Offline perception: an introduction

Experiences that are self-generated and independent of sensory stimulations permeate our whole life. This theme issue examines their similarities and differences, systematizes the literature from an integrative perspective, critically discusses state-of-the-art empirical findings and proposes new theoretical approaches. The aim of the theme issue is to foster interaction between the different disciplines and research directions involved and to explore the prospects of a unificatory account of offline perception in general.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Offline perception: voluntary and spontaneous perceptual experiences without matching external stimulation’.     

Forensic acarology: an introduction

Mites can be found in all imaginable terrestrial habitats, in freshwater, and in salt water. Mites can be found in our houses and furnishings, on our clothes, and even in the pores of our skin—almost every single person carries mites. Most of the time, we are unaware of them because they are small and easily overlooked, and—most of the time—they do not cause trouble. In fact, they may even proof useful, for instance in forensics. The first arthropod scavengers colonising a dead body will be flies with phoretic mites. The flies will complete their life cycle in and around the corpse, while the mites may feed on the immature stages of the flies. The mites will reproduce much faster than their carriers, offering themselves as valuable timeline markers. There are environments where insects are absent or rare or the environmental conditions impede their access to the corpse. Here, mites that are already present and mites that arrive walking, through air currents or material transfer become important. At the end of the ninetieth century, the work of Jean Pierre Mégnin became the starting point of forensic acarology. Mégnin documented his observations in ‘La Faune des Cadavres’ [The Fauna of Carcasses]. He was the first to list eight distinct waves of arthropods colonising human carcasses. The first wave included flies and mites, the sixth wave was composed of mites exclusively. The scope of forensic acarology goes further than mites as indicators of time of death. Mites are micro-habitat specific and might provide evidential data on movement or relocation of bodies, or locating a suspect at the scene of a crime. Because of their high diversity, wide occurrence, and abundance, mites may be of great value in the analysis of trace evidence.     

Riverine landscapes: an introduction

1. This paper is an introduction to a special issue of Freshwater Biology containing selected papers from the First International Symposium on Riverine Landscapes held in March 2001 in Switzerland.
2. The primary goal of the symposium was to synthesise present understanding of riverine landscapes from the perspectives of different disciplines. A landscape approach was used to address interactions between patterns and processes, in the context of spatial heterogeneity, across scales in physical and biological systems.
3. The three main themes were: (i) hydrogeomorphic processes, (ii) biological dynamics and (iii) human influences in riverine landscapes.     

Redox regulation: an introduction

The redox-state is a critical determinate of cell function, and any major imbalances can cause severe damage or death. The cellular redox status therefore needs to be sensed and modulated before such imbalances occur. Various redox-active components are involved in these processes, including thioredoxins, glutaredoxins and other thiol/disulphide-containing proteins. The cellular reactions for cytoprotection and for signalling are integrated with physiological redox-reactions in photosynthesis, assimilation and respiration. They also determine the developmental fate of the cell and finally decide on proliferation or cell death. An international workshop on redox regulation, organized by the research initiative FOR 387 of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, was held in Bielefeld, Germany in 2002. A selection of articles originating from the meeting is printed in this issue of Physiologia Plantarum .     

Biodiversity hotspots through time: an introduction

International targets set for reducing the rate of biodiversity loss--the 2010 target--and ensuring environmental stability (Millennium Development Goals) have helped to focus the efforts of the scientific community on providing the data necessary for their implementation. The urgency of these goals, coupled with the increased rate of habitat alteration worldwide, has meant that actions have largely not taken into account the increasing body of data about the biodiversity change in the past. We know a lot about how our planet has been altered and recovered in the past, both in deep time and through prehistory. Linking this knowledge to conservation action has not been widely practised, by either the palaeoecology or the conservation communities. Long-term data, however, have much to offer current conservation practice, and in the papers for this volume we have tried to bring together a variety of different perspectives as to how this might happen in the most effective way. We also identify areas for productive collaboration and some key synergies for work in the near future to enable our knowledge of the past to be used for conservation action in the here and now. Lateral thinking, across knowledge systems and with open-mindness about bridging data gaps, will be necessary for our accumulating knowledge about our planet's past to be brought to bear on our attempts to conserve it in the future.     

The Solomon Islands Project: an introduction

The twin themes of the Solomon Islands Biomedical Project remain 1) the remarkable genetic heterogeneity of the groups in the Solomons; and 2) the differential responses to these groups to rapid modernization/acculturation over the past two decades of this long term study. This introduction summarizes the historical and ethnic relationships of the survey groups, their established genetic distances and their rankings with regard to acculturation at the times of their first survey, and changes occurring up to 1985-86. Relevant features of diet, life style, and epidemiology are described.     

Drought and aquatic ecosystems: an introduction

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