bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characterization of fungi isolated from the equipment used in the International Space Station or Space Shuttle
Authors: Satoh Kazuo , Yamazaki Takashi , Nakayama Takako , Umeda Yoshiko , Alshahni Mohamed Mahdi , Makimura Miho , Makimura Koichi
Published: March 2016

As a part of a series of studies regarding the microbial biota in manned space environments, fungi were isolated from six pieces of equipment recovered from the Japanese Experimental Module “KIBO” of the International Space Station and from a space shuttle. Thirty‐seven strains of fungi were isolated, identified and investigated with regard to morphological phenotypes and antifungal susceptibilities. The variety of fungi isolated in this study was similar to that of several previous reports. The dominant species belonged to the genera Penicillium, Aspergillus and Cladosporium, which are potential causative agents of allergy and opportunistic infections. The morphological phenotypes and antifungal susceptibilities of the strains isolated from space environments were not significantly different from those of reference strains on Earth.
Restructuring tree provenance test data to conform to reciprocal transplant experiments for detecting local adaptation
Authors: Lu Pengxin , Parker William C. , Colombo Stephen J. , Man Rongzhou
Published: March 2016

Local adaptation is a fundamental assumption in delineating seed zones and developing seed transfer guidelines to safeguard climatic adaptation of tree and plant species during forest regeneration and ecological restoration. It is also broadly assumed for forest tree species that show genetic differentiation among geographic populations, especially for those with widespread natural distributions that occur in distinct environments.

However, due to a scarcity of suitable data, the inference of local adaptation has rarely been validated for forest tree species through reciprocal transplant experiments (RTEs). In this study, we illustrate a novel approach to restructure tree provenance test data to conform to RTEs and use recently proposed statistical models to detect local adaptation, using white spruce Picea glauca (Moench) Voss as an example. Our research demonstrates how similar studies can be conducted to validate local adaptation in other forest species and populations, for which RTEs are lacking, but where large, high‐quality provenance test data sets are available.

Contrary to common belief, our results show that local adaptation is absent in survival and height for white spruce populations from Ontario, Canada, although they have evolved in considerably different climatic habitats, and exhibit substantial and clinal genetic differentiation and significant genotype‐by‐environment interactions in these two adaptive traits.

Synthesis and applications. Our results show that the common assumption of local adaptation in forest tree species may not necessarily be correct within significant portions of their natural range. In forest genetic studies, population differentiation in adaptive traits has often been attributed to local adaptation without rigorous validation. Our results caution against such interpretation of experimental results. In the absence of local adaptation as shown by reciprocal transplant experiments, assisted migration may be considered as an option for enhancing forest adaptation to climate change.
Practical implementation of ecosystem monitoring for the ecosystem approach to management
Authors: Kupschus Sven , Schratzberger Michaela , Righton David
Published: March 2016

The implementation of the ecosystem approach means there is a need to monitor an increased range of environmental conditions and ecological components in the marine environment. Many existing monitoring surveys have successfully added tasks or components to an existing monitoring programme while maintaining consistency of time series. This approach is not practical when the immediate data need for a wide range of ecosystem components requires substantial changes to the programme or when collections of different ecological components have conflicting requirements.

We propose a more integrated approach aimed at not only assessing change, but simultaneously delivering evidence of the underlying reasons for observed changes. Using principles developed from observational and modelling efforts in the Barents Sea and the wider literature, we distil the essential characteristics an integrated monitoring programme must exhibit. We demonstrate how such an integrated programme can offer substantial operational efficiencies compared to a coordinated approach.

Integrated monitoring based on ecosystem processes has significant advantages over the coordinated approach that uses ecosystem states independently and focuses on maximizing precision of each indicator. While integration is needed to address current policy requirements, changes to monitoring risk time‐series consistency. However, we explain how such risks can be minimized while at the same time establishing a framework that allows the incorporation of important information from other less flexible data sources to be used in the assessment.

Policy implications. Process‐based integrated monitoring is essential for the ecosystem approach. The focus on ecosystem processes provides the essential elements for future proof efficient management: (i) It provides both unbiased status estimates for reporting requirements and describes the causes of state change. (ii) It minimizes risks to historic time series while coping with changing ecological conditions. (iii) It quantifies ecosystem processes and provides the means to test hypotheses on how different processes interact. (iv) It uses all available information efficiently when used in conjunction with integrated assessments. (v) It is effective due to its adaptability to meet future policy demands and ecosystem requirements while using data in the most efficient manner given these demands.
Understanding nutrient dynamics in an African savanna: local biotic interactions outweigh a major regional rainfall gradient
Authors: Veldhuis Michiel P. , Hulshof Anneleen , Fokkema Wimke , Berg Matty P. , Olff Han
Published: March 2016

Nutrient availability in terrestrial ecosystems has been found to vary along regional climatic and soil gradients and drive variation in plant community composition and vegetation structure. However, more local biotic feedbacks also affect nutrient availability, but their importance in determining vegetation structure relative to regional drivers is yet unclear.

