University of Texas at Arlington

About: University of Texas at Arlington is a education organization based out in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 11758 authors who have published 28598 publications receiving 801626 citations. The organization is also known as: UT Arlington & University of Texas-Arlington.

Comparative phylogeography of pitvipers suggests a consensus of ancient Middle American highland biogeography

Abstract: Aim We used inferences of phylogenetic relationships and divergence times for three lineages of highland pitvipers to identify broad-scale historical events that have shaped the evolutionary history of Middle American highland taxa, and to test previous hypotheses of Neotropical speciation. Location Middle America (Central America and Mexico). Methods We used 2306 base pairs of mitochondrial gene sequences from 178 individuals to estimate the phylogeny and divergence times of New World pitviper lineages, focusing on three genera (Atropoides, Bothriechis and Cerrophidion) that are broadly co-distributed across Middle American highlands. Results We found strong correspondence across three highland lineages for temporally and geographically coincident divergences in the Miocene and Pliocene, and further identified widespread within-species divergences across multiple lineages that occurred in the early–middle Pleistocene. Main conclusions Available data suggest that there were at least three major historical events in Middle America that had broad impacts on species divergence and lineage diversification among highland taxa. In addition, we find widespread within-species genetic structure that may be attributable to the climatic changes that affected gene flow among highland taxa during the middle–late Pleistocene.

Comparative genomics reveals a constant rate of origination and convergent acquisition of functional retrogenes in Drosophila

Abstract: Background Processed copies of genes (retrogenes) are duplicate genes that originated through the reverse-transcription of a host transcript and insertion in the genome. This type of gene duplication, as any other, could be a source of new genes and functions. Using whole genome sequence data for 12 Drosophila species, we dated the origin of 94 retroposition events that gave rise to candidate functional genes in D. melanogaster.

COLLECTIVE ACTION ON THE WEB: A cross-cultural study of social networking sites and online and offline activism in the United States and Latin America

Abstract: Social networking sites (SNS) are credited with organizing protesters in Colombia and Guatemala, and mobilizing voters in the United States. With SNS increasingly used to mobilize collective action, this cross-cultural study surveyed activists in the United States and Latin America to examine how respondents perceived the usefulness and the potential of SNS for activism. This quantitative and qualitative research found that respondents from both regions use SNS to mobilize supporters both online and offline. Whether respondents' activism occurred mostly offline, mostly online, or equally offline and online, they all participated equally in offline activism. Countering previous research doubting the ability of online activism to inspire offline actions, results show respondents believe that online activism translates into offline activism, and that SNS play an important role in contemporary activism. Still, US activists were more likely than those in Latin America to use SNS for activism, or to say their a...