1. |
- Gershtein, Eli Crater, et al.
(author)
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High-resolution mapping and analysis of shiny grooved rock surfaces: The case study of the Skiles Shelter, Lower Pecos, Texas
- 2017
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In: Quaternary International. - 1040-6182. ; 439, s. 69-82
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Shiny grooved rock surfaces found in archaeological sites are common across west Texas and the Southwest (U.S.). In most cases they are cursorily described, with very little in terms of detailed characterization and analysis. Interpretations regarding the meaning of the grooves include fertility rituals and functional use (e.g., bone tool or axe polishing), while the formation of the shiny surface has been attributed to lichen, foot or hand traffic, and hide or plant processing. In the Lower Pecos region (Texas), such remains are common in rockshelters. In several cases, there is only one such surface at a prominent location within the site, commonly associated with bedrock features (mortars, slicks, etc.). We used Structure from Motion (SfM) to document, characterize and analyze more than 700 elongated grooves and incisions concentrated on one shiny surface, at Skiles Shelter. All were mapped, and the larger grooves were also measured and studied using macro-lens and microscope photos. The direction and sequence of engraving were reconstructed, with evidence for most grooves and incisions being earlier than the shiny cover. The incorporation of small pits with the engravings was established. Although organic residues were retrieved from several bedrock features at the site, no distinct chemical signature was identified from the shiny surface. We could not ascertain the origin of the shiny crust, and based on other works and our observations we suggest that hand or foot traffic, hide working and plant fiber processing are the most likely explanations.
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2. |
- Jones, Benedict C, et al.
(author)
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To which world regions does the valence-dominance model of social perception apply?
- 2021
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In: Nature Human Behaviour. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3374. ; 5:1, s. 159-169
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Over the past 10 years, Oosterhof and Todorov's valence-dominance model has emerged as the most prominent account of how people evaluate faces on social dimensions. In this model, two dimensions (valence and dominance) underpin social judgements of faces. Because this model has primarily been developed and tested in Western regions, it is unclear whether these findings apply to other regions. We addressed this question by replicating Oosterhof and Todorov's methodology across 11 world regions, 41 countries and 11,570 participants. When we used Oosterhof and Todorov's original analysis strategy, the valence-dominance model generalized across regions. When we used an alternative methodology to allow for correlated dimensions, we observed much less generalization. Collectively, these results suggest that, while the valence-dominance model generalizes very well across regions when dimensions are forced to be orthogonal, regional differences are revealed when we use different extraction methods and correlate and rotate the dimension reduction solution. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: The stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 5 November 2018. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7611443.v1 .
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3. |
- Osoegawa, Kazutoyo, et al.
(author)
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Quality control project of NGS HLA genotyping for the 17th International HLA and Immunogenetics Workshop
- 2019
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In: Human Immunology. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC. - 0198-8859 .- 1879-1166. ; 80:4, s. 228-236
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The 17th International HLA and Immunogenetics Workshop (IHIW) organizers conducted a Pilot Study (PS) in which 13 laboratories (15 groups) participated to assess the performance of the various sequencing library preparation protocols, NGS platforms and software in use prior to the workshop. The organizers sent 50 cell lines to each of the 15 groups, scored the 15 independently generated sets of NGS HLA genotyping data, and generated "consensus" HLA genotypes for each of the 50 cell lines. Proficiency Testing (PT) was subsequently organized using four sets of 24 cell lines, selected from 48 of 50 PS cell lines, to validate the quality of NGS HLA typing data from the 34 participating IHIW laboratories. Completion of the PT program with a minimum score of 95% concordance at the HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 loci satisfied the requirements to submit NGS HLA typing data for the 17th IHIW projects. Together, these PS and PT efforts constituted the 17th IHIW Quality Control project. Overall PT concordance rates for HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, HLA-DPA1, HLA-DPB1, HLA-DQA1, HLA-DQB1, HLA-DRB1, HLA-DRB3, HLA-DRB4 and HLA-DRB5 were 98.1%, 97.0% and 98.1%, 99.0%, 98.6%, 98.8%, 97.6%, 96.0%, 99.1%, 90.0% and 91.7%, respectively. Across all loci, the majority of the discordance was due to allele dropout. The high cost of NGS HLA genotyping per experiment likely prevented the retyping of initially failed HLA loci. Despite the high HLA genotype concordance rates of the software, there remains room for improvement in the assembly of more accurate consensus DNA sequences by NGS HLA genotyping software.