Mesic African savannas form a transition zone between the dry grasslands with relatively low nitrogen availability (indicated by low plant N:P ratios) and the wet woodlands of the continent characterized by relatively low phosphorous availability (high plant N:P ratios). They host strong feedback mechanisms of both vegetation and consumers, where large grazers can create short grazing lawns that alternate over short distances with tall fire‐dominated bunch grasslands, and patches dominated by woody species with abundant macrodetritivores. Here, we test if such local biotic interactions can overrule regional, landscape‐level drivers of plant nutrient availability.

In a South African savanna, we find that plant N:P ratios, N and P resorption efficiencies and proficiencies, were indeed much stronger affected by small‐scale biotic‐created heterogeneity than by a regional rainfall gradient (530–830 mm yr−1). Furthermore, we observe that differences in N:P ratios between vegetation structural types are not caused by simple differences in inherent plant traits.

This suggests that availability of N and P to plants is strongly contingent on the local biotic interplay between different vegetation structural types and within‐system feedbacks linked to each vegetation type. The regional rainfall gradient did affect nutrient availability, but mainly through its effect on the relative distribution of the different vegetation structural types thus setting the range of possible outcomes of biotic interactions.

Synthesis. Regional and global studies that model savanna carbon and nutrient cycling only on the basis of regional gradients in soil and climatic conditions may insufficiently capture the dominant ecosystem processes involved.
Distance‐dependent effects of pathogenic fungi on seedlings of a legume tree: impaired nodule formation and identification of antagonistic rhizosphere bacteria
Authors: Liu Lan , Yu Shixiao , Xie Zhi‐Ping , Staehelin Christian
Published: March 2016

The Janzen‐Connell (JC) hypothesis proposes that diversity of tree communities is promoted by species‐specific enemies that suppress seedling recruitment. Pathogenic soil‐borne fungi are often responsible for JC effects. However, previous ecological studies have not placed JC effects in the context of beneficial soil bacteria. Using the JC effect surrounding a subtropical legume tree (Ormosia glaberrima) as a model, we characterized tripartite interactions between seedlings, soil fungi and plant‐associated bacteria.

Survival of seedlings grown in soil inocula collected at close distances to focal adult trees was reduced. Half of the experimental units were treated with fungicides to confirm the presence of pathogenic fungi. In a parallel experiment, nitrogen‐fixing rhizobia induced fewer nodules on O. glaberrima seedlings when soil inocula were collected closer to focal adult trees. An inoculation experiment with rhizobial isolates promoted nodulation of seedlings grown in soil taken at close distances to adult trees, suggesting that rhizobial densities are suboptimal at these locations.

Fusarium oxysporum, a pathogen of O. glaberrima seedlings, produced exudates that inhibited growth of most bacteria isolated from nodules. Accordingly, F. oxysporum negatively affected rhizosphere colonization of rhizobia in a co‐inoculation experiment. Contrariwise, certain Burkholderia isolates (from nodules and the rhizosphere) were identified that possess the ability to inhibit growth of F. oxysporum. The majority of the antagonistic bacteria were isolated from locations with fungal pathogens, suggesting competition between fungi and rhizosphere bacteria.

Exclusion of pathogenic fungi by application of fungicides promoted nodulation of O. glaberrima seedlings under growth‐room and field conditions.

Synthesis. Our findings indicate that soil‐borne pathogens surrounding adult trees are microbial keystone species that locally influence interactions between seedlings and plant‐associated bacteria.
Salt marsh‐mangrove ecotones: using structural gradients to investigate the effects of woody plant encroachment on plant–soil interactions and ecosystem carbon pools
Authors: Yando Erik S. , Osland Michael J. , Willis Jonathan M. , Day Richard H. , Krauss Ken W. , Hester Mark W.
Published: March 2016

Changing winter climate extremes are expected to result in the poleward migration of mangrove forests at the expense of salt marshes. Although mangroves and marshes are both highly valued ecosystems, the ecological implications of mangrove expansion have not been fully investigated.

Here, we examined the effects of mangrove expansion on below‐ground properties related to peat development and carbon storage. We investigated plant–soil interactions in marshes and across mangrove forest structural gradients in three locations in the northern Gulf of Mexico (USA). We compared our results to those from terrestrial grasslands where the effects of woody plant encroachment are often influenced by rainfall and plant traits.

Abiotic conditions at our study locations differed, particularly in terms of physicochemical properties related to precipitation. Marsh species composition, marsh above‐ground biomass, and mangrove forest structural complexity also varied across these locations. Marshes in the driest location (Central Texas) had higher salinities and were dominated by low biomass succulent plants and lower soil carbon pools. Marshes in the wetter, less saline locations (Louisiana and North Florida) contained high biomass grasses and higher soil carbon pools.

At all locations, above‐ground biomass and above‐ground carbon pools were higher in mangroves than marshes; however, below‐ground soil carbon pools were only higher in mangroves than marshes in the driest location. In the wetter locations, the linkages between mangrove forest structure and soil properties were minimal or not significant. However, in the driest location, there was a significant increase in soil properties related to peat development and carbon storage with increased mangrove forest structural development.

