Photographing worship: Ethnographic study of children's participation in acts of worship

This article reports the uses of photography in the Religious Education and Community Project, Coventry, England. It shows how ethnographic fieldwork and the development of curriculum materials for religious education in Britain are being conducted as phases of an integrated process. The photographic record, it is argued, is intrinsic both to eliciting data from members of the communities under study and in the sensitizing and informing of both pupils and educators. Furthermore not only the photographs themselves but also the differing reactions of specific communities to the prospect of being photographed during worship need analysis and can provide insights of value to religious educators in understanding the relation of cultural norms and theological emphases. As an illustration the responses of Christians to the ethnographer's requests to photograph the rite of Holy Communion are considered.     

In gratitude and response

ABSTRACT

In responding to the writings on Seizing Freedom by Professors Cassano, Gallagher, Mumford, Toscano, and Ware, this rejoinder registers appreciation for their critiques and extensions of the book's arguments. It identifies the ways in which emphases on tragedy and on ‘revolutionary time’ run through the contributions. A revisiting of those themes in light of the responses to the symposium focuses on difficult decisions made in structuring the book, especially in deciding where to end it.     

Dry Bean Protein Functionality

ABSTRACT:?

Dry beans are an important source of proteins, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and certain minerals and vitamins in the human food supply. Among dry beans, Phaseolus beans are cultivated and consumed in the greatest quantity on a worldwide basis. Typically, most dry beans contain 15 to 25% protein on a dry weight basis (dwb). Water-soluble albumins and salt-soluble globulins, respectively, account for up to 10 to 30% and 45 to 70% of the total proteins (dwb). Dry bean albumins are typically composed of several different proteins, including lectins and enzyme inhibitors. A single 7S globulin dominates dry bean salt soluble fraction (globulins) and may account for up to 50 to 55% of the total proteins in the dry beans (dwb). Most dry bean proteins are deficient in sulfur amino acids, methionine, and cysteine, and therefore are of lower nutritional quality when compared with the animal proteins. Despite this limitation, dry beans make a significant contribution to the human dietary protein intake. In bean-based foods, dry bean proteins also serve additional functions that may include surface activity, hydration, and hydration-related properties, structure, and certain organoleptic properties. This article is intended to provide an overview of dry bean protein functionality with emphases on nutritional quality and hydration-related properties.     

In the Same Boat? A Comparative Analysis of the Approaches of Russia and Canada in the Negotiation of the IMO’s Mandatory Polar Code

Abstract

In the field of Arctic shipping, Canada and the Russian Federation have enacted extensive unilateral national regulations cognizant of Article 234, UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. On the global level, both states have been important actors in negotiating the International Maritime Organization’s mandatory Polar Code, a legal instrument with implications for regulations at the national level. This article compares and contrasts the approaches, positions, and arguments of Canada and Russia especially regarding national systems to control navigation and vessel-source pollution. The results suggest different emphases stemming from the two states’ political and economic realities and capacities.     

3-Benzylidene-4-chromanones: a novel cluster of anti-tubercular agents

Abstract

In a quest for developing novel anti-tubercular agents, a series of 3-benzylidene-4-chromanones 1a–l were evaluated for growth inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H₃₇Rv. Three promising compounds 1d, g, j emerged as the lead compounds with the IC₅₀ and IC₉₀ values of less than 1?µg/mL. Evaluation of the potent compounds 1d, g, j and k against Vero monkey kidney cells revealed that these compounds are far more toxic to M. tuberculosis than to Vero cells. Structure–activity relationships demonstrated that 3-benzylidene-4-chromanones are more potent against M. tuberculosis than the related 2-benzylidene cycloalkanones and the meta substituted chromanone derivatives are more active than their ortho- and para-counterparts. Some guidelines for amplifying the project are presented.     

Relevance of attributional and consequential information for environmental product labelling

Purpose

Considering the general agreement in the literature that environmental labelling should be based on consequential modelling, while all actually implemented environmental labelling schemes are based on attributional modelling, we investigate the arguments for this situation as provided in the literature, and whether a dual label, representing on the same label the attributional and consequential results for the same product, can be a relevant solution or at least contribute to a more informed discussion.

Methods

We developed a dual label for three hypothetical, comparable products and presented this for a small test audience, asking three questions, namely “Which product would you choose?”, “Was the attributional information useful?” and “Would you accept to have only the attributional information?”

Results and discussion

From this small pilot exercise, it appears that informed consumers may have a strong preference for consequential information and that the main problem in communicating consequential results is that they are perceived as less trustworthy and more uncertain due to the fact that the consequences are located in the future. It thus appears important to build into a consequential label some increased level of guarantee of future good behaviour.

