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In this paper, we show that early interaction can be seen as comprising of strands of coordinated activity on multiple levels and timescales. In tracing the development of such multilayered organization from an embodied and situated perspective, we underscore the role of the reliable presence of the structured environment, an enacted niche, supporting the segregation and integration of participatory interaction strands. This perspective allows us to study the development of social coordination not only in terms of development of individual skills but, crucially, as a change of participatory emergent patterns, a transformation in engagement. We illustrate this approach with some results from the collaborative research project on Early Semantic Development (EASE). Using qualitative microanalysis combined with quantitative dynamical time series analyses, we were able to demonstrate several layers of such organization: from local forms of coordination, such as basic informational coupling within a modality, and the emergence of specific social affordances, to more global co-action structures such as affect imbued ‘action arcs’ – dynamic action contours with a beginning, build-up, climax and resolution, co-enacted by participants. Pointing to future work, we underscore the potential of these global structures to contribute to the emergence of more complex interactions, such as composite activities within ‘pragmatic frames’, narratives, or language.

The equilibrium of sex ratios in sexually reproducing species is often disrupted by various environmental and genetic factors, including endosymbionts like Wolbachia . In this study, we explore the highly female-biased sex ratio observed in the flea beetle, Altica lythri , and its underlying mechanisms. Ancient hybridization events between Altica species have led to mitochondrial DNA introgression, resulting in distinct mitochondrial haplotypes that go along with different Wolbachia infections (HT1-wLytA1, HT1*- uninfected, HT2-wLytA2, and HT3-wLytB). Notably, beetles with some haplotypes exclusively produce female offspring, suggesting potential Wolbachia -induced phenomena such as feminization of genetic males. However, the observed female bias could also be a consequence of the ancient hybridization resulting in nuclear-cytoplasmic conflicts between introgressed mtDNA and nuclear genes. Through transcriptomic analysis and the program SEX-DETector, we established markers for genotypic sex differentiation for A. lythri , enabling genetic sexing via qPCR. Our findings suggest that feminization of genetic males is contributing to the skewed sex ratios, highlighting the intricate dynamics of sex determination and reproductive strategies in this flea beetle. This study provides valuable insights into the dynamics of genetic conflicts, endosymbionts, and sex ratios, revealing the novel phenomenon of genetic male feminization in the flea beetle A. lythri ., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024 The Author(s). Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Reproduction-manipulating bacteria like Wolbachia can shift sex ratios in insects towards females, but skewed sex ratios may also arise from genetic conflicts. The flea beetle Altica lythri harbors three main mtDNA strains that are coupled to three different Wolbachia infections. Depending on the mtDNA types, the females produce either offspring with a balanced sex ratio or exclusively daughters. To obtain markers that can monitor when sex bias arises in the beetle's ontogeny, we elucidated the sex determination cascade of A. lythri. We established a RT-PCR method based on length variants of dsx (doublesex) transcripts to determine the sex of morphologically indistinguishable eggs and larvae. In females of one mtDNA type (HT1/HT1*) known to produce only daughters, male offspring were already missing at the egg stage while for females of another type (HT2), the dsx splice variants revealed a balanced sex ratio among eggs and larvae. Our data suggest that the sex determination cascade in A. lythri is initiated by maternally transmitted female-specific tra (transformer) mRNA as primary signal. This tra mRNA seems to be involved in a positive feedback loop that maintains the production of the female splice variant, as known for female offspring in Tribolium castaneum. The translation of the maternally transmitted female tra mRNA must be inhibited in male offspring, but the underlying primary genetic signal remains to be identified. We discuss which differences between the mtDNA types can influence sex determination and lead to the skewed sex ratio of HT1., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

When young children learn to use language, they start to use their hands in co-verbal gesturing. There are, however, considerable differences between children, and it is not completely understood what these individual differences are due to. We studied how children at 4 years of age employ speech and iconic gestures to convey meaning in different kinds of spatial event descriptions, and how this relates to their cognitive abilities. Focusing on spontaneous illustrations of actions, we applied a semantic feature (SF) analysis to characterize combinations of speech and gesture meaning and related them to the child's visual-spatial abilities or abstract/concrete reasoning abilities (measured using the standardized SON-R 2 1 2 - 7 test). Results show that children with higher cognitive abilities convey significantly more meaning via gesture and less solely via speech. These findings suggest that young children's use of cospeech representational gesturing is positively related to their mental representation and reasoning abilities., (© 2021 The Authors. Cognitive Science published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Cognitive Science Society (CSS).)

