Muscular response to the therapist and symptomatic improvement during biofeedback for tension headache

The relationship between muscular response to the therapist's presence and symptomatic improvement was studied during biofeedback. Thirty-two patients suffering from tension headaches received muscular biofeedback training of six sessions plus a follow-up session two months later. Patients' electro-myographic frontal response was measured prior to treatment both with and without the therapist present. A relationship was found between symptomatic improvement at follow-up and muscular response to the therapist's presence before treatment: patients showing a decrease of at least 10% in muscular tension response to the presence of their future therapist improved more regarding headache intensity than the patients showing increase or smaller variation of their EMG. A significant correlation of .59 was found between the frontal EMG response to therapist presence during the evaluation session and headache improvement at follow-up. The results suggest that the decrease of muscular tension during the first contact with the therapist could be an indicator of good prognosis, possibly because of an immediate positive therapeutic relationship and/or favorable expectancies concerning future benefit of treatment.The authors thank Mrs. G. Parisé for her assistance during the experimentation, Ms. M. Newman for her editorial corrections, and Ms. A. Khan for her secretarial work.     

Effect of volunteers on maize gene flow

Regulatory approvals for deliberate release of GM maize events into the environment have lead to real situations of coexistence between GM and non-GM, with some fields being cultivated with GM and conventional varieties in successive seasons. Given the common presence of volunteer plants in maize fields in temperate areas, we investigated the real impact of GM volunteers on the yield of 12 non-GM agricultural fields. Volunteer density varied from residual to around 10% of plants in the field and was largely reduced using certain cultural practices. Plant vigour was low, they rarely had cobs and produced pollen that cross-fertilized neighbour plants only at low—but variable—levels. In the worst-case scenario, the estimated content of GMO was 0.16%. The influence of GM volunteers was not enough to reach the 0.9% adventitious GM threshold but it could potentially contribute to adventitious GM levels, especially at high initial densities (i.e. above 1,000 volunteers/ha).     

Serum Metrnl is associated with the presence and severity of coronary artery disease

Meteorin‐like (Metrnl) is a novel adipokine that is highly expressed in white adipose tissue. Metrnl stimulates energy expenditure and improves glucose tolerance in rodents. However, whether Metrnl plays a role in coronary artery disease (CAD) remains to be elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the association of serum Metrnl with CAD in Chinese patients. A total of 193 patients with CAD and 156 control subjects were enrolled in this study. Serum Metrnl concentration was measured by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Anthropometric phenotypes, fasting glucose, serum lipids, and inflammatory cytokines were measured. Serum Metrnl was lower in CAD patients when compared to those controls (132.41 vs 173.17 pg/mL, P < 0.001). Serum Metrnl was negatively correlated with metabolic parameters, including body mass index, total cholesterol, and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol as well as inflammatory markers including high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein, IL‐1β, and IL‐11 even after adjustment for potential confounding variables (P < 0.05). In multivariable logistic regression analyses, compared to those in the highest tertile of serum Metrnl levels, subjects in the lowest tertile had the highest risks for CAD (adjusted OR = 2.63, 95% CI = 1.46‐4.27, P = 0.001). After adjustment for potential confounding variables, serum Metrnl was also decreased as the number of stenosed vessels increased (P < 0.001). Furthermore, decreased Metrnl level was negatively correlated with the severity of CAD quantified by the Gensini score. This first case‐control study shows significant associations of serum Metrnl with the presence and severity of CAD, suggesting Metrnl might be a new promising therapeutic target for CAD.     

Conservation planning and viability: problems associated with identifying priority sites in Swaziland using species list data

Conservation planning assessments based on species atlas data are known to select planning units containing ecotones because these areas are relatively species‐rich. However, this richness is often dependent on the presence of adjoining core habitat, so populations within these ecotones might not be viable. This suggests that atlas data may also fail to distinguish between planning units that are highly transformed by agriculture or urbanization with those from neighbouring untransformed units. These highly transformed units could also be identified as priority sites, based solely on the presence of species that require adjoining habitat patches to persist. This potential problem was investigated using bird and mammal atlas data from Swaziland and a landcover map and found that: (i) there was no correlation between planning unit species richness and proportion of natural landcover for both taxa; (ii) the priority areas that were identified for both birds and mammals were no less transformed than if the units had been chosen at random and (iii) an approach that aimed to meet conservation targets and minimize transformation levels failed to identify more viable priority areas. This third result probably arose because 4.8% of the bird species and 22% of the mammal species were recorded in only one planning unit, reducing the opportunity to choose between units when aiming to represent each species. Therefore, it is suggested that using species lists to design protected area networks at a fine spatial scale may not conserve species effectively unless population viability data are explicitly included in the analysis.     

