Innovative Scientific Knowledge: Keys to Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Núñez, Cristina; Guinea, Ana; Callau, Sara; Bengoa, Christophe; Basco, Josep; Gavaldà, Jordi

2017-01-01

The Bachelor's Degree Final Project (BDFP) of our school aims to develop a real constructive project, enhance cooperative teamwork and increase productivity of students. We present a real case study, related with engineering and scientific innovation results obtained by BDFP, which has led to an innovative scientific study presented at the 7th…

Archaeogenetics in evolutionary medicine.

PubMed

Bouwman, Abigail; Rühli, Frank

2016-09-01

Archaeogenetics is the study of exploration of ancient DNA (aDNA) of more than 70 years old. It is an important part of the wider studies of many different areas of our past, including animal, plant and pathogen evolution and domestication events. Hereby, we address specifically the impact of research in archaeogenetics in the broader field of evolutionary medicine. Studies on ancient hominid genomes help to understand even modern health patterns. Human genetic microevolution, e.g. related to abilities of post-weaning milk consumption, and specifically genetic adaptation in disease susceptibility, e.g. towards malaria and other infectious diseases, are of the upmost importance in contributions of archeogenetics on the evolutionary understanding of human health and disease. With the increase in both the understanding of modern medical genetics and the ability to deep sequence ancient genetic information, the field of archaeogenetic evolutionary medicine is blossoming.

MEGA5: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis Using Maximum Likelihood, Evolutionary Distance, and Maximum Parsimony Methods

PubMed Central

Tamura, Koichiro; Peterson, Daniel; Peterson, Nicholas; Stecher, Glen; Nei, Masatoshi; Kumar, Sudhir

2011-01-01

Comparative analysis of molecular sequence data is essential for reconstructing the evolutionary histories of species and inferring the nature and extent of selective forces shaping the evolution of genes and species. Here, we announce the release of Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis version 5 (MEGA5), which is a user-friendly software for mining online databases, building sequence alignments and phylogenetic trees, and using methods of evolutionary bioinformatics in basic biology, biomedicine, and evolution. The newest addition in MEGA5 is a collection of maximum likelihood (ML) analyses for inferring evolutionary trees, selecting best-fit substitution models (nucleotide or amino acid), inferring ancestral states and sequences (along with probabilities), and estimating evolutionary rates site-by-site. In computer simulation analyses, ML tree inference algorithms in MEGA5 compared favorably with other software packages in terms of computational efficiency and the accuracy of the estimates of phylogenetic trees, substitution parameters, and rate variation among sites. The MEGA user interface has now been enhanced to be activity driven to make it easier for the use of both beginners and experienced scientists. This version of MEGA is intended for the Windows platform, and it has been configured for effective use on Mac OS X and Linux desktops. It is available free of charge from http://www.megasoftware.net. PMID:21546353

Toward a revised evolutionary adaptationist analysis of depression: the social navigation hypothesis.

PubMed

Watson, Paul J; Andrews, Paul W

2002-10-01

Evolutionary biologists use Darwinian theory and functional design ("reverse engineering") analyses, to develop and test hypotheses about the adaptive functions of traits. Based upon a consideration of human social life and a functional design analysis of depression's core symptomatology we offer a comprehensive theory of its adaptive significance called the Social Navigation Hypothesis (SNH). The SNH attempts to account for all intensities of depression based on standard evolutionary theories of sociality, communication and psychological pain. The SNH suggests that depression evolved to perform two complimentary social problem-solving functions. First, depression induces cognitive changes that focus and enhance capacities for the accurate analysis and solution of key social problems, suggesting a social rumination function. Second, the costs associated with the anhedonia and psychomotor perturbation of depression can persuade reluctant social partners to provide help or make concessions via two possible mechanisms, namely, honest signaling and passive, unintentional fitness extortion. Thus it may also have a social motivation function.

Evolutionary relevance facilitates visual information processing.

PubMed

Jackson, Russell E; Calvillo, Dusti P

2013-11-03

Visual search of the environment is a fundamental human behavior that perceptual load affects powerfully. Previously investigated means for overcoming the inhibitions of high perceptual load, however, generalize poorly to real-world human behavior. We hypothesized that humans would process evolutionarily relevant stimuli more efficiently than evolutionarily novel stimuli, and evolutionary relevance would mitigate the repercussions of high perceptual load during visual search. Animacy is a significant component to evolutionary relevance of visual stimuli because perceiving animate entities is time-sensitive in ways that pose significant evolutionary consequences. Participants completing a visual search task located evolutionarily relevant and animate objects fastest and with the least impact of high perceptual load. Evolutionarily novel and inanimate objects were located slowest and with the highest impact of perceptual load. Evolutionary relevance may importantly affect everyday visual information processing.

Evolutionary and mechanistic theories of aging.

PubMed

Hughes, Kimberly A; Reynolds, Rose M

2005-01-01

Senescence (aging) is defined as a decline in performance and fitness with advancing age. Senescence is a nearly universal feature of multicellular organisms, and understanding why it occurs is a long-standing problem in biology. Here we present a concise review of both evolutionary and mechanistic theories of aging. We describe the development of the general evolutionary theory, along with the mutation accumulation, antagonistic pleiotropy, and disposable soma versions of the evolutionary model. The review of the mechanistic theories focuses on the oxidative stress resistance, cellular signaling, and dietary control mechanisms of life span extension. We close with a discussion of how an approach that makes use of both evolutionary and molecular analyses can address a critical question: Which of the mechanisms that can cause variation in aging actually do cause variation in natural populations?

Mean-Potential Law in Evolutionary Games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nałecz-Jawecki, Paweł; Miekisz, Jacek

2018-01-01

The Letter presents a novel way to connect random walks, stochastic differential equations, and evolutionary game theory. We introduce a new concept of a potential function for discrete-space stochastic systems. It is based on a correspondence between one-dimensional stochastic differential equations and random walks, which may be exact not only in the continuous limit but also in finite-state spaces. Our method is useful for computation of fixation probabilities in discrete stochastic dynamical systems with two absorbing states. We apply it to evolutionary games, formulating two simple and intuitive criteria for evolutionary stability of pure Nash equilibria in finite populations. In particular, we show that the 1 /3 law of evolutionary games, introduced by Nowak et al. [Nature, 2004], follows from a more general mean-potential law.

Mean-Potential Law in Evolutionary Games.

PubMed

Nałęcz-Jawecki, Paweł; Miękisz, Jacek

2018-01-12

The Letter presents a novel way to connect random walks, stochastic differential equations, and evolutionary game theory. We introduce a new concept of a potential function for discrete-space stochastic systems. It is based on a correspondence between one-dimensional stochastic differential equations and random walks, which may be exact not only in the continuous limit but also in finite-state spaces. Our method is useful for computation of fixation probabilities in discrete stochastic dynamical systems with two absorbing states. We apply it to evolutionary games, formulating two simple and intuitive criteria for evolutionary stability of pure Nash equilibria in finite populations. In particular, we show that the 1/3 law of evolutionary games, introduced by Nowak et al. [Nature, 2004], follows from a more general mean-potential law.

