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SUMMARY Sorghum bicolor (sorghum) is a vital C4 monocotyledon crop cultivated in arid regions worldwide, valued for its significance in both human and animal nutrition. Despite its agricultural prominence, sorghum research has been hindered by low transformation frequency. In this study, we examined sorghum transformation using the pVS1‐VIR2 ternary vector system for Agrobacterium, combined with the morphogenic genes BABY BOOM and WUSCHEL2 and selection using G418. We optimized Agrobacterium‐mediated infection, targeting key parameters such as bacterial optical density, co‐cultivation time, and temperature. Additionally, an excision‐based transformation system enabled us to generate transgenic plants free of morphogenic regulators. The method yielded remarkable transformation frequencies, reaching up to 164.8% based on total isolated plantlets. The same combination of ternary vector, morphogenic genes and geneticin‐based selection also resulted in a marked increase in transformation efficiency of the Zea mays (maize) inbred line B104. The potential for genomic editing using this approach positions it as a valuable tool for the development of sorghum and maize varieties that comply with evolving European regulations. Our work marks a significant stride in sorghum biotechnology and holds promise for addressing global food security challenges in a changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haploid induction is of great importance in the breeding of cross-pollinated crops such as maize, and it also expedites the development of new varieties in a shorter period in self-pollinated crops, i.e. soybean. The success rate of traditional techniques is almost negligible at less than 1%, and their applicability is dependent on external factors in soybean. There is a lack of standardized and reproducible systems, which makes it challenging to adopt the existing systems for haploid plant production. Therefore, there is a high demand for implementing innovative approaches for this crop due to the limitations of conventional methods. The BABY BOOM (BBM) gene, which generated haploidy at high rates (> 80%) when expressed in pearl millet or through ectopic expression in the egg cells of rice, maize, and tobacco, is a novel example with promising potential. In this study, we used the egg cell-specific promoter DD45, which was cloned from Arabidopsis, to ectopically express the native soybean BBM1 (GmBBM1) gene in soybean to observe the response to haploidy induction. Initially, the clone pDD45:GmBBM1 was successfully constructed and confirmed by PCR and Sanger sequencing. The construct was subsequently transformed into soybean via a half-seed approach. The expression of GmBBM1 in both flowers and leaves increased in the T0 transgenic soybean lines. The T0 plants and their seeds showed developmental abnormalities described by early senescence and flowering; however, the T1 plants exhibited normal growth characteristics. The ploidy levels of the T1 and T2 plants were determined by flow cytometry and chromosome counting. The flow cytometry histograms revealed haploidy in the T1 generation; however, further chromosome counting in T2 plants revealed changes in chromosome number, and aneuploidy, which may be due to spontaneous doubling. This system is especially important in legume crops, as no reports exist on the application of the BBM1 system in soybean. Our study will provide valuable insights for future research and advancing soybean breeding with haploid induction.Key message: The current investigation unveils the ectopic expression of native GmBBM1, which induces chromosomal aberrations in soybean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractWomen of the early baby boom years in the U.S. came out into an environment in which same-sex desire was stigmatized and criminalized. For working-class lesbians, the bar scene provided an environment in which women could find companionship and a way to live a life decoupled from traditional heterosexual roles. For middle class women, bar life was fraught with legal and social risk, and some–mostly white–women worked to establish a more “socially acceptable” communal life through organizations such as the Daughters of Bilitis. As the women’s movement flourished in the late 1960s and 1970s, women born in the early years of the baby boom (1946–1950) created distinctive lesbian feminist cultures and identities. In contrast to early baby boomers, women born at the tail end of the baby boom (1960–1964) came out in a vastly different cultural context. Second-wave feminism had already peaked, the AIDS epidemic and debates about sexuality changed the context for lesbian identity and activism, and organizing by women of color created the development of an intersectional view of lesbian identity and activism. Through an analysis of feminist magazines, newsletters, and texts of the late 1960s through the 1990s, this paper explores the cultural contexts through which radical lesbian feminist identities arose and, for a period, flourished in the U.S. By the end of the 1980s and 1990s, as second-wave feminism declined, lesbian feminist identity shifted. Over the last decades of the twentieth century, new queer forms of identification emerged, coupled with a decline of lesbian identification among younger people. I argue that these new forms represent both continuity and disruption with earlier forms of lesbian identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ectopic overexpression of developmental regulator (DR) genes has been reported to improve the transformation in recalcitrant plant species because of the promotion of cellular differentiation during cell culture processes. In other words, the external plant growth regulator (PGR) application during the tissue and cell culture process is still required in cases utilizing DR genes for plant regeneration. Here, the effect of Arabidopsis BABY BOOM (BBM) and WUSCHEL (WUS) on the differentiation of tobacco transgenic cells was examined. We found that the SRDX fusion to WUS, when co-expressed with the BBM-VP16 fusion gene, significantly influenced the induction of autonomous differentiation under PGR-free culture conditions, with similar effects in some other plant species. Furthermore, to understand the endogenous background underlying cell differentiation toward regeneration, phytohormone and RNA-seq analyses were performed using tobacco leaf explants in which transgenic cells were autonomously differentiating. The levels of active auxins, cytokinins, abscisic acid, and inactive gibberellins increased as cell differentiation proceeded toward organogenesis. Gene Ontology terms related to phytohormones and organogenesis were identified as differentially expressed genes, in addition to those related to polysaccharide and nitrate metabolism. The qRT-PCR four selected genes as DEGs supported the RNA-seq data. This differentiation induction system and the reported phytohormone