bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An efficient method to clone TAL effector genes from Xanthomonas oryzae using Gibson assembly
Authors: Li Chenhao , Ji Chonghui , Huguet‐Tapia José C. , White Frank F. , Dong Hansong , Yang Bing
Published: August 2019

Transcription Activator‐Like effectors (TALes) represent the largest family of type III effectors among pathogenic bacteria and play a critical role in the process of infection. Strains of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) and some strains of other Xanthomonas pathogens contain large numbers of TALe genes. Previous techniques to clone individual or a complement of TALe genes through conventional strategies are inefficient and time‐consuming due to multiple genes (up to 29 copies) in a given genome, and technically challenging due to the repetitive sequences (up to 33 nearly identical 102‐nucleotide repeats) of individual TALe genes. Thus, only a limited number of TALe genes have been molecularly cloned and characterized, and the functions of most TALe genes remain unknown. Here, we present an easy and efficient cloning technique to clone TALe genes selectively through in vitro homologous recombination and single‐strand annealing, and demonstrate the feasibility of this approach with four different Xoo strains. Based on the Gibson assembly strategy, two complementary vectors with scaffolds that can preferentially capture all TALe genes from a pool of genomic fragments were designed. Both vector systems enabled cloning of a full complement of TALe genes from each of four Xoo strains and functional analysis of individual TALes in rice in approximately 1 month compared to 3 months by previously used methods. The results demonstrate a robust tool to advance TALe biology and a potential for broad usage of this approach to clone multiple copies of highly competitive DNA elements in any genome of interest.
The UK's ‘culture of aspiration’, and how the political class misunderstand it
Authors: Exley Duncan
Published: August 2019

We need to create a political narrative that appeals to aspirations that are part of the cultural values of the majority of the UK. This means involving people with insights and values from beyond the ‘political class’
Development of colchicine‐induced tetraploid St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) lines
Authors: Carbajal Esdras M. , Zuleta M. Carolina , Swayzer Luellen , Schwartz Brian M. , Chavarro Maria Carolina , Ballen‐Taborda A. Carolina , Milla‐Lewis Susana R.
Published: August 2019

St. Augustinegrass is well suited for lawns and commercial landscapes. While many genotypes are cross‐fertile, all cultivars are propagated vegetatively in sod production. To ensure varietal purity, development of sterile triploid hybrids by crossing tetraploid and diploid genotypes has been successfully used in other warm‐season turfgrasses. Applying this model in St. Augustinegrass would be beneficial to sod producers and turf managers who require purity for certification and uniformity for performance, respectively. This study was conducted to develop colchicine‐induced tetraploid lines of St. Augustinegrass. Seeds of cultivar ‘Raleigh’ were treated with four colchicine concentrations at four exposure times. A non‐treated control was included among the treatments. Seedlings that germinated were screened for genome size changes using flow cytometry. Line DSA 13005 and two progeny lines derived through selfing, DSA 16001 and DSA 16016, were corroborated as tetraploids (2n = 4x = 36) through chromosome counts. These lines will be used in future breeding efforts to attempt development of sterile triploid cultivars of St. Augustinegrass.
Arguing from Experience: Travelees versus Travelers in Early Modern Exchanges
Authors: Bracewell Wendy
Published: August 2019

How and why did early modern European ‘travelees’ dispute the accounts of their societies by foreign travel writers? A surprising number did so, challenging travelers’ claims to authority while countering foreign characterizations of their societies as fundamentally different from those of the travelers. This article examines several such rebuttals, from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, as new sources for the cultural history of travel as experience. The travelees’ key criticism was that of the travelers’ epistemological limitations. Both travelers and travelees agreed on the importance of eyewitness experience as the basis for knowledge; but travelees effectively argued that even accurate reports of travel experience could be unreliable as the basis for ethnographic knowledge, since foreign travelers lacked the cultural competence to interpret their experiences. In turn, the travelees discussed here put forward their own alternative views of their societies, based on insider knowledge, as more authoritative and reliable. These travelees legitimated their counter‐narratives according to the same standards and protocols as their opponents, arguing for the commensurability of nature, of European cultures and of experience. The reception of their rebuttals suggests, however, that their critics judged such travelee‐polemicists by different standards than they did travelers from their own cultural context.
The problem of credibility in early modern travel
Authors: Carey Daniel
Published: August 2019

The problem of establishing and evaluating the credibility of travel narratives remained endemic in the early modern period, both for authors of accounts and their readers. Writers of ‘authentic’ reports needed to secure and defend their reliability in the face of doubts that they enjoyed a license to ‘lie by authority’ as a familiar proverb held. This essay investigates the strategies they employed for doing so, and the position of readers relying on a form grounded in ostensible eyewitness that they could not verify for themselves. However tempting it might have been to respond with scepticism and to consign this source of testimony to the farther removes of respectability, it constituted vital source material for cosmographers, historians, and anyone concerned to know the world and its diversity. Natural historians formed part of this constituency, and in the Royal Society figures like Robert Boyle and Henry Oldenburg developed protocols and practices for improving the accuracy of observation. The risk of error did not disappear, but it could at least be managed.
Finite‐size corrections at the hard edge for the Laguerre β ensemble
Authors: Forrester Peter J. , Trinh Allan K.
Published: August 2019