Emergence of evolutionary cycles in size-structured food webs.

PubMed

Ritterskamp, Daniel; Bearup, Daniel; Blasius, Bernd

2016-11-07

The interplay of population dynamics and evolution within ecological communities has been of long-standing interest for ecologists and can give rise to evolutionary cycles, e.g. taxon cycles. Evolutionary cycling was intensely studied in small communities with asymmetric competition; the latter drives the evolutionary processes. Here we demonstrate that evolutionary cycling arises naturally in larger communities if trophic interactions are present, since these are intrinsically asymmetric. To investigate the evolutionary dynamics of a trophic community, we use an allometric food web model. We find that evolutionary cycles emerge naturally for a large parameter ranges. The origin of the evolutionary dynamics is an intrinsic asymmetry in the feeding kernel which creates an evolutionary ratchet, driving species towards larger bodysize. We reveal different kinds of cycles: single morph cycles, and coevolutionary and mixed cycling of complete food webs. The latter refers to the case where each trophic level can have different evolutionary dynamics. We discuss the generality of our findings and conclude that ongoing evolution in food webs may be more frequent than commonly believed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Schistosoma mansoni phylome: using evolutionary genomics to gain insight into a parasite's biology.

PubMed

Silva, Larissa Lopes; Marcet-Houben, Marina; Nahum, Laila Alves; Zerlotini, Adhemar; Gabaldón, Toni; Oliveira, Guilherme

2012-11-13

Schistosoma mansoni is one of the causative agents of schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease that affects about 237 million people worldwide. Despite recent efforts, we still lack a general understanding of the relevant host-parasite interactions, and the possible treatments are limited by the emergence of resistant strains and the absence of a vaccine. The S. mansoni genome was completely sequenced and still under continuous annotation. Nevertheless, more than 45% of the encoded proteins remain without experimental characterization or even functional prediction. To improve our knowledge regarding the biology of this parasite, we conducted a proteome-wide evolutionary analysis to provide a broad view of the S. mansoni's proteome evolution and to improve its functional annotation. Using a phylogenomic approach, we reconstructed the S. mansoni phylome, which comprises the evolutionary histories of all parasite proteins and their homologs across 12 other organisms. The analysis of a total of 7,964 phylogenies allowed a deeper understanding of genomic complexity and evolutionary adaptations to a parasitic lifestyle. In particular, the identification of lineage-specific gene duplications pointed to the diversification of several protein families that are relevant for host-parasite interaction, including proteases, tetraspanins, fucosyltransferases, venom allergen-like proteins, and tegumental-allergen-like proteins. In addition to the evolutionary knowledge, the phylome data enabled us to automatically re-annotate 3,451 proteins through a phylogenetic-based approach rather than solely sequence similarity searches. To allow further exploitation of this valuable data, all information has been made available at PhylomeDB (http://www.phylomedb.org). In this study, we used an evolutionary approach to assess S. mansoni parasite biology, improve genome/proteome functional annotation, and provide insights into host-parasite interactions. Taking advantage of a proteome

Innovations in Balloon Catheter Technology in Rhinology.

PubMed

D'Anza, Brian; Sindwani, Raj; Woodard, Troy D

2017-06-01

Since being introduced more than 10 years ago, balloon catheter technology (BCT) has undergone several generations of innovations. From construction to utilization, there has been a myriad of advancements in balloon technology. The ergonomics of the balloon dilation systems have improved with a focus on limiting the extra assembly. "Hybrid" BCT procedures have shown promise in mucosal preservation, including treating isolated complex frontal disease. Multiple randomized clinical trials report improved long-term outcomes in stand-alone BCT, including in-office use. The ever-expanding technological innovations ensure BCT will be a key component in the armamentarium of the modern sinus surgeon. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of an evolutionary simulator and an overall control system for intelligent wheelchair

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imai, Makoto; Kawato, Koji; Hamagami, Tomoki; Hirata, Hironori

The goal of this research is to develop an intelligent wheelchair (IWC) system which aids an indoor safe mobility for elderly and disabled people with a new conceptual architecture which realizes autonomy, cooperativeness, and a collaboration behavior. In order to develop the IWC system in real environment, we need design-tools and flexible architecture. In particular, as more significant ones, this paper describes two key techniques which are an evolutionary simulation and an overall control mechanism. The evolutionary simulation technique corrects the error between the virtual environment in a simulator and real one in during the learning of an IWC agent, and coevolves with the agent. The overall control mechanism is implemented with subsumption architecture which is employed in an autonomous robot controller. By using these techniques in both simulations and experiments, we confirm that our IWC system acquires autonomy, cooperativeness, and a collaboration behavior efficiently.

Creativity and Innovation in Health Care: Tapping Into Organizational Enablers Through Human-Centered Design.

PubMed

Zuber, Christi Dining; Moody, Louise

There is an increasing drive in health care for creativity and innovation to tackle key health challenges, improve quality and access, and reduce harm and costs. Human-centered design (HCD) is a potential approach to achieving organizational innovation. However, research suggests the nursing workforce feels unsupported to take the risks needed for innovation, and leaders may not understand the conditions required to fully support them. The aim of this study was to identify enabling conditions that support frontline nurses in their attempts to behave as champions of innovation and change. An HCD workshop was undertaken with 125 nurses employed in clinical practice at Kaiser Permanente. The workshop included empathy mapping and semistructured questions that probed participant experiences with innovation and change. The data were collated and thematic analysis undertaken through a Grounded Theory approach. The data were analyzed to identify key enabling conditions. Seven enablers emerged: personal need for a solution; challenges that have meaningful purpose; clarity of goal and control of resources; active experimentation; experiences indicating progress; positive encouragement and confidence; and provision of psychological safety. These enablers were then translated into pragmatic guidelines for leaders on how the tools of HCD may be leveraged for innovation and change in health care.

Progenitors of the protochordate ocellus as an evolutionary origin of the neural crest

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

The neural crest represents a highly multipotent population of embryonic stem cells found only in vertebrate embryos. Acquisition of the neural crest during the evolution of vertebrates was a great advantage, providing Chordata animals with the first cellular cartilage, bone, dentition, advanced nervous system and other innovations. Today not much is known about the evolutionary origin of neural crest cells. Here we propose a novel scenario in which the neural crest originates from neuroectodermal progenitors of the pigmented ocelli in Amphioxus-like animals. We suggest that because of changes in photoreception needs, these multipotent progenitors of photoreceptors gained the ability to migrate outside of the central nervous system and subsequently started to give rise to neural, glial and pigmented progeny at the periphery. PMID:23575111

Old Wine in Old Bottles: The Neglected Role of Vocational Training Centres in Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Porto Gómez, Igone; Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, Jon Mikel; Aguirre Larrakoetxea, Urko

2018-01-01

Vocational training centres are conceptually regarded as key players in the knowledge generation and dissemination processes that take place within innovation systems. However, the literature does not provide conclusive evidence of their influence on the generation, development and dissemination of innovations. The goal of this paper is to analyse…

Transmissible cancers in an evolutionary context.

