bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clumping behavior and byssus production as strategies for substrate competition in Mytilus edulis
Authors: Khalaman Vyacheslav V. , Lezin Peter A.
Published: January 2015

Laboratory experiments showed that the musselMytilus edulisaggregated more intensely around living organisms (the bivalveHiatella arcticaand the solitary ascidianStyela rustica, which commonly co‐occur with mussels in fouling communities) than around inanimate objects. When exposed to an inanimate object, mussels attached their byssal threads primarily to the substrate, close to the object, but when exposed to a living organism, they attached their byssal threads directly to the organism. The ascidian was more intensely covered with byssal threads than was the bivalve. Mussel attachment to the ascidians was apparently determined by the physical characteristics of the tunic and to a lesser extent by the excretion‐secretion products released byS. rustica. This study indicates that mussels can use byssus threads as a means of entrapment of potential competitors for space. It remains unclear why mussels preferentially attached to ascidians compared to the bivalve. This can be explained either by competitive interactions, or by attractiveness of the ascidian tunic as an attachment substratum.
Introduction: Cognition, Motion Events, and SLA
Authors: Bylund Emanuel , Athanasopoulos Panos
Published: January 2015

This opening article introduces the reader to current topics in research on language and thought in monolingual speakers and second language (L2) learners, with particular attention to the domain of motion. The article also delineates the rationale that underlies the special issue at hand, and provides a contextualisation of the individual contributions. It is argued that the centrality of motion in everyday human life, in combination with the vast cross‐linguistic variation in motion construal, makes motion events a suitable topic for SLA research, both in terms of ecological validity and learnability challenge. The pedagogical aspects of this line of research are discussed in terms of, first, whether it is desirable to include the acquisition of language‐specific thought patterns in curricular goals, and second, whether the knowledge about language specificity in thought can be used in teaching as a means to facilitate learning.
Real and Fictive Motion Processing in Polish L2 Users of English and Monolinguals: Evidence for Different Conceptual Representations
Authors: Tomczak Ewa , Ewert Anna
Published: January 2015

We examine cross‐linguistic influence in the processing of motion sentences by L2 users from an embodied cognition perspective. The experiment employs a priming paradigm to test two hypotheses based on previous action and motion research in cognitive psychology. The first hypothesis maintains that conceptual representations of motion are embodied by sensory and motor systems (Glenberg & Kaschak, 2002; Zwaan & Taylor, 2006) and predicts that linguistic descriptions of motion will be susceptible to conceptual priming effects. The second hypothesis assumes that the processing of fictive motion sentences, such as The road runs through the forest (cf. Talmy, 2000a), involves additional mental simulation of motion (Matlock, 2004b; Richardson & Matlock, 2007) and predicts that fictive motion will be processed more slowly than real motion. The participants were groups of Polish and English monolinguals and Polish L2 users of English, who were students in an English‐medium university program. Sentence meaningfulness judgment and response time data were collected from the monolinguals and the L2 users tested in both languages. Sentence meaningfulness judgments were examined to see how the participants represent motion in language and response time data were analyzed for evidence of conceptual processing. The results showed expected differences in response times to various sentence types in all groups, but the priming effect was not observed in Polish monolinguals and only selectively present in the L2 users responding in both languages. The results of our experiment indicate that fictive motion processing is both embodied in physical experience of motion and modified by language.
Televised Whorf: Cognitive Restructuring in Advanced Foreign Language Learners as a Function of Audiovisual Media Exposure
Authors: Bylund Emanuel , Athanasopoulos Panos
Published: January 2015

The encoding of goal‐oriented motion events varies across different languages. Speakers of languages without grammatical aspect (e.g., Swedish) tend to mention motion endpoints when describing events (e.g., “two nuns walkto a house”) and attach importance to event endpoints when matching scenes from memory. Speakers of aspect languages (e.g., English), on the other hand, are more prone to direct attention to the ongoingness of motion events, which is reflected both in their event descriptions (e.g., “two nunsare walking”) and in their nonverbal similarity judgements. This study examines to what extent native speakers (L1) of Swedish (n = 82) with English as a foreign language (FL) restructure their categorisation of goal‐oriented motion as a function of their proficiency and experience with the English language (e.g., exposure, learning history, etc.). Seventeen monolingual native English speakers from the United Kingdom (UK) were recruited for comparison purposes. Data on motion event cognition were collected through a memory‐based triads matching task in which a target scene with an intermediate degree of endpoint orientation was matched with two alternative scenes with low and high degrees of endpoint orientation. Results showed that the preference among the Swedish speakers of FL English to base their similarity judgements on ongoingness rather than event endpoints was correlated with exposure to English in everyday life, such that those who often watched television in English approximated the ongoingness preference of the English native speakers. These findings suggest that event cognition patterns may be restructured through exposure to FL audiovisual media. The results add to the emerging picture that learning a new language entails learning new ways of observing and reasoning about reality.
Discussing the Language and Thought of Motion in Second Language Speakers
Authors: Cook Vivian
Published: January 2015

