bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Making evidence-based practice actionable in the social service context: experiences and implications of workplace education
Authors: Schwartz Birgitta , Tilling Karina
Published: December 2023

Purpose

Research and experience show that evidence-based practice (EBP), i.e. using the best available knowledge in daily professional work, is difficult to achieve in social services. The purpose of this study is to understand the development of organizational EBP learning processes in daily work through workplace education for staff and managers of supported homes for people with cognitive disabilities. The authors examine how the EBP model and new knowledge are understood and made actionable in the workplace, applying theories of organizational learning.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used empirical material collected from an EBP workplace education pilot in Sweden, as well as documents on national EBP implementation in Swedish social services. Before the pilot, a focus group interview was conducted with regional senior managers. Participating managers and staff were individually interviewed two to three years after the pilot.

Findings

The study illustrates how knowledge-based action emerged from education where EBP was interpreted, understood, reflected on, and tested, supported by codified EBP tools in the work context. The participants, when supervised, and when observing and questioning their own behaviors in practice, contributed to double-loop learning (DLL) processes. Codification of EBP knowledge into useful tools and socialization processes during education and workplace meetings was crucial in developing individual and group DLL and knowledge-based actions.

Originality/value

The bottom-up approach to EBP development and the adaptive contextual learning at the workplace gave new insights into organizational learning in social service workplaces.
Revisiting equity theory in the global virtual teams
Authors: Tavoletti Ernesto , Cohen Eric David , Dong Longzhu , Taras Vas
Published: December 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to test whether equity theory (ET) – which posits that individuals compare their outcome/input ratio to the ratio of a “comparison other” and classify individuals as Benevolent, Equity Sensity, and Entitled – applies to the modern workplace of global virtual teams (GVT), where work is mostly intellectual, geographically dispersed and online, making individual effort nearly impossible to observe directly.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of 1,343 GVTs comprised 6,347 individuals from 137 countries, this study tests three ET’s predictions in the GVT context: a negative, linear relationship between Benevolents’ perceptions of equity and job satisfaction in GVTs; an inverted U-shaped relationship between Equity Sensitives’ perceptions of equity and job satisfaction in GVTs; and a positive, linear relationship between Entitleds’ perceptions of equity and job satisfaction in GVTs.

Findings

Although the second prediction of ET is supported, the first and third have statistically significant opposite signs.

Practical implications

The research has important ramifications for management studies in explaining differences in organizational behavior in GVTs as opposed to traditional work settings.

Originality/value

The authors conclude that the main novelty with ET in GVTs is that GVTs are an environment stingy with satisfaction for “takers” (Entitleds) and generous in satisfaction for “givers” (Benevolents).
Examining greenwashing and SDG-washing: an analysis of corporate engagement with the SDGs
Authors: del Río Cristina , González-Álvarez Karen , López-Arceiz Francisco José
Published: December 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the existence of greenwashing and sustainable development goal (SDG)-washing processes by comparing ex ante (SDG Compass) and ex post (SDG Compliance) indicators and investigating whether the limitations associated with these indicators encourage companies to engage in washing processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a sample of 1,154 companies included in the S&P Sustainability Yearbook (formerly the RobecoSAM Yearbook). The authors test for the presence of greenwashing by comparing ex ante and ex post indicators for each SDG, whereas to test for SDG-washing, the authors compare the two ex ante and ex post approaches considering the full set of SDGs.

Findings

The results show that there is no consistency between the two types of indicators to measure the level of SDG implementation in organisations. This lack of consistency may facilitate both greenwashing and SDG-washing processes, which is due to the design and limitations of these measurement tools.

Practical implications

Companies may choose those indicators that paint their commitment to the SDGs in the best light, but they may also select indicators based on the SDGs they want to report on. These two options would combine greenwashing and SDG-washing.

Social implications

The shift towards improved standards and regulations for measuring SDG achievement is the result of several social factors such as investor scrutiny, regulatory reform, consumer awareness and increased corporate accountability.

Originality/value

Few previous studies have analysed in detail the interaction between greenwashing and SDG-washing. They focus on the use of ex ante or ex post indicators separately, with samples composed of local companies, and without considering the whole set of SDGs.
External stakeholders and the social enterprise (SE) identity formation in a developing country context: a social exchange perspective
Authors: Mzembe Andrew Ngawenja , Idemudia Uwafiokun
Published: December 2023

Purpose

Drawing on theories of organisational identity, social exchange and stakeholder engagement, this study aims to investigate the processes and practices involved in the formation and shaping of identities of social enterprises (SEs) that operate in the Malawian hospitality and tourism industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on an interpretive research paradigm, data collected from 22 semi-structured interviews with four founders of case SEs and stakeholders, and SEs’ reports and other publicly available documents were generated and analysed following a grounded theory approach.