PubMed

Ujvari, Beata; Papenfuss, Anthony T; Belov, Katherine

2016-07-01

Cancer is an evolutionary and ecological process in which complex interactions between tumour cells and their environment share many similarities with organismal evolution. Tumour cells with highest adaptive potential have a selective advantage over less fit cells. Naturally occurring transmissible cancers provide an ideal model system for investigating the evolutionary arms race between cancer cells and their surrounding micro-environment and macro-environment. However, the evolutionary landscapes in which contagious cancers reside have not been subjected to comprehensive investigation. Here, we provide a multifocal analysis of transmissible tumour progression and discuss the selection forces that shape it. We demonstrate that transmissible cancers adapt to both their micro-environment and macro-environment, and evolutionary theories applied to organisms are also relevant to these unique diseases. The three naturally occurring transmissible cancers, canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT) and Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) and the recently discovered clam leukaemia, exhibit different evolutionary phases: (i) CTVT, the oldest naturally occurring cell line is remarkably stable; (ii) DFTD exhibits the signs of stepwise cancer evolution; and (iii) clam leukaemia shows genetic instability. While all three contagious cancers carry the signature of ongoing and fairly recent adaptations to selective forces, CTVT appears to have reached an evolutionary stalemate with its host, while DFTD and the clam leukaemia appear to be still at a more dynamic phase of their evolution. Parallel investigation of contagious cancer genomes and transcriptomes and of their micro-environment and macro-environment could shed light on the selective forces shaping tumour development at different time points: during the progressive phase and at the endpoint. A greater understanding of transmissible cancers from an evolutionary ecology perspective will provide novel avenues for

Moving Forward: Strengthening Your State's Capacity to Bring Innovation to Scale. Policy Bulletin

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clancy, M. Colleen

2013-01-01

Evidence-based innovations developed locally can have a powerful and broad impact on a state's student success agenda, but only when a system is in place for accelerating the diffusion of innovation across institutional lines. State leadership is key to bringing effective practices to scale. That is what is happening in North Carolina, Texas, and…

Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Higher Education and Economic Regeneration in Wales: A Policy Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Brychan; Packham, Gary; Miller, Christopher

2006-01-01

This paper presents the views of key policy makers concerning innovation and entrepreneurship in Wales. The development of innovation in SMEs and the policy implications for economic regeneration are also analysed. The role of a variety of actors (including users and suppliers) is considered, as is the impact of networks of SMEs linked together in…

Evolutionary computation in zoology and ecology.

PubMed

Boone, Randall B

2017-12-01

Evolutionary computational methods have adopted attributes of natural selection and evolution to solve problems in computer science, engineering, and other fields. The method is growing in use in zoology and ecology. Evolutionary principles may be merged with an agent-based modeling perspective to have individual animals or other agents compete. Four main categories are discussed: genetic algorithms, evolutionary programming, genetic programming, and evolutionary strategies. In evolutionary computation, a population is represented in a way that allows for an objective function to be assessed that is relevant to the problem of interest. The poorest performing members are removed from the population, and remaining members reproduce and may be mutated. The fitness of the members is again assessed, and the cycle continues until a stopping condition is met. Case studies include optimizing: egg shape given different clutch sizes, mate selection, migration of wildebeest, birds, and elk, vulture foraging behavior, algal bloom prediction, and species richness given energy constraints. Other case studies simulate the evolution of species and a means to project shifts in species ranges in response to a changing climate that includes competition and phenotypic plasticity. This introduction concludes by citing other uses of evolutionary computation and a review of the flexibility of the methods. For example, representing species' niche spaces subject to selective pressure allows studies on cladistics, the taxon cycle, neutral versus niche paradigms, fundamental versus realized niches, community structure and order of colonization, invasiveness, and responses to a changing climate.

Evolutionary computation in zoology and ecology

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Abstract Evolutionary computational methods have adopted attributes of natural selection and evolution to solve problems in computer science, engineering, and other fields. The method is growing in use in zoology and ecology. Evolutionary principles may be merged with an agent-based modeling perspective to have individual animals or other agents compete. Four main categories are discussed: genetic algorithms, evolutionary programming, genetic programming, and evolutionary strategies. In evolutionary computation, a population is represented in a way that allows for an objective function to be assessed that is relevant to the problem of interest. The poorest performing members are removed from the population, and remaining members reproduce and may be mutated. The fitness of the members is again assessed, and the cycle continues until a stopping condition is met. Case studies include optimizing: egg shape given different clutch sizes, mate selection, migration of wildebeest, birds, and elk, vulture foraging behavior, algal bloom prediction, and species richness given energy constraints. Other case studies simulate the evolution of species and a means to project shifts in species ranges in response to a changing climate that includes competition and phenotypic plasticity. This introduction concludes by citing other uses of evolutionary computation and a review of the flexibility of the methods. For example, representing species’ niche spaces subject to selective pressure allows studies on cladistics, the taxon cycle, neutral versus niche paradigms, fundamental versus realized niches, community structure and order of colonization, invasiveness, and responses to a changing climate. PMID:29492029

A Phenomenographic Investigation of the Ways Engineering Students Experience Innovation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fila, Nicholas David

Innovation has become an important phenomenon in engineering and engineering education. By developing novel, feasible, viable, and valued solutions to complex technical and human problems, engineers support the economic competitiveness of organizations, make a difference in the lives of users and other stakeholders, drive societal and scientific progress, and obtain key personal benefits. Innovation is also a complex phenomenon. It occurs across a variety of contexts and domains, encompasses numerous phases and activities, and requires unique competency profiles. Despite this complexity, many studies in engineering education focus on specific aspects (e.g., engineering students' abilities to generate original concepts during idea generation), and we still know little about the variety of ways engineering students approach and understand innovation. This study addresses that gap by asking: 1. What are the qualitatively different ways engineering students experience innovation during their engineering projects? 2. What are the structural relationships between the ways engineering students experience innovation? This study utilized phenomenography, a qualitative research method, to explore the above research questions. Thirty-three engineering students were recruited to ensure thorough coverage along four factors suggested by the literature to support differences related to innovation: engineering project experience, academic major, year in school, and gender. Each participant completed a 1-2 hour, semi-structured interview that focused on experiences with and conceptions of innovation. Whole transcripts were analyzed using an eight-stage, iterative, and comparative approach meant to identify a limited number of categories of description (composite ways of experiencing innovation comprised of the experiences of several participants), and the structural relationships between these categories. Phenomenographic analysis revealed eight categories of description that were

Evolutionary accounts of human behavioural diversity

PubMed Central

Brown, Gillian R.; Dickins, Thomas E.; Sear, Rebecca; Laland, Kevin N.

2011-01-01

Human beings persist in an extraordinary range of ecological settings, in the process exhibiting enormous behavioural diversity, both within and between populations. People vary in their social, mating and parental behaviour and have diverse and elaborate beliefs, traditions, norms and institutions. The aim of this theme issue is to ask whether, and how, evolutionary theory can help us to understand this diversity. In this introductory article, we provide a background to the debate surrounding how best to understand behavioural diversity using evolutionary models of human behaviour. In particular, we examine how diversity has been viewed by the main subdisciplines within the human evolutionary behavioural sciences, focusing in particular on the human behavioural ecology, evolutionary psychology and cultural evolution approaches. In addition to differences in focus and methodology, these subdisciplines have traditionally varied in the emphasis placed on human universals, ecological factors and socially learned behaviour, and on how they have addressed the issue of genetic variation. We reaffirm that evolutionary theory provides an essential framework for understanding behavioural diversity within and between human populations, but argue that greater integration between the subfields is critical to developing a satisfactory understanding of diversity. PMID:21199836

Technology innovation for infectious diseases in the developing world.

