bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Modularity and cranial integration across ontogenetic stages in Martino’s vole, Dinaromys bogdanovi
Authors: Klenovšek Tina , Jojić Vida
Published: April 2019

We explored modularity and morphological integration of the ventral cranium during postnatal ontogeny in Martino’s vole (Dinaromys bogdanovi). Two closely related phylogenetic groups, originating from the Central and Southeastern part of the species range in the western Balkans, were considered. As expected, both phylogroups had similar patterns of ontogenetic changes in cranial size and shape variation, modularity and integration. At the level of within individual variation, the hypothesis that the viscerocranial and neurocranial regions are separate modules was rejected, indicating that the hypothesized modules are not developmental, but rather functional. At the level of among individual variation, the viscerocranium and the neurocranium could not be recognized as separate modules at the juvenile stage. The strength of association between the hypothesized modules becomes lower with age which finally results in a clear 2-module organization of the ventral cranium at the adult stage. On the other hand, patterns of morphological integration for the cranium as a whole, the viscerocranium and the neurocranium stay consistent across ontogenetic stages. The developmental mechanism producing integration of the cranium as a whole, as well as integration of the neurocranium, varies throughout postnatal ontogeny. In contrast, we detected the ontogenetic stability of the mechanism responsible for covariation of viscerocranial traits which could provide ongoing flexibility of the viscerocranial covariance structure for high functional demands during lifetime. Findings from our study most likely support the idea of the ‘palimpsest-like’ model of covariance structure. Moreover, similarity or dissimilarity in the patterns of within and among individual variation in different sets of analyzed traits and comparisons across ontogenetic stages demonstrate how studies on small mammals other than mice can give new insights into postnatal cranial development.
Prey selection of corallivorous muricids at Koh Tao (Gulf of Thailand) four years after a major coral bleaching event
Authors: Moerland Michelangelo S. , Scott Chad M. , Hoeksema Bert W.
Published: April 2019

Corallivorous Drupella (Muricidae) snails at Koh Tao are reported to have extended their range of prey species following a major coral bleaching event in 2010. Populations of their preferred Acropora prey had locally diminished in both size and abundance, and the snails had introduced free-living mushroom corals in their diet. Although the coral community largely recovered, the Drupella population grew and reached outbreak proportions. For this study, corallivorous muricids at Koh Tao were studied more intensively to examine their identities, distribution and prey choice four years after the bleaching event. Drupella rugosa was identified as the major outbreak species and occurred at densities > 3 m-2 in depth ranges of 2-5 and 5-8 m. The density of D. rugosa was related to the live coral cover, Acropora colony density, and depth. Resource selection ratios revealed that species of Acropora, Psammocora and Pavona corals were attacked more frequently than would be expected based on their availability. Strikingly, fungiid corals were now avoided as prey in the recovered coral community, despite them being part of the preferred diet directly after the bleaching. Although D. rugosa showed a clear prey preference, it appears to be plastic by changing with prey availability. The muricids Drupella margariticola and Morula spinosa occurred in much lower densities and were less often associated with corals. Snails of the opportunistic corallivore D. margariticola usually co-occurred in D. rugosa aggregations, although they also formed feeding aggregations by themselves. Whether M. spinosa generally associates with corals as a corallivore or a scavenger has yet to be determined. Molecular analyses did not reveal cryptic speciation among snails sampled from different coral hosts and also no geographic variation. The present study also showed that corallivory is more common among D. margariticola and M. spinosa than previously known.
Revealing their innermost secrets: an evolutionary perspective on the disparity of the organ systems in anomuran crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura)
Authors: Keiler Jonas , Richter Stefan , Wirkner Christian S.
Published: April 2019

The Southern Australian crustacean species Lomis hirta (Lomisoidea: Lomisidae) is a representative of one of the three anomuran taxa which obtained their crab-like habitus independently from each other. This process, the evolutionary transformation into a crab-like form, is termed carcinization. To shed light on the morphological changes which took place during carcinization and to investigate structural dependence (coherence) between external and internal morphological characters, we studied L. hirta and representatives of its putatively most closely related taxa, Aegla cholchol (Aegloidea: Aeglidae) and Kiwa puravida (Chirostyloidea: Kiwaidae). External and internal anatomy was studied using microcomputertomography and computer-aided 3D reconstruction. A. cholchol and K. puravida belong to equally exceptional lineages: Aegla is endemic to South America and lives in freshwater habitats; Kiwa is a deep sea dweller associated to chemosynthetic bacteria found in methane seeps or hydrothermal vents. On the basis of recent cladistic analyses we reconstruct the anatomical ground pattern of the squat lobster-like last common ancestor of the three taxa and trace the morphological transformations that affected inner and outer morphology in the recent forms. Our results show, among other things, that the pleon in Lomis underwent drastic modifications in the context of carcinization, including a reduction of the muscular portion leaving more room for the hepatopancreas and gonads, and a narrowing of the pleonal ganglia which became shifted anteriorly into the cephalothorax and attached to the cephalothoracic ganglion. We interpret these anatomical changes in Lomis to have come about because of the loss of the caridoid escape reaction, which in turn was a direct consequence of the evolution of a strongly bent pleon as part of the crab-like habitus, and of a hidden lifestyle.
Evolutionary transformations of the malleus in pinnipeds, with emphasis on Southern Hemisphere taxa
Authors: Loza Cleopatra M. , Reutimann Oliver , Sánchez-Villagra Marcelo R. , Carlini Alfredo A. , Aguirre-Fernández Gabriel
Published: April 2019

