bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Powerful resistance against a long-running personal crusade: the impact of Silvio Berlusconi on the Italian judicial system
Authors: Dallara Cristina
Published: February 2015

A distinguishing feature of the Berlusconi era has undoubtedly been his personal conflict with the judiciary. Therefore, this article explores the impact of Berlusconi's 20 years in politics on the Italian judicial system. The main argument developed in this analysis is that, thanks to a strong institutional framework built with the 1948 constitution, the Italian judiciary continued to guarantee an effective mechanism of checks and balances. In spite of reiterated attempts by the centre–right majority to modify judicial procedures and organisation to advantage Berlusconi in solving his judicial troubles (ad personam laws), the judiciary was, in the long run, successful in restraining these actions. In fact, several of the ad personam laws were abrogated by rulings of the Constitutional Court, or made substantially ineffective in the implementation stage. Moreover, no substantial reforms of the judicial system have been accomplished, although they were frequently announced. Nevertheless, it may be argued that Berlusconi's anti-judicial rhetoric has had a significant impact on public attitudes towards the judiciary, and contributed to exacerbating the polarisation between two opposite views of the justice system in Italy. The persistent anti-judicial message affected public opinion and was deeply incorporated by centre–right voters, creating a real cleavage on the issue of justice. Moreover, this huge conflict on the justice issue increasingly distracted the attention of political actors from the real organisational problems of the system of justice.
The Need to Recognize the Pulmonary Circulation and the Right Ventricle as an Integrated Functional Unit: Facts and Hypotheses (2013 Grover Conference series)
Authors: Voelkel Norbert F. , Bogaard Harm Jan , Gomez‐Arroyo Jose
Published: February 2015

For many patients with severe pulmonary arterial hypertension, heart failure—and, in particular, right heart failure—is the final chapter of their chronic illness. Targeted therapy for pulmonary hypertension is effective only if the right ventricular ejection fraction is maintained or improved. Because improvement of right heart function and reversal of right heart failure are treatment goals, it is important to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms that cause right heart failure. Here, we propose that right ventricular capillary rarefaction is an important hallmark of right heart failure and consider that the “sick lung circulation” and the pressure‐overloaded right ventricle constitute a functional unit.
Multicenter Surveillance of Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates From Middle Ear and Mastoid Cultures in the 13-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Era
Authors: Kaplan Sheldon L. , Center Kimberly J. , Barson William J. , Ling-Lin Philana , Romero José R. , Bradley John S. , Tan Tina Q. , Hoffman Jill A. , Peters Timothy R. , Gurtman Alejandra , Scott Daniel A. , Trammel James , Gruber William C. , Hulten Kristina G. , Mason Edward O.
Published: February 2015

Background.  Streptococcus pneumoniae is a common cause of otitis media (OM) in children; mastoiditis remains an important complication of OM. Limited data are available on the impact of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) on pneumococcal otitis.

Methods.  Investigators from 8 children's hospitals in the United States prospectively collected pneumococcal isolates from middle ear or mastoid cultures from children from 2011 to 2013. Serotype and antibiotic susceptibilities were determined and PCV13 doses for children documented.

Results.  Over the 3-year period, the proportion of isolates included in PCV13 (plus a related serotype) decreased significantly (P = .0006) among the middle ear/mastoid isolates (2011, 50% [74/149]; 2012, 40.5% [47/116]; 2013, 29% [34/118]). The number of serotype 19A isolates in 2013 (n = 12, 10.2% of total) decreased 76% compared with the number of 19A isolates in 2011 (n = 50, 33.6% of total). Of the children from whom serotype 19A was isolated (n = 93), 55% had previously received <3 doses of PCV13. The most common non-PCV13 serotypes for the combined years were 35B (n = 37), 21 (n = 20), 23B (n = 20), 15B (n = 18), 11 (n = 17), 23A (n = 14), 15A (n = 14), and 15C (n = 14). The proportion of isolates with a penicillin minimal inhibitory concentration >2 µg/mL decreased significantly over the 3 years (2011, 22% [35/154]; 2012, 20% [24/118]; 2013, 10% [12/120]; P < .02).

