Early childhood education language environments: considerations for research and practice.

The importance of developing early language and literacy skills is acknowledged by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a global human rights issue. Indeed, research suggests that language abilities are foundational for a host of cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional outcomes. Therefore, it is critical to provide experiences that foster language acquisition across early learning settings. Central to these efforts is incorporating assessments of language environments into research and practice to drive quality improvement. Yet, several barriers may be preventing language environment assessments from becoming widely integrated into early education. In this brief, we review evidence on the types of experiences that promote language development, describe characteristics of language environment assessments, and outline practical and philosophical considerations to assist with decision-making. Further, we offer recommendations for future research that may contribute knowledge regarding strategies to assess and support language development. In addressing both areas, we highlight the potential for early childhood language environments to advance equity.

Using virtual reality and thermal imagery to improve statistical modelling of vulnerable and protected species.

Biodiversity loss and sparse observational data mean that critical conservation decisions may be based on little to no information. Emerging technologies, such as airborne thermal imaging and virtual reality, may facilitate species monitoring and improve predictions of species distribution. Here we combined these two technologies to predict the distribution of koalas, specialized arboreal foliovores facing population declines in many parts of eastern Australia. For a study area in southeast Australia, we complemented ground-survey records with presence and absence observations from thermal-imagery obtained using Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Systems. These field observations were further complemented with information elicited from koala experts, who were immersed in 360-degree images of the study area. The experts were asked to state the probability of habitat suitability and koala presence at the sites they viewed and to assign each probability a confidence rating. We fit logistic regression models to the ground survey data and the ground plus thermal-imagery survey data and a Beta regression model to the expert elicitation data. We then combined parameter estimates from the expert-elicitation model with those from each of the survey models to predict koala presence and absence in the study area. The model that combined the ground, thermal-imagery and expert-elicitation data substantially reduced the uncertainty around parameter estimates and increased the accuracy of classifications (koala presence vs absence), relative to the model based on ground-survey data alone. Our findings suggest that data elicited from experts using virtual reality technology can be combined with data from other emerging technologies, such as airborne thermal-imagery, using traditional statistical models, to increase the information available for species distribution modelling and the conservation of vulnerable and protected species.

Acyl CoA Binding Proteins are Required for Cuticle Formation and Plant Responses to Microbes.

Fatty acids (FA) and lipids are well known regulators of plant defense. Our previous studies have shown that components of prokaryotic (plastidal) FA biosynthesis pathway regulate various aspects of plant defense. Here, we investigated the defense related roles of the soluble acyl CoA binding proteins (ACBPs), which are thought to facilitate the intracellular transport of FA/lipids. We show that ACBP3 and 4 are required for maintaining normal lipid levels and that ACBP3 contributes to the lipid flux between the prokaryotic and eukaryotic pathways. We also show that loss of ACBP3, 4, or 6 impair normal development of the cuticle and affect both basal and resistance protein-mediated defense against bacterial and fungal pathogens. Loss of ACBP3, 4, or 6 also inhibits the induction of systemic acquired resistance (SAR) due to the plants inability to generate SAR inducing signal(s). Together, these data show that ACBP3, ACBP4, and ACBP6 are required for cuticle development as well as defense against microbial pathogens.

Comparison of ergot alkaloid biosynthesis gene clusters in Claviceps species indicates loss of late pathway steps in evolution of C. fusiformis.

The grass parasites Claviceps purpurea and Claviceps fusiformis produce ergot alkaloids (EA) in planta and in submerged culture. Whereas EA synthesis (EAS) in C. purpurea proceeds via clavine intermediates to lysergic acid and the complex ergopeptines, C. fusiformis produces only agroclavine and elymoclavine. In C. purpurea the EAS gene (EAS) cluster includes dmaW (encoding the first pathway step), cloA (elymoclavine oxidation to lysergic acid), and the lpsA/lpsB genes (ergopeptine formation). We analyzed the corresponding C. fusiformis EAS cluster to investigate the evolutionary basis for chemotypic differences between the Claviceps species. Other than three peptide synthetase genes (lpsC and the tandem paralogues lpsA1 and lpsA2), homologues of all C. purpurea EAS genes were identified in C. fusiformis, including homologues of lpsB and cloA, which in C. purpurea encode enzymes for steps after clavine synthesis. Rearrangement of the cluster was evident around lpsB, which is truncated in C. fusiformis. This and several frameshift mutations render CflpsB a pseudogene (CflpsB(Psi)). No obvious inactivating mutation was identified in CfcloA. All C. fusiformis EAS genes, including CflpsB(Psi) and CfcloA, were expressed in culture. Cross-complementation analyses demonstrated that CfcloA and CflpsB(Psi) were expressed in C. purpurea but did not encode functional enzymes. In contrast, CpcloA catalyzed lysergic acid biosynthesis in C. fusiformis, indicating that C. fusiformis terminates its EAS pathway at elymoclavine because the cloA gene product is inactive. We propose that the C. fusiformis EAS cluster evolved from a more complete cluster by loss of some lps genes and by rearrangements and mutations inactivating lpsB and cloA.