The systematic value of the middle-ear ossicles, in particular the malleus, has been long recognized for diverse groups. We present systematic work on the characters of the middle-ear ossicles of pinnipeds, focusing on until now poorly studied Southern Hemisphere species. Mallei were extracted from 16 specimens of pinnipeds belonging to five austral and one boreal species of Phocidae and two austral species of Otariidae. Several characters used in this study have been described previously, and some were here modified. Three new characters are here defined and analysed. All characters were mapped onto the phylogeny. Our character analysis shows the transformations that have occurred in the evolution of middle ear ossicles in pinnipeds and identifies diagnostic features of many of its clades. Beyond the identification of specific changes within eachclade, our study of pinniped ossicle evolution documents the occurrence of anatomical convergences with other groups of mammals that live in an aquatic environment, as has occurred in other organ systems as well.
Polyphyly of the genus Zanclea and family Zancleidae (Hydrozoa, Capitata) revealed by the integrative analysis of two bryozoan-associated species
Authors: Maggioni Davide , Arrigoni Roberto , Galli Paolo , Berumen Michael L. , Seveso Davide , Montano Simone
Published: April 2019

The Zancleidae is a hydrozoan family that currently comprises three genera and 42 nominal species. The validity of numerous taxa in this family still needs to be assessed with integrative analyses and complete life cycle descriptions. The vast majority of its species live symbiotically with other organisms, among which cheilostomate bryozoans are the most common hosts. These bryozoan-associated zancleids are host-specific and encompass all species of the genera Halocoryne and Zanclella, as well as several species in the genus Zanclea. Zancleids show variable morphologies, including highly reduced polyps and medusae. Their phylogenetic history is uncertain due to the often intergrading morphologies and the shortage of molecular data. In the present study, two species of Zanclea from the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea are analysed, using morphological and DNA-based approaches. Morphological analyses of the polyp and medusa stages show that, despite a general resemblance with each other and with Zanclella diabolica, the two species differ in some characters, and this is supported also by molecular investigations. The DNA analyses show that the two species are monophyletic and closely related, but divergent from other Zanclea lineages. This newly recovered clade may correspond with the genus Zanclella or with a cryptic genus. The lack of both morphological and molecular data for several zancleid species did not allow to address this issue. Additionally, the single-and multi-locus phylogeny reconstructions reveal that both the family Zancleidae and the genus Zanclea are polyphyletic taxa, since they are composed of at least three divergent lineages. Most zancleid species have polyps and medusae similar to other closely related taxa, and this conserved general morphology poses a challenge in the delimitation of species, genera and even families in this group. Consequently, further conjunct morphological and molecular efforts are strongly needed to clarify the diversity and evolution of the family Zancleida as a whole.
Sociocultural Rights and the Media: International Developments 2017
Authors: Riekkinen Mariya
Published: April 2019

This article provides an overview of international developments in the area of the sociocultural and economic rights of European minorities, including access to and portrayal in the media, throughout 2017. The year brought several significant advancements in these areas. The adoption of the 2017 UNESCO Declaration of Ethical Principles in Relation to Climate Change acknowledged the role of indigenous knowledge in counteracting the challenge of climate change. Protection and integration of Roma was addressed in the activities of the human rights organizations and bodies at the level of the UN, the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the EU. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered a series of significant judgments specifying the factors that would allow a court to classify an act as a hate crime. The ECtHR also instituted procedural rules protecting people from violence based on ethnic and racial motives.
Language and Cultural Politics in Northern Ireland
Authors: Moore Ronnie
Published: April 2019

This paper presents an outline of the circumstances surrounding the current political stalemate in Northern Ireland. It considers the role of language as a key justification for the unravelling of the complex political arrangements formulated by The Belfast Agreement or Good Friday Agreement (GFA). The discussion begins by problematizing the notions of “identity” and “minority” in the Irish / Northern Irish context as an important backdrop and within the framework of the European commitment to, and Charter for, Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML). In particular it looks at historical memory, constructed history, ideology and notions of nationalism, as well as the role of politics and manipulation of language.
Special Status of the Crimean Tatars in the Legislation of Ukraine
Authors: Fedinec Csilla
Published: April 2019