and transcript profiles provide a foundation for the development of PGR-free tissue cultures of various plant species, facilitating future biotechnological breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Major sporting tournaments may be associated with increased birth rates 9 months afterwards, possibly due to celebratory sex. The influence of major sporting tournaments on birth patterns remains to be fully explored. Methods: Studies that examined the relationship between such events and altered birth metrics (number of births and/or birth sex ratio (male/total live births)) 9(±1) months later were sought in PubMed and Scopus and reported via standard guidelines. Database searches were conducted up to 7 November 2022. Results: Five events led to increased birth metrics 9(±1) months later and these included the Super Bowl, the 2009 UEFA Champions League, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the 2016 UEFA Euros and the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Several la Liga soccer matches also had effects. With a few exceptions, major American football, Association football (soccer) and Rugby apex tournaments in Africa, North America, Asia and Europe were associated with increases in the number of babies born and/or in the birth sex ratio 9(±1) months following notable team wins and/or hosting the tournament. Furthermore, unexpected losses by teams from a premier soccer league were associated with a decline in births 9 months on. Conclusions: This systematic review establishes that major sporting tournaments have a notable impact on birth patterns, influencing both birth rates and sex ratios. Emotional intensification during these events likely triggers hormonal shifts, driving changes in sexual activity and subsequently shaping birth rates, often positively, about 9 months later. The context is crucial, especially when a region/country hosts a major single-sport tournament or participates for the first time, as population excitement is likely to be at its peak. These findings hold significance for healthcare planning and highlight the role of societal events in shaping demographic trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite some recent attempts, how fertility changed during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been adequately investigated. Using monthly live birth data from 1969 to 2021 and an ARIMA time-series approach, this study examines the fertility pattern in the United States during the pandemic. Results show that there was an initial baby bust in December 2020, January 2021, and February 2021, immediately after a full gestation period following the COVID-19 onset in the United States. However, it was soon replaced by a baby boom starting in April 2021. Since then, a fertility rebound occurred in the middle period of the pandemic until the end of our observation of December 2021. From December 2020 to December 2021, around 2% of total live births were estimated to be associated with the COVID-19 baby boom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Major sporting tournaments may be associated with increased birth rates 9 months afterwards, possibly due to celebratory sex. The influence of major sporting tournaments on birth patterns remains to be fully explored. Methods Studies that examined the relationship between such events and altered birth metrics (number of births and/or birth sex ratio (male/total live births)) 9(±1) months later were sought in PubMed and Scopus and reported via standard guidelines. Database searches were conducted up to 7 November 2022. Results Five events led to increased birth metrics 9(±1) months later and these included the Super Bowl, the 2009 UEFA Champions League, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the 2016 UEFA Euros and the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Several la Liga soccer matches also had effects. With a few exceptions, major American football, Association football (soccer) and Rugby apex tournaments in Africa, North America, Asia and Europe were associated with increases in the number of babies born and/or in the birth sex ratio 9(±1) months following notable team wins and/or hosting the tournament. Furthermore, unexpected losses by teams from a premier soccer league were associated with a decline in births 9 months on. Conclusions This systematic review establishes that major sporting tournaments have a notable impact on birth patterns, influencing both birth rates and sex ratios. Emotional intensification during these events likely triggers hormonal shifts, driving changes in sexual activity and subsequently shaping birth rates, often positively, about 9 months later. The context is crucial, especially when a region/country hosts a major single-sport tournament or participates for the first time, as population excitement is likely to be at its peak. These findings hold significance for healthcare planning and highlight the role of societal events in shaping demographic trends. PROSPERO registration CRD42022382971.

The recalcitrance exhibited by many maize (Zea mays) genotypes to traditional genetic transformation protocols poses a significant challenge to the large-scale application of genome editing (GE) in this major crop species. Although a few maize genotypes are widely used for genetic transformation, they prove unsuitable for agronomic tests in field trials or commercial applications. This challenge is exacerbated by the predominance of transformable maize lines adapted to temperate geographies, despite a considerable proportion of maize production occurring in the tropics. Ectopic expression of morphogenic regulators (MRs) stands out as a promising approach to overcome low efficiency and genotype dependency, aiming to achieve ’universal’ transformation and GE capabilities in maize. Here, we report the successful GE of agronomically relevant tropical maize lines using a MR-based, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation protocol previously optimized for the B104 temperate inbred line. To this end, we used a CRISPR/Cas9-based construct aiming at the knockout of the VIRESCENT YELLOW-LIKE (VYL) gene, which results in an easily recognizable phenotype. Mutations at VYL were verified in protoplasts prepared from B104 and three tropical lines, regardless of the presence of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at the seed region of the VYL target site in two of the tropical lines. Three out of five tropical lines were amenable to transformation, with efficiencies reaching up to 6.63%. Remarkably, 97% of the recovered events presented indels at the target site, which were inherited by the next generation. We observed off-target activity of the CRISPR/Cas9-based construct towards the VYL paralog VYL-MODIFIER, which could be partly due to the expression of the WUSCHEL (WUS) MR. Our results demonstrate efficient GE of relevant tropical maize lines, expanding the current availability of GE-amenable genotypes of this major crop.