These concluding reflections seek to put the articles of this special issue in a broader context. The article begins by looking at the ideas of cognitive linguistics and linguistic relativity that are invoked. It then considers the questions that arise about the relationship between two or more languages in the same mind, the differences between the thinking of monolinguals and bilinguals, and whether cognitive changes in bilingualism are language‐specific or universal and how they might contribute to language teaching. The aim is both to help the reader appreciate the nature of these contributions and to raise some, probably unanswerable, questions about this research domain. The intention is to bring out some of what this particular approach to second language (L2) research is, and is not, saying. The approach to second language acquisition (SLA) to which the contributions belong treats the second language (L2) user as a many‐sided whole, in whom the languages interact with other mental systems, rather than as only the possessor of a grammar, concentrating on the complex relationship between language and cognition. The articles form part of a thriving SLA research movement, described in books such as Pavlenko (2011, 2014), De Groot (2011), and Cook & Bassetti (2011) that has started to explore how L2 users think—bilingual cognition—primarily through psycholinguistic experiments and techniques. They draw on the wing of cognitive linguistics that Evans (2011) calls “cognitive approaches to grammar” rather than on the “cognitive lexical semantics” wing, by focussing on how motion is expressed in speech, particularly on two key approaches to the relationship of motion and language, namely those by Talmy (1985) and Slobin (1996), who are referred to in all but two of the articles. The contributions to this special issue ask questions about L2 acquisition that would have been unthinkable 10 years ago and that allow SLA research for the first time to approach major issues about language in the human mind.
Military Deployment and Reintegration: A Systematic Review of Child Coping
Authors: Bello‐Utu Cindy F. , DeSocio Janiece E.
Published: January 2015

Topic

Child coping with parent military deployment and family reintegration.

Purpose

A systematic review of research literature was conducted to examine the effects of deployment and family reintegration on children in military families.

Sources Used

A search of CINAHL, PubMed, Psyc‐INFO, and SocINDEX databases was performed using the terms “military family,” “military child,” “child coping,” “deployment,” and “reintegration.” The search was limited to publications between 2001 and 2014 to focus on the effects of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND). Twenty‐seven research reports met inclusion criteria.

Conclusions

Three themes were extracted: A child's coping is influenced by (a) the child's age and development, (b) the mental health and coping of the non‐deployed parent during deployment, and the mental health of both parents during family reintegration, and (c) the pre‐existing resilience/vulnerability, cumulative risks, and resources of the child and family.
Early symptoms and long‐term clinical outcomes of distal limb's cutaneous arterio‐venous malformations: a retrospective multicentre study of 19 adult patients
Authors: Guillet A. , Connault J. , Perrot P. , Perret C. , Herbreteau D. , Berton M. , Caron V. , Aubert H. , Stalder J.‐F. , Maruani A. , Barbarot S.
Published: January 2015

Introduction

Cutaneous arterio‐venous malformations (AVM) are high‐flow vascular malformations made up of a direct link between arteries and veins without intermediary capillary space. ‘Distal limb's AVM’, which mean involving hands or feet, are rare and their functional prognosis is often poor. Little is known about their early clinical symptoms. The objectives of this study were to identify early clinical symptoms of distal limb's cutaneous AVMs and to determine their long‐term clinical outcome.

Methods

A retrospective study was carried out including adult patients who had distal limb's AVM, who were followed up between January 2000 and November 2013 in two regional tertiary care centres. The information was collected from patients' clinical records and completed by a structured telephone questionnaire.

Results

Nineteen patients were included in the study: four (21%) with foot AVM and 15 (79%) with hand AVM. The first clinical symptoms were as follows: swelling (47%), pain (47%), one or several venous dilatations (37%) and rarely abnormal skin colour, hyperthermia and pulsating sensation. The median diagnosis delay was 9 years after the onset of first manifestations. Amongst the 17 patients who underwent a treatment, 53% had embolotherapy session(s), 12% surgery and 35% had both. After an average follow‐up of 57.6 months, 31% of the 13 patients contacted who were receiving treatment were in complete remission; 31% had partial remission; 15% had relapse after initial improvement and 23% had treatment failure. Overall, 74% of patients had a serious development of the AVM: 37% had digital or hand amputation, and 42% remained symptomatic and/or unstable.

