bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Measuring Oxidative Gelation of Aqueous Flour Suspensions Using the Rapid Visco Analyzer
Authors: Ross Andrew S. , Bettge Arthur D. , Kongraksawech Teepakorn , Engle Douglas A. 
Published: February 2014

ABSTRACTThe Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA) was investigated as a tool to measure oxidative gelation capacity (OGC) of aqueous wheat flour suspensions. One club wheat patent flour was used to determine optimal hydration time, and 33 straight‐grade flours (representing 12 hard and 21 soft varieties) were used to observe varietal differences in OGC. A 33.3% w/w flour–water suspension was tested in the RVA at 30°C and 160 rpm for 1 min to establish the flour–water baseline viscosity, and then 65 μL of 3% H2O2 was added and the viscosity of the suspension measured at 160 rpm for a further 5 min. Flour from the club wheat showed that 20 min of prehydration was needed to observe full OGC potential. For the 33 straight‐grade flours, final RVA water baseline viscosity was correlated with Bostwick Consistometer (BC) flow (r = −0.93, P ≤ 0.01), and RVA H2O2 peak viscosity was correlated with H2O2 BC flow (r = –0.81, P ≤ 0.01). The RVA was able to differentiate H2O2‐reactive from nonreactive flours. The RVA can observe phenomena not observable with the BC method (e.g., viscosity reduction over time at constant shear rate), which can provide potentially valuable additional information about the nature of OGC in wheat flour suspensions.
Multidisciplinary Testing of Floor Pads on Stability, Energy Absorption, and Ease of Hospital Use for Enhanced Patient Safety
Authors: Crane Barbara , Goodworth Adam D. , Liquori Melissa , Ghosh Suhash , Certo Catherine , McCafferty Lorraine 
Published: February 2014

Objectives
A major improvement in hospital safety could be realized if serious injury did not accompany falls. We studied several commercially available floor pads made of different materials to determine which (if any) would be practical in a hospital room and reduce injury without posing a threat to the balance of patients.

Methods
A multidisciplinary approach was undertaken to (1) measure upper and lower body motion in 17 young (<50 years) and 17 older (>55 years) adults during an instrumented sit to stand test from a hospital bed onto the different floor pads, (2) predict the energy dissipation available in floor pads by quantifying the relative mechanical properties, and (3) obtain professional feedback from hospital nurses via a questionnaire (8 questions) following a period of working on the different floor pads. Five floor pads, composed of foam, gel, and/or rubber were tested. All pads were compared with a typical hospital floor (concrete covered with linoleum tiles, considered the control).

Results
All of the pads subject to mechanical testing showed at least 3 times more energy absorption compared with the control. Balance testing showed that three of the pads resulted in minimal or no significant increases in body motion during sit-to-stand. Nursing feedback revealed that only 2 of these 3 pads may be feasible for hospital room use: one made primarily of firm rubber and one made of foam.

Conclusions
Floor pads do exist that show promise for hospital use that absorbing energy without major impacts on balance during sit-to-stand. Although only commercially available pads were investigated, results may inform the design and multidisciplinary testing of other floor surfaces.
A Subfamily of Putative Cytokinin Receptors Is Revealed by an Analysis of the Evolution of the Two-Component Signaling System of Plants
Authors: Gruhn Nijuscha , Halawa Mhyeddeen , Snel Berend , Seidl Michael F. , Heyl Alexander 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
The two-component signaling system—the major signaling pathway of bacteria—is found among higher eukaryotes only in plants, where it regulates diverse processes, such as the signaling of the phytohormone cytokinin. Cytokinin is perceived by a hybrid histidine (His) kinase receptor, and the signal is transduced by a multistep phosphorelay system of His phosphotransfer proteins and different classes of response regulators (RRs). To shed light on the origin and evolution of the two-component signaling system members in plants, we conducted a comprehensive domain-based phylogenetic study across the relevant kingdoms, including Charophyceae algae, the group of green algae giving rise to land plants. Surprisingly, we identified a subfamily of cytokinin receptors with members only from the early diverging land plants Marchantia polymorpha and Physcomitrella patens and then experimentally characterized two members of this subfamily. His phosphotransfer proteins of Charophyceae seemed to be more closely related to land plants than to other groups of green algae. Farther down the signaling pathway, the type-B RRs were found across all plant clades, but many members lack either the canonical Asp residue or the DNA binding domain. In contrast, the type-A RRs seemed to be limited to land plants. Finally, the analysis provided hints that one additional group of RRs, the type-C RRs, might be degenerated receptors and thus, of a different evolutionary origin than bona fide RRs.
Lifetime consequences of food protein‐carbohydrate content for an insect herbivore
Authors: Roeder Karl A. , Behmer Spencer T. 
Published: February 2014