Conformationally strained trans- cyclooctenes (TCOs) engage in bioorthogonal reactions with tetrazines with second order rate constants that can exceed 10 6 M -1 s -1 . The goal of this study was to provide insight into the stability of TCO reagents and to develop methods for stabilizing TCO reagents for long-term storage. The radical inhibitor Trolox suppresses TCO isomerization under high thiol concentrations and TCO shelf-life can be greatly extended by protecting them as stable Ag(I) metal complexes. 1 H NMR studies show that Ag-complexation is thermodynamically favorable but the kinetics of dissociation are very rapid, and TCO•AgNO 3 complexes are immediately dissociated upon addition of NaCl which is present in high concentration in cell media. The AgNO 3 complex of a highly reactive s-TCO-TAMRA conjugate was shown to label a protein-tetrazine conjugate in live cells with faster kinetics and similar labeling yield relative to a 'traditional' TCO-TAMRA conjugate.

A method of cysteine alkylation using cyclopropenyl ketones is described. Due to the significant release of cyclopropene strain energy, reactions of thiols with cyclopropenyl ketones are both fast and irreversible and give rise to stable conjugate addition adducts. The resulting cyclopropenyl ketones have a low molecular weight and allow for simple attachment of amides via N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS)-esters. While cyclopropenyl ketones do display slow background reactivity toward water, labeling by thiols is much more rapid. The reaction of a cyclopropenyl ketone with glutathione (GSH) proceeds with a rate of 595 M -1 s -1 in PBS at pH 7.4, which is considerably faster than α-halocarbonyl labeling reagents, and competitive with maleimide/thiol couplings. The method has been demonstrated in protein conjugation, and an arylthiolate conjugate was shown to be stable upon prolonged incubation in either GSH or human plasma. Finally, cyclopropenyl ketones were used to create PEG-based hydrogels that are stable to prolonged incubation in a reducing environment.

