bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
What was the ancestral sex‐determining mechanism in amniote vertebrates?
Authors: Pokorná Martina Johnson , Kratochvíl Lukáš 
Published: December 2015

ABSTRACTAmniote vertebrates, the group consisting of mammals and reptiles including birds, possess various mechanisms of sex determination. Under environmental sex determination (ESD), the sex of individuals depends on the environmental conditions occurring during their development and therefore there are no sexual differences present in their genotypes. Alternatively, through the mode of genotypic sex determination (GSD), sex is determined by a sex‐specific genotype, i.e. by the combination of sex chromosomes at various stages of differentiation at conception. As well as influencing sex determination, sex‐specific parts of genomes may, and often do, develop specific reproductive or ecological roles in their bearers. Accordingly, an individual with a mismatch between phenotypic (gonadal) and genotypic sex, for example an individual sex‐reversed by environmental effects, should have a lower fitness due to the lack of specialized, sex‐specific parts of their genome. In this case, evolutionary transitions from GSD to ESD should be less likely than transitions in the opposite direction. This prediction contrasts with the view that GSD was the ancestral sex‐determining mechanism for amniote vertebrates. Ancestral GSD would require several transitions from GSD to ESD associated with an independent dedifferentiation of sex chromosomes, at least in the ancestors of crocodiles, turtles, and lepidosaurs (tuataras and squamate reptiles). In this review, we argue that the alternative theory postulating ESD as ancestral in amniotes is more parsimonious and is largely concordant with the theoretical expectations and current knowledge of the phylogenetic distribution and homology of sex‐determining mechanisms.
The relationship between hearing impairment and cognitive function: a meta‐analysis in adults
Authors: Taljaard D.S. , Olaithe M. , Brennan‐Jones C.G. , Eikelboom R.H. , Bucks R.S. 
Published: December 2015

ObjectiveHearing loss affects over 1.23 billion people globally. It has been proposed that hearing impairment negatively impacts on cognition. Some studies have demonstrated a faster rate of decline in cognition, and increased risk of incident all‐cause dementia. This finding is not ubiquitous. This study used meta‐analysis to examine the evidence‐base regarding the relationship between hearing and cognition.DesignA systematic review of the literature and meta‐analyses of study findings were conducted. Published and grey literature was reviewed. Papers were included if they studied the relationship between hearing and cognition in adults with and without hearing impairment.Main outcome measuresMeta‐analyses examined evidence for and against seven questions. Is cognition poorer in individuals with normal hearing compared to (i) untreated or (ii) treated hearing impairment, is cognition associated with degree of hearing impairment in (iii) untreated and/or (iv) treated hearing, is cognition (v) different in untreated compared to treated hearing impairment, (vii) does cognition improve after intervention, and (vii) how is hearing impairment differentially associated with cognitive ability across six domains of cognition?ResultsThe 33 included studies contributed 40 samples, with a total of 602 participants with untreated hearing impairment, 672 participants with treated hearing impairment, 176 healthy controls, and 4260 individuals with a range of hearing impairment with/without treatment. The results demonstrated that cognition is significantly poorer in (i) individuals with untreated hearing and remains poorer in (ii) treated hearing impairment compared to normal hearers. The degree of cognitive deficit is significantly associated with the degree of hearing impairment in both (iii) untreated and (iv) treated hearing impairment. Furthermore, (v) hearing intervention significantly improves cognition. Finally, (vii) hearing impairment impacted on all domains of cognition.ConclusionsThis meta‐analysis suggests that hearing impairment is associated with cognitive problems. However, due to diversity within studies, small sample sizes, the failure to control for premorbid and other health factors, this conclusion may be premature.
Automatic Mechanisms for Social Attention Are Culturally Penetrable
Authors: Cohen Adam S. , Sasaki Joni Y. , German Tamsin C. , Kim Heejung S. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractAre mechanisms for social attention influenced by culture? Evidence that social attention is triggered automatically by bottom‐up gaze cues and is uninfluenced by top‐down verbal instructions may suggest it operates in the same way everywhere. Yet considerations from evolutionary and cultural psychology suggest that specific aspects of one's cultural background may have consequence for the way mechanisms for social attention develop and operate. In more interdependent cultures, the scope of social attention may be broader, focusing on more individuals and relations between those individuals. We administered a multi‐gaze cueing task requiring participants to fixate a foreground face flanked by background faces and measured shifts in attention using eye tracking. For European Americans, gaze cueing did not depend on the direction of background gaze cues, suggesting foreground gaze alone drives automatic attention shifting; for East Asians, cueing patterns differed depending on whether the foreground cue matched or mismatched background cues, suggesting foreground and background gaze information were integrated. These results demonstrate that cultural background influences the social attention system by shifting it into a narrow or broad mode of operation and, importantly, provides evidence challenging the assumption that mechanisms underlying automatic social attention are necessarily rigid and impenetrable to culture.
The Burden of Microfinance Debt: Lessons from the Ramanagaram Financial Diaries
Authors: Dattasharma Abhi , Kamath Rajalaxmi , Ramanathan Smita 
Published: December 2015