Summary

Food protein–carbohydrate content has significant consequences for animal survival, growth and reproduction. Rarely, though, is its effect examined over an animal's entire lifetime.

In this study, we reared newly hatched caterpillars [Heliothis virescens Fabricus (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)] on diets containing different protein/carbohydrate (p/c) ratios. We recorded larval survival, time to pupation, pupal mass, eclosion success, time to eclosion and pupal body lipid content. Additionally, for each treatment, we mated eclosed males and females and measured egg production and egg viability.

Larval performance (survival to pupation and time to pupation) was similar across all except the two most extreme treatments. In contrast, pupal performance (mass, eclosion success and time to eclosion) was best on diets that were balanced or slightly protein‐biased. However, eclosion success differed between sexes. For males, it was best on diets with balanced p/c ratios, while female eclosion was strong across all but the most carbohydrate‐biased diet. Pupal body lipid content in both males and females increased as the food p/c ratio decreased.

Egg production was best on diets with balanced or slightly protein‐biased p/c ratios.

We also estimated the effect of food p/c ratio at the population level, using the data generated in this study. Population size was largest on diets with a balanced p/c ratio and declined steadily and strongly as the food p/c ratio became increasingly more imbalanced.

Our findings show, for the first time, the effect of food p/c content over an insect herbivore's entire life. Our data indicate that there is a narrow range of p/c ratios that maximize lifetime performance, and for H. virescens, this range coincides with its self‐selected p/c ratio.
Life‐history diversity and its importance to population stability and persistence of a migratory fish: steelhead in two large North American watersheds
Authors: Moore Jonathan W. , Yeakel Justin D. , Peard Dean , Lough Jeff , Beere Mark 
Published: February 2014

Summary

Life‐history strategies can buffer individuals and populations from environmental variability. For instance, it is possible that asynchronous dynamics among different life histories can stabilize populations through portfolio effects.

Here, we examine life‐history diversity and its importance to stability for an iconic migratory fish species. In particular, we examined steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), an anadromous and iteroparous salmonid, in two large, relatively pristine, watersheds, the Skeena and Nass, in north‐western British Columbia, Canada. We synthesized life‐history information derived from scales collected from adult steelhead (N = 7227) in these watersheds across a decade.

These migratory fishes expressed 36 different manifestations of the anadromous life‐history strategy, with 16 different combinations of freshwater and marine ages, 7·6% of fish performing multiple spawning migrations, and up to a maximum of four spawning migrations per lifetime. Furthermore, in the Nass watershed, various life histories were differently prevalent through time – three different life histories were the most prevalent in a given year, and no life history ever represented more than 45% of the population.

These asynchronous dynamics among life histories decreased the variability of numerical abundance and biomass of the aggregated population so that it was > 20% more stable than the stability of the weighted average of specific life histories: evidence of a substantial portfolio effect. Year of ocean entry was a key driver of dynamics; the median correlation coefficient of abundance of life histories that entered the ocean the same year was 2·5 times higher than the median pairwise coefficient of life histories that entered the ocean at different times. Simulations illustrated how different elements of life‐history diversity contribute to stability and persistence of populations.