Effects of carcass size and male presence on clutch size in Nicrophorus quadripunctatus (Coleoptera: Silphidae)

The effects of carcass size and male presence on clutch size in Nicrophorus quadripunctatus were examined. Male presence increased clutch size and improved the female's ability to produce replacement clutches. Clutch size was also related to carcass size. There was a negative correlation between number of clutches and clutch size for most carcass sizes. We conclude that N. quadripunctatus is potentially iteroparous and hypothesize that reproductive energy is reserved for brood failure.     

观看、在场与公共视觉伦理影响：论当代景观空间的剧场性

当风景园林与戏剧艺术相关联时,并非仅指代表象化的、空洞无味的形式语言,而是可以具备更丰富、更深层的关系。对深层关联的剖析和揭示,有助于从多个视角进行学科认知和帮助设计实践。将“剧场性”一词置于风景园林学科语境时,可以从 “在场”和“观看”两个层面进行解读：形式向度上,它以观者身体的出席为实现前提;内涵向度上,它强调观看行为背后的意图与观念。不仅如此,在工业与科技崛起、社会关系产生变革的时代背景下,公共空间关系也相应变化,公共视觉的建构与传播成为实现社会伦理影响的重要手段。相应地,公共景观空间作为承载全民性“在场”的“观看”行为的剧场性空间,需要考虑如何通过营造手段实现大众意识的引导。基于以上内涵关联,以“剧场性”作为切入视角便会发现,社会公正、审美引导和潜在信息传播可以被提炼为当代景观空间营造中公共视觉伦理转向的3个关键词。它们的价值在物质空间中以视觉话语的形式体现,而隐含在其后的公民权利宣言和自然伦理教育与引导,则以无形的方式传播到更远的地方。     

Maternal presence and environmental enrichment affect food neophobia of piglets

Young omnivores show food neophobia in order to avoid the potential harmful effects of ingesting unfamiliar food items. We investigated whether the presence of the mother and an enriched rearing environment would reduce food neophobia in piglets. A mother may provide information on suitable food types to include in the diet, whereas an enriched environment may stimulate behavioural development and reduce reactivity towards novel stimuli (including food). Five barren-reared or enriched-reared piglets per litter were exposed to two novel food items in the presence, and the other five per litter in the absence, of the mother in a 7 min test. Maternal presence reduced food neophobia profoundly as reflected in a reduced latency to touching the food, a higher proportion of piglets sampling the two different food items and a higher intake. Latency to touch the food, however, was affected by maternal presence more strongly for barren-reared piglets than for enriched-reared piglets, and in the absence of the sow, consumption of one novel food type and time spent in the feeding area were higher for enriched-reared piglets.Environmental enrichment does have the potential to reduce food neophobia, but the presence of the mother during the encounter with novel food seems more efficient in decreasing food neophobia of piglets.     

中国金沙江一级支流牛栏江的鱼类区系分析

2006年11月和2008年10月,对云南省牛栏江流域进行考察,共采集到鱼类标本42种,结合历史记录和中国科学院昆明动物研究所鱼类标本馆馆藏的鱼类标本,整理出牛栏江鱼类名录。在剔除引入种的基础上,采用按所含种属的绝对数目进行排序的传统方法和区系存在度方法对目、科、属级水平进行排序,分析牛栏江鱼类区系组成特点。两种方法结果相差甚远,结果显示：在传统排序方法中的优势科属,即一些世界性分布的科和属,在牛栏江分布的种类并不很多,区系存在度相应较低。相反,一些具有地方性分布和小的科和属,其区系存在度相对较大。显然,以区系存在度分析所得结果更能反映牛栏江流域鱼类区系组成特点。两种方法相结合,分析牛栏江的鱼类区系成分,并与金沙江中下游（石鼓至宜宾段）鱼类区系相比较,表现出高度的相似性。     