Though the Ukrainian state has not had sovereign rights over Crimea since 2014, Crimean Tatars have continued to repeatedly and emphatically assert their rights to self-determination. In March 2014, the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) adopted a resolution on guarantees of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people as a part of the state of Ukraine. The resolution formally recognized the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The resolution proposes that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine instructs the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to urgently submit draft laws on status of the Crimean Tatar people as indigenous people of Ukraine. However, at the end of 2017, no such draft law or regulatory legal act has been seen. The purpose of this article is to analyse the situation of the Crimean Tatars in the Ukrainian legislation.
Language Conflicts in Russia’s Education System
Authors: Jankiewicz Szymon , Knyaginina Nadezhda
Published: April 2019

This article analyses changes to the language policy in Russia in 2017, and their effects on the state (national) languages of Russia’s republics within the education system. In July 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech at the Council on Interethnic Relations, addressing the language rights of the Russian-speaking population and stressing the existing limit of the power of Russia’s 22 ethnic republics to introduce compulsory study of their official languages. The President’s statements provoked widespread prosecutorial inspections in the republics’ schools and a new round of public discussion about language policy. Public discontent in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan and Komi led to protests against both ethnic Russians and the native speakers of languages recognised as co-official with Russian (‘state languages of the republics’). The authorities of some republics publicly disagreed with the position taken by the federal government. In other republics, however, the President’s speech did not trigger any public discussion. In many republics, it looks like the regional authorities will ultimately accept the decision of the federal government and speakers of republican languages will not actively defend their languages. Effectively, the balance of rights of the federation and the republics for the establishment of state languages, achieved in the 1990s, was violated.
Developments in the Kurdish Issue in Syria and Turkey in 2017
Authors: Gunes Cengiz
Published: April 2019

This article explores the main political developments taking place in Kurdish politics in Syria and Turkey in 2017. It first focusses on the developments taking place in Syria and provides an account of the Kurds’ ascendency there, including the establishment of a de facto Kurdish-led autonomous region in Syria’s north and northeast. Then an account of Turkey’s Kurdish conflict is provided, highlighting the positive developments during the 2000s and the first half of the 2010s that transformed it. However, since the summer of 2015 these positive developments have been reversed with an acceleration of violence in the conflict. In conclusion, I briefly assess the future prospects for the Kurds in Syria and Turkey in light of the developments connected to the ongoing Syrian conflict and the wider region.
A View of History from the Mountains: Daoist Hermitage in the Six Dynasties
Authors: Wei Bin , Lee Casey
Published: April 2019

During the Six Dynasties period, the cultural landscape of the mountains underwent a transformation. Most notable among these were the appearance of monasteries and Daoist temples as well as the system of immortals’ grottos and estates that accompanied the latter. Because of this shift, mountains began to constitute a special religious and cultural space. Two factors contributed to this shift. The first was religious, specifically, the movement of Daoist and Buddhist practice into mountain retreats. The second was political, namely, how political power was shaped by new geopolitical configurations centered on the city of Jiankang (Nanjing). With these two factors at work, a new cultural form and spatial configuration emerged from the mountains that reflects the intimate relationship between the Six Dynasties politics, society, and culture.
Mount Longjiao’s “Capital of Immortals” [龍角仙都]: Representation and Evolution of a Sacred Site from the Tang Dynasty
Authors: Lei Wen , Henderson Kathryn
Published: April 2019

The Abbey Celebrating the Tang [Qingtang guan 慶唐觀], a Daoist temple on Mount Longjiao in southern Shanxi Province, played a special role in the religious history of China in the Tang dynasty. Because of the myth that Laozi himself emerged from this mountain during the war to found the Tang state, this abbey was closely linked to the political legitimation of the Tang. Even plants in this abbey were regarded as the harbingers of the fate of the state. The emperor Xuanzong erected a huge stele in the Abbey Celebrating the Tang, demonstrating the support enjoyed from the royal house. Images of the six emperors, from Tang Gaozu to Xuanzong, were also held in the abbey. After the collapse of the Tang dynasty in 907, the Abbey Celebrating the Tang lost its political, legitimizing privileges, but its connection with the local community continued to develop well into the Song, Liao, Jin, and later dynasties. The creation and transformation of the Abbey Celebrating the Tang not only show the political influence of popular religion in ancient medieval China but also provide an interesting case of how a Daoist temple grew in popularity and prestige after it lost favor with the state.
Thinking Elsewhere
Authors: Marion Jean-Luc , Becker Brian W.
Published: April 2019

This essay traces the phenomenon of revelation beginning with the humblest (sports), to the most personal (love), to the most exalted (religion). Through this analysis, we discover several qualities of revelation: it reveals itself from itself, reveals a new world to me, and reveals another me to myself and to others. Turning to divine Revelation, a further set of concepts is uncovered: the witness who encounters a Revelation without understanding it, a resistance to the testimony of the witness, and a paradox that provokes this resistance by exceeding expectations. These qualities make Revelation both more intelligible and meaningful. For, while holding an exceptional privilege, divine Revelation nonetheless remains in continuity with phenomenality in general and, in arriving from elsewhere by its own initiative, it opens my eyes to the unfolding of its unseen reserves.
Double Hospitality
Authors: Kearney Richard
Published: April 2019

