scholarly journals Modelling the On-going Natural Selection of Educational Attainment in Contemporary Societies

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ze Hong
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Simulation Model ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Genetic Component ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectory ◽  
Cultural Component

AbstractThere has been substantial increase in education attainment (EA) in both developing and developed countries over the past century. I present a simulation model to examine the potential evolutionary trajectories of EA under current selective pressure in western populations. With the assumption that EA is negatively correlated with fitness and has both a genetic component and a cultural component, I show that when prestige-biased transmission of the EA (i.e. people with more education are more likely to be copied) is present, the phenotype of EA is likely to keep increasing in the short term, yet the genetic component of EA may be undergoing a constant decline and eventually lead to an overall decrease in the phenotype.Significance statementContemporary humans live in very different environments from our ancestors and are subject to very different selective forces. The future evolutionary trajectory of current human populations is thus of both intellectual and pragmatic importance. The present simulation model sheds light on the short-term evolutionary dynamics of educational attainment, and demonstrates the significant contribution of systematically transmitted human culture in shaping the evolutionary paths and producing non-intuitive evolutionary outcomes.

scholarly journals How phenotypic convergence arises in experimental evolution

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Simões ◽  
Inês Fragata ◽  
Josiane Santos ◽  
Marta A. Santos ◽  
Mauro Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Common Environment ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectory ◽  
Trajectory Approach ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectories ◽  
Core Issue ◽  
Evolutionary Convergence ◽  
Phenotypic Convergence

AbstractEvolutionary convergence is a core issue in the study of adaptive evolution, as well as a highly debated topic at present. Few studies have analyzed this issue using a “real-time” or evolutionary trajectory approach. Do populations that are initially differentiated converge to a similar adaptive state when experiencing a common novel environment?Drosophila subobscurapopulations founded from different locations and years showed initial differences and variation in evolutionary rates in several traits during short-term (∼20 generations) laboratory adaptation. Here we extend that analysis to 40 more generations to analyze (1) how differences in evolutionary dynamics between populations change between shorter and longer time spans, and (2) whether evolutionary convergence occurs after sixty generations of evolution in a common environment. We found substantial variation in longer-term evolutionary trajectories and differences between short and longer-term evolutionary dynamics. Though we observed pervasive patterns of convergence towards the character values of long-established populations, populations still remain differentiated for several traits at the final generations analyzed. This pattern might involve transient divergence, as we report in some cases, indicating that more generations should lead to final convergence. These findings highlight the importance of longer-term studies for understanding convergent evolution.

scholarly journals Host gene evolution traces the evolutionary history of ancient primate lentiviruses

2013 ◽  
Vol 368 (1626) ◽  
pp. 20120496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex A. Compton ◽  
Harmit S. Malik ◽  
Michael Emerman
Keyword(s):  
Gene Evolution ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Pathogenic Potential ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectory ◽  
Viral Adaptation ◽  
Minimum Age ◽  
Primate Lentiviruses ◽  
Species Specific

Simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) have infected primate species long before  human immunodeficiency virus has infected humans. Dozens of species-specific lentiviruses are found in African primate species, including two strains that have repeatedly jumped into human populations within the past century. Traditional phylogenetic approaches have grossly underestimated the age of these primate lentiviruses. Instead, here we review how selective pressures imposed by these viruses have fundamentally altered the evolutionary trajectory of hosts genes and, even in cases where there now remains no trace of the viruses themselves, these evolutionary signatures can reveal the types of viruses that were once present. Examination of selection by ancient viruses on the adaptive evolution of host genes has been used to derive minimum age estimates for modern primate lentiviruses. This type of data suggests that ancestors of modern SIV existed in simian primates more than 10 Ma. Moreover, examples of host resistance and viral adaptation have implications not only for estimating the age and host range of ancient primate lentiviruses, but also the pathogenic potential of their modern counterparts.

Prospects for the Growth of Labor Productivity in the Transition to Postindustrial Technological Paradigms

2021 ◽  
pp. 56-59
Author(s):  
Leonid Basovskiy
Keyword(s):  
Labor Productivity ◽  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Sixth Order ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Economic Dynamics ◽  
Russian Economy ◽  
Logical Order ◽  
Technological Paradigms

The purpose of the work was to determine the value of labor productivity pro-vided by the fourth, fifth and sixth technological modes. Based on the modeling of Kondratyev's cycles and technological structures in the economic dynamics of devel-oped countries, econometric estimates of labor productivity obtained. It has been estab-lished that during the transition from the fourth to the fifth technological order, the growth of labor productivity in developed countries is ensured from 2.0 to 8.0 times, an average of 4.8 times. In the transition from the fourth to the sixth technological order, the growth of labor productivity in developed countries is ensured from 6 to 17 times, an average of 10.1 times. In the transition from the fifth to the sixth order, the techno-logical order provides an increase in the forgiveness of labor from 1.5 to 3.2 times, on average 2.4 times. In the Russian economy, in the short term, with the transition to the fifth technological order, one can expect productivity growth from 2 to 8 times com-pared to the beginning of the 2000s. In the long term, in the Russian economy during the transition to the sixth technological order, one can expect productivity growth from 6 to 17 times compared to the beginning of the 2000s.