物种潜在分布地预测系统PSDS的设计与实现

本研究设计并实现了一个基于地理信息系统(GIS)的仅用物种已知分布点数据预测物种潜在分布地的PSDS系统.在这一系统中,通过层次聚类算法对物种已知分布点数据进行处理,减少了异常值对预测结果的影响,从而解决了环境包络模型预测结果过于乐观的问题,在物种已知分布数据较少时也能取得较好的结果.该系统实现了数据加载与导出、图层浏览与显示、生态因子分析与分布地预测、结果展示等功能,操作方便,简单易用.本文以白冠长尾雉(Syrmaticus reevesii)为例,根据4个省的少量已知分布点数据对其在国内的潜在分布地进行了预测,获得了较理想的结果,可为该物种的保护提供科学依据.     

Place illusion and plausibility can lead to realistic behaviour in immersive virtual environments

In this paper, I address the question as to why participants tend to respond realistically to situations and events portrayed within an immersive virtual reality system. The idea is put forward, based on the experience of a large number of experimental studies, that there are two orthogonal components that contribute to this realistic response. The first is ‘being there’, often called ‘presence’, the qualia of having a sensation of being in a real place. We call this place illusion (PI). Second, plausibility illusion (Psi) refers to the illusion that the scenario being depicted is actually occurring. In the case of both PI and Psi the participant knows for sure that they are not ‘there’ and that the events are not occurring. PI is constrained by the sensorimotor contingencies afforded by the virtual reality system. Psi is determined by the extent to which the system can produce events that directly relate to the participant, the overall credibility of the scenario being depicted in comparison with expectations. We argue that when both PI and Psi occur, participants will respond realistically to the virtual reality.     

Ovarian structures and uterine environment are associated with phenotypic and genetic merit for performance in lactating dairy cows

The objective of this study was to estimate the association between detailed reproductive phenotypes for cows categorized as divergent for phenotypic and genetic performance. The hypothesis was that higher yielding animals, either phenotypically or genetically, would have compromised ovarian and uterine reproductive performance. Detailed reproductive traits including multiple ovulations, cystic ovarian structures, corpus luteum (CL) presence, and uterine environment were available on 9675 ultrasound records from 8174 dairy lactating cows, calved between 10 and 70 days. Cows were categorized, within parity, into low, average, or high for each of the performance traits. There was a greater likelihood of multiple ovulations in cows with greater phenotypic yields (odds ratio: 1.53–1.81) and greater genetic merit for yield (odds ratio: 1.31–1.59) relative to lower performing contemporaries. After adjustment for genetic merit, a similar trend of increased odds (odds ratio: 1.29–1.87) of multiple ovulations in higher yielding cows was observed compared with the lowest yielding category. There was no association between either phenotypic milk composition or genetic merit for milk composition with the likelihood of multiple ovulations. The likelihood of cystic ovarian structures was highest in cows with greatest phenotypic milk yields (odds ratio: 2.75–3.24), greater genetic merit for milk yield (odds ratio: 1.30–1.51), and even after adjustment for genetic merit there was a greater likelihood of cystic ovarian structures in cows with the highest milk yields (odds ratio: 2.71–2.95), compared with cows in the lowest category for each of the milk traits. Cows with average phenotypic milk yields were more likely to have a CL, compared with the lowest yielding category (odds ratio: 1.20–1.23), and these associations remained after adjustment for genetic merit of the trait. The likelihood of CL presence was highest in cows with the lowest genetic merit for milk. Lower fat:protein ratio was associated with an increased likelihood of CL presence compared with cows with greater fat:protein ratio and cows with the highest phenotypic milk composition were more likely to have a CL compared with cows in the lowest composition category. Genetic predisposition to higher somatic cell score was associated with a reduced risk of multiple ovulations (odds ratio: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.55–0.87) but an increased likelihood of CL presence (odds ratio: 2.66; 95% CI: 2.09–3.37) and poorer uterine health score (odds ratio: 1.36; 95% CI: 1.20–1.55). There was a lower likelihood of multiple ovulations, cystic ovarian structures, and poorer uterine health and an increased likelihood of CL presence in cows with superior genetic merit for reproductive performance and survival.     