A precarious balance exists between remaining faithful to one’s own language and history while also maintaining an ethical attentiveness to the Other. The danger in the former is the penchant for colonizing and violently reducing the Other. The danger of the later is a supine servility and inability to offer a linguistic home for welcoming the Other. To navigate these two extremes, the conditional hospitality of Ricoeur’s hermeneutics is brought into dialogue with the unconditional hospitality of Derrida’s deconstruction. What is needed is the more embodied approach of a carnal hospitality that assists in discerning the right ways of touching and not touching, of uniting word and body, teaching us how to incarnate the impossible possibility of reconciliation and forgiveness with the stranger.
Further advances to the nomenclatural, taxonomic and geographic knowledge of the New World Commelina (Commelinaceae): toward a continental treatment
Authors: HASSEMER GUSTAVO
Published: April 2019

I present here nomenclatural, taxonomic and geographic novelties in the New World Commelina (Commelinaceae). More specifically, the known distribution of C. longicaulis is expanded to include the Amazon region, and an updated nomenclatural account of the synonymy of C. erecta, C. obliqua and C. tuberosa is presented. Also, the New World synonymy of the Old World species C. benghalensis and C. diffusa is presented, and the first listing of the accepted Commelina species in the Americas since Charles Baron Clarke’s monograph published in 1881 is given. In total, 12 names are typified, and 24 synonymisations newly proposed.
Arthrinium trachycarpum sp. nov. from Trachycarpus fortunei in China
Authors: YAN HE , JIANG NING , LIANG LING-YU , YANG QIN , TIAN CHENG-MING
Published: April 2019

Arthrinium species are globally distributed on various substrates, especially on plant tissues as endophytes, saprobes, as well as pathogens. In present study, Arthrinium strains were obtained from diseased branches of Trachycarpus fortunei, and were compared with known species based on morphological characteristics and DNA sequence data. Thus, Arthrinium trachycarpum sp. nov. is introduced herein, which has shorter and narrower conidia than its most similar species, Arthrinium sinense.
Stephania polygona (Menispermaceae), a new species from Southern Vietnam
Authors: CHINH VU TIEN , VAN DUY NONG , TRAN VAN TIEN , XIA NIANHE
Published: April 2019

A new species, Stephania polygona N.H. Xia & V.T. Chinh, is described and illustrated from southern Vietnam. It is similar to S. subpeltata and S. elegans in general appearance, but differs by its polygonous lobed leaf blade, five to eight veins, and longer, red purple sepals.
Catalogue of the Syrphidae of Egypt (Diptera)
Authors: EL-HAWAGRY MAGDI S. , GILBERT FRANCIS
Published: April 2019

All known Egyptian taxa of the family Syrphidae (flower flies or hover flies) are systematically catalogued. A total number of 51 species belonging to 22 genera, 7 tribes and 2 subfamilies has been treated, including eight species that are listed as unconfirmed records from Egypt. Data for this study have been compiled from both available literature and specimens collected from different Egyptian localities by the authors or preserved in the main Egyptian insect collections. Old World synonymies, type localities, world distributions by biogeographic realm(s) and country, Egyptian localities and activity periods are provided. Remarks on habitat, habits and biology of particular species are provided as well. Two species, Melanostoma scalare (Fabricius) and Eristalis arbustorum (Linnaeus) are recorded for the first time from Egypt.
Extension in distribution of Raorchestes parvulus (Boulenger, 1893) (Anura: Rhacophoridae) to China
Authors: YU GUOHUA , LIU SHUO , HOU MIAN , LI SONG , YANG JUNXING
Published: April 2019

We record Raorchestes parvulus (Boulenger, 1893) for the first time from China based on six specimens collected from southern Yunnan. Phylogenetically these individuals were placed in a clade with R. parvulus from Southeast Asia and pairwise genetic distances in DNA sequences of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene ranged from 0 to 3.1% within the clade. Morphologically these specimens agree with R. parvulus in a series of characters including body size small, a large external vocal sac, vomerine teeth absent, snout slightly shorter than the diameter of the orbit, canthus rostralis indistinct, interorbital space broader than the upper eyelid, tympanum indistinct, fingers free, toes webbed at the base, an inner metatarsal tubercle, tibio-tarsal articulation reaches eye, small warts on the dorsal surfaces of body and limbs, throat smooth, belly granular, a dark triangular blotch between the eyes, a butterfly-like dark band on the back, a dark blotch on each side of lumbar region, and more or less distinct dark bars across limbs. Obvious intraspecific variation in the color pattern occurs within the population. It is possible that previous records of Raorchestes longchuanensis (Yang and Li, 1979) from southern Yunnan might be misidentification of R. parvulus.
Morphological descriptions of the larval and first juvenile stages of the decorator crab Camposcia retusa (Latreille, 1829) from laboratory-reared material
Authors: XU TIAN , ZENG CHAOSHU , HUTSON KATE S.
Published: April 2019