Conclusions.  The number of pneumococcal isolates and the percentage of isolates with high-level penicillin resistance from cultures taken from children with OM or mastoiditis for clinical indications have decreased following PCV13 use, largely related to decreases in serotype 19A isolates.
Improvised Dance in the Reconstruction of
Authors: Goldman Danielle
Published: February 2015

“Improvised Dance in the Reconstruction ofTHEM” analyzes the 2010 re-creation of a 1986 performance conceived by Ishmael Houston-Jones, Chris Cochrane, and Dennis Cooper, which critics often cite as one of the earliest performance art responses to the AIDS crisis. Given that the work consists entirely of scored improvisations, this essay considers the politics of reconstructing an improvised dance. Drawing from dance studies as well as recent queer theory that focuses on temporality, the essay attends to the specter of the original cast from the 1980s. It argues that improvisation enabled the dancers, many of whom weren’t alive during the piece’s premiere, to explore a past that they didn’t entirely understand, while also demanding that they place themselves, literally and figuratively, in relation to that past.
Utilitarian Psychiatric Ethics
Authors: Venkatapuram Sridhar
Published: February 2015

Utilitarianism is often expressed as the moral dictum, “Do that which produces the greatest good for the greatest number.” It is seemingly an attractive candidate for psychiatric ethics for two reasons. First, in the face of such overwhelming human suffering due to mental illness, doing the greatest good seems intuitively the right approach; helping more people rather than fewer seems right and rational. Second, the “good” that utilitarianism seeks to produce is often understood to be happiness or a positive mental state. Producing the greatest mental well-being possible seems in line with the functioning of psychiatry. Utilitarian ethics seems ready-made for guiding psychiatry as it faces the challenge of improving global mental health. This chapter lays out some of the history and main tenets of utilitarianism, its three main components of consequentialism, welfarism, and sum ranking, and relate them to psychiatry. Some of the major critiques of utilitarianism follow.
A Reformational Christian Overview on Suffering, Guilt, Failures, and Related Issues in Psychiatry
Authors: Breed Douw , van Staden C.W.
Published: February 2015

This chapter aims to provide the psychiatrist and ethicist with an understanding of reformational Christian ethics as it pertains to the faith of the believing patient in a psychiatry context. We introduce three reformational principles and apply them cursorily to diagnostic and therapeutic issues in clinical practice, followed by a more detailed application to the topic of suffering owing to mental disorder. Understanding reformational ethics may aid the psychiatrist towards a better relationship with the believing patient and equip him for engagement on issues of guilt, remorse, whether being punished by God, and whether mental disorder results from failure in faith. Clarity on these issues may bring consolation to the believing patient. That applies also to the issue of suffering owing to mental disorder, for which we present a scholastic reformational exegesis of Colossians 1:24, exemplifying the premises and methods for examining issues of reformational Christian faith and mental disorder.
Ethics and Values in Diagnosing and Classifying Psychopathology
Authors: Sadler John Z.
Published: February 2015

Psychiatric diagnosis poses ethical problems because of stigma, the close relationship between personal identity and mental illness, the legal sanctions associated with regulating mentally disordered individuals, and the value-diversity associated with judgments of psychopathology. The ethics of diagnosis can be split into two aspects: first, that of the individual practitioner working with a patient, and second, the developmental process involved in describing psychopathology and classifications of mental illness. The first half of this chapter describes the ethical and aesthetic values involved in good diagnostic practice by clinicians, in reference to Pellegrino’s medical morality of helping/healing/caring/curing. The second half considers the ethics of developing classifications of psychopathology, focusing primarily on the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM manuals and examining them under the ethics lenses of the social aspects of the conduct of science, the ethical aspects of managing a nosological effort, and addressing conflicts between professional/service-oriented interests and selfish/guild interests.
Metamemory and Education
Authors: Soderstrom Nicholas C. , Yue Carole L. , Bjork Elizabeth Ligon
Published: February 2015

Metamemory refers to one’s knowledge and understanding of how learning and memory operate, as well as the interplay between the monitoring and controlling of one’s own memory and learning. This chapter reviews and evaluates the current state of metamemory research—basic, applied, and survey—with respect to its educational implications. Among the relevant aspects of metamemory discussed are the growing number of findings that, although people’s beliefs and ongoing assessments of their own learning can be sometimes quite accurate, they can also be very much at odds with their actual learning and create illusions of competence that can lead to the adoption of ineffective learning strategies. The chapter gives special consideration to procedures that might help foster metamemorial sophistication, with the goal of optimizing self-regulated learning. It concludes with some general remarks regarding the educational implications of metamemory research and offers some promising directions for future research.
Prospective Memory
Authors: Smith Rebekah E.
Published: February 2015

Prospective memory involves remembering to perform an action when there is a delay between forming the intention to act and the point at which the action can be carried out. The distinction between time- and event-based prospective memory, the typical laboratory paradigm, and the concept of cost as a measure of the extent to which attention is allocated to the prospective memory task at the expense of other activities are described. Two theories of prospective memory are compared. Also noted is that prospective memory involves retrospective memory processes, for remembering what the intended action is and remembering when the action is to be performed, and a prospective component for remembering that something is to be done. The new concept of metaintentions or metaintentional processes is introduced along with a new framework for organizing existing research and motivating future research. The literature is reviewed within the structure of this new framework.
Couple Dynamics
Authors: Shockley Kristen M. , Shen Winny
Published: February 2015

