bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Diurnal Rhythms of Bone Turnover Markers in Three Ethnic Groups
Authors: Redmond Jean , Fulford Anthony J. , Jarjou Landing , Zhou Bo , Prentice Ann , Schoenmakers Inez
Published: June 2016

Context:

Ethnic groups differ in fragility fracture risk and bone metabolism. Differences in diurnal rhythms (DRs) of bone turnover and PTH may play a role.

Objective:

We investigated the DRs of plasma bone turnover markers (BTMs), PTH, and 1,25(OH)2D in three groups with pronounced differences in bone metabolism and plasma PTH.

Participants:

Healthy Gambian, Chinese, and white British adults (ages 60–75 years; 30 per country).

Interventions:

Observational study with sample collection every 4 hours for 24 hours.

Main Outcomes:

Levels of plasma C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen, procollagen type-1 N-propeptide, N-mid osteocalcin, bone alkaline phosphatase, PTH, and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D were measured. DRs were analyzed with random-effects Fourier regression and cross-correlation and regression analyses to assess associations between DRs and fasting and 24-hour means of BTMs and PTH.

Results:

Concentrations of BTMs, PTH, and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D were higher in Gambians compared to other groups (P < .05). The DRs were significant for all variables and groups (P < .03) and were unimodal, with a nocturnal peak and a daytime nadir for BTMs, whereas PTH had two peaks. The DRs of BTMs and PTH were significantly cross-correlated for all groups (P < .05). There was a significant positive association between C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen and PTH in the British and Gambian groups (P = .03), but not the Chinese group.

Conclusions:

Despite ethnic differences in plasma BTMs and PTH, DRs were similar. This indicates that alteration of rhythmicity and loss of coupling of bone resorption and formation associated with an elevated PTH in other studies may not uniformly occur across different populations and needs to be considered in the interpretation of PTH as a risk factor of increased bone loss.
Triglyceride Levels and Fracture Risk in Midlife Women: Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN)
Authors: Chang Po-Yin , Gold Ellen B. , Cauley Jane A. , Johnson Wesley O. , Karvonen-Gutierrez Carrie , Jackson Elizabeth A. , Ruppert Kristine M. , Lee Jennifer S.
Published: June 2016

Context:

Unfavorable lipid levels contribute to cardiovascular disease and may also harm bone health.

Objective:

Our objective was to investigate relationships between fasting plasma lipid levels and incident fracture in midlife women undergoing the menopausal transition.

Design and Setting:

This was a 13-year prospective, longitudinal study of multiethnic women in five US communities, with near-annual assessments.

Participants:

At baseline, 2062 premenopausal or early perimenopausal women who had no history of fracture were included.

Exposures:

Fasting plasma total cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol at baseline and follow-up visits 1 and 3–7.

Main Outcome Measure(s):

Incident nontraumatic fractures 1) 2 or more years after baseline, in relation to a single baseline level of lipids; and 2) 2–5 years later, in relation to time-varying lipid levels. Cox proportional hazards modelings estimated hazard ratios and 95% confidence interval (CI).

Results:

Among the lipids, TG levels changed the most, with median levels increased by 16% during follow-up. An increase of 50 mg/dl in baseline TG level was associated with a 1.1-fold increased hazards of fracture (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.04–1.18). Women with baseline TG higher than 300 mg/dl had an adjusted 2.5-fold greater hazards for fractures (95% CI, 1.13–5.44) than women with baseline TG lower than 150 mg/dl. Time-varying analyses showed a comparable TG level-fracture risk relationship. Associations between total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and fractures were not observed.

Conclusions:

Midlife women with high fasting plasma TG had an increased risk of incident nontraumatic fracture.

Secondary Abstract:

Midlife women with fasting plasma triglyceride (TG) of at least 300 mg/dl had 2.5-fold greater hazards of fracture in 2 years later and onward, compared to those with TG below 150 mg/dl, in a multiethnic cohort. Time-varying analyses revealed comparable results.
Preserving Community in Health Care
Authors: Emanuel Ezekiel J. , Emanuel Linda L.
Published: June 2016

There are two prominent trends in health care today: first, increasing demands for accountability, and second, increasing provision of care through managed care organizations. These trends promote the question: What form of accountability is appropriate to managed care plans? Accountability is the process by which a party justifies its actions and policies. Components of accountability include parties that can be held or hold others accountable, domains and content areas being assessed, and procedures of assessment.

Traditionally, the professional model of accountability has operated in medical care. In this model, physicians establish the standards of accountability and hold each other accountable through professional organizations. This form of accountability seems outdated and inapplicable to managed care plans. The alternatives are the economic and the political models of accountability. In the economic model, medicine becomes more like a commodity, and “exit” (consumers changing providers for reasons of cost and quality) is the dominant procedure of accountability. In the political model, medicine becomes more like a community good, and “voice” (citizens communicating their views in public forums or on policy committees, or in elections for representatives) is the dominant procedure of accountability.