The complete larval and first crab stages of the decorator crab Camposcia retusa (Latreille, 1829) are described and illustrated based on laboratory-reared material for the first time. Specimens were obtained from larvae hatched from adult crabs collected from coral reefs of Queensland, Australia. Newly hatched larvae were successfully reared to settlement as the first-stage crabs. Larval development consisted of two zoeal stages and one megalopal stage. The morphology of each larval stage was compared with those available from a previous study using material from the Red Sea. Due to substantial differences in morphology of the second zoeal and megalopal stages between the two studies, we argue that these larval stages described by the earlier report may not be that of C. retusa. Finally, the morphological characters of both larval and first crab stages of C. retusa are also compared with the corresponding stages of previously reported Inachidae.
A new species of Amazophrynella (Anura: Bufonidae) with two distinct advertisement calls
Authors: KAEFER IGOR LUIS , ROJAS ROMMEL R. , FERRÃO MIQUÉIAS , FARIAS IZENI PIRES , LIMA ALBERTINA PIMENTEL
Published: April 2019

Here we describe a new species of the toad genus Amazophrynella (Bufonidae) from the south margin of the Amazon River in Santarém, state of Pará, Brazilian Amazonia. The new species can be diagnosed by (1) medium body size for the genus: adult females 19.5–20.4 mm SVL, adult males 13.0–14.5 mm SVL; (2) snout acuminate in lateral view; (3) Finger I larger and robust; (4) Finger I nearly equal in size than Finger II; (5) palmar tubercle rounded, covering ¼ of hand; (6) pigmented callus in Finger I in males; in life: (7) brown stain on throat and chest; (8) black dots on venter. Males emit two distinct advertisement calls: the call type 1 consists of a relatively long note (mean 0.248 s) with a mean dominant frequency of 3526 Hz. The call type 2 is arranged in bouts of 6 to 22 notes with mean dominant frequency of 3450 Hz and much shorter note durations (mean 0.034 s). In this study we also redescribe the advertisement call of A. minuta, which also emits a second call type.
Interaction between the MJO and High-Frequency Waves over the Maritime Continent in Boreal Winter
Authors: Zhu Yan , Li Tim , Zhao Ming , Nasuno Tomoe
Published: April 2019

The two-way interaction between Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) and higher-frequency waves (HFW) over the Maritime Continent (MC) during boreal winter of 1984–2005 is investigated. It is noted from observational analysis that strengthened (weakened) HFW activity appears to the west (east) of and under MJO convection during the MJO active phase and the opposite is seen during the MJO suppressed phase. Sensitivity model experiments indicate that the control of HFW activity by MJO is through change of the background vertical wind shear and specific humidity. The upscale feedbacks from HFW to MJO through nonlinear rectification of condensational heating and eddy momentum transport are also investigated with observational data. A significantly large amount (25%–40%) of positive heating anomaly () at low levels to the east of MJO convection is contributed by nonlinear rectification of HFW. This nonlinear rectification is primarily attributed to eddy meridional moisture advection. A momentum budget diagnosis reveals that 60% of MJO zonal wind tendency at 850 hPa is attributed to the nonlinear interaction of HFW with other scale flows. Among them, the largest contribution arises from eddy zonal momentum flux divergence . Easterly (westerly) vertical shear to the west (east) of MJO convection during the MJO active phase causes the strengthening (weakening) of the HFW zonal wind anomaly. This leads to the increase (decrease) of eddy momentum flux activity to the east (west) of the MJO convection, which causes a positive (negative) eddy zonal momentum flux divergence in the zonal wind transitional region during the MJO active (suppressed) phase, favoring the eastward propagation of the MJO.
On the Importance of Statistical Homogeneity to the Scaling of Rain
Authors: Jameson A. R.
Published: April 2019

Scaling studies of rainfall are important for the conversion of observations and numerical model outputs among all the various scales. Two common approaches for determining scaling relations are the Fourier transform of observations and the Fourier transform of a correlation function using the Wiener–Khintchine (WK) theorem. In both methods, the observations must be wide-sense statistically stationary (WSS) in time or wide-sense statistically spatially homogeneous (WSSH) in space so that the correlation function and power spectrum form a Fourier transform pair. The focus here is on developing an explicit understanding for the requirement. Statistically heterogeneous (either in space or time) data can produce serious scaling errors. This work shows that the effects of statistical heterogeneity appear as contributions from cross correlations among all of the distinct contributing rainfall components using either method so that the correlation function and its FFT do not form a transform pair. Moreover, the transform then also depends upon the time and location of the observations so that the “observed” power spectrum no longer represents a “universal” scaling function beyond the observations. An index of statistical heterogeneity (IXH) defined in previous work provides a way of determining whether or not a set of rain data may be considered to be WSS or WSSH. The greater IXH exceeds the null, the more likely the derived power spectrum should not be used for general scaling. Numerical simulations and some observations are used to demonstrate all of these findings.
Medium-Range Convection-Allowing Ensemble Forecasts with a Variable-Resolution Global Model
Authors: Schwartz Craig S.
Published: April 2019