Drawing from disciplines as varied as sociology, economics, psychology, family studies, political science, demography, and women’s studies, research on the division of labor comes from a rich, interdisciplinary tradition. Despite obvious links between division of paid and unpaid labor between spouses and work–family variables, particularly around issues of gender and parenthood, organizational scholars have been largely absent from this conversation. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to synthesize the recent division of labor literature, focusing on research from the past decade and a half (2000–2014), with the goal of highlighting connections between division of labor research and theories, constructs, and questions of interest to organizational scholars to facilitate integration and future research. Specifically, this article reviews common measurement methods, theoretical perspectives, correlates (antecedents and consequences), and macroor cross-national (i.e., values and policies) influences on the division of labor.
Integrative Perspectives on Behavioral Emergencies and Crises
Authors: Kleespies Phillip M.
Published: February 2015

In this chapter, the author discusses two ways in which the area of behavioral emergencies can be viewed as integrative. First, evidence is presented demonstrating how the three major behavioral emergencies (i.e., risks of interpersonal victimization, suicide, and violence) overlap and are interrelated in certain respects. For example, data indicate that those who have been victims of violence have an increased risk of becoming perpetrators of violence and/or victims of suicidal behavior. Second, the author distinguishes between the concepts of crisis and emergency, and then discusses how crises often precede the development of behavioral emergencies, and how crisis intervention techniques can be used to avert a developing emergency. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the decision making involved in determining whether a patient at risk can be treated as an outpatient in crisis or needs to be hospitalized because of imminent risk of suicide or violence.
Impact on Perpetrators
Authors: Madera Juan M.
Published: February 2015

To date, most research on workplace discrimination has focused on the targets of discrimination, but there is a growing body of literature examining the impact of discrimination from the perpetrators’ perspective. Because of social and legal pressures, perpetrators not only tend to deny accusations of discrimination but also are apt to avoid interacting with stigmatized individuals. Perpetrators’ initial responses to being confronted about discrimination often include negative affective and cognitive reactions, which depend on who confronts them and how accusations are framed. Research has also shown that perpetrators of discrimination also suffer from a depletion of cognitive resources and memory when interacting with stigmatized individuals, because of the efforts made to not appear biased in interactions. Lastly, perpetrators often wish to be perceived as nonprejudiced, so they are motivated to mitigate the discomfort of discrimination through denial.
Gender Discrimination in the Workplace
Authors: Heilman Madeline E. , Caleo Suzette
Published: February 2015

This chapter reviews the conditions and processes that give rise to gender discrimination in the workplace, impeding women’s career advancement. It explores how descriptive and prescriptive gender stereotypes—through distinct mechanisms—promote inequities in the selection, promotion, and evaluation of women. The paper examines how descriptive gender stereotypes, which describe what men and women are like, encourage gender discriminatory behavior by contributing to the expectation that women are ill equipped to succeed in traditionally male positions. It also considers how prescriptive gender stereotypes, which prescribe what men and women should be like, encourage gender discriminatory behavior by spurring disapproval and social penalties for women who behave in stereotype-inconsistent ways—whether explicitly or by merely being successful in roles considered to be male-typed. The chapter discusses existing research, considers the conditions that minimize or exacerbate gender discrimination, and identifies questions for future study.
Education
Authors: Cowan Richard
Published: February 2015

Why should young children learn mathematics? What mathematics should be in the curriculum and how should it be taught? Why do children differ so much in their mastery of primary school mathematics? What are the factors responsible for the production and maintenance of number difficulties? These questions continue to elicit strongly held and divergent views. Although discussion and empirical research can contribute much they are unlikely to settle them. Discussions of these questions provide a context for appreciating the chapters in this section. Improving how we understand mathematical development and how we can provide better support to young mathematics learners are worthwhile aspirations. These chapters outline very promising approaches.
Cultivation Theory and the Construction of Political Reality
Authors: Jamieson Patrick E. , Romer Dan
Published: February 2015

Cultivation theory hypothesizes that over time, heavy television viewers will see the world through TV’s lens. A review of nearly 1,000 media effects articles from sixteen major journals (1993–2005) identified cultivation theory as the most frequently cited communication theory. Despite the controversies it has elicited, a meta-analysis found small but consistent effects in line with the theory. This chapter identifies six broad political effects cultivation theorists attribute to heavy viewing of television or specific genres of television content: increased fear of crime and identification of crime as a significant problem, activation of racialized perceptions, support for punitive policies and embrace of protective behaviors, identification as a political moderate, reduction in social trust and capital in adolescents, and activation of cynicism and depressed learning in political campaigns.
Improvisation of the Masses
Authors: Wang Ge
Published: February 2015

