bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Community and Conservation
Authors: Hicks Megan , Einarsson Árni , Anamthawat-Jónsson Kesara , Edwald Ágústa , Thórsson Ægir Thór , McGovern Thomas H.
Published: April 2016

n recent decades, sustainability research and historical ecology research have made the incorporation of local and traditional ecological knowledge (LTK) a priority for the purpose of understanding recent environmental change and achieving long-term perspectives on local resource interactions. This chapter brings together the evidence from archaeological, ecological, historical, and ethnographic sources to document the 1,100 year management of wild birds around Lake Mývatn in northern Iceland. In doing so, it sheds light on specific long-term resource management strategies applied by the community: precise, limited egg collection, and regulated bird hunting. These methods seem to have been effective in sustaining large, local bird populations and ensuring continual access to an important economic and dietary resource.
Nutrition and Bone Loss in Antiquity
Authors: Agarwal Sabrina C. , Miller Melanie J.
Published: April 2016

Human diet and nutrition have been the focus of decades of archaeological research, with studies increasingly investigating the multiple variables affecting bone maintenance - diet, genetics, sex, age, physical activity, pregnancy and lactation. Patterns of severe bone loss in modern populations have prompted scholars to investigate how skeletal systems may have responded under different biocultural contexts in the past. Here we review literature from modern clinical studies, which have mainly focused on the effects of calcium, vitamin D, and protein, and archaeological studies, which have traditionally viewed bone loss as a pathological condition related to nutritional status and stress. The complexity of interactions of diet, physical activity, and hormonal status on bone health are now being recognized, as we illustrate in a case study from medieval England. Finally, we discuss the potential for combining multiple approaches to investigate ancient human dietary practices and extract maximum information from skeletal tissues.
California
Authors: Bauer William J.
Published: April 2016

This chapter reviews the economic, cultural, and political history of California’s Native American communities. Throughout the twentieth century, scholars considered California Indians to be the United States’ most primitive indigenous people. Yet today, they are among the country’s most economically and politically active indigenous nations. This chapter explains how this economic and political activism is a product of a long history of adapting to changing circumstances. Before the arrival of Europeans, California Indians altered economic practices because of environmental change. Beginning in 1769, California Indians adjusted to the presence of Spanish colonists by using the missions to bolster their economies. In the 1830s and 1840s, California Indians raided Mexican ranchos for horses, which they exchanged with fur traders. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, California Indians worked as migrant laborers in the state’s agribusiness, and today operate some of the most successful gaming resorts in the United States.
Population, Health, and Public Welfare
Authors: Jones David
Published: April 2016

Few developments in human history match the demographic consequences of European arrival in the Americas. Between 1500 and 1800, European powers extended their influence throughout much of the globe, but while the indigenous populations of Asia and Africa largely remain, the population of the Americas was transformed. The most popular explanations for this transformation emphasize epidemics caused by Eurasian pathogens. These familiar narratives, however, oversimplify the history. Uncertainty persists about, for example, the size of precontact populations, the timing of the mortality, its causes, and its consequences. It is important to appreciate the demographic history of American Indians in its full complexity, but not just for the historical record. Native American populations continue to suffer dire health inequalities. The stories that historians tell about demographic history influence how we thing about inequalities today, and this can have profound consequences for population health and health policy.
Treaties and Treaty Making
Authors: Calloway Colin G.
Published: April 2016

This chapter surveys how treaty making involving American Indians developed and changed over time. Early colonial treaties involved a hybrid diplomacy of Native rituals and European protocols, and business was conducted with wampum and oratory as much as with pen and paper. Increasingly, treaties involved land cessions. The United States adopted many of the forms of colonial treaties but employed them primarily as instruments of dispossession and removal. In the nineteenth century, the expanding nation-state made treaties that confined Indian peoples to reservations and that also included measures to “civilize” the tribes. Although Congress ended treaty making in 1871, “agreements” continued to be signed and treaties continued to have the force of law. Treaties were contracts between sovereigns, and tribes have invoked treaties to reassert their rights in modern America.
Religious Responses to the 2011 Tsunami in Japan
Authors: McLaughlin Levi
Published: April 2016

Scholars have recently begun synthesizing data on the massive aid response by religious organizations after the March 11, 2011, compound earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters in northeast Japan. This article begins with a summary of recent statistical assessments that detail how much money religions raised, the kinds of material aid they provided, and the numbers of volunteers they mobilized. It then provides two contrasting ethnographic case studies of grassroots-level religious responses that reveal aspects that do not fit a statistical framework. The article highlights the importance of reading ethnographic accounts in combination with quantified data about Japanese religion to complicate reliance on assessments provided by institutional administrators in order to better understand how aid efforts take shape in local communities.
Reformed Theology between 1600 and 1800
Authors: Muller Richard A.
Published: April 2016