Findings

The authors show that the trajectory SEs followed and the exchanges that occurred with the external stakeholders allowed three out of four case SEs to swiftly re-evaluate their pre-existing identities and work towards the formation of their new identities.

Practical implications

This study provides an opportunity for policymakers and other actors in developing countries to frame and place SEs in line with the wider societal realities in such contexts. This may in turn call for policymakers to increase actors’ engagement with SEs and provide the necessary support that can allow SEs to be an effective force for the public good.

Originality/value

This paper highlights the role of exchanges with external stakeholders in identity formation and shaping within SEs in the hospitality and tourism sector in the context of institutional voids. By adopting the social exchange theory, this paper introduces a dynamic lens to identity formation and shaping and helps to explain how, across different tourism ventures, stakeholder engagement and different modes of exchange unfold in the inter-organisational and community domains. It further shows how the ventures’ value orientations on the one hand, and stakeholder engagement practices and the ensuing exchanges, on the other hand, are closely interwoven.
Learning about geographic mobility with film
Authors: Kenna Joshua L. , Stevenson Dennis Mathew
Published: December 2023

Purpose

Geography is an exciting discipline involving the interrogation of place, space, and mobility. Film is too powerful and assessable tool that engages audiences. Therefore, this article builds a rationale for utilizing film in the teaching of geography. Particularly geographic mobility, which is the study of spatial patterns of movement and viewing them with positive or negative social meaning and as embedded within structures of power.

Design/methodology/approach

This is not a research paper so there is no methodology to detail.

Findings

This is not a research paper so there are no findings to detail.

Originality/value

The article introduces three films (Selma, Hidden Figures, and The Green Book) and describes how they can be used to enrich the teaching of geographic mobility.
Linking root traits to phytoremediation in trees and shrubs: Implications of root economics spectrum
Authors: Wang Shufeng , Du Zhongyu , Shi Xiang , Chen Yitai , Chen Guangcai
Published: December 2023

Phytoremediation is a promising technique for removing or stabilizing metal ions from metallic trace elements (MTEs) contaminated soils. Despite the significant role of roots in plant growth and survival, limited information is available on the functional covariation of root traits under MTE stress, and linkages between root resource‐use strategies and phytoremediation functioning.

Sixteen root traits were measured across 11 trees and shrubs grown in Pb–Zn mine tailings in Southeastern China, to examine whether a hypothesized root economics spectrum (RES) exists under extremely high levels of multiple MTEs stress and evaluate the importance of root functional traits in explaining phytoremediation functioning.

Our findings offer evidence supporting the widely accepted resource‐use strategy of acquisitive‐conservative. Furthermore, we have identified a distinct dimension of RES representing the trade‐off between root system size and root tissue density. This new dimension highlights the critical importance of root size, shape and proliferation strategy in the context of metal‐contaminated soil. Moreover, a trade‐off between root cadmium concentration and root dry matter content was observed, which implies the existence of a presumable biomass cost for MTEs accumulation.

We identified specific key root traits and their contributions to MTE translocation and bioconcentration, and established linkages between root resource‐use strategy and phytoremediation: roots with more acquisitive traits promote MTE translocation, while conservative roots foster bioconcentration. In addition, acquisitive roots usually exhibit lower biomass costs for accumulating MTEs than do conservative roots.

Synthesis and applications. Our results highlight the important role of root size‐related traits in the root economics spectrum (RES) framework in metal‐contaminated soil. Furthermore, we discovered that woody species exhibit different capacities for accumulating or translocating metallic trace elements (MTEs), depending on their root system shapes and their position on axis of RES. These findings provide valuable support for the accurate selection of suitable plant species for ecological restoration purposes. And they hold significant potential in guiding the development of efficient phytoremediation strategies specifically targeting sites contaminated with MTEs.
Transgenerational coexistence history attenuates negative direct interactions and strengthens facilitation
Authors: Schmutz Anja , Schöb Christian
Published: December 2023

Interactions among species are a fundamental aspect of biodiversity and drive ecosystem functioning and services. Species interactions include direct (pairwise) interactions among two species and indirect interactions that occur when a third species interacts and changes the pairwise direct interaction. In a three‐species interaction network, these interactions can be transitive (where one species outperforms all others) or intransitive (where each species outperforms another). Here, we investigate how direct and indirect interactions influence ecosystem functions in crop systems and how diversification and evolutionary adaptation can influence those interactions and therefore ecosystem functions.

A common garden experiment was conducted with crop communities in monocultures, 2‐ and 3‐species mixtures that had either a common or no coexistence history (i.e. co‐adaptation) for the three previous years. Net, direct and indirect interaction intensities were estimated and compared between the diversity levels and coexistence histories. Furthermore, species interaction networks were inspected for transitive/intransitive interactions.