Sensitivity of different taxonomic levels of soil Gamasina to land use and anthropogenic disturbances

• 1 The effect of taxonomic level on the sensitivity of bioindicators has been widely investigated in aquatic ecosystems and, to a lesser extent, in terrestrial ecosystems. However, no studies have been conducted on the sensitivity of the different taxonomic levels of soil mites, especially Gamasina, to human activities.
• 2 The present study aimed to assess the sensitivity of different taxonomic levels of soil Gamasina mites to anthropogenic disturbances in Europe and Argentina. We arranged the data from previous projects in a hierarchical system and conducted a study to identify the critical taxonomical levels that had the highest discriminative potential between sites (Europe and Argentina) or management types (forests, grasslands, fallows, succession, recultivation and agricultural sites).
• 3 For the Gamasina community, geographical location was by far more important than the influence of any land use type. The analysis including only the European sites demonstrated that communities belonging to sites subjected to different land uses were also significantly different.
• 4 The species data set provided a clearer separation of sites according to both the geographical and the land‐use gradients than the genus and family data sets. The genus and, to a lesser extent, the family approach may be sufficient to elucidate the influence of great geographical differences and also of certain land uses (e.g. grasslands from the forests and arable sites).
• 5 Species presence/absence data provided valuable information in our analyses, although the use of quantitative data yielded a clearer separation of sites.

     

Family Presence During Resuscitation: Attitudes of Yale-New Haven Hospital Staff

Introduction: A novel paradigm of patient- and family-centered care has been promoted and adopted by many parties in the United States. This new attitude emphasizes the role of the family in the care of the patient. One topic that should be affected by the new paradigm is family presence during resuscitation, which continues to be a highly debatable topic with no widespread implementation. The objective of this study was to assess the attitudes of Yale Emergency Department (ED) health care personnel toward Family Presence during Resuscitation (FPDR).Materials and Methods: In 2012, we surveyed 100 health care professionals in the Yale-New Haven Hospital ED, including physicians, nurses, technicians, social workers, and chaplains. One researcher analyzed the qualitative data, and both researchers reviewed the results to increase internal validity.Results: Seventy-seven percent of staff members favored allowing the option of FPDR. Seventy-six percent of staff members believed that family members would want to be present during their loved one’s resuscitation.Conclusion: Given scientific evidence to support FPDR and the staff’s wide acceptance of it, we recommend drafting and implementing a protocol for allowing FPDR. The protocol should be individualized to the Yale-New Haven Hospital ED setting.     

转基因低水平混杂问题——政策与内涵

转基因技术近年来在世界范围内快速发展,但由于不同国家在转基因审批上的不同步,以及各国设立严格的转基因低水平混杂阈值,导致正常的农产品贸易由于无意混入少量转基因成分而发生贸易摩擦,甚至导致贸易中断.从转基因低水平混杂(LLP)的含义出发分析其特殊性,分析了世界主要国家的LLP政策以及严格的LLP政策对贸易产生的负面影响.根据研究结果指出:在当前转基因作物采用率不断提高,以及转基因新品种研发加速背景下,转基因低水平混杂在技术上是不可避免的.因此,有必要在全球范围内建立转基因安全互信机制,各国需要尽量减少审批不同步时滞,设置合理的转基因低水平阈值,降低对正常贸易的负面影响.研究结果对中国转基因LLP政策和有关标准制定有一定借鉴意义.     

Stimulating factors for aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases in seeds of various plants

Factors stimulating the reaction of aminoacylation tRNAs were isolated from dry seeds of several plants. The factors show similar MWs during chromatography on Sephadex G-25. Differential stimulation in homogeneous and heterogeneous enzyme-factor systems in four lupin varieties and two inbred lines of maize was observed. It is suggested that the factors from various plants do not influence enzymes selectively but have ability to stimulate the aminoacylation reactions regardless of their origin.     