Early modern Reformed theology embraced a wide variety of styles, genres, and doctrinal variants expressed within the broadly and sometimes vaguely defined confessional boundaries presented in a series of regional and national confessions. Its development between 1600 and 1800 (roughly distinguishable into three phases: early orthodoxy extending from ca. 1565 to ca. 1640, high orthodoxy from ca. 1640 to 1725, and late orthodoxy from 1725 to ca. 1780) saw the rise and decline of scholastic models, a significant alteration of exegetical assumptions, and a massive shift in philosophical understandings, framed by patterns of confessionalization and deconfessionalization in the nations, states, and movements that belonged to the Reformed branch of the magisterial Reformation.
Catholic Sacramental Theology in the Baroque Age
Authors: Pomplun Trent
Published: April 2016

This essay provides an account of the historical and thematic features of Catholic sacramental theology during the Baroque age. Its intent is primarily bibliographic, and hopes to introduce readers to the wide range of sources by which theologians of this time period constructed their grand syntheses, including the renewed traditions of scholasticism, polemical theology, mystical and devotional literature, liturgical studies, and the newly emergent Tridentine curia. Some of these developments will be outlined in three sections: (1) a brief bibliographic survey of the sources for early modern Roman Catholic sacramental theology; (2) an outline of some of its main scholastic controversies; and (3) a corresponding outline of the various attempts of the Holy Office to answer questions that arose in sacramental theology between the years 1500 and 1800.
Pharmacological Interventions for Depression
Authors: Shelton Richard
Published: April 2016

Antidepressant medications are the most commonly used treatments for depression. However, sustained full remission with single antidepressant drugs is uncommon. This is why combination treatments with two different medications or medications plus psychotherapy are often required to produce full remission. There are several antidepressant classes with different proximal mechanisms of action. Yet, all currently available antidepressants appear to act via a narrow set of distal mechanisms, ultimately affecting the development of neural regulatory networks. Drugs increase the expression of neurotrophins such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which leads to neurogenesis and synapse formation, actions that evolve over extended periods. This may be why antidepressants effects are usually delayed. The actions on regulatory networks in brain yield benefits that extend beyond depression to anxiety disorders and other conditions.
Variant at serotonin transporter gene predicts increased imitation in toddlers: relevance to the human capacity for cumulative culture
Authors: Schroeder Kari Britt , Asherson Philip , Blake Peter R. , Fenstermacher Susan K. , Saudino Kimberly J.
Published: April 2016

Cumulative culture ostensibly arises from a set of sociocognitive processes which includes high-fidelity production imitation, prosociality and group identification. The latter processes are facilitated by unconscious imitation or social mimicry. The proximate mechanisms of individual variation in imitation may thus shed light on the evolutionary history of the human capacity for cumulative culture. In humans, a genetic component to variation in the propensity for imitation is likely. A functional length polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene, the short allele at 5HTTLPR, is associated with heightened responsiveness to the social environment as well as anatomical and activational differences in the brain's imitation circuity. Here, we evaluate whether this polymorphism contributes to variation in production imitation and social mimicry. Toddlers with the short allele at 5HTTLPR exhibit increased social mimicry and increased fidelity of demonstrated novel object manipulations. Thus, the short allele is associated with two forms of imitation that may underlie the human capacity for cumulative culture. The short allele spread relatively recently, possibly due to selection, and its frequency varies dramatically on a global scale. Diverse observations can be unified via conceptualization of 5HTTLPR as influencing the propensity to experience others' emotions, actions and sensations, potentially through the mirror mechanism.
Can anaerobes be acid fast? A novel, clinically relevant acid fast anaerobe
Authors: Navas Maria E. , Jump Robin , Canaday David H. , Wnek Maria D. , SenGupta Dhruba J. , McQuiston John R. , Bell Melissa
Published: April 2016

Introduction:

Anaerobic acid fast bacilli (AFB) have not been previously reported in clinical microbiology. This is the second case report of a novel anaerobic AFB causing disease in humans.

Case presentation:

An anaerobic AFB was isolated from an abdominal wall abscess in a 64–year-old Caucasian diabetic male, who underwent distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy for resection of a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumour. The isolated bacteria were gram-variable and acid-fast, consisting of small irregular rods. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the isolate is a novel organism described in the literature only once before. The organism was studied at the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) by the same group that worked with the isolates from the previous report; their findings suggest that the strain belongs to the suborder Corynebacterineae.