A fundamental question in random matrix theory is to quantify the optimal rate of convergence to universal laws. We take up this problem for the Laguerre β ensemble, characterized by the Dyson parameter β, and the Laguerre weight , in the hard edge limit. The latter relates to the eigenvalues in the vicinity of the origin in the scaled variable . Previous work has established the corresponding functional form of various statistical quantities—for example, the distribution of the smallest eigenvalue, provided that . We show, using the theory of multidimensional hypergeometric functions based on Jack polynomials, that with the modified hard edge scaling , the rate of convergence to the limiting distribution is , which is optimal. In the case , general the explicit functional form of the distribution of the smallest eigenvalue at this order can be computed, as it can for and general . An iterative scheme is presented to numerically approximate the functional form for general .
Contexts and Constraints on Use
Authors: Georgi Geoff
Published: August 2019

One requirement of a theory of meaning for a natural language such as English is that it generate constraints on what speakers can use expressions to strictly and literally say or assert. Yet one significant recent philosophical defence of formal semantics, based on the technical innovations in semantics due to Kaplan, does not satisfy this requirement. On such a theory, meaning is a function from contexts to contents. But contexts in a Kaplanian theory are not uses of indexicals. Thus without some further bridge principle linking uses of indexicals to the contexts of a Kaplanian theory, functions from contexts to content do not determine any constraints on what an indexical can be used to strictly and literally say or assert. A great deal of recent work on Kaplanian theories has been dedicated to identifying the correct bridge principle in response to this challenge, but such work is doomed to fail. I argue that appeal to any such bridge principle in defence of a Kaplanian theory leads to an unacceptably weak account of the role of formal semantics in the study of human linguistic communication.
Multi-period Investment Strategies with Transaction Costs Under Cumulative Prospect Theory
Authors: Deng Liurui , Yang Lan , Ma Bolin
Published: August 2019

This paper focuses on optimal investment strategies under cumulative prospect theory (CPT). Considering transaction costs, we investigate CPT investors multi-period optimal portfolios. Our main contributions relative to previous work are expanding a single-period optimization problem to a multi-period optimization problem and investigating the impact of transaction costs on optimal portfolio selections. In a numerical analysis that applied original data on four stocks from the NASDAQ, we examine the effects of different risks on the optimal portfolio. Moreover, in contrast with the results without transaction costs, we come to conclusion that the optimal strategy with transaction costs is less sensitive to risk.
Imaging features of ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound in primary hepatic carcinosarcoma: three cases report
Authors: Liu Chunrui , Wei Shuping , Wu Min , Kong Wentao
Published: August 2019

Primary hepatic carcinosarcoma (PHCS) is a very rare malignant tumor with a poor prognosis. Previous studies in the English-language literature were case reports, focused on the clinical aspects, pathology and pathogenesis. Much is unknownabout the imaging characteristics of PHCS while ultrasound is the first imaging examination for hepatic disease. Contrastenhancedultrasound (CEUS) is a proven method that improves the detection and characterization of focal liver lesions. The purpose of the paper is to present the ultrasonographic and other imaging appearance of three cases of PHCS.
Sonoanatomy of the spine: a comprehensive scanning protocol from cervical to sacral region
Authors: Chang Ke-Vin , Kara Murat , Su Daniel Chiung-Jui , Gürçay Eda , Kaymak Bayram , Wu Wei-Ting , Özçakar Levent
Published: August 2019

Ultrasound has been increasingly used in the musculoskeletal system, including the spine. In this protocol, the probe positionings, anatomical relationships, and ultrasound images of commonly scanned spinal structures are described. With an international consensus of several expert physiatrists i.e. USPRM; Ultrasound Study Group of ISPRM (International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine), this guide can provide a standardized approach for physicians who are interested in ultrasound diagnosis and guided pain interventions of the spine.
Preoperative evaluation of persistent cloaca using contrast-enhanced ultrasound in an infant
Authors: Lin Xueyun , Xu Xiaohong , Yang Yuping , Wu Jiang , Xian Xiaohui , Chen Xiaodong
Published: August 2019

Persistent cloaca (PC) is the most intricate anorectal malformation. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is safe for hepatic, renal, splenic, vascular, and intracavitary assessment in children, but it is little applied for cloacal malformation. Our results demonstrate that CEUS can not only display the uterine, vagina, bladder, urethra, rectum, and rectovaginal fistula, but also measure the length of the common channel, bladder neck to the common channel, and distal urethra to the perineum. To our knowledge this may be the first report of preoperative evaluation by CEUS in an infant with PC.
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires strengths and limitations as an evaluation and practice tool in Social Work
Authors: O'Neill Emma Amy
Published: August 2019