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is one of the most important economic crops worldwide. The propagation of elite varieties of cocoa has been achieved through somatic embryogenesis, but still one of the main limitations is the low rates of embryo formation, which is a genotype-dependent trait. Manipulation of transcription factors (TFs) such as BABY BOOM (BBM) promotes the transition of cocoa somatic cells from the vegetative to the embryonic state. This work validated the use of clonal cocoa leaves cv. IMC-67 to induce somatic embryogenesis, overcoming their recalcitrant limitation with the help of the introduction of TF-BBM from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtBBM). The vectors were constructed by the Gateway system using the donor vector pENTR/D-TOPO and the expression vector pk7WG2. The overexpression vector pk7WG2:AtBBM was obtained, allowing successful transformation into Agrobacterium tumefaciens GV3101. The AtBBM gene was characterized (1755 base pairs), and its expression was observed in the formation of embryogenic calluses in cocoa leaves. Overexpression of AtBBM allowed the obtainment of a 92% response in the formation of embryogenic callus in cocoa leaves with Agrobacterium-mediated vacuum infiltration and overexpression of the pk7WG2:AtBBM vector. This high transformation efficiency reached with the insertion of the overexpression vector provides validation of transient response of the TF AtBBM in the formation of embryogenic calluses in cocoa leaves of the IMC-67 clone. Through this methodology, it is possible to continue with studies of gene overexpression, insertion, silencing, and gene editing in Peruvian cocoa.

In 1935, the United States passed Social Security Act (SSA) providing financial security to American families. I use the individual census data for 1940 and 1960 to show that women from states that allowed for more social spending under the SSA had substantially more children than women from states that allowed for lower social benefits. I also use a new panel of state-level fertility by parity between 1935 and 1959 to show that family allowances were connected to first, second and third parities, but that there was a differential effect according to the different social programs and race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is one of the most important economic crops worldwide. The propagation of elite varieties of cocoa has been achieved through somatic embryogenesis, but still one of the main limitations is the low rates of embryo formation, which is a genotypedependent trait. Manipulation of transcription factors (TFs) such as BABY BOOM (BBM) promotes the transition of cocoa somatic cells from the vegetative to the embryonic state. This work validated the use of clonal cocoa leaves cv. IMC-67 to induce somatic embryogenesis, overcoming their recalcitrant limitation with the help of the introduction of TF-BBM from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtBBM). The vectors were constructed by the Gateway system using the donor vector pENTR/D-TOPO and the expression vector pk7WG2. The overexpression vector pk7WG2:AtBBM was obtained, allowing successful transformation into Agrobacterium tumefaciens GV3101. The AtBBM gene was characterized (1755 base pairs), and its expression was observed in the formation of embryogenic calluses in cocoa leaves. Overexpression of AtBBM allowed the obtainment of a 92% response in the formation of embryogenic callus in cocoa leaves with Agrobacterium-mediated vacuum infiltration and overexpression of the pk7WG2:AtBBM vector. This high transformation efficiency reached with the insertion of the overexpression vector provides validation of transient response of the TF AtBBM in the formation of embryogenic calluses in cocoa leaves of the IMC-67 clone. Through this methodology, it is possible to continue with studies of gene overexpression, insertion, silencing, and gene editing in Peruvian cocoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study interrogates the socio-economic outcomes of the COVID-19 lockdown especially the unexamined theme of the baby boom and unrestrained sexual behavior of teenagers in Ozuitem rural community, Abia State southeast Nigeria. It contends that although the lockdown restricted movements by keeping nearly everybody at home, it inadvertently provided opportunities for the predictably idle teenagers to grow their sexual appetite and experiment with their bodies. This yielded unwilling fathers and painful motherhood. With thirty-five (35) teenage mothers and a colony of male partners as of December 29, 2020, what appeared as a sex bazaar in a sleepy rural community clearly put UNICEF's prediction of a massive baby boom for Africa between now and 2050 in sharper perspective. Using an admixture of oral interviews, participant-observer method and secondary sources, the study yielded curious and bizarre outcomes particularly the demography of the unwilling fathers, inappropriate rural perceptions and unpalatable insight into the future of the community and the wider society. To achieve this, newspapers, interviews, archival materials and other extant secondary sources have been used for data collection, analysis and for the interpretation of results. The paper employs the qualitative method of analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New data based on retrospective interviews with older informants enable us to review the history of contraceptive use among Spanish women over much of the twentieth century. This source is unique because it includes cohorts of women whose reproductive lives took place before, during, and after the baby boom. Traditional contraceptive methods (withdrawal and periodic abstinence) were central to the experience of the first set of women, while the last set made full use of modern as well as some traditional methods. For the first cohorts, traditional methods spearheaded the historic decline in fertility, while among the last set of women modern methods led to a precipitous decline towards the below-replacement fertility that continues in Spain today. There is no evidence that the modest increases in fertility during the baby boom in Spain were the result of a decline in the use of contraception among married women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of children born per woman of childbearing age. The baby boom refers to a noticeable increase in the birth rate and is believed to occur in migrants from wartorn and economically challenged countries. During the Syrian war in 2011, nearly 5 million Syrians had to leave their country. A significant part of the migration movement has been directed toward Turkey. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the baby boom presence of Syrian migrants in Turkey and to make comparisons. Materials and Methods: Our study is an observational, descriptive epidemiological study, and the data were reviewed and compiled retrospectively. A comparison of TFRs of Turkey and Syria according to the last 20 years of the United Nations' data and the Turkey Demographic and Health Survey of 2018 was done. Results: According to United Nations 2018 data, Turkey's TFR was 2.07, while Syria's was 2.8. According to 2018 Turkey's data, TFR in Syrian migrants is 5.3. When these rates are compared, it can be said that there is a significant increase in the fertility rate of Syrian migrants in Turkey, and this reveals the presence of a baby boom. Conclusion: In conclusion, when TFRs in the pre-war period and after the war are compared in literature, there was a post-war baby boom in the Syrian migrant in Turkey. The factors which may have effect on the fertility of Syrian migrants found as psychological, economic, social, cultural, religious, and socio-demographic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Agronomica Sinica is the property of Crop Science Society of China and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Recalcitrant plants are difficult to handle in tissue culture, and this limits their accessibility for various studies. Novel strategies are being developed to compensate the restricted nature of these plants to make them more adapted to tissue culture applications. Sorghum is one of the most recalcitrant plants with decreased efficiency and non-standardized tissue culture protocols. The advances in embryogenic genes ease the somatic embryo formation and regeneration ability in sorghum. BABY BOOM (BBM) is the most prominent transcription factor involved in somatic embryogenesis, even without exogenous auxin application, the spontaneous somatic embryo formation could occur in plants, which makes this gene(s) an optimal target for recalcitrant plants. This study is designed to characterize SbBBM-like genes in sorghum. Two similar length of protein pairs, SbBBM-like 1 (XP_021313568.1) and SbBBM-like 2 (XP_002452443.1), were identified in cv. Aldarı and cis-regulatory elements of these proteins were observed to be involved in particularly light response and hormonal regulation. The protein –protein interaction data indicated possible role in auxin mechanism. The expression data showed SbBBM-like was highly expressed in seedling root and embryogenic callus, however the expression was highest in embryogenic callus for SbBBM-like 2 with almost 200-fold increase, compared to other tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic and Melbourne's multiple community lockdowns (between 2020–21) on total live birth rates and preterm births in a large health network. Analysis revealed a decrease in total live birth rates following easing of initial lockdowns, and a sharp increase in births at one stage in between lockdowns. The proportion and number of preterm births (<37 weeks gestation) decreased at the start of initial lockdowns with the strongest decrease after the end of the second lockdown period. Births <34 weeks gestation also decreased during lockdowns, but no significant change was identified for births <28 weeks gestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that changes in birth order during the U.S. baby boom can explain a substantial share of the decline and recovery in college completion among cohorts born between 1946 and 1974. Combining birth order effects estimated using the Health and Retirement Survey and birth order data from Vital Statistics, we estimate that changes in birth order can explain about 20% of the decline in white male college completion rates among the 1946–60 cohorts, and about one third of the rebound among the 1960–74 cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Tef is a staple food and a valuable cash crop for millions of people in Ethiopia. Lodging is a major limitation to tef production, and for decades, the development of lodging resistant varieties proved difficult with conventional breeding approaches. We used CRISPR/Cas9 to introduce knockout mutations in the tef orthologue of the rice SEMIDWARF‐1 (SD‐1) gene to confer semidwarfism and ultimately lodging resistance. High frequency recovery of transgenic and SD‐1 edited tef lines was achieved in two tef cultivars by Agrobacterium‐mediated delivery into young leaf explants of gene editing reagents along with transformation and regeneration enhancing morphogenic genes, BABY BOOM (BBM) and WUSCHEL2 (WUS2). All of the 23 lines analyzed by next‐generation sequencing had at least two or more alleles of SD‐1 mutated. Of these, 83% had tetra‐allelic frameshift mutations in the SD‐1 gene in primary tef regenerants, which were inherited in subsequent generations. Phenotypic data generated on T1 and T2 generations revealed that the sd‐1 lines have reduced culm and internode lengths with no reduction in either panicle or peduncle lengths. These characteristics are comparable with rice sd‐1 plants. Measurements of lodging, in greenhouse‐grown plants, showed that sd‐1 lines have significantly higher resistance to lodging at the heading stage compared with the controls. This is the first demonstration of the feasibility of high frequency genetic transformation and CRISPR/Cas9‐mediated genome editing in this highly valuable but neglected crop. The findings reported here highlight the potential of genome editing for the improvement of lodging resistance and other important traits in tef. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the U.S., large firms now account for a greater share of economic activity, new firms are being created at slower rates, and workers are receiving a smaller share of GDP. Changes in population growth provide a unified quantitative explanation. A decrease in population growth lowers firm entry rates, shifting the firm‐age distribution toward older firms. Firm aging accounts for (i) the concentration of employment in large firms, (ii) and trends in average firm size and exit rates, key determinants of firm entry rates. Feedback effects from firm demographics generate two‐thirds of the effect. Prior to the decrease, entry rates rose steadily reflecting the earlier baby boom. The glut of firms due to the baby boom lead to rich transitional dynamics within the feedback effects, accounting for more than half the total change. Baby boom induced changes in the firm‐age distribution provide a driving force for the post‐WWII rise and fall in the aggregate labor share. Ignoring changes in population growth attributes all the long run decline in entry rates to a decrease in firm exit rates, which in reality have been only one‐third as large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The BABY BOOM (BBM) AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE (AIL) AP2/ERF domain transcription factor is a major regulator of plant cell totipotency, as it induces asexual embryo formation when ectopically expressed. Surprisingly, only limited information is available on the role of BBM during zygotic embryogenesis. Here we reexamined BBM expression and function in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) using reporter analysis and newly developed CRISPR mutants. BBM was expressed in the embryo from the zygote stage and also in the maternal (nucellus) and filial (endosperm) seed tissues. Analysis of CRISPR mutant alleles for BBM (bbm-cr) and the redundantly acting AIL gene PLETHORA2 (PLT2) (plt2-cr) uncovered individual roles for these genes in the timing of embryo progression. We also identified redundant roles for BBM and PLT2 in endosperm proliferation and cellularization and the maintenance of zygotic embryo development. Finally, we show that ectopic BBM expression in the egg cell of Arabidopsis and the dicot crops Brassica napus and Solanum lycopersicon is sufficient to bypass the fertilization requirement for embryo development. Together these results highlight roles for BBM and PLT2 in seed development and demonstrate the utility of BBM genes for engineering asexual embryo development in dicot species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The standard stalwart Agrobacterium-mediated transformation protocols for sorghum use differentiating embryogenic callus induced from immature embryos in the genotype BTx430. While reliable, the standard protocols are lengthy, and both time and resource expensive. We have investigated the use of altruistic morphogenic regulator mediated transformation (MRMT) to improve sorghum transformation for use in genome editing. Here, we show a method for rapid transformation and plant regeneration of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. cultivar BTx430) mediated by altruistic Baby boom and Wuschel2. Confirming and extending previous recent work using altruistic MRMT, we show that the altruistic MRMT rapid protocol results in a higher transformation frequency expressed as a function of the number of independent events per immature embryos infected and requires less time in a transformation pipeline which translates to an increased number of constructs one full-time equivalent (FTE) can manage per yr. This approach is compatible with genome editing requirements and should help address the transformation bottleneck for functional genomics and genome editing studies in sorghum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay traces George Lucas’s development as a filmmaker from his arrival at film school in 1964 to the 1971 release of his first feature THX 1138. It follows his decision, also in 1971 but prior to the release of THX, to commit to a semi-autobiographical project about teenagers that would eventually become American Graffiti (1973). I discuss the thematic and stylistic characteristics of Lucas’s early film work in the context of his shifting outlook on his career, his professional networks, box-office trends, and transformative changes in the American film industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan’s demographic transition, which took place throughout the 20th century, was marked by contradictory cycles of fear on the part of the authorities, between overpopulation and the fear of decline. The Japanese population has been falling since the mid-2000s and Japanese demographers consider that the archipelago is now in a post-demographic transition phase. This has social and spatial characteristics, in particular a change in inherited family structures and an increasing divergence between declining rural areas and city centres. The latter are experiencing a demographic revival and are the main beneficiaries of the mini-baby boom of the years 2005-2010. This phenomenon shows that the conditions for a stabilisation of the Japanese birth rate can be met.