Two sets of global, 132-h (5.5-day), 10-member ensemble forecasts were produced with the Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS) for 35 cases in April and May 2017. One MPAS ensemble had a quasi-uniform 15-km mesh while the other employed a variable-resolution mesh with 3-km cell spacing over the conterminous United States (CONUS) that smoothly relaxed to 15 km over the rest of the globe. Precipitation forecasts from both MPAS ensembles were objectively verified over the central and eastern CONUS to assess the potential benefits of configuring MPAS with a 3-km mesh refinement region for medium-range forecasts. In addition, forecasts from NCEP’s operational Global Ensemble Forecast System were evaluated and served as a baseline against which to compare the experimental MPAS ensembles. The 3-km MPAS ensemble most faithfully reproduced the observed diurnal cycle of precipitation throughout the 132-h forecasts and had superior precipitation skill and reliability over the first 48 h. However, after 48 h, the three ensembles had more similar spread, reliability, and skill, and differences between probabilistic precipitation forecasts derived from the 3- and 15-km MPAS ensembles were typically statistically insignificant. Nonetheless, despite fewer benefits of increased resolution for spatial placement after 48 h, 3-km ensemble members explicitly provided potentially valuable guidance regarding convective mode throughout the 132-h forecasts while the other ensembles did not. Collectively, these results suggest both strengths and limitations of medium-range high-resolution ensemble forecasts and reveal pathways for future investigations to improve understanding of high-resolution global ensembles with variable-resolution meshes.
Cry Wolf Effect? Evaluating the Impact of False Alarms on Public Responses to Tornado Alerts in the Southeastern United States
Authors: Lim JungKyu Rhys , Liu Brooke Fisher , Egnoto Michael
Published: April 2019

On average, 75% of tornado warnings in the United States are false alarms. Although forecasters have been concerned that false alarms may generate a complacent public, only a few research studies have examined how the public responds to tornado false alarms. Through four surveys (N = 4162), this study examines how residents in the southeastern United States understand, process, and respond to tornado false alarms. The study then compares social science research findings on perceptions of false alarms to actual county false alarm ratios and the number of tornado warnings issued by counties. Contrary to prior research, findings indicate that concerns about false alarm ratios generating a complacent public may be overblown. Results show that southeastern U.S. residents estimate tornado warnings to be more accurate than they are. Participants’ perceived false alarm ratios are not correlated with actual county false alarm ratios. Counterintuitively, the higher individuals perceive false alarm ratios and tornado alert accuracy to be, the more likely they are to take protective behavior such as sheltering in place in response to tornado warnings. Actual country false alarm ratios and the number of tornado warnings issued did not predict taking protective action.
Solid Sampling in Analysis of Various Plants Using Two-Jet Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry
Authors: Zaksas Natalia P.
Published: April 2019

The possibility of two-jet plasma atomic emission spectrometry for analysis of different plants using solid sample preparation and unified calibration samples was investigated. The certified reference materials of wheat, maize, rice, potato, grass mix, birch leaves, and Elodea canadensis were used for analysis. On the basis of the behavior of these plants in the plasma, they were divided into two groups: starch-containing materials (cereal and root crops) and leaves/grass. It was found that the previous sample carbonization should be used for analysis of starch-containing plants while leaves and grass could be analyzed by the direct technique. Carbonization was only applied for determining low concentrations of trace elements in leaves and grass. The calibration samples based on graphite powder and simple sample preparation, dilution of powdered sample with a spectroscopic buffer, were used for both direct analysis and analysis after carbonization. Such an approach allowed estimation of B, Ba, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ga, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Si, Sr, V, and Zn in different plants. The limits of detection (LODs) provided by the direct technique were at the level of (µg·g−1): n × 0.1 for Cd, Cu, and Mn; n for B, Ba, Co, Cr, Fe, Ga, Ni, Pb, Sr, V, and Zn; n × 10 for Si. Carbonization allowed improving LODs of elements several times depending on the thermal stability and mineral composition of plants. The LODs of elements in plants obtained after carbonization are the following (µg·g−1): n × 0.01 for Be, Cd, Cu, and Mn; n × 0.1 for Co, Cr, Fe, Ga, Ni, Pb, Sr, V, Zn; and n for Si. The techniques suggested are fast, easily workable, and do not require harmful chemical reagents. In some cases, the influence of variable matrices and different element species on analytical signal of elements was not completely suppressed; the deviation of element concentrations from the true values was discussed.
The problematic recruitment of migrant labor: A relational perspective on the agency of care work managers
Authors: Olakivi Antero
Published: April 2019