Synthesis: Our results indicate that the ecological implications of woody plant encroachment in tidal saline wetlands are dependent upon precipitation controls of plant–soil interactions. Although the above‐ground effects of mangrove expansion are consistently large, below‐ground influences of mangrove expansion appear to be greatest along low‐rainfall coasts where salinities are high and marshes being replaced are carbon poor and dominated by succulent plants. Collectively, these findings complement those from terrestrial ecosystems and reinforce the importance of considering rainfall and plant–soil interactions within predictions of the ecological effects of woody plant encroachment.
Effects of maternal salinity on salt tolerance during germination of Suaeda aegyptiaca, a facultative halophyte in the Arab Gulf desert
Authors: El‐Keblawy Ali , Gairola Sanjay , Bhatt Arvind , Mahmoud Tamer
Published: March 2016

This study tested the effects of maternal salinity on salt tolerance during seed germination of Suaeda aegyptiaca under different light and temperature regimes. Seeds of the non‐saline habitat were 56% heavier and attained greater germination at the lower temperatures than seeds of the saline habitat. Seeds of saline habitat germinated better in saline solutions at higher temperatures and in light.
Isolation and characterization of Dehalobacter sp. strain UNSWDHB capable of chloroform and chlorinated ethane respiration
Authors: Wong Yie K. , Holland Sophie I. , Ertan Haluk , Manefield Mike , Lee Matthew
Published: March 2016

Dehalobacter sp. strain UNSWDHB can dechlorinate up to 4 mM trichloromethane at a rate of 0.1 mM per day to dichloromethane and 1,1,2‐trichloroethane (1 mM, 0.1 mM per day) with the unprecedented product profile of 1,2‐dichloroethane and vinyl chloride. 1,1,1‐trichloroethane and 1,1‐dichloroethane were slowly utilized by strain UNSWDHB and were not completely removed, with minimum threshold concentrations of 0.12 mM and 0.07 mM respectively under growth conditions. Enzyme kinetic experiments confirmed strong substrate affinity for trichloromethane and 1,1,2‐trichloroethane (Km = 30 and 62 µM respectively) and poor substrate affinity for 1,1,1‐trichloroethane and 1,1‐dichloroethane (Km = 238 and 837 µM respectively). Comparison of enzyme kinetic and growth data with other trichloromethane respiring organisms (Dehalobacter sp. strain CF and Desulfitobacterium sp. strain PR) suggests an adaptation of strain UNSWDHB to trichloromethane. The trichloromethane RDase (TmrA) expressed by strain UNSWDHB was identified by BN‐PAGE and functionally characterized. Amino acid comparison of homologous RDases from all three organisms revealed only six significant amino acid substitutions/deletions, which are likely to be crucial for substrate specificity. Furthermore, strain UNSWDHB was shown to grow without exogenous supply of cobalamin confirming genomic‐based predictions of a fully functional cobalamin synthetic pathway.
Close Communications: Hedge Funds, Brokers and the Emergence of Herding
Authors: Kellard Neil , Millo Yuval , Simon Jan , Engel Ofer
Published: March 2016

We examine how communication, evaluation and decision‐making practices among competing market actors contribute to the establishment of herding and whether this has impact on market‐wide phenomena such as prices and risk. Data are collected from interviews and observations with hedge fund industry participants in Europe, the USA and Asia. We examine both contemporaneous and biographical data, finding that decision‐making relies on an elaborate two‐tiered structure of connections among hedge fund managers and between them and brokers. This structure is underpinned by idea sharing and development between competing hedge funds leading to ‘expertise‐based’ herding and an increased probability of over‐embeddedness. We subsequently present a case study demonstrating the role that communication between competing hedge funds plays in the creation of herding and show that such trades affect prices by introducing an additional risk: the disregarding of information from sources outside the trusted connections.
The Impact of Investment Networks on Venture Capital Firm Performance: A Contingency Framework
Authors: Bellavitis Cristiano , Filatotchev Igor , Souitaris Vangelis
Published: March 2016

Venture capital (VC) syndicates involve repeated transactions among partners and therefore possess network‐like characteristics. Although networks provide access to important externalities, extant literature has not studied the effects of the focal firm's resource needs on performance benefits arising from different network structures. We investigate the impact of two proxies for firm‐level resources, namely maturity and status, on the relationship between network cohesion and VC performance. We find that mature and high status VCs benefit less from network cohesion. We also show that maturity and status simultaneously determine the performance effects of network cohesion.
Risk factors and newborn outcomes associated with maternal deaths in the UK from 2009 to 2013: a national case–control study
Authors: Nair M , Knight M , Kurinczuk JJ
Published: March 2016

Objectives

To identify the risk factors for and adverse newborn outcomes associated with maternal deaths from direct and indirect causes in the UK.

Design

Unmatched case–control analysis.

Setting

All hospitals caring for pregnant women in the UK.