Conclusion

This study suggests that initial manifestations of distal limb's AVMs are discreet and non‐specific, leading to a diagnosis delay of about 10 years, with poor prognosis. Doctors should evoke the diagnosis earlier, when these symptoms are shown: pain and/or swelling, sometimes with a large vein.
Caste differentiation and seasonal changes in Vespa velutina (Hym.: Vespidae) colonies in its introduced range
Authors: Rome Q. , Muller F. J. , Touret‐Alby A. , Darrouzet E. , Perrard A. , Villemant C.
Published: January 2015

Since its introduction in France 10 years ago, the yellow‐legged hornet, Vespa velutina, has rapidly spread to neighbouring countries (Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy and Germany). It showed efficient social traits facilitating its invasive success. Only scarce and incomplete natural history studies were known from its native distribution area. Studying the biology of this species in its invasive distribution range was thus a prerequisite to the implementation of efficient control methods in a near future. During a 3‐year field survey, we collected 77 nests to investigate several of the species' key colony characteristics. Our results enabled us to accurately quantify each of the castes and to better understand their synchronicity throughout the season. Our study showed that mature nests are able to produce up to 13 000 individuals and that the size of mature nests is correlated to the number of individuals produced. This correlation enables the inference of one characteristic from the other. Furthermore, each mature nest can produce up to several hundreds of potential founder queens, a crucial datum in the light of today's unregulated spring queen trapping control campaigns. In addition, nest dissections enabled to record the incidence of nest relocation for the first time in this species. Results are discussed with regards to what is known in other Vespidae species, with a focus on Vespula species that are known to be invasive in many other countries worldwide.
Detection of cyprinid herpesvirus 2 in peripheral blood cells of silver crucian carp, Carassius auratus gibelio (Bloch), suggests its potential in viral diagnosis
Authors: Wang H , Xu Lj , Lu Lq
Published: January 2015

Epidemics caused by cyprinid herpesvirus 2 (CyHV‐2) in domestic cyprinid species have been reported in both European and Asian countries. Although the mechanisms remain unknown, acute CyHV‐2 infections generally result in high mortality, and the surviving carps become chronic carriers displaying no external clinical signs. In this study, in situ hybridization analysis showed that CyHV‐2 tended to infect peripheral blood cells during either acute or chronic infections in silver crucian carp, Carassius auratus gibelio (Bloch). Laboratory challenge experiments coupled with real‐time PCR quantification assays further indicated that steady‐state levels of the viral genomic copy number in fish serum exhibited a typical ‘one‐step’ growth curve post‐viral challenge. Transcriptional expression of open reading frames (ORF) 121, which was selected due to its highest transcriptional levels in almost all tested tissues, was monitored to represent the replication kinetics of CyHV‐2 in peripheral blood cells. Similar kinetic curve of active viral gene transcription in blood cells was obtained as that of serum viral load, indicating that CyHV‐2 replicated in peripheral blood cells as well as in other well‐characterized tissues. This study should pave the way for designing non‐invasive and cost‐effective serum diagnostic methods for quick detection of CyHV‐2 infection.
Effect of Storage Temperature at the Quality Index Method Scheme and Shelf‐Life Study of Mullet (Mugil platanus)
Authors: Andrade S.C.S. , Mársico E.T. , Franco R.M. , Mano S.B. , Conte C.A. , Freitas M.Q. , Cruz A.G.
Published: January 2015

A protocol for the sensory assessment of mullet (Mugil platanus) based on the quality index method (QIM) was developed and the influence of storage temperature (0 ± 1 and 5 ± 1C) on the quality index (QI) and shelf life was verified for 24 and 20 days, respectively. The QI correlated highly with storage time at 0 ± 1C (R2 = 0.982) and 5 ± 1C (R2 = 0.966). In mullet stored at 0 ± 1C, the parameters gill odor (1.210), odor (1.151), cornea (1.145), eye shape (1.083), general appearance (1.067), fin flexibility (1.049) and gill color (1.001) were most important for mullet's QIM; however, in samples stored at 5 ± 1C, fin flexibility (0.859) was not important. Temperature abuse promoted decrease in 8‐ and 27‐fold the lag phase of the mesophiles and psycrotrophs, respectively. According to the sensorial evaluation, the estimated shelf life for mullet stored at 0 ± 1C and 5 ± 1C was 14 and 7 days, respectively.

Practical Applications

The mullet is an important alternative fisheries resource for consumers. However, data regarding the fish quality are scarce. The development of sensorial scheme for mullet based on the quality index method may provide important information on fish quality and its remaining shelf life when stored under different temperatures, which reflect routine fish‐handling situations. Therefore, the results of this study can be utilized by researches in future studies as well as by manufacturers to determine the ideal storage conditions of mullet, ensuring thus a reduction in economic losses.
Tsunami awareness in Korea, Indonesia, and the United States
Authors: Ha K.‐M.
Published: January 2015

This study compares Korean, Indonesian, and US tsunami awareness, the ultimate goal being to reduce human loss, economic damage, and psychological impact resulting from tsunamis. Using the comparative perspective, the study examines the start of Korean awareness of tsunamis, tsunami awareness in Indonesia, and US tsunami awareness with mitigation. Three components are examined: government policy, researchers' efforts, and residents' readiness. The value of this study lies in its initial and systematic comparison of these three nations' approach towards tsunami awareness. It recommends that each nation learn from the major phases of other types of awareness to achieve its ultimate goal.
Can the State Foster Food Sovereignty? Insights from the Case ofEcuador
Authors: Clark Patrick
Published: January 2015