The economic model’s advantages affirm American individualism, make minimal demands on consumers, and use a powerful incentive, money. Its disadvantages undermine health care as a nonmarket good, undermine individual autonomy, undermine good medical practice, impose significant demands on consumers to be informed, sustain differentials of power, and use indirect procedures of accountability.

The political model’s advantages affirm health care as a matter of justice, permit selecting domains other than price and quality for accountability, reinforce good medical practice, and equalize power between patients and physicians. Its disadvantages include inefficiency in decision making, capture by extremists or experts, intractable value conflicts, fragmentation of community, and oppression of minorities.

The political model is the model we should endorse. Its disadvantages can be minimized by proper institutional design. In addition, recent research on managed care plans suggests that the political model may be the best for a competitive marketplace because it can ensure that tough allocation decisions are addressed and improve health through changes in nonmedical aspects of community life.
The Normative Constitution of Professional Power
Authors: Frankford David M.
Published: June 2016

This article concerns the manner in which we think and talk about power in health care policy and regulation, and the political and social practices allied with that discourse. I assert that in health care policy and practice we speak of and live within the era of countervailing power. In this language and practice power is a force exercised by one actor to enforce its will against another actor against whom power is exerted. I contend that this language inculcates an individual and social passivity in which citizens rely upon various types of representatives to constitute health care for them in a manner in which they do not and cannot participate. However, this language of power and the political and social practice with which it is associated is merely a contingent, historical product. I claim that an alternative discourse of power is possible, in which power consists of the social interactions in which all of us mutually participate but no one of us can control. Power in this sense is participatory by nature, and because no one is in control, it makes no sense to relegate tasks to specialized, nonparticipatory domains. This alternative discourse of power, therefore, might call forth participatory practices in health careand a concomitant diminution of specialization and expansion of the public sphere. The result would be to blur the lines separating politics from everyday interaction, politics from economy, professionals from patients, and insurers from insureds. Participation would mean much more than casting a vote or writing a check but would also include the mutual sharing of time and energy in the tasks that need to be done: long-term and short-term care, practices of prevention, caringfor the chronically ill, and monitoring bureaucratic and professional activities.
Rural Health Network Development: Public Policy Issues and State Initiatives
Authors: Casey Michelle M. , Wellever Anthony , Moscovice Ira
Published: June 2016

Rural health networks are a potential way for rural health care systems to improve access to care, reduce costs, and enhance quality of care. Networks provide a means for rural providers to contract with managed care organizations, develop their own managed care entities, share resources, and structure practice opportunities to support recruitment and retention of rural physicians and other health care professionals. The results of early network development initiatives indicate a need for state officials and others interested in encouraging network development to agree on common rural health network definitions, to identify clearly the goals of network development programs, and to document and analyze program outcomes. Future network development efforts need to be much more comprehensive if they are to have a significant impact on rural health care. This article analyzes public policy issues related to integrated rural health network development, discusses current efforts to encourage network development in rural areas, and suggests actions that states may take if they desire to support rural health network development. These actions include adopting a formal rural health network definition, providing networks with alternatives to certain regulatory requirements, and providing incentives such as matching grants, loans, or technical assistance. Without public sector support for networks, managed care options may continue to be unavailable in many less densely populated rural areas of the country, and locally controlled rural health networks are unlikely to develop as an alternative to the dominant pattern of managed care expansion by large urban entities. Implementation of Medicare reform legislation could provide significant incentives for the development of rural health networks, depending on the reimbursement provisions, financial solvency standards, and antitrust exemptions for provider-sponsored networks in the final legislation and federal regulations.
Monitoring the Impact of the Medicare Fee Schedule on Access to Care for Vulnerable Populations
Authors: Trude Sally , Colby David C.
Published: June 2016

Implementation of the Medicare Fee Schedule (MFS) introduced concerns about the potential for reduced access to care, especially for vulnerable populations. These analyses show differences in access before and after the MFS that cannot be explained by health status. In particular, those without private or public supplementary insurance, those with low incomes, African Americans, and the oldest old had lower utilization before the MFS. The impact after implementation of the MFS on vulnerable populations was similar, for the most part, to that for other beneficiaries: reduced utilization in areas with fee increases and increased utilization in areas with fee decreases. An exception was that African Americans, those without supplemental insurance, and those with low incomes in areas of fee decrease saw reductions in the use of surgical services relative to their counterparts in areas with no fee change.
The New Politics of U.s. Health Policy
Authors: Hacker Jacob S. , Skocpol Theda
Published: June 2016