We found evidence for less intense competition in mixtures and for reduced negative direct interaction intensity and enhanced facilitative effects upon co‐adaptation. We could further show that indirect interactions were generally less important for co‐adaptation than direct interactions. Additionally, we showed that co‐adaptation has the potential to shift interactions in the species interaction networks from competitive intransitive into pairwise competitive interactions where interactions occurred mainly between two species.

Synthesis. Co‐adapted crop species with reduced negative interactions might have the potential to enhance productivity, especially in more diverse cropping systems. This supports the notion that intercropping is a vital part towards a more sustainable agriculture and one with further yield potential when developing cultivars optimised for growth in mixtures.
The genomes of Hercules beetles reveal putative adaptive loci and distinct demographic histories in pristine North American forests
Authors: Le My‐Hanh , Morgan Brett , Lu Mei‐Yeh , Moctezuma Victor , Burgos Oscar , Huang Jen‐Pan
Published: December 2023

Beetles, despite their remarkable biodiversity and a long history of research, remain lacking in reference genomes annotated with structural variations in loci of adaptive significance. We sequenced and assembled high‐quality chromosome‐level genomes of four Hercules beetles which exhibit divergence in male horn size and shape and body colouration. The four Hercules beetle genomes were assembled to 11 pseudo‐chromosomes, where the three genomes assembled using Nanopore data (Dynastes grantii,D. hyllusandD. tityus) were mapped to the genome assembled using PacBio + Hi‐C data (D. maya). We demonstrated a striking similarity in genome structure among the four species. This conservative genome structure may be attributed to our use of theD. mayaassembly as the reference; however, it is worth noting that such a conservative genome structure is a recurring phenomenon among scarab beetles. We further identified homologues of nine and three candidate‐gene families that may be associated with the evolution of horn structure and body colouration respectively. Structural variations inScrandEbony2were detected and discussed for their putative impacts on generating morphological diversity in beetles. We also reconstructed the demographic histories of the four Hercules beetles using heterozygosity information from the diploid genomes. We found that the demographic histories of the beetles closely recapitulated historical changes in suitable forest habitats driven by climate shifts.
In situ metagenomics: A platform for rapid sequencing and analysis of metagenomes in less than one day
Authors: Tamames Javier , Jiménez‐Lalana Diego , Redondo Álvaro , Martínez‐García Sandra , de los Rios Asunción
Published: December 2023

We present here a complete system for metagenomic analysis that allows performing the sequencing and analysis of a medium‐size metagenome in less than one day. This unprecedented development was possible due to the conjunction of state‐of‐the‐art experimental and computational advances: a portable laboratory suitable for DNA extraction and sequencing with nanopore technology; the powerful metagenomic analysis pipeline SqueezeMeta, capable to provide a complete analysis in a few hours and using scarce computational resources; and tools for the automatic inspection of the results via a graphical user interface, that can be coupled to a web server to allow remote visualization of data (SQMtools and SQMxplore). We have tested the feasibility of our approach in the sequencing of the microbiota associated to volcanic rocks in La Palma, Canary Islands. Also, we did a two‐day sampling campaign of marine waters in which the results obtained on the first day guided the experimental design of the second day. We demonstrate that it is possible to generate metagenomic information in less than one day, making it feasible to obtain taxonomic and functional profiles fast and efficiently, even in field conditions. This capacity can be used in the further to perform real‐time functional and taxonomic monitoring of microbial communities in remote areas.
Auditor changes and management's issuance of earnings forecasts
Authors: Jia Yonghong , Gao Xinghua
Published: December 2023

Auditor changes are significant corporate events marking disruptions in the auditor‐client relationship. Prior studies have primarily examined the impact of such changes on audit quality and investment decisions of market participants. We study the effect of auditor changes on the voluntary disclosure of forward‐looking information. Managers may choose to reduce disclosure due to the possible adverse effect of the disruptions on disclosure credibility. Alternatively, shareholders may demand increased disclosure to intensify monitoring, as the auditor change signals potential issues between the company and the auditor. Employing multiple identification strategies, we find that firms are less likely to issue management earnings forecasts (MEFs) following auditor changes. We also find that governance quality mitigates the negative impact of auditor changes on the issuance of MEFs. Additionally, auditor changes are associated with lower market reactions to forecast releases. The overall evidence is consistent with the notion of reduced forecast credibility. Lastly, we conduct cross‐sectional analyses on characteristics of the auditor changes and find evidence consistent with signaling and anticipated successor audit quality to be underlying mechanisms for the association between auditor changes and MEFs. Our study provides the first large sample evidence that auditor changes have a disruptive effect on the voluntary disclosure of forward‐looking information.
Understanding step selection analysis through numerical integration
Authors: Michelot Théo , Klappstein Natasha J. , Potts Jonathan R. , Fieberg John
Published: December 2023

Step selection functions (SSFs) are flexible statistical models used to jointly describe animals' movement and habitat preferences. The popularity of SSFs has grown rapidly, and various extensions have been developed to increase their utility, including the ability to use multiple statistical distributions to describe movement constraints, interactions to allow movements to depend on local environmental features, and random effects and latent states to account for within‐ and among‐individual variability. Although the SSF is a relatively simple statistical model, its presentation has not been consistent in the literature, leading to confusion about model flexibility and interpretation.