This study provides evidence that life‐history diversity can dampen fluctuations in population abundances and biomass via portfolio effects. Conserving genetic integrity and habitat diversity in these and other large watersheds can enable a diversity of life histories that increases population and biomass stability in the face of environmental variability.
Dispersal‐mediated effect of microhabitat availability and density dependence determine population dynamics of a forest floor web spider
Authors: Takada Mayura B. , Miyashita Tadashi 
Published: February 2014

SummaryLandscapes in nature can be viewed as a continuum of small total habitable area with high fragmentation to widely spreading habitats. The dispersal‐mediated rescue effect predominates in the former landscapes, while classical density‐dependent processes generally prevail in widely spread habitats. A similar principle should be applied to populations of organisms utilizing microhabitats in limited supply.To test this hypothesis, we examined the population dynamics of a web spider,Neriene brongersmai,in 16 populations with varying degrees of microhabitat availability, and we explored whether: (i) high microhabitat availability improves survival rate during density‐independent movement, while the resultant high density reduces survival rate in a density‐dependent manner; and (ii) temporal population stability increases with microhabitat availability at the population level. Furthermore, we conducted two types of field experiments to verify whether high microhabitat availability actually reduces mortality associated with web‐site movement.Field observations revealed that demographic change inN. brongersmaipopulations was affected by three factors at different stages, namely the microhabitat limitation from the early to late juvenile stages, the density dependence from the late juvenile to adult stages and the food limitation from the adult to the next early juvenile stages. In addition, there was a tendency for a positive association between population stability and microhabitat availability at the population level.A small‐scale experiment, where the frequency of spider web relocation was equalized artificially, revealed that high microhabitat availability elevated the survival rate during a movement event between web‐sites. The larger spatiotemporal scale experiment also revealed an improved spider survival rate following treatment with high microhabitat availability, even though spider density was kept at a relatively low level.The population dynamics ofN. brongersmaican be determined primarily by density‐independent processes based on web‐site fragmentation and density‐dependent processes driven by interference competition. We conclude that depending on the amount of habitat resources, the relative importance of the two contrasting paradigms—equilibrium and non‐equilibrium—appears to vary, even within a particular system.
Monitoring abundance and phenology in (multivoltine) butterfly species: a novel mixture model
Authors: Matechou Eleni , Dennis Emily B. , Freeman Stephen N. , Brereton Tom 
Published: February 2014

Summary

Data from ‘citizen science’ surveys are increasingly valuable in identifying declines in widespread species, but require special attention in the case of invertebrates, with considerable variation in number, seasonal flight patterns and, potentially, voltinism. There is a need for reliable and more informative methods of inference in such cases.

We focus on data consisting of sample counts of individuals that are not uniquely identifiable, collected at one or more sites. Arrival or emergence and departure or death of individuals take place during the study. We introduce a new modelling approach, which borrows ideas from the ‘stopover’ capture–recapture literature, that permits the estimation of parameters of interest, such as mean arrival times and relative abundance, or in some cases, absolute abundance, and the comparison of these between sites.

The model is evaluated using an extensive simulation study which demonstrates that the estimates for the parameters of interest obtained by the model are reliable, even when the data sets are sparse, as is often the case in reality.

When applied to data for the common blue butterfly Polyommatus icarus at a large number of sites, the results suggest that mean emergence times, as well as the relative sizes of the broods, are linked to site northing, and confirm field experience that the species is bivoltine in the south of the UK but practically univoltine in the north.