The mass-scale adoption of modern mobile computing technology presents immense potential to reshape the way we engage one another socially, creatively, and musically. This article explores ad hoc music-making and improvisatory performance on a massive scale, leveraging personal interactive mobile instruments (e.g., via iPhones and iPads), location-awareness (via GPS), and the connective social potential of cloud computing. I investigate a new social/musical improvisatory context that doesn’t exist in any single location but as a network and community of anonymous but connected participants around the world. As case studies, I will draw from experiences with the Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra, as well as the community of Smule social/proto-musical experiences on mobile devices, including Ocarina, I Am T-Pain, and MadPad. I reflect on these experiences in the context of a new type of “anytime, anywhere” music made with mobile devices.
Animals and Ecological Science
Authors: Guerrini Anita
Published: February 2015

Ecological science, which studies the relationships between organisms and their environments, developed from natural history. Aristotle’s teleological chain of being and detailed description modeled natural history until the eighteenth century. Linnaeus and Buffon replaced Aristotelian categories with new criteria for classification, leading the way to Darwin’s evolutionary theory. Darwinian evolution depended on environmental factors and led to the birth of ecological science by the end of the nineteenth century. The ecosystem concept emphasizes populations and systems rather than individuals. Case studies, of wolves and fish show the range of modern ecological science. Anthropogenic changes to the environment have led to extinction and endangered species. Attempts to meliorate human influence include rewilding and synthetic biology.
Women at the Top
Authors: Kulik Carol T. , Metz Isabel
Published: February 2015

There is now an international agenda to increase women’s representation at the top of organizations. This agenda is driven in part by a business case arguing that gender diversity brings value, particularly economic value, to organizations. In this article, we review the empirical evidence linking women’s representation in senior leadership roles to countable, verifiable organizational outcomes (e.g., organizational financial performance, practices, and demographics). We consider women’s impact when they are CEOs, directors on corporate boards, members of the top management team, and managers. We conclude that women at the top have an impact on organizational outcomes, but this impact is more visible on organizational practices and organizational demography than on financial performance. We recommend that researchers studying the gender-performance link at the organizational level make their theoretical perspectives explicit, distinguish among mediating mechanisms, be selective in their outcome choices, and increase their emphasis on contextual moderators.
Plant Cultivation in the Bronze Age
Authors: Stika Hans-Peter , Heiss Andreas G.
Published: February 2015

Cultivated plants have long been considered as the main foundation of human nutrition. This article assesses the regional dominance and basic importance of several crops in Bronze Age Europe. The discussion is limited to rough regional classifications of the Early, Middle, and Late Bronze Age, and the three main groups of cultivated crops most important for nutrition, namely legumes and pulses, oilseeds, and cereals. Regional overviews of the agricultural development and practices in Europe are included. The article also discusses separately the types of plants that were cultivated during the Bronze Age, and determines how much the observed or assumed patterns of crop cultivation during the Bronze Age followed social and natural environmental conditions.
The Social Worlds of Biblical Narrative
Authors: Dietch Linda A.
Published: February 2015

This chapter briefly reviews the rise of social-scientific criticism—a subfield of biblical criticism that uses social-scientific theory to ascertain how social forces, institutions, and practices impacted the origin and development of biblical religions and texts and the peoples and communities behind both—and demonstrates the method’s usefulness through application to Judges 3:12–30. Since biblical narratives provide partial and fragmentary glimpses into ancient lives, this essay recommends the careful use of the social sciences to extrapolate encoded social values, systems, and relations. Émile Durkheim’s conceptions of sacred and profane and the function of religious ritual highlight the Ehud narrative’s cultic interests, which underscore the interdependence between deity and collective. Pierre Bourdieu’s conceptions of social field, habitus, and doxa permit one to hypothesize the effect of field and habitus on the text’s ancient producers and distinguish between their explicit views and doxic assumptions.
Pectic Arabinans in Quinoa Seeds (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) Are Acylated with p‐Coumaric Acid
Authors: Wefers Daniel , Tyl Catrin E. , Bunzel Mirko
Published: February 2015

A modified digestion method was used to hydrolyze large amounts of quinoa meal to study polysaccharide‐bound phenolic acids. Besides the well‐characterized oligosaccharide O‐(2‐O‐trans‐feruloyl‐α‐l‐arabinofuranosyl)‐(1→5)‐l‐arabinofuranose, O‐(2‐O‐trans‐coumaroyl‐α‐l‐arabinofuranosyl)‐(1→5)‐l‐arabinofuranose was isolated from the hydrolysate and identified by LC‐MS, GC‐MS, and NMR experiments. This study demonstrates for the first time that p‐coumaric acid can be linked to pectic side chains of dicotyledonous plants.
Infectious Maize rayado fino virus from Cloned cDNA
Authors: Edwards Michael C. , Weiland John J. , Todd Jane , Stewart Lucy R.
Published: February 2015