Following the demise of comprehensive health care reform in 1994, some reformers are seekingcomfort in the successful “incremental” strategy for enacting Medicare that emerged out of President Harry Truman’s failed campaign for national health insurance in 1948–50. But despite similarities between the Truman and Clinton health security efforts, overall contexts of government and politics are much less hospitable to governmentally funded reformstoday than they were after Truman’s defeat. Back then, market transformations and political dynamics were both pushing toward expanded access to health services and insurance coverage. Today, by contrast, both push in the opposite direction. The private insurance market is fragmenting, federal budgetary constraints stymie new programs, and the deficit dominates debate over existing programs. Equally important, a stable proreform coalition like that of Truman’s day has yet to emerge, while a new and fiercely conservative corps of Republicans is championingcoherent programmatic alternatives based on antigovernment premises. Although passage of the Kassebaum-Kennedy health insurance reform bill in 1996 unleashed a wave of enthusiasm about incremental health care reform, formidable political, fiscal, and technical obstacles continue to standin the way of even relatively modest incremental solutions.
A Farewell to Sol Levine
Authors: Osborn Robin
Published: June 2016

Editor's Note

Last October I had the always rewarding experience of conversing with Sol Levine as we participated in the annual meeting of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research Program, which he directed. I had not known him long, but it did not take long to appreciate just how rare an individual he was—towering as both a health policy scholar and as a human being. Like so many in the field, I was stunned and saddened just a month later to turn a page of the New York Times and see his visage peering out from an obituary that announced his most untimely death from a sudden heart attack. Robin Osborn, who worked closely with Sol as the deputy director of the Investigator Awards program, describes below the personal and intellectual qualities of this truly effervescent leading figure in the field.
Medicaid and the Politics of Groups: Recipients, Providers, and Policy Making
Authors: Kronebusch Karl
Published: June 2016

There is a substantial heterogeneity of interests within the Medicaid program. Its major beneficiary groups include the elderly, people with disabilities, children in low-income families, and adults receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Providers who deliver medical services to these recipients represent another set of potential claimants. These groups are likely to be treated differently by the politics that affect the design and management of the Medicaid program. The Medicaid recipient groups vary in several important dimensions: First, the groups differ politically, a dimension that includes their political participation, their relationships to parties and electoral coalitions, the images they present to other political actors, and the legacy of public policies that affect them. Second, the groups have different medical and social needs. Third, the groups differ with respect to economic constraints, including the political economy of labor markets and of government spending programs, and they have differing relationships to the various types of medical providers. The medical providers are themselves political actors with a variety of characteristics that create political advantages relative to recipients, although there is also diversity among providers. The politics of the Medicaid program involves more than simply technical decisions about eligibility, coverage of medical services, reimbursement, and the implementation of managed care initiatives. Instead the differences between the program’s multiple claimants are an important element of current Medicaid politics and the likely path of future reforms.
Community Experiments in Action: Developing Community-Defined Models for Reconfiguring Health Care Delivery
Authors: Bogue Richard J. , Antia Mazda , Harmata Rita , Hall Claude H.
Published: June 2016

In the United States, health system change occurs as the interaction of politics and policies is played out and pushed forward by individuals and organizations taking action in their local communities and markets. This article provides context and descriptive information about a model of local health care reform that is being tested in twenty-five communities around the nation. We introduce a value-based model of community-responsive health system change, the Community Care Network (CCN) Vision. We briefly describe a national demonstration program that is testing this model between January 1996 and the end of 1998. We offer several ways of looking at the local and regional multisectoral partnerships that are attempting to demonstrate the CCN vision. We look at their composition, the kinds of actions in which they are engaged, several example challenges and responses to them, and we give several examples of schools becoming part of the health system of last resort. Finally, we present some early ideas on how the local actions described here may influence (and be influenced by) the political and policy contexts in which they occur.
Paradigms Lost: The Persisting Search for Community in U.s. Health Policy
Authors: Schlesinger Mark
Published: June 2016

Local communities have long played an important role in health and social policy in the United States. But the concept of community was strangely absent from the federal debate on health care reform in 1993 and 1994. I attribute this absence to the paradoxical nature of community as a frame for guiding policy making. The concept of community has broad appeal across the ideological spectrum, but this breadth masks a set of long-standing and powerful tensions that determine when communities are seen as appropriately given responsibility for addressing societal problems. This article reviews the historical evolution of the role of community in health policy, highlighting the ways in which various tensions emerged. It applies these perspectives to an analysis of the attitudes of the U.S. public and congressional staff in 1995. Data from two surveys demonstrate that support for community-based reforms is much lower for medical care than for other social needs, including some health-related concerns such as long-term care and the treatment of substance abuse. Statistical analyses suggest several possible explanations for the lower support for community-based medical care. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for future communitarian strategies designed to improve U.S. medicine or social policy.
The Resurgence of Selective Contracting Restrictions
Authors: Marsteller Jill A. , Bovbjerg Randall R. , Nichols Len M. , Verrilli Diana K.
Published: June 2016

