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Terms modified by Historical Selected AbstractsEVOLUTION OF BIRD SONG AFFECTS SIGNAL EFFICACY: AN EXPERIMENTAL TEST USING HISTORICAL AND CURRENT SIGNALSEVOLUTION, Issue 8 2007Elizabeth P. Derryberry Mating signals act as behavioral barriers to gene flow in many animal taxa, yet little is known about how signal evolution within populations contributes to the formation of these barriers. Although variation in mating signals among populations is known to affect mating behavior, there is no direct evidence that the evolution of mating signals changes signal effectiveness within a natural population. Making use of historical recordings of bird song, I found that both male and female white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) respond more strongly to current than to historical songs, indicating that historical songs are less effective as signals in the current contexts of both mate choice and male,male competition. Finding that historical signals are less effective suggests that signal evolution within populations may ultimately contribute to the formation of behavioral barriers to gene flow between populations. [source] PHYLOGEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY OF SYMPATRIC SISTER SURFPERCH SPECIES, EMBIOTOCA JACKSONI AND E. LATERALIS ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST: HISTORICAL VERSUS ECOLOGICAL FACTORSEVOLUTION, Issue 2 2005Glacomo Bernardi Abstract With 18 closely related endemic species that radiated in a diversity of ecological niches, the California surfperches (Embiotocidae) species flock is a good candidate for the study of sympatric speciation. Resource partitioninghas been suggested as an important driving force in the radiation of the surfperch family. Within the family, two congeneric sister species, Embiotoca jacksoni and E. lateralis, are known to compete strongly for a preferred singleood resource and may be used as a model of ecological interactions for the family. Along the California coast, the distribution of the two species differs. Embiotoca jacksoni has a continuous range, whereas E. lateralis shows a disjunction with a distribution gap in the Southern California Bight. Two hypotheses may explain this disjunct distribution. Ecological competition may have displaced E. lateralis in favor of E. jacksoni. Alternatively, a common vicariant event may have separated the species into northern and southern populations, followed by secondary contactin E. jacksoni but not in E. lateralis. The two hypotheses predict different phylogeographic and demographic signatures. Using a combined phylogeographic and coalescent approach based on mitochondrial control region data, we show that vicariance can only account for a portion of the observed divergences. Our results are compatible with a significant role played by ecological competition in the southern range of the species. [source] THE IDEA OF DEFENSE IN HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY THINKING ABOUT JUST WARJOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS, Issue 4 2008James Turner Johnson ABSTRACT What is, or should be, the role of defense in thinking about the justification of use of armed force? Contemporary just war thinking prioritizes defense as the principal, and perhaps the only, just cause for resorting to armed force. By contrast, classic just war tradition, while recognizing defense as justification for use of force by private persons, did not reason from self-defense to the justification of the use of force on behalf of the political community, but instead rendered the idea of just cause for resort to force in terms of the sovereign's responsibility to maintain justice, vindicating those who had suffered from injustice and punishing evildoers. This paper moves through three major stages in the historical development of just war thinking, first examining a critical phase in the formation of the classical idea of just cause as the responsibility to maintain justice, then discussing the shift, characteristic of the modern period, to an idea of sovereignty as connected to the state and the prioritization of defense of the state as just cause for use of force, and lastly showing how this conception of the priority of defense became part of the recovery of just war thinking in the latter part of the twentieth century. The paper concludes by noting recent changes in thought on international law that tend to emphasize justice at the expense of the right of self-defense, suggesting that the roots of just war thinking imply the need for a similar rethinking of contemporary just war discourse. [source] HISTORICAL AND RECENT COLONIZATION OF THE SOUTH FARALLON ISLANDS, CALIFORNIA, BY NORTHERN FUR SEALS (CALLORHINUS URSINUS)MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2001Peter Pyle [source] WEDDING FEAST OF THE LAMB: EUCHARISTIC THEOLOGY FROM A HISTORICAL, BIBLICAL AND SYSTEMATIC PERSPECTIVE by Roch A. Kereszty OCist SHEER GRACE: LIVING THE MYSTERY OF GOD by Dra,ko DizdarNEW BLACKFRIARS, Issue 1031 2010DOMINIC WHITE OP No abstract is available for this article. [source] ASSESSING THE CANDIDATE AS A WHOLE: A HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT FOR PERSONNEL DECISION MAKINGPERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2002SCOTT HIGHHOUSEArticle first published online: 7 DEC 200 Although individual assessment is a thriving area of professional practice in industry, it receives little, if any, attention from textbooks on industrial psychology or personnel management. This article is an attempt to establish individual assessment's place in the history of personnel selection, and to examine why the practice has survived despite receiving little attention in research and graduate training. It is argued that the clinical, holistic approach that has characterized individual-assessment practice has survived primarily because the "elementalistic" testing approach, focusing on traits and abilities, has often been dismissed as inadequate for addressing the complexities of the