bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Childcare demands and employee performance
Authors: Damoah John Ofori , Ntsiful Alex 
Published: March 2016

Purpose– This study aims to investigate the effect of childcare demands on the work performance of mothers. It examines the moderating influence of team support on the relationship between childcare demands and employee performance.Design/methodology/approach– Data were collected from 217 working mothers in various companies in Ghana. Hierarchical linear regression analysis was used to estimate the research model.Findings– The results indicate that childcare demands negatively relate to performance of working mothers at workplace. Further, team support moderates the negative relationship between childcare demands and employee performance such that the relationship is positive and significant.Research limitations/implications– The study adopted a cross-sectional data collection method that prevented casual inferences among the variables. Longitudinal research design will be more beneficial in future research endeavours. Further research should test the influence of personality characteristics of individuals in the moderating influence of team support on the relationship between childcare demands and employee performance.Practical implications– The study suggests that when team support is well taken care of in organisations, managers can turn the negative effect of childcare demands on employee performance into improved performance outcomes.Originality/value– To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first in Sub-Saharan Africa to examine the moderating influence of team support on the childcare demands – employee performance linkage.
Losing reduces maximum bite performance in house cricket contests
Authors: Condon Catriona , Lailvaux Simon P. 
Published: March 2016

Summary

Whole‐organism performance capacities influence male combat outcomes in many animal species. However, several species also exhibit winner and loser effects, and current theory predicts that losers are more likely to lose again due to a decrease in aggression following defeat, not because of any change in underlying maximum performance capacity.

To test the effect of fight experience on performance, we measured the maximum bite force of male Acheta domesticus crickets that were pitted against size‐matched opponents in staged fights. Winners then fought a second contest against other winners while losers fought other losers, after which we measured the change in bite force in all contest crickets and in a control group that did not take part in any contests.

Bite force predicted fight outcomes in the first round, and losing the first fight had a significant effect on bite force, leading to a 20% decrease in relative bite force compared to crickets that won both rounds. However, winning did not increase performance as there was no difference between those that won the first round and those that never experienced a loss, nor did winning a second bout alleviate the negative effects on realized bite performance of losing an initial bout.

Past defeats can therefore alter the realized short‐term maximal performance of traits that contribute to contest outcomes independent of maximum performance limits set by morphology.
Inbreeding and neighbouring vegetation drive drought‐induced die‐off within juniper populations
Authors: Lloret Francisco , García Cristina 
Published: March 2016

Summary

Drought‐induced episodes of forest die‐off are being reported world‐wide, and recent evidence shows that increases in temperature due to climate change are contributing to this decline. Several ecological mechanisms have been invoked at the plant level to explain the vulnerability of trees to this widespread drought‐induced mortality.

Apart from ecological factors, some genetic factors might also influence population responses to disturbances: it has been reported, for example, that genetic diversity enhances population resilience through genotypic complementarity, whereas genetic relatedness between conspecific individuals exerts a negative influence on variations in fecundity. However, we lack empirical data that prove any functional relationship between levels of individual inbreeding or kinship and patterns of drought‐induced forest die‐off resulting from field conditions.

Here, we investigated the role of ecological, phenotypic and genetic factors in determining the response of trees to prolonged drought conditions. We focused on populations of the small tree Juniperus phoenicea L. that recently experienced severe drought‐induced die‐off in semi‐arid woodlands from central Spain.

We correlated mean individual inbreeding (f) and mean kinship between individuals within a plot (fij) with remaining green plant canopy and crop size. We found that f was negatively correlated with plant performance, whereas fij was not. Healthier canopy also tended to correspond with large plants and neighbourhoods dominated by trees and shrubs, suggesting a role for facilitative interactions and microsite heterogeneity. Accordingly, the probability of severe damage increased linearly with f, and individuals growing in open habitats with f values > 0·625 only had 15% chance of remaining unaffected after a period of prolonged drought.