We believe that part of the confusion has arisen from the conflation of the SSF model with the methods used for statistical inference, and in particular, parameter estimation. Notably, conditional logistic regression (CLR) can be used to fit SSFs in exponential form, and this model fitting approach is often presented interchangeably with the actual model (the SSF itself). However, reliance on CLR reduces model flexibility, and suggests a misleading interpretation of step selection analysis as being equivalent to a case–control study.

In this review, we explicitly distinguish between model formulation and inference technique, presenting a coherent framework to fit SSFs based on numerical integration and maximum likelihood estimation. We provide an overview of common numerical integration techniques (including Monte Carlo integration, importance sampling and quadrature), and explain how they relate to popular methods used in step selection analyses.

This general framework unifies different model fitting techniques for SSFs, and opens the way for improved inferential methods. In this approach, it is straightforward to model movement with distributions outside the exponential family, and to apply different SSF model formulations to the same data set and compare them with AIC. By separating the model formulation from the inference technique, we hope to clarify many important concepts in step selection analysis.
Maximising the informativeness of new records in spatial sampling design
Authors: Flint Ian , Wu Chung‐Huey , Valavi Roozbeh , Chen Wan‐Jyun , Lin Te‐En
Published: December 2023

In building a robust knowledge base or validating existing models for use in ecological spatial modelling, having plentiful high‐quality data is paramount. Careful survey design helps attain that goal and, in part due to financial constraints, such design requires the balancing of hard monetary costs and the intangible benefit of improved ecological models.

We propose a framework that quantifies a location's value to the modeller by accounting for both the probability of obtaining new samples and their expected contribution to the model. The approach is illustrated on a citizen science database of roadkills in Taiwan, modelled as a Poisson point process on a linear road network.

Our method has revealed some valuable locations that were not self‐evident, for example, highlighting the possibility of sending volunteers to mountainous areas that despite being hard to reach, would provide valuable samples. We have also highlighted some ex situ sampling opportunities to avoid wasting resources by over‐sampling hard to access locations.

Our technique is not restricted to presence‐only data, and in fact we present a general framework that can be applied to a wide range of settings by tuning its formulation. Our method is quite flexible and allows for more elaborate value functions, enabling managers to precisely quantify varied goals within the same framework.
Non‐Investor Institutions' Site Visits and Corporate Social Responsibility*
Authors: Tam Lewis H.K. , Tian Shaohua
Published: December 2023

Previous studies show that institutional investors play an important role in shaping corporate social responsibility (CSR). The role of non‐investor institutions such as media firms is largely unexplored, especially in China. This study examines the impact of site visits by non‐investor institutions on visited firms' CSR ratings (excluding corporate governance (CG)) in China. The baseline result shows that site visits are associated with improved CSR ratings. The result is robust after controlling for potential endogeneity issues. It is also robust with alternative CSR ratings by different data providers. The channel test suggests that non‐investor institutions' site visits improve CSR ratings by increasing both CSR disclosure and actual CSR activities. To highlight the difference between our study and recent research on corporate site visits by institutional investors, we perform a further test to show that non‐investor institutions' visits improve the non‐CG aspect but not the CG aspect of CSR ratings while institutional investors' visits improve the CG aspect but not the non‐CG aspect of CSR ratings.
Re‐evaluating fetal scalp pH thresholds: An examination of fetal pH variations during labor
Authors: Girault Aude , Le Ray Camille , Garabedian Charles , Goffinet François , Tannier Xavier
Published: December 2023

Introduction

Since the 1970s, fetal scalp blood sampling (FSBS) has been used as a second‐line test of the acid–base status of the fetus to evaluate fetal well‐being during labor. The commonly employed thresholds that delineate normal pH (>7.25), subnormal (7.20–7.25), and pathological pH (<7.20) guide clinical decisions. However, these experienced‐based thresholds, based on observations and common sense, have yet to be confirmed. The aim of the study was to investigate if pH drop rate accelerates at the common thresholds (7.25 and 7.20) and to explore the possibility of identifying more accurate thresholds.

Material and methods

A retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary maternity hospital between June 2017 and July 2021. Patients with at least one FSBS during labor for category II fetal heart rate and delivery of a singleton cephalic infant were included. The rate of change in pH value between consecutive samples for each patient was calculated and plotted as a function of pH value. Linear regression models were used to model the evolution of the pH drop rate estimating slope and standard errors across predefined pH intervals. Exploration of alternative pH action thresholds was conducted. To explore the independence of the association between pH value and pH drop rate, multiple linear regression adjusted on age, body mass index, parity, oxytocin stimulation and suspected small for gestational age was performed.

