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(Micro)plastics in the aquatic environment are an issue of emerging concern. However, to date, there is considerable lack of knowledge on the abundance and toxicity of plastic debris in aquatic ecosystems, especially with regard to the freshwater situation. In this editorial, we briefly discuss important aspects of the research on environmental (micro)plastics to stimulate research and call for papers.
The Paddys River Wetlands in the New South Wales Southern Highlands, southwest of Sydney, are characterised by several watercourses with associated swamps (fens), some of which, on Forestry Corporation of NSW land, have been the focus for removal of Pinus radiata wildings by the Penrose Swamps Conservation Group. In this study we map a population of Eucalyptus aquatica trees in one of these swamps perched above Paddys River (latitude 34.65575o S, longitude 150.21831o E; 600 m elevation). Eucalyptus aquatica is geographically restricted to the Paddys River area and is listed as a threatened species at state and national levels. New findings on the physical characteristics of the swamp in relation to the bedrock geology, stream geomorphology, peat development and the main native plant species, are presented. The occurrence of clumps of Eucalyptus aquatica appears to be independent of the type or thickness of the growing substrate. Rather it is suggested that a continuous supply of water and the shelter afforded by the narrow valley may be key factors determining the distribution of the trees at the study site. An on-going programme of research is underway to study other occurrences of Eucalyptus aquatica.
The Virgin Islands (except St. Croix) are geologically part of the Puerto Rico Bank and biologically related to Puerto Rico, but their cockroaches (Dictyoptera: Blattaria) were not yet as well studied as those on Puerto Rico. To elucidate the number of species, life history, range distribution, and seasonal abundance of these cockroaches, we have conducted a quantitative study since June 2000 using a Malaise trap on Guana Island, British Virgin Islands, in addition to other conventional collecting methods. We found 21 species: Blattella germanica (Linnaeus), Cariblatta antiguensis (Saussure and Zehntner), Cariblatta sp. 2, Cariblatta sp. 3, Colapteroblatta sp. 1, Eurycotis improcera Rehn, Eurycotis sp. 2, Euthlastoblatta facies (Walker), Hemiblabera brunneri (Saussure), Nyctibora lutzi Rehn and Hebard, Panchlora sagax Rehn and Hebard, Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus), P. australasiae (Fabricius), Plectoptera infulata Rehn and Hebard, P. rhabdota Rehn and Hebard, Plectoptera sp. 3, Pycnoscelus surinamensis (Linnaeus), Symploce pararufi collis Roth, S. rufi collis (Fabricius), polyphagid sp. 1 (Compsodes sp. 1), and polyphagid sp. 2. Among them, nine are new records for the Virgin Islands and fi ve for Guana Island. In addition, Euthlastoblatta diaphana (Fabricius), Nyctibora noctivaga Rehn, Panchlora nivea (Linnaeus), P. viridis (Fabricius), and Rhyparobia maderae (Fabricius) were recorded historically but were not rediscovered. As a result, the number of species is increased from 17 to 26 for the Virgin Islands, and from 10 to 15 for Guana Island. Overall, only fi ve species are edifi carian and likely introduced. Nymphs of polyphagid sp. 2 and Euthlastoblatta facies are reported for the fi rst time as dwellers in termite runways. Only eight species came to the Malaise trap; their phenology illustrates close but not necessarily synchronic relationship with both the timing and amount of rainfall. Monthly abundance showed spring and fall highs and summer and winter lows. Yearly abundance reached lows when annual rainfall decreased below a threshold average of 2.0 mm per day. Seasonality and response to drought varied among species. This paper lays a foundation for further research on diversity of cockroaches from the Virgin Islands and their relationships with those from Puerto Rico.
The scope of this Thesis is to understand the position dependency phenomenon of human visual perception. First, under the ecological assumption, meaning under the assumption that animals adapt to the statistical regularities of their environment, we study the consequences of the imaging on the local statistics of the input to the human visual system. Second, we model efficient representations of these statistics and their contribution to shape the properties of eye sensory neurons. Third, we model efficient representations of the semantic context of images and the correctness of different underneath geometrical assumptions on the statistics of images.