This paper contributes to the discussion on food sovereignty and the state by analysing the case ofEcuador. It presents a theoretical framework and literature review focused on the question of food sovereignty, the state and agrarian political economy. The case study ofEcuador, one of a handful of countries that has attempted to institutionalize food sovereignty in state policy, examines the political processes that led to the institutionalization of food sovereignty and the rural development and agricultural policies of the ‘post‐neoliberal’ government ofRafaelCorrea. The analysis of theEcuadorian case concludes that the implementation of public policies reflecting food sovereignty principles has largely proven elusive, with the exception of some institutional changes and developments at the local levels of the state.
Translanguaging within Enactments of Quotidian Interpreter‐Mediated Interactions
Authors: Reynolds Jennifer F. , Faulstich Orellana Marjorie
Published: January 2015

This article provides a critical review of the interdisciplinary literature on child language brokering (CLB), employing a Bakhtinian translinguistic perspective. The extant literature isolates the child language broker as a particular kind of vulnerable speaking subject, without regard to the ways in which ideologies of language shape cross‐generational linguistic exchanges in zones of cultural contact. Broader attention to bilingual communicative repertoires is also absent. We plot a new course for this area of study by considering the relationships between language brokering and other aspects of bilingual communicative practice such as codeswitching and bivalency. The data examined include transcript excerpts from video recordings of rehearsals and enactments of improvised skits that feature CLBs' experiences of brokering events. The enactments doubled as metalinguistic and metapragmatic performances that simultaneously drew upon situated competencies and displayed dominant language ideologies. Enactments also afforded play frames of interaction that conferred authority to peers (authority that is absent in actual situated instances of cross‐generational exchanges). Our analyses acknowledge child language brokers' simultaneous identities and consider the relationships among differing forms of translanguaging by tracking instances when youths enacted particular language‐ideological assumptions either to shore up or to dissolve boundaries.
“Love” the Local, “Use” the National, “Study” the Foreign: ShiftingJavanese Language Ecologies in (Post‐)Modernity, Postcoloniality, and Globalization
Authors: Zentz Lauren
Published: January 2015

Indonesian state development policies have shaped definitions of language, meanings conveyed through language, and access to language forms through deliberate policy actions that pervade public, and increasingly, private life. Modern language ideologies that are part and parcel of national development have informed these policies and informed educated youths' understandings and rationalizations of their linguistic competencies. In this paperIexplore how macro‐level language policies informed by modern language ideologies and micro‐level influences in the form of peer pressure and adult shaming encourage shift toward the national language,Indonesian, and away fromJavanese. State policies advising citizens to “love” their local languages, but “use” their one national language, Indonesian, work together with micro‐level social interactions to nudge language shift in the direction of an increasingly monolingual, Indonesian‐speaking populace.
Battling the Race: Stylizing Language and Coproducing Whiteness and Colouredness in a Freestyle Rap Performance
Authors: Williams Quentin E. , Stroud Christopher
Published: January 2015

In the last 19 years of post‐apartheid South African democracy, race remains an enduring and familiar trope, a point of certainty amid the messy ambiguities of transformation. In the present article, we explore the malleable, permeable, and unstable racializations of contemporary South Arica, specifically the way in which coloured and white racializations are negotiated and interactionally accomplished in the context of Capetonian hip‐hop. The analysis reveals the complex ways in which racialized bodies are figured semiotically through reference to historical time and contemporary (translocal) social space. But also the way iconic features of blackness are reindexicalized to stand for a transnational whiteness.
ADVANCING RENAL EDUCATION: HYBRID SIMULATION, USING SIMULATED PATIENTS TO ENHANCE REALISM IN HAEMODIALYSIS EDUCATION
Authors: Dunbar‐Reid Kylie , Sinclair Peter M. , Hudson Denis
Published: January 2015

Background

Simulation is a well‐established and proven teaching method, yet its use in renal education is not widely reported. Criticisms of simulation‐based teaching include limited realism and a lack of authentic patient interaction.

Method

This paper discusses the benefits and challenges of high‐fidelity simulation and suggests hybrid simulation as a complementary model to existing simulation programmes.