ABSTRACTThe Indian microfinance institutes (MFI) crisis has spawned several debates on the MFI movement. What is sorely missing are the perspectives of the clients. Using the financial diary methodology in a study of 90 poor households in Ramanagaram town, in the district of Ramanagaram, Karnataka, India, this article analyses how household cash flows are impacted by the presence or absence of MFI loans. During the study period (September 2008–July 2009), an informal ban on MFI repayments was called which offered a rare opportunity to collect data from the same households in the presence and absence of MFI loan repayments. An analysis of their expenditures points to the genesis of the crisis, namely that MFI loan repayments led to impoverishment since these were made at the cost of basic household consumption, like food staples. The authors use the Ramanagaram financial diaries to provide a counter narrative to the dominant Yunusian Grameen narratives on microfinance and poverty alleviation by not looking at microfinance loans in isolation but by situating them in the context of the totality of consumption, cash inflows and debt that govern the lives of the poor.
Multiple specificities of immunoglobulin M in equine fetuses infected with Leptospira interrogans indicate a competent immune response
Authors: Velineni S. , Timoney J. F. , Artiushin S. C. , Donahue J. M. , Steinman M. 
Published: December 2015

SummaryReasons for performing studyFoals of mares infected with Leptospira interrogans serovar Pomona type kennewicki (Lk) may be aborted/stillborn or delivered as healthy foals. Is fetal survival explained in part by the immune response of the fetus to Leptospira antigens?ObjectivesTo describe an outbreak of Leptospira abortion in which infected mares delivered dead/sick or normal foals and determine specificities of antibody in a collection of 54 fetuses from similar outbreaks.Study designOutbreak investigation in combination with a case‐control study of a larger set of samples from aborted fetuses.MethodsSerology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on urine and amniotic fluids were used to diagnose infection during an outbreak of Leptospira abortion. Specificities of immunoglobulin (Ig)M, IgGa and IgGb for recombinant proteins of Lk in archived fluids of fetuses from similar outbreaks were compared by ELISA with those of fluids of fetuses not infected with Leptospira spp.ResultsFive fetuses of 11 infected mares in an outbreak survived in utero in the presence of persistent placental infection and were healthy at foaling. Fetuses of 6 mares in the outbreak were aborted or died soon after birth. Significantly greater (P<0.05) IgM reactivity with all recombinant proteins and with Lk sonicate was observed in 54 archived fluids from Leptospira infected fetuses than in fluids of 30 of non‐Leptospira infected fetuses. Low levels of IgGa and IgGb specific for LipL32 and Lk sonicate and traces of LigA and Hsp15 specific IgGa were detected in a minority of archived fluids from Leptospira infected fetuses.ConclusionAlthough mainly mediated by IgM, a high level of immune competence in aborted fetuses was evidenced by the multiplicity of Leptospira proteins targeted. This is likely to contribute to survival of foals in mares with evidence of placental infection at foaling as detailed in a typical outbreak.
Delegation: a solution to the workload problem? Observations and interviews with community pharmacists in England
Authors: Lea Victoria M , Corlett Sarah A , Rodgers Ruth M 
Published: December 2015

Abstract

Objective
This study aims to describe how pharmacists utilise and perceive delegation in the community setting.