The efficient coding hypothesis posits that sensory systems are adapted to the regularities of their signal input in order to reduce redundancy in the resulting representations. It is therefore important to characterize the regularities of natural signals to gain insight into the processing of natural stimuli. While measurements of statistical regularity in vision have focused on photographic images of natural environments it has been much less investigated, how the specific imaging process embodied by the organism’s eye induces statistical dependencies on the natural input to the visual system. This has allowed using the convenient assumption that natural image data is homogeneous across the visual field. Here we give up on this assumption and show how the imaging process in a human eye model influences the local statistics of the natural input to the visual system across the entire visual field. ...
Objective: Acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery procedures is associated with poor patient outcomes. Cystatin C as a marker for renal failure has been shown to be of prognostic value; however, a wide range of its predictive accuracy has been reported. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether the measurement of pre- and postoperative serum cystatin C improves the prediction of AKI.
Methods: In a single-centre, prospective study of 70 patients (74 ± 9ys; range 47-85ys; 77% male), cystatin C was measured six times: (T1 = preoperative, T2 = start cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), T3 = 20 min after CPB, T4 = end of operation; T5 = 24 h postoperatively; T6 = 7d postoperatively). Predictive property, in terms of the need for renal replacement therapy (RRT), was analysed by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) statistics and described by the area under the curve (AUC).
Results: With respect to RRT (n = 8), serum cystatin C was significantly higher at the end of the operation (T4), 24 h postoperatively at T5 and at T6. The AUCs for preoperative T1 and intraoperative T2/3 cystatin C were <0.7 (95% CI, 0.47-0.85). The earliest significant predictive AUCs were found at the end of the operation (T4: p = 0.03 95% CI 0.58-0.88 AUC 0.73) and 24 h postoperatively (T5: p = 0.003 95% CI 0.74-0.96 AUC 0.85).
Conclusions: Early postoperative serum cystatin C increase appears to be a moderate biomarker in the prediction of AKI, whereas a preoperative and intraoperative cystatin C increase has only a limited diagnostic and predictive value.
Background: High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) allows to inflict intracorporal thermal lesions without penetrating the skin or damaging the surrounding tissue. This analysis intends to assess the magnitude of HIFU-induced ablations within benign thyroid nodules using scintigraphic imaging with 99mTc.
Methods: Ten cold, hot, or indifferent nodules were treated using multiple pulses of HIFU to induce temperatures of around 85°C within the ablation zone. Pre- and posttreatment, uptake values of 99mTc pertechnetate or 99mTc-MIBI were recorded. The pre-post reduction of nodular uptake was evaluated to assess ablation magnitude.
Results: Relative nodular uptake in relation to total thyroidal uptake decreased after one session of HIFU in all cases. Median 99mTc-MIBI uptake reduction was 35.5% (ranging from 11% to 57%; p < 0.1), while 99mTc-pertechnetate scintigraphy showed a median uptake reduction of 27% (range 10% to 44%; p < 0.1). No major complications were observed.
Conclusions: HIFU appears to be safe and is an easy to perform means of thermal ablation. This study shows that HIFU treatment in thyroidal nodules can be evaluated by scintigraphic means shortly after the intervention. Due to small sample size, the exact magnitude of HIFU ablation efficiency in thyroidal nodules remains a value to beassessed in a larger study.