As managed care has spread, so has legislation to force plans to contract with any willing provider (AWP) and give patients freedom of choice (FOC). Managed care organizations’ selective networks and provider integration reduce patient access to providers, along with provider access to paying patients, so many providers have lobbied for AWP-FOC laws. In opposition are managed care organizations (MCOs), which want full freedom to contract selectively to control prices and utilization. This article comprehensively describes laws in all fifty-one jurisdictions, classiﬁes their relative strength, and assesses the implications of the laws. Most are relatively weak forms and all are limited in application by ERISA and the federal HMO Act. The article also uses an associative multivariate analysis to relate the selective contracting environments to HMO penetration rates, rural population, physician density, and other variables. States with weak laws also have higher HMO penetration and higher physician density, but smaller rural populations. We conclude that the strongest laws overly restrict the management of care, to the likely detriment of cost control. But where market power is rapidly concentrating, not restricting selective contracting could diminish long-term competition and patient access to care. In the face of uncertainty about the impact of these laws, an intermediate approach may be better than all or nothing. States should consider mandating that plans offer point-of-service options, for a separate premium. This option expands patient choice of plans at the time of enrollment and of providers at the time of care, yet maintains plans’ ability to control core providers.
Medicaid Managed Care and the Family Planning Free-Choice Exemption: Beyond the Freedom to Choose
Authors: Rosenbaum Sara , Shin Peter W. , Mauskopf Alice , Zuvekas Ann
Published: June 2016

Family planning services represent one of the most common managed care services, particularly in the case of Medicaid. In 1986, Congress enacted legislation exempting family planning services from mandatory managed care requirements. The effect of this legislation was to permit beneficiaries enrolled in mandatory managed care plans to continue to obtain family planning benefits from the providers of their choice, regardless of the providers’ network status. The purpose of the law was to assure that managed care would not impede individuals’ access to benefits. Subsequent experiences surrounding implementation of this provision indicated that the Health Care Financing Administration failed either to define the scope of the exemption or to provide guidance to states regarding the various issues that would have to be resolved in exempting certain primary care services from mandatory managed care. States, in turn, developed working definitions of exempt family planning services that omitted treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and also delegated to their managed care contractors the responsibility to design implementation and payment arrangements. This systematic failure to articulate the scope and functional elements of the exemption consequently led to nonpayment of providers, and ultimately, to denial of care in some cases. Moreover, plans and community providers alike relied on the exemption to justify their failure to come to grips with the requirements and challenges of managed care. We conclude that exempting primary care services from managed care requirements may raise as many questions as it answers, and instead recommend that states, plans, and community providers focus on developing managed care systems that are responsive to patient needs.
Should Health Insurance Cover Ivf? Issues and Options
Authors: Neumann Peter J.
Published: June 2016

An emotional debate has attended the question of whether health insurance should cover the cost of in vitro fertilization (IVF) for infertile couples. Some private health plans have opted to cover IVF, although most have not. Ten states have mandated that it be included or offered as a standard benefit for private health insurance plans. This article analyzes several key issues in the debate: the impact of insurance coverage; the cost-effectiveness of IVF; valuing the benefit of IVF; and adoption as an alternative. It recommends policy action in several areas: more efficiently allocating resources for IVF (by giving priority to couples with better chances of success, and by making more extensive use of facilities with higher success rates); ensuring that clear and reliable information about the effectiveness of IVF is available; and leveling the playing field between IVF and adoption.
Social Science and the Public Agenda: Reflections on the Relation of Knowledge to Policy in the United States and Abroad
Authors: Wilensky Harold L.
Published: June 2016

It is tempting to oversell the practical value of applied research. A hard look at the effects of U.S. social science on public policy in areas such as active labor market policies (training, job creation, placement, etc.), crime prevention, fiscal policy, poverty reduction, and health care reform suggests an inverse relationship between social science consensus and policy and budgetary decisions. Fragmented and decentralized political economies (e.g., the United States) foster policy segmentation and isolated, short-run single-issue research—often politicized and misleading. More corporatist democracies (such as Sweden, Norway, Austria, and Germany) evidence a tighter relation between knowledge and power in which a wider range of issues is connected, longer-range effects are sometimes considered, and research is more often actually used for planning and implementation. Even in less hospitable societies, however, social science does make its way in the long run. Favorable conditions and examples are discussed.
Associations between chlorophyll a and various microcystin health advisory concentrations
Authors: Hollister Jeffrey W. , Kreakie Betty J.
Published: June 2016

Cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms (cHABs) are associated with a wide range of adverse health effects that stem mostly from the presence of cyanotoxins. To help protect against these impacts, several health advisory levels have been set for some toxins. In particular, one of the more common toxins, microcystin, has several advisory levels set for drinking water and recreational use. However, compared to other water quality measures, field measurements of microcystin are not commonly available due to cost and advanced understanding required to interpret results. Addressing these issues will take time and resources. Thus, there is utility in finding indicators of microcystin that are already widely available, can be estimated quickly and in situ, and used as a first defense against high levels of microcystin. Chlorophyll a is commonly measured, can be estimated in situ, and has been shown to be positively associated with microcystin. In this paper, we use this association to provide estimates of chlorophyll a concentrations that are indicative of a higher probability of exceeding select health advisory concentrations for microcystin. Using the 2007 National Lakes Assessment and a conditional probability approach, we identify chlorophyll a concentrations that are more likely than not to be associated with an exceedance of a microcystin health advisory level. We look at the recent US EPA health advisories for drinking water as well as the World Health Organization levels for drinking water and recreational use and identify a range of chlorophyll a thresholds. A 50% chance of exceeding one of the specific advisory microcystin concentrations of 0.3, 1, 1.6, and 2 μg/L is associated with chlorophyll a concentration thresholds of 23, 68, 84, and 104 μg/L, respectively. When managing for these various microcystin levels, exceeding these reported chlorophyll a concentrations should be a trigger for further testing and possible management action.
DRIMSeq: a Dirichlet-multinomial framework for multivariate count outcomes in genomics
Authors: Nowicka Malgorzata , Robinson Mark D.
Published: June 2016

There are many instances in genomics data analyses where measurements are made on a multivariate response. For example, alternative splicing can lead to multiple expressed isoforms from the same primary transcript. There are situations where the total abundance of gene expression does not change (e.g. between normal and disease state), but differences in the relative ratio of expressed isoforms may have significant phenotypic consequences or lead to prognostic capabilities. Similarly, knowledge of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that affect splicing, so-called splicing quantitative trait loci (sQTL), will help to characterize the effects of genetic variation on gene expression. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) has provided an attractive toolbox to carefully unravel alternative splicing outcomes and recently, fast and accurate methods for transcript quantification have become available. We propose a statistical framework based on the Dirichlet-multinomial distribution that can discover changes in isoform usage between conditions and SNPs that affect splicing outcome using these quantifications. The Dirichlet-multinomial model naturally accounts for the differential gene expression without losing information about overall gene abundance and by joint modeling of isoform expression, it has the capability to account for their correlated nature. The main challenge in this approach is to get robust estimates of model parameters with limited numbers of replicates. We approach this by sharing information and show that our method improves on existing approaches in terms of standard statistical performance metrics. The framework is applicable to other multivariate scenarios, such as Poly-A-seq or where beta-binomial models have been applied (e.g., differential DNA methylation). Our method is available as a Bioconductor R package called DRIMSeq.
Short Communication: Fecundity of freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) in selected rivers of Sarawak, Malaysia
Authors: AR KHAIRUL ADHA , NICHOLAS FAZNUR FATEH , LONG SHABDIN MOHD , NAQIUDDIN AWANGKU SHAHRIR , ESA YUZINE
Published: June 2016

Khairul Adha AR, Nicholas FF, Long SM, Naqiuddin AS, Esa Y. 2016. Fecundity of freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) in selected rivers of Sarawak, Malaysia. Biodiversitas 17: 498-502. Giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) is one of the important species of freshwater aquaculture in Malaysia. However, the sustainability of freshwater prawn farming is currently threatened by low production efficiency. In addition, the degradation of natural habitats and the use of illegal catching methods have caused great threats to freshwater giant prawn populations. Thus, the main objective of this study was to examine the wild population, ecology, and fecundity of giant freshwater prawn in natural water bodies in Sarawakâ€™s rivers namely Samarahan, Sadong and Kayan rivers. The mean values of the physicochemical water parameters, such as dissolved oxygen, pH values, conductivity, turbidity and temperature from three rivers surveyed were differenced significantly (P< 0.05). However, the characteristics of water quality measured were found to be within the ideal range for freshwater prawn to survive and grow. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) of total length, total body weight and eggs weight of prawn population among three rivers. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) of prawn fecundity among the three rivers. The present study showed that berried female particularly from Kayan and Kerang river are suitable as potential brood stock from the wild population for breeding program.
Physiological alterations of Salvinia natans L. exposed to aluminium stress and its interaction with polyamine
Authors: Mandal Chiranjib , Bera Subhankar , Dey Narottam , Adak Malay
Published: June 2016

In the present Investigation Salvinia natans L exposed to increasing concentration of Al stress and its interaction with polyamine was discussed. Among the physiological attributes Glutathione-S-transferase, glutathione peroxidase activities were up regulated against control. At transcript level glutathione peroxidase was also shown by over-expressed manner to support the lyses of peroxide. However, the application of Put had minimized these activities with same way to establish the role of polyamine under metal stress. In secondary metabolites synthetic pathway phenyl alanine ammonia lyase recorded a steady increase although the concentration of Al. Not only a single fraction of polyamine was responsible under Al stress but also pool of conjugated polyamine was up regulated. In oxidation of polyamine the activity of diamine oxidase (DAO) was more under metal stress to induce accumulation H2O2. In compensation for cellular depletion of reduced glutathione, dihydro ascorbate reductase activity was up regulated in plant under stress. At cellular level plants were distinctly marked with variations in heat shock proteins and established as a possible biomarker for Al toxicity. The study possibly established the affectivity in bio-monitoring of Al in field condition with exercise cellular responses of Salvinia plants.
Current status of diversity and distribution of Bryophytes of Odisha
Authors: Mishra Manorama , Dash Prasad Kumar , Alam Afroz , Sahoo Santilata , Das Ritarani
Published: June 2016