Agnathans have a globin repertoire that markedly differs from that of jawed (gnathostome) vertebrates. The sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) harbors at least 18 hemoglobin, two myoglobin, two globin X, and one cytoglobin genes. However, agnathan hemoglobins and myoglobins are not orthologous to their cognates in jawed vertebrates. Thus, blood-based O 2 transport and muscle-based O 2 storage proteins emerged twice in vertebrates from a tissue-globin ancestor. Notably, the sea lamprey displays three switches in hemoglobin expression in its life cycle, analogous to hemoglobin switching in vertebrates. To study the functional changes associated with the evolution and ontogenesis of distinct globin types, we determined O 2 binding equilibria, type of quaternary assembly, and nitrite reductase enzymatic activities of one adult (aHb5a) and one embryonic/larval hemoglobin (aHb6), myoglobin (aMb1) and cytoglobin (Cygb) of the sea lamprey. We found clear functional differentiation among globin types expressed at different developmental stages and in different tissues. Cygb and aMb1 have high O 2 affinity and nitrite reductase activity, while the two hemoglobins display low O 2 affinity and nitrite reductase activity. Cygb and aHb6 but not aHb5a show cooperative O 2 binding, correlating with increased stability of dimers, as shown by gel filtration and molecular modeling. The high O 2 -affinity and the lack of cooperativity confirm the identity of the sea lamprey aMb1 as O 2 storage protein of the muscle. The dimeric structure and O 2 -binding properties of sea lamprey and mammalian Cygb were very similar, suggesting a conservation of function since their divergence around 500million years ago., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The bioorthogonal reaction between tetrazines and trans-cyclooctenes is a method for the rapid construction of F-18 probes for PET imaging. Described here is a second generation (18)F-labeling system based on a conformationally strained trans-cyclooctene (sTCO)-a dienophile that is approximately 2 orders of magnitude more reactive than conventional TCO dienophiles. Starting from a readily prepared tosylate precursor, an (18)F labeled sTCO derivative ((18)F-sTCO) could be synthesized in 29.3 +/- 5.1% isolated yield and with high specific activity. Tetrazine ligation was carried out with a cyclic RGD-conjugate of a diphenyl-s-tetrazine analogue (RGD-Tz) chosen from a diene class with an excellent combination of fast reactivity and stability both for the diene as well as the Diels-Alder adduct. For both the tetrazine and the sTCO, mini-PEG spacers were included to enhance solubility and improve the in vivo distribution profile of the resulting probe. Extremely fast reactivity (up to 2.86 x 10(5) M(-1)s(-1) at 25 °C in water) has been observed in kinetic studies in the reaction of sTCO with diphenyl-s-tetrazine derivatives. A kinetic study on sTCO diastereomers in 55:45 MeOH:water showed that the syn-diastereomer displayed slightly faster reactivity than the anti-diastereomer. An (18)F-sTCO conjugate with RGD-Tz demonstrated prominent and persistent tumor uptake in vivo with good tumor-to-background contrast. Unlike most radiolabeled RGD peptides, the tumor uptake of this PET agent increased from 5.3 +/- 0.2% ID/g at 1 h post injection (p.i.), to 8.9 +/- 0.5% ID/g at 4 h p.i., providing evidence for prolonged blood circulation. These findings suggest that tetrazine ligations employing (18)F-sTCO should serve as a powerful and general platform for the rapid construction of peptide or protein derived PET agents.

Background: During development, humans and other jawed vertebrates (Gnathostomata) express distinct hemoglobin genes, resulting in different hemoglobin tetramers. Embryonic and fetal hemoglobin have higher oxygen affinities than the adult hemoglobin, sustaining the oxygen demand of the developing organism. Little is known about the expression of hemoglobins during development of jawless vertebrates (Agnatha)., Results: We identified three hemoglobin switches in the life cycle of the sea lamprey. Three hemoglobin genes are specifically expressed in the embryo, four genes in the filter feeding larva (ammocoete), and nine genes correspond to the adult hemoglobin chains. During the development from the parasitic to the reproductive adult, the composition of hemoglobin changes again, with a massive increase of chain aHb1. A single hemoglobin chain is expressed constitutively in all stages. We further showed the differential expression of other globin genes: Myoglobin 1 is most highly expressed in the reproductive adult, myoglobin 2 expression peaks in the larva. Globin X1 is restricted to the embryo; globin X2 was only found in the reproductive adult. Cytoglobin is expressed at low levels throughout the life cycle., Conclusion: Because the hemoglobins of jawed and jawless vertebrates evolved independently from a common globin ancestor, hemoglobin switching must also have evolved convergently in these taxa. Notably, the ontogeny of sea lamprey hemoglobins essentially recapitulates their phylogeny, with the embryonic hemoglobins emerging first, followed by the evolution of larval and adult hemoglobins.

This research investigated infants' online perception of give-me gestures during observation of a social interaction. In the first experiment, goal-directed eye movements of 12-month-olds were recorded as they observed a give-and-take interaction in which an object is passed from one individual to another. Infants' gaze shifts from the passing hand to the receiving hand were significantly faster when the receiving hand formed a give-me gesture relative to when it was presented as an inverted hand shape. Experiment 2 revealed that infants' goal-directed gaze shifts were not based on different affordances of the two receiving hands. Two additional control experiments further demonstrated that differences in infants' online gaze behavior were not mediated by an attentional preference for the give-me gesture. Together, our findings provide evidence that properties of social action goals influence infants' online gaze during action observation. The current studies demonstrate that infants have expectations about well-formed object transfer actions between social agents. We suggest that 12-month-olds are sensitive to social goals within the context of give-and-take interactions while observing from a third-party perspective., (Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)