PubMed

So, Anthony D; Ruiz-Esparza, Quentin

2012-10-25

Enabling innovation and access to health technologies remains a key strategy in combating infectious diseases in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, a gulf between paying markets and the endemicity of such diseases has contributed to the dearth of R&D in meeting these public health needs. While the pharmaceutical industry views emerging economies as potential new markets, most of the world's poorest bottom billion now reside in middle-income countries--a fact that has complicated tiered access arrangements. However, product development partnerships--particularly those involving academic institutions and small firms--find commercial opportunities in pursuing even neglected diseases; and a growing pharmaceutical sector in BRICS countries offers hope for an indigenous base of innovation. Such innovation will be shaped by 1) access to building blocks of knowledge; 2) strategic use of intellectual property and innovative financing to meet public health goals; 3) collaborative norms of open innovation; and 4) alternative business models, some with a double bottom line. Facing such resource constraints, LMICs are poised to develop a new, more resource-effective model of innovation that holds exciting promise in meeting the needs of global health.

Technology innovation for infectious diseases in the developing world

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Enabling innovation and access to health technologies remains a key strategy in combating infectious diseases in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, a gulf between paying markets and the endemicity of such diseases has contributed to the dearth of R&D in meeting these public health needs. While the pharmaceutical industry views emerging economies as potential new markets, most of the world’s poorest bottom billion now reside in middle-income countries--a fact that has complicated tiered access arrangements. However, product development partnerships--particularly those involving academic institutions and small firms--find commercial opportunities in pursuing even neglected diseases; and a growing pharmaceutical sector in BRICS countries offers hope for an indigenous base of innovation. Such innovation will be shaped by 1) access to building blocks of knowledge; 2) strategic use of intellectual property and innovative financing to meet public health goals; 3) collaborative norms of open innovation; and 4) alternative business models, some with a double bottom line. Facing such resource constraints, LMICs are poised to develop a new, more resource-effective model of innovation that holds exciting promise in meeting the needs of global health. PMID:23849080

Innovation Configurations: Analyzing the Adaptations of Innovations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Gene E.; Loucks, Susan F.

When implementing an innovation, a multitude of components interact to change not only the users, but the innovation as well. This guide explains the concept of innovation configurations, or adaptations made in innovations during implementation. After presenting and discussing past research on innovation changes, the report outlines a five step…

Adaptive radiation of Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 in experimental microcosms provides an understanding of the evolutionary ecology and molecular biology of A-L interface biofilm formation.

PubMed

Koza, Anna; Kusmierska, Anna; McLaughlin, Kimberley; Moshynets, Olena; Spiers, Andrew J

2017-07-03

Combined experimental evolutionary and molecular biology approaches have been used to investigate the adaptive radiation of Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 in static microcosms leading to the colonisation of the air-liquid interface by biofilm-forming mutants such as the Wrinkly Spreader (WS). In these microcosms, the ecosystem engineering of the early wild-type colonists establishes the niche space for subsequent WS evolution and colonisation. Random WS mutations occurring in the developing population that deregulate diguanylate cyclases and c-di-GMP homeostasis result in cellulose-based biofilms at the air-liquid interface. These structures allow Wrinkly Spreaders to intercept O2 diffusing into the liquid column and limit the growth of competitors lower down. As the biofilm matures, competition increasingly occurs between WS lineages, and niche divergence within the biofilm may support further diversification before system failure when the structure finally sinks. A combination of pleiotropic and epistasis effects, as well as secondary mutations, may explain variations in WS phenotype and fitness. Understanding how mutations subvert regulatory networks to express intrinsic genome potential and key innovations providing a selective advantage in novel environments is key to understanding the versatility of bacteria, and how selection and ecological opportunity can rapidly lead to substantive changes in phenotype and in community structure and function. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Ecological and evolutionary traps

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schlaepfer, Martin A.; Runge, M.C.; Sherman, P.W.

2002-01-01

Organisms often rely on environmental cues to make behavioral and life-history decisions. However, in environments that have been altered suddenly by humans, formerly reliable cues might no longer be associated with adaptive outcomes. In such cases, organisms can become 'trapped' by their evolutionary responses to the cues and experience reduced survival or reproduction. Ecological traps occur when organisms make poor habitat choices based on cues that correlated formerly with habitat quality. Ecological traps are part of a broader phenomenon, evolutionary traps, involving a dissociation between cues that organisms use to make any behavioral or life-history decision and outcomes normally associated with that decision. A trap can lead to extinction if a population falls below a critical size threshold before adaptation to the novel environment occurs. Conservation and management protocols must be designed in light of, rather than in spite of, the behavioral mechanisms and evolutionary history of populations and species to avoid 'trapping' them.

Transformative Learning: Innovating Sustainability Education in Built Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iyer-Raniga, Usha; Andamon, Mary Myla

2016-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to evaluate how transformative learning is key to innovating sustainability education in the built environment in the region's universities, in addition to reporting on the research project undertaken to integrate sustainability thinking and practice into engineering/built environment curricula in Asia-Pacific…

A Note on Evolutionary Algorithms and Its Applications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bhargava, Shifali

2013-01-01

This paper introduces evolutionary algorithms with its applications in multi-objective optimization. Here elitist and non-elitist multiobjective evolutionary algorithms are discussed with their advantages and disadvantages. We also discuss constrained multiobjective evolutionary algorithms and their applications in various areas.

Adaptive evolutionary conservation: towards a unified concept for defining conservation units.

PubMed

Fraser, D J; Bernatchez, L

2001-12-01

Recent years have seen a debate over various methods that could objectively prioritize conservation value below the species level. Most prominent among these has been the evolutionarily significant unit (ESU). We reviewed ESU concepts with the aim of proposing a more unified concept that would reconcile opposing views. Like species concepts, conflicting ESU concepts are all essentially aiming to define the same thing: segments of species whose divergence can be measured or evaluated by putting differential emphasis on the role of evolutionary forces at varied temporal scales. Thus, differences between ESU concepts lie more in the criteria used to define the ESUs themselves rather than in their fundamental essence. We provide a context-based framework for delineating ESUs which circumvents much of this situation. Rather than embroil in a befuddled debate over an optimal criterion, the key to a solution is accepting that differing criteria will work more dynamically than others and can be used alone or in combination depending on the situation. These assertions constitute the impetus behind adaptive evolutionary conservation.

Characterizing behavioural ‘characters’: an evolutionary framework

PubMed Central

Araya-Ajoy, Yimen G.; Dingemanse, Niels J.