Conclusion

Through the use of a simulated patient, hybrid simulation can improve the authenticity of renal simulation‐based education while simultaneously teaching and assessing technologically enframed caring.
Evaluation of Data Aggregation in Polarized Sensory Positioning
Authors: Antúnez Lucía , Salvador Ana , de Saldamando Luis , Varela Paula , Giménez Ana , Ares Gastón
Published: January 2015

The aim of the present work was to evaluate data aggregation when using two polarized sensory positioning (PSP) approaches for sensory characterization with consumers. Two consumer studies with different product categories (orange‐flavored powdered drinks and chocolate milk beverages) were carried out. In each study two PSP approaches were considered: PSP with scales and triadic PSP (t‐PSP). For each approach, one‐third of the consumers evaluated the whole sample set, whereas the other two‐thirds evaluated the sample set split in two subsets. Results showed that sample configurations for the evaluation of the whole and the split set by different consumer groups were relatively well correlated (RV coefficients higher than 0.79). However, agreement between the configurations differed between the studies, which can be explained by the degree of difference among samples. Besides, differences in consumers' dissimilarity scores and conclusions regarding similarities and differences among samples were identified when comparing both data sets (with and without data aggregation). Regarding the comparison of the two PSP approaches, in the two studies better agreement between sample configurations was obtained for t‐PSP. However, in one of the studies PSP with scales provided better results for the evaluation of a repeated sample by different consumer groups.

Practical Applications

Polarized sensory positioning has been gaining popularity in the last years. The main advantage of this methodology over other holistic methodologies is that it allows aggregating data from different studies, which is particularly interesting when working with consumer‐based sensory characterization. Results from the present work showed that aggregation of data from the evaluation of split sample sets by different consumer groups provided similar results than the evaluation of the whole sample set. However, conclusions regarding similarities and differences among samples differed in one of the studies, which suggests that care must be taken when aggregating data from the evaluation of similar samples by different consumer groups.
Sensory Lexicon Development for a Portuguese Cooked Blood Sausage – Morcela de Arroz de Monchique – to Predict Its Usefulness for a Geographical Certification
Authors: Pereira J. A. , Dionísio L. , Matos T. J. S. , Patarata L.
Published: January 2015

Morcela de Arroz (MA) is a popular cooked blood and rice sausage produced in the Monchique region, south of Portugal, whose characteristics are not well known and no data are available about its sensory characteristics. The aim of this study was to build up terminology to develop a quantitative descriptive analysis for MA from Monchique region in comparison with other blood and rice sausages, in order to improve its sensory description.

Practical Applications

This study provides the necessary lexicon to be used in quantitative descriptive analysis of Morcela de Arroz (MA), particularly to discriminate the origin of the product. That lexicon will allow the characterization of traditional MA viewing to apply for one of the European Community (EC) special labels certification: Protected Designation of Origin or Protected Geographical Indication. The list of selected descriptors and references should help researchers to elucidate about the factors which influence typical appearance, odor, flavor and texture, and also to improve sensory quality control in this type of meat products.
Application of Maximum Likelihood Estimation for First Serving Order Bias Adjustment
Authors: Kwak Han Sub , Meullenet Jean‐François , Lee Youngseung
Published: January 2015

Maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is one of the statistical models to estimate parameters or missing values.MLEapproach in minimizing first serving order bias (FSOB) was investigated. Two different consumer studies with three wheat breads and nine bean products were performed. To testMLE, consumer ratings of the first product were eliminated from the data, and imputed byMLE. Regression imputation was used to estimate means and intercepts, after the model parameters were set equal to theirMLE. Significantly higher overall liking (OL) ratings were observed for products presented in the first order, whereas no significant serving order effects onOLwere observed afterMLEadjustment. Uneven consumer distribution in the consumer segmentations for unadjusted data sets revealed that actual segments of consumers might overlap with the existence of theFSOB, while theMLEapproach showed different consumer segmentation patterns. TheMLEapproach did not distort the overall interpretation of the consumer preference, in comparison with the original data sets, by the principal component analysis. TheMLEapproach for eliminatingFSOBwas shown to be effective, especially in cases where it is necessary to adjust first‐order products at the individual consumer level.

Practical Applications

The first serving order bias (FSOB) is often seen in consumer testing, which hedonically evaluates samples that are presented in a sequential monadic design. It could inflate the experimental error variance, resulting in the delivery of inaccurate consumer acceptances. In the present study, we introduce a maximum likelihood estimation (MLE)‐based approach to minimize theFSOB. This method was proven to be quite robust and easy to perform to treat theFSOBin an effective fashion, and it is not detrimental to consumers' preference patterns, compared with the original data set. In particular, this method would be useful when specific products showing theFSOBexist in multiple products assessment, and only those products need to be selectively adjusted.
Toward the Theory of the Supply Chain
Authors: Carter Craig R. , Rogers Dale S. , Choi Thomas Y.
Published: January 2015

As our discipline has matured, we have begun to develop theories of supply chainmanagement. However, we submit that a major omission of theory development in the supply chain management discipline is that we have failed to develop a theory ofwhatwe are managing—a theory of the supply chain. Using a conceptual theory building approach, we introduce foundational premises about the structure and boundary of the supply chain, which can serve as the basis for much needed, additional development of the theory of the supply chain.
The Relationship between Self-Estimated Intravaginal Ejaculatory Latency Time and International Prostate Symptom Score in Middle-Aged Men Complaining of Ejaculating Prematurely in China
Authors: Zhang Xiansheng , Tang Dongdong , Xu Chuan , Gao P.a.n. , Hao Zongyao , Zhou J.u.n. , Liang Chaozhao
Published: January 2015

Introduction

Some factors associated with the four premature ejaculation (PE) syndromes have been studied, but the association between International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and the four PE syndromes has not been investigated.