Population

Comprised 383 women who died (cases) from direct or indirect causes from 2009 to 2013 (Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths in the UK) and 1516 women who did not have any life‐threatening complications during pregnancy and childbirth (controls) obtained from UK Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS).

Methods

Multivariable regression analyses were undertaken to examine potential risk factors, their incremental effects, and adverse newborn outcomes associated with maternal deaths.

Outcomes

Odds ratios associated for risk factors for maternal death and newborn outcomes (stillbirth, admission to neonatal intensive care unit [NICU], early neonatal death) and incremental risk.

Results

Seven factors, of 13 examined, were independently associated with increased odds of maternal death: pre‐existing medical comorbidities (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 8.65; 95% CI 6.29–11.90), anaemia during pregnancy (aOR 3.58; 95% CI 1.14–11.21), previous pregnancy problems (aOR 1.85; 95% CI 1.33–2.57), inadequate use of antenatal care (aOR 46.85; 95% CI 19.61–111.94), substance misuse (aOR 12.21; 95% CI 2.33–63.98), unemployment (aOR 1.81; 95% CI 1.08–3.04) and maternal age (aOR 1.06; 95% CI 1.04–1.09). There was a four‐fold increase in the odds of death per unit increase in the number of risk factors. Odds of stillbirth, admission to NICU and early neonatal death were higher among women who died.

Conclusion

This study reiterates the need for optimal care for women with medical comorbidities and older age, and the importance of adequate antenatal care. It demonstrates the existence of socio‐economic inequalities in maternal death in the UK.

Tweetable abstract

Medical comorbidities and socio‐economic inequalities are important risk factors for maternal death in the UK.
Understanding Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Postsurgical Complications Occurring in U.S. Hospitals
Authors: Witt Whitney P. , Coffey Rosanna M. , Lopez‐Gonzalez Lorena , Barrett Marguerite L. , Moore Brian J. , Andrews Roxanne M. , Washington Raynard E.
Published: March 2016

Objective

To examine the role of patient, hospital, and community characteristics on racial and ethnic disparities in in‐hospital postsurgical complications.

Data Sources

Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, 2011 State Inpatient Databases; American Hospital Association Annual Survey of Hospitals; Area Health Resources Files; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospital Compare database.

Methods

Nonlinear hierarchical modeling was conducted to examine the odds of patients experiencing any in‐hospital postsurgical complication, as defined by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety Indicators.

Principal Findings

A total of 5,474,067 inpatient surgical discharges were assessed using multivariable logistic regression. Clinical risk, payer coverage, and community‐level characteristics (especially income) completely attenuated the effect of race on the odds of postsurgical complications. Patients without private insurance were 30 to 50 percent more likely to have a complication; patients from low‐income communities were nearly 12 percent more likely to experience a complication. Private, not‐for‐profit hospitals in small metropolitan or micropolitan areas and higher nurse‐to‐patient ratios led to fewer postsurgical complications.

Conclusions

Race does not appear to be an important determinant of in‐hospital postsurgical complications, but insurance and community characteristics have an effect. A population‐based approach that includes improving the socioeconomic context may help reduce disparities in these outcomes.
Accuracy and adequacy of food supplied in therapeutic diets to hospitalised patients: An observational study
Authors: Larby Annabel , Roberts Shelley , Desbrow Ben
Published: March 2016

Aim

This study assessed the accuracy (including sources and reasons for errors) and adequacy (of patients’ intakes relative to requirements) among patients prescribed therapeutic diets in the hospital setting.

Methods

This observational study was conducted across six wards in a metropolitan tertiary hospital over 14 consecutive days. Meal accuracy was assessed by comparing each individual food or fluid item provided to each patient to items allowed on their specific diet code. Errors were defined by severity (critical or non‐critical threat to patient safety) and source (foodservice system, staff or patient). Nutritional adequacy was determined by comparing patients’ daily energy and protein intakes to individually estimated requirements. Intakes were considered adequate if consumption was ≥75% of requirements.

Results

Meals of 67 patients (31 females, aged 60.0 ± 19.4 years) were assessed for accuracy for up to two days. Of the total 347 therapeutic meals observed, 69 (19.9%) were inaccurate. A large proportion of these errors were critical (64.8%). Foodservice errors were the most common source. Of the 48 patients with complete dietary intake data, mean energy and protein intakes were 3192 ± 2220 kJ and 33 ± 27 g protein, respectively. Only five and seven patients consumed adequate energy and protein to meet their estimated requirements, respectively.