Synthesis and applications. Our proposed ‘stopover’ model is parameterized with biologically informative constituents: times of emergence, survival rate and relative brood sizes. Estimates of absolute or relative abundance that can be obtained alongside these underlying variables are robust to the presence of missing observations and can be compared in a statistically rigorous framework. These estimates are direct indices of abundance, rather than ‘sightings’, implicitly adjusted for the possible presence of repeat sightings during a season. At the same time, they provide indices of change in demographic and phenological parameters that may be of use in identifying the factors underlying population change. The model is widely applicable and this will increase the utility of already valuable and influential long‐standing surveys in monitoring the effects of environmental change on phenology or abundance.
Microbial ecology of chlorinated solvent biodegradation
Authors: David Maude M. , Cecillon Sebastien , Warne Brett M. , Prestat Emmanuel , Jansson Janet K. , Vogel Timothy M. 
Published: February 2014

SummaryThis study focused on the microbial ecology of tetrachloroethene (PCE) degradation to trichloroethene, cis‐1,2‐dichloroethene and vinyl chloride to evaluate the relationship between the microbial community and the potential accumulation or degradation of these toxic metabolites. Multiple soil microcosms supplied with different organic substrates were artificially contaminated with PCE. A thymidine analogue, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), was added to the microcosms and incorporated into the DNA of actively replicating cells. We compared the total and active bacterial communities during the 50‐day incubations by using phylogenic microarrays and 454 pyrosequencing to identify microorganisms and functional genes associated with PCE degradation to ethene. By use of this integrative approach, both the key community members and the ecological functions concomitant with complete PCE degradation could be determined, including the presence and activity of microbial community members responsible for producing hydrogen and acetate, which are critical for Dehalococcoides‐mediated PCE degradation. In addition, by correlation of chemical data and phylogenic microarray data, we identified several bacteria that could potentially oxidize hydrogen. These results demonstrate that PCE degradation is dependent on some microbial community members for production of appropriate metabolites, while other members of the community compete for hydrogen in soil at low redox potentials.
Healthcare professional views and experiences of complementary and alternative therapies in obstetric practice in North East Scotland: a prospective questionnaire survey
Authors: Stewart D , Pallivalappila AR , Shetty A , Pande B , McLay JS 
Published: February 2014

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) therapy by UK healthcare professionals involved in the care of pregnant women, and to identify key predictors of use.DesignA prospective survey.SettingMaternity services in Grampian, North East Scotland.SampleAll healthcare professionals (135) involved in the care of pregnant women (midwives, obstetricians, anaesthetists).MethodsQuestionnaire development, piloting, and distribution. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis.ResultsA response rate of 87% was achieved. A third of respondents (32.5%) had recommended (prescribed, referred, or advised) the use of CAMs to pregnant women. The most frequently recommended CAMs modalities were: vitamins and minerals (excluding folic acid) (55%); massage (53%); homeopathy (50%); acupuncture (32%); yoga (32%); reflexology (26%); aromatherapy (24%); and herbal medicine (21%). Although univariate analysis identified that those who recommended CAMs were significantly more likely to be midwives who had been in post for more than 5 years, had received training in CAMs, were interested in CAMs, and were themselves users of CAMs, the only variable retained in bivariate logistic regression was ‘personal use of CAM’, with an odds ratio of 8.26 (95% CI 3.09–22.05; P < 0.001).ConclusionDespite the lack of safety or efficacy data, a wide variety of CAM therapies are recommended to pregnant women by approximately a third of healthcare professionals, with those recommending the use of CAMs being eight times more likely to be personal CAM users.
A personalised eHealth programme reduces the duration until return to work after gynaecological surgery: results of a multicentre randomised trial
Authors: Vonk Noordegraaf A , Anema JR , van Mechelen W , Knol DL , van Baal WM , van Kesteren PJM , Brölmann HAM , Huirne JAF 
Published: February 2014