A full-length cDNA clone was produced from a U.S. isolate of Maize rayado fino virus (MRFV), the type member of the genus Marafivirus within the family Tymoviridae. Infectivity of transcripts derived from cDNA clones was demonstrated by infection of maize plants and protoplasts, as well as by transmission via the known leafhopper vectors Dalbulus maidis and Graminella nigrifrons that transmit the virus in a persistent-propagative manner. Infection of maize plants through vascular puncture inoculation of seed with transcript RNA resulted in the induction of fine stipple stripe symptoms typical of those produced by wild-type MRFV and a frequency of infection comparable with that of the wild type. Northern and Western blotting confirmed the production of MRFV-specific RNAs and proteins in infected plants and protoplasts. An unanticipated increase in subgenomic RNA synthesis over levels in infected plants was observed in protoplasts infected with either wild-type or cloned virus. A conserved cleavage site motif previously demonstrated to function in both Oat blue dwarf virus capsid protein and tymoviral nonstructural protein processing was identified near the amino terminus of the MRFV replicase polyprotein, suggesting that cleavage at this site also may occur.
Mechanical catalysis on the centimetre scale
Authors: Miyashita Shuhei , Audretsch Christof , Nagy Zoltán , Füchslin Rudolf M. , Pfeifer Rolf
Published: February 2015

Enzymes play important roles in catalysing biochemical transaction paths, acting as logical machines through the morphology of the processes. A key challenge in elucidating the nature of these systems, and for engineering manufacturing methods inspired by biochemical reactions, is to attain a comprehensive understanding of the stereochemical ground rules of enzymatic reactions. Here, we present a model of catalysis that can be performed magnetically by centimetre-sized passive floating units. The designed system, which is equipped with permanent magnets only, passively obeys the local causalities imposed by magnetic interactions, albeit it shows a spatial behaviour and an energy profile analogous to those of biochemical enzymes. In this process, the
enzyme
units trigger physical conformation changes of the target by levelling out the magnetic potential barrier (activation potential) to a funnel type and, thus, induce cascading conformation changes of the targeted
substrate
units reacting in parallel. The
inhibitor
units, conversely, suppress such changes by increasing the potential. Because the model is purely mechanical and established on a physics basis in the absence of turbulence, each performance can be explained by the morphology of the unit, extending the definition of catalysis to systems of alternative scales.
Divide et impera
: subgoaling reduces the complexity of probabilistic inference and problem solving
Authors: Maisto Domenico , Donnarumma Francesco , Pezzulo Giovanni
Published: February 2015

It has long been recognized that humans (and possibly other animals) usually break problems down into smaller and more manageable problems using subgoals. Despite a general consensus that subgoaling helps problem solving, it is still unclear what the mechanisms guiding online subgoal selection are during the solution of novel problems for which predefined solutions are not available. Under which conditions does subgoaling lead to optimal behaviour? When is subgoaling better than solving a problem from start to finish? Which is the best number and sequence of subgoals to solve a given problem? How are these subgoals selected during online inference? Here, we present a computational account of subgoaling in problem solving. Following Occam's razor, we propose that good subgoals are those that permit planning solutions and controlling behaviour using less information resources, thus yielding parsimony in inference and control. We implement this principle using approximate probabilistic inference: subgoals are selected using a sampling method that considers the descriptive complexity of the resulting sub-problems. We validate the proposed method using a standard reinforcement learning benchmark (four-rooms scenario) and show that the proposed method requires less inferential steps and permits selecting more compact control programs compared to an equivalent procedure without subgoaling. Furthermore, we show that the proposed method offers a mechanistic explanation of the neuronal dynamics found in the prefrontal cortex of monkeys that solve planning problems. Our computational framework provides a novel integrative perspective on subgoaling and its adaptive advantages for planning, control and learning, such as for example lowering cognitive effort and working memory load.
The breakdown of the anelastic approximation in rotating compressible convection: implications for astrophysical systems
Authors: Calkins Michael A. , Julien Keith , Marti Philippe
Published: February 2015

The linear theory for rotating compressible convection in a plane layer geometry is presented for the astrophysically relevant case of low Prandtl number gases. When the rotation rate of the system is large, the flow remains geostrophically balanced for all stratification levels investigated and the classical (i.e. incompressible) asymptotic scaling laws for the critical parameters are recovered. For sufficiently small Prandtl numbers, increasing stratification tends to further destabilize the fluid layer, decrease the critical wavenumber and increase the oscillation frequency of the convective instability. In combination, these effects increase the relative magnitude of the time derivative of the density perturbation contained in the conservation of mass equation to non-negligible levels; the resulting convective instabilities occur in the form of compressional quasi-geostrophic oscillations. We find that the anelastic equations, which neglect this term, cannot capture these instabilities and possess spuriously growing eigenmodes in the rapidly rotating, low Prandtl number regime. It is shown that the Mach number for rapidly rotating compressible convection is intrinsically small for all background states, regardless of the departure from adiabaticity.
Setting the pace of life: membrane composition of flight muscle varies with metabolic rate of hovering orchid bees
Authors: Rodríguez Enrique , Weber Jean-Michel , Pagé Benoît , Roubik David W. , Suarez Raul K. , Darveau Charles-A.
Published: February 2015