Method
Non-participant observations and semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of community pharmacists working in Kent between July and October 2011. Content analysis was undertaken to determine key themes and the point of theme saturation informed sample size. Findings from observations were also compared against those from interviews.

Key findings
Observations and interviews were undertaken with 11 pharmacists. Observations showed that delegation occurred in four different forms: assumed, active, partial and reverse. It was also employed to varying extents within the different pharmacies. Interviews revealed mixed views on delegation. Some pharmacists presented positive attitudes towards delegation while others were concerned about maintaining accountability for delegated tasks, particularly in terms of accuracy checking of dispensed medication. Other pharmacists noted the ability to delegate was not a skill they found inherently easy. Comparison of observation and interview data highlighted discrepancies between tasks pharmacists perceived they delegated and what they actually delegated.

Conclusions
Effective delegation can potentially promote better management of workload to provide pharmacists with additional time to spend on cognitive pharmaceutical services. To do this, pharmacists' reluctance to delegate must be addressed. Lack of insight into own practice might be helped by self-reflection and feedback from staff. Also, a greater understanding of legal accountability in the context of delegation needs to be achieved. Finally, delegation is not just dependent on pharmacists, but also on support staff; ensuring staff are empowered and equipped to take on delegated roles is essential.
Older people's experiences of care in nursing homes: a meta‐synthesis
Authors: Vaismoradi Mojtaba , Wang Inger‐Lise , Turunen Hannele , Bondas Terese 
Published: December 2015

AimTo integrate the current international knowledge and enhance our understanding of the experiences of older people of being cared for in nursing homes.BackgroundThere is a lack of integrated knowledge to help face the challenge of providing care to older people in nursing homes. Understanding the experiences of older people regarding their own care leads to interventions for reducing older people's suffering, while living in nursing homes.MethodsKeywords describing the experiences of being cared for in nursing homes were used to systematically search electronic databases for qualitative research articles. A meta‐synthesis study employing the interpretative meta‐ethnography approach devised by Noblit and Hare was carried out to analyse seven qualitative articles identified during the search process.FindingsSeven studies included in this meta‐synthesis were published between 2007 and 2015. The experiences of older people of being cared for in nursing homes were expressed by the metaphor ‘retaining the meaning of being alive’. Older people wished for a homelike place where they would be delivered care with the consideration of all its humanistic aspects. While conflict between their expectations and organizational demands damaged this sought ideal, adjustment to life conditions and taking an active role led to a feeling of being alive.DiscussionThis meta‐synthesis integrates our knowledge on organizational and administrative demands, and personal factors influencing the provision of individualized care in nursing homes.LimitationsThe mental functionality of older people that suffer from dementia might impact on their ability to be involved in research and have a ‘voice’ in terms of their experience of being cared for in nursing homes.Conclusion and Implications for NursingThe institutional character of the nursing home restricts older people's decision‐making. The challenge in nursing home care is to balance the tensions between the individual needs and the collective dimensions of care.Implications for Nursing PolicyNurse policymakers need to consider the ambience in nursing homes, develop a caring culture for the provision of a holistic care to older people and make the nursing home as close to a home as possible.
Behavior and Ecology of Four Syntopic Species of Finches in Mexico
Authors: Murray Bertram G. , Hardy John William 
Published: December 2015