Conclusion

Patients requiring therapeutic diets during hospitalisation are frequently exposed to food and/or fluid errors that may pose an acute threat to their safety. In addition, prescription of these diets may result in patients being unable to adequately meet their nutritional requirements.
The Importance of Global Extinction in Climate Change Policy
Authors: Ng Yew‐Kwang
Published: March 2016

For problems like global climate change that may involve global extinction, we must not just focus, as most economic analysts do, on the trading‐off of current consumption (current mitigation investment reduces consumption) against future consumption (less need for future investment), but also consider the effects of mitigation investment in reducing the extinction probabilities. Future utility/welfare values should only be discounted at the uncertainty of their realization, making these values even in the far future important as this discount rate should be very low (0.01 per cent per annum or less). Immediate and strong actions of environmental protection including greenhouse gas reduction may thus be justified despite high consumption discount rates (about 5 per cent). Unexpectedly, an increase in the extinction probabilities may increase or decrease our willingness to reduce them; precise conditions are given. The related intuition that, the higher the probability of destruction of your house by fire, the less willing you will be in investing on things like interior decoration that does not change the probability of destruction, but the higher your willingness to pave a fire clearance that does reduce the probability of destruction, is examined.
Accountability in International Governance and the 2030 Development Agenda
Authors: Ocampo José Antonio , Gómez‐Arteaga Natalie
Published: March 2016

After revisiting the concept of accountability in national governance, this paper analyzes the challenges of its application to international governance, including an assessment of some of the modalities it has assumed. It then proposes a bottom‐up multilayered and multistakeholder accountability framework for the 2030 Development Agenda: national follow‐up processes at the base of the pyramid, consultations and possibly peer reviews at the regional level, a global accountability system led by the High‐Level Political Forum (HLPF) and supported by the ECOSOC system, United Nations and other international organizations, and active participation by civil society and the private sector with their own accountability frameworks in place.
Banking Models and Monetary Transmission Mechanisms in Malaysia: Are Islamic Banks Different?
Authors: Akhatova Malika , Zainal Mohd Pisal , Ibrahim Mansor H.
Published: March 2016

The present paper comparatively evaluates the credit channel of monetary transmission process of Islamic banks and conventional banks by focusing on their lending/financing behaviour in responses to monetary policy shocks as well as other shocks. Adopting structural vector autoregression (SVAR) specification, we validate the significant responses of both conventional bank credit and Islamic bank financing to monetary policy shocks. However, the dynamic behaviour of Islamic banks following monetary policy shocks as well as other shocks tends to be different. Our analysis indicates that the Islamic bank financing tends to respond immediately while the conventional bank credit exhibits delayed responses to interest rate hikes. These results are generally robust to alternative specifications of the SVAR.
Mediastinal irradiation in a patient affected by lung carcinoma after heart transplantation: Helical tomotherapy versus three dimensional conformal radiotherapy
Authors: Giugliano Francesca M. , Iorio Vincenzo , Cammarota Fabrizio , Toledo Diego , Senese Rossana , Francomacaro Ferdinando , Muto Matteo , Muto Paolo
Published: March 2016

Patients who have undergone solid organ transplants are known to have an increased risk of neoplasia compared with the general population. We report our experience using mediastinal irradiation with helical tomotherapy versus three‐dimensional conformal radiation therapy to treat a patient with lung carcinoma 15 years after heart transplantation. Our dosimetric evaluation showed no particular difference between the techniques, with the exception of some organs. Mediastinal irradiation after heart transplantation is feasible and should be considered after evaluation of the risk. Conformal radiotherapy or intensity‐modulated radiotherapy appears to be the appropriate treatment in heart‐transplanted oncologic patients.
Dividend persistence and dividend behaviour
Authors: Chan Kam Fong , Powell John G. , Shi Jing , Smith Tom
Published: March 2016

This article demonstrates how a spurious regression problem caused by dividend persistence is compounded by a spurious correlation problem when the dependent and independent variables in dividend behaviour regressions are ratios composed of common component variables. This article utilises a simulation procedure to take account of these problems, with the findings implying that extreme care should be taken when using ratios as predictor or explanatory variables in time series regression. This article introduces a reformulated Lintner first difference dividend behaviour model that is not subject to spurious regression in which past prices predict subsequent changes in dividends.
Categorizing species by niche characteristics can clarify conservation planning in rapidly‐developing landscapes
Authors: Gangadharan A. , Vaidyanathan S. , St. Clair C. C.
Published: March 2016

In biodiversity‐rich landscapes that are developing rapidly, it is generally impossible to delineate land use and prioritize conservation actions in relation to the full variability of species and their responses to anthropogenic activity. Consequently, conservation policy often focuses on protecting habitat used by a few flagship, indicator or umbrella species like tigers Panthera tigris and Asian elephants Elephas maximus, which potentially leaves out species that do not share these habitat preferences. We demonstrate an empirical approach that clustered 14 mammals into surrogate groups that reflect their unique conservation needs. We surveyed a 787 km2 multiple‐use area in the Shencottah Gap of the Western Ghats, India, using foot surveys and camera‐trap surveys. Using ecological niche factor analysis, we generated indices of species prevalence (marginality and tolerance) and habitat preferences (factor correlations to marginality axis). We then clustered species by both of the above index types to reveal four clusters based on prevalence and four clusters based on habitat preference. Most clusters contained at least one threatened species. Low‐prevalence lion‐tailed macaques Macaca silenus and tigers were strongly associated with closed forests and low human disturbance. But elephants, sloth bears Melursus ursinus and gaur Bos gaurus were more tolerant of anthropogenic impact, and sloth bears and gaur preferred open forests and grasslands. Dhole Cuon alpinus and sambar Rusa unicolor were associated with highly anthropogenic habitat (farmland, cash crop and forestry plantations) with high human use. Thus, reliance on flagship species for conservation planning can both underestimate and overestimate the ability of other species to persist in multiple‐use landscapes; protecting flagship species would only protect species with similar habitat preferences. For species that avoid human impacts more than the flagship species, core habitat must be protected from human disturbance. For more tolerant species, conservation in anthropogenic habitat may hinge on policies that bolster coexistence with humans.
Behavioral flexibility predicts increased ability to resist excessive methamphetamine self‐administration
Authors: Istin Marine , Thiriet Nathalie , Solinas Marcello
Published: March 2016