Patterns of metabolic rate variation have been documented extensively in animals, but their functional basis remains elusive. Themembrane pacemaker hypothesisproposes that the relative abundance of polyunsaturated fatty acids in membrane phospholipids sets the metabolic rate of organisms. Using species of tropical orchid bees spanning a 16-fold range in body size, we show that the flight muscles of smaller bees have more linoleate (%18 : 3) and stearate (%18 : 0), but less oleate (%18 : 1). More importantly, flight metabolic rate (FlightMR) varies with the relative abundance of 18 : 3 according to the predictions of the membrane pacemaker hypothesis. Although this relationship was found across large differences in metabolic rate, a direct association could not be detected when taking phylogeny and body mass into account. Higher FlightMR, however, was related to lower %16 : 0, independent of phylogeny and body mass. Therefore, this study shows that flight muscle membrane composition plays a significant role in explaining diversity in FlightMR, but that body mass and phylogeny are other factors contributing to their variation. Multiple factors are at play to modulate metabolic capacity, and changing membrane composition can have gradual and stepwise effects to achieve a new range of metabolic rates. Orchid bees illustrate the correlated evolution between membrane composition and metabolic rate, supporting the functional link proposed in the membrane pacemaker hypothesis.
Shape shifting predicts ontogenetic changes in metabolic scaling in diverse aquatic invertebrates
Authors: Glazier Douglas S. , Hirst Andrew G. , Atkinson David
Published: February 2015

Metabolism fuels all biological activities, and thus understanding its variation is fundamentally important. Much of this variation is related to body size, which is commonly believed to follow a 3/4-power scaling law. However, during ontogeny, many kinds of animals and plants show marked shifts in metabolic scaling that deviate from 3/4-power scaling predicted by general models. Here, we show that in diverse aquatic invertebrates, ontogenetic shifts in the scaling of routine metabolic rate from near isometry (
b
R
= scaling exponent approx. 1) to negative allometry (
b
R
< 1), or the reverse, are associated with significant changes in body shape (indexed by
b
L
= the scaling exponent of the relationship between body mass and body length). The observed inverse correlations between
b
R
and
b
L
are predicted by metabolic scaling theory that emphasizes resource/waste fluxes across external body surfaces, but contradict theory that emphasizes resource transport through internal networks. Geometric estimates of the scaling of surface area (SA) with body mass (
b
A
) further show that ontogenetic shifts in
b
R
and
b
A
are positively correlated. These results support new metabolic scaling theory based on SA influences that may be applied to ontogenetic shifts in
b
R
shown by many kinds of animals and plants.
Experimental manipulation of avian social structure reveals segregation is carried over across contexts
Authors: Firth Josh A. , Sheldon Ben C.
Published: February 2015

Our current understanding of animal social networks is largely based on observations or experiments that do not directly manipulate associations between individuals. Consequently, evidence relating to the causal processes underlying such networks is limited. By imposing specified rules controlling individual access to feeding stations, we directly manipulated the foraging social network of a wild bird community, thus demonstrating how external factors can shape social structure. We show that experimentally imposed constraints were carried over into patterns of association at unrestricted, ephemeral food patches, as well as at nesting sites during breeding territory prospecting. Hence, different social contexts can be causally linked, and constraints at one level may have consequences that extend into other aspects of sociality. Finally, the imposed assortment was lost following the cessation of the experimental manipulation, indicating the potential for previously perturbed social networks of wild animals to recover from segregation driven by external constraints.
A case of contact‐lens‐related keratitis caused by fluoroquinolone‐ and tobramycin‐resistant Capnocytophaga sputigena
Authors: Iimori Hirohito , Suzuki Takashi , Inoue Tomoyuki , Mitani Arisa , Miyamoto Hitoshi , Ohkusu Kiyofumi , Ohashi Yuichi
Published: February 2015

Introduction:

Capnocytophaga species are rare keratitis‐causing pathogens. We herein report a case of keratitis caused by a drug‐resistant Capnocytophaga species in association with contact lenses.