INTRODUCTION: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is an internationally recognised psychometric and behavioural screening tool. The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) have endorsed the SDQ as the primary behavioural screening and client outcome evaluation tool for the Social Workers in Schools (SWiS) service in 2018. The usefulness of the SDQ in social work practice and in evaluating client outcomes, however, remains unclear. This study explored two years of aggregated Youth Workers in Secondary Schools (YWiSS) SDQ scores to understand what client outcomes could be evidenced. This study further reflects on SDQs as a contractually mandated practice tool and their appropriateness in social work practice.METHOD: Data were collected from the Family Works Northern (FWN) YWiSS database.Data modelling and analysis tested what aggregated client, parent and teacher SDQ scorescommunicated for changes in clients’ behavioural difficulties at service entry, mid-point and exit. FINDINGS: Analysis of two years of YWiSS client, parent and teacher SDQ scores aggregated at a service level provided inconsistent evidence of client need and outcomes by SDQ thematic categories. A number of factors, including the SDQ being voluntary, clients exiting service early and the challenge of asking the same teachers and parents to complete an SDQ, meant that there were very few SDQ scores completed by all parties at the service exit point, following a two-year intervention.CONCLUSION: The findings in this research suggest that the SDQ as a standalone behavioural screening and outcome evaluation tool within social work is limited. Aggregated YWiSS SDQ results provided limited insights about the complexity of client needs or any intervention outcomes to practitioners, social service providers and funders. The use of SDQ in social work requires further scrutiny to test its ability to communicate a client’s level of need and any intervention outcomes to these stakeholders.
Exploring the role of cultural support workers in the New Zealand healthcare setting
Authors: Goh Maree
Published: August 2019

INTRODUCTION: The introduction of the community health worker (CHW), or cultural support worker (CSW) as they are more commonly known in Aotearoa New Zealand, is being increasingly seen as an effective strategy to engage with migrant communities and improve health outcomes. With specific cultural knowledge and understanding, CSWs act as a bridge between their ethnic community and healthcare services to improve cross-cultural interactions in the healthcare setting. As Aotearoa New Zealand becomes increasingly ethnically and linguistically diverse, the use of CSWs will become an integral part of the delivery of healthcare services. However, very little is currently known about the needs of these workers – the challenges of the role; their needs for appropriate training, support and supervision; and, how these can be met.METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five CSWs employed in healthcare settings across the Auckland region. Interviews explored the experiences of CSWs, current training opportunities, availability of support and supervision, and future directions. Data were collected and a process of thematic analysis was used to identify key themes.FINDINGS: Key issues identified from the study included the importance of cultural understanding in establishing rapport between health provider and health service users; the lack of a standardised and recognised role description; no specific training programme; and, limited professional development opportunities.CONCLUSION: This study identified significant challenges for the CSW role but also describes a workforce committed to developing the role and optimistic about their ability to make a positive difference within the healthcare setting.
Jacques Donzelot’s the Policing of Families: Then and now
Authors: Beddoe Liz
Published: August 2019

A classic book review by Liz Beddoe, University of Auckland
An investigation of the nature of termination of pregnancy counselling within the current system of licensed facilities
Authors: Kirk Shelley , Beddoe Liz , Chinnery Shirley Anne
Published: August 2019

Introduction: Termination of pregnancy (ToP) service delivery in Aotearoa New Zealand occurs within a multi-dimensional system which is influenced and shaped by various philosophical, political and economic discourses, and is comprised of interconnected components. One component is the provision of counselling for women seeking a termination of pregnancy. This study aimed to explore how service managers and social work practitioners perceived how ToP services, particularly the counselling component therein, were being delivered nationally.Methods: A concurrent, multi-level, mixed-methods research design was employed in the study. Two purposively selected sample groups comprising: 1) service managers responsible for the oversight of ToP service delivery; and 2) ToP counselling practitioners were recruited from 19 District Health Boards (DHBs) across Aotearoa New Zealand. Service managers (20) participated in interviews with a focus on capturing information about operational systems that supported or hindered the delivery of ToP and counselling services, while 26 social work and counselling practitioners participated in an electronic survey questionnaire. Qualitative data were thematically analysed and quantitative data were descriptively analysed using descriptive statistics.Findings: Results from this mixed-methods study were integrated at the level of interpretation and linkage between the methods showed that practice within ToP licensed facilities varied markedly. Specifically, nine practice and systemic variations were identified that had implications for women receiving ToP services. Existing variations across licensed facilities were signalled as disconnects between components of the service delivery system.Conclusions: Recommendations that address variations and systemic disconnects are offered to the New Zealand Abortion Supervisory Committee and Ministry of Health. Further research is suggested to obtain the perspective of service users as this was one limitation of this small exploratory study.
Feminism and social work: Where next for an engaged theory and practice?
Authors: Cree Viviene
Published: August 2019

Commentary for issue 30(3).
Research for social workers: An introduction to methods.
Authors: Alston Margaert , Bowles Wendy
Published: August 2019

A book review by Sonya Hunt, Senior Lecturer, Social Work Programme, University of Waikato, New Zealand.
Pacific social work and its transformative capability
Authors: Mafileo Tracie , Crichton-Hill Yvonne
Published: August 2019

Editorial.
Social work in the Pacific: The humble and unrefined views of a non-social worker
Authors: Ratuva Steven
Published: August 2019

