bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Consumers of organic food and sustainable development in Brazil
Authors: de Oliveira Sampaio Danilo , Gosling Marlusa 
Published: December 2013

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons why the Brazilian consumer of organic foods chooses this type of food in the retail sector, considering sustainable development.

Design/methodology/approach
– This was a descriptive study including an exploratory phase. Regarding the methods of research, two focus groups (FGs) were developed in the qualitative phase, and then structural equation modelling was used by means of a cross-sectional survey in a quantitative design. The sample was non-probabilistic, intentionally non-random, for convenience and accessibility (n=560). Organic food consumers were addressed in different types of food retail: supermarkets, restaurants and specialised retailers.

Findings
– Only one of 12 hypotheses was not confirmed. The FGs provided important information for the development of the questionnaire used in the survey. The endogenous construct, intent to purchase, showed a correlation coefficient of 41 per cent (R2=41 per cent), indicating that 41 per cent of their variations are explained by the exogenous constructs. It can be considered that one of the academic contributions of this research was to develop a model that will drive how the purchasing behaviour/consumption of organic food in Brazil occurs.

Practical implications
– Considering the results of the variables of this research, retailers can create advertising campaigns that have an appreciation for the environment and quality of product and availability (logistics) in relation to organic food as the message content, because these variables can motivate the purchase. It is also suggested that the layout of the sales area in the retail premises highlights the organic food on the shelves, and the retailer's job could define the associations to the brands of organic foods, focusing on health and well-being.

Originality/value
– As in Brazil there is little information on the behaviour of organic food consumers, the creation of a new model will assist entrepreneurs in their strategies and highlights a type of food that meets the principles of sustainability.
Plant size and reproductive state affect the quantity and quality of rewards to animal mutualists
Authors: Miller Tom E. X. 
Published: December 2013

Summary

Many plants engage ants in defensive mutualisms by offering extrafloral nectar (EFN). Identifying sources of variation in EFN quantity (amount) and quality (composition) is important because they can affect ant visitation and identity and hence effectiveness of plant defence.

I investigated plant size and reproductive state (vegetative or flowering) as sources of variation in EFN quantity and quality. I focused on Opuntia imbricata and two ant partners, Crematogaster opuntiae and Liometopum apiculatum. I tested the influence of plant size and nectary type (vegetative vs. reproductive structure) on the probability and rate of EFN secretion, concentrations of total carbohydrates (CH) and amino acids (AAs), and relative abundances of constituent CH and AAs. I also examined how traits of individual nectaries scaled up to influence total plant‐level rewards. Parallel observations documented associations between plant demographic state and ant visitation and species identity.

EFN quantity and quality were generally greater for larger, reproductive plants. At the scale of individual nectaries, probability of EFN secretion was positively size‐dependent and greater for nectaries on reproductive vs. vegetative structures. Rate of EFN secretion, carbohydrate and amino acid concentrations, and the relative abundance of disaccharide vs. monosaccharide sugars were greater for reproductive nectaries but were unaffected by plant size.

Nectary‐level traits scaled up to influence rewards at the whole‐plant level in ways that corresponded to ant visitation: the probability of ant occupancy increased with plant size and reproduction, as did the likelihood of being tended by the superior guard, L. apiculatum. Variability in EFN traits may contribute to changes in ant occupancy and identity across plant sizes and reproductive states.

Synthesis. This study provides a thorough examination of how plant investment in biotic defence varies over the life cycle. Explicit consideration of plant demography may enhance understanding of ant–plant mutualisms. Populations of long‐lived plants are demographically heterogeneous, spanning sizes and reproductive states. The rewards offered to animal mutualists can track demographic heterogeneity with consequences for plant defence and the dynamics of multispecies mutualisms.
Physicochemical and antioxidant properties of Maillard reaction products formed by heating whey protein isolate and reducing sugars
Authors: Liu Qian , Li Jing , Kong Baohua , Li Peijun , Xia Xiufang 
Published: December 2013

This study was conducted to investigate the physicochemical and antioxidant properties of Maillard reaction products (MRP) prepared by heating whey protein isolate (WPI) and reducing sugars (glucose and galactose) to 95 °C for different lengths of time (0–6 h). The results revealed that the colour, intermediate products, browning intensity and the antioxidant activities of the MRP increased as the reaction time increased (P < 0.05), whereas the pH value and free amino group content decreased (P < 0.05). Sodium dodecyl sulphate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that the covalently linked conjugates of WPI and sugars were formed. The results indicate that the Maillard reaction could improve the antioxidant capacity of WPI.
Overview of: “Statistical Procedures for Forecasting Criminal Behavior: A Comparative Assessment”
Authors: Berk Richard A. , Bleich Justin 
Published: December 2013