In an attempt to reveal the biodiversity status of one of the least studied plant groups of Eastern Ghats, the authors have catalogued the diversity and distribution of bryoflora of Odisha situated in the Northern Eastern Ghats biogeographic regions of India. One hundred fourty nine species of bryophytes including 102 mosses under 23 families, 41 liverworts under 16 families and 6 hornworts under 2 families were reported from Odihsa as a result of 7 years of primary survey (2008-2015) conducted in some selected bryodiversity rich habitats covering 12 districts of Odisha and also from scrutiny of different research publications including research papers, books and research reports. In terms of species richness, the Deomali hills was found to be the most diverse in terms of bryophytes followed by Similipal biosphere reserve, Mahendragiri hills, Niyamgiri hills, Baphlimali hills and Khandadhar hills. Deomali hills also showed highest diversity in endemic mosses. Five mosses such as Fissidens orishae Gangulee, Erpodium mangiferae Müll. Hal., Hyophila comosa Dixon, Stereophyllum confusum Ther., Neckeropsis exserta (Hook. ex Schwagr.) Broth. are found to be endemic to India that occur in Odisha. Aneura pinguis (L.) Dumort.,  Anoectangium stracheyanum Mitt., Cyathophorella hookeriana (Griff.) M. Fleisch., Cyathophorum adiantum (Griff.) Mitt., Distichophyllum schmidtii Broth., Eurhynchium striatulum (Spruce) Schimp., Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw., Leucobryum juniperoideum (Brid.) Müll. Hal., Lophocolea bidentata (L.) Dumort., Macromitrium sulcatum (Hook.) Brid., Notothylas levieri Schiffner, Pallavicinia lyellii (Hook.) Gray Pellia epiphylla (L.) Corda., Philonotis fontana (Hedw.) Brid., Pogonatum neesii (Müll. Hal.) Dozy., Polytrichum commune Hedw., Polytrichum juniperinum Hedw., Racopilum cuspidigerum (Schwagr.) Angstrom, Racopilum orthocarpum Wilson ex Mitt., Riccia beyrichiana Hampe ex Lehm., Riccia billardieri Mont. & Nees.,  Spruceanthus semirepandus (Nees) Verd., Thuidium cymbifolium (Müll. Hal.)  Paris, Thuidium koelzii H. Rob., Trematodon  longicollis Michx., are some of the new distributional record of occurrence for the Eastern Ghats.The present study reveals that Fissidentaceae, Pottiaceae, Bryaceae, Dicranaceae, Aytoniaceae, Marchantiaceae, Funariaceae and Anthocerotaceae are dominant families in the study area. The authors have also identified few forest pockets and critical habitat in the state where bryophyte diversity shall be very rich that needs a detailed survey in near future. The authors discuss the list of bryophytes of the state in a regional context of rarity, as well as address some general subject matters regarding cryptogam conservation and further work needed in the state of Odisha. The study would provide a prelude data for future bryological studies and bryomonitoring in the Eastern Ghats in general and the state of Odisha in particular.
Effect of TiO2 nanoparticles on the viscoelastic and time-dependent behaviors of TiO2/epoxy particulate nanocomposite
Authors: Salehi Hamid Reza , Salehi Manouchehr
Published: June 2016

In this work, the effects of nano titania are investigated on mechanical, creep, and viscoelastic behaviors of epoxy resin. For this purpose, 0.25, 0.5, and 1 vol.% of TiO2 nanoparticles were mixed with thermoset epoxy resin by mechanical and ultrasonic homogenizers and then the tensile, creep, and DMTA test samples were fabricated. The results of tensile tests show that the addition of TiO2 nanopowder slightly increased the strength and Young’s modulus of epoxy resin. However, the ultimate tensile strain or the rupture strain of nanocomposites is decreased. In addition, to understand the viscoelastic behavior of nanocomposites, the DMTA and tensile creep tests have been done. Tensile creep test has been done by DMTA and universal test machine. Both results confirmed that the creep resistance of nanocomposites has extensively improved by adding the titania nanoparticles. Variations of storage modulus, loss modulus, and tan (δ) by adding TiO2 nanopowder were examined in two modes of bending and tension. Storage and loss moduli of nanocomposite are considerably increased in all the states, but the storage modulus was more sensitive to TiO2 loading intensity. Thus, test results showed that introduction of TiO2 in the epoxy resin leads to the improvement of mechanical, creep resistance, and viscoelastic properties of nanocomposites. Due to the wide applications of epoxy resins in engineering devices, this method of reinforcement can be practical and useful to overcome some limitations of epoxy resins.
Oil-price density forecasts of US GDP
Authors: Ravazzolo Francesco , Rothman Philip
Published: June 2016