I once worked in a university where sociology and social work were part of the same department, which I headed. I observed how social work, more than most “disciplines,” was readily responsive, quickly adaptive and empowering with the potential to be readapted and aligned to suit different socio-cultural contexts. From the vantage point of a non-social worker, this makes it resilient and relevant in a fast-changing world where conflict, wealth accumulation and the creation of expanding subaltern classes take place simultaneously. As peripheral “participants” in the process of corporate, technological and cultural globalisation, Pacific Island countries (PICs), often see themselves increasingly subaltern in the global economic and political power game as manifested in increasing poverty, social dislocation, debt, crime and other social problems.A growing capacity for responsiveness, adaptation and empowerment requires a critical approach to understanding the complexities of social dynamics and impact on human wellbeing. Social work crosses the arbitrary boundaries between sociology, anthropology, psychology, development studies, conflict/peace studies, education and health and this trans-disciplinary approach makes it well positioned to address issues such as inequality, poverty, alienation and marginalisation which are common amongst subaltern groups, including those in the Pacific (Sherif & Sherif, 2017). Social work also has the potential to bridge the gap between theory and practice in what Marxian scholars refer to as “praxis” (Freenberg, 2014). Its strength is also in keeping human wellbeing as the central focus in its analysis.
Tafatolu (three-sides): A Samoan research methodological framework
Authors: Palaamo Alesana Fosi
Published: August 2019

INTRODUCTION: A Samoan research methodological framework called Tafatolu (three-sides) involves the synthesis of three key parts considered as valuable to any research – a contemporary academic approach to research, a cultural approach, and the self that represents the researcher’s perspectives and positioning within the project. The rationale behind the Tafatolu methodological framework is to provide an integration of Western and Samoan perspectives to research that incorporates the cultural values and practices of the target population, as well as of the researcher.METHOD: The researcher’s doctoral study that conceptualised, articulated, and used the Tafatolu methodological framework involved the synthesis of a contemporary academic approach to research (qualitative approach), with a cultural approach (a Samoan metaphor fetu’utu’una’i muniao– manoeuvring a fisher’s rod), merged with the researcher’s own input into doingresearch (positioning as an insider/outsider researcher). Specifically, the Tafatolu methodological framework guided the researcher’s study in its methodology, methods, and the analysis of data.IMPLICATIONS: The Tafatolu methodological framework proposed and discussed in this paper provides a way to integrate western and contemporary academic approaches to research, with indigenous and cultural approaches. The fusion of its underlying concepts – a contemporary academic approach, a cultural approach, and the self – can accommodate both the context of the targeted populations under review, as well as the context of the researcher.
Pasifika pedagogies in an indigenous tertiary environment
Authors: Ikiua Jay Hikuleo
Published: August 2019

INTRODUCTION: This article examines how culturally appropriate teaching contributes to a positive learning experience for Pasifika students on the Bachelor of Bicultural Social Work degree programme at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa (TWoA), an indigenous tertiary institution in New Zealand dedicated to promoting access to education for Māori and others and delivering an educational experience based on indigenous principles and practice.APPROACH: Teaching in a social work programme is explored through the lens of the Kaupapa Wānanga framework and Ngā Ūara (values) that form the foundational ideology of TWoA. It draws on the personal experiences of a social services educator using culturally responsive pedagogies that embrace the unique links of Polynesia–Pasifika peoples.  CONCLUSIONS:Culturally responsive pedagogy is vital for Pasifika students to feel valued and culturally connected.
“You look a little bit dark for my liking”: Māori and Pasifika women’s experiences of welfare receipt in Aotearoa New Zealand
Authors: Gray Claire
Published: August 2019

INTRODUCTION: Based on empirical research with Māori and Pasifika lone mothers, this article considers the way that discourses of ethnicity and welfare combine to shape the lived experience of welfare receipt. METHOD: Drawing from 16 focus groups and interviews conducted in 2014 throughout Aotearoa New Zealand with women receiving Sole Parent Support, we analyse the way participants spoke of their experiences with Work and Income New Zealand.FINDINGS: Our findings indicate that the negative experiences related to the receipt of welfare in New Zealand are intensified for women who identify ethnically as Māori or Pasifika. Many of the women who took part in the research attributed poor treatment, including the denial of access to welfare entitlements, to their ethnicity. Participants spoke of avoiding visits to welfare offices because of the racism they anticipated experiencing in these spaces. CONCLUSIONS: There are significant implications for these findings. We argue that identifying as Māori or Pasifika can have consequences in relation to accessing welfare entitlements and that ethnicity may negatively influence interactions within welfare offices in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Vicarious Futurity: Parents' Perspectives on Locating Strengths in Adolescents with Autism.
Authors: Hastie Jan Louise , Stephens Christine
Published: August 2019