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4. |
- Stuart-Smith, Rick D., et al.
(author)
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Integrating abundance and functional traits reveals new global hotspots of fish diversity
- 2013
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 501:7468, s. 539-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Species richness has dominated our view of global biodiversity patterns for centuries(1,2). The dominance of this paradigm is reflected in the focus by ecologists and conservation managers on richness and associated occurrence-based measures for understanding drivers of broad-scale diversity patterns and as a biological basis for management(3,4). However, this is changing rapidly, as it is now recognized that not only the number of species but the species present, their phenotypes and the number of individuals of each species are critical in determining the nature and strength of the relationships between species diversity and a range of ecological functions (such as biomass production and nutrient cycling)(5). Integrating these measures should provide a more relevant representation of global biodiversity patterns in terms of ecological functions than that provided by simple species counts. Here we provide comparisons of a traditional global biodiversity distribution measure based on richness with metrics that incorporate species abundances and functional traits. We use data from standardized quantitative surveys of 2,473 marine reef fish species at 1,844 sites, spanning 133 degrees of latitude from all ocean basins, to identify new diversity hotspots in some temperate regions and the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean. These relate to high diversity of functional traits amongst individuals in the community (calculated using Rao's Q(6)), and differ from previously reported patterns in functional diversity and richness for terrestrial animals, which emphasize species-rich tropical regions only(7,8). There is a global trend for greater evenness in the number of individuals of each species, across the reef fish species observed at sites ('community evenness'), at higher latitudes. This contributes to the distribution of functional diversity hotspots and contrasts with well-known latitudinal gradients in richness(2,4). Our findings suggest that the contribution of species diversity to a range of ecosystem functions varies over large scales, and imply that in tropical regions, which have higher numbers of species, each species contributes proportionally less to community-level ecological processes on average than species in temperate regions. Metrics of ecological function usefully complement metrics of species diversity in conservation management, including when identifying planning priorities and when tracking changes to biodiversity values.
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5. |
- Stuart-Smith, Rick D., et al.
(author)
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The potential of trait-based approaches to contribute to marine conservation
- 2015
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In: Marine Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0308-597X .- 1872-9460. ; 51, s. 148-150
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The value of diversity metrics to represent ecological communities and inform broad-scale conservation objectives and policy has often been subject to debate and uncertainty [1,2]. In practice, diversity metrics are important in setting management and conservation priorities, just as economic indices contribute to global monetary and financial policies. Thus, key challenges for ecologists are to identify new ways to view and summarise patterns in biodiversity and improve on the metrics available for management purposes. In a recent paper on functional diversity patterns in reef fishes [3], we highlighted the potential of new insights gained from functional trait-based approaches to inform marine management, stressing the need to develop and refine biodiversity measures that are linked to ecology (rather than taxonomy). We used a unique, fisheries-independent reef fish identity and abundance dataset, collected using standardised methods from equatorial to high latitude regions all over the world, to provide the first global view of the distribution of individuals amongst species (including a measure of evenness) and functional traits amongst marine communities. A recent paper by Robinson et al. [4] published in Marine Policy criticised the use of our evenness index as a measure of biodiversity, and questioned the use of functional trait-based metrics derived from surveys of standardised areas for decisions relating to broad-scale management of marine systems. In this paper we respond to Robinson et al. and rebut their claims related to sampling bias and broad-scale applicability of trait-based approaches.
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