bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
First Report of Vinca Blight Caused by Phytophthora nicotianae in Northwestern Mexico
Authors: Alvarez-Rodriguez B. , Ortiz-Meza J. A. , Rojo-Baez I. , Marquez-Zequera I. , Garcia-Estrada R. S. , Carrillo-Fasio J. A. , Allende-Molar R. 
Published: May 2013

Vinca (Catharantus roseus (L.) G. Don) is a common ornamental landscape plant. From July to September 2012, blighted and wilted vinca plants were found in retail stores, commercial nurseries, and urban landscape areas of Culiacan, Sinaloa, in northwestern Mexico. In several commercial nurseries and a retail store, incidence of the unknown disease on vinca plants ranged from 20 to 50%, resulting in significant economic losses. Symptoms of the disease started with a foliar blight, and if warm and wet conditions were present, the disease progressed, causing plant wilting and death. Surface-sterilized (0.5% NaOCl 1 min) diseased plant tissue was plated on V8 agar medium, and after 72 h of incubation at 25°C, white colonies of coenocytic mycelium were developed from the plated tissues. Isolates produced cottony colonies on V8 agar medium, grew well between 7 and 30°C (optimum of 25°C), and produced spherical, intercalary, and terminal chlamydospores (17 to 30 μm) and non caducous, papillate, spherical to ovoid sporangia of 30 to 39 × 21 to 31 μm. Based on these morphological characteristics, Phytophthora isolates were identified as Phytophthora nicotianae Breda de Haan (1,3). The identity of two representative isolates OV4 and OV11 was confirmed by sequence analysis of the rDNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS; GenBank Accession Nos. KC248202 and KC248201), and of the β-tubulin (β-tub; KC248404 and KC248403) and translation elongation factor 1-α (EF1-α; KC248206 and KC248205) genes. Comparative sequence analysis against the NCBI nucleotide database showed a high degree of identity with reference sequences of P. nicotianae (ITS, 99%; β-tub, 99%; EF1-α, 100%) (2). A pathogenicity test with a representative isolate of P. nicotianae was performed on 10-week-old healthy vinca seedlings (n = 10). An aliquot of 10 ml of a zoosporic suspension (104 zoospores/ml) was sprayed onto the seedlings' leaves. An equal number of non-inoculated control seedlings were sprayed with sterile distilled water. Seedlings were maintained in a moist chamber at 25°C with 80 to 90% relative humidity and watered as needed with sterile water. Inoculated plants showed initial symptoms of foliar blight after 4 days, whereas control plants remained healthy. Ten days after inoculation, inoculated plants showed severe wilting. P. nicotianae was reisolated only from inoculated plants, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. nicotianae attacking annual vinca in northwestern Mexico. References: (1) D. C. Erwin and O. K. Ribeiro. Phytophthora Diseases Worldwide. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN, 1996. (2) L. P. Kroon et al. Fungal Genet Biol. 41:766, 2004. (3) F. N. Martin et al. Plant Dis. 96:1080, 2013.
The changing face of international education in China
Authors: Robinson Jason , Guan Xuan 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThis paper aims to describe the growing popularity of international schools in China. Two types of international schools are discussed: independent international schools that only foreign passport holders can attend (e.g. Shanghai American School), and international programs in the public system that both foreigners and Chinese nationals can attend (e.g. International Experimental Class, No. 1 Middle School, Wuhan).Design/methodology/approachA comparative analysis is carried out of the historical context, mission, curriculum, students, teachers, governance and tuition of two sample schools (one sample from each type of international school in China).FindingsAnalysis reveals similarities, differences, and challenges each school experiences. Examples of recent cross‐cultural collaborative efforts aiming to alleviate these challenges are then identified, including the discussion of a third sample school, the Nansha College Preparatory Academy in Shenzhen.Originality/valueThis paper provides insight into how international education is evolving in China, and how cross‐cultural collaboration can be employed to support growth and improvement of international education in China.
Big moves to improve the quality of teacher education in China
Authors: Han Xue 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThis article aims to describe and discuss four major innovations to improve the quality of teacher education including preparation programs and professional development programs in recent years in China. The four major innovations include establishing the National Curriculum Standards for Teacher Education (NCSTE) and the National Teacher Certification Examination; implementing the “double development plan” to reform clinical practice; launching the “National Training Plan” to develop in‐service teachers; and consolidating the career ladder for teachers.Design/methodology/approachThe paper takes the form of a review of the government documents and current literature.FindingsThe author argues that the four major innovations reflect the central trends to reform teacher education both in China and the USA – increased standards and accreditation, more clinical experiences in preparation, increased use of technology in teacher professional development, and more accountability and incentive for teachers.Originality/valueWhen the world is faced with the globalized economy, cultural exchange and social equity issues, discussions about the recent innovations of China's teacher education will shed light on our understanding of better approaches to improve teacher quality that no doubt connect tradition and local practices with global convergence.
Between a rock and a hard place: higher education reform and innovation in China
Authors: Zhang Gaoming , Zhao Yong , Lei Jing 
Published: May 2013