Conclusion:

This is the fifth reported case of an anaerobic AFB involved in clinical disease; its microbiological features and 16S RNA sequence are identical to previously reported cases. Clinical disease with this organism seems to be associated with recent history of surgery and abscess formation in deep soft tissues. Acquisition from surgical material is uncertain but seems unlikely.
Phylogenetic incongruence and the origins of cardenolide-resistant forms of Na+, K+- ATPase in North AmericanDanausbutterflies
Authors: Aardema Matthew L. , Andolfatto Peter
Published: April 2016

Rapid species radiations can obscure phylogenetic relationships between even distantly related species and lead to incorrect evolutionary inferences. For this reason, we examined evolutionary relationships among the three North American milkweed butterflies,Danaus plexippus, D. gilippusandD. eresimususing >400 orthologous gene sequences assembled from transcriptome data. Contrary to previous phylogenetic assessments, our results indicate thatD. plexippusandD. eresimusare the sister taxa among these species. This result explains many previously noted phylogenetic incongruences such as an amino acid substitution in the sodium-potassium pump (Na+,K+-ATPase) ofD. eresimusandD. plexippus, which increases resistance to the toxins found in these butterflies’ host plants. In accordance with a rapid radiation ofDanausbutterflies, we also find evidence that both incomplete lineage sorting and post-speciation genetic exchange have contributed significantly to the evolutionary histories of these species. Furthermore, our findings suggest thatD. plexippusis highly derived both morphologically and behaviorally.
Fast haplotype matching in very large cohorts using the Li and Stephens model
Authors: Lunter Gerton
Published: April 2016

The Li and Stephens model, which approximates the coalescent describing the pattern of variation in a population, underpins a range of key tools and results in genetics. Although highly efficient compared to the coalescent, standard implemen-tations of this model still cannot deal with the very large reference cohorts that are starting to become available, and practical implementations use heuristics to achieve reasonable runtimes. Here I describe a new, exact algorithm (“fastLS”) that implements the Li and Stephens model and achieves runtimes independent of the size of the reference cohort. Key to achieving this runtime is the use of the Burrows-Wheeler transform, allowing the algorithm to efficiently identify partial haplotype matches across a cohort. I show that the proposed data structure is very similar to, and generalizes, Durbin’s positional Burrows-Wheeler transform.
DNA from fecal immunochemical test can replace stool for microbiota-based colorectal cancer screening
Authors: Baxter Nielson T. , Koumpouras Charles C. , Rogers Mary A.M. , Ruffin Mack T. , Schloss Patrick D.
Published: April 2016

Background:

There is a significant demand for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening methods that are noninvasive, inexpensive, and capable of accurately detecting early stage tumors. It has been shown that models based on the gut microbiota can complement the fecal occult blood test and fecal immunochemical test (FIT). However, a barrier to microbiota-based screening is the need to collect and store a patient’s stool sample.

Methods:

Using stool samples collected from 404 patients we tested whether the residual buffer containing resuspended feces in FIT cartridges could be used in place of intact stool samples.

Results:

We found that the bacterial DNA isolated from FIT cartridges largely recapitulated the community structure and membership of patients’ stool microbiota and that the abundance of bacteria associated with CRC were conserved. We also found that models for detecting CRC that were generated using bacterial abundances from FIT cartridges were equally predictive as models generated using bacterial abundances from stool.

Conclusions:

These findings demonstrate the potential for using residual buffer from FIT cartridges in place of stool for microbiota-based screening for CRC. This may reduce the need to collect and process separate stool samples and may facilitate combining FIT and microbiota-based biomarkers into a single test. Additionally, FIT cartridges could constitute a novel data source for studying the role of the microbiome in cancer and other diseases.
A practice-based exploration of the enactment of information literacy among PhD students in an interdisciplinary research field
Authors: Pilerot Ola
Published: April 2016

Purpose

– The study aims to explore the interaction between the students, the material objects surrounding them, and their social site. The purpose of this paper is to identify and elucidate information literacy as it is being enacted within a complex and heterogeneous community of PhD students.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study is conducted from a practice-based perspective, according to which information literacy is conceived as learnt through interaction within the socio-material practice where the learner is active. In order to produce empirical material, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten doctoral students in an interdisciplinary research network, and their workplaces were visited.

Findings

– The PhD students in this interdisciplinary network are more or less constantly engaged in the enactment of information literacy. It takes place in dialogue with others who can be both co-located and distantly located, and occurs through discussions about work in progress, through processes of evaluation and assessment of texts and authors, and through mundane everyday activities such as participating in meetings, which offer insights into how to navigate, in the broadest sense, the world of academia. A crucial part of the enactment of information literacy, which in practice is inseparable from interaction with others, is to pay attention to physical surroundings and material objects.