Conclusions

We propose to apply the above questions to a more statistically representative audience to confirm or refute the findings of this little test exercise.

     

Which features of UK farmland are important in retaining territories of the rapidly declining Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur?

Capsule Turtle Doves continue to show a strong population decline; territories were more likely to be retained in areas with more nesting habitat, and more suitable foraging habitat.

Aim To determine which features of farmland in England are important for retaining Turtle Dove territories

Methods Fifty-eight grid squares with recent records of territorial Turtle Doves were resurveyed, and squares retaining Turtle Dove territories compared with those from which Turtle Doves had been lost.

Results Turtle Dove territories were detected in 48% of squares resurveyed. When correcting for the 70% detection rate of the survey methodology, territories were present in 66% of squares surveyed suggesting a 34% decline over a 2-year period. Established scrub and hedgerows?>?4 m tall positively influenced Turtle Dove presence and abundance, as did standing water. Bare ground and fallow had positive effects on Turtle Dove abundance whereas grazed land negatively impacted abundance.

Conclusion The positive effects of area of established scrub and volume of large hedgerows are likely to represent a declining density of birds selecting the best quality nest sites. We suggest instead that foraging habitat may be limiting distribution.     

Behavioural responses of non-breeding waterbirds to drone approach are associated with flock size and habitat

ABSTRACT

Capsule: Non-breeding waterbirds are more likely to respond to drone approach when in larger flocks, and responses are more likely in arable and coastal habitats than at inland lochs.

Aims: To investigate the extent to which drones are a potential source of disturbance to non-breeding waterbirds.

Methods: Using a commercially available quadcopter drone, we approached waterbird flocks of varying sizes in coastal, freshwater, and arable habitats following a standardized protocol.

Results: Waterbirds at coastal sites and in arable fields were more likely to respond to drone approach than those at inland freshwater bodies. Larger flocks were more likely to respond to drone approach and responded at a greater distance than smaller flocks.

Conclusion: Repeated drone use at coastal and arable sites with large aggregations of feeding or roosting waterbirds could cause energetically costly flight responses, increased stress, and effective loss of available habitat. At such sites, it may be beneficial to regulate recreational and commercial drone use to minimize potential disturbance effects.     

Nocturnal parasitism of moth eggs by Trichogramma wasps

Parasitoid wasps of the genus Trichogramma are used worldwide as biological control agents against lepidopteran pests. Trichogramma wasps develop inside eggs of a wide range of host species, most of them moths. They are generally considered as diurnal insects. Here, we investigated whether Trichogramma wasps can also successfully parasitise host eggs at night under controlled laboratory conditions. Eggs of the moth Ephestia kuehniella were offered under dark conditions (scotophase) to females of Trichogramma brassicae and Trichogramma evanescens either from 9:00 PM to 9:00 AM or from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM at four different temperatures (5°C, 10°C, 15°C and 20°C). Both species are known to parasitise E. kuehniella eggs in the photophase during daytime. The results show that T. brassicae did not parasitise eggs in the scotophase at night and only very few in the artificially induced scotophase during daytime from 10°C to 20°C. In contrast, T. evanescens parasitised more eggs in the dark both at night and artificially induced scotophase during daytime. Parasitism in the scotophase already started at 5°C, with more eggs being parasitised and more offspring being produced at higher temperatures. T. evanescens displayed higher parasitism activity in the induced scotophase during daytime than in the scotophase at night. The present study suggests that Trichogramma are capable of successfully parasitising host eggs at night, even at low temperatures, but that nocturnal activity with respect to parasitism varies between wasp species.     