PurposeOver the past few decades China's higher education has gone through dramatic growth and multiple rounds of reforms accompanied by a remarkable amount of financial investment, all aiming at developing world‐class universities to grow innovative talents. Yet the outcomes so far have been disappointing. This paper aims to investigate this issue.Design/methodology/approachBy reviewing and analyzing selected educational reforms in higher education in China, this article discusses the reasons of the gap between the massive input for innovation in higher education in China and abysmal results. This paper also reports and analyzes a case that challenges central control and the gaokao system.FindingsCentral control and the gaokao, the infamous college entrance exam, are the bedrocks of China's higher education and also the culprit for China's failure to cultivate innovative talents. Unless they are fundamentally changed it is unlikely that China will have the higher education system it dreams of having.Originality/valueThis article provides an overview of China's efforts to cultivate innovative talents by strategically investing in building world‐class higher education institutions (HEIs) and analyzes the reasons behind the apparent gap between its massive input and the abysmal results achieved.
Resilience:Outcome,Process,Emergence,Narrative (OPEN) theory
Authors: Almedom Astier M. 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to synthesize coherent theory that identifies and links the cognitive and structural elements in both the psychosocial and organizational dimensions of resilience.Design/methodology/approachThe approach takes the form of the author's review of and reflections on the dynamics of resilience in living systems in general, and in humans in particular, drawing on seminal scholarly publications across trans‐disciplinary fields of scientific research.FindingsHuman resilience is recounted and documented in narrative form across spatial and temporal gradients: retrospectively – in historical perspective; introspectively – in the immediate aftermath of traumatic events and/or experiences; and prospectively – in anticipation of crisis. Measurements or assessments of human resilience vary according to the research questions being addressed. The variables may relate to resilience as an outcome or a process. Resilience is also assessed as an emergent attribute of individuals and communities who may have undergone post‐traumatic growth, and/or transformation associated with self‐organized and self‐governing systems. Complex systems where key functions and core identity and integrity are sustained may be examined under an integrated explanatory theoretical model that allows for systems' resilience to be measured as anOutcome; monitored as aProcess; identified as anEmergent property; andNarrated – hence,OPENtheory.Practical implicationsDecision makers faced with contemporary questions of how best to embark on the fast‐moving sort of “runaway train” concept of resilience may findOPENuseful as a tool for identifying, understanding and promoting human resilience – a basis for sustainable futures.Originality/valueThis conceptual paper offers original insights with a pragmatic analytical tool that coherently links the cognitive and structural elements of human resilience.
Towards an ontology of the present moment
Authors: Hodgson Anthony 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose that conceptions of time and future that are currently in use restrict the possibilities for framing decision making. By privileging the notion of present moment over that of linear time, a more comprehensive framing of what it means to consider what influences our judgements. The ontology of the present moment provides a theoretical context for knowing what we can of the future in a more comprehensive way.Design/methodology/approachA review of ways of knowing the future that extends beyond linear assumptions of time leads to consideration of anticipatory systems and of the relationship between purpose and causality. It leads further into conjecture that the present moment is more ontologically fundamental than what we customarily refer to as past, present and future.FindingsOn this foundation, examination of experience of now reveals a multidimensionality which can include retrocausality, the possibility of the future influencing the present and the importance of latent patterning in determining events.Research limitations/implicationsThe notion of the present moment has much in common with second order cybernetics and indicates a possible way of bringing systems thinking, especially boundary critique, to futures thinking and strategic decision making.Practical implicationsAlthough basically a theoretical paper, the framework does suggest possibilities for redesigning futures practice through using the present moment as a meta‐framing critique technique to reveal more clearly underlying assumptions in both futures studies and systems thinking.Originality/valueIn the context of a world where serious inability to see what is coming is pervasive in management and governance, a fresh look at fundamental assumptions may reveal flawed decision thinking and indicate ways of improvement.
A theoretical frame for future studies
Authors: Ehresmann Andrée C. 
Published: May 2013