Practical implications

– The findings have implications for prospective PhD students in interdisciplinary fields, for their supervisors, and potentially also for librarians who are supposed to serve these groups.

Originality/value

– Research on the information literacies of PhD students in interdisciplinary fields is scarce. The practice-based approach applied in this study offers an extended and deepened understanding of the enactment of information literacy among PhD students in one interdisciplinary research practice.
Trends in quality management research in higher education institutions
Authors: Tarí Juan José , Dick Gavin
Published: April 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine the state of research in quality management in higher education institutions based on a review of the academic literature. The aim is to provide universities with the best evidence for informing their focus and models for quality improvement. Despite quality’s role growing in importance as universities strive to compete in an increasingly underfunded market for students and research funds the review shows that current research is limited in volume and scope.

Design/methodology/approach

To ensure the widest coverage in our systematic literature review we use three databases: ScienceDirect, ABI/Inform, and Emerald.

Findings

The findings show that the three most common topics are quality management implementation issues, quality management models, techniques and tools, and quality management dimensions. The key quality management enabling dimensions found are: people management, process management and information and analysis, while the results dimension is predominantly focused on an understanding of stakeholders’ requirements and feedback on their perceptions of performance. We find in this literature that students are discussed as both end customers as graduates and participants in the learning process who have views on their experience. Also provided is an analysis that shows popular journal outlets, research methodologies used and country focus. The paper concludes with recommendations for the development of quality management for universities, and a future research agenda.

Originality/value

This article is the first literature of research in quality management in Higher Education Institutions following the model used in previous literature reviews on quality management and operations management.
Plasma Modification of Wool Fabric: Effect on Fabric Properties
Authors: Kan C.W. , Chan K. , Yuen C.W.M.
Published: April 2016

Previous studies showed that the feltability and wettability of wool fabrics were improved after the application of plasma treatment. In the present paper, further study on the plasma treatment was carried out to investigate its effect on other fabric properties including (i) performance properties (tearing strength, tensile strength and elongation), (ii) aesthetic properties (pilling resistance and crease recovery) and (iii) comfort properties (air permeability, wettability and antistatic).

Pure wool 2/1 twill fabrics were treated by plasma using three non-polymerising gases namely oxygen, nitrogen and 25% hydrogen / 75% nitrogen gas mixture. The operation conditions, i.e. power, pressure and treatment duration, were the same for all plasma treatments. Different tests were conducted to investigate the effect of plasma treatment on the properties of treated fabrics.

The results of experiments showed that plasma treatment did give different degrees of
influence on the properties of wool fabric. In addition, the effectiveness of different gases plasma treatment was compared of which the gas mixture plasma gave the best modification effect.
A Study on Clothing Descriptors for Women: Effects of Season, Income Per Month (IPM) and Item-total (IT)
Authors: Ng Frency Sau Fun , Hui Patrick Chi Leung , Yip James Tin Hang
Published: April 2016

In this study, the use of various clothing descriptors have been used to provide some insights into clothing perception for 88 female students. The use of clothing descriptors to categorize different aspects of clothing is a vital component of clothing selection, given the assumption that explicit use of clothing descriptors may reveal implicit clothing categories. Season, income per month, and total clothing descriptors used were shown to differentially affect the use of various clothing descriptors such as brand, colour, quality, quantity, and size. The
results of this study have provided partial evidence for the effect of IT on the use of clothing descriptors, perceived clothing functionality, and effects of financial constraints on brand perception. Moreover, clothing descriptors seem to be useful in illuminating underyling schemas and processes for clothing selection. Implications for future research are discussed in terms of clothing selection and purchase.
E-TAILING OF APPAREL TO UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
Authors: Zhang Zhiming , Newton Edward , Tsang Meimei
Published: April 2016

In this paper the attitude of university students towards Internet shopping of apparel was investigated. Development and challenges in marketing apparel online in Hong Kong was discussed. Data were collected in a survey with 330 university students. Their apparel consumption patterns were examined. Internet usage was analyzed. The paper was focused on the reasons the students had not shopped online and their attitude towards Internet shopping. Obstacles for their adoption of this new shopping channel were identified. The findings shed light on how to increase the attractiveness of apparel web site design, which should benefit both e-tailers and online shoppers.
THE EFFECT OF NATURAL DYE EFFLUENT ON THE ENVIRONMENT
Authors: Chan P.M. , Yuen C.W.M. , Yeung K.W.
Published: April 2016

The performance of waste-extracted natural dyes and mordants with respect to the environment has been verified and suggested to be comparable to the traditional mordants containing heavy metals. It is interesting to perceive that the COD/BOD5 ratio of these natural dyes is approximately 2, which is an aspired ratio for effluent treatment. Moreover, the absence of restricted heavy metals in natural mordants enhances their application in dyeing process. In a nutshell, the potential for developing natural dyes and mordants are unlimited.
Becoming biophilic: challenges and opportunities for biophilic urbanism in urban planning policy
Authors: Littke Helene
Published: April 2016

Purpose

This paper discusses challenges and opportunities for the implementation of biophilic urbanism in urban green planning policy through a case study of the Green living Spaces plan in Birmingham, UK.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on document analysis and semi structured interviews as a strategy of qualitative inquiry to identify the key tenets of biophilic urbanism and its implementation in Birmingham’s urban green space planning.