Drug addiction is often associated with cognitive deficits and behavioral inflexibility that may contribute to the development and maintenance of addictive behaviors by reducing addicts' ability to control their behavior toward the drug. In this study, we investigated the relationships between pre‐drug levels of behavioral flexibility and the risk to develop uncontrolled methamphetamine (METH) self‐administration. First, we measured individual performance in an inter‐dimensional set‐shifting procedure in which animals have to switch between an external visual rule and an internal side rule in order to obtain food pellets. Then we allowed rats to self‐administer METH for twenty long 14‐hour sessions, and we investigated the relationships between behavioral flexibility and measures of control over drug intake. Rats rapidly acquired to self‐administer high levels of METH which resulted in moderate weight loss. After several sessions of self‐administration, whereas some rats progressively increased their METH intake, other rats showed very long voluntary pauses between drug injections and showed no escalation in METH self‐administration. Interestingly, we found that behavioral flexibility is correlated with METH self‐administration and that more flexible rats take less METH and do not escalate drug taking. These results suggest that traits of behavioral flexibility may protect against the development of excessive and dysregulated drug taking. Conversely, the inability to adapt behavioral responses as a function of the environmental contingencies may contribute to the risks to develop addiction to METH.
Lessons learned about the dissemination of motivational interviewing
Authors: Apodaca Timothy R.
Published: March 2016

Commentary to: After 30 years of dissemination, have we achieved sustained practice change in motivational interviewing?
Which cost of alcohol? What should we compare it against?
Authors: Bhattacharya Aveek
Published: March 2016

This paper explores and develops issues raised by recent debates about the cost of alcohol to England and Wales. It advances two arguments. First, that the commonly used estimates for alcohol harm in England and Wales are outdated, not fully reliable and in need of revisiting. These estimates rely on data that are between 4 and 12 years out of date and sensitive to questionable assumptions and methodological judgements. Secondly, it argues that policymakers, academics and non‐governmental organizations should be more careful in their use of these numbers. In particular, it is imperative that the numbers quoted fit the argument advanced. To help guide such appropriate usage, the different types of cost of alcohol are surveyed, alongside some thoughts on the questions they help us to answer and what they imply for policy. For example, comprehensive estimates of the total social cost of alcohol provide an indication of the scale of the problem, but have limited policy relevance. External cost estimates represent a ‘lowest common denominator’ approach acceptable to most, but require additional assumptions to guide action. Narrower perspectives, such as fiscal, economic or health costs, may be relevant in specific contexts. However, optimal policy should take a holistic view of all the relevant costs and benefits. Similarly, focusing solely on tangible costs may be less controversial, but will result in an under‐estimate of the relevant costs of alcohol.
Organic farming affects the potential of a granivorous carabid beetle to control arable weeds at local and landscape scales
Authors: Diekötter Tim , Wamser Sabine , Dörner Tanja , Wolters Volkmar , Birkhofer Klaus
Published: March 2016

Organic farming not only increases plant diversity, but also simultaneously promotes biological weed control through provisioning of ample resources to seed predators.

Harpalus affinis(Schrank, 1781) was collected from organically or conventionally managed winter‐wheat fields with high or low surrounding shares of organic fields, aiming to test the impact of agricultural management on its activity density, body size and nutritional condition. Body size and nutritional condition were then related to the arable weed seed predation of this granivorous carabid beetle.

Activity density ofH.affiniswas 3.5‐fold higher in organically compared with conventionally managed fields, if these were primarily surrounded by conventional fields. Body size was larger in fields surrounded by large proportions of organically managed land, independent of local management. The nutritional condition of beetles was unaffected by local or landscape scale farming. Per capita seed predation significantly increased with body size, whereas nutritional condition had no effect.