During cell stress, the transcription and translation of immediate early genes are prioritized, while most other messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are stored away in stress granules or degraded in processing bodies (P-bodies). TIA-1 is an mRNA-binding protein that needs to translocate from the nucleus to seed the formation of stress granules in the cytoplasm. Because other stress granule components such as TDP-43, FUS, ATXN2, SMN, MAPT, HNRNPA2B1, and HNRNPA1 are crucial for the motor neuron diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)/spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and for the frontotemporal dementia (FTD), here we studied mouse nervous tissue to identify mRNAs with selective dependence on Tia1 deletion. Transcriptome profiling with oligonucleotide microarrays in comparison of spinal cord and cerebellum, together with independent validation in quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR and immunoblots demonstrated several strong and consistent dysregulations. In agreement with previously reported TIA1 knock down effects, cell cycle and apoptosis regulators were affected markedly with expression changes up to +2-fold, exhibiting increased levels for Cdkn1a, Ccnf, and Tprkb vs. decreased levels for Bid and Inca1 transcripts. Novel and surprisingly strong expression alterations were detected for fat storage and membrane trafficking factors, with prominent +3-fold upregulations of Plin4, Wdfy1, Tbc1d24, and Pnpla2 vs. a −2.4-fold downregulation of Cntn4 transcript, encoding an axonal membrane adhesion factor with established haploinsufficiency. In comparison, subtle effects on the RNA processing machinery included up to 1.2-fold upregulations of Dcp1b and Tial1. The effect on lipid dynamics factors is noteworthy, since also the gene deletion of Tardbp (encoding TDP-43) and Atxn2 led to fat metabolism phenotypes in mouse. In conclusion, genetic ablation of the stress granule nucleator TIA-1 has a novel major effect on mRNAs encoding lipid homeostasis factors in the brain, similar to the fasting effect.
Dynamics of juvenile woody plant communities on termite mounds in a West African savanna landscape
(2014)
Termites are keystone species in savanna ecology, and their mounds are thought to be an important source of habitat heterogeneity and structural complexity of the savanna. Macrotermes termitaria have been shown to allow woody plant colonisation of landscapes otherwise dominated by C4 grasses. In this study, we assess how resource-rich Macrotermes mounds affect juvenile woody plant and non-woody plant species diversity, community composition, biomass and population dynamics. We repeatedly sampled paired termite mound and savanna plots in Pendjari National Park (Sudanian vegetation zone, North Benin, West Africa) over the course of two years. Despite considerable overlap in their species pools, plant communities of mound and savanna plots were clearly separated in ordinations. Species richness and diversity of juvenile woody plants was consistently higher on termite mounds, while no differences could be detected for non-woody plants. Evenness of juvenile woody plants was generally lower on mounds, whereas density and basal area were higher on mounds. In contrast, we did not detect any influence of the mound microhabitat on colonisation, mortality and turnover of woody juveniles. Therefore, we suggest that differences in the communities on and off mounds should be strongly influenced by directed diaspore dispersal through zoochory.
The ability to delay gratification, to wait for a larger but delayed reward in the presence of a smaller but constantly available reward, has been shown to be predictive for various aspects of everyday life. For instance, preschool children who were better able to delay gratification achieved better school grades, a higher education, a better ability to cope with stress, as well as a reduced risk for being overweight or consume drugs up to 30 years later (Mischel et al., 2011). However, despite the importance of delay of gratification cognitive factors underlying individual differences are only poorly understood. Wittmann and Paulus (2008) suggested that individuals who overestimate the duration of time intervals experience waiting times as more costly and are, therefore, less likely to delay gratification. Furthermore, a recent study revealed an association between less accurate internal clock speed and a behavioral choice delay task (Corvi, Juergensen, Weaver, & Demaree, 2012). Further evidence for an association between temporal processing and delay of gratification can be derived from studies using clinical samples. For instance, children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) consistently prefer smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards and show impaired temporal processing (Sonuga-Barke, Bitsakou, & Thompson, 2010). However, no study has directly tested an association between a measure of temporal processing and a classical delay of gratification task in children with and without ADHD so far.
As part of a larger study, 64 children (29 with ADHD) aged between 8 to 12 years performed a version of an auditory duration discrimination task and a delay of gratification task. In the duration discrimination task, the children were presented with two unfilled intervals indicated by two brief tones each. The baseline interval lasted for 400 ms, while the comparison interval was always longer and adjusted up or down in 10 ms steps securing an accuracy of 80%. In the delay of gratification task, the children were instructed that they could either opt for one chocolate bar immediately or that they could wait to receive two chocolate bars. Unbeknownst to the children, the waiting time lasted 25 minutes but children were told that they could decide for the immediate chocolate bar at any time by ringing a bell.
Children with ADHD did not differ in their performance from children without ADHD in the duration discrimination task or the delay of gratification task. However, in the whole sample of children with and without ADHD, children who waited for the additional chocolate bar showed a better duration discrimination than children who failed to wait for the additional chocolate bar [t(62) = -2.52, p = .01].