scholarly journals Evolution of a predator-induced, nonlinear reaction norm

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1861) ◽  
pp. 20170859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio J. Carter ◽  
Martin I. Lind ◽  
Stuart R. Dennis ◽  
William Hentley ◽  
Andrew P. Beckerman
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Daphnia Pulex ◽  
Reaction Norm ◽  
Maximum Response ◽  
Selective Predation ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectory ◽  
Defensive Reaction ◽  
Selection Gradients ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
Evolutionary Response

Inducible, anti-predator traits are a classic example of phenotypic plasticity. Their evolutionary dynamics depend on their genetic basis, the historical pattern of predation risk that populations have experienced and current selection gradients. When populations experience predators with contrasting hunting strategies and size preferences, theory suggests contrasting micro-evolutionary responses to selection. Daphnia pulex is an ideal species to explore the micro-evolutionary response of anti-predator traits because they face heterogeneous predation regimes, sometimes experiencing only invertebrate midge predators and other times experiencing vertebrate fish and invertebrate midge predators. We explored plausible patterns of adaptive evolution of a predator-induced morphological reaction norm. We combined estimates of selection gradients that characterize the various habitats that D. pulex experiences with detail on the quantitative genetic architecture of inducible morphological defences. Our data reveal a fine scale description of daphnid defensive reaction norms, and a strong covariance between the sensitivity to cues and the maximum response to cues. By analysing the response of the reaction norm to plausible, predator-specific selection gradients, we show how in the context of this covariance, micro-evolution may be more uniform than predicted from size-selective predation theory. Our results show how covariance between the sensitivity to cues and the maximum response to cues for morphological defence can shape the evolutionary trajectory of predator-induced defences in D. pulex .

scholarly journals Asymmetric Reactions of China’s Stock Market to Short-Term Interest Rates

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Fang ◽  
Weijia Dong ◽  
Xin Lv
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Interest Rates ◽  
Stock Returns ◽  
Regime Switching ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Bear Market ◽  
Bull Market ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Markov Regime Switching Model

This paper investigates how China’s stock market reacts to short-term interest rates, as represented by the Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate (Shibor). We adopt the Markov Regime Switching model to divide China’s stock market into Medium, Bull and Bear market; and then examine how Shibor influences market returns and risk in different market regimes. We find that short-term interest rates have a significant negative effect on stock returns in Medium and Bull market, but could not affect stock returns in Bear market. In addition, different maturities of Shibor have different effects on stock returns. Furthermore, we find that the short-term interest rates have a negative effect on market risk in Bull market, but a positive effect in Bear market. Our findings show that China’s market is quite peculiar and distinctive from the U.S. market or other developed countries’ markets in many ways.

scholarly journals The evolutionary dynamics of Oropouche Virus (OROV) in South America

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernardo Gutierrez ◽  
Emma Wise ◽  
Steven Pullan ◽  
Christopher Logue ◽  
Thomas A. Bowden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Viral Genome ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Surface Proteins ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Evolutionary Processes ◽  
Viral Pathogens ◽  
Viral Genomes ◽  
Glycosylation Sites ◽  
Variable Evolutionary Rates

AbstractThe Amazon basin is host to numerous arthropod-borne viral pathogens that cause febrile disease in humans. Among these,Oropouche orthobunyavirus(OROV) is a relatively understudied member of the Peribunyavirales that causes periodic outbreaks in human populations in Brazil and other South American countries. Although several studies have described the genetic diversity of the virus, the evolutionary processes that shape the viral genome remain poorly understood. Here we present a comprehensive study of the genomic dynamics of OROV that encompasses phylogenetic analysis, evolutionary rate estimates, inference of natural selective pressures, recombination and reassortment, and structural analysis of OROV variants. Our study includes all available published sequences, as well as a set of new OROV genomes sequences obtained from patients in Ecuador, representing the first set of viral genomes from this country. Our results show that differing evolutionary processes on the three segments that encompass the viral genome lead to variable evolutionary rates and TMRCAs that could be explained by cryptic reassortment. We also present the discovery of previously unobserved putative N-linked glycosylation sites, and codons which evolve under positive selection on the viral surface proteins, and discuss the potential role of these features in the evolution of the virus through a combined phylogenetic and structural approach.

