In situ adaptive response to climate and habitat quality variation: spatial and temporal variation in European badger (Meles meles) body weight

Variation in climatic and habitat conditions can affect populations through a variety of mechanisms, and these relationships can act at different temporal and spatial scales. Using post‐mortem badger body weight records from 15 878 individuals captured across the Republic of Ireland (7224 setts across ca. 15 000 km²; 2009–2012), we employed a hierarchical multilevel mixed model to evaluate the effects of climate (rainfall and temperature) and habitat quality (landscape suitability), while controlling for local abundance (unique badgers caught/sett/year). Body weight was affected strongly by temperature across a number of temporal scales (preceding month or season), with badgers being heavier if preceding temperatures (particularly during winter/spring) were warmer than the long‐term seasonal mean. There was less support for rainfall across different temporal scales, although badgers did exhibit heavier weights when greater rainfall occurred one or 2 months prior to capture. Badgers were also heavier in areas with higher landscape habitat quality, modulated by the number of individuals captured per sett, consistent with density‐dependent effects reducing weights. Overall, the mean badger body weight of culled individuals rose during the study period (2009–2012), more so for males than for females. With predicted increases in temperature, and rainfall, augmented by ongoing agricultural land conversion in this region, we project heavier individual badger body weights in the future. Increased body weight has been associated with higher fecundity, recruitment and survival rates in badgers, due to improved food availability and energetic budgets. We thus predict that climate change could increase the badger population across the Republic of Ireland. Nevertheless, we emphasize that, locally, populations could still be vulnerable to extreme weather variability coupled with detrimental agricultural practice, including population management.     

Application of fuzzy VIKOR for evaluation of green supply chain management practices

Environmentally sustainable activities have received an increasing interest among the firms to improve their practices in the supply chain. Although environmental regulations force firms consider these issues, but, green issues are new, evolving every day, and requires a continuous study in the field to gain a complete understanding of the problems. In this study, we illustrate the case of a laptop manufacturer in Malaysia that pursues to evaluate green supply chain management (GSCM) indicators among its practitioners. This paper develops a quantitative evaluation model to measure the uncertainty of GSCM activities and applies an approach based on Vlsekriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method which is an extension of intuitionistic fuzzy environment aiming to solve the green multi-criteria decision making (GMCDM) problem. The triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs) were used to handle imprecise numerical quantities. Then, a hierarchical multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) model was proposed based on fuzzy sets theory and VIKOR method to deal with the problem. The results show the alternative ranks of the four evaluated companies which was based on their performance in GSCM initiatives. The results also indicated that the main criteria of the research ranked as follows respectively: eco-design, green production, green purchasing, green recycling, green transportation and green warehousing. Finally, a comparative analysis of results by fuzzy VIKOR is presented. Additionally the scope for future studies is provided at the end of the paper.     

Introduction to placebo effects in medicine: mechanisms and clinical implications

The field of placebo research has made considerable progress in the last years and it has become a major focus of interest. We know now that the placebo effect is a real neurobiological phenomenon and that the brain's 'inner pharmacy' is a critical determinant for the occurrence of psychobiological and behavioural changes relevant to healing processes and well-being. However, harnessing the advantages of placebo effects in healthcare is still a challenge. The first part of the theme issue summarizes and discusses the various kinds of placebo mechanisms across medical fields, thereby not only focusing on two main explanatory models-expectation and conditioning theory-but also taking into account empathy and social learning, emotion and motivation, spirituality and the healing ritual. The second part of the issue focuses on questions related to transferring knowledge from placebo research into clinical practice and discusses implications for the design and interpretation of clinical trials, for the therapeutic settings in daily patient care, and for future translational placebo research.     

How to make predictions about future infectious disease risks

Formal, quantitative approaches are now widely used to make predictions about the likelihood of an infectious disease outbreak, how the disease will spread, and how to control it. Several well-established methodologies are available, including risk factor analysis, risk modelling and dynamic modelling. Even so, predictive modelling is very much the 'art of the possible', which tends to drive research effort towards some areas and away from others which may be at least as important. Building on the undoubted success of quantitative modelling of the epidemiology and control of human and animal diseases such as AIDS, influenza, foot-and-mouth disease and BSE, attention needs to be paid to developing a more holistic framework that captures the role of the underlying drivers of disease risks, from demography and behaviour to land use and climate change. At the same time, there is still considerable room for improvement in how quantitative analyses and their outputs are communicated to policy makers and other stakeholders. A starting point would be generally accepted guidelines for 'good practice' for the development and the use of predictive models.     