We demonstrated an association between temporal processing ability and the ability to delay gratification. These results need to be replicated in further studies with larger sample sizes. Moreover, different tasks measuring temporal processing and delay of gratification should be used to further clarify the relationship of temporal processing, delay of gratification, and ADHD.
We present the data of the 2nd research expedition of the European Dry Grassland Group (EDGG), which was conducted in 2010 in Central Podolia, Ukraine. The aim was to collect plot data to compare Ukrainian dry grasslands with those of other parts of Europe in terms of syntaxonomy and biodiversity. We sampled 21 nested-plot series (0.0001–100 m2) and 184 normal plots (10 m2) covering the full variety of dry grassland types occurring in the study region. For all plots, we recorded species composi-tion of terrestrial vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens, while for the 226 10-m2 plots we estimated and measured percentage cover of all species, structural, topographic, soil and landuse parameters. The 10-m² plots were used for phytosociological classification based on iteratively refined TWINSPAN classification as well as for DCA ordination. Differences between the derived vegetation types with respect to environmental conditions and species richness were assessed with ANOVAs. We assigned our plots to nine association-level units but refrained from placing them into formal associations with two exceptions. In the study area, dry grasslands of the Festuco-Brometea were far more common than those of the Koelerio-Corynephoretea. Among the Festuco-Brometea, xeric Festucetalia valesiacae grasslands were more frequent and represented by the Festucion valesiacae (2 associations, including the Allio taurici-Dichanthietum ischaemi ass. nova) and the Stipion lessingianae (1) compared to the Brachypodietalia pinnati with the Agrostio vinealis-Avenulion schellianae (3). The Koelerio-Corynephoretea were represented by three associations, each from a different order and alliance: basiphilous outcrops (Alysso alyssoidis-Sedetalia: Alysso alyssoidis-Sedion?), acidophilous outcrops (Sedo-Scleranthetalia: Veronico dillenii-Sedion albi?) and mesoxeric sandy grasslands (Trifolio arvensis-Festucetalia ovinae: Agrostion vinealis). We discuss the issue of the mesoxeric order Galietalia veri placed within the Molinio-Arrhenatheretea by Ukrainian authors and conclude that the content of that order would probably be better placed in the mesoxeric orders of the Koelerio-Corynephoretea and Festuco-Brometea. Other syntaxonomic questions could not be solved with our geographically limited dataset and await a supraregional analysis, e.g. whether the Ukrainian outcrop communities should be assigned to the same alliances as known from Central Europe or rather represent new vicariant units. The analysis of the biodiversity patterns showed that at a grain size of 10 m2, Podolian Koelerio-Corynephoretea communities were overall richer than Festuco-Brometea communities (46.4 vs. 40.6 species). This difference was due to the Koelerio-Corynephoretea containing twice as many bryophytes and nine times more lichens, while vascular plant species richness did not differ significantly between classes. The orders within the classes showed no real differences in species richness. The richness patterns observed in Podolia were almost the opposite of those usually found in dry grasslands, where Brachypodietalia pinnati are richer than Festucetalia valesiacae, and these richer than stands of the Koelerio-Corynpehoretea – and we do not have a good explanation for these idiosyncrasies. In conclusion, Podolian dry grasslands behave quite unexpectedly regarding biodiversity, and their syntaxonomy is still poorly understood. These knowledge gaps can only be addressed with supranational analyses based on comprehensive datasets.