2001: New name to reflect wider scope Online-First in LINK now available

Starting with Volume 24 in 2001, with a new name and new editorial board the publisher also introduces wider scope, again strictly peer-reviewed articles and Online First, the feature in LINK that guarantees fast publication and international visibility through Springer-Verlag and LINK, the leading electronic journals service. With Online First articles can be published in electronic form weeks before distribution of the print journal – even before the issue and page numbers have been assigned. Publication of an article in a print journal usually takes several months. Even when peer-reviewing, revisions, final acceptance, typesetting and proof-reading have been completed, the paper cannot be printed immediately, but must wait until the “next available issue”. For technical reasons, a printed journal has to have a minimum number of pages, and issues are also published according to an annual schedule. Online First articles are published within the LINK service in a temporary directory. For the publication in the printed version, only the final page numbers, the citation line and the online publication date will be added. This is not a preprint service, the publications are in their final form. Authors will have been informed that after electronic publication they cannot change the contents of an article and that the articles cannot be withdrawn. Publication date of the article is the Online Publication Date, which is indicated in LINK as well as in the printed article. Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering now provides an even more attractive international forum to facilitate the discussion between engineering and biological science to find efficient solutions in the development and improvement of bioprocesses. The aim of the journal is to focus more attention on the multidisciplinary approaches for integrative process design based on the hierarchical structure and de-composability of biosystems leading to analysis and synthesis. Contributions are targeted at new approaches for rational and evolutive design of cellular systems by taking into account the environment and constraints of technical production processes, integration of recombinant technology and process design, as well as new hybrid intersections such as bioinformatics and process systems engineering. The journal publishes Original Papers, Short Communications and Mini Reviews. Fields of interest are: Bioprocess Engineering, Biocatalysis, Metabolic Engineering, Rational and Evolutive Design of Biosystems, Functinal Genomics, Application of Biosystems Engineering to Medicine. The Editor-in-chief     

Synthesis,biological evaluation,and molecular modelling studies of potent human neutrophil elastase (HNE) inhibitors

We report the synthesis and biological evaluation of a new series of 3- or 4-(substituted)phenylisoxazolones as HNE inhibitors. Due to tautomerism of the isoxazolone nucleus, two isomers were obtained as final compounds (2-NCO and 5-OCO) and the 2-NCO derivatives were the most potent with IC₅₀ values in the nanomolar range (20–70?nM). Kinetic experiments indicated that 2-NCO 7d and 5-OCO 8d are both competitive HNE inhibitors. Molecular modelling on 7d and 8d suggests for the latter a more crowded region about the site of the nucleophilic attack, which could explain its lowered activity. In addition molecular dynamics (MD) simulations showed that the isomer 8d appears more prone to form H-bond interactions which, however, keep the reactive sites quite distant for the attack by Ser195. By contrast the amide 7d appears more mobile within the active pocket, since it makes single H-bond interactions affording a favourable orientation for the nucleophilic attack.     

Nest-site selection of the Long-eared Owl Asio otus in northwestern Switzerland

Capsules Sites are selected as part of an antipredator strategy.

Aims To assess if site choice depends on habitat variables at nest sites and if habitat quality influences reproduction.

Methods Breeding density was explored in northwestern Switzerland from 1992 to 1996. Habitat variables were examined at 38 breeding sites and were compared with data collected from random sites. Habitat quality was estimated using the discriminant function scores of the nesting sites.

Results Breeding density was found to vary between years; more pairs bred and raised more young in 1993, a year of high vole abundance. Long-eared Owls tended to avoid the vicinity of buildings; they occupied sites with denser forest edges, greater canopy cover, and with more conifers than random sites. I found no statistical evidence that they used less optimal sites when the population was high. The number of fledglings increased with habitat quality, but did not vary with any of the habitat variables taken separately.

Conclusion Long-eared Owl selects nesting habitat as part of an anti-predator strategy, but the measures of territory quality did not seem to be a limiting factor for the population.     

Host-Guest Interactions as a Model for the Solvent Influence on the Conformational Populations in [2.2.2.2]Paracyclophane

The interaction of a number of small organic molecules with the two lowest energy minimum conformations of [2.2.2.2]paracyclophane (4°-PCP), 1 and 2, are studied by MMP2(87) force field calculations. Formations of nesting as well as inclusion complexes were identified on the potential energy surface. With CH₂Cl₂ and CHCl₃ used as guests, the nesting complexes are lower in energy than the inclusion ones with both conformations 1 and 2. Furthermore, the nesting complexes with 2 are found to be more stable than the nesting ones with 1. Formation of the double nesting complexes of CH₂Cl₂ and CHCl₃ with 1 and 2 raise the difference in complexation energy in favour of 2. The preference of 4°-PCP for the form 2 in solution is explained based on the above analysis, although 2 is calculated to be 0.2 kcal·mol^–1 higher in steric energy than 1 in the gas phase.Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s0089490050218     

The movements of the Kittiwake

Capsule During winter songbirds were far more abundant in game cover crops than conventional agricultural habitats.

Aims To quantify game crop use during winter by farmland songbirds when compared with conventional farmland at a regional scale.

Methods Songbirds were counted on 20 farms in eastern Scotland. The number of songbirds using game crops was compared with a sample of nearby conventional crops – with particular emphasis on set-aside and cereal stubbles.

Results Game crops supported up to 100 times as many birds per hectare, of significantly more species, than the other two habitat categories. Many of these species were those currently causing concern because of their declining populations.