Results

We included 2047 patients with at least one FSBS (total FSBS 3467); with 2047 umbilical cord blood pH, and a total of 5514 pH samples. Median pH values were 7.29 1 h before delivery, 7.26 30 min before delivery. The pH drop was slow between 7.40 and 7.30, then became more pronounced, with median rates of 0.0005 units/min at 7.25 and 0.0013 units/min at 7.20. Out of the alternative pH thresholds, 7.26 and 7.20 demonstrated the best alignment with our dataset. Multiple linear regression revealed that only pH value was significantly associated to the rate of pH change.

Conclusions

Our study confirms the validity and reliability of current guideline thresholds for fetal scalp pH in category II fetal heart rate.
Using cross‐validation methods to select time series models: Promises and pitfalls
Authors: Liu Siwei , Zhou Di Jody
Published: December 2023

Vector autoregressive (VAR) modelling is widely employed in psychology for time series analyses of dynamic processes. However, the typically short time series in psychological studies can lead to overfitting of VAR models, impairing their predictive ability on unseen samples. Cross‐validation (CV) methods are commonly recommended for assessing the predictive ability of statistical models. However, it is unclear how the performance of CV is affected by characteristics of time series data and the fitted models. In this simulation study, we examine the ability of two CV methods, namely,10‐fold CV and blocked CV, in estimating the prediction errors of three time series models with increasing complexity (person‐mean, AR, and VAR), and evaluate how their performance is affected by data characteristics. We then compare these CV methods to the traditional methods using the Akaike (AIC) and Bayesian (BIC) information criteria in their accuracy of selecting the most predictive models. We find that CV methods tend to underestimate prediction errors of simpler models, but overestimate prediction errors of VAR models, particularly when the number of observations is small. Nonetheless, CV methods, especially blocked CV, generally outperform the AIC and BIC. We conclude our study with a discussion on the implications of the findings and provide helpful guidelines for practice.
Ecological responses of squamate reptiles to nocturnal warming
Authors: Rutschmann Alexis , Perry Constant , Le Galliard Jean‐François , Dupoué Andréaz , Lourdais Olivier , Guillon Michaël , Brusch George , Cote Julien , Richard Murielle , Clobert Jean , Miles Donald B.
Published: December 2023

Nocturnal temperatures are increasing at a pace exceeding diurnal temperatures in most parts of the world. The role of warmer nocturnal temperatures in animal ecology has received scant attention and most studies focus on diurnal or daily descriptors of thermal environments' temporal trends. Yet, available evidence from plant and insect studies suggests that organisms can exhibit contrasting physiological responses to diurnal and nocturnal warming. Limiting studies to diurnal trends can thus result in incomplete and misleading interpretations of the ability of species to cope with global warming. Although they are expected to be impacted by warmer nocturnal temperatures, insufficient data are available regarding the night‐time ecology of vertebrate ectotherms. Here, we illustrate the complex effects of nocturnal warming on squamate reptiles, a keystone group of vertebrate ectotherms. Our review includes discussion of diurnal and nocturnal ectotherms, but we mainly focus on diurnal species for which nocturnal warming affects a period dedicated to physiological recovery, and thus may perturb activity patterns and energy balance. We first summarise the physical consequences of nocturnal warming on habitats used by squamate reptiles. Second, we describe how such changes can alter the energy balance of diurnal species. We illustrate this with empirical data from the asp viper (Vipera aspis) and common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis), two diurnal species found throughout western Europe. Third, we make use of a mechanistic approach based on an energy‐balance model to draw general conclusions about the effects of nocturnal temperatures. Fourth, we examine how warmer nights may affect squamates over their lifetime, with potential consequences on individual fitness and population dynamics. We review quantitative evidence for such lifetime effects using recent data derived from a range of studies on the European common lizard (Zootoca vivipara). Finally, we consider the broader eco‐evolutionary ramifications of nocturnal warming and highlight several research questions that require future attention. Our work emphasises the importance of considering the joint influence of diurnal and nocturnal warming on the responses of vertebrate ectotherms to climate warming.
Wood trait preferences of Neotropical xylophagous beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)
Authors: Torres Christina Ann , Barrios Héctor , Pinzon‐Navarro Sara , Berkov Amy
Published: December 2023