INTRODUCTION: Parents’ perspectives of strengths in adolescents with autism is the focus of this research. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have some of the best outcomes for cognition, communication and social development when they begin intensive treatment during early childhood. Most research in ASD has focussed on this part of the lifespan. This has tended to ignore the need for research that covers the whole lifespan including adolescence and adulthood, where extremely poor outcomes often emerge. Furthermore, from a reductionist bio-medical view of ASD, research into adolescence and adulthood has highlighted the maladaptive and pathological behaviour of people with ASD. METHODS:  This qualitative study provides a space for parents to identify the strengths of adolescents, aged from 13–19 years, with ASD. Parents with the experience of raising an adolescent with ASD were asked to take or gather five photographs that displayed the strengths of the adolescent. Data were generated through the discussion of the photographs between the parent(s) or primary caregivers of the adolescent and the researcher. Eight families, with nine adolescents were recruited for the research and 10 parents were interviewed. FINDINGS: The results of the research suggest that parents could identify strengths in adolescents with ASD and that these strengths were evaluated relative to diagnostic features of ASD or as supportive of daily family functioning. Furthermore, identifying adolescent strengths supported the parents’ hopes for the future, described as “vicarious futurity.”CONCLUSION: This perspective poses a challenge to the common assumptions that ASD is associated with dysfunctional family life dominated by poor parental mental health, caregiver burden and research that objectifies those with ASD as being challenging. Identifying strengths points to more opportunities for success for an adolescent with ASD.
Women’s experiences of intimate partner violence in rural Taranaki, Aotearoa New Zealand
Authors: Pitt Lesley , Maidment Jane , Crichton-Hill Yvonne
Published: August 2019

INTRODUCTION: Traditionally, research about intimate partner violence has focused on urban areas and has been urban-centric. However, there are some components of intimate partner violence in rural communities which are different and social workers need to be aware of these variances.METHODS: The findings presented in this article were drawn from a doctoral study in which 23 women and five men were interviewed using a qualitative approach. Alongside these interviews, key informants in the rural Taranaki district were consulted, a fieldwork journal kept and photographs taken. The data were analysed using applied thematic analysis.FINDINGS: Patriarchy was a distinct aspect of the intimate partner violence experienced by the women who participated in this study and part of the back-drop to lives. Hegemonic masculinity was a powerful contributor to the intimate partner violence experienced by some study participants. Geographic isolation was exploited as an aspect of control in intimate partner violence among the women and women had difficulty accessing services.CONCLUSION: It is important for social workers, in order to practise competently, to have an awareness of the impact of patriarchy and hegemonic masculinity. When working in rural communities, social workers need to be attentive to the factors which impact rural women who have experienced intimate partner violence, and how these factors might differ from those that impact urban women’s experiences.
Speaking the same language: Navigating information-sharing in the youth justice sphere
Authors: Appleby Joanna , Shepherd Dr Matthew , Staniforth Dr Barbara
Published: August 2019

Introduction: Qualitative research was undertaken to explore professionals’ experiences of cross-sector information-sharing about the mental health needs of young people in youth justice residences in Aotearoa New Zealand. Methods: Eight focus groups (N = 36) were conducted across Aotearoa New Zealand. Half of these were with case leaders from each of the four Oranga Tamariki – Ministry for Children – youth justice residences. The other half were with youth forensic service (YFS) clinicians who provide mental health services in each youth justice residence. Findings: The findings showed positive cross-sector relationships, despite a lack of policy around information-sharing in this context. Themes from case leaders included the practicalities of the residential environment (including restriction on young people’s freedoms and managing group safety), and case leaders’ brokerage role between competing theoretical frameworks in residence. Themes from YFS clinicians included the importance of cross-sector information-sharing for the assessment and discharge phases of mental health input. Overall themes included the impact of relationships on information-sharing, and the importance of including residential care team staff within information-sharing practices. A proposed model of information-sharing in this context has been developed.Conclusions: Effective information-sharing in youth justice residences is imperative to ensure that young people receive appropriate mental health input in residences, and that residence staff are supported to provide the best care for these young people. Social work has an important role within information-sharing practices with use of systems theory, translation of clinical jargon, and advocacy for the needs of young people involved in multiple systems.
Welfare words: Critical social work & social policy
Authors: Garrett Paul Michael
Published: August 2019

Book review by Kelly J. Smith
Transnational social work: Opportunities and challenges of a global profession
Authors: Bartley Allen , Beddoe Liz
Published: August 2019

Book review by Jan Duke.
Pastoral Counselling in a Changing Samoa: Development, Christianity and Relationality
Authors: Pala’amo Alesana
Published: August 2019

In Samoa, development and Christianity are pervasive and dynamic features of social life, and they are also entangled together in complex ways. This article reviews these entanglements by examining counselling as a form of pastoral practice. Counselling involves interventions that seek to facilitate, amend and restore people’s relationships. The purpose of counselling in Samoa is to provide assistance in navigating the relational space between people, or vā, in the context of ongoing dynamic change. Counselling is a useful point of entry into research on development and Christianity because both have relational effects; they are experienced in and through relationships and relational reconfigurations. Drawing on my research into counselling services by Samoan pastors, I argue that faith-based counselling should be seen as a potentially significant actor in the provision of counselling services on into the future.
Objective assessment of cleft lip and palate speech intelligibility using articulation and hypernasality measures
Authors: Kalita Sishir , Girish K. S. , M. Pushpavathi , Mahadeva Prasanna S. R. , Dandapat S.
Published: August 2019