住院医师/专科医师通科培训必要性的探讨

当前医学生临床实践活动在时间上不能保证,质量上又明显下滑的情况下,增加住院医师/专科医师通科培训是十分必要的。不仅能弥补临床实践的不足,而且也能为医学生向住院医师平稳顺利过度作铺垫。住院医师/专科医师培养是医学生向临床医师角色转换的一个重要的过度阶段,因此,培训时间、学习内容安排的科学、合理与否将直接影响培养效果。住院医师/专科医师通科培训应为培养具有较高临床综合能力的医学人才奠定基础。     

我国农田生态系统土壤动物生态学研究进展

综述了我国近30年来农田生态系统土壤动物生态学研究进展,概述了我国农田土壤动物的群落多样性及其地理分布,总结了农田生态系统中土壤动物对不同耕作方式、施肥和喷洒农药等农业措施、不同土地利用方式以及工业污染的响应,并就土壤动物对农田生态系统健康状况的指示作用等研究的相关进展进行了讨论.通过与国外相关领域的研究进行比较,指出目前研究中存在的问题,提出农田生态系统未来研究的一些热点问题及展望.     

《植物生理学》教学改革中的实践成效

《植物生理学》系农艺类专业的一门必修的骨干性基础课程,随着相关学科的迅猛发展,使人类对于植物生命活动规律的认识更加全面与深入,势必要求植物生理学的课程教学不断改革创新。就多年的教学改革与实践,认为在教学过程中,通过整合最新研究报道不断优化教学内容体系,借助灵活多样的教学方式强化教学内容与实践紧密结合,以制作多媒体课件为突破口并结合传统教学的优点,促进教学手段现代化,提升教学效果;通过考核方式的多样化促进学生的全面学习能动性。     

From research to implementation: Nature conservation in the Eastern Rhodopes mountains (Greece and Bulgaria), European Green Belt

Nature conservation should ideally build on the scientific recommendations that are concluded from applied conservation research, as well as on monitoring schemes that evaluate the effectiveness of recommendations. We considered as a case study a system of six protected areas located in the Eastern Rhodopes mountains in the southern part of the European Green Belt (EGB). To investigate nature conservation effectiveness, we reviewed 196 articles from scientific journals and books, eight doctoral and master theses, and 39 scientific reports regarding the Greek (one protected area, 428 km²) and the Bulgarian (five protected areas, 904 km²) part of the study area. We extracted 743 conservation recommendations, and through questionnaires completed by 10 local experts, we found that 74% of the recommendations were familiar for the experts. In the Greek (GR) and the Bulgarian part (BG) only 52% and 16%, respectively, of the recommendations were implemented, and only 15% (GR) and 3.1% (BG) were implemented and evaluated regarding their effectiveness. According to the experts, the main reasons for non-implementation and non-evaluation were absence or incompetence of the responsible authorities. Some recommendations obtained a remarkable low rate of implementation, such as those regarding agriculture and livestock rearing practices (GR: 29%, BG: 16%) or mammal conservation (GR: 0%, BG: 16%). Some other recommendations obtained rather high rates at least for Greece, such as tourism and environmental education (GR: 57%, BG: 42%) and bird conservation (GR: 57%, BG: 11%). We found that researchers and conservation managers at both sides of the Greek-Bulgarian border face similar implementation problems, related often to the lack of political will for nature conservation and establishment of competent authorities. The role of the EGB is crucial in enhancing the established cross-border collaborations between stakeholders involved in nature conservation.     

黄麻两个栽培种及其野生类型与三个近缘种的核型分析

本研究选取黄麻属（Corchorus）2个栽培品种及其4个野生类型和3个野生近缘种为材料,采用常规根尖压片法对黄麻属供试材料的染色体数目和核型进行研究。结果表明：染色体数目均为2n=14。核型公式分别为：宽叶长果（长果黄麻栽培种）2n=2x=14=14m(4SAT);南阳野生长果（长果黄麻野生类型）2n=2x=14=14m(2SAT);坦桑尼亚野生长果（长果黄麻野生类型）2n=2x=14=2M+12m;闽麻5号（圆果黄麻栽培种）2n=2x=14=12m+2sm;爱店野生圆果（圆果黄麻野生类型）2n=2x=14=14m ;廉江野生圆果（圆果黄麻野生类型） 2n=2x=14=4M+10m;假黄麻（黄麻属野生近缘种）2n=2x=14=2M+12m;假长果（黄麻属野生近缘种）2n=2x=14=2M+12m;甜麻（黄麻属野生近缘种）2n=2x=14=14m。其中除了宽叶长果核型分类为1B外,其他的都为1A型。本文还讨论了黄麻野生近缘种甜麻的分类学地位。