This paper examines the recent declines in period fertility in the constituent countries of the UK during the past decade and speculates mechanisms through which the COVID‐19 pandemic could influence childbearing in the UK. The effects are likely to differ by age and presence of children. Considering potential forces acting on individuals at different ages and family sizes, we expect that the COVID‐19 pandemic will depress fertility, particularly among younger people. Because fertility at all ages was declining before the onset of the pandemic, this could mean a further decline in period fertility to historically low UK levels. We put forward a number of scenarios to examine the possible impact of the pandemic on numbers of live births. Our projections show that for three scenarios out of four, fertility is expected to decline over the next 3 years, leading to significantly fewer births annually compared with the pre‐pandemic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is an excellent feedstock for biofuel production. While genetic transformation is routinely done in lowland switchgrass, upland cultivars remain recalcitrant to genetic transformation. Here we report the establishment of an efficient and reproducible transformation protocol for two upland cultivars, 'Summer' and 'Blackwell', by ectopic overexpression of morphogenic genes, Baby boom (Bbm) and Wuschel2 (Wus2). Two auxotrophic Agrobacterium strains, LBA4404Thy- and EHA105Thy-, each harboring the same construct containing ZmBbm , ZmWus2 , and a green fluorescence protein (GFP) gene, ZsGreen1 , were used to infect immature leaf segments derived from in vitro grown seedlings. The Agrobacterium strains also contain a transformation helper plasmid that carry additional copies of Agrobacterium virulence genes. GFP-expressing calli were identified and selected for regeneration. The highest transformation efficiency of 6% was obtained for the tetraploid cultivar Summer when LBA4404Thy- was used for infection, which is twice of that for the octoploid cultivar Blackwell. LBA4404Thy- consistently outperformed EHA105Thy- on transformation frequency across the two cultivars. Fifteen randomly selected putative transgenic plants of Summer and Blackwell, representing independent callus events, were confirmed as transgenic by the presence of the transgene, ZmAls , and the absence of AtuFtsZ , a chromosomal gene specific to the Agrobacterium strain LBA4404 using polymerase chain reaction. Transgene integration and expression was further confirmed by the detection of GFP in roots, and the resistance to herbicide injury to leaves of selected putative transgenic plants. The ZmBbm and ZmWus2 genes were successfully removed from 40 to 33.3% of the transgenic plants of Summer and Blackwell, respectively, via the Cre-Lox recombination system upon heat treatment of GFP-expressing embryogenic calli. Our successful transformation of recalcitrant upland switchgrass provides a method for gene function analysis and germplasm enhancement via biotechnology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Adult Education / Obrazovanje Odraslih is the property of JU Bosanski Kulturni Centar Kantona Sarajevo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is an excellent feedstock for biofuel production. While genetic transformation is routinely done in lowland switchgrass, upland cultivars remain recalcitrant to genetic transformation. Here we report the establishment of an efficient and reproducible transformation protocol for two upland cultivars, ‘Summer’ and ‘Blackwell’, by ectopic overexpression of morphogenic genes, Baby boom (Bbm) and Wuschel2 (Wus2). Two auxotrophic Agrobacterium strains, LBA4404Thy- and EHA105Thy-, each harboring the same construct containing ZmBbm, ZmWus2, and a green fluorescence protein (GFP) gene, ZsGreen1, were used to infect immature leaf segments derived from in vitro grown seedlings. The Agrobacterium strains also contain a transformation helper plasmid that carry additional copies of Agrobacterium virulence genes. GFP-expressing calli were identified and selected for regeneration. The highest transformation efficiency of 6% was obtained for the tetraploid cultivar Summer when LBA4404Thy- was used for infection, which is twice of that for the octoploid cultivar Blackwell. LBA4404Thy- consistently outperformed EHA105Thy- on transformation frequency across the two cultivars. Fifteen randomly selected putative transgenic plants of Summer and Blackwell, representing independent callus events, were confirmed as transgenic by the presence of the transgene, ZmAls, and the absence of AtuFtsZ, a chromosomal gene specific to the Agrobacterium strain LBA4404 using polymerase chain reaction. Transgene integration and expression was further confirmed by the detection of GFP in roots, and the resistance to herbicide injury to leaves of selected putative transgenic plants. The ZmBbm and ZmWus2 genes were successfully removed from 40 to 33.3% of the transgenic plants of Summer and Blackwell, respectively, via the Cre-Lox recombination system upon heat treatment of GFP-expressing embryogenic calli. Our successful transformation of recalcitrant upland switchgrass provides a method for gene function analysis and germplasm enhancement via biotechnology.

Abstract Background Coffee production relies on plantations with varieties from Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora species. The first, the most representative in terms of coffee consumption, is mostly propagated by seeds, which leads to management problems regarding the plantations maintenance, harvest and processing of grains. Therefore, an efficient clonal propagation process is required for this species cultivation, which is possible by reaching a scalable and cost-effective somatic embryogenesis protocol. A key process on somatic embryogenesis induction is the auxin homeostasis performed by Gretchen Hagen 3 (GH3) proteins through amino acid conjugation. In this study, the GH3 family members were identified on C. canephora genome, and by performing analysis related to gene and protein structure and transcriptomic profile on embryogenic tissues, we point a GH3 gene as a potential regulator of auxin homeostasis during early somatic embryogenesis in C. arabica plants. Results We have searched within the published C. canephora genome and found 17 GH3 family members. We checked the conserved domains for GH3 proteins and clustered the members in three main groups according to phylogenetic relationships. We identified amino acids sets in four GH3 proteins that are related to acidic amino acid conjugation to auxin, and using a transcription factor (TF) network approach followed by RT-qPCR we analyzed their possible transcriptional regulators and expression profiles in cells with contrasting embryogenic potential in C. arabica. The CaGH3.15 expression pattern is the most correlated with embryogenic potential and with CaBBM, a C. arabica ortholog of a major somatic embryogenesis regulator. Conclusion Therefore, one out of the GH3 members may be influencing on coffee somatic embryogenesis by auxin conjugation with acidic amino acids, which leads to the phytohormone degradation. It is an indicative that this gene can serve as a molecular marker for coffee cells with embryogenic potential and needs to be further studied on how much determinant it is for this process. This work, together with future studies, can support the improvement of coffee clonal propagation through in vitro derived somatic embryos.