AbstractThe territorial and vocal behavior of the Collared Towhee, Rufous‐sided Towhee, Chestnut‐capped Brushfinch, and Rufous‐capped Brushfinch were studied on Cerro San Felipe in Oaxaca, Mexico. Birds were mist‐netted and individually color‐marked, and their activities monitored for six weeks during the breeding season. Vocalizations were tape‐recorded and analyzed by sound spectrograph. Contrary to previous work, we found no evidence of interspecific territoriality or character convergence in these species.ZusammenfassungRevierverhalten von 4 Finkenarten Mexikos wurde bei Oaxaca unter‐sucht. Entgegen früheren Angaben überlappen die Reviere von Pipilo ocai mit denen von P. erytbrophthalmus, Atlapetes brunneinucha und A. pileatus, ohne Anzeichen zwischenartlicher Revierabgrenzung.Alle 4 Arten unterscheiden sich in Körpergröße, Schnabelgröße und ‐form, und in der Nahrungssuche. P. ocai, der größe der vier, mit schwerem, konischem Schnabel, sucht (wie auch P. erytbrophthalmus) mit beiden Füßen in der Bodenstreu scharrend nach Nahrung. Die erstere Art sucht meist in dichterem Gestrüpp als die zweite. Die beiden anderen Arten haben schlankere Schnäbel; A. brunneinucha wirft mit dem Schnabel Bodenmaterial beiseite; A. pileatus sucht Blätter ab.Die Gesänge aller Arten sind deutlich verschieden. Die Strophen von P. ocai sind lauter und variabler als die von P. erytbrophthalmus und aähneln denen von A. pileatus, der aber schneller singt. A. brunneinucha. singt völlig anders als diese drei. Auf vorgespielte nicht‐arteigene Gesänge reagieren sie alle nicht.Die vier Arten scheinen in Körperbau und Verhalten hinreichend verschieden voneinander, so daß zwischenartliche Konkurrenz und andere Interaktionen kaum eine Rolle spielen.
The Defence of First and Second Broods by Great Tit (Parus major) Parents: A Test of Predictive Sociobiology1
Authors: Curio Eberhard , Regelmann Klaus , Zimmermann Uwe 
Published: December 2015

Abstract and SummaryWe examined the extent to which parental investment, as measured by brood defence, is determined by selection via life history in a short‐lived bird, the great tit (Parus major). Great tit parents tending 1st and 2nd broods of the season were used to test five predictions of a cost/benefit model of brood defence based on the species average demography. Thebenefitwas envisaged as the brood's contribution to a parent's fitness, and thecostas the potential loss if the defender dies in the act of defence; this loss was mirrored by Residual Reproductive Value plus a fraction of the brood dying as a consequence of the defender's death. Univariate and multivariate procedures were applied to six measures of defence response in 221 experimentally naive great tit pairs with nestlings. Stimuli consisted of a live raptor and a multi‐species taped mobbing chorus (both of which triggered strong alarm), the latter alone, and a novel, visual stimulus inhibiting nest visits for some time. As predicted by the model, response strength and associated risk increased with (1) advancing time in the breeding season, (2) the age of young, and (3) the number of young in 2nd broods. The last finding, being non‐trivial, is the strongest and the only unequivocal support for the notion that life‐history has moulded parental investment also in a short‐lived species; findings (1) and (2) could be alternatively accounted for by simply assuming that parents tailor their defence to environmental conditions permitting a new breeding episode. The model failed to predict the change of defence behaviour between 1st and 2nd broods. Instead, proximate factors coupled to the precise breeding area proved to be of prime importance in determining defence level, thereby falsifying the idea of a rigidly preprogrammed change of response level based on population parameter means. Instead, parents might gauge their defence to quality of young, as also allowed for in the model, or they may sometimes be constrained to display the full defence.As a by‐product, the experiments permit us to narrow down the range of selective agents producing the male parent's stronger defence. The sex difference, being prevalent in 1st broods and abating in 2nd broods, indicates that the male, by its defence behaviour, not only invests in its offspring but also in its home range and/or its mate. The latter interpretation is supported most directly by the male's defence behaviour in 1st broods.
Location‐specific Responses of Gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) to Male Songs
Authors: Mitani John C. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractI investigated the responses of gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) to male songs played back from different locations but similar distances from the subjects. The gibbons showed spatial variations in response to songs. Mated males led silent group approaches toward songs emanating from the center of the range. Songs delivered from positions along the range periphery elicited either group approaches or duets. Songs played back from within the ranges of neighbors rarely resulted in duetting activity. Location, a contextual factor, is important in determination of the response evoked by song. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that male song plays a role in mediating intergroup spacing among gibbons.
Schooling in Sphyrna lewini, a Species with Low Risk of Predation: a Non‐egalitarian State
Authors: Klimley A. Peter 
Published: December 2015