Findings

Biophilic urbanism has its strength as an approach to create common visions and understandings of the many benefits of nature in cities, thus strengthening the position of urban green space planning. In Birmingham the potential for integrated policies connected to urban green space are shown and the concept can also be understood as a pragmatic tool to strengthen the position of urban green space policies locally as well as positioning Birmingham globally as a leading green city. At the same time challenges are connected to legal status, path dependency and leadership.

Originality/value

Biophilic urbanism has gotten increased attention in academia and practice and this paper contributes with a novel case study discussing how the concept has been used and understood in the Birmingham context to discuss opportunities and challenges for actual implementation.
Graduate perspectives of fieldwork placements in developing countries: Contributions to occupational therapy practice
Authors: Sim Isabel , Mackenzie Lynette
Published: April 2016

Background/aim

Fieldwork placements are central to occupational therapy programmes. A variety of placements assists occupational therapy students by increasing their exposure to a range of experiences. Placements in developing countries extend and offer alternative learning opportunities and can enable unique personal and professional competencies. However, it is unknown how placement experiences of occupational therapy students in developing countries have made an impact on their practice as graduates. This exploratory investigation aimed to identify the perceptions of occupational therapy graduates about the experiences and outcomes of fieldwork placements they had completed in developing countries.

Methods

Nine occupational therapy graduates who had completed a fieldwork placement in a developing country were recruited. Qualitative data were gathered using semi‐structured interviews and were analysed to code and construct relationships and highlight key categories.

Results

Being immersed outside of personal comfort zones was a primary mechanism to produce lasting benefits after placement. The process of overcoming challenges was supported and fuelled by personal characteristics and environmental features of the placement. The experience resulted in gains of personal qualities, professional skills and insights, which translated to practice as graduates.

Conclusions

Unique outcomes were gleaned from placements in developing countries as students that contributed personally and professionally to current and future practice as graduates. A larger national or international study would provide further evidence to inform education providers and future students about the value of placements in developing countries for student learning and development, and graduate outcomes.
The Value of Crowdsourced Earnings Forecasts
Authors: JAME RUSSELL , JOHNSTON RICK , MARKOV STANIMIR , WOLFE MICHAEL C.
Published: April 2016

Crowdsourcing—when a task normally performed by employees is outsourced to a large network of people via an open call—is making inroads into the investment research industry. We shed light on this new phenomenon by examining the value of crowdsourced earnings forecasts. Our sample includes 51,012 forecasts provided by Estimize, an open platform that solicits and reports forecasts from over 3,000 contributors. We find that Estimize forecasts are incrementally useful in forecasting earnings and measuring the market's expectations of earnings. Our results are stronger when the number of Estimize contributors is larger, consistent with the benefits of crowdsourcing increasing with the size of the crowd. Finally, Estimize consensus revisions generate significant two‐day size‐adjusted returns. The combined evidence suggests that crowdsourced forecasts are a useful supplementary source of information in capital markets.
Productivity and Convergence in European Agriculture
Authors: Baráth Lajos , Fertő Imre
Published: April 2016

We investigate relative productivity levels and decompose productivity change for European agriculture between 2004 and 2013. Specifically (i) we contribute to the debate on whether agricultural Total Factor Productivity (TFP) has declined or not in the European Union (EU); (ii) we compare the relative TFP level across EU Member States and investigate the difference between ‘old’ Member States (OMS, i.e. the EU‐15) and ‘new’ Member States (NMS); and (iii) we test whether TFP is converging or not among Member States. The empirical analysis applies an aggregate quantity framework to country‐level panel data from the Economic Accounts for Agriculture for 23 EU Member States. The results imply that TFP has slightly decreased in the EU over the analysed period; however there are significant differences between the OMS and NMS and across Member States. Finally, our estimates suggest that productivity is generally converging over this period, albeit slowly.
VIOLENCE BEGETS VIOLENCE … BUT HOW? A DECISION‐MAKING PERSPECTIVE ON THE VICTIM–OFFENDER OVERLAP*
Authors: AVERDIJK MARGIT , VAN GELDER JEAN‐LOUIS , EISNER MANUEL , RIBEAUD DENIS
Published: April 2016