Assessment of intelligibility is required to characterize the overall speech production capability and to measure the speech outcome of different interventions for individuals with cleft lip and palate (CLP). Researchers have found that articulation error and hypernasality have a significant effect on the degradation of CLP speech intelligibility. Motivated by this finding, the present work proposes an objective measure of sentence-level intelligibility by combining the information of articulation deficits and hypernasality. These two speech disorders represent different aspects of CLP speech. Hence, it is expected that the composite measure based on them may utilize complementary clinical information. The objective scores of articulation and hypernasality are used as features to train a regression model, and the output of the model is considered as the predicted intelligibility score. The Spearman's correlation coefficient based analysis shows a significant correlation between the predicted and perceptual intelligibility scores (ρ = 0.77, p < 0.001).
Recognition of emotional prosody by Mandarin-speaking adults with cochlear implants
Authors: Pak Cecilia L. , Katz William F.
Published: August 2019

To understand how cochlear implant processing affects emotional prosody recognition in tonal languages, how normal-hearing (NH) and cochlear-implanted (CI) adults identify four emotions (“angry,” “happy,” “sad,” and “neutral”) in short, semantically neutral, Mandarin sentences are compared. Depending on hearing status (CI, NH), adults heard natural speech and/or noise-vocoded speech conditions (4-, 8-, and 16-spectral channels). Results suggest that Mandarin-speaking adults with CIs recognize emotions with similar accuracy as NH listeners attending to spectrally degraded (4-channel) vocoded speech. The accuracy noted for Mandarin appears to be lower than that described in previous studies of English.
Reducing the metabolic rate of walking and running with a versatile, portable exosuit
Authors: Kim Jinsoo , Lee Giuk , Heimgartner Roman , Arumukhom Revi Dheepak , Karavas Nikos , Nathanson Danielle , Galiana Ignacio , Eckert-Erdheim Asa , Murphy Patrick , Perry David , Menard Nicolas , Choe Dabin Kim , Malcolm Philippe , Walsh Conor J.
Published: August 2019

Lowering locomotion's metabolic cost

Walking and running require different gaits, with each type of motion putting a greater bias on different muscles and joints. Kim
et al.
developed a soft, fully portable, lightweight exosuit that is able to reduce the metabolic rate for both running and walking by assisting each motion via the hip extension (see the Perspective by Pons). A waist belt holds most of the mass, thus reducing the cost of carrying the suit. By tracking the motion of the user, the suit is able to switch modes between the two types of motion automatically.

Science
, this issue p.
668
; see also p.
636
Sub–single-exciton lasing using charged quantum dots coupled to a distributed feedback cavity
Authors: Kozlov Oleg V. , Park Young-Shin , Roh Jeongkyun , Fedin Igor , Nakotte Tom , Klimov Victor I.
Published: August 2019

Switching on quantum dot lasers

The optical properties of quantum dots can be tailored with alterations to their size and composition. Developing quantum dots as low-threshold laser sources requires overcoming problems associated with carrier recombination and stability. Kozlov
et al.
report success in this direction by demonstrating that a mix of processing and postsynthesis charging can overcome these problems. Synthesis of compositionally graded core-shell quantum dots followed by a carrier charging step provides stable, low-threshold lasing.

Science
, this issue p.
672
Teosinte ligule allele narrows plant architecture and enhances high-density maize yields
Authors: Tian Jinge , Wang Chenglong , Xia Jinliang , Wu Lishuan , Xu Guanghui , Wu Weihao , Li Dan , Qin Wenchao , Han Xu , Chen Qiuyue , Jin Weiwei , Tian Feng
Published: August 2019

Less space but greater maize yield

To meet increasing demands for food, modern agriculture works with increasingly dense plantings. Tian
et al.
identified a gene in teosinte, the wild ancestor of maize, and used it to alter maize such that the plant has a narrower architecture that nonetheless allows leaves access to sunlight (see the Perspective by Hake and Richardson). The yield advantage only becomes evident with the high-density plantings characteristic of modern agriculture, perhaps explaining why this gene was not brought into the fold during the previous millennia of maize domestication.

Science
, this issue p.
658
; see also p.
640
Comment on “Impacts of historical warming on marine fisheries production”
Authors: Szuwalski Cody
Published: August 2019

Free
et al
. (Reports, 1 March 2019, p. 979) linked sea surface temperature (SST) to surplus production and estimated a 4% decline in maximum sustainable yield (MSY) since 1930. Changes in MSY are expected when fitting production models to age-structured data, so attributing observed changes to SST is problematic. Analyses of recruitment (a metric of productivity in the same database) showed increases in global productivity.
Downgrading of regulation in regenerative medicine
Authors: Sipp Douglas , Sleeboom-Faulkner Margaret
Published: August 2019

What should be a firm commitment to product efficacy is threatened by economic competition
Stabilizing heterostructures of soft perovskite semiconductors
Authors: Wang Yanbo , Wu Tianhao , Barbaud Julien , Kong Weiyu , Cui Danyu , Chen Han , Yang Xudong , Han Liyuan
Published: August 2019

Strong perovskite interfaces

The weak bonding in the crystal lattice of hybrid perovskites used in solar cells promotes surface decomposition and interferes with the formation of stable heterostructures with the charge carrier layers. Y. Wang
et al.
show that strong bonds are formed between lead and both chlorine and oxygen atoms in a film with a lead-rich surface and a chlorinated graphene oxide layer. This interface was used with common hole-transporting materials to fabricate solar cells that maintained 90% of their initial efficiency of 21% after operation at 60°C for 1000 hours.