2014-01-01

Biologists often study phenotypic evolution assuming that phenotypes consist of a set of quasi-independent units that have been shaped by selection to accomplish a particular function. In the evolutionary literature, such quasi-independent functional units are called ‘evolutionary characters’, and a framework based on evolutionary principles has been developed to characterize them. This framework mainly focuses on ‘fixed’ characters, i.e. those that vary exclusively between individuals. In this paper, we introduce multi-level variation and thereby expand the framework to labile characters, focusing on behaviour as a worked example. We first propose a concept of ‘behavioural characters’ based on the original evolutionary character concept. We then detail how integration of variation between individuals (cf. ‘personality’) and within individuals (cf. ‘individual plasticity’) into the framework gives rise to a whole suite of novel testable predictions about the evolutionary character concept. We further propose a corresponding statistical methodology to test whether observed behaviours should be considered expressions of a hypothesized evolutionary character. We illustrate the application of our framework by characterizing the behavioural character ‘aggressiveness’ in wild great tits, Parus major. PMID:24335984

Evolutionary Dynamics of Floral Homeotic Transcription Factor Protein–Protein Interactions

PubMed Central

Bartlett, Madelaine; Thompson, Beth; Brabazon, Holly; Del Gizzi, Robert; Zhang, Thompson; Whipple, Clinton

2016-01-01

Protein–protein interactions (PPIs) have widely acknowledged roles in the regulation of development, but few studies have addressed the timing and mechanism of shifting PPIs over evolutionary history. The B-class MADS-box transcription factors, PISTILLATA (PI) and APETALA3 (AP3) are key regulators of floral development. PI-like (PIL) and AP3-like (AP3L) proteins from a number of plants, including Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) and the grass Zea mays (maize), bind DNA as obligate heterodimers. However, a PIL protein from the grass relative Joinvillea can bind DNA as a homodimer. To ascertain whether Joinvillea PIL homodimerization is an anomaly or indicative of broader trends, we characterized PIL dimerization across the Poales and uncovered unexpected evolutionary lability. Both obligate B-class heterodimerization and PIL homodimerization have evolved multiple times in the order, by distinct molecular mechanisms. For example, obligate B-class heterodimerization in maize evolved very recently from PIL homodimerization. A single amino acid change, fixed during domestication, is sufficient to toggle one maize PIL protein between homodimerization and obligate heterodimerization. We detected a signature of positive selection acting on residues preferentially clustered in predicted sites of contact between MADS-box monomers and dimers, and in motifs that mediate MADS PPI specificity in Arabidopsis. Changing one positively selected residue can alter PIL dimerization activity. Furthermore, ectopic expression of a Joinvillea PIL homodimer in Arabidopsis can homeotically transform sepals into petals. Our results provide a window into the evolutionary remodeling of PPIs, and show that novel interactions have the potential to alter plant form in a context-dependent manner. PMID:26908583

Meta-analysis of magnitudes, differences and variation in evolutionary parameters.

PubMed

Morrissey, M B

2016-10-01

Meta-analysis is increasingly used to synthesize major patterns in the large literatures within ecology and evolution. Meta-analytic methods that do not account for the process of observing data, which we may refer to as 'informal meta-analyses', may have undesirable properties. In some cases, informal meta-analyses may produce results that are unbiased, but do not necessarily make the best possible use of available data. In other cases, unbiased statistical noise in individual reports in the literature can potentially be converted into severe systematic biases in informal meta-analyses. I first present a general description of how failure to account for noise in individual inferences should be expected to lead to biases in some kinds of meta-analysis. In particular, informal meta-analyses of quantities that reflect the dispersion of parameters in nature, for example, the mean absolute value of a quantity, are likely to be generally highly misleading. I then re-analyse three previously published informal meta-analyses, where key inferences were of aspects of the dispersion of values in nature, for example, the mean absolute value of selection gradients. Major biological conclusions in each original informal meta-analysis closely match those that could arise as artefacts due to statistical noise. I present alternative mixed-model-based analyses that are specifically tailored to each situation, but where all analyses may be implemented with widely available open-source software. In each example meta-re-analysis, major conclusions change substantially. © 2016 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2016 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Child murder by parents and evolutionary psychology.

PubMed

Friedman, Susan Hatters; Cavney, James; Resnick, Phillip J

2012-12-01

This article explores the contribution of evolutionary theory to the understanding of causation and motive in filicide cases and also reviews special issues in the forensic evaluation of alleged perpetrators of filicide. Evolutionary social psychology seeks to understand the context in which our brains evolved, to understand human behaviors. The authors propose evolutionary theory as a framework theory to meaningfully appreciate research about filicide. Using evolutionary psychology as a theoretical lens, this article reviews the research on filicide over the past 40 years, and describes epidemiologic and typologic studies of filicide, and theoretical analyses from a range of disciplines. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

SUPERFUND INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION PROGRAM: TECHNOLOGY WITH AN IMPACT

EPA Science Inventory

SITE promotes the development and implementation of innovative technologies for remediating hazardous waste sites and for evaluating the nature and extent of hazardous waste site contamination through four component segments. The SITE Program is a key element in EPA's efforts...

Creativity and Innovation: Theory, Research, and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plucker, Jonathan A., Ed.

2016-01-01

Creativity and innovation are frequently mentioned as key 21st-century skills for career and life success. Indeed, recent research provides evidence that the jobs of the future will increasingly require the ability to bring creative solutions to complex problems. And creativity is often the spice of life, that little extra something that makes the…

Creating Institutional Space for Business Model Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheets, Robert; Crawford, Stephen

2013-01-01

From college campuses to the halls of Congress, there is broad agreement that higher education is experiencing a major wave of innovation. This article holds that the changes are significant, but that the resulting threats to existing institutions are manageable if key leaders understand them and if institutions adapt to the new environment. The…

Evolutionary models of interstellar chemistry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prasad, Sheo S.

1987-01-01

The goal of evolutionary models of interstellar chemistry is to understand how interstellar clouds came to be the way they are, how they will change with time, and to place them in an evolutionary sequence with other celestial objects such as stars. An improved Mark II version of an earlier model of chemistry in dynamically evolving clouds is presented. The Mark II model suggests that the conventional elemental C/O ratio less than one can explain the observed abundances of CI and the nondetection of O2 in dense clouds. Coupled chemical-dynamical models seem to have the potential to generate many observable discriminators of the evolutionary tracks. This is exciting, because, in general, purely dynamical models do not yield enough verifiable discriminators of the predicted tracks.

Integrating new practices: a qualitative study of how hospital innovations become routine.