Care organizations in northern Europe recruit increasing numbers of migrant workers, but mostly to low-end jobs and especially to old-age care. According to sociological research, employers and managers play a significant but under-examined role in such recruitment. This article examines the roles played by two care work managers who both have responsibilities in recruitment in a public nursing home in Finland. The article examines the managers’ work through the lens of their occupational agency. Drawing on Emirbayer’s distinction between substantialist and relational sociology, the article adopts a relational perspective on the managers’ agency. Opposite to substantialist studies that operate with analytically pre-given entities (such as agents and structures), the article portrays the managers’ agency as open to relationally changing interpretations. The analysis demonstrates how the managers’ agency in and around recruitment depends on how the recipients of care, migrant workers and their broader political environment are constructed and interpreted. These relationally changing interpretations, the article argues, can serve many functions, including care work managers’ impression management in different situations and, ultimately, the recruitment of migrant workers to (precarious) old-age care.
Governing and societal media for building resilience: A sociocybernetic study of the disaster recovery in Japan
Authors: Takahashi Toru
Published: April 2019

How can society deal with a severe disaster that entails wide-ranging societal problems? This article aims to elaborate a sociocybernetic approach to describe and improve collective efforts which are tackling such problems. First, a concept of ‘governing’ will be introduced to describe efforts of not only public actors but also private actors. A case study of recovery efforts which were made in response to the large-scale disasters in 1995 and 2011 in Japan shows that governing can and needs to be empowered by the media. Focusing on one disaster-hit area in Japan, this article examines in what way and to what extent the media (the mass media and the Internet) supported local non-profit organizations (NPOs) working for their communities. The supportive use of the media will be defined as ‘societal media’. Making use of these key terms (governing and societal media), this article concludes that combining a variety of efforts with the supportive use of media is an essential component of building resilience in contemporary society.
Acquisition of new communication media and social (dis)connectivity
Authors: Tække Jesper
Published: April 2019

The article discusses the relation between communication media and social (dis)connectivity. The question is how communication media provide society with different possibilities for (dis)connectivity in different historical media societies. The article draws on Luhmann’s sociocybernetics theories of social systems and communication media in combination with media theory (especially Meyrowitz). As a starting point, the acquisition of oral language made communicative connections and thereby society possible. Later the written media, print media and analogue electronic media opened up new possibilities for social systems to develop structures with new forms of communicative connections. Even though society is only possible because of communication media, which offer new ways of forming new structures that provide new connection possibilities, a new communication medium, especially in the beginning, causes problems and disconnectivity. After the introduction of the printing press in Europe, a great interpretation disagreement broke out and wars raged across the continent for the next centuries. Later with the invention of radio and film, dictators, especially Hitler, benefited from the new media situation. In the final section, the article analyses if we also in the present-day society with the acquisition of digital media see signs of new disconnectivity, and it discusses if we in the new medium society, like in the former, will experience permanent societal disconnectivity going hand in hand with new forms of connectivity.
Visual and Cognitive Demands of CarPlay, Android Auto, and Five Native Infotainment Systems
Authors: Strayer David L. , Cooper Joel M. , McCarty Madeleine M. , Getty Douglas J. , Wheatley Camille L. , Motzkus Conner J. , Goethe Rachel M. , Biondi Francesco , Horrey William J.
Published: April 2019

Objective:

The present research compared and contrasted the workload associated with using in-vehicle information systems commonly available in five different automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with that of CarPlay and Android Auto when used in the same vehicles.

Background:

A growing trend is to provide access to portable smartphone-based systems (e.g., CarPlay and Android Auto) that support an expansion of various in-vehicle infotainment system features and functions.

Method/Results:

The study involved on-road testing of 24 participants in each configuration of five vehicles crossed with the three different infotainment systems: the embedded portion of the native OEM systems, CarPlay, and Android Auto. Our analysis found that workload was significantly greater for the embedded portion of the native OEM systems than for CarPlay and Android Auto. The strengths and weaknesses of each CarPlay and Android Auto traded off in such a way that the overall demand associated with using the two systems did not differ.

Conclusion:

CarPlay and Android Auto provided more functionality and resulted in lower levels of workload than the embedded portion of the native OEM infotainment systems.

Application:

Potential applications of this research include refinements to CarPlay and Android Auto to address variations in workload as a function of task type, the modality of interaction, and OEM implementation of the system.
Influence of Textured Indoor Footwear on Posture Stability of Older Women Based on Center-of-Pressure Measurements
Authors: Li Pui-Ling , Yick Kit-Lun , Ng Sun-Pui , Yip Joanne
Published: April 2019

Objective:

The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of indoor footwear with a textured surface to improve control of balance and reduce excessive plantar pressure in older women.

Background:

Balance instability is a common condition in older people. Textured insoles with protrusions on the entire insole have been examined for enhancing somatosensory feedback in the elderly to improve control over balance. However, these insoles have significant challenges in distributing the plantar pressure. Textured insoles with tailored protrusions should be therefore investigated for the same purpose but provide better plantar pressure distribution.