We carry out a pseudo out-of-sample density forecasting study for US GDP with an autoregressive benchmark and alternatives to the benchmark that include both oil prices and stochastic volatility. The alternatives to the benchmark produce superior density forecasts. This comparative density performance appears to be driven more by stochastic volatility than by oil prices, and it primarily occurs outside of the great recession. We use our density forecasts to compute a recession risk indicator around the great recession. The alternative model with the real price of oil generates the earliest strong signal of a recession; but it surprisingly indicates reduced recession immediately after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. Use of the “net oil-price increase” nonlinear transformation of oil prices does lead to warnings of highly elevated risk during the Great Recession.
Superspace description of trimethyltin hydroxide at T = 100 K
Authors: Dey Somnath , Schönleber Andreas , Mondal Swastik , van Smaalen Sander
Published: June 2016

At low temperatures the metalorganic compound trimethyltin hydroxide, (CH3)3SnOH, possesses a commensurately modulated crystal structure, the modulation wave vector can be described as

q

 
=
 

1
2

c

∗

.

${\bf{q}}\; = \;{1 \over 2}{{\bf{c}}^ * }.$

The crystal structure is studied by analysing single-crystal X-ray diffraction data within the (3+1)-dimensional superspace approach and superspace group P21212(00γ)00s. The corresponding twofold superstructure has space group symmetry P212121. The structure is characterised by polymeric chains running along c-axis, generated by Sn–O–Sn bridges between neighbouring Sn atoms and packed in a distorted hexagonal pattern and linked via C–H···O interstrand hydrogen bonds along the (orthorhombic) directions [110] and [11̅0], but not along [100].
Chemical constituents of the leaves of Campylospermum elongatum
Authors: Elo-Manga Savio S. , Tih Anastasie E. , Ghogomu Raphael T. , Blond Alain , Bodo Bernard
Published: June 2016

The leaves of Campylospermum elongatum have furnished the cyano-glycoside (lithospermoside), nine isomeric biflavonoid derivatives among which five are I3–II6 linked (robustaflavone; 4′-O-methyl robustaflavone; 4′,4″′-di-O-methyl robustaflavone; 7,4′,4″-tri-O-methyl robustaflavone; 4′,7″-di-O-methyl robustaflavone) and four I3–II8 linked (amentoflavone; 7-O-methyl amentoflavone; 7,7″-di-O-methyl amentoflavone; 7, 4′,7″-tri-O-methyl amentoflavone) and a flavone glycoside, 4″-O-methyl-7-O-β-d-galactosylapigenin. All structures were established from a complete spectroscopic analysis (MS, IR, 1D, and 2D NMR, including HSQC, HMBC, and NOESY) as well as by comparing the obtained spectroscopic data with literature. This is the first report on the characterization of 4′-O-methyl-7-O-β-d-galactosylapigenin from the genus campylospermum and thus has important chemotaxonomic implications.
Kritische Authentizitätsorientierung als religionsdidaktisches Prinzip
Authors: Bauer Jochen
Published: June 2016

The concept of authenticity proves to be useful for understanding and arranging religious education in secular and pluralistic contexts. Analyzing its discussion in cultural anthropology, the article describes authenticity as an epistemological and ethical concept. Authenticity promises an immediate access to and expression of reality - above and beyond culturally formed and thus deconstructable concepts. Claiming authenticity, however, does not prove its existence. To avoid naïve approaches didactics should emphasize authenticity as a principle of religious learning but not neglect deconstruction. In pointing out seven mechanisms which facilitate authentic effects the article elaborates a critical approach to authenticity as a didactical principle for arranging religious learning.
Konfessionslosigkeit und die konfessorische Dimension des Religionsunterrichts
Authors: Meyer-Blanck Michael
Published: June 2016

The future development of church membership or religious indifference is currently unpredictable. What’s more, the author argues that this perspective is of no relevance to Religious Education with nondenominational students. Instead, he advocates a “transconfessional” approach to Religious Education, in which the students’ confession or formal membership of a church doesn’t count. Thus, he rather looks at how RE can help pupils to consciously choose or decline a religious lifestyle. In this context, the author also points out that all thought on how to work with nondenominationals in RE classes can resort to the past years’ rich experience with ecumenical and interreligious learning.
Konfessionslosigkeit im Jugendalter
Authors: Gennerich Carsten
Published: June 2016