PubMed

Brewster, Amanda L; Curry, Leslie A; Cherlin, Emily J; Talbert-Slagle, Kristina; Horwitz, Leora I; Bradley, Elizabeth H

2015-12-05

Hospital quality improvement efforts absorb substantial time and resources, but many innovations fail to integrate into organizational routines, undermining the potential to sustain the new practices. Despite a well-developed literature on the initial implementation of new practices, we have limited knowledge about the mechanisms by which integration occurs. We conducted a qualitative study using a purposive sample of hospitals that participated in the State Action on Avoidable Rehospitalizations (STAAR) initiative, a collaborative to reduce hospital readmissions that encouraged members to adopt new practices. We selected hospitals where risk-standardized readmission rates (RSRR) had improved (n = 7) or deteriorated (n = 3) over the course of the first 2 years of the STAAR initiative (2010-2011 to 2011-2012) and interviewed a range of staff at each site (90 total). We recruited hospitals until reaching theoretical saturation. The constant comparative method was used to conduct coding and identification of key themes. When innovations were successfully integrated, participants consistently reported that a small number of key staff held the innovation in place for as long as a year while more permanent integrating mechanisms began to work. Depending on characteristics of the innovation, one of three categories of integrating mechanisms eventually took over the role of holding new practices in place. Innovations that proved intrinsically rewarding to the staff, by making their jobs easier or more gratifying, became integrated through shifts in attitudes and norms over time. Innovations for which the staff did not perceive benefits to themselves were integrated through revised performance standards if the innovation involved complex tasks and through automation if the innovation involved simple tasks. Hospitals have an opportunity to promote the integration of new practices by planning for the extended effort required to hold a new practice in place while

Spontaneous innovation for future deception in a male chimpanzee.

PubMed

Osvath, Mathias; Karvonen, Elin

2012-01-01

The ability to invent means to deceive others, where the deception lies in the perceptually or contextually detached future, appears to require the coordination of sophisticated cognitive skills toward a single goal. Meanwhile innovation for a current situation has been observed in a wide range of species. Planning, on the one hand, and the social cognition required for deception on the other, have been linked to one another, both from a co-evolutionary and a neuroanatomical perspective. Innovation and deception have also been suggested to be connected in their nature of relying on novelty. We report on systematic observations suggesting innovation for future deception by a captive male chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). As an extension of previously described behaviour--caching projectiles for later throwing at zoo visitors--the chimpanzee, again in advance, manufactured concealments from hay, as well as used naturally occurring concealments. All were placed near the visitors' observation area, allowing the chimpanzee to make throws before the crowd could back off. We observed what was likely the first instance of this innovation. Further observations showed that the creation of future-oriented concealments became the significantly preferred strategy. What is more, the chimpanzee appeared consistently to combine two deceptive strategies: hiding projectiles and inhibiting dominance display behaviour. The findings suggest that chimpanzees can represent the future behaviours of others while those others are not present, as well as take actions in the current situation towards such potential future behaviours. Importantly, the behaviour of the chimpanzee produced a future event, rather than merely prepared for an event that had been reliably re-occurring in the past. These findings might indicate that the chimpanzee recombined episodic memories in perceptual simulations.

An informatics research agenda to support precision medicine: seven key areas

PubMed Central

Avillach, Paul; Benham-Hutchins, Marge; Breitenstein, Matthew K; Crowgey, Erin L; Hoffman, Mark A; Jiang, Xia; Madhavan, Subha; Mattison, John E; Nagarajan, Radhakrishnan; Ray, Bisakha; Shin, Dmitriy; Visweswaran, Shyam; Zhao, Zhongming; Freimuth, Robert R

2016-01-01

The recent announcement of the Precision Medicine Initiative by President Obama has brought precision medicine (PM) to the forefront for healthcare providers, researchers, regulators, innovators, and funders alike. As technologies continue to evolve and datasets grow in magnitude, a strong computational infrastructure will be essential to realize PM’s vision of improved healthcare derived from personal data. In addition, informatics research and innovation affords a tremendous opportunity to drive the science underlying PM. The informatics community must lead the development of technologies and methodologies that will increase the discovery and application of biomedical knowledge through close collaboration between researchers, clinicians, and patients. This perspective highlights seven key areas that are in need of further informatics research and innovation to support the realization of PM. PMID:27107452

The NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) Programme: A Review of Progress and Contributions to Innovation in Healthcare Technologies.

PubMed

Marjanovic, Sonja; Krapels, Joachim; Sousa, Sonia; Castle-Clarke, Sophie; Horvath, Veronika; Chataway, Joanna

2015-11-30

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme supports the development of innovative medical technologies for patient benefit. The i4i product development stream involves collaborative projects between at least two partners from academia, the NHS and industry. Medical technology innovators apply for funding for one to three years, through a peer review-based process that includes presentation to a selection panel. The funding and business advice provided by i4i support the development of early-stage innovations, generally at proof of concept and prototype stages. Since its inception the product development stream has identified and supported 170 projects, led by 146 principal investigators (PIs). RAND Europe evaluated the programme, with the aim of identifying its outputs and impacts and examining the factors influencing performance. The evaluation findings should help inform the future of the programme. The evaluation used a multi-method approach, including a focused review of background information from i4i, scoping interviews with key informants, a survey of programme participants and case studies of projects representing diverse technologies and health needs.

Exploring Mission Concepts with the JPL Innovation Foundry A-Team

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ziemer, John K.; Ervin, Joan; Lang, Jared

2013-01-01

The JPL Innovation Foundry has established a new approach for exploring, developing, and evaluating early concepts called the A-Team. The A-Team combines innovative collaborative methods with subject matter expertise and analysis tools to help mature mission concepts. Science, implementation, and programmatic elements are all considered during an A-Team study. Methods are grouped by Concept Maturity Level (CML), from 1 through 3, including idea generation and capture (CML 1), initial feasibility assessment (CML 2), and trade space exploration (CML 3). Methods used for each CML are presented, and the key team roles are described from two points of view: innovative methods and technical expertise. A-Team roles for providing innovative methods include the facilitator, study lead, and assistant study lead. A-Team roles for providing technical expertise include the architect, lead systems engineer, and integration engineer. In addition to these key roles, each A-Team study is uniquely staffed to match the study topic and scope including subject matter experts, scientists, technologists, flight and instrument systems engineers, and program managers as needed. Advanced analysis and collaborative engineering tools (e.g. cost, science traceability, mission design, knowledge capture, study and analysis support infrastructure) are also under development for use in A-Team studies and will be discussed briefly. The A-Team facilities provide a constructive environment for innovative ideas from all aspects of mission formulation to eliminate isolated studies and come together early in the development cycle when they can provide the biggest impact. This paper provides an overview of the A-Team, its study processes, roles, methods, tools and facilities.

Symbiosis: An Evolutionary Innovator.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Case, Emily

2003-01-01

Defines symbiosis and describes the connection between symbiosis and evolution, how it is described in science textbooks, and genetic variability. Discusses educational policy and science curriculum content. (YDS)

Evolutionary changes of Hox genes and relevant regulatory factors provide novel insights into mammalian morphological modifications.