Method:

A total of 24 older women have undergone both static standing and walking tests with the use of the in-shoe Pedar® system.

Results:

The results indicate that wearing textured indoor footwear provides a significant reduction in postural sway, particularly in the medial–lateral direction during walking. As compared to walking barefoot, the center-of-pressure trajectory when wearing the textured indoor footwear remains supported with less variance among the steps, which is statistically significant in the medial–lateral direction. A significant reduction in the peak pressure is found in the forefoot and rearfoot regions as the plantar pressure is redistributed to the midfoot regions.

Conclusion:

The textured surface of the insole improves balance control of older women and effectively reduces foot pressure at high pressure areas.

Application:

The findings enhance current understanding on textured footwear as a form of intervention associated with changes in functional impairments, therefore providing basis for footwear design in balance control.
Science Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions of the Implementation of Inquiry-Based Learning Instruction in a Middle School in Dubai
Authors: Eltanahy Marwa , Forawi Sufian
Published: April 2019

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) represents the student-centered approach that focuses on encouraging learners to scientifically construct new knowledge. The study aimed to explain science teachers’ and students’ perceptions about applying IBL in a private school in Dubai. Furthermore, to explore the degree to which the science textbook of Grade 8 promotes inquiry instruction. A mixed-method approach was applied where two questionnaires were conducted and an evaluation rubric was used to analyze the textbook to explore the extent to which it supports IBL. The findings revealed that teachers showed progress in applying inquiry instruction and students became more engaged in learning.
Social Determinants of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Uptake: An Assessment of Publicly Available Data
Authors: Maness Sarah B. , Thompson Erika L.
Published: April 2019

Objectives:

Despite cancer prevention benefits associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, uptake in the United States is relatively low among males and females. Our objective was to use the Healthy People 2020 social determinants of health framework to determine the availability and characteristics of data on economic, educational, social, health care, and community factors affecting HPV vaccine uptake in the United States.

Methods:

We included the most recent data sets from 6 publicly available, US-based, federally funded surveys that contained at least 1 measure of HPV vaccination among adolescents and young adults. We searched each data set for any social determinants of health measures within the 5 domains of the framework: economic stability, education, social and community context, health and health care, and neighborhood and built environment.

Results:

The social determinants of health domains of education, economic stability, and health and health care appeared in all data sets. The domains of social and community context and neighborhood and built environment appeared in only 3 data sets. Even when domains were represented, we discovered gaps in the data sets, in which only limited measures of the social determinants were available.

Conclusion:

The addition of questions about the social determinants of health to the surveys that generate these data sets, particularly in the domains of social and community context and neighborhood and built environment, would strengthen the ability of public health researchers, policy makers, and professionals to identify associations between the social determinants of health and HPV vaccine uptake.
Determinants of Hip and Knee Replacement: The Role of Social Support and Family Dynamics
Authors: Demiralp Berna , Koenig Lane , Nguyen Jennifer T. , Soltoff Samuel A.
Published: April 2019

The objective of this study was to examine variations in the determinants of joint replacement (JR) across gender and age, with emphasis on the role of social support and family dynamics. We analyzed data from the US Health and Retirement Study (1998-2010) on individuals aged 45 or older with no prior receipt of JR. We used logistic regression to analyze the probability of receiving knee or hip replacement by gender and age (<65, 65+). We estimated the effect of demographic, health needs, economic, and familial support variables on the rate of JR. We found that being married/partnered with a healthy spouse/partner is positively associated with JR utilization in both age groups (65+ group OR: 1.327 and <65 group OR: 1.476). While this finding holds for men, it is not statistically significant for women. Among women younger than 65, having children younger than 18 lowers the odds (OR: 0.201) and caring for grandchildren increases the odds (1.364) of having a JR. Finally, elderly women who report availability of household assistance from a child have higher odds of receiving a JR as compared with elderly women without a child who could assist (OR: 1.297). No effect of available support from children was observed for those below 65 years old and elderly men. Our results show that intrafamily dynamics and familial support are important determinants of JR; however, their effects vary by gender and age. Establishing appropriate support mechanisms could increase access to cost-effective JR among patients in need of surgery.
The Impact of Land Requisition on Peasant Life in China
Authors: Chen An
Published: April 2019

Since the late 1990s, land requisition has given rise to peasant protests in much of rural China. The literature is mostly focused on how local governments attempted to expropriate land for various purposes—at the expense of the peasants’ interests. This article goes beyond the exploitation/resistance binary and offers an in-depth analysis of the benefits and costs of land requisition to peasants through an examination of the requisition deals and peasants’ post-requisition lives. It argues that the extent to which peasants benefited or suffered from land requisition was determined by multiple factors which differed region by region, village by village, and household by household. These factors include the purposes of land requisition, the commercial potential of the land, the local government’s coffers and its land compensation package, the extent of the peasants’ reliance on farming to earn a living, their non-farming skills, social networks, and competitiveness in labor markets.