Aims

We performed this study to evaluate the association between IPSS and intravaginal ejaculatory latency time (IELT) in men with the four PE syndromes.

Methods

From June 2012 to January 2014, a total of 690 men aged 40–59 years complaining of ejaculating prematurely and another 452 male healthy subjects of the same age without these complaints were included in this study. Men with the complaints of ejaculating prematurely were classified as one of the four PE syndromes: lifelong PE, acquired PE (APE), variable PE, and subjective PE. Each of them completed a detailed questionnaire including information on demographics, medical and sexual history (e.g., self-estimated IELT), IPSS, and International Index of Erectile Function-5.

Main Outcome Measures

Associations between IPSS and self-estimated IELT in middle-aged men with the four PE syndromes.

Results

Men complaining of ejaculating prematurely reported higher IPSS (11.2 ± 6.0 vs. 5.5 ± 3.3) and shorter self-estimated IELT (2.1 ± 1.6 minutes vs. 4.8 ± 3.3) than men without complaints (P < 0.001 for each). By unilabiate analysis, self-estimated IELT in men with the four PE syndromes showed significant correlations with IPSS (P < 0.001 for all). After adjusting for age, self-estimated IELT was negatively associated with IPSS in men with PE complaints (adjusted r = −0.378, P < 0.001). Also, the association was stronger in men with APE (adjusted r = −0.502, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Men complaining of ejaculating prematurely reported worse IPSS than men without these complaints. Self-estimated IELT was negatively associated with IPSS in men complaining of ejaculating prematurely, and the correlation was the strongest in men with APE.
Children with cerebral palsy: why are they awake at night? A pilot study
Authors: Petersen Sacha , Harvey Adrienne , Reddihough Dinah , Newall Fiona
Published: January 2015

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to assess acceptability of study design and utility of assessment tools for determining causes of sleep disturbance in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and their caregivers.

Design and Methods

This pilot study explored parental report (n = 8) of the child's sleep using a validated sleep questionnaire, a survey, and a time use diary.

Results

The selected tools were appropriate. Study design provided challenges for recruitment. Future research should include qualitative data.

Practice Implications

Although further research is required to confirm results, sleep problems for children with CP and resulting sleep disturbances for caregivers may be an important part of clinical assessment.
Behavioural syndromes and structural and temporal consistency of behavioural traits in a social lizard
Authors: McEvoy J. , While G. M. , Sinn D. L. , Carver S. , Wapstra E.
Published: January 2015

Understanding how behavioural traits co‐vary within and between individuals is a major aim of behavioural ecologists working across a wide range of taxa. Here we attempted to measure five key behavioural traits (aggression, boldness, exploration, activity and sociability) in a native Australian social skink, Egernia whitii. Specifically, we documented the temporal consistency of trait structural definition, the temporal consistency of trait expression and the relationships between behavioural traits (i.e. behavioural syndromes). We found (1) that the structural consistency of some traits (boldness), but not others (aggressiveness and exploration), changed across time and according to sex (i.e. the relationship between the raw behaviours that were measured in the boldness assay was different for males and females); (2) that three of the five behavioural traits exhibited moderate‐to‐high adjusted repeatability while two were not repeatable; (3) covariances between behavioural traits were weak to non‐existent and did not support the presence of any behavioural syndromes. These results indicate that structural consistency of traits or the behavioural ‘definition’ of an aggregate score is potentially variable over time. This may limit inference on any subsequent estimates of repeatability of behavioural traits, as well as estimates of potential syndromes. Repeatability of behavioural traits may reflect underlying ecological importance, or measurement processes, and lack of behavioural syndromes may reflect lack of selection pressure for trait covariance. Studies examining multiple behavioural traits under a measurement as well as an ecological framework are crucial to make meaningful inferences regarding the ecological and evolutionary significance of behavioural traits.
Winner of the SLS Annual Conference Best Paper Prize 2014: Reframing the judicial diversity debate: personal values and tacit diversity
Authors: Cahill-O'Callaghan Rachel J
Published: January 2015

It has long been argued that the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords, now the UK Supreme Court, is characterised by Justices who are white and male, with a public school and Oxbridge education. Despite continuous debate and reflection on the lack of diversity, by academics, government and the popular press, little has changed. These debates have centred on explicit diversity, overt characteristics that are easily codified and reflect how the judiciary is seen. Drawing on the psychological theory of decision making, this paper argues that judicial decisions are subject to tacit influences that are not limited to overt characteristics. Personal values serve as one such tacit influence on decision making. Personal values are formed by life experiences and reflect many of the characteristics identified within the explicit diversity debates. However, personal values are influenced by more than simple demographic variables. This paper uses the example of personal values to highlight the fact that despite the lack of explicit diversity, there is an element of tacit diversity in the Supreme Court, which is reflected in judicial decisions. The impact of these findings serves to extend the debates surrounding diversity, highlighting the limitation of debates centred on explicit diversity alone.
Anatomical and Functional Outcomes of Prolift Transvaginal Mesh for Treatment of Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Authors: SONG Wan , KIM Tae Heon , CHUNG Jin Woo , CHO Won Jin , LEE Ha Na , LEE Young Suk , LEE Kyu‐Sung
Published: January 2015

Objectives

To evaluate anatomical and functional outcomes of the Prolift Transvaginal Mesh for treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) with regard to safety and satisfaction.