We show that both vegetative and reproductive responses to prolonged drought episodes are determined by multiple factors, including individual inbreeding. Therefore, any fuller understanding of phenomena such as drought‐induced forest die‐off needs to incorporate the contribution of individual genetic variations in conjunction with plant–plant interactions.
Are leaves more vulnerable to cavitation than branches?
Authors: Zhu Shi‐Dan , Liu Hui , Xu Qiu‐Yuan , Cao Kun‐Fang , Ye Qing 
Published: March 2016

Summary1. Vulnerability segmentation hypothesis proposes that plant branches are more resistant to cavitation than their terminal leaves, namely, the difference in vulnerability to cavitation between branches and their terminal leaves is positive (P50leaf‐branch>0). This allows leaves to act as “safety valves” to protect hydraulic pathway from dysfunction.2. Recent studies showed that several species from humid regions have negative values of P50leaf‐branch, indicating a lack of vulnerability segmentation in these species (LVS species).3. We hypothesize that compared with species from humid regions, vulnerability segmentation is critical and necessary for arid species to survive droughts, but LVS species may take compensatory hydraulic strategies to maintain safety margins during drought periods.4. We compile branch and leaf hydraulic trait data of 69 broadleaved woody species belonging to different biomes with contrasting climatic conditions as indicated by variable aridity index (AI), and we find that P50leaf‐branch becomes small and even negative with the increase of AI. Although leaves of LVS species may lose their function as “safety valves”, their deep rooting, great hydraulic conductivity, and/or high stem capacitance features are critical for them to maintain hydraulic safety.5. The results indicate that vulnerability segmentation is evidently common for species from arid regions, but not necessarily the case for some species from humid regions. With robust cavitation‐resistant leaves and effective hydraulic compensatory strategies, LVS species can maintain water supply and the functionality of leaves, thus giving them a hydraulic advantage over counterparts in the face of potential drought stress.A lay summary is available for this article.
Adding constraints to predation through allometric relation of scats to consumption
Authors: Chakrabarti Stotra , Jhala Yadvendradev V. , Dutta Sutirtha , Qureshi Qamar , Kadivar Riaz F. , Rana Vishwadipsinh J. 
Published: March 2016

Summary

A thorough understanding of mechanisms of prey consumption by carnivores and the constraints on predation help us in evaluating the role of carnivores in an ecosystem. This is crucial in developing appropriate management strategies for their conservation and mitigating human–carnivore conflict. Current models on optimal foraging suggest that mammalian carnivores would profit most from killing the largest prey that they can subdue with minimal risk of injury to themselves.

Wild carnivore diets are primarily estimated through analysis of their scats. Using extensive feeding experiments (n = 68) on a wide size range (4·5–130 kg) of obligate carnivores – lion, leopard, jungle cat and domestic cat, we parameterize biomass models that best relate consumption to scat production. We evaluate additional constraints of gut fill, prey digestibility and carcass utilization on carnivory that were hereto not considered in optimal foraging studies.

Our results show that patterns of consumption to scat production against prey size are similar and asymptotic, contrary to established linear models, across these carnivores after accounting for the effect of carnivore size. This asymptotic, allometric relationship allowed us to develop a generalized model: biomass consumed per collectable scat/predator weight = 0·033–0·025exp−4·284(prey weight/predator weight), which is applicable to all obligate carnivores to compute prey biomass consumed from scats. Our results also depict a relationship for prey digestibility which saturates at about 90% for prey larger than predator size. Carcass utilization declines exponentially with prey size. These mechanisms result in digestible biomass saturating at prey weights approximately equal to predator weight.