Tree life history strategies are correlated with functional plant traits, such as wood density, moisture content, bark thickness, and nitrogen content; these traits affect the nutrients available to xylophagous insects. Cerambycid beetles feed on substrates that vary in these traits, but little is known about how they affect community composition. The goal of this project is to explore the community composition of two cerambycid subfamilies (Cerambycinae and Lamiinae) according to the wood traits in the wood they eat. In a salvage project conducted adjacent to the Panama Canal, trees were felled and exposed to Cerambycidae for oviposition. Disks from branches of differing thickness from the same plant individuals were used to calculate wood density, moisture content, and bark thickness in the field; nitrogen data were acquired offsite. Thick and thin branches tended to differ in wood trait values; therefore, data were analyzed separately in subsequent analyses. In thin branches, cerambycid abundance and species richness were higher in samples with less dense, moister wood, and thicker bark. Thick branches showed similar trends, but the wood traits accounted for little variability in beetle abundance or species richness. There were no significant regressions between beetle data and nitrogen. Cerambycines emerged more slowly, and from denser, drier wood, than lamiines. Cerambycines might be more drought‐tolerant than lamiines, and therefore, more resistant to the longer, more severe dry seasons that are predicted to occur due to climate change.

Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.
Coastal dry tropical forests in Florida and the Caribbean in peril: A review
Authors: Freeman Kaylee , Subedi Suresh C. , Ross Michael S.
Published: December 2023

Coastal dry tropical forests (CDTFs) are important yet vulnerable ecosystems. In this paper, we highlight the special conservation issues facing CDTFs by focusing on one variant of the type, those that occupy limestone substrate in the northeastern Caribbean. Our analysis draws largely from the coastal terrestrial broadleaf forests of the northern Bahamas, the Florida Keys, and southwestern Puerto Rico. Based on the surveys of storm surge recorded during major hurricanes during the last 50 years, we define CDTFs as coastal terrestrial broadleaf forests on ground surfaces elevated up to 5 m above sea level and occurring within 5 km of the coast. These forests are not only threatened by land‐use change from urbanization but also climate‐driven sea level rise (SLR) and hurricanes, which have degraded them and reduced their extent. CDTFs are distinguished from other dry tropical forests by the occasional influence of marine water incursion during periodic storms, requiring species common to these forests to have some level of salt tolerance despite experiencing well‐drained, fresh water conditions during most of their life span. With precipitation being the sole freshwater source for most CDTFs, SLR and the resulting salinization in the rooting zone subjects these forests to increasingly stressful conditions. Hence, even a modest rise in sea level can push numerous imperiled and endangered species and coastal terrestrial broadleaf communities to the edge of their tolerance, causing a decline in extent or their complete disappearance. Outside of protected areas, rapid urbanization has fragmented these forests and reduced their extent, which in turn have modified the interaction between rising seas and forest function. This work emphasizes the need for refined risk assessments to be completed and for conservation measures to be enforced so that resources can be directed appropriately to prevent further loss of CDTFs.

Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.
Regionally unique ant assemblages associated with community‐based conservation in northwestern Ghana
Authors: Sosiak Christine E. , Longair Robert W. , Agba Tungbani Issahaku , Sheppard Donna J. , McPherson Jana M. , Glasier James R. N. , Moehrenschlager Axel
Published: December 2023

Community‐based conservation can play an important role in preserving biodiversity, but it is unclear whether such benefits extend to invertebrate communities; in particular, baseline data for insect communities is lacking to assess efficacy of conservation efforts. Here we evaluate ant assemblages across three habitats, protected within the Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary (WCHS) in the Upper West Region of Ghana. We compare relative ant species diversity and uniqueness between the sanctuary's Guinea savannah, riparian forest, and floodplain habitats. Ants were collected with other invertebrates using malaise traps, pitfall traps, and yellow pan traps between 2001 and 2011 multiple times per year. From these data, we compiled a list of ant species found, castes collected, and functional groups, and evaluated the differences in ant diversity among the habitats using accumulation curves, assemblage structure comparison, and Morisita‐Horn indices. We also compared the overall WCHS assemblage to other ant assemblages in Western Africa to gain a clearer understanding of relative diversity and uniqueness. We collected 83 species from seven subfamilies and 44 genera; 14 of the species were previously unrecorded in Ghana, including one ant species new to science. Ant species diversity differed among habitats in assemblage composition but not significantly in species richness. We found that the WCHS ant assemblage was relatively unique, sharing only about 35% of species found in similar Côte d'Ivoire habitats, and 25% of other Ghanaian assemblages. Some species present in the WCHS were not found in any of the other compared assemblages. We conclude that community‐based conservation initiatives like the WCHS may play an important role in conserving the biodiversity of ants.
Evaluation of skin cancer screening in Germany – participation, tumor detection and interval tumors based on SHI data
Authors: Garbe Claudia , Augustin Matthias , Augustin Jobst , Baltus Hannah , Eisemann Nora , Hübner Joachim , Katalinic Alexander , Wolf Sandra , Hagenström Kristina
Published: December 2023

Background and goals

The rising incidence of skin cancer in Germany has increased the need for secondary prevention measures. For this purpose, a statutory skin cancer screening for insured persons aged 35 and older was introduced on 1 June 2008. The aim of this work package in the Innovation Fund project “Perspectives of a multimodal evaluation of early skin cancer detection” (Pertimo) was to test an evaluation of skin cancer screening using secondary data.