This study applied a decision‐making perspective to examine the causal mechanisms underlying the relation between violent victimization and offending. We theorized that having been victimized affects an individual's appraisal of subsequent potentially conflictive situations in such a way that victims become more attuned toward the benefits of violence perpetration than toward its costs. Furthermore, we argued that this altered appraisal mediates the relation between violent victimization and violent offending. We tested these hypotheses by using data from the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youths, a longitudinal study of Swiss youth (N = 1,013; 11–15 years of age). In line with expectations, path analysis results showed that prior victimization influenced the appraisal of decision‐making situations that, in turn, predicted subsequent self‐reported violent offending. Importantly, these mediation effects held when controlling for a variety of time‐stable factors, such as self‐control and risky activities, as well as prior victimization and delinquency. Implications for research and theorizing on the victim–offender overlap are elaborated in the discussion.
Identifying the number of population clusters with structure: problems and solutions
Authors: Gilbert Kimberly J.
Published: April 2016

The program structure has been used extensively to understand and visualize population genetic structure. It is one of the most commonly used clustering algorithms, cited over 11 500 times in Web of Science since its introduction in 2000. The method estimates ancestry proportions to assign individuals to clusters, and post hoc analyses of results may indicate the most likely number of clusters, or populations, on the landscape. However, as has been shown in this issue of Molecular Ecology Resources by Puechmaille (), when sampling is uneven across populations or across hierarchical levels of population structure, these post hoc analyses can be inaccurate and identify an incorrect number of population clusters. To solve this problem, Puechmaille () presents strategies for subsampling and new analysis methods that are robust to uneven sampling to improve inferences of the number of population clusters.
Increased fatty acid β‐oxidation as a possible mechanism for fat‐reducing effect of betaine in broilers
Authors: Leng Zhixian , Fu Qin , Yang Xue , Ding Liren , Wen Chao , Zhou Yanmin
Published: April 2016

Two hundred and forty 1‐day‐old male Arbor Acres broiler chickens were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments with six replicates of eight chickens per replicate cage for a 42‐day feeding trial. Broiler chickens were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0 (control), 250, 500, 750 or 1000 mg/kg betaine, respectively. Growth performance was not affected by betaine. Incremental levels of betaine decreased the absolute and relative weight of abdominal fat (linear P < 0.05, quadratic P < 0.01), low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C), triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) (linear P < 0.05), and increased concentration of nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) (linear P = 0.038, quadratic P = 0.003) in serum of broilers. Moreover, incremental levels of betaine increased linearly (P < 0.05) the proliferator‐activated receptor alpha (PPARα), the carnitine palmitoyl transferase‐I (CPT‐I) and 3‐hydroxyacyl‐coenzyme A dehydrogenase (HADH) messenger RNA (mRNA) expression, but decreased linearly (P < 0.05) the fatty acid synthase (FAS) and 3‐hydroxyl‐3‐methylglutaryl‐CoA (HMGR) mRNA expression in liver of broilers. In conclusion, this study indicated that betaine supplementation did not affect growth performance of broilers, but was effective in reducing abdominal fat deposition in a dose‐dependent manner, which was probably caused by combinations of a decrease in fatty acid synthesis and an increase in β‐oxidation.
Teachers pedagogical change framework: a diagnostic tool for changing teachers’ uses of emerging technologies
Authors: Tarling Isabel , Ng'ambi Dick
Published: April 2016

One of the challenges facing education systems in general and the South African education system in particular is how to understand ways that teachers change from nonusers of technologies to becoming transformative teachers with technology. Despite numerous initiatives, not limited to training, workshops and so forth, to bring about sustained and wide‐spread teacher change, transmission/delivery‐based pedagogies and chalk‐and‐talk methods continue to dominate. While policy directives and professional development programmes aim to effect change in teachers’ practice, they tend to fail to create sustainable change in teachers’ practice of using emerging technologies (ETs). This paper reports on a study that sought to understand how teachers change their pedagogy of teaching with ETs. Using a Design‐Based Research approach, the paper reports on the teachers’ pedagogical change framework (Teaching Change Frame ‐TCF) as a diagnostic tool for locating and mapping how teachers’ change. The TCF maps teachers’ existing pedagogies and ET uses, and designs a pathway of a change process to effect the desired change. The TCF was tested and refined using data from 325 teachers drawn from rural, resource‐constrained schools, urban, well‐resourced schools and from preservice teaching students in a decontextualized environment. Following three iterations it was found that teachers’ use of ETs in regulated, restrictive ways correlate with transmission pedagogies, unregulated, dispersed ways correlate with transformative pedagogies. The use of TCF not only located teaching pedagogies but also provide different pathways to ensure sustainable change. Findings emphasize the need for teachers to encourage learners to build/create/construct with ETs and for increased interaction in fostering nonregulated dispersed use of ETs.
How we manage persons with hereditary angioedema
Authors: Zuraw Bruce L. , Christiansen Sandra C.
Published: April 2016