PubMed

Li, Kui; Sun, Xiaohui; Chen, Meixiu; Sun, Yingying; Tian, Ran; Wang, Zhengfei; Xu, Shixia; Yang, Guang

2018-01-01

The diversity of body plans of mammals accelerates the innovation of lifestyles and the extensive adaptation to different habitats, including terrestrial, aerial and aquatic habitats. However, the genetic basis of those phenotypic modifications, which have occurred during mammalian evolution, remains poorly explored. In the present study, we synthetically surveyed the evolutionary pattern of Hox clusters that played a powerful role in the morphogenesis along the head-tail axis of animal embryos and the main regulatory factors (Mll, Bmi1 and E2f6) that control the expression of Hox genes. A deflected density of repetitive elements and lineage-specific radical mutations of Mll have been determined in marine mammals with morphological changes, suggesting that evolutionary changes may alter Hox gene expression in these lineages, leading to the morphological modification of these lineages. Although no positive selection was detected at certain ancestor nodes of lineages, the increased ω values of Hox genes implied the relaxation of functional constraints of these genes during the mammalian evolutionary process. More importantly, 49 positively-selected sites were identified in mammalian lineages with phenotypic modifications, indicating adaptive evolution acting on Hox genes and regulatory factors. In addition, 3 parallel amino acid substitutions in some Hox genes were examined in marine mammals, which might be responsible for their streamlined body. © 2017 The Authors. Integrative Zoology published by International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Segmental Duplications in Euchromatic Regions of Human Chromosome 5: A Source of Evolutionary Instability and Transcriptional Innovation

PubMed Central

Courseaux, Anouk; Richard, Florence; Grosgeorge, Josiane; Ortola, Christine; Viale, Agnes; Turc-Carel, Claude; Dutrillaux, Bernard; Gaudray, Patrick; Nahon, Jean-Louis

2003-01-01

Recent analyses of the structure of pericentromeric and subtelomeric regions have revealed that these particular regions of human chromosomes are often composed of blocks of duplicated genomic segments that have been associated with rapid evolutionary turnover among the genomes of closely related primates. In the present study, we show that euchromatic regions of human chromosome 5—5p14, 5p13, 5q13, 5q15–5q21—also display such an accumulation of segmental duplications. The structure, organization and evolution of those primate-specific sequences were studied in detail by combining in silico and comparative FISH analyses on human, chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutang, macaca, and capuchin chromosomes. Our results lend support to a two-step model of transposition duplication in the euchromatic regions, with a founder insertional event at the time of divergence between Platyrrhini and Catarrhini (25–35 million years ago) and an apparent burst of inter- and intrachromosomal duplications in the Hominidae lineage. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis suggests that the chronology and, likely, molecular mechanisms, differ regarding the region of primary insertion—euchromatic versus pericentromeric regions. Lastly, we show that as their counterparts located near the heterochromatic region, the euchromatic segmental duplications have consistently reshaped their region of insertion during primate evolution, creating putative mosaic genes, and they are obvious candidates for causing ectopic rearrangements that have contributed to evolutionary/genomic instability. [Supplemental material is available online at www.genome.org. The following individuals kindly provided reagents, samples, or unpublished information as indicated in the paper: D. Le Paslier, A. McKenzie, J. Melki, C. Sargent, J. Scharf and S. Selig.] PMID:12618367

Woodpeckers and Diamonds: Some Aspects of Evolutionary Convergence in Astrobiology.

PubMed

Ćirković, Milan M

2018-05-01

Jared Diamond's argument against extraterrestrial intelligence from evolutionary contingency is subjected to critical scrutiny. As with the earlier arguments of George Gaylord Simpson, it contains critical loopholes that lead to its unraveling. From the point of view of the contemporary debates about biological evolution, perhaps the most contentious aspect of such arguments is their atemporal and gradualist usage of the space of all possible biological forms (morphospace). Such usage enables the translation of the adaptive value of a trait into the probability of its evolving. This procedure, it is argued, is dangerously misleading. Contra Diamond, there are reasons to believe that convergence not only plays an important role in the history of life, but also profoundly improves the prospects for search for extraterrestrial intelligence success. Some further considerations about the role of observation selection effects and our scaling of complexity in the great debate about contingency and convergence are given. Taken together, these considerations militate against the pessimism of Diamond's conclusion, and suggest that the search for traces and manifestations of extraterrestrial intelligences is far from forlorn. Key Words: Astrobiology-Evolution-Contingency-Convergence-Complex life-SETI-Major evolutionary transitions-Selection effects-Jared Diamond. Astrobiology 18, 491-502.

Communications system evolutionary scenarios for Martian SEI support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kwong, Paulman W.; Bruno, Ronald C.

1992-01-01

In the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) mission scenarios, expanding human presence is the primary driver for high data rate Mars-Earth communications. To support an expanding human presence, the data rate requirement will be gradual, following the phased implementation over time of the evolving SEI mission. Similarly, the growth and evolution of the space communications infrastructure to serve this requirement will also be gradual to efficiently exploit the useful life of the installed communications infrastructure and to ensure backward compatibility with long-term users. In work conducted over the past year, a number of alternatives for supporting high data rate Mars-Earth communications have been analyzed with respect to their compatibility with gradual evolution of the space communications infrastructure. The alternatives include RF, millimeter wave (MMW), and optical implementations, and incorporate both surface and space-based relay terminals in the Mars and Earth regions. Each alternative is evaluated with respect to its ability to efficiently meet a projected growth in data rate over time, its technology readiness, and its capability to satisfy the key conditions and constraints imposed by evolutionary transition. As a result of this analysis, a set of attractive alternative communications architectures have been identified and described, and a road map is developed that illustrates the most rational and beneficial evolutionary paths for the communications infrastructure.

Evolutionary analysis of FAM83H in vertebrates.

PubMed

Huang, Wushuang; Yang, Mei; Wang, Changning; Song, Yaling

2017-01-01

Amelogenesis imperfecta is a group of disorders causing abnormalities in enamel formation in various phenotypes. Many mutations in the FAM83H gene have been identified to result in autosomal dominant hypocalcified amelogenesis imperfecta in different populations. However, the structure and function of FAM83H and its pathological mechanism have yet to be further explored. Evolutionary analysis is an alternative for revealing residues or motifs that are important for protein function. In the present study, we chose 50 vertebrate species in public databases representative of approximately 230 million years of evolution, including 1 amphibian, 2 fishes, 7 sauropsidas and 40 mammals, and we performed evolutionary analysis on the FAM83H protein. By sequence alignment, conserved residues and motifs were indicated, and the loss of important residues and motifs of five special species (Malayan pangolin, platypus, minke whale, nine-banded armadillo and aardvark) was discovered. A phylogenetic time tree showed the FAM83H divergent process. Positive selection sites in the C-terminus suggested that the C-terminus of FAM83H played certain adaptive roles during evolution. The results confirmed some important motifs reported in previous findings and identified some new highly conserved residues and motifs that need further investigation. The results suggest that the C-terminus of FAM83H contain key conserved regions critical to enamel formation and calcification.

Innovation under cap-and-trade programs

PubMed Central

Taylor, Margaret R.

2012-01-01

Policies incentivizing the private sector to reach its innovative potential in “clean” technologies are likely to play a key role in achieving climate stabilization. This article explores the relationship between innovation and cap-and-trade programs (CTPs)—the world's most prominent climate policy instrument—through empirical evidence drawn from successful CTPs for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide control. The article shows that before trading began for these CTPs, analysts overestimated the value of allowances in a pattern suggestive of the frequent a priori overestimation of the compliance costs of regulation. When lower-than-expected allowance prices were observed, in part because of the unexpected range of abatement approaches used in the lead-up to trading, emissions sources chose to bank allowances in significant numbers and reassess abatement approaches going forward. In addition, commercially oriented inventive activity declined for emissions-reducing technologies with a wide range of costs and technical characteristics, dropping from peaks before the establishment of CTPs to nadirs a few years into trading. This finding is consistent with innovators deciding during trading that their research and development investments should be reduced, based on assessments of future market conditions under the relevant CTPs. The article concludes with a discussion of the results and their implications for innovation and climate policy. PMID:22411797

Innovation under cap-and-trade programs.