Patients and methods

The data basis was statutory insured persons of the DAK Health from the age of 35 who were insured as of 31 December 2010 and were followed up until the end of 2015. The rates of participation, skin tumors detected in skin cancer screening (tumor detections), and interval tumors that occurred within two years after a finding‐free skin cancer screening were calculated.

Results

The biennial skin cancer screening take‐up rate in 2014 and 2015 was 33.6% for women and 32.6% for men. Of those screened, 4.2% had a skin cancer finding (tumor detection) in the course of skin cancer screening. Of all incident skin cancer diagnoses (2012–2015), 50.1% were detected in skin cancer screening. In 1.5% of the insured persons with skin cancer screening without findings, an incidental skin tumor was diagnosed in the following two years (interval tumor).

Conclusions

The data from the statutory health insurance mapped the skin cancer screening occurrence in Germany and highlighted the importance of dermatologists in the screening process. The analysis provided important new insights.
Patient‐reported outcome measures in early psychosis: Evaluating the psychometric properties of the single‐item self‐reported health and self‐reported mental health measures in Chennai, India and Montreal, Canada
Authors: Nair Neha , Taksal Aarati , Mohan Greeshma , Rangaswamy Thara , Padmavati Ramachandran , Schmitz Norbert , Malla Ashok , Iyer Srividya N.
Published: December 2023

Aim

Patient‐reported outcome measures (PROMs) provide valuable information and promote shared decision‐making but are infrequently used in psychosis. Self‐rated Health (SRH) and Self‐rated Mental Health (SRMH) are single‐item PROMs in which respondents rate their health and mental health from ‘poor’ to ‘excellent’. We examined the psychometric properties of the SRH and SRMH in early psychosis services in Chennai, India and Montreal, Canada.

Methods

Assessments were completed in Tamil/English in Chennai and French/English in Montreal. Test–retest reliability included data from 59 patients in Chennai and Montreal. Criterion validity was examined against clinician‐rated measures of depression, anxiety, positive and negative symptoms, and a quality‐of‐life PROM for 261 patients in Chennai and Montreal.

Results

SRH and SRMH had good to excellent test–retest reliability (ICC >0.63) at both sites and in English and Tamil (but not French). Results for criterion validity were mixed. In Montreal, low SRH was associated with not being in positive symptom remission, and poorer functioning and quality of life. SRH was associated only with functioning in Chennai. No associations were found for SRMH in Montreal. In Chennai, low SRMH was associated with not being in positive symptom remission and poorer functioning.

Conclusions

Patient‐reported outcome measures may perform differently across contexts as a potential function of variations in sociodemographics, illness characteristics/course, understandings of health/mental health, and so forth. More work is needed to understand if discrepancies between PROMs and CROMs indicate poor validity of PROMs or ‘valid’ differences between patient and clinician perceptions. Our work suggests that single‐item PROMs can be feasibly integrated into clinical settings.
From intercultural engagement to intercultural communicative competence: The case of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean
Authors: Hwang Jiwon , Sato Eriko , He Agnes W.
Published: December 2023

As the objective of language teaching is shifting from producing so‐called “native‐like” speakers to fostering speakers competent in intercultural communication, it has become necessary to identify the kinds of learning resources that may be related to the learner's development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in today's context of globalization and technological innovation. Employing a mixed‐method approach with focus group interviews (n = 46) and a survey (n = 342), this study examines Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language learners' out‐of‐class intercultural experience and examines how interpersonal engagement and media usage are associated with the three dimensions of ICC: approach, analyze, and act. The study found that while both interpersonal interactions and media usage related to target language were positively associated with self‐reported gains in all three dimensions of ICC, media use consistently had a greater effect on ICC than interpersonal interactions. The implications of these findings for language educators are discussed.
Fog controls biological cycling of soil phosphorus in the Coastal Cordillera of the Atacama Desert
Authors: Sun Xiaolei , Amelung Wulf , Klumpp Erwin , Walk Janek , Mörchen Ramona , Böhm Christoph , Moradi Ghazal , May Simon Matthias , Tamburini Federica , Wang Ye , Bol Roland
Published: December 2023