Case presentation:

A 64‐year‐old female who wore a contact lens in her right eye to facilitate repair of the corneal epithelium complained of infection and discharge. Slit‐lamp biomicroscopy showed corneal abscessation and hypopyon. Thus, infectious keratitis was diagnosed. Direct microscopy and bacterial culture of a corneal scraping were performed. Because direct microscopy demonstrated the presence of Gram‐negative rods, we began treatment with topical 1.5 % levofloxacin and 0.3 % tobramycin every hour. The corneal infiltration increased 4 days after initiating the therapy. The culture report confirmed the presence of a Capnocytophaga species with fluoroquinolone and aminoglycoside resistance and susceptibility to cephalosporins and minocycline. We switched to topical 0.5 % cefmenoxime every hour and oral minocycline at 200 mg day−1. The corneal inflammation subsided within 2 weeks. The bacterial isolate was identified as Capnocytophaga sputigena using 16S rRNA sequencing.

Conclusions:

We encountered a case of keratitis caused by C. sputigena with reduced fluoroquinolone and aminoglycoside susceptibility.
Infection caused by the yeast form of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis
Authors: Loth Eduardo Alexandre , Dos Santos José Henrique Fermino , De Oliveira Carla Sakuma , Uyeda Hirofumi , De Cássia Garcia Simão Rita , Gandra Rinaldo Ferreira
Published: February 2015

Introduction:

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is caused by the dimorphic fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. Infection occurs mainly through the upper airways of the host by inhalation of spores or propagules of the micro‐organism that settle initially in the lungs. Here, we describe a clinical case report of PCM acquired by a researcher following a scientific laboratory accident; to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of infection with the yeast form of P. brasiliensis.

Case presentation:

A 40‐year‐old, white, healthy, male researcher, while undertaking experimental activities in a laboratory environment with P. brasiliensis fungus infection in guinea pigs, pierced the thumb of the left hand, with a 1 ml syringe containing 50 μl of a suspension of P. brasiliensis at a concentration of 1×106 c.f.u. ml−1. Seven days after the accident, the region had local swelling, redness and pain on stimulation. He was started on medical treatment and opted for surgical removal. A biopsy revealed an inflammatory infiltrate, numerous epithelioid granulomas and a discrete quantity of yeast organisms on the dermis, some with multiple budding yeast cells presenting characteristics of viability, with conclusive diagnosis of PCM. After 90 days of itraconazole treatment at 200 mg day−1, he reported healing with scar formation.

Conclusion:

The yeast form of P. brasiliensis is able to cause infection. According to our knowledge, this is the first time that this has been reported in the medical literature.
Effects of pre-heat treatments on the quality of cut kimchi cabbages during short-term storage
Authors: Kim Sang-Seop , Ku Kyung-Hyung , Jeong Moon-Cheol , Hong Joo-Heon , Chung Shin-Kyo
Published: February 2015

Kimchi cabbages were cut (3×3 cm), and were pre-heat treated at 40°C, and their physicochemical qualities and browning degrees were investigated during 8 weeks storage at 5°C. The Cut kimchi cabbages were treated at 40°C (1~8 hrs) and their protein bands profiles were determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The 60, 39, 33, and 12 kDa bands considered heat shock proteins (HSPs) were expressed in the cut kimchi cabbage, and the 4-hr pre-heat treatment (HS 4) exhibited the strongest band ratio. The weight ratios and titratable acidities of the pre-heat treated cut kimchi cabbages were not changed so much after 8 weeks storage at 5°C, and the soluble solid contents of HS 4 decreased less than that of any other treatments. The browning degree of HS 4 after 8 week storage was also shown to be the least among the treatments. The polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities of all treatments slightly rose during the over all storage period, in contrast with the decrease of total phenolic contents. The expression of HSPs was identified in the pre-heat treated cut kimchi cabbages, and HS 4 exhibited the best quality and appearance after 8 weeks storage at 5°C.
Quality characteristics of Korean traditional Kanjang containing Astragalus memvranaceus
Authors: Jang Yeon-Jeong , Kim Eun-Ju , Choi Yoon-Hee , Choi Hye-Seon , Song Jin , Choi Ji-Ho , Park Shin-Young
Published: February 2015

This study investigated the physiochemical properties of Kanjang (soy sauce) contaning Astragalus memyranaceus to improve the acceptability and functionalities of Kanjang during its six-month ripening period. Kanjang was fermented in the traditional manner, and then 5 and 10% Astragalus memyranaceus (AM) were added to two samples of it, respectively. The pH, salinity, sugar content, crude protein, amino nitrogen, optical density, total polyphenol content, total flavonoid content, and sensory test results of Kanjang contaning Astragalus memyranaceus (AK) were then investigated. The pH remained the same in the two samples. The salinity was slowly increased, and the sugar content (°Brix) was highest after 3 months. The crude protein and amino nitrogen contents increased with time. The optical density showed significant differences according to the rate of addition of AM. The total polyphenol contents were highest in the AK 5% sample aged for six months (up to 25.01 mg/mL). The flavonoid contents of the AK 5% sample was higher at five months (up to 200.15 mg/mL). Finally, the sensory test results of the AK 5% sample was higher than that of the other sample. These results suggest that Kanjang containing 5% Astragalus memyranaceus can be used as a functional Kanjang.
Comparison of the fermented property and isolation of acetic-acid bacteria from traditional Korean vinegar
Authors: Baek Seong Yeol , Park Hye Young , Lee Choong Hwan , Yeo Soo-Hwan
Published: February 2015