Research SummaryA substantial and powerful literature in statistics and computer science has clearly demonstrated that modern machine learning procedures can forecast more accurately than conventional parametric statistical models such as logistic regression. Yet, several recent studies have claimed that for criminal justice applications, forecasting accuracy is about the same. In this article, we address the apparent contradiction. Forecasting accuracy will depend on the complexity of the decision boundary. When that boundary is simple, most forecasting tools will have similar accuracy. When that boundary is complex, procedures such as machine learning, which proceed adaptively from the data, will improve forecasting accuracy, sometimes dramatically. Machine learning has other benefits as well, and effective software is readily available.Policy ImplicationsThe complexity of the decision boundary will in practice be unknown, and there can be substantial risks to gambling on simplicity. Criminal justice decision makers and other stakeholders can be seriously misled with rippling effects going well beyond the immediate offender. There seems to be no reason for continuing to rely on traditional forecasting tools such as logistic regression.
Spatially explicit integrated population models
Authors: Chandler Richard B. , Clark Joseph D. 
Published: December 2013

Summary

Studies of demographic processes are typically restricted to small geographic areas and short time periods due to the costs of marking and monitoring individuals. However, environmental changes are occurring at much broader spatial and temporal scales, and thus, inferences about the mechanisms governing population dynamics need to be scaled accordingly. Recently developed integrated population models (IPMs) represent an approach for doing so, by jointly analysing survey data and capture–recapture data.

Although promising, several shortcomings of conventional IPMs exist, including difficulties accounting for spatial variation in demographic, movement and detection parameters; limited ability to make spatially explicit predictions of abundance or vital rates; and a requirement that the survey data and the capture–recapture data are independent. We demonstrate how each of these limitations can be resolved by adopting a spatial population dynamics model upon which both the survey data and the capture–recapture data are conditioned.

We applied the model to 6 years of hair data collected on the threatened Louisiana black bear Ursus americanus luteolus. For years in which the hair samples were genotyped, the resulting data are information‐rich (but expensive) spatial capture–recapture (SCR) data. For the remaining years, the data are binary detection data, of the type often analysed using occupancy models. We compared estimates of demographic parameters and annual abundance using various combinations of the SCR and detection data, and found that combining the SCR data and the detection data resulted in more precise estimates of abundance relative to estimates that did not use the detection data. A simulation study provided additional evidence of increased precision, as well as evidence that the estimators of annual abundance are approximately unbiased.

The ability to combine survey data and capture–recapture data using a spatially explicit model opens many possibilities for designing cost effective studies and scaling up inferences about the demographic processes influencing spatial and temporal population dynamics.
A statistical framework for inferring the influence of conspecifics on movement behaviour
Authors: Delgado María del Mar , Penteriani Vincenzo , Morales Juan Manuel , Gurarie Eliezer , Ovaskainen Otso 
Published: December 2013

Summary

The movements of individuals – at almost any scale – are likely to depend on the behaviour of conspecifics. As an example, the movements of dispersing juveniles and their settling decisions may depend on the availability of mates and free territories, that is, both the presence and absence of other individuals. As another example, individuals can use the presence of conspecifics during foraging movements as an indicator of habitat quality.

We develop a general statistical framework for identifying and characterizing conspecific influence on movements from tracking data acquired simultaneously from a set of potentially interacting individuals.

We model conspecific attraction/repulsion through a functional response in which social behaviour is assumed to depend on proximity to other individuals. The model partitions variation in the functional response into a population component (common to all individuals), variation among individuals (modelled as random intercept‐slope) and variation within an individual's trajectory (modelled through temporal autocorrelation).

We present a Bayesian approach for the estimation of the model and illustrate its use with simulated movement data generated from a number of contrasting scenarios. We then apply the method to a case study on eagle owl Bubo bubo juvenile dispersal, demonstrating that individual movements are generally influenced by the presence of conspecifics, with the level of attraction decreasing with increasing proximity to other individuals. We further show that female eagle owls are more attracted to conspecifics than males, and both males and females are more attracted to females than to males.
The early history of ideas on brief interventions for alcohol
Authors: McCambridge Jim , Cunningham John A. 
Published: December 2013

AbstractAimsThis study explores the early development of brief interventions for alcohol using a history of ideas approach with a particular focus on intervention content.MethodsThe source publications of the key primary studies published from approximately 1962 to 1992 were examined, followed by a brief review of the earliest reviews in this field. These studies were placed in the context of developments in alcohol research and in public health.ResultsAfter early pioneering work on brief interventions, further advances were not made until thinking about alcohol problems and their treatment, most notably on controlled drinking, along with wider changes in public health, created new conditions for progress. There was then a golden era of rapid advance in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when preventing the development of problem drinking became important for public health reasons, in addition to helping already problematic drinkers. Many research challenges identified at that time remain to be met. The content of brief interventions changed over the period of study, although not in ways well informed by research advances, and there were also obvious continuities, with a renewed emphasis on the facilitation of self‐change being one important consequence of the development of internet applications.ConclusionsIdeas about brief interventions have changed in important ways. Brief interventions have been studied with different populations of drinkers, with aims embracing both individual and population‐level perspectives, and without well‐specified contents. The brief intervention field is an appropriate target for further historical investigations, which may help thinking about addressing alcohol and other problems.
The Hau of Theory: The Kept‐Gift of Theory Itself in American Anthropology
Authors: Falcone Jessica Marie 
Published: December 2013