Methods

We reviewed the medical records of 163 patients who underwent POP repair with Prolift Transvaginal Mesh between December 2005 and March 2012. An “optimal” anatomic outcome was defined as Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification System (POP‐Q) stage 0, and a “satisfactory” anatomic outcome was defined as POP‐Q stage 1.

Resuts

A total of 163 patients were included in this study, with a mean age (range) of 61.6 (35–83) years. An anterior mesh was used in 110 patients, and combined anterior and posterior mesh was used in 53 patients. The mean follow‐up period after POP repair was 40.4 (12–63) months. Optimal anatomic outcomes for anterior, apical, and posterior prolapse were achieved in 55.9, 69.2, and 65.8% of cases, respectively. Optimal or satisfactory anatomic outcomes for anterior, apical, and posterior prolapse occurred in 76.7, 85.0, and 82.5% of cases, respectively. Mean values for points in the POP‐Q, urinary distress inventory (UDI), and pelvic organ prolapsed distress inventory (POPDI) in the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory (PFDI) were all significantly improved after the operation. The overall satisfaction rate for the operation was 84.7%. Five patients (3.1%) were diagnosed with vaginal erosion and treated with partial excision of the mesh without evidence of infection.

Conclusions

Pelvic organ prolapse repair using Prolift Transvaginal Mesh is an effective and safe procedure without significant complications.
Observations on changes in abundance of questing Ixodes ricinus, castor bean tick, over a 35‐year period in the eastern part of its range (Russia, Tula region)
Authors: KOROTKOV YU. , KOZLOVA T. , KOZLOVSKAYA L.
Published: January 2015

Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae) L. transmit a wide variety of pathogens to vertebrates including viruses, bacteria and protozoa. Understanding of the epidemiology of tick‐borne infections requires basic knowledge of the regional and local factors influencing tick population dynamics. The present study describes the results of monitoring of a questing I. ricinus population, conducted over 35 years (1977–2011) in the eastern, poorly studied part of its range (Russia, Tula region). We have found that the multiannual average abundance of ticks is small and varies depending on the biotope and degree of urban transformation. Tick abundance for the first 14 years of observations (1977–1990) was at the lower limit of the sensitivity of our methods throughout the study area (0.1–0.9 specimens per 1‐km transect). In the following 21 years (1991–2011), a manifold increase in abundance was observed, which reached 18.1 ± 1.8 individuals per 1‐km transect in moist floodplain terraces, and 4.8 ± 0.9 in xerophylic hill woods. Long‐term growth of tick abundance occurred in spite of a relatively constant abundance of small mammals and only minor fluctuations in the abundance of large wild animals. Climate and anthropogenic changes appear to be the main contributors to increased abundance of the tick.
Review: Cortical construction in autism spectrum disorder: columns, connectivity and the subplate
Authors: Hutsler Jeffrey J. , Casanova Manuel F.
Published: January 2015

The cerebral cortex undergoes protracted maturation during human development and exemplifies how biology and environment are inextricably intertwined in the construction of complex neural circuits. Autism spectrum disorders are characterized by a number of pathological changes arising from this developmental process. These include: (i) alterations to columnar structure that have significant implications for the organization of cortical circuits and connectivity; (ii) alterations to synaptic spines on individual cortical units that may underlie specific types of connectional changes; and (iii) alterations within the cortical subplate, a region that plays a role in proper cortical development and in regulating interregional communication in the mature brain. Although the cerebral cortex is not the only structure affected in the disorder, it is a fundamental contributor to the behaviours that characterize autism. These alterations to cortical circuitry likely underlie the behavioural phenotype in autism and contribute to the unique pattern of deficits and strengths that characterize cognitive functioning. Recent findings within the cortical subplate may indicate that alterations to cortical construction begin prenatally, before activity‐dependent connections are established, and are in need of further study. A better understanding of cortical development in autism spectrum disorders will draw bridges between the microanatomical computational circuitry and the atypical behaviours that arise when that circuitry is modified. In addition, it will allow us to better exploit the constructional plasticity within the brain to design more targeted interventions that better manage atypical cortical construction and that can be applied very early in postnatal life.
Newman and Contemporary Debates about Catholic Education
Authors: Whittle Sean
Published: January 2015