For the selection of a starter for vinegar, six strains of acetic-acid bacteria were isolated from traditional Korean vinegar fermented through the static method. These strains were investigated for their acetic-acid fermentation and identification characteristics. The 16S rRNA sequences of six strains were identified as Acetobacter pasteurianus, A. malorum, Gluconacetobacter entanii, Ga. intermedius, and Ga. xylinus respectively. The overoxidation of acetic acid, acetic-acid and pH tolerances, and acetic-acid production of these strains were investigated. None seemed to have been overoxidized. The Gluconacetobacter genus showed acetic-acid tolerance. Among the acetic-acid bacteria, A. malorum V5-7 exhibited the highest pH tolerance. The Ga. intermedius V11-5 and Ga. xylinus V8-1 strains produced colloids that exopolysaccharides of fiber. The acetic-acid production by isolated acetic-acid bacteria and type strain was a achieved at a shaking culture at 30°C for 5 days. A. malorum V5-7, A. pasteurianus Gam2, and Ga. intermedius V11-5 exhibited the highest acetic acid production. The study results indicate that appropriate strains of acetic-acid bacteria improved the thraditional Korean vinegar fermented through the static method.
HRD challenges faced in the post-global financial crisis period – insights from the UK
Authors: Keeble-Ramsay Diane Rose , Armitage Andrew
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– The paper aims to report initial empirical research that examines UK employees’ perceptions of the changing nature of work since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) to consider how the financial context may have constrained HRD practice and more sustainable approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

– Focus group research was facilitated through collective group discussion. Through template analysis of the findings, thematic analysis was undertaken to extend prior research. Themes used by Hassardet al.(2009) in terms of the changing nature of the workplace between 2000 and 2008, were used to provide new data on HRD realities.

Findings

– Participants reported diminishing personal control over changes within the workplace and a cultural shift towards a harsher work climate. HRD was considered as silenced or absent and associated solely with low cost-based e-learning rather than acting in strategic role supporting sustainable business objectives.

Research limitations/implications

– Whilst providing only indications from employee perceptions, the research identifies a weakened HRD function. The key contribution of this paper lies with empirical evidence of post-GFC constraints placed upon HRD strategies. It further identifies whether alternative development approaches, mediated by organisational learning capabilities, might emancipate UK HRD.

Social implications

– This paper engenders a debate around the status of HRD within the UK organisations, further to the global financial crisis (GFC), where HRD might be viewed as at a juncture to argue a need for a shift from a financialised mode for people management towards one of greater people focus.

Originality/value

– This research provides initial findings of the impact of the economic climate. It considers new approaches which might resolve expiring HRD through more sustainable practices.
Developing the Model for Optimal Learning and Transfer (MOLT) following an evaluation of outdoor groupwork skills programmes
Authors: Cooley Sam Joseph , Cumming Jennifer , Holland Mark J. G , Burns Victoria E
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to evaluate the perceived efficacy of outdoor groupwork skills programmes for the undergraduate and postgraduate students, and the factors that influence its success. It also illustrates the use of Kirkpatrick’s (1994) 4-level model of training evaluation as a framework for qualitative investigation of learning and transfer, from the perspective of key stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

– Over 24 hours of recorded data were collected using a video diary room, one-to-one interviews and focus group discussions. Participants were current students (n= 66), alumni (n= 12), outdoor education instructors (n= 6) and academic staff (n= 5). The data were transcribed, and then analysed by conducting conventional content analysis. Prolonged engagement, triangulation, peer debriefing and referential adequacy were used to establish the trustworthiness and reliability of the analyses.

Findings

– Outdoor groupwork skills programmes were widely viewed as being effective for developing interpersonal skills, attitudes and knowledge that were then further developed and applied during degree courses and later in the workplace. Four of the main perceived benefits were increased social integration amongst peers, academic success, personal development and employability. A range of psychological and environmental factors were reported to influence the extent of skill development and transfer, and are presented in the Model for Optimal Learning and Transfer.

Practical implications

– This study supports outdoor groupwork skills programmes as an effective method of groupwork skills training during higher education, and offers recommendations for promoting learning and transfer following training courses.

Originality/value

– This is the first study to systematically evaluate the long-term impact of outdoor groupwork skills programmes in higher education. A novel methodological approach is also demonstrated, which can be replicated in other contexts of training evaluation.