SummaryIn this essay, I deploy anthropological theories of exchange to trace contemporary practices of theory exchange in the academy, most specifically in anthropology. I examine participation in various sites of theory exchange from classroom to conference, from citer to cited, and from writer to reader and back again. By explicitly deploying the theoretical toolkit of anthropology that we have at our disposal, we can and should simultaneously examine our own knowledge production practices with more deliberateness even as we seek to understand our subjects' varied worldviews.
Differences in the prevalence of metabolic disorders between prepubertal boys and girls from 5 to 8 years of age
Authors: Maier Ina B. , Özel Yelda , Engstler Anna Janina , Puchinger Sonja , Wagnerberger Sabine , Hulpke‐Wette Martin , Bischoff Stephan C. , Bergheim Ina 
Published: December 2013

AbstractAimTo determine the prevalence of metabolic abnormalities, and differences between the sexes, in prepubertal overweight and normal weight children aged from 5 to 8 years, without any signs of health impairments or metabolic disturbances at the time of recruitment.MethodsGeneral health status and inflammatory markers were assessed in 100 overweight and 51 normal weight children, who were living in Germany and had undergone mandatory medical examinations. The study comprised of 81 girls and 70 boys.ResultsDespite being recruited as healthy, 73% of the overweight children and 16% of the normal weight children were found to suffer from one or more metabolic abnormalities, such as hypertension or insulin resistance. Girls with a body mass index (BMI) percentile of ≥80th showed an increased susceptibility to metabolic disorders, and a similar effect was found for boys with a BMI percentile of ≥95th. Plasma levels of pro‐inflammatory markers, such as plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 and leptin, were also significantly higher in overweight than normal weight children.ConclusionMetabolic and cardiovascular abnormalities and pro‐inflammatory markers were prevalent in overweight prepubertal children. The prevalence rates appeared to differ between the sexes.
A Bayesian approach to the analysis of quantal bioassay studies using nonparametric mixture models
Authors: Fronczyk Kassandra , Kottas Athanasios 
Published: December 2013

SummaryWe develop a Bayesian nonparametric mixture modeling framework for quantal bioassay settings. The approach is built upon modeling dose‐dependent response distributions. We adopt a structured nonparametric prior mixture model, which induces a monotonicity restriction for the dose–response curve. Particular emphasis is placed on the key risk assessment goal of calibration for the dose level that corresponds to a specified response. The proposed methodology yields flexible inference for the dose–response relationship as well as for other inferential objectives, as illustrated with two data sets from the literature.
Novel methods for dyeing the epidermis of bamboo culms and their colour fastness
Authors: Chung Min‐Jay , Cheng Sen‐Sung , Lee Chia‐Ju , Chang Shang‐Tzen 
Published: December 2013

This study examined the effects of various dyestuffs and treatment conditions on the epidermis colour of ma bamboo (Dendrocalamus latiflorus), moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens), and makino bamboo (P. makinoi). The objective was to determine the optimum approach for endowing the bamboo culms with a fascinating brown colour without removing their epidermis, which would increase the economic value of bamboo products. Experimental results revealed that an excellent brown colour was obtained when bamboo culms were treated with 0.25% CI Basic Brown 4 solution in an 80 °C water bath for 60 min (H° values of 37.9, 25.0, and 25.7° respectively). In addition, alkali‐pretreated bamboo culms also exhibited a good brown colour dyeing when treated with 0.25% CI Basic Brown 4 at ambient temperature for 2 days (a* and b* values of 30.8 and 35.1 respectively). Furthermore, the use of an ultrasonic bath instead of a water bath can reduce the treatment time required for achieving an improvement in the effectiveness of brown colour dyeing of the bamboo epidermis. Results obtained from indoor light fastness tests demonstrated that more uniform dyeing and better colour fastness could be achieved by colour fixation post‐treatment with 1% glacial acetic acid.
Contested Ecologies: Gender, Genies, and Agricultural Knowledge in Zanzibar
Authors: Dean Erin 
Published: December 2013

