Using Internet Browser’s Plug-in as Memento for Participant

I explored how people share online video. Sharing content online is mundane, hectic and done between other tasks. Remembering the content and how it was shared can be hard. Also, builtin browsing histories have limited search capacity. So, I asked participants to install a plug-in of their choice. With this tool, they can more easily recall what they were doing at the time, and how and why they shared a video. The results from my interviews suggest the use of technology enabled a richer and thicker response from participants

Architectural and genetic characterization of Hydrangea aspera subsp. aspera Kawakami group, H. aspera subsp. sargentiana and their hybrids

Hydrangea macrophylla (Thunb.) Ser. and H. paniculata Sieb. are the two most economically important species within the genus Hydrangea, and have been used as ornamental garden plants for a long time. However, other species such as H. aspera D. Don are of horticultural interest, particularly for the color of their inflorescences and plant shape. This species is composed of four sub-species and has previously been characterized both genetically and morphologically. The previous morphological characterization was qualitative, but was based mainly on leaf and inflorescence parameters outlined by UPOV, and provided little information about plant shape. To better characterize the shape of H. aspera, an architectural analysis was applied to the two most distantly related sub-species at the cytogenetic level: subsp. sargentiana (Redher) E.M. McClint. (clone 188) and subsp. aspera Kawakami group (clone 352). This method made it possible to reveal significant differences between these clones, both at the axis and the growth unit (GU) scale, in agreement with the high level of genetic differentiation (Jaccard dissimilarity index equal to 0.97) revealed between the two clones by Inter simple sequence repeats markers. Because this method is difficult to apply to a large population of individuals, a qualitative architectural characterization was tested on ten progenies derived from hybridization of the two clones, on the basis of their most discriminating architectural components. The hybrid nature of the progeny was confirmed by the architectural analysis. The architectural components of the hybrids are therefore a combination of those of the parents, with a predominance of clone 352, the female parent. Architectural differences between hybrids were clearly revealed by the length of the first vegetative GU (VGU1), the presence or the absence of VGU2 and the length of the floral GU of the A2 axis, and GU branching, allowing us to define five architectural profiles. These differences are supported by the average Jaccard dissimilarity index (0.33). This method, based on a qualitative description of the main architectural components of the plant, proved to be useful for characterizing the shape of H. aspera subsp. sargentiana, and subsp. aspera Kawakami group, and their hybrids. It could be extended to other sub-species of H. aspera and to their respective hybrids, providing an efficient tool for better characterizing genetic resources of H. aspera

Conserved but flexible modularity in the zebrafish skull: implications for craniofacial evolvability

Morphological variation is the outward manifestation of development and provides fodder for adaptive evolution. Because of this contingency, evolution is often thought to be biased by developmental processes and functional interactions among structures, which are statistically detectable through forms of covariance among traits. This can take the form of substructures of integrated traits, termed modules, which together comprise patterns of variational modularity. While modularity is essential to an understanding of evolutionary potential, biologists currently have little understanding of its genetic basis and its temporal dynamics over generations. To address these open questions, we compared patterns of craniofacial modularity among laboratory strains, defined mutant lines and a wild population of zebrafish ( ). Our findings suggest that relatively simple genetic changes can have profound effects on covariance, without greatly affecting craniofacial shape. Moreover, we show that instead of completely deconstructing the covariance structure among sets of traits, mutations cause shifts among seemingly latent patterns of modularity suggesting that the skull may be predisposed towards a limited number of phenotypes. This new insight may serve to greatly increase the evolvability of a population by providing a range of 'preset' patterns of modularity that can appear readily and allow for rapid evolution

Candidate genes for temporal lobe epilepsy: a replication study

The objective of this study is to replicate previously published results regarding the involvement of several susceptibility genes in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE): interleukin 1β (IL-1β), interleukin 1β (IL-1α), interleukin 1RA (IL-1RA), apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and prodynorphin (PDYN). We used a case-control approach comparing several polymorphisms within these candidate genes between unrelated TLE patients and matched controls. We were thus able to confirm the role of ApoE, IL-1α and IL-1RA genes in TLE disease, but failed to confirm the involvement of IL-1β and PDYN. This failure should be interpreted with caution, as this may be due to the small size of our study groups and the resultant lack of statistical powe

Quantitative trait loci for flowering time and inflorescence architecture in rose

The pattern of development of the inflorescence is an important characteristic in ornamental plants, where the economic value is in the flower. The genetic determinism of inflorescence architecture is poorly understood, especially in woody perennial plants with long life cycles. Our objective was to study the genetic determinism of this characteristic in rose. The genetic architectures of 10 traits associated with the developmental timing and architecture of the inflorescence, and with flower production were investigated in a F 1 diploid garden rose population, based on intensive measurements of phenological and morphological traits in a field. There were substantial genetic variations in inflorescence development traits, with broad-sense heritabilities ranging from 0.82 to 0.93. Genotypic correlations were significant for most (87%) pairs of traits, suggesting either pleiotropy or tight linkage among loci. However, non-significant and low correlations between some pairs of traits revealed two independent developmental pathways controlling inflorescence architecture: (1) the production of inflorescence nodes increased the number of branches and the production of flowers; (2) internode elongation connected with frequent branching increased the number of branches and the production of flowers. QTL mapping identified six common QTL regions (cQTL) for inflorescence developmental traits. A QTL for flowering time and many inflorescence traits were mapped to the same cQTL. Several candidate genes that are known to control inflorescence developmental traits and gibberellin signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana were mapped in rose. Rose orthologues of FLOWERING LOCUS T (RoFT), TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (RoKSN), SPINDLY (RoSPINDLY), DELLA (RoDELLA), and SLEEPY (RoSLEEPY) co-localized with cQTL for relevant traits. This is the first report on the genetic basis of complex inflorescence developmental traits in rose