Soils in hyper‐arid climates, such as the Chilean Atacama Desert, show indications of past and present forms of life despite extreme water limitations. We hypothesize that fog plays a key role in sustaining life. In particular, we assume that fog water is incorporated into soil nutrient cycles, with the inland limit of fog penetration corresponding to the threshold for biological cycling of soil phosphorus (P). We collected topsoil samples (0–10 cm) from each of 54 subsites, including sites in direct adjacency (<10 cm) and in 1 m distance to plants, along an aridity gradient across the Coastal Cordillera. Satellite‐based fog detection revealed that Pacific fog penetrates up to 10 km inland, while inland sites at 10–23 km from the coast rely solely on sporadic rainfall for water supply. To assess biological P cycling we performed sequential P fractionation and determined oxygen isotope of HCl‐extractable inorganic . Total P (Pt) concentration exponentially increased from 336 mg kg−1 to a maximum of 1021 mg kg−1 in inland areas ≥10 km. With increasing distance from the coast, soil values declined exponentially from 16.6‰ to a constant 9.9‰ for locations ≥10 km inland. Biological cycling of HCl‐Pi near the coast reached a maximum of 76%–100%, which could only be explained by the fact that fog water predominately drives biological P cycling. In inland regions, with minimal rainfall (<5 mm) as single water source, only 24 ± 14% of HCl‐Pi was biologically cycled. We conclude that biological P cycling in the hyper‐arid Atacama Desert is not exclusively but mainly mediated by fog, which thus controls apatite dissolution rates and related occurrence and spread of microbial life in this extreme environment.
Low risk management intervention: Limited impact of remedial tillage on net ecosystem carbon balance at a commercial Miscanthus plantation
Authors: Rowe R. L. , Cooper H. M. , Hastings A. , Mabey A. , Keith A. M. , McNamara N. P. , Morrison R.
Published: December 2023

Perennial bioenergy crops are a key tool in decarbonizing global energy systems, but to ensure the efficient use of land resources, it is essential that yields and crop longevity are maximized. Remedial shallow surface tillage is being explored in commercial Miscanthus plantations as an approach to reinvigorate older crops and to rectify poor establishment, improving yields. There are posited links, however, between tillage and losses in soil carbon (C) via increased ecosystem C fluxes to the atmosphere. As Miscanthus is utilized as an energy crop, changes in field C fluxes need to be assessed as part of the C balance of the crop. Here, for the first time, we quantify the C impacts of remedial tillage at a mature commercial Miscanthus plantation in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. Net ecosystem C production based on eddy covariance flux observations and exported yield totalled 12.16 Mg C ha−1 over the 4.6 year period after tillage, showing the site functioned as a net sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). There was no indication of negative tillage induced impacts on soil C stocks, with no difference 3 years post tillage in the surface (0–30 cm) or deep (0–70 cm) soil C stocks between the tilled Miscanthus field and an adjacent paired untilled Miscanthus field. Comparison to historic samples showed surface soil C stocks increased by 11.16 ± 3.91 Mg C ha−1 between pre (October 2011) and post tillage sampling (November 2016). Within the period of the study, however, the tillage did not result in the increased yields necessary to “pay back” the tillage induced yield loss. Rather the crop was effectively re‐established, with progressive yield increases over the study period, mirroring expectations of newly planted sites. The overall impacts of remedial tillage will depend therefore, on the longer‐term impacts on crop longevity and yields.
Geography, taxonomy, extinction risk and exposure of fully migratory birds to droughts and cyclones
Authors: Preston‐Allen Rhys G. G. , Häkkinen Henry , Cañellas‐Dols Laura , Ameca y Juarez Eric I. , Orme C. David L. , Pettorelli Nathalie
Published: December 2023

Aim

Anthropogenic climate change is predicted to drive unprecedented increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events, such as drought and cyclones. The impacts of these events on fully migratory species could be particularly severe and have cascading effects on the functioning of many ecosystems. We explore the relationships between geography, taxonomy, extinction risk and the exposure of fully migratory birds to drought and cyclones.

Location

Global.

Time Period

1985–2014.

Major Taxa Studied

383 fully migratory bird species.

Methods

We assessed the exposure of fully migratory birds to cyclones and droughts, quantifying exposure by calculating the percentage of spatial overlap between a species' range and the extent of an extreme event within a given time series. We compared the level of cumulative exposure sustained by species among different taxonomic groups and within their breeding and wintering ranges; we also assessed whether species currently classed as ‘threatened’ are more cumulatively exposed than ‘non‐threatened’ species.

Results

We identified fully migratory bird species highly exposed to extreme climatic events and global geographic hotspots of species exposure. 4% of species were found to be highly exposed to cyclones and droughts in both their wintering and breeding ranges. Wintering ranges were, on average, more cumulatively exposed to cyclones than breeding ranges; there was no discernible difference in drought exposure between ranges. Species currently classed as threatened were shown to experience higher exposure to droughts than non‐threatened ones in both ranges.

Main Conclusions

This exposure analysis provides the first step to a full global assessment of fully migratory bird species' vulnerability to extreme climatic events. Many species are at least as exposed to extreme events within their wintering ranges as in their breeding ranges, supporting calls for ‘full cycle’ assessment of migratory species' vulnerability to climate change. Our identification of hotspots of exposure may help to guide further monitoring, research and management.