PubMed

Taylor, Margaret R

2012-03-27

Policies incentivizing the private sector to reach its innovative potential in "clean" technologies are likely to play a key role in achieving climate stabilization. This article explores the relationship between innovation and cap-and-trade programs (CTPs)--the world's most prominent climate policy instrument--through empirical evidence drawn from successful CTPs for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide control. The article shows that before trading began for these CTPs, analysts overestimated the value of allowances in a pattern suggestive of the frequent a priori overestimation of the compliance costs of regulation. When lower-than-expected allowance prices were observed, in part because of the unexpected range of abatement approaches used in the lead-up to trading, emissions sources chose to bank allowances in significant numbers and reassess abatement approaches going forward. In addition, commercially oriented inventive activity declined for emissions-reducing technologies with a wide range of costs and technical characteristics, dropping from peaks before the establishment of CTPs to nadirs a few years into trading. This finding is consistent with innovators deciding during trading that their research and development investments should be reduced, based on assessments of future market conditions under the relevant CTPs. The article concludes with a discussion of the results and their implications for innovation and climate policy.

Evolutionary perspectives on ageing.

PubMed

Reichard, Martin

2017-10-01

From an evolutionary perspective, ageing is a decrease in fitness with chronological age - expressed by an increase in mortality risk and/or decline in reproductive success and mediated by deterioration of functional performance. While this makes ageing intuitively paradoxical - detrimental to individual fitness - evolutionary theory offers answers as to why ageing has evolved. In this review, I first briefly examine the classic evolutionary theories of ageing and their empirical tests, and highlight recent findings that have advanced our understanding of the evolution of ageing (condition-dependent survival, positive pleiotropy). I then provide an overview of recent theoretical extensions and modifications that accommodate those new discoveries. I discuss the role of indeterminate (asymptotic) growth for lifetime increases in fecundity and ageing trajectories. I outline alternative views that challenge a universal existence of senescence - namely the lack of a germ-soma distinction and the ability of tissue replacement and retrogression to younger developmental stages in modular organisms. I argue that rejuvenation at the organismal level is plausible, but includes a return to a simple developmental stage. This may exempt a particular genotype from somatic defects but, correspondingly, removes any information acquired during development. A resolution of the question of whether a rejuvenated individual is the same entity is central to the recognition of whether current evolutionary theories of ageing, with their extensions and modifications, can explain the patterns of ageing across the Tree of Life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neurocomputational Consequences of Evolutionary Connectivity Changes in Perisylvian Language Cortex.

PubMed

Schomers, Malte R; Garagnani, Max; Pulvermüller, Friedemann

2017-03-15

The human brain sets itself apart from that of its primate relatives by specific neuroanatomical features, especially the strong linkage of left perisylvian language areas (frontal and temporal cortex) by way of the arcuate fasciculus (AF). AF connectivity has been shown to correlate with verbal working memory-a specifically human trait providing the foundation for language abilities-but a mechanistic explanation of any related causal link between anatomical structure and cognitive function is still missing. Here, we provide a possible explanation and link, by using neurocomputational simulations in neuroanatomically structured models of the perisylvian language cortex. We compare networks mimicking key features of cortical connectivity in monkeys and humans, specifically the presence of relatively stronger higher-order "jumping links" between nonadjacent perisylvian cortical areas in the latter, and demonstrate that the emergence of working memory for syllables and word forms is a functional consequence of this structural evolutionary change. We also show that a mere increase of learning time is not sufficient, but that this specific structural feature, which entails higher connectivity degree of relevant areas and shorter sensorimotor path length, is crucial. These results offer a better understanding of specifically human anatomical features underlying the language faculty and their evolutionary selection advantage. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Why do humans have superior language abilities compared to primates? Recently, a uniquely human neuroanatomical feature has been demonstrated in the strength of the arcuate fasciculus (AF), a fiber pathway interlinking the left-hemispheric language areas. Although AF anatomy has been related to linguistic skills, an explanation of how this fiber bundle may support language abilities is still missing. We use neuroanatomically structured computational models to investigate the consequences of evolutionary changes in language area

The Evolutionary Innovation of Nutritional Symbioses in Leaf-Cutter Ants

PubMed Central

Aylward, Frank O.; Currie, Cameron R.; Suen, Garret

2012-01-01

Fungus-growing ants gain access to nutrients stored in plant biomass through their association with a mutualistic fungus they grow for food. This 50 million-year-old obligate mutualism likely facilitated some of these species becoming dominant Neotropical herbivores that can achieve immense colony sizes. Recent culture-independent investigations have shed light on the conversion of plant biomass into nutrients within ant fungus gardens, revealing that this process involves both the fungal cultivar and a symbiotic community of bacteria including Enterobacter, Klebsiella, and Pantoea species. Moreover, the genome sequences of the leaf-cutter ants Atta cephalotes and Acromyrmex echinatior have provided key insights into how this symbiosis has shaped the evolution of these ants at a genetic level. Here we summarize the findings of recent research on the microbial community dynamics within fungus-growing ant fungus gardens and discuss their implications for this ancient symbiosis. PMID:26467948

Supporting and Scaling Change: Lessons from the First Round of the Investing in Innovation (i3) Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Kim; Petersen, Julie

2011-01-01

It is widely acknowledged that innovation will be necessary to dramatically improve public services in America. But innovation in the public sector doesn't happen in a vacuum; innovation happens at the nexus of policy, research, capital, and practice. This project looks at one case study--education--by analyzing some of the key aspects of an…

Assessment and diffusion of medical innovations in France: an overview.

PubMed

Dubromel, Amélie; Geffroy, Loïc; Aulagner, Gilles; Dussart, Claude

2018-01-01

Background: In France, a significant part of health expenditure is publicly funding. This put a heavy burden on society. In an economic context requiring tight control of public spending, it seems relevant to control the diffusion of medical innovations. That is why health technology assessment is subject to an increasing interest at national level for management and approval decisions. This article provides an overview of the assessment and diffusion of medical innovation in France. Method: The data are extracted from French authorities or organisations websites and documents and from French legislative texts. In addition, regarding discussion, a search in MEDLINE database was carried out. Results: An overview of the assessment and diffusion of medical innovation in France is given by presenting the different types of medical innovations according to French health system definition (I); introducing French authorities participating to health technology assessment and describe assessment procedures of medical innovations (II); and giving details about market access process of innovative health product in France (III). Key opportunities and challenges of medical innovation assessment and diffusion in France are discussed at the end of this article. Conclusion: In France, medical innovation is considered as a crucial component for quality of care and performance of healthcare system. The aim of health technology assessment is to promote a secure and timely access to innovation for patients. Nevertheless, it appears necessary to improve regulatory mechanisms.