AbstractIn the village of Jongowe in the Zanzibar archipelago, women are the guardians of extensive agricultural knowledge. Yet male authority circumscribes this feminine sphere in the form of ritual and scientific “experts.” Annual planting is dependent on the advice and goodwill of genies, spiritual beings who are ritually summoned, celebrated in song and dance (ngoma), and formally consulted by elder male ritual leaders. At the same time, a male government extension agent has introduced agricultural extension programs that bring new planting calendars, farming techniques, and seed varieties to the village. Through these male ritual and scientific authority figures, ecological knowledge in the village is controlled, classified, and contested. However, recent challenges to local land use have cast new light on the ordering of agricultural knowledge. I suggest that although the control of knowledge and resources in Jongowe may be most obviously understood through an idiom of gender, the most important epistemological distinctions in this community may lie elsewhere.
Land Degradation, Faith‐Based Organizations, and Sustainability in Senegal
Authors: Cochrane Laura L. 
Published: December 2013

AbstractOver the past one hundred years, Senegal has experienced repeated droughts and shifting economic and agricultural policies that have contributed to long‐term land degradation in a once‐productive agricultural region. Faith‐based organizations have become prominent in community‐level projects that are working to rebuild Senegal's rural agriculture and work toward environmental sustainability. Through ethnographic interviews with religious leaders and project managers, this article highlights Muslim, Catholic, and Protestant organizations that are involved in environmental and economic development efforts across central Senegal. Local faith‐based organizations are effective in this work because they are integral parts of communities, they share communities' faith‐based motivations for development work, and they have long‐term strategies for sustainability that involve individuals, communities, and their natural environment.
HEMA‐induced cytotoxicity: oxidative stress, genotoxicity and apoptosis
Authors: Gallorini M. , Cataldi A. , di Giacomo V. 
Published: December 2013

AbstractDental resin composites consist of organic polymers with inorganic fillers used as bonding resins and direct filling materials in dentine adhesives and as sealing agents for inlays, crowns and orthodontic brackets. Despite various modifications in the formulation, the chemical composition of composite resins includes inorganic filler particles and additives, which are incorporated into a mixture of an organic resin matrix. Among them, 2‐hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) is one of the most frequently used. Several studies have attempted to clarify the mechanisms underlying HEMA cytotoxicity. Most of them support the hypothesis that this compound, once released in the oral environment, increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and oxidative DNA damage through double‐strand breaks evidenced by in vitro presence of micronuclei. As a consequence, the glutathione detoxifying intracellular pool forms adducts with HEMA through its cysteine motif and inflammation begins to occur: transcription of early genes of inflammation such as tumour necrosis factor α or inducible cyclooxygenase up to the secretion of prostaglandins 2. These phenomena are counteracted by N‐acetylcysteine (NAC), a nonenzymatic antioxidant, but not by vitamin E or other antioxidant. Consequently, NAC prevents HEMA‐induced apoptosis acting as a direct ROS scavenger. This minireview collects the most significant papers on HEMA and tries to make an overview of its cytotoxicity on different cell types and experimental models.
Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor Does Not Promote Neurogenesis after Experimental Intracerebral Haemorrhage
Authors: Kallmünzer Bernd , Tauchi Miyuki , Schlachetzki Johannes C. , Machold Kristin , Schmidt Ariana , Winkler Jürgen , Schwab Stefan , Kollmar Rainer 
Published: December 2013

Background Hematopoietic growth factors have been suggested to induce neuroprotective and regenerative effects in various animal models of cerebral injury. However, the pathways involved remain widely unexplored. Aims This study aimed to investigate effects of local and systemic administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor on brain damage, functional recovery, and cerebral neurogenesis in an intracerebral haemorrhage whole blood injection model in rats. Methods Eight-week-old male Wistar rats ( n = 100) underwent induction of striatal intracerebral haemorrhage by autologous whole blood injection or sham procedure and were randomly assigned to either (a) systemic treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (60 μg/kg) for five-days; (b) single intracerebral injection of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (60 μg/kg) into the cavity; or (c) application of vehicle for five-days. Bromodeoxyuridine-labelling and immunohistochemistry were used to analyze proliferation and survival of newly born cells in the sub-ventricular zone and the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Moreover, functional deficits and lesion volume were assessed until day 42 after intracerebral haemorrhage. Results Differences in lesion size or hemispheric atrophy between granulocyte colony-stimulating factor-treated and control groups did not reach statistical significance. Neither systemic, nor local granulocyte colony-stimulating factor administration induced neurogenesis within the dentate gyrus or the sub-ventricular zone. The survival of newborn cells in these regions was prevented by intracerebral granulocyte colony-stimulating factor application. A subtle benefit in functional recovery at day 14 after intracerebral haemorrhage induction was observed after granulocyte colony-stimulating factor treatment. Conclusion There was a lack of neuroprotective or neuroregenerative effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in the present rodent model of intracerebral haemorrhage. Conflicting results from functional outcome assessment require further research.