Light signaling and plant responses to blue and UV radiations – Perspectives for applications in horticulture

Ultra-violet (UV) and blue radiations are perceived by plants through several photoreceptors. They regulate a large range of processes throughout plant life. Along with red radiations, they are involved in diverse photomorphogenic responses, e.g., seedling development, branching or flowering. In this paper, we present an overview of UV- and blue-radiations signaling pathways in some key physiological processes and describe effects of plant exposure to these wavelengths on phenotype as well as on contents in useful metabolites and resistance to bio aggressors. Taking these knowledge into account, we finally discuss possible applications of the use of such radiations to improve plant production in horticulture

Identification of relevant morphological, topological and geometrical variables to characterize the architecture of rose bushes in relation to plant shape

Plant shape is a major component of the visual quality of ornamental plants. It is the result of their architectural construction. It can be analyzed by breaking down the plant into entities (axis, metamer) that can be characterized morphologically, topologically and geometrically. Eight bush rose cultivars were selected for their contrasting shapes (from upright to spreading) and their architecture was digitized at two scales, the plant and the axis, differentiating between short and long axes. Thirty-five variables were measured. Measurement acquisition is nevertheless tedious and time-consuming and not really compatible with an analysis involving a large number of individuals. To diminish these constraints, our approach aimed at reducing the number of variables measured, limiting ourselves to the ones most relevant for describing the architecture. A selection of variables was made using the following criteria: to represent the different categories of variables describing the plant architecture; to explain the variability observed; to present the weakest correlation between them. Seven variables were selected: at the plant scale, the number of determined axes, the number of long axes of order 3 and the branching order number; at the long axis scale, the number of metamers and the length of the axis; and at the short axis scale, the basal diameter of the axis and the branching angle of the cord in relation to the vertical axis. Four architectural profiles were differentiated based on these seven variables. Moreover, a high correlation was revealed between some of these architectural variables and a shape descriptor

3D phenotyping and QTL analysis of a complex character: rose bush architecture

Plant shape, and thereby plant architecture, is a major component of the visual quality of ornamental plants. We have been developing a new method for analyzing the entire plant architecture by 3D digitalization that allows an almost exhaustive description of rose bush architecture and generates a large number of variables, many of them inaccessible manually. We carried out a QTL analysis using this original phenotyping method. In order to evaluate a broader allelic variability as well as the effect of the genetic background on QTL detection, we used two connected, segregating, recurrent blooming populations. The number of QTLs per variable varied from three for the number of determined axes (NbDetA) to seven for the branching angle of order 2 long axes (AngLA2), the two populations taken together. Five new QTLs, located on the linkage groups (LGs) 2, 6, and 7, were detected for the branching angle of axes, and the QTL located on LG7 co-localized with RhBRC1, a branching repressor. Branching and stem elongation QTLs also co-located with RhBRC1, suggesting its pleiotropic nature. Year-specific QTLs were also revealed, that explained the genotype × year interactions observed for the number of order 3 short axes (NbSA3) and AngLA2 from a genetic point of view. We also evidenced an effect of the genetic background on QTL detection. This new knowledge should help to better reason the genetic improvement programs for rose bush architecture and, therefore, rose bush shape

Linkage mapping of benign familial infantile convulsions (BFIC) to chromosome 19q

Benign familial infantile convulsions (BFIC) are an autosomal-dominant epileptic syndrome characterized by an age of onset within the first year of life. Although they were first reported in families of Italian descent, BFIC have also been described in non-Italian families. We have mapped the BFIC gene to chromosome 19 by linkage analysis in five Italian families with a maximum two-point lod score of 6.36 at D19S114; maximum multipoint lod scores >8 were obtained for the interval D19S250-D19S245. BFIC are therefore the third idiopathic partial epileptic syndrome to be mapped on the human genom

Sharing or not sharing online video on social media

The phenomenon of the social web (Web 2.0) and the proliferation of devices that are always connected to the Internet, such as smartphones, are transforming Internet studies. Nowadays, studying online and offline activities separately is unthinkable, since the Internet plays such a great part of everyday life (boyd & Ellison, 2007). The same is true about computer and telephone. For example, user can start an email on their smart phone and finish it on their computer. Reflecting on abundance of online audio-visual content, several questions may be raised: How certain video become viral? Why do people want to share certain type of video? For this paper, I will use my current work for my PhD thesis that explores the role of online videos in interpersonal communications and groups of users. Videos are an unavoidable Internet phenomenon (Purcell, 2010). Videos move from one site to another, from computer to phone, they are spread through word of mouth, and broadcast on television. This paper examines how people decide to post a video on their Facebook wall or friend’s wall. It shows that it can be done to share information, a feeling or an experience. Each individual has a unique practice and motivation for sharing online video, whether through a social networking site, by email, showing it directly to a friend and family member. This paper aims to better understand why ordinary people share online videos via social networking sites. The data used in this paper is from semi-structured and open interviews. I proceed by conducting three interviews per participant, allowing the construction of a dialogue. During the first interview, I asked participants to simply describe their everyday experiences related to online videos. A second interview allows me to elaborate on some details. The last meeting is directly inspired by the notion of reflective practices (Finlay, 2002) and I make a first analysis of previous meetings. Thus, researcher and participant discuss the initial interpretations and the research process