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of an eHealth intervention on recovery and return to work, after gynaecological surgery.DesignRandomised multicentre trial that ran from March 2010 until September 2011.SettingSecondary care in seven general and university hospitals in the Netherlands.PopulationA cohort of 215 women (aged 18–65 years) who had a hysterectomy and/or laparoscopic adnexal surgery for a benign indication.MethodsThe women were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 110) or the control group (n = 105). The intervention group received an eHealth programme that provided personalised tailor‐made pre‐ and postoperative instructions on the resumption of daily activities, including work, and tools to improve self‐empowerment and to identify recovery problems. The control group was provided with access to a control website.Main outcome measuresThe primary outcome was the duration of sick leave until a full sustainable return to work. Secondary outcome measures were quality of life, general recovery, and pain intensity.ResultsIn intention‐to‐treat analysis the eHealth intervention was effective on time to return to work (hazard ratio 1.43; 95% confidence interval 1.003–2.040; P = 0.048). The median duration of sick leave until a full sustainable return to work was 39 days (interquartile range 20–67 days) in the intervention group and 48 days (interquartile range 21–69 days) in the control group. After 26 weeks pain intensity was lower (visual analogue scale, cumulative odds ratio 1.84; 95% confidence interval 1.04–3.25; P = 0.035) and quality of life was higher (Rand‐36 health survey, between‐group difference 30, 95% confidence interval 4–57; P = 0.024) in the intervention group, compared with the control group.ConclusionsThe use of the eHealth intervention by women after gynaecological surgery results in a faster return to work, with a higher quality of life and less pain.
Negotiated settlements and peace referendums
Authors: Loizides Neophytos 
Published: February 2014

AbstractInstitutional innovations in conflict management have received considerable academic attention in the past decades. Yet few studies have considered the design of referendums in peace processes and the role of popular mandates in catalysing negotiated settlements. Drawing evidence from divided societies, particularly the contrasting cases ofSouthAfrica andCyprus, the article points to the importance of ratification sequence and early mandate referendums. Specifically, it demonstrates how mandate referendums focusing initially on domestic constituencies enable leaders to pre‐empt ethnic outbidding challenges while concluding a peace agreement. An early ratification process could safeguard the peace process from unavoidable reversals in public opinion, increase flexibility as to the timing of critical decisions and maximise the credibility of leaders aiming for a negotiated settlement. The study of mandate referendums has important implications for broader research on international mediations since it suggests mechanisms by which political actors could ensure the ratification of significant treaties in global or regional politics.
From parliamentary pay to party funding: The acceptability of informal institutions in advanced democracies
Authors: Bolleyer Nicole , Trumm Siim 
Published: February 2014

AbstractWhile direct state funding of political parties has been a prominent theme in cross‐national research over the last decade, we still know little about party strategies to access state resources that are not explicitly earmarked for partisan usage. This article looks at one widespread but often overlooked informal party practice: the ‘taxing’ ofMPsalaries – that is, the regular transfer of fixed salary shares to party coffers. Building on notions of informal institutions developed in work on new democracies, the theoretical approach specifies factors that shape the acceptability of this legally non‐enforceable intra‐organisational practice. It is tested through a selection model applied to a unique dataset covering 124 parties across 19 advanced democracies. Controlling for a range of party‐ and institutional‐level variables, it is found that the presence of a taxing rule and the collection of demanding tax shares are more common in leftist parties (high internal acceptability) and in systems in which the penetration of state institutions by political parties is intense (high external acceptability).
Between the Waves: Currents in Contemporary Feminist Thought
Authors: Hague Ros 
Published: February 2014

With a continuing focus on liberal feminism, Marxist feminism and essentialism, one would be forgiven for thinking that feminist theory is unable to break free from the ‘second wave’. This is not the case. This article reviews three books which take on these feminist issues and offer new readings on the questions at the heart of feminism. Each provides clear links to feminism of the past but also connects to present debate and makes suggestions for future directions for feminism. There is plenty of literature which bemoans the end of feminism and some which triumphantly hails our era as post-feminist: no longer in need of feminist theory. Contrary to such claims, each book tackles the problem of women’s oppression from a different perspective, each presents different solutions and in so doing they demonstrate that feminism is alive and well. Abbey, R. (2011) The Return of Feminist Liberalism. Durham: Acumen. Weeks, K. (2011) The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics and Postwork Imaginaries. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Witt, C. (2011) The Metaphysics of Gender. Oxford: Oxford University Press.