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1. Elucidating the Role of Dimensionality on the Electronic Structure of the Van der Waals Antiferromagnet NiPS ₃

   https://doi.org/10.1002/apxr.202300096  

   DiScala, Michael_F; Staros, Daniel; de_la_Torre, Alberto; Lopez, Annette; Wong, Deniz; Schulz, Christian; Barkowiak, Maciej; Bisogni, Valentina; Pelliciari, Jonathan; Rubenstein, Brenda; et al (January 2024, Advanced Physics Research)

   Abstract The sustained interest in investigating magnetism in the 2D limit of insulating antiferromagnets is driven by the possibilities of discovering, or engineering, novel magnetic phases through layer stacking. However, due to the difficulty of directly measuring magnetic interactions in 2D antiferromagnets, it is not yet understood howintralayer magnetic interactions ininsulating, strongly correlated, materials can be modified through layer proximity. Herein, the impact of reduced dimensionality in the model van der Waals antiferromagnet NiPS₃is explored by measuring electronic excitations in exfoliated samples using Resonant Inelastic X‐ray Scattering (RIXS). The resulting spectra shows systematic broadening of NiS₆multiplet excitations with decreasing layer count from bulk down to three atomic layers (3L). It is shown that these trends originate from a decrease in transition metal‐ligand and ligand–ligand hopping integrals, and by charge‐transfer energy evolving from Δ = 0.83 eV in the bulk to 0.37 eV in 3L NiPS₃. Relevant intralayer magnetic exchange integrals computed from the electronic parameters exhibit a decrease in the average interaction strength with thickness. This study underscores the influence ofinterlayer electronic interactions onintralayer ones in insulating magnets, indicating that magnetic Hamiltonians in few‐layer insulating magnets can greatly deviate from their bulk counterparts. 

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2. Homoeologous Recombination: A Novel and Efficient System for Broadening the Genetic Variability in Wheat

   https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10081059  

   Koo, Dal-Hoe; Friebe, Bernd; Gill, Bikram S. (August 2020, Agronomy)

   null (Ed.)

   Gene transfer from wild wheat relatives to bread wheat is restricted to homologous recombination. The presence of the Pairing homoeologous 1 (Ph1) gene in the long arm of wheat chromosome 5B allows only homologous chromosomes to pair and recombine, resulting in diploid inheritance of polyploid wheat. Previously, we identified a potent homoeologous pairing promotor gene(s) (Hpp-5Mg); its carrier chromosome 5Mg derived from Aegilops geniculata and its wheat homoeologous chromosome 5D freely recombined in the presence of the Ph1 gene. In this study, we investigated the effect of Hpp-5Mg on homoeologous recombination in the absence of Ph1. In Hpp-5Mg/ph1bph1b plants, we observed a vast genome-wide increase in homoeologous recombination and multiple crossovers (CO), including CO breakpoints in proximal regions of the chromosomes where recombination is known to be suppressed. We tested the efficacy of Hpp-5Mg/ph1bph1b-induced homoeologous recombination by producing new recombinants for the wheat streak mosaic virus resistance gene, Wsm3, present in the wheat-Thinopyrum intermedium Robertsonian translocation (RobT T7BS.7S#3L). A recombination frequency of 6.5% was detected by screening the progenies double monosomic for T7BS.7S#3L and 7B by genomic in situ hybridization. This recombination frequency was about 100-fold higher compared with the recombinant frequency of 0.06% observed by using ph1b-induced homoeologous recombination alone. Our results indicate that chromosome 5Mg promotes homoeologous recombination between wheat and wild wheat relative chromosomes, which helps in the generation of pre-breeding materials thereby accelerating wheat crop improvement. 

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3. Motivating the Documentation of the Verbal Arts: Arguments from Theory and Practice

   Fitzgerald, Colleen M (March 2017, Language documentation and conservation)

   For language documentation to be sufficiently extensive to cover a given com- munity’s language practices (cf. Himmelmann 1998), then including verbal arts is essential to ensure the richness of that comprehensive record. The verbal arts span the creative and artistic uses of a given language by speakers, such as storytelling, songs, puns and poetry. In this paper, I demonstrate the significance of verbal arts documentation in three other ways. Drawing from Indigenous language community contexts in the United States, I describe how the verbal arts are relevant to linguistic theory, revitalization and training. First, the influence by verbal arts on phonological theory is attested, affirming that the collection and analysis of verbal arts data plays a significant role in the phonological analysis of a given language and in theories of phonology. Second, the verbal arts generate extremely useful examples in training models for language work, since such examples can be used to cultivate phonological awareness in learners and teachers. Third, the verbal arts provide culturally meaningful materials for language revitalization. 

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4. Sperm and alternative reproductive tactics: a review of existing theory and empirical data

   https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0075  

   Kustra, Matthew C.; Alonzo, Suzanne H. (December 2020, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences)

   null (Ed.)

   Males that exhibit alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) often differ in the risk of sperm competition and the energetic trade-offs they experience. The resulting patterns of selection could lead to between-tactic differences in ejaculate traits. Despite extensive research on male ARTs, there is no comprehensive review of whether and what differences in sperm traits exist between male ARTs. We review existing theory on ejaculate evolution relevant to ARTs and then conduct a comprehensive vote-counting review of the empirical data comparing sperm traits between males adopting ARTs. Despite the general expectation that sneaker males should produce sperm that are more competitive (e.g. higher quality or performance), we find that existing theory does not predict explicitly how males adopting ARTs should differ in sperm traits. The majority of studies find no significant difference in sperm performance traits between dominant and sneaker males. However, when there is a difference, sneaker males tend to have higher sperm performance trait values than dominant males. We propose ways that future theoretical and empirical research can improve our understanding of the evolution of ejaculate traits in ARTs. We then highlight how studying ejaculate traits in species with ARTs will improve our broader knowledge of ejaculate evolution. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Fifty years of sperm competition’. 

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5. Integration of Art Pedagogy in Engineering Graduate Education

   Tovar, A. (March 2018, ASEE Illinois-Indiana Section Conference)

   The integration of STEM with the Arts, commonly referred to as STEAM, recognizes the need for human skill, creativity, and imagination in technological innovations and solutions of real-world technical problems. The STEAM paradigm changes the dominant “chalk and talk” lecture and “closed-ended” problem-solving orientation of traditional engineering pedagogy to a hands-on, studio-based, and open-ended creative learning approach, typical in art education. A growing body of literature has provided evidence of the favorable impact of situating STEAM in K-16 education. The long-term objective of this work is to promote creativity in engineering students by integrating learning methods and environments from the Arts into graduate STEM education. To this end, an integrating engineering, technology and art (ETA) educational model is developed and is currently being tested. This ETA educational model systematically merges technical instruction with studio-based pedagogy. The ETA model consists of three courses, which were piloted in the year 2017. In each course, engineering and art instructors and students collaborated for 15 weeks on design projects. These projects ranged from drones to architectural installations. 

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