executive profile. Moreover, public displeasure with standard paper-and-pencil testing in the 1960s and 1970s made the holistic approach to assessment an attractive, alternative. The article contrasts individual assessment practice with the current state of knowledge on psychological assessment and personnel decision making. Like psychotherapy in the 1950s, individual psychological assessment appears to have achieved the status of functional autonomy within psychology. [source] COPING WITH UNCERTAINTY: HISTORICAL AND REAL-TIME ESTIMATES OF THE NATURAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AND THE UK MONETARY POLICY*THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 4 2009GEORGE CHOULIARAKIS The paper derives and compares historical and real-time estimates of the UK natural unemployment rate and shows that real-time estimates are fraught with noise and should be treated with scepticism. A counterfactual exercise shows that, for most of the 1990s, the Bank of England tracked changes in the natural rate relatively successfully, albeit with some recognition lag which, at times, might have led to excessively cautious policy. A careful scrutiny of the minutes of the monetary policy committee meetings reveals that such ,cautiousness' should be taken as evidence of awareness of the real-time informational limitations that monetary policy is facing. [source] A guide to practical babooning: Historical, social, and cognitive contingencyEVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Louise Barrett Professor of Psychology at the University of Lethbridge Abstract As ecologically adaptable animals, baboons are distributed widely across Africa, and display a variety of morphological and behavioral differences that reflect both local ecology and a complex evolutionary history. As long-lived, slowly reproducing animals, baboons face numerous ecological challenges to survival and successful reproduction. As group-living animals, the social world presents an equally diverse array of challenges that require the negotiation of individual needs within the constraints imposed by others. Understanding how all these facets of baboon evolutionary history, life history, ecology, sociality, and cognition fit together is an enormous but engaging challenge, and despite one hundred years of study, it is clear there is a still much to learn about the various natural histories of baboons. What also is clear, however, is that an appreciation of contingency holds the key to understanding all these facets of baboon evolution and behavior. In what follows, I hope to illustrate exactly what I mean by this, highlighting along the way that history is not to be ignored, variability is information and not merely "noise", and that behavioral and cognitive complexity can be two very different things. [source] Gender, Citizenship and Subjectivity: Some Historical and Theoretical ConsiderationsGENDER & HISTORY, Issue 3 2001Kathleen Canning Because the French Revolution failed to produce a widely acceptable definition of citizenship, the limits of manhood suffrage in the early nineteenth century were uncertain. Social practices, in particular scientific activity, served as claims to the status of citizen. By engaging in scientific pastimes, bourgeois Frenchmen asserted that they possessed the rationality and autonomy that liberal theorists associated both with manliness and with civic capacity. However, bourgeois science was never a stable signifier of masculinity or of competence. As professional science emerged, the bourgeois amateur increasingly became the feminised object of satire rather than the sober andmeritorious citizen-scientist. [source] Temporal dynamics and nestedness of an oceanic island bird faunaGLOBAL ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2006Ermias T. Azeria ABSTRACT Aim, To examine temporal variation in nestedness and whether nestedness patterns predict colonization, extinction and turnover across islands and species. Location, Dahlak Archipelago, Red Sea. Method, The distributions of land birds on 17 islands were recorded in two periods 30 years apart. Species and islands were reordered in the Nestedness Temperature Calculator, software for assessing degrees of nestedness in communities. The occupancy probability of each cell, i.e. species,island combinations, was calculated in the nested matrix and an extinction curve (boundary line) was specified. We tested whether historical and current nested ranks of species and islands were correlated, whether there was a relationship between occupancy probability (based on the historical data) and number of extinctions or colonizations (regression analyses) and whether the boundary line could predict extinctions and colonizations (chi-square analyses). Results, Historical and current nested ranks of islands and species were correlated but changes in occupancy patterns were common, particularly among bird species with intermediate incidence. Extinction and turnover of species were higher for small than large islands, and colonization was negatively related to isolation. As expected, colonizations were more frequent above than below the boundary line. Probability of extinction was highest at intermediate occupancy probability, giving a quadratic relationship between extinction and occupancy probability. Species turnover was related to the historical nested ranks of islands. Colonization was related negatively while extinction and occupancy turnover were related quadratically to historical nested ranks of species. Main conclusions, Some patterns of the temporal dynamics agreed with expectations from nested patterns. However, the accuracy of the predictions may be confounded by regional dynamics and distributions of idiosyncratic, resource-limited species. It is therefore necessary to combine nestedness analysis with adequate knowledge of the causal factors and ecology of targeted species to gain insight into the temporal dynamics of assemblages and for nestedness analyses to be helpful in conservation planning. [source] Historical and political