Conclusion Game crops could provide opportunities for increasing food resources to songbirds whose populations may be limited by food availability and possibly arrest population declines. At present, the only measures likely to facilitate this are the government's various agri-environment schemes.     

Synthesis and potential antitumor activity of 7-(4-substituted piperazin-1-yl)-4-oxoquinolines based on ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin scaffolds: in silico studies

The potential antitumor activities of a series of 7-(4-substituted piperazin-1-yl)fluoroquinolone derivatives (1–14a,b) using ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin as scaffolds are described. These compounds exhibit potent and broad spectrum antitumor activities using 60 human cell lines in addition to the inherent antibacterial activity. Compounds 1a, 2a, 3b, 6b and 7a were found to be the most potent, while 2b, 5b, and 6a were found to have an average activity. The results of this study demonstrated that compounds 1a, 2a, 3b, 6b and 7a (mean GI₅₀; 2.63–3.09?µM) are nearly 7-fold more potent compared with the positive control 5-fluorouracil (mean GI₅₀; 22.60?µM). More interestingly, compounds 1a, 2a, 3b, 6b and 7a have an almost antitumor activity similar to gefitinib (mean GI₅₀; 3.24?µM) and are nearly 2-fold more potent compared to erlotinib (mean GI₅₀; 7.29?µM). In silico study and ADME-Tox prediction methodology were used to study the antitumor activity of the most active compounds and to identify the structural features required for antitumor activity.     

Among cradles and museums: seasonally dry forest promotes lineage exchanges between rain forest and savanna

ABSTRACT

Background: Cerrado comprises heterogeneous vegetation types. The flora of the vegetation types has distinct biogeographic origins and thus can be hypothesised to have distinct evolutionary imprints.

Aims: We hypothesised that the flora of riparian forest was phylogenetically overdispersed, whereas those of more open habitats were phylogenetically clustered.

Methods: We built a species-level phylogeny for 1,663 species of trees, shrubs and palms and analysed the pattern of lineage distribution, alpha and beta phylogenetic diversity among Cerrado vegetation types (riparian forest, rocky savana, savana and seasonally dry forest - SDTF).

Results: We found a gradient of high phylogenetic diversity and overdispersion from riparian forests towards phylogenetic clustering in vegetation in more open and drier habitats. Habitat shifts were common along the evolutionary history of all families analysed and most families showed a high frequency of shifts from SDTF to riparian forest and savanna.

Conclusions: SDTF seems to be a transitional habitat in evolutionary terms, promoting lineage exchanges between stands of riparian forest and savanna. While riparian forest can be seen as a ‘museum’, that harbours ancient lineages, savanna and rocky savanna are a ‘cradle’ of derived lineages. Habitat shifts are an important underlying drive of high present-day Cerrado flora diversity.     

Spatial distribution of functional traits of bryophytes along environmental gradients in an Atlantic Forest remnant in north-eastern Brazil

ABSTRACT

Background: Functional trait-based approaches have been used to identify patterns of plant species diversity and composition related to environmental variability/changes. Bryophytes are rapidly affected by perturbations and thus their traits and distribution are expected to show well-defined relationships with environmental variability.

Aim: To quantify the impacts of fragmentation on the diversity and structure of epiphytic bryophytes to vertical and horizontal environmental gradients in an Atlantic Forest remnant.

Methods: Six functional traits related to water relations and light tolerance were recorded and one of them, the leaf lobule area in liverworts, was selected for morphometric measurements along the gradients analysed. Functional diversity and composition metrics of bryophytes along gradients were compared.

Results: Functional diversity changed little along the vertical and horizontal gradients. Conversely, the functional composition of traits changed markedly. Traits related to water storage, such as the presence and area of lobules, and to protection against excess light incidence, such as dark pigments, were more numerous in the canopy and at the fragment edge.

Conclusions: Functional composition is more correlated with the vertical and horizontal gradients than functional diversity. The lobule of liverworts stood out as the most relevant trait to explain the adaptive strategies of bryophytes.     

新形势下军队医院卫生技术人员的稳定与思考

目的 分析在新形势下军队医院卫生技术人员的稳定性及影响因素。方法 对某省5家军队医院现役卫生技术人员进行问卷调查,采用卡方检验进行统计学分析。结果 有21.4％的现役卫生技术人员有转业倾向,其中医疗岗位占93.5%。与地方比福利待遇偏低、职称晋升困难、改非现役文职人员的不确定性显著影响人员的稳定性。结论 通过组织谈心和政策约束,稳定医疗岗位人才。对于选择提前退休或自主择业人员,积极创造条件返聘,通过各种途径稳定卫生技术人员,确保军队医院稳步转型。