The diagnosis of drug induced liver injury (DILI) is based primarily on the exclusion of alternative causes. To assess the frequency of alternative causes in initially suspected DILI cases, we searched the Medline database with the following terms: drug hepatotoxicity, drug induced liver injury, and hepatotoxic drugs. For each term, we used the first 100 publications. We reviewed references, selected those reports relevant to our study, and retrieved finally 15 publications related to DILI and alternative causes. A total of 2,906 cases of initially assumed DILI were analyzed in these 15 publications, with diagnoses missed in 14% of the cases due to overt alternative causes. In another 11%, the diagnosis of DILI could not be established because of confounding variables. Alternative diagnoses included hepatitis B, C, and E, CMV, EBV, ischemic hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, hemochromatosis, Wilson’s disease, Gilbert’s syndrome, fatty liver, non alcoholic steatohepatitis, alcoholic liver diseases, cardiac and thyroid causes, rhabdomyolysis, polymyositis, postictal state, tumors, lymphomas, chlamydial and HIV infections. Causality assessment methods applied in these 15 publications were the CIOMS (Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences) scale alone (n = 5) or combined with the Maria and Victorino (MV) scale (n = 1), the DILIN (Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network) method (n = 4), or the Naranjo scale (n = 1); the qualitative CIOMS method alone (n = 3) or combined with the MV scale (n = 1). In conclusion, alternative diagnoses are common in primarily suspected DILI cases and should be excluded early in future cases, requiring a thorough clinical and causality assessment.
Causality assessment of suspected drug induced liver injury (DILI) and herb induced liver injury (HILI) is hampered by the lack of a standardized approach to be used by attending physicians and at various subsequent evaluating levels. The aim of this review was to analyze the suitability of the liver specific Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) scale as a standard tool for causality assessment in DILI and HILI cases. PubMed database was searched for the following terms: drug induced liver injury; herb induced liver injury; DILI causality assessment; and HILI causality assessment. The strength of the CIOMS lies in its potential as a standardized scale for DILI and HILI causality assessment. Other advantages include its liver specificity and its validation for hepatotoxicity with excellent sensitivity, specificity and predictive validity, based on cases with a positive reexposure test. This scale allows prospective collection of all relevant data required for a valid causality assessment. It does not require expert knowledge in hepatotoxicity and its results may subsequently be refined. Weaknesses of the CIOMS scale include the limited exclusion of alternative causes and qualitatively graded risk factors. In conclusion, CIOMS appears to be suitable as a standard scale for attending physicians, regulatory agencies, expert panels and other scientists to provide a standardized, reproducible causality assessment in suspected DILI and HILI cases, applicable primarily at all assessing levels involved.
Driving change : the story of the South Africa Norway tertiary education development programme
(2014)
Driving Change tells a story that exemplifies a basic law of physics, known to all - the application of a relatively small lever can shift weight, create movement and initiate change far in excess of its own size. It tells a story about a particular instance of development cooperation, relatively modest in scope and aim that has nonetheless achieved remarkable things and has been held up as an exemplar of its kind. It does not tell a story of flawless execution and perfectly achieved outcomes: it is instead a narrative that gives some insight into the structural and organisational arrangements, the institutional and individual commitments, and above all, the work, intelligence and passion of its participants, which made the SANTED Programme a noteworthy success.
Does the rotten child spoil his companion? : spatial peer effects among children in rural India
(2014)
This paper identifies the effect of neighborhood peer groups on childhood skill acquisition using observational data. We incorporate spatial peer interaction, defined as a child's nearest geographical neighbors, into a production function of child cognitive development in Andhra Pradesh, India. Our peer group definition takes the form of networks, whose structure allows us to identify endogenous peer effects and contextual effects separately. We exploit variation over time to avoid confounding correlated with social effects. Our results suggest that spatial peer and neighborhood effects are strongly positively associated with a child's cognitive skill formation. Further, we explore the effect of peer groups in helping to provide insurance against the negative impact of idiosyncratic shocks to child learning. We find that the data reject full risk-sharing, but cannot rule out the existence of partial risk-sharing on behalf of peers. We show that peer effects are robust to different specifications of peer interactions and investigate the sensitivity of our estimates to potential misspecification of the network structure using Monte Carlo experiments.
Two alternative hypotheses – referred to as opportunity- and stigma-based behavior – suggest that the magnitude of the link between unemployment and crime also depends on preexisting local crime levels. In order to analyze conjectured nonlinearities between both variables, we use quantile regressions applied to German district panel data. While both conventional OLS and quantile regressions confirm the positive link between unemployment and crime for property crimes, results for assault differ with respect to the method of estimation. Whereas conventional mean regressions do not show any significant effect (which would confirm the usual result found for violent crimes in the literature), quantile regression reveals that size and importance of the relationship are conditional on the crime rate. The partial effect is significantly positive for moderately low and median quantiles of local assault rates.