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare autosomal dominant genetic disorder clinically characterized by recurrent attacks of subcutaneous and mucosal swelling that can result in significant morbidity and even mortality. Several novel therapies introduced since 2008 have dramatically transformed the approach to management. In this review we will discuss the current understanding of the pathophysiology of HAE, diagnostic evaluation of recurrent angioedema without urticaria, and the therapeutic approach to HAE. We advocate taking an integrative approach to care in order to normalize the lives of affected patients.
Pathways of oral health knowledge, attitudes, practices, and status in married couples
Authors: Zhang Yan , Wong May C. M. , Lo Edward C. M.
Published: April 2016

Objectives

This study aimed to assess the pathways from modifiable risk factors to oral health status in husbands and wives, and correlation in oral health KAP and status between married couples in Hong Kong.

Methods

This was a cross‐sectional survey using a combination of random household and purposive sampling. Socio‐economic status (SES), smoking, oral health knowledge (K), attitudes (A), and practices (P) of individuals were collected by questionnaire. Tooth status, periodontal status, and oral hygiene status were collected by oral examination.

Results

Altogether, 432 families (359 husbands and 419 wives) with a 5‐ to 7‐year‐old child participated in this study. Husbands' oral health status was found to be directly associated with their oral health behaviors and smoking habit and indirectly with their socio‐economic status, oral health knowledge, and attitudes. The explained variance of husbands' oral health status was 47.2%. Wives' oral health status was only directly associated with their oral health behaviors and indirectly with their socio‐economic status, oral health knowledge, and attitudes. The explained variance of wives' oral health status was 53.2%. The correlation coefficient between couple's oral health practices and status was 0.98 and 0.43, respectively.

Conclusions

The hypothesized pathways from socio‐economic status and modifiable factors to the oral health status in husbands and wives are not rejected. Oral health practices and status were correlated among married couples.
Lynn White Jr. and the greening‐of‐religion hypothesis
Authors: Taylor Bron , Van Wieren Gretel , Zaleha Bernard Daley
Published: April 2016

Lynn White Jr.’s “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,” which was published inSciencein 1967, has played a critical role in precipitating interdisciplinary environmental studies. Although White advances a multifaceted argument, most respondents focus on his claim that the Judeo‐Christian tradition, especially Christianity, has promoted anthropocentric attitudes and environmentally destructive behaviors. Decades later, some scholars argue contrarily that Christianity in particular and the world's predominant religions in general are becoming more environmentally friendly, known as the greening‐of‐religion hypothesis. To test these claims, we conducted a comprehensive review of over 700 articles—historical, qualitative, and quantitative—that are pertinent to them. Although definitive conclusions are difficult, we identified many themes and dynamics that hinder environmental understanding and mobilization, including conservative theological orientations and beliefs about the role of divine agency in preventing or promoting natural events, whether the religion is an Abrahamic tradition or originated in Asia. On balance, we found the thrust of White's thesis is supported, whereas the greening‐of‐religion hypothesis is not. We also found that indigenous traditions often foster proenvironmental perceptions. This finding suggests that indigenous traditions may be more likely to be proenvironmental than other religious systems and that some nature‐based cosmologies and value systems function similarly. Although we conclude White's thesis and subsequent claims are largely born out, additional research is needed to better understand under what circumstances and communication strategies religious or other individuals and groups may be more effectively mobilized to respond to contemporary environmental challenges.
Thermal refugia and the survival of species in changing environments: new evidence from a nationally extinct freshwater fish.
Authors: Worthington Thomas A. , Van Houdt Jeroen K. J. , Hull Joshua M. , Kemp Paul S.
Published: April 2016