Published literature on consumption by tropical carnivores that has relied on linear biomass models is substantially biased. We demonstrate the nature of these biases by correcting diets of tiger, lion and leopard in recent publications. Our analysis suggests that consumption of medium‐sized prey was significantly underestimated, while large prey consumption was grossly overestimated in large carnivore diets to date. We highlight that additional constraints of prey digestibility and utilization combined with escalating handling time and risks of killing large prey make prey larger than the predator size unprofitable for obligate carnivores.
The incidence of congenital syphilis in the United Kingdom: February 2010 to January 2015
Authors: Simms I , Tookey PA , Goh BT , Lyall H , Evans B , Townsend CL , Fifer H , Ison C 
Published: March 2016

ObjectiveTo estimate the incidence of congenital syphilis in the UK.DesignProspective study.Setting and populationUnited Kingdom.MethodsChildren born between February 2010 and January 2015 with a suspected diagnosis of congenital syphilis were reported through an active surveillance system.Main outcome measuresNumber of congenital syphilis cases and incidence.ResultsFor all years, reported incidence was below the WHO threshold for elimination (<0.5/1000 live births). Seventeen cases (12 male, five female) were identified. About 50% of infants (8/17) were born preterm (<37 weeks' gestation): median birthweight 2000 g (865–3170 g). Clinical presentation varied from asymptomatic to acute disease, including severe anaemia, hepatosplenomegaly, rhinitis, thrombocytopaenia, skeletal damage, and neurosyphilis. One infant was deaf and blind. Median maternal age was 20 years (17–31) at delivery. Where maternal stage of infection was recorded, 6/10 had primary, 3/10 secondary and 1/10 early latent syphilis. Most mothers were white (13/16). Country of birth was recorded for 12 mothers: UK (n = 6), Eastern Europe (n = 3), Middle East (n = 1), and South East Asia (n = 2). The social circumstances of mothers varied and included drug use and sex work. Some experienced difficulty accessing health care.ConclusionThe incidence of congenital syphilis is controlled and monitored by healthcare services and related surveillance systems, and is now below the WHO elimination threshold. However, reducing the public health impact of this preventable disease in the UK is highly dependent on the successful implementation of WHO elimination standards across Europe.Tweetable abstractCongenital syphilis incidence in the UK is at a very low level and well below the WHO elimination threshold.
Comparative morphometric and chemical analyses of phenotypes of two invasive ambrosia beetles (Euwallacea spp.) in the United States
Authors: Chen Yigen , Dallara Paul L. , Nelson Lori J. , Coleman Tom W. , Hishinuma Stacy M. , Carrillo Daniel , Seybold Steven J. 
Published: March 2016

AbstractThe polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB), Euwallacea sp., was first detected in 2003 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. Recently, this invasive species has become a major pest of many hardwood trees in urban and wildland forests throughout southern California. PSHB is nearly identical in morphology and life history to the tea shot hole borer (TSHB), Euwallacea fornicatus, an invasive pest of hardwoods in Florida, USA and many other parts of the world. However, molecular studies have suggested that the taxa are different species. We conducted morphometric and chemical analyses of the phenotypes of Euwallacea sp. collected in southern California (Los Angeles County) and E. fornicatus collected in Florida (Miami‐Dade County). Our analyses indicated that PSHB has 3 larval instars. The third larval instar was separated from the first 2 instars by head capsule width with 0 probability of misclassification. The body length, head width, and pronotal width of PSHB adult males were significantly less than those of females. Head width and pronotal width of female PSHB were significantly less than those of female TSHB. In contrast, body length, and ratio of body length to pronotal width of female PSHB were significantly greater than those of female TSHB. However, females of these 2 species could not be separated completely by these 4 measurements because of the overlapping ranges. Cuticular hydrocarbons detected in both species were exclusively alkanes (i.e., n‐alkanes, monomethylalkanes, dimethylalkanes, and trimethylalkanes). Cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of PSHB males and females were similar, but they both differed from that of TSHB females. Cuticular hydrocarbons of PSHB were predominantly internally branched dimethylalkanes with backbones of 31 and 33 carbons, whereas cuticular hydrocarbons of TSHB females were dominated by internally branched monomethylalkanes and dimethylalkanes with backbones of 28 and 29 carbons. Multiple compounds within these classes appear to be diagnostic for PSHB and TSHB, respectively.
Increased Identification of Emergency Department 72‐hour Returns Using Multihospital Health Information Exchange
Authors: Shy Bradley D. , Kim Eugene Y. , Genes Nicholas G. , Lowry Tina , Loo George T. , Hwang Ula , Richardson Lynne D. , Shapiro Jason S. 
Published: March 2016