Science
, this issue p.
687
Changing nutrients, changing rivers
Authors: Ibáñez Carles , Peñuelas Josep
Published: August 2019

Phosphorus removal from freshwater systems has wide-ranging ecological consequences
Cryo-EM structures capture the transport cycle of the P4-ATPase flippase
Authors: Hiraizumi Masahiro , Yamashita Keitaro , Nishizawa Tomohiro , Nureki Osamu
Published: August 2019

Flipping a lipid

The membranes of eukaryotic cells have different lipid compositions in their inner and outer leaflets. Enzymes known as flippases and floppases use the energy from adenosine triphosphate (ATP) hydrolysis to translocate lipids against a concentration gradient from the outer to inner or inner to outer leaflets, respectively. Flippases are P4-type ATPases that are important in processes such as membrane trafficking, signaling, and apoptosis. Hiraizumi
et al.
report the cryo–electron microscopy structure of six intermediates of the human flippase ATP8A1 bound to the partner protein it requires for function, CDC50. ATP binding and autophosphorylation of ATP8A1 drive a cycle of conformations in which lipids bind differently, powering translocation.

Science
, this issue p.
1149
First molecule still animates astronomers
Authors: Bovino Stefano , Galli Daniele
Published: August 2019

A study of the helium hydride ion stirs up primordial astrochemistry
Outcomes of a low birth weight phenotype on piglet gut microbial composition and intestinal transcriptomic profile
Authors: Fouhse Janelle M. , Tsoi Stephen , Clark Brenna , Gartner Stephanie , Patterson Jennifer L. , Foxcroft George R. , Willing Benjamin P. , Dyck Michael K.
Published: August 2019

Decades of selection for increased litter size has caused a proportion of sows to consistently produce low birth weight (LBW) litters resulting in economic loss for producers due to reduced piglet survivability and growth. We hypothesized that piglets from LBW litters would have altered gut microbial composition, intestinal architecture, and intestinal transcriptomic profiles compared with piglets from high birth weight (HBW) litters. Sows were designated LBW (n = 45) or HBW (n = 46) based on litter birth weights of three successive parities. LBW piglets were 22% lighter (P < 0.001) at birth; however, no longer differed (P > 0.05) in weight at weaning compared with HBW piglets. LBW piglets had reduced (P < 0.05) fecal microbial diversity with a 114% increase in fecal Enterobacteriaceae (P < 0.05), as well as reduced (P < 0.05) abundance of cecal Roseburia and Faecalibacterium, fiber-degrading butyrate producers. Several genes associated with metabolic (PER2, CES1, KLHL38, and HK2) and immune pathways (IL-1B, IRF8, and TNIP3) were differentially expressed, suggesting altered metabolic and immune function in LBW piglets. In conclusion, LBW piglets had potentially unfavorable shifts in microbial structure in comparison to HBW piglets accompanied with alterations in metabolic and immune gene expression. Results indicate some biological consequences linking LBW phenotype to changes in production efficiency later in life.
Infectious agents and gene expression differ between sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) smolt age classes but do not predict migration survival
Authors: Stevenson Christine F. , Bass Arthur L. , Furey Nathan B. , Miller Kristina M. , Li Shaorong , Rechisky Erin L. , Porter Aswea D. , Welch David W. , Hinch Scott G.
Published: August 2019

In some salmonid populations, multiple smolt age classes co-emigrate owing to variation in the duration of freshwater residence. While it is assumed that smolts prolong freshwater residence to maximize survival, infectious agent profiles and host gene expression (GE) have not been compared between concurrently migrating age classes. We coupled molecular assays of gill samples from nonlethally biopsied Chilko Lake sockeye salmon smolts with acoustic telemetry to study variation in infectious agent profiles and GE between age classes and survival groups. Although neither infectious agent profiles or GE were associated with survival, age-2 smolts exhibited higher mortality in the first 14 km of the downstream migration. There were measurable differences between the age classes in GE and the prevalence and load of “Candidatus Branchiomonas cysticola”, a bacterium commonly found in British Columbia salmonids. Relative to age-1 smolts, age-2 smolts displayed elevated GE related to inflammation and a molecular-based mortality-related signature. Although not associated with migration failure in this study, these patterns of GE are suggestive of mortality and could have implications for smolt survival.
Analytical solutions for three-dimensional Coulomb transition matrix at negative energy and integer values of interaction parameter
Authors: Kharchenko V.F.
Published: August 2019