Around the middle of the 20th century, most Western countries experienced a surge in birth rates, called the Baby Boom. This boom was unexpected at the time and the underlying mechanisms are still not entirely clear. It was characterized by high levels of inter- and intra-country variability in fertility, as some regions even experienced fertility decline during the Boom. In this paper, we suggest that social influence processes, propelling a shift towards two-child families, might have played an important role in the observed changes in fertility. Interactions in social networks can lead new types of childbearing behaviour to diffuse widely and thereby induce changes in fertility at the macro level. The emergence and diffusion of a two-child norm resulted in homogenization of fertility behaviour across regions. Overall, this led to a reduction of childlessness and thus an increase of fertility, as more people aspired to have at least two children. Yet, in those regions where larger family sizes were still common, the two-child norm contributed to a fertility decline. To explore the role of social influence with analytical rigor, we make use of agent-based computational modelling. We explicate the underlying behavioural assumptions in a formal model and assess their implications by submitting this model to computational simulation experiments. We use Belgium as a case study, since it exhibited large variability in fertility in a relatively small population during the Baby Boom years. We use census data to generate realistic starting conditions and to empirically validate the outcomes that our model generates. Our results show that the proposed mechanism could explain an important part of the variability of fertility trends during the Baby Boom era.

Abstract Background The apomictic reproductive mode of Brachiaria (syn. Urochloa) forage species allows breeders to faithfully propagate heterozygous genotypes through seed over multiple generations. In Brachiaria, reproductive mode segregates as single dominant locus, the apospory-specific genomic region (ASGR). The AGSR has been mapped to an area of reduced recombination on Brachiaria decumbens chromosome 5. A primer pair designed within ASGR-BABY BOOM-like (BBML), the candidate gene for the parthenogenesis component of apomixis in Pennisetum squamulatum, was diagnostic for reproductive mode in the closely related species B. ruziziensis, B. brizantha, and B. decumbens. In this study, we used a mapping population of the distantly related commercial species B. humidicola to map the ASGR and test for conservation of ASGR-BBML sequences across Brachiaria species. Results Dense genetic maps were constructed for the maternal and paternal genomes of a hexaploid (2n = 6x = 36) B. humidicola F1 mapping population (n = 102) using genotyping-by-sequencing, simple sequence repeat, amplified fragment length polymorphism, and transcriptome derived single nucleotide polymorphism markers. Comparative genomics with Setaria italica provided confirmation for x = 6 as the base chromosome number of B. humidicola. High resolution molecular karyotyping indicated that the six homologous chromosomes of the sexual female parent paired at random, whereas preferential pairing of subgenomes was observed in the apomictic male parent. Furthermore, evidence for compensated aneuploidy was found in the apomictic parent, with only five homologous linkage groups identified for chromosome 5 and seven homologous linkage groups of chromosome 6. The ASGR mapped to B. humidicola chromosome 1, a region syntenic with chromosomes 1 and 7 of S. italica. The ASGR-BBML specific PCR product cosegregated with the ASGR in the F1 mapping population, despite its location on a different carrier chromosome than B. decumbens. Conclusions The first dense molecular maps of B. humidicola provide strong support for cytogenetic evidence indicating a base chromosome number of six in this species. Furthermore, these results show conservation of the ASGR across the Paniceae in different chromosomal backgrounds and support postulation of the ASGR-BBML as candidate genes for the parthenogenesis component of apomixis.

The ectopic overexpression of developmental regulator (DR) genes has been reported to improve the transformation in recalcitrant plant species because of the promotion of cellular differentiation during cell culture processes. In other words, the external plant growth regulator (PGR) application during the tissue and cell culture process is still required in cases utilizing DR genes for plant regeneration. Here, the effect of Arabidopsis BABY BOOM ( BBM ) and WUSCHEL ( WUS ) on the differentiation of tobacco transgenic cells was examined. We found that the SRDX fusion to WUS , when co-expressed with the BBM - VP16 fusion gene, significantly influenced the induction of autonomous differentiation under PGR-free culture conditions, with similar effects in some other plant species. Furthermore, to understand the endogenous background underlying cell differentiation toward regeneration, phytohormone and RNA-seq analyses were performed using tobacco leaf explants in which transgenic cells were autonomously differentiating. The levels of active auxins, cytokinins, abscisic acid, and inactive gibberellins increased as cell differentiation proceeded toward organogenesis. Gene Ontology terms related to phytohormones and organogenesis were identified as differentially expressed genes, in addition to those related to polysaccharide and nitrate metabolism. The qRT-PCR four selected genes as DEGs supported the RNA-seq data. This differentiation induction system and the reported phytohormone and transcript profiles provide a foundation for the development of PGR-free tissue cultures of various plant species, facilitating future biotechnological breeding., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Sato, Minamikawa, Pratama, Koyama, Kojima, Takebayashi, Sakakibara and Igawa.)

Maize transformation is highly based on the formation of embryonic callus, which is mainly derived from scutellum cells of the immature maize embryo. However, only a few genes involved in callus induction have been identified in maize. To reveal the potential genes involved in the callus induction of maize, we carried out a high-throughput RNA sequencing on embryos that were cultured for 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 days, respectively, on a medium containing or lacking 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. In total, 7,525 genes were found to be induced by 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and categorized into eight clusters, with clusters 2 and 3 showing an increasing trend related to signal transmission, signal transduction, iron ion binding, and heme binding. Among the induced genes, 659 transcription factors belong to 51 families. An AP2 transcription factors, ZmBBM2, was dramatically and rapidly induced by auxin and further characterization showed that overexpression of ZmBBM2 can promote callus induction and proliferation in three inbred maize lines. Therefore, our comprehensive analyses provide some insight into the early molecular regulations during callus induction and are useful for further identification of the regulators governing callus formation.