The results of the present study suggest that organic farming at local and landscape scales enhances the potential of species to control arable weeds by increasing activity densities and intraspecific body size. Seed predation therefore not only depends on local and landscape effects on the community composition of local guilds of granivores, but also on the contribution of individual species to this important ecosystem service.
Loss of genetic diversity in farmed populations of Colossoma macropomum estimated by microsatellites
Authors: Santos C. H. A. , Santana G. X. , Sá Leitão C. S. , Paula‐Silva M. N. , Almeida‐Val V. M. F.
Published: March 2016

The genetic variability of four Colossoma macropomum broodstocks, three from fish farms in different regions and one from the natural environment in Brazil, was analyzed using microsatellite markers. The wild progeny (n = 30) were caught in the Solimões–Amazonas River, at the varzea lakes; this location is used to mature the fish from larvae to juveniles. The three fish farms were selected according to the age of their lineages and broodstock availability: DNOCS (n = 21) is located in the Ceará State, representing the oldest lineage of cultivated tambaqui in Brazil; Balbina (n = 30) is located in the Amazonas State, representing the youngest stocks of tambaqui farmed in Brazil (approximately 15 years); and UFRPE (n = 30) is located in the Pernambuco State and is considered to be a mixed stock formed from the DNOCS and Balbina lineages. The analysis of 13 microsatellite loci indicated the occurrence of a variability reduction in the farmed populations; the UFRPE stock was the population with the highest diversity level. Low values of molecular coancestry were found in these populations. Additionally, significant differences in the RST values among the populations were detected, as was the occurrence of genetic structure. The genetic loss found in these populations may have been influenced by the founder effect. Because no breeding programs were during the entire production period and no pedigree records were kept for these broodstocks, we suggest that a wild population might be used as an important genetic resource to increase the genetic diversity of renewal stock lineages.
Strength and stress: Positive and negative impacts on caregivers for older adults in Thailand
Authors: Gray Rossarin Soottipong , Hahn Laura , Thapsuwan Sasinee , Thongcharoenchupong Natjera
Published: March 2016

Aim

To understand the experiences of caregivers with older people living in Thailand, particularly as related to quality of life and stress management.

Method

In‐depth interviews with 17 family caregivers were conducted and then data were thematically analysed.

Results

Carers experience not only negative impacts but also positive impacts from caregiving. Negative impacts include emotional stress, financial struggles and worry due to lack of knowledge. Positive impacts include affection from care recipients, good relationships with caregivers before needing care themselves and encouragement from the wider community. Opportunities to show gratitude, build karma (from good deeds) and ideas shaped largely by Buddhist teachings result in positive experiences. Negotiating between the extremes of bliss and suffering and understanding suffering as a part of life may help carers manage their stress.

Conclusions

Temples and centres for older people could be engaged to develop caregiving programs.
Comparison of the psychometric properties of four dementia knowledge measures: Which test should be used with dementia care staff?
Authors: Sullivan Karen A , Mullan Margaret A
Published: March 2016

Objective

To compare the psychometric properties of four measures of dementia institutional knowledge.

Methods

Fifty‐eight dementia care staff completed the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Tool Version Two (DKAT2), Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Test (ADKT), Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS) and Dementia Knowledge Twenty (DK‐20). The convergent validity and reliability of each measure were examined.

Results

The level of dementia knowledge in this sample was similar to that reported in comparable surveys. The ADKT, DKAT‐2 and DK‐20 had marginal to acceptable internal consistency (α ≥ 0.67), and the ADKT, DK‐20 and ADKS were positively correlated with each other (r's = 0.45–0.60), demonstrating convergent validity. The DKAT2 had lower intercorrelations with the other measures (r's = 0.32–0.45). The ADKS had poor internal consistency (α = 0.29).

Conclusion

As the first head‐to‐head comparison of these tests in a single sample, this study should assist clinicians and researchers to select a dementia knowledge test.
‘Depression is not an illness. It's up to you to make yourself happy’: Perceptions ofChinese health professionals and community workers about olderChinese immigrants’ experiences of depression and anxiety
Authors: Haralambous Betty , Dow Briony , Goh Anita , Pachana Nancy A , Bryant Christina , LoGiudice Dina , Lin Xiaoping
Published: March 2016

Aim

The aim of this study was to improve our understanding of depression and anxiety among older immigrantChineseAustralians.

Methods

The study was based on the National Ageing Research Institute'sCulturalExchangeModel, an iterative process of exchange between researchers and stakeholders. The project involved a range of components including consultations with health professionals and community workers about perceptions of depression and anxiety within theChinese community. This paper reports on these consultation findings.

Results

Thematic analysis generated five main categories to explain participants’ perceptions of depression and anxiety within theChinese community. Themes included: lack of knowledge; personal weakness rather than illness; stigma; somatisation; and experience of migration in later life. Responses to questions about education and information dissemination were collated separately and reported.

Conclusion

Views of depression and anxiety among olderChinese people suggest that educating the community may be an important way to improve mental health literacy and help‐seeking behaviour.
Prevalence of the geriatric syndromes and frailty in older men living in the community: The Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project
Authors: Noguchi Naomi , Blyth Fiona M , Waite Louise M , Naganathan Vasi , Cumming Robert G , Handelsman David J , Seibel Markus J , Le Couteur David G
Published: March 2016

Aim

To describe the age at which the geriatric syndromes and frailty become common in community‐dwelling men.

Methods

The Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project involves a population‐based sample of 1705 community‐dwelling men aged 70 and over from a defined geographic region in Sydney. Data were obtained by physical performance tests, clinical examinations, and questionnaire to determine the prevalence of the following conditions by five‐year age group.