With the use of a stereographic projection of momentum space into a four-dimensional sphere of unit radius, the possibility of analytical solution of the three-dimensional two-body Lippmann–Schwinger equation with the Coulomb interaction at negative energy has been studied. Simple analytical expressions for the three-dimensional Coulomb transition matrix in the case of the repulsive Coulomb interaction and positive integer values of the Coulomb parameter have been obtained. The worked out method has also been applied to the generalized three-dimensional Coulomb transition matrix in the case of the attractive Coulomb interaction and negative integer values of the Coulomb parameter.
Influence of resistant cultivars and crop intervals on clubroot of canola
Authors: Hwang S.F. , Ahmed H.U. , Zhou Q. , Fu H. , Turnbull G.D. , Fredua-Agyeman R. , Strelkov S.E. , Gossen B.D. , Peng G.
Published: August 2019

Clubroot, caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, is an important constraint on canola (Brassica napus) production in Canada. Rotations of clubroot-resistant (CR) canola cultivars in various sequences and planting intervals between canola with non-host crops and fallow periods were evaluated to determine their effects on clubroot severity and P. brassicae resting spore populations under field and micro-plot conditions. Under micro-plot conditions, the rotation sequences including CR canola, continuous fallow, and the non-host barley reduced gall weight by 63%–100% and clubroot severity by 34%–100% compared with continuous planting of susceptible canola. No visible clubroot symptoms developed following continuous fallow or the non-host crop. Under field conditions, clubroot severity was very high (78% disease index) in the continuous susceptible canola sequence. Most of the CR canola rotation sequences significantly reduced clubroot severity by 12%–23%, but continuous fallow, continuous barley, and alternating the CR canola cultivars ‘45H29’ or ‘73-47’ with ‘TC72429-10’ reduced clubroot severity by 32%–36%. A comparison of intervals between canola crops and four cropping sequences (continuous susceptible canola, alternating canola with barley or pea, a 2-yr non-host interval between canola crops, and a 3-yr non-host interval between canola crops) was conducted over 5 yr. A 2- or 3-yr non-host interval improved plant height, plant biomass, and seed yield, and reduced gall mass, P. brassicae propagules in the soil, and clubroot severity. A significant yield increase of more than 3600% was observed in a 3-yr non-host interval.
Planting density and size-controlling rootstocks influence the performance of Montmorency tart cherry (Prunus cerasus L.)
Authors: Cline John A.
Published: August 2019

Two multi-year experiments were conducted to determine the influence of planting density and rootstocks on the performance of Montmorency tart cherries (Prunus cerasus L.). Using a constant between-row spacing of 4.5 m, three in-row tree spacings of 4, 3 and 1.5 m were tested with five rootstocks: Weiroot 13, Gisela 6, Krymsk 6, Krymsk 7, and a Prunus mahaleb control. In a second experiment, the comparative effects of five rootstocks spaced 4.5 m × 1.35 m were evaluated: (i) P. mahaleb, (ii) Weiroot 10, (iii) Weiroot 13, (iv) Weiroot 72, and (v) Weiroot 158. With higher tree density, yields increased and tree vigour declined. At higher densities, Weiroot 13 was up to 43% and Gisela 6 16% smaller than Mahaleb, whereas Krymsk 6 and 7 were similar in size to Mahaleb. At the highest density, Mahaleb reduced tree size by 20%. After 7 yr, tree mortality on Krymsk 6 and 7 was greater than the other rootstocks, as was the number of root suckers on Krymsk 7. Cumulative yields, yield efficiency, fruit quality characteristic, and light interception were also markedly influenced by planting density and rootstocks. Overall, evaluated rootstocks ranged in size control from slight to semi-dwarfing, and several showed promise in terms of their induction of high-yield precocity and yield efficiency of the scion. Weiroot selections and Gisela 6 had the greatest beneficial effects on productivity and yield efficiencies. Under experimental conditions, Krymsk 6 and 7 were unsuitable because of their lower cumulative yields and high rate of mortality, respectively.
Modeling allometric variation: lessons from the metabolic allometry of black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus)
Authors: Packard G.C.
Published: August 2019

I used linear and nonlinear regression to re-examine published data on the scaling of metabolic rate vs. body mass in an ontogenetic series of black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus (Richardson, 1846)). My objective was to expose shortcomings of the conventional procedure for fitting statistical models to bivariate observations (i.e., the procedure that is widely attributed to J.S. Huxley) and simultaneously to outline a more general and utilitarian protocol for analyzing bivariate data in studies of allometry. Authors of the original study on carp reported exponents of 0.83 and 0.78 for two-parameter power functions fitted to observations for resting metabolism and maximum metabolism, respectively. However, metabolic scaling in these fishes actually is described best by straight lines having positive intercepts with the Y axis. The allometric exponent is 1 for a straight line, so interpretations from the current analyses differ substantially from those reached in the original investigation. Contemporary theories for the evolution of optimal body size (e.g., the Metabolic Theory of Ecology) are based on patterns of metabolic allometry that have been estimated by the conventional analytical method. Thus, the current investigation raises questions about generally accepted patterns of metabolic allometry and theoretical models based upon them.