AbstractObjectivesEmergency departments (EDs) commonly analyze cases of patients returning within 72 hours of initial ED discharge as potential opportunities for quality improvement. In this study, we tested the use of a health information exchange (HIE) to improve identification of 72‐hour return visits compared to individual hospitals' site‐specific data.MethodsWe collected deidentified patient data over a 5‐year study period from Healthix, an HIE in the New York metropolitan area. We measured site‐specific 72‐hour ED returns and compared these data to those obtained from a regional 31‐site HIE (Healthix) and to those from a smaller, antecedent 11‐site HIE. Although only ED visits were counted as index visits, either ED or inpatient revisits within 72 hours of the index visit were considered as early returns.ResultsA total of 12,669,657 patient encounters were analyzed across the 31 HIE EDs, including 6,352,829 encounters from the antecedent 11‐site HIE. Site‐specific 72‐hour return visit rates ranged from 1.1% to 15.2% (median = 5.8%) among the individual 31 sites. When the larger HIE was used to identify return visits to any site, individual EDs had a 72‐hour return frequency of 1.8% to 15.5% (median = 6.8%). HIE increased the identification ability of 72‐hour ED return analyses by a mean of 11.16% (95% confidence interval = 11.10% to 11.22%) compared with site‐specific (no HIE) analyses.ConclusionThis analysis demonstrates incremental improvements in our ability to identify early ED returns using increasing levels of HIE data aggregation. Although intuitive, this has not been previously described using HIE. ED quality measurement and patient safety efforts may be aided by using HIE in 72‐hour return analyses.
Photographing Injuries in the Acute Care Setting: Development and Evaluation of a Standardized Protocol for Research, Forensics, and Clinical Practice
Authors: Bloemen Elizabeth M. , Rosen Tony , Cline Schiroo Justina A. , Clark Sunday , Mulcare Mary R. , Stern Michael E. , Mysliwiec Regina , Flomenbaum Neal E. , Lachs Mark S. , Hargarten Stephen 
Published: March 2016

AbstractBackgroundPhotographing injuries in the acute setting allows for improved documentation as well as assessment by clinicians and others who have not personally examined a patient. This tool is important, particularly for telemedicine, tracking of wound healing, the evaluation of potential abuse, and injury research. Despite this, protocols to ensure standardization of photography in clinical practice, forensics, or research have not been published. In preparation for a study of injury patterns in elder abuse and geriatric falls, our goal was to develop and evaluate a protocol for standardized photography of injuries that may be broadly applied.MethodsWe conducted a literature review for techniques and standards in medical, forensic, and legal photography. We developed a novel protocol describing types of photographs and body positioning for eight body regions, including instructional diagrams. We revised it iteratively in consultation with experts in medical photography; forensics; and elder, child, and domestic abuse. The resulting protocol requires a minimum of four photos of each injury at multiple distances with and without a ruler/color guide. To evaluate the protocol's efficacy, multiple research assistants without previous photography experience photographed injuries from a convenience sample of elderly patients presenting to a single large, urban, academic emergency department. A selection of these patients' images were then evaluated in a blinded fashion by four nontreating emergency medicine physicians and the inter‐rater reliability between these physicians was calculated.ResultsAmong the 131 injuries, from 53 patients, photographed by 18 photographers using this protocol, photographs of 25 injuries (10 bruises, seven lacerations, and eight abrasions) were used to assess characterization of the injury. Physicians' characterizations of the injuries were reliable for the size of the injury (κ = 0.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.77 to 1.00), side of the body (κ = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.88 to 1.00), precise location of the injury (κ = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.63 = 0.81), and type of abrasion (κ = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.45 to 1.00). The exact shape of the injury (κ = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.17 to 0.51), and the primary color of bruises (κ = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.25 to 0.48) were not as reliably characterized.ConclusionsStandardizing the documentation of injuries with photographs for clinical and research assessment can be conducted by nonprofessional photographers. A photography protocol will ensure that this important mechanism for documentation is optimized.
Transcriptional profiling of subcutaneous adipose tissue in Italian Large White pigs divergent for backfat thickness
Authors: Zambonelli P. , Gaffo E. , Zappaterra M. , Bortoluzzi S. , Davoli R. 
Published: March 2016