Regulation of investor access to financial products is often based on product familiarity indicated by previous use. The underlying premise that lack of familiarity with a product class causes unwarranted participation is difficult to test. This paper uses household-level data from the ‘experiment’ of German reunification that (exogenously) offered to East Germans access to capitalist products (exogenously) unfamiliar to them. We compare the evolution of post-unification participation of former East and West Germans in financial products, controlling for relevant household characteristics. We vary familiarity differentials by considering (i) both unfamiliar ‘capitalist’ products (stocks, bonds, and consumer credit) and ones available in the East (savings accounts and life insurance); and (ii) cohorts with different exposure to capitalism. We find that East Germans participated immediately in unfamiliar risky securities, at rates comparable to West Germans of similar characteristics. They phased out disproportionate participation in previously familiar assets as familiarity with capitalist products grew. They were more likely to use consumer debt, partly to catch up with richer new peers. We find no signs of abrupt participation drops that could suggest mistakes or regret related to lack of familiarity.
Does austerity pay off?
(2014)
Policy makers often implement austerity measures when the sustainability of public finances is in doubt and, hence, sovereign yield spreads are high. Is austerity successful in bringing about a reduction in yield spreads? We employ a new panel data set which contains sovereign yield spreads for 31 emerging and advanced economies and estimate the effects of cuts of government consumption on yield spreads and economic activity. The conditions under which austerity takes place are crucial. During times of fiscal stress, spreads rise in response to the spending cuts, at least in the short-run. In contrast, austerity pays off, if conditions are more benign.
The following list includes all traceable films of at least 30 minutes length, which explicitly address the current financial, economic and debt crisis as a main topic and have been available in English or German via European cinemas, television stations, or the internet. This includes dubbed or subtitled versions of films produced in other languages. The film descriptions mostly come from the films’ or television stations’ websites or other marketing material, so they are not necessarily objective (although often informative).
The list is based on an extensive internet search but nevertheless will probably be incomplete and sometimes imprecise. For instance, there is virtually no information about how often the cinema films have actually been shown in theaters; many of them may have been shown just a few times. There are lots of interesting shorter films like The Financial Crisis (Session I–V) (Denmark 2009, Superflex) or RSA Animate: Crises of Capitalism (GB 2010, RSA/David Harvey). Those short films are not listed here, but often they can be easily found and watched online.
The first cultural influences come out in Dobruja together with the appearance of the first German colonists, beginning from 1840 till 1891. The colonization process develops itself in three stages and colonies in places like Tulcea, Malcoci, Almagea, Ciucurova, Cogealac, Tariverde, M. Kogălniceanu and others set up as a result. The German population has created an original culture, an ethnic and spiritual communication being deeply set up, but at the same time a communication struck by the specific conditions imposed by the history of this south-eastern European area. On the other side, the Turkish invasion of Dobruja started earlier, in 1388, when it was actually defeated by Mircea cel Bătrân. In 1393 the Turks succeeded in taking Dobruja and Silistra, but in 1404 Micea cel Bătrân re-conquered the greatest part of these regions. Many Turkish and Tartars moved into Dobruja during the long period of Ottoman rule. The 19th century ethnographic maps show a mainly Turkish population in the area of modern day Dobruja, Tartars and Turks in the southern part of Dobruja and Romanians dominating the north of Dobruja. The paper aims at presenting aspects regarding these two different identities and cultures which are to be found in Dobruja, as well as their integration process within the Romanian Dobrujan modern society.
Establishing coherent identity patterns for literary characters in novels is a difficult task. In this respect, we assume that readers rely on pre-stored cultural models in order to construct mental models of the text content, including character identity. By significantly extending the approach by Van Dijk and Kintsch and going beyond the related accounts of Schneider and of Culpeper, we aim to clarify the constitutive role of conceptual metaphor as proposed by Lakoff et al. in processes of literary identity construction. The analysis of a corpus of three contemporary novels supports our claim that conceptual metaphors and the mapping of domains involved interact with cultural models and connect text phenomena to such prior knowledge structures. On this basis, we provide an integrated model of literary identity construction which acknowledges the constitutive value of conceptual metaphors in literary identity construction.