Variation in global climate during the Quaternary has helped shape current species distributions. The stenohaline fish fauna of the British Isles is generally thought to have colonised eastern England via a landbridge following the last glacial maximum. This theory is investigated using the nationally extinct burbot, Lota lota, as a model species. Samples were collected from 15 museum specimens of known English provenance and analysed for differences in the mitochondrial DNA control region. The DNA analysis produced eight sequences of 270 base pairs, with one sample reaching 420 base pairs in length. Genetic analysis suggests the extinct English population of the burbot was a distinct lineage, differing from those previously described from across the species’ global distribution. Despite this, network analysis suggests that the English lineage is closely related to populations in western Europe, supporting colonisation via a postglacial landbridge. The rate of genetic divergence suggests that the timing of L. lota's colonisation of English rivers was prior to the last glacial maximum. Lota lota appears to have survived the last glacial maximum in refugia within the British Isles. This study adds to the evidence for a British freshwater refugia and furthers our understanding of the colonisation history of British freshwater fishes. These results also provide valuable information for conservation strategies for L. lota indicating the western European clade as most genetically appropriate for potential future reintroductions to English rivers.
Idiosyncratic Volatility and Firm‐Specific News: Beyond Limited Arbitrage
Authors: DeLisle R. Jared , Mauck Nathan , Smedema Adam R.
Published: April 2016

We examine the relation between idiosyncratic volatility and returns around news announcements. Mispricing is most likely to occur during news announcements. If idiosyncratic volatility generates a limit to arbitrage, then the negative relation between returns and news volatility should be stronger than the relation to nonnews volatility. Instead, we find nonnews volatility has a robust negative relation to returns and lacks key features expected if volatility were a reflection of limits to arbitrage. Pricing of nonnews volatility is related to lottery‐like features of a stock's return. Our results suggest that volatility has a price effect beyond a limit to arbitrage.
Multiple‐stressor effects on river biofilms under different hydrological conditions
Authors: Ponsatí Lídia , Corcoll Natàlia , Petrović Mira , Picó Yolanda , Ginebreda Antoni , Tornés Elisabet , Guasch Helena , Barceló Damià , Sabater Sergi
Published: April 2016

We studied the relative importance of environmental factors (river flow, nutrients, dissolved organic matter) and organic micro‐pollutants [herbicides, insecticides, industrial organic compounds, personal care products, antibiotics and pharmaceuticals, (PhCs)] to the structure and function of epilithic biofilms under various hydrological conditions and land uses.

Biofilms from four river basins in the Iberian Peninsula (Llobregat, Ebro, Júcar and Guadalquivir) were analysed in summer–autumn during a wet period and base‐flow conditions. The sites experienced different levels of pollution.

We used variance partitioning (Redundancy Detrended Analysis, RDA) to link environmental stressors to the structure and function of biofilms, which were assessed as diatom community composition, algal biomass, photosynthetic activity, bacterial density and extracellular phosphatase activity.

RDAs showed that industrial organic compounds, herbicides and PhC products were the pollutants most strongly associated with measures of biofilm structure and function, whereas dissolved inorganic nitrogen, dissolved organic carbon and hydrological variability were the environmental factors most strongly associated with biofilm responses.

Thicker biofilms developing during base flow were most affected by pollutants and nutrients. In contrast, thinner biofilms developing during periods of high river flow were less affected by chemicals.
A prospective, randomised, controlled, multicentre clinical trial examining healing rates, safety and cost to closure of an acellular reticular allogenic human dermis versus standard of care in the treatment of chronic diabetic foot ulcers
Authors: Zelen Charles M , Orgill Dennis P , Serena Thomas , Galiano Robert , Carter Marissa J , DiDomenico Lawrence A , Keller Jennifer , Kaufman Jarrod , Li William W
Published: April 2016

Acellular dermal matrices can successfully heal wounds. This study's goal was to compare clinical outcomes of a novel, open‐structure human reticular acellular dermis matrix (HR‐ADM) to facilitate wound closure in non‐healing diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) versus DFUs treated with standard of care (SOC). Following a 2‐week screening period in which DFUs were treated with offloading and moist wound care, patients were randomised to either SOC alone or HR‐ADM plus SOC applied weekly for up to 12 weeks. At 6 weeks, the primary outcome time, 65% of the HR‐ADM‐treated DFUs healed (13/20) compared with 5% (1/20) of DFUs that received SOC alone. At 12 weeks, the proportions of DFUs healed were 80% and 20%, respectively. Mean time to heal within 12 weeks was 40 days for the HR‐ADM group compared with 77 days for the SOC group. There was no incidence of increased adverse or serious adverse events between groups or any adverse events related to the graft. Mean and median graft costs to closure per healed wound in the HR‐ADM group were $1475 and $963, respectively. Weekly application of HR‐ADM is an effective intervention for promoting closure of non‐healing DFUs.
Gravitational Waves: A Statistical Autopsy of a Black Hole Merger
Authors: Meyer Renate , Christensen Nelson
Published: April 2016

Renate Meyer and Nelson Christensen explain how statistics and statisticians helped unravel a story 1 billion years in the making

Renate Meyer and Nelson Christensen explain how statistics and statisticians helped unravel a story 1 billion years in the making