Results

Poor mobility, recurrent falls, urinary incontinence, dementia and frailty phenotype were all uncommon (less than 10%) in men in their 70s, but the prevalence of each of these conditions exceeded 10% in men aged 85–89. The prevalence of Frailty Index‐defined frailty, multimorbidity, polypharmacy and instrumental activities of daily living dependence was constantly high in all age groups.

Conclusions

The different health‐care needs of the ‘old old’ aged 85 years and older should be accounted for in health service planning.
Potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) in older hospital in‐patients: Prevalence, contribution to hospital admission and documentation of rationale for continuation
Authors: Ní Chróinín Danielle , Neto Hugo M , Xiao Diane , Sandhu Anmol , Brazel Carly , Farnham Nell , Perram Jacinta , Roach Timothy S , Sutherland Emily , Day Ric , Beveridge Alexander
Published: March 2016

Aim

To establish prevalence, sequelae and documentation of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use in older hospital in‐patients.

Methods

Notes of all patients ≥65 years old, admitted to our tertiary teaching hospital (January 2013), were retrospectively reviewed, and the Screening Tool of Older Persons' potentially inappropriate Prescriptions applied.

Results

Amongst 534 patients, 54.8% (284) were on ≥1 PIM at admission, 26.8% on multiple; 60.8% were discharged on a PIM. Six percent of all admissions were potentially attributable to a PIM; falls associated with risk therapies were commonest (23/30), and often (65.2%) associated with serious injury.

Pre‐specified subgroup analysis (n = 100) identified 101 PIMs‐at‐discharge amongst 47 patients. In 82.2%, a clinical rationale for continued prescription was documented, with this communicated to the GP by letter in 71.1%.

Conclusion

PIMs were common, and contributed to admission and injury. Hospitalisation provides an opportunity for medication rationalisation, and documentation of rationale for any PIM use.
Community care for Indigenous older people: An update
Authors: Lindeman Melissa A , Smith Kate , LoGiudice Dina , Elliott Mark
Published: March 2016

In this brief paper, we outline some important messages in the literature pertaining to community care for Indigenous older people. Such literature has been scarce until relatively recently. These key messages are particularly important as aged care sector reforms are implemented. We highlight significant research findings concerning health, care preferences and service delivery challenges for the provision of community care for this population group. To be successful, a service needs to be relevant, and to be relevant, services need to take a community development approach in their development and ongoing management.
Demographics and parasites of African buffalo (Syncerus caffer Sparrman, 1779) in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania
Authors: Roug Annette , Muse Epaphras A. , Smith Woutrina A. , Mazet Jonna A. K. , Kazwala Rudovick R. , Harvey Danielle , Paul Goodluck , Meing'ataki Godwell O. , Banga Paul , Clifford Deana L.
Published: March 2016

The number of African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer Sparrman, 1779) inhabiting Ruaha National Park, Tanzania, is thought to be declining, but little data exist to determine whether the population is actually in decline. As an initial phase of collecting population data, we conducted demographic surveys, faecal egg counts and gastrointestinal parasite identification in Ruaha's buffalo herds in September 2011 and 2013. Most herds encountered in the two surveys appeared to be in good health, but with fewer calves in 2013 compared with 2011. The herd‐level body condition score was positively associated with the number of calves per 100 cows after adjusting for year, and the lower number of offspring in 2013 could possibly be associated with a below average rainfall in the 2012–2013 rainy season. Mean herd‐level egg counts ranged from 83 to 140 and from 28 to 113 eggs per g faeces in 2011 and 2013, respectively. Haemonchus, Nematodirus, Cooperia and Oesophagostomum spp., as well as coccidian oocysts, were detected in the population. Monitoring herd demographics and baseline health parameters over time will provide insight into population performance, increase the understanding of population stressors and contribute to buffalo conservation within Ruaha National Park and other protected areas of Africa.
The effect of territory quality on female preference in Metriaclima zebra
Authors: Greenberg Joshua , Jordan Rebecca C. , Sorensen Amanda E.
Published: March 2016

The cichlid fishes of Lake Malawi are an excellent model group with which to study adaptive radiation and speciation; due to the vast number of individual species, large variation in feeding adaptations and behaviours, and relatively recent divergence are found. Males of many cichlid species will obtain and defend lek‐like territories, where they court potential mates in addition to foraging for food. Aspects of territory quality warrant investigation because of the relationship between reproductive success and territory defence success. In this study, we tested whether the presence of a small or large food resource had any effect on the preference of a gravid female for a potential mate. The results of this experiment suggest that the presence of a large food resource increases the attractiveness of a male to a potential mate. This may suggest that the presence of food alone may not be the most important factor, or there may be a threshold amount over which females are attracted. These results indicate that certain aspects of territory quality such as habitat type or proximity to a food resource may play a role in both intersexual and intrasexual selection mechanisms: perhaps even driving and possibly accelerating the speciation of certain lineages of cichlid fishes.