The rapid expansion of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) numbers in the last half-century is usually explained to be a result of decolonization, globalization, and/or increase in the number of global issues. One additional hypothesis, which has not been discussed in the political science literature, is suggested by the demographic-structural theory. According to this hypothesis, the acceleration in INGO numbers was caused by the post-war baby boom and a crisis in the credential system. This study finds that cyclical increases in INGO numbers were preceded by expansions in the 30–39 cohort. Interestingly, the mean age of leaders across 12 international governmental institutions also oscillated, but with a lag (thus correlated with expansions of the 55–64 cohort). Thus evidence supports the idea that demographic-structural mechanisms contributed to the surge in INGO numbers during the last 50 years as a by-product of intraelite competition.

Background: This paper presents a new source of microdata on women's reproductive life in 20th century Spain, the Baby Boom and Bust Survey (BBBS). While certain countries have other sources of microdata such as censuses or specific fertility surveys that have been useful in shedding light on aspects of reproduction, few provide the longitudinal, integrated, and nuanced perspective afforded by this survey. The Baby Boom and Bust Survey includes women's reproductive histories for the period prior to the baby boom, the baby boom itself, and the early stages of the baby bust. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to describe this data source, its content, its methodological underpinnings, and the way the fieldwork was carried out. Methods: The survey was administered to a total of 1,021 women above 60 years of age residing in Spain in 2012. A random sample was used and access to informants was secured via the Padrón Continuo (the continuously updated local population register of Spain). The distribution by characteristics closely fits the sample frame. Contribution: The survey microdata are now fully accessible to researchers at the Harvard Dataverse repository. The data gathered by the survey will enable researchers to study the causes and mechanisms of the baby boom and the reproductive histories of several generations of Spanish women in the recent past, including their contraceptive use.

In the developed world, the historic process of fertility decline was interrupted by an unexpected period of increasing fertility called the baby boom. Recent studies suggest that a similar trend change in fertility may have occurred in many less developed nations at approximately the same time. Using cohort fertility data for 26 less developed countries from around the world taken from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, International (IPUMS-I), this paper aims to ascertain the extent to which these trend changes occurred in a large sample of countries around the world. It offers convincing proof of the existence of an upward shift in fertility among cohorts born during the 1930s, which was common to many countries in the less developed world. Despite many similarities with the baby boom, there are also differences stemming, mostly, from its timing with respect to the demographic transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Cell-to-cell signalling is a major mechanism controlling plant morphogenesis. Transport of signalling molecules through plasmodesmata is one way in which plants promote or restrict intercellular signalling over short distances. Plasmodesmata are membrane-lined pores between cells that regulate the intercellular flow of signalling molecules through changes in their size, creating symplasmic fields of connected cells. Here we examine the role of plasmodesmata and symplasmic communication in the establishment of plant cell totipotency, using somatic embryo induction from Arabidopsis explants as a model system. Cell-to-cell communication was evaluated using fluorescent tracers, supplemented with histological and ultrastructural analysis, and correlated with expression of a WOX2 embryo reporter. We showed that embryogenic cells are isolated symplasmically from non-embryogenic cells regardless of the explant type (immature zygotic embryos or seedlings) and inducer system (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid or the BABY BOOM (BBM) transcription factor), but that the symplasmic domains in different explants differ with respect to the maximum size of molecule capable of moving through the plasmodesmata. Callose deposition in plasmodesmata preceded WOX2 expression in future sites of somatic embryo development, but later was greatly reduced in WOX2 -expressing domains. Callose deposition was also associated with a decrease DR5 auxin response in embryogenic tissue. Treatment of explants with the callose biosynthesis inhibitor 2-deoxy-D-glucose supressed somatic embryo formation in all three systems studied, and also blocked the observed decrease in DR5 expression. Together these data suggest that callose deposition at plasmodesmata is required for symplasmic isolation and establishment of cell totipotency in Arabidopsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maize transformation is highly based on the formation of embryonic callus, which is mainly derived from scutellum cells of the immature maize embryo. However, only a few genes involved in callus induction have been identified in maize. To reveal the potential genes involved in the callus induction of maize, we carried out a high-throughput RNA sequencing on embryos that were cultured for 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 days, respectively, on a medium containing or lacking 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. In total, 7,525 genes were found to be induced by 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and categorized into eight clusters, with clusters 2 and 3 showing an increasing trend related to signal transmission, signal transduction, iron ion binding, and heme binding. Among the induced genes, 659 transcription factors belong to 51 families. An AP2 transcription factors, ZmBBM2 , was dramatically and rapidly induced by auxin and further characterization showed that overexpression of ZmBBM2 can promote callus induction and proliferation in three inbred maize lines. Therefore, our comprehensive analyses provide some insight into the early molecular regulations during callus induction and are useful for further identification of the regulators governing callus formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]