The article reports empirical findings about religious attitudes and values of non-denominational adolescents in Germany. The results show that these adolescents prefer categories of the natural sciences to describe their experiences of self and world. Non-personal images of God and an open semantic of spirituality are preferred over more conventional religious forms. Furthermore, they prefer more than other adolescents values of achievement, hedonism, stimulation and self-determination. Based on these results conclusions for religious education are drawn.
Religiöse ‚Suchsprache‘ und christliche Sprachschule im Spannungsfeld von Übersetzung und Transformation
Authors: Kumlehn Martina
Published: June 2016

The article describes the fundamental hermeutic and didactical conditions - which determine Religious Education in the context of heterogeneous religious attitudes and non-denominationalism. It emphasizes the importance of religious literacy, especially the understanding of the characteristic modes of religious communication in symbols and methaphors. In critical discussion of the question, whether religious language can be translated into secular terms or can be learned as a foreign language, it argues for special forms of transformation and interpretation.
Performativer Religionsunterricht?
Authors: Kliemann Peter
Published: June 2016

The article is written from the perspective of a German post graduate teacher education institute („second phase of teacher education“) and discusses the implementation of so-called „Performative Religious Education“ in German grammar schools. The author compares different types of the performative approach and draws attention to possible misunderstandings and forms of abuse on the way from the theoretical concept to the classroom. The article closes with three proposals for further clarification and research.
Grundsatzbeiträge. Das religionspädagogische Leitbild der Kinder- und Jugendtheologie in kontingenzsensibler Perspektive
Authors: Roose Hanna
Published: June 2016

Do the recommendations given by the concept of „Child and Adolescent Theology“ make teaching more complex? The article tries to elucidate this question by applying the idea of “sensitivity to contingency” (M. Proske, A. Scheunpflug) to the normative notion of “Child and Adolescent Theology”. It analyses some fundamental aspects of this concept according to three basic pedagogical differences (Fritz-Ulrich Kolbe). The analysis shows that the concept of “Child and Adolescent Theology” remains unclear as to which theory of instruction it presupposes. There is also a tendency to raise the level of complexity without at the same time providing strategies to reduce complexity.
Religionsunterricht inklusiv – aber konfessionell getrennt erteilt? Anforderungen an einen inklusionsgerechten Religionsunterricht
Authors: Schweitzer Friedrich
Published: June 2016

This article discusses the relationship between the demand for inclusive education and denominational education that is taught in denominationally separate groups. The author identifies a number of respects in which such a form of Religious Education comes into contradiction to the principles of inclusive education. In the last part, he specifies a number of demands that denominational Religious Education must fulfill in order to become inclusive. Among others, these demands include that Religious Education must be open for all children and youth, that it includes dialogue and cooperation with other forms of Religious Education and that it addresses the philosophical and theological presuppositions of inclusion.
Inklusive Konfirmandenarbeit geht im Team
Authors: Ebinger Thomas , Schweiker Wolfhard
Published: June 2016

The article discusses how the Human Rights principle of inclusion might be implemented in confirmation classes. A religious education of adolescents which doesn’t exclude people with special needs challenges the pedagogical competencies of ministers, as they have to adapt their teaching methods and contents. Moreover, the article focuses on how team work within confirmation classes can be established. What are the challenges and chances in the specific educational setting of the congregation? What alternatives are there to memorizing and reciting, that adolescents with special needs might not be capable of? What kind of team workers might be gained and educated? Finally, the authors discuss how the Church can meet these challenging needs by structural transformation and financial support.
Religionspädagogik und öffentliche Theologie
Authors: Körtner Ulrich H.J.
Published: June 2016

Religious instruction is not only an important locus of religion in the public sphere but also a locus (of learning) of Public Theology. Thus, it makes sense to include the discourse of Public Theology in the discourse of Religious Education. Furthermore, the discourse of Public Theology could, in turn, profit from an intensified exchange with Religious Education, since Religious Education is one of the eminent loci in the public sphere at which exactly those questions are raised for discussion and are debated which are thematised by Public Theology. Religious Education, to be sure, is not only the task of religious instruction but rather is to be viewed as an educational mandate of the school as a whole. Therefore, the questions raised in school by Public Theology cannot be restricted to religious instruction but rather may be treated within multidisciplinary projects.
Religion und öffentliche Vernunft. Impulse aus der Diskussion um die Grundlagen liberaler Gesellschaften für eine Öffentliche Religionspädagogik
Authors: Pirner Manfred L.
Published: June 2016

The philosophical discourse on the question of “how citizens who remain deeply divided on religious, philosophical, and moral doctrines, can still maintain a just and stable democratic society” (John Rawls) corresponds with the discourse in educational science on the question of how a consensus on major objectives of public education and the role of religious education in this context can be reached. Based on this insight, the article sketches some main components of the two recently most influential social theories, those developed by John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas. It is suggested that together they can provide a frame of reference for public religious education (and public religious pedagogy), and concrete consequences for its practice at schools and beyond are indicated.