SummaryFat deposition is a widely studied trait in pigs because of its implications with animal growth efficiency, technological and nutritional characteristics of meat products, but the global framework of the biological and molecular processes regulating fat deposition in pigs is still incomplete. This study describes the backfat tissue transcription profile in Italian Large White pigs and reports genes differentially expressed between fat and lean animals according to RNA‐seq data. The backfat transcription profile was characterised by the expression of 23 483 genes, of which 54.1% were represented by known genes. Of 63 418 expressed transcripts, about 80% were non‐previously annotated isoforms. By comparing the expression level of fat vs. lean pigs, we detected 86 robust differentially expressed transcripts, 72 more highly expressed (e.g. ACP5, BCL2A1, CCR1, CD163, CD1A, EGR2, ENPP1, GPNMB, INHBB, LYZ, MSR1, OLR1, PIK3AP1, PLIN2, SPP1, SLC11A1, STC1) and 14 lower expressed (e.g. ADSSL1, CDO1, DNAJB1, HSPA1A, HSPA1B, HSPA2, HSPB8, IGFBP5, OLFML3) in fat pigs. The main functional categories enriched in differentially expressed genes were immune system process, response to stimulus, cell activation and skeletal system development, for the overexpressed genes, and unfolded protein binding and stress response, for the underexpressed genes, which included five heat shock proteins. Adipose tissue alterations and impaired stress response are linked to inflammation and, in turn, to adipose tissue secretory activity, similar to what is observed in human obesity. Our results provide the opportunity to identify biomarkers of carcass fat traits to improve the pig production chain and to identify genetic factors that regulate the observed differential expression.
Evaluation of the genetic diversity of microsatellite markers among four strains of Oreochromis niloticus
Authors: Dias M. A. D. , de Freitas R. T. F. , Arranz S. E. , Villanova G. V. , Hilsdorf A. W. S. 
Published: March 2016

SummaryDifferent strains of Nile tilapia can be found worldwide. To successfully use them in breeding programs, they must be genetically characterized. In this study, four strains of Nile tilapia – UFLA, GIFT, Chitralada and Red‐Stirling – were genetically characterized using 10 noncoding microsatellite loci and two microsatellites located in the promoter and first intron of the growth hormone gene (GH). The two microsatellites in the GH gene were identified at positions −693 to −679 in the promoter [motif (ATTCT)8] and in intron 1 at positions +140 to +168 [motif (CTGT)7]. Genetic diversity was measured as mean numbers of alleles and expected heterozygosity, which were 4 and 0.60 (GIFT), 3.5 and 0.71 (UFLA), 4.5 and 0.57 (Chitralada) and 2.5 and 0.42 (Red‐Stirling) respectively. Genetic differentiation was estimated both separately and in combination for noncoding and GH microsatellites markers using Jost's DEST index. The UFLA and GIFT strains were the least genetically divergent (DEST = 0.10), and Chitralada and Red‐Stirling were the most (DEST = 0.58). The UFLA strain was genetically characterized for the first time and, because of its unique origin and genetic distinctness, may prove to be an important resource for genetic improvement of Nile tilapia. This study shows that polymorphisms found in coding gene regions might be useful for assessing genetic differentiation among strains.