Winter mortality of Aceria chondrillae, a biological control agent released to control rush skeletonweed (Chondrilla juncea) in the western United States

Abstract:  Classical biological control of weeds is based on the assumptions that: (1) plant species are in part invasive in their introduced range because of the absence of coevolved specialist herbivore arthropods and plant pathogens; and (2) that these specialist herbivores can regulate host-plant populations. Although the need for quantitative post-release monitoring studies testing these assumptions has been acknowledged repeatedly, the number of assessments is still remarkably small and usually restricted to systems with notable impact of an agent species. However, studying systems where biological control agents cause no observable target weed reductions may be important to identifying factors that limit the population size or impact of biological control agents. Three biological agents were released for the control of the herbaceous perennial rush skeletonweed, Chondrilla juncea in North America between 1975 and 1977. Although all three species are widely established, weed densities are increasing and there is little quantitative information on factors limiting biological control efficacy. We examined the winter biology and survivorship of the rush skeletonweed gall mite Aceria chondrillae at two rush skeletonweed field sites in south-western Idaho over 2 years. Gall mite winter mortality was high (>90%) in both years and for both sites. Gall mites were more abundant on plants that produced rosettes in fall and rush skeletonweed plants growing on southern aspect were 3.4 times more likely to produce rosettes than those growing on northern aspects. Our data suggest that A. chondrillae population densities are limited by its high winter mortality. The gall mites may require fall rosettes to successfully survive the winter, which are commonly absent on north-facing aspects, impairing the efficacy of A. chondrillae to control rush skeletonweed in the intermountain western United States.     

Analyzing species distributions among temporary ponds with a permutation test approach to the join-count statistic

The Bluff Springs Sand Ponds (BSSPs) are a set of closely-spaced temporary ponds of varying hydroperiod, depth and surface area. We sampled crustacean communities of 15 ponds throughout hydroperiods in 1996 to examine species distributions among ponds. Although ponds were closely spaced (within ca. 16 ha), most species were present in subsets of the 15 ponds. We then analyzed spatial patterns of 12 crustacean species for complete spatial randomness (CSR) using join-count statistics. However, the join-count was designed for large-samples (n>50), so we further analyzed (by simulation) the join-count and a variation of the join-count (Cliff & Ord, 1981) for small-scale reliability. Simulation results revealed that neither testing distribution was reliable for n<30. We then used a permutation test to analyze species distributions and concluded that some species were distributed non-randomly. Therefore, further investigations of mechanisms causing species distributions (e.g., hydroperiod, physical/chemical conditions, biotic interactions) are clearly prescribed. The permutation test should be useful for studies of species distribution patterns among other temporary waters, and can help focus studies on causal mechanisms of distributions among small numbers of temporary aquatic habitats.     

Presence or absence of fish as a cue to macroinvertebrate abundance in boreal wetlands

Waterfowl that eat macroinvertebrates must select among potential nesting or brood-rearing habitats that may vary in food abundance over the season. We compared the reliability of predicting the relative abundance of macroinvertebrates in boreal wetlands using either the number of macroinvertebrates collected at one sampling period, or presence or absence of fish. Wetlands with fish had fewer macroinvertebrates than fishless wetlands in all five sampling periods. Predictions of the relative abundance of invertebrates in a wetland at other sampling periods based on the presence or absence of fish, were equal to or better than predictions based on the actual number of macroinvertebrates collected during one sampling period. These results suggest that fish status of a wetland is a reliable cue to invertebrate abundance in boreal wetlands.     

Is my species distribution model fit for purpose? Matching data and models to applications

Species distribution models (SDMs) are used to inform a range of ecological, biogeographical and conservation applications. However, users often underestimate the strong links between data type, model output and suitability for end‐use. We synthesize current knowledge and provide a simple framework that summarizes how interactions between data type and the sampling process (i.e. imperfect detection and sampling bias) determine the quantity that is estimated by a SDM. We then draw upon the published literature and simulations to illustrate and evaluate the information needs of the most common ecological, biogeographical and conservation applications of SDM outputs. We find that, while predictions of models fitted to the most commonly available observational data (presence records) suffice for some applications, others require estimates of occurrence probabilities, which are unattainable without reliable absence records. Our literature review and simulations reveal that, while converting continuous SDM outputs into categories of assumed presence or absence is common practice, it is seldom clearly justified by the application's objective and it usually degrades inference. Matching SDMs to the needs of particular applications is critical to avoid poor scientific inference and management outcomes. This paper aims to help modellers and users assess whether their intended SDM outputs are indeed fit for purpose.