Evolutionary Stable Strategies for Supply Chains: Selfishness, Fairness, and Altruism

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 532-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caichun Chai ◽  
Hailong Zhu ◽  
Zhangwei Feng
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Replicator Dynamics ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Individual Preference ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Evolutionary Stable Strategies ◽  
Pure Strategies ◽  
The Stability

Abstract The management strategies of a firm are inevitable affected by individual behavior preferences. The effect of individual preference on the evolutionary dynamics for supply chains is studied by employing replicator dynamics. Each firm has three behavior preferences: selfishness, fairness, and altruism. Firstly, the case that the strategy set of manufacturers and retailers including two pure strategies is considered and the effect of preference parameter on the equilibrium outcome in the short-term interaction is discussed. Secondly, the equilibrium state in the short-term is always disturbed because the change of the environment, firm’s structure, and so forth. Using the replicator dynamics, the evolutionary stable strategies of manufacturers and retailers in the long-term interaction are analyzed. Finally, the extend case that the strategy set of manufacturers and retailers include three pure strategies is investigated. These results are found that the strategy profile in which both manufacturer and retailer choose fairness or altruism, or one player chooses fair or altruistic strategy and the other player chooses selfish strategy may be evolutionary stable, the stability of these equilibria depends on the the preference parameters.

Predicting evolution in diverse communities

2019 ◽  
pp. 167-188
Author(s):  
Timothy G. Barraclough
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Living Systems ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Focal Species ◽  
Diverse Communities ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Disease Agent

Following the outline of basic theory and evidence in chapters 7 and 8, this chapter sets the challenge of attempting to predict evolutionary dynamics in realistically diverse communities. Many challenges and opportunities facing human populations rely on being able to predict living systems. Even when a single focal species such as a pest or disease agent is of particular concern, its dynamics and responses to control measures always depend on interactions with a diverse set of other species. Even when the focus is on whole-ecosystem functioning, that depends on trait responses of constituent species. The chapter outlines several case studies where a multispecies evolutionary approach is required, including managing marine fisheries, controlling crop pests, and managing human microbiomes for improved health. To illustrate possible ways forwards, a model of evolution in a microbial community is presented, and possible methods for tracking evolution in diverse communities are discussed.

Genes, Gender Inequality, and Educational Attainment

2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. 1069-1098 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Herd ◽  
Jeremy Freese ◽  
Kamil Sicinski ◽  
Benjamin W. Domingue ◽  
Kathleen Mullan Harris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Educational Outcomes ◽  
Add Health ◽  
Historical Change ◽  
Social Constraints ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Relationship

Women’s opportunities have been profoundly altered over the past century by reductions in the social and structural constraints that limit women’s educational attainment. Do social constraints manifest as a suppressing influence on genetic indicators of potential, and if so, did equalizing opportunity mean equalizing the role of genetics? We address this with three cohort studies: the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS; birth years 1939 to 1940), the Health and Retirement Study, and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health; birth years 1975 to 1982). These studies include a “polygenic score” for educational attainment, providing a novel opportunity to explore this question. We find that within the WLS cohort, the relationship between genetics and educational outcomes is weaker for women than for men. However, as opportunities changed in the 1970s and 1980s, and many middle-aged women went back to school, the relationship between genetic factors and education strengthened for women as they aged. Furthermore, utilizing the HRS and Add Health, we find that as constraints limiting women’s educational attainment declined, gender differences in the relationship between genetics and educational outcomes weakened. We demonstrate that genetic influence must be understood through the lens of historical change, the life course, and social structures like gender.

scholarly journals Convalescent Plasma Therapy for COVID-19: Current Status and Future Directions

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (03) ◽  
pp. 140-147
Author(s):  
Jayanth Seshan ◽  
Surya K. Dube ◽  
Vanitha Rajagopalan ◽  
Pragyan S. Panda ◽  
Girija P. Rath
Keyword(s):  
Rescue Therapy ◽  
Therapeutic Option ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Plasma Therapy ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Influenza Outbreak ◽  
Initial Results

AbstractThe ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has triggered a global health crisis probably due to a lack of a reliable cure till date. Several clinical trials are ongoing, but initial results have not been overly promising. Convalescent plasma (CP), which refers to plasma collected from individuals recovered from an illness and developed antibodies against the pathogen, is also being proposed as a therapeutic option for COVID-19 treatment in severe cases to achieve short-term immunity against the virus. Use of CP is not new, and it has been used in various outbreaks over the past century, ranging from the Spanish influenza outbreak in 1918 to the recent Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). However, data available on its use in COVID-19 patients is limited. Use of CP so far is restricted to a “rescue therapy” and needs further trials to assess its possible use in other situations (prevention, postexposure prophylaxis) and patient populations (considering age and comorbid illnesses). In this review, we will try to summarize the current status of use of CP for COVID-19 and ongoing trials in India and elsewhere and will discuss the possible avenues for its use in future.

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