In a recent contribution to this journal Loughlin (2011) reflected on
the place of wonder in Newman's education. This instructive piece followed a
pattern in which Newman is regarded as having made positive contributions to
educational debates. It is this pattern or assumption about Newman's
contribution to education, particularly for the theory or philosophy of
Catholic education that will be the focus in this article. It will be
explained that there is some ambiguity over how much Newman's arguments for
liberal education are actually grounded in more general theological
arguments about the distinctive nature of Catholic education. In what
follows it will be argued that a more general analysis of Newman on
education draws attention to a wider issue concerning what ought to be the
relationship between theology and the theory or philosophy of education. It
will be proposed that Newman down played the role of theology in defending
liberal education and this has implications for those who might want to
appeal to him now in terms of guiding debates about the philosophy of
Catholic education.
Religiously We Dwell: Heidegger's Later Contribution to Philosophy of Religion
Authors: Rogers Brian
Published: January 2015

The Enlightenment has bequeathed to us the notion that religion can be treated as an object of theoretical inquiry, giving rise to the “secular” concept of religion as a field of meaning or truth-content that is (ideally) isolable from the particular practices that constitute religious worship. I argue that the later Heidegger's “poetic” thought disrupts the paradigm underlying the secular concept of religion and points us toward an alternative understanding of religion as tantamount to being-in-the-world. Heidegger thus opens the way for post-secular reflection on the transformative potential of religion in human culture.
Hyperglycemia‐induced small intestinal dysrhythmias attributed to sympathovagal imbalance in normal and diabetic rats
Authors: Ouyang X. , Li S. , Foreman R. , Farber J. , Lin L. , Yin J. , Chen J. D. Z.
Published: January 2015

Background

Hyperglycemia is known to induce dysrhythmias in the stomach; however, it is unknown whether they are also induced in the small intestine. Autonomic dysfunction is commonly noted in diabetes but the role it plays in hyperglycemia‐induced dysrhythmias remains unknown. This study aimed to explore the effects of hyperglycemia on intestinal myoelectrical activity and the role of autonomic functions in hyperglycemia.

Methods

Small intestinal myoelectrical activity (slow wave and spike activity) and autonomic functions (assessed by the spectral analysis of heart rate variability) were measured in Goto‐Kakizaki diabetic rats and control rats treated with acute glucagon. Blood glucose was measured and its correlation with intestinal slow waves was determined.

Key Results

(1) The diabetic rats showed reduced regularity in intestinal slow waves in fasting and fed states (p < 0.001 for both), and increased sympathovagal balance (p < 0.05) in comparison with the control rats. The regularity in intestinal slow waves was negatively correlated with the HbA1c level in all rats (r = −0.663, p = 0.000). (2) Glucagon injection in the control rats induced transient hyperglycemia, intestinal slow wave dysrhythmias and impaired autonomic functions, similar to those observed in the diabetic rats. The increase in blood glucose was correlated with the decrease in the regularity of intestinal slow waves (r = −0.739, p = 0.015).

Conclusions & Inferences

Both spontaneous and glucagon‐induced hyperglycemia results in slow wave dysrhythmias in the small intestine. Impairment in autonomic functions (increased sympathovagal balance) may play a role in hyperglycemia‐induced dysrhythmias.
An integrated functional approach to dissect systemic responses in maize to arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis
Authors: GERLACH NINA , SCHMITZ JESSICA , POLATAJKO ALEKSANDRA , SCHLÜTER URTE , FAHNENSTICH HOLGER , WITT SANDRA , FERNIE ALISDAIR R. , UROIC KALLE , SCHOLZ UWE , SONNEWALD UWE , BUCHER MARCEL
Published: January 2015

Most terrestrial plants benefit from the symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) mainly under nutrient‐limited conditions. Here the crop plant Zea mays was grown with and without AMF in a bi‐compartmented system separating plant and phosphate (Pi) source by a hyphae‐permeable membrane. Thus, Pi was preferentially taken up via the mycorrhizal Pi uptake pathway while other nutrients were ubiquitously available. To study systemic effects of mycorrhizal Pi uptake on leaf status, leaves of these plants that display an increased biomass in the presence of AMF were subjected to simultaneous ionomic, transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses. We observed robust changes of the leaf elemental composition, that is, increase of P, S and Zn and decrease of Mn, Co and Li concentration in mycorrhizal plants. Although changes in anthocyanin and lipid metabolism point to an improved P status, a global increase in C versus N metabolism highlights the redistribution of metabolic pools including carbohydrates and amino acids. Strikingly, an induction of systemic defence gene expression and concomitant accumulation of secondary metabolites such as the terpenoids alpha‐ and beta‐amyrin suggest priming of mycorrhizal maize leaves as a mycorrhiza‐specific response. This work emphasizes the importance of AM symbiosis for the physiological status of plant leaves and could lead to strategies for optimized breeding of crop species with high growth potential.