AbstractThe scalloped hammerhead, Sphyrna lewini, forms schools as highly polarized as those of the obligate schoolers, Atherinops affinis, Engraulis mordax, Scomber japonicus, and Trachurus symmetricus. On the other hand, schooling hammerheads do not maintain preferential elevations and bearings to their nearest‐neighbors and remain at larger inter‐individual distances than the facultative schoolers, Gadus morhua and Pollachius virens, and the obligate schooler, Clupea harengus. Members of hammerhead schools vary in size more than those of small bony fishes. Furthermore, aggression is very common in schools of hammerheads; most individuals are females which compete for a position at the center of the school. Larger females perform two approach‐type behaviors, Hit and Cork‐screw, within the schools and force smaller sharks to the edge as they perform two withdrawal‐type behaviors, Acceleration and Head‐shake. Males are rare and enter the schools, performing Torso‐thrust. The differences between schools of hammerheads and those of small teleosts are consistent with schooling in hammerheads functioning not to confer protection from predation, but to permit conspecifics to interact socially during the resting phase of their diel cycle.
Avomic Prairie Rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis) Fail to Attack Rodent Prey
Authors: Graves Brent M. , Duvall David 
Published: December 2015

Abstract and SummaryIt has been hypothesized, though tested only indirectly, that striking and envenomation of rodent prey by rattlesnakes is guided by thermal and visual senses, vomeronasal senses being employed only after envenomation. To test this hypothesis, prairie rattlesnakes that were reliable hunters/feeders in the laboratory were rendered “avomic” (i.e., their VNOs were sutured closed) or given a control surgery. While all control subjects struck, located, and swallowed prey, avomic rattlesnakes never did so. Avomic subjects exhibited fewer tongue flicks as well. Chemical cues detected by the VNO appear to play a significant role in both pre‐strike and post‐strike phases of prairie rattlesnake predation. Low rates of tongue flicking observed prior to the strike may be an effect of the cryptic ambush strategy used by rattlesnakes during the pre‐strike phase of predation.
Experimental Autoimmunity to Rat Male Accessory Glands (MAG): Circulating Antibodies, Immunoglobulins Bound to Target Glands, and Immunoglobulins‐Secreting Cells
Authors: DEPIANTE‐DEPAOLI M. , PACHECO‐RUPIL B. 
Published: December 2015

ABSTRACT: A correlation between spleen B‐cell antibody production against MAG antigens and the presence of different antibodies in circulation or antibodies bound to target glands was attempted.The number of 7S and 19S Ig‐secreting cells (ISC) found in the spleen and the number of ISC generated after in vitro stimulation of the cells with MAG antigens were evaluated by using the hemolytic plaque assay. Low numbers of 7S and 19S ISC‐less than 0.01% of spleen cells—were generated in response to MAG immunization, and no significative increase was observed after in vitro culture of spleen cells with MAG antigens, suggesting that secretory activity of the B‐cells can not be improved when liberated from humoral homeostatic mechanisms.The humoral response of MAG‐immunized rats, investigated by complement fixation and immunodiffusion assays, has proved negative, and in only two out of 17 rats a weak haemagglutinating activity was observed. Attempts to detect antibodies bound to cellular MAG antigens by immunofluorescence have shown a weak fluorescence in the epithelial cells of the prostate gland in only two rats. In both cases a concomitant tissue damage was observed, but in nine out of 11 cases with histological alterations no fluorescence was observed in the target glands.The medium value of rosette‐forming cells (RFC) found in the spleen of MAG‐immunized rats did not significantly differ from the value of the HSA‐treated control group, although both groups differ in their specific humoral response.Contrary to the depressed humoral response, the MAG‐immunized rats showed in all cases a cellular immune mechanism by at least one of the tests in study and in 70.5% of the cases the simultaneous presence of various factors has been demonstrated. In 11 cases the cell‐mediated immune response was accompanied by seminal vesicle and/or prostatic lesions with a microscopic aspect close to that of delayed hypersensitivity reactions. These observations suggest that the characteristic lesions of experimental autoimmune vesiculoprostatitis (EAVP) are unlikely to be initiated by antibodies directed against MAG antigens. The mechanism affecting the impaired antibody response is discussed.