PurposeFuture studies can be given several interpretations. The purpose of this paper is to develop a methodology for anticipation in a well delimited frame, that of multi‐scale complex systems with a dynamic directed by the cooperation/competition between a net of agents, the “co‐regulators”, each operating with its own rhythm and logic, with the help of a central memory. These systems include social systems of different sizes from small social groups, to large societies, and also living or artificial cognitive systems.Design/methodology/approachThe study is conducted in the frame of the Memory Evolutive Systems, a model for such systems, which the author has developed with Jean‐Paul Vanbremeersch in a series of publications since 1987; this model is based on a “dynamic” category theory.FindingsIt is found that the characteristics of these systems making them capable of developing complex scenarios are: a kind of “flexible redundancy” (possibility of switches between decompositions of complex components), called the Multiplicity Principle; development of a hierarchical, robust though flexible, memory containing an internal model of the system and its environment; modulation of the global dynamic by an interplay between the local dynamics of the co‐regulators, in which the non respect of the “synchronicity laws” may lead to cascades of dysfunctions backfiring between levels.Originality/valueThe model shows how to develop innovative scenarios through a sequence of retrospection and prospection processes.
REVIEW: Nutrient stripping: the global disparity between food security and soil nutrient stocks
Authors: Jones Davey L. , Cross Paul , Withers Paul J. A. , DeLuca Thomas H. , Robinson David A. , Quilliam Richard S. , Harris Ian M. , Chadwick David R. , Edwards‐Jones Gareth 
Published: May 2013

Summary

The Green Revolution successfully increased food production but in doing so created a legacy of inherently leaky and unsustainable agricultural systems. Central to this are the problems of excessive nutrient mining. If agriculture is to balance the needs of food security with the delivery of other ecosystem services, then current rates of soil nutrient stripping must be reduced and the use of synthetic fertilisers made more efficient.

We explore the global extent of the problem, with specific emphasis on the failure of macronutrient management (e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus) to deliver continued improvements in yield and the failure of agriculture to recognise the seriousness of micronutrient depletion (e.g. copper, zinc, selenium).

Nutrient removals associated with the relatively immature, nutrient‐rich soils of the UK are contrasted with the mature, nutrient‐poor soils of India gaining insight into the emerging issue of nutrient stripping and the long‐term implications for human health and soil quality. Whilst nutrient deficiencies are rare in developed countries, micronutrient deficiencies are commonly increasing in less‐developed countries. Increasing rates of micronutrient depletion are being inadvertently accomplished through increasing crop yield potential and nitrogen fertiliser applications.

Amongst other factors, the spatial disconnects caused by the segregation and industrialisation of livestock systems, between rural areas (where food is produced) and urban areas (where food is consumed and human waste treated) are identified as a major constraint to sustainable nutrient recycling.

Synthesis and applications. This study advocates that agricultural sustainability can only be accomplished using a whole‐systems approach that thoroughly considers nutrient stocks, removals, exports and recycling. Society needs to socially and environmentally re‐engineer agricultural systems at all scales. It is suggested that this will be best realised by national‐scale initiatives. Failure to do so will lead to an inevitable and rapid decline in the delivery of provisioning services within agricultural systems.
Reduction of the use of antimicrobial drugs following the rapid detection ofStreptococcus agalactiaein the vagina at delivery by real‐timePCRassay
Authors: Poncelet‐Jasserand E , Forges F , Varlet M‐N , Chauleur C , Seffert P , Siani C , Pozzetto B , Ros A 
Published: May 2013

ObjectiveTo assess whether the determination of the presence of group B streptococci (GBS) in the vagina using a rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay at delivery was able to spare useless antimicrobial treatments, as compared with conventional culture at 34–38 weeks of gestation.DesignPractical evaluation and prospective cost‐effectiveness analysis.SettingA university hospital in France.PopulationA cohort of 225 women in labour at the University‐Hospital of Saint‐Etienne.MethodsEach woman had a conventional culture performed at 34–38 weeks of gestation. At the beginning of labour, two vaginal swabs were sampled for rapidPCRtesting and culture. The decision to prescribe a prophylactic antimicrobial treatment or not was taken according to the result of thePCRtest. A comparative cost‐effectiveness analysis of the two diagnostic strategies was carried out.Main outcome measuresNumber of women receiving inadequate prophylactic antimicrobial drugs following each testing strategy, costs ofPCRtesting and culture, frequency of vaginalGBS, and diagnostic performance of thePCRtest at delivery.ResultsThe percentage of unnecessarily treated women was significantly reduced using the rapid test versus conventional culture (4.5 and 13.6%, respectively;P < 0.001). The rate of vaginalGBSat delivery was 12.5%. The incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio (ICER) for each inadequate management avoided was €36 and €173 from the point of view of the healthcare system and hospital, respectively.ConclusionsThePCRassay reduced the number of inadequate antimicrobial treatments aimed to prevent the early onset ofGBSdisease. However, this strategy generates extra costs that must be put into balance with its clinical benefits.
The therapeutic role of oral tolerance in dextran sulfate sodium‐induced colitis via Th1–Th2 balance and γδ T cells
Authors: Yue Min , Shen Zhe , Yu Chao Hui , Ye Hua , Li You Ming 
Published: May 2013

ObjectiveTo evaluate the state of oral tolerance and its therapeutic role in mice with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)‐induced colitis.MethodsDelayed‐type hypersensitivity (DTH) was determined 7 and 14 days after DSS‐induced colitis and control mice. Disease activity index (DAI) score and colonic histopathological score were measured 7 days after colonic extracted protein (CEP) or bovine serum albumin (BSA) (control) was administrated, with the evaluation of Th1–Th2 balance in the spleen, Peyer's patch and γδ T cells in intraepithelial lymphocytes and lamina proper lymphocytes in the intestine.ResultsAfter fed with 250 μg ovalbumin oral tolerance was induced in 7 days in both DSS‐induced colitis and control mice, while oral tolerance persisted in the control mice but vanished in DSS‐induced colitis 14 days after ovalbumin challenge. DAI and colonic histopathological scores were decreased significantly after the ingestion of CEP (controlled by BSA) in DSS‐induced colitis with significant reduction of Th1 and the ratio of Th1 to Th2 in Peyer's patch as well as the γδ T cells in lamina proper lymphocytes in the intestine. No significant difference in Th1–Th2 balance in the spleen and γδ T cells in intraepithelial lymphocytes in the intestine were observed.ConclusionsThere is a defect in oral tolerance at day 7 in DSS‐induced colitis. If taken orally, CEP may have a protective role in DSS‐induced colitis, which may be related to the deflection from Th1 to Th2 in Peyer's patch and the reduction of γδ T cells in lamina proper lymphocytes in the intestine.
Pre‐existing IgG antibodies cross‐reacting with the Fab region of infliximab predict efficacy and safety of infliximab therapy in inflammatory bowel disease
Authors: Steenholdt C. , Palarasah Y. , Bendtzen K. , Teisner A. , Brynskov J. , Teisner B. , Nielsen C. H. 
Published: May 2013

SummaryBackgroundInfliximab (IFX) is a chimeric murine/human anti‐TNF antibody (Ab) used for the treatment of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Loss of response is common and associated with development of anti‐IFX Abs during ongoing therapy. However, human anti‐murine immunoglobulin Abs are common and may cross‐react with the murine part of IFX.AimTo investigate if Abs binding to IFX's Fab region (IFX‐Fab) are present in IBD patients before exposure to IFX, and whether they predict efficacy and safety of IFX therapy.MethodsObservational, retrospective cohort study of patients with CD (n = 29) and UC (n = 22).ResultsPre‐treatment levels of IFX‐Fab reactive IgG Abs were significantly lower in CD patients in remission after 1 year of maintenance IFX (median 91 mU/L, n = 8) than in the rest of the patients (639 mU/L, n = 21; P < 0.01), and lower than in patients with secondary loss of response in particular (692 mU/L, n = 7; P < 0.01). A cut‐off concentration of <439 mU IFX‐Fab reactive IgG Ab per litre comprised all patients who later obtained long‐term sustained remission on IFX (sensitivity 100%, specificity 67%). Similar trends were observed in UC. The pre‐treatment levels of IFX‐Fab reactive IgG Abs were markedly higher in patients developing infusion reactions to IFX (1037 mU/L, n = 7) than in the remaining patients (349 mU/L, n = 44; P = 0.036).ConclusionsIFX‐Fab reactive IgG antibodies present in serum from IBD patients before infliximab therapy associate with lack of long‐term efficacy and safety. Assessments of such antibodies may help clinicians to choose between treatment with infliximab and more humanised agents.
Incorporating technologies into a flexible teaching space
Authors: Joy Mike , Foss Jonathan , King Emma , Sinclair Jane , Sitthiworachart Jirarat , Davis Rachel 
Published: May 2013

AbstractHigher education institutions are increasingly exploring how they can use emerging technologies to develop and enhance the learning experiences offered to students. These activities have mainly focused on developing student‐centred facilities. The University of Warwick has taken the next step by developing a space (the Teaching Grid) specifically designed to meet the needs of teaching staff across the institution. This paper describes how the Teaching Grid supports teachers by providing a flexible experimental space together with a rich collection of established and new technologies, and with comprehensive staff support. We analysed the use of the facility during the first 30 months of operation, using data collected from 119 case studies, in order to present a perspective on how they have used the technologies and how this has impacted on their teaching practice. We present a taxonomy that provides a concrete framework to support future analysis of and comparisons between such spaces.
Local Understandings of Conservation in Southeastern Mexico and Their Implications for Community‐Based Conservation as an Alternative Paradigm
Authors: REYES‐GARCIA VICTORIA , RUIZ‐MALLEN ISABEL , PORTER‐BOLLAND LUCIANA , GARCIA‐FRAPOLLI EDUARDO , ELLIS EDWARD A. , MENDEZ MARIA‐ELENA , PRITCHARD DIANA J. , SANCHEZ‐GONZALEZ MARÍA‐CONSUELO 
Published: May 2013

AbstractSince the 1990s national and international programs have aimed to legitimize local conservation initiatives that might provide an alternative to the formal systems of state‐managed or otherwise externally driven protected areas. We used discourse analysis (130 semistructured interviews with key informants) and descriptive statistics (679 surveys) to compare local perceptions of and experiences with state‐driven versus community‐driven conservation initiatives. We conducted our research in 6 communities in southeastern Mexico. Formalization of local conservation initiatives did not seem to be based on local knowledge and practices. Although interviewees thought community‐based initiatives generated less conflict than state‐managed conservation initiatives, the community‐based initiatives conformed to the biodiversity conservation paradigm that emphasizes restricted use of and access to resources. This restrictive approach to community‐based conservation in Mexico, promoted through state and international conservation organizations, increased the area of protected land and had local support but was not built on locally relevant and multifunctional landscapes, a model that community‐based conservation is assumed to advance.Percepciones Locales de Conservación en el Sureste de México e Implicaciones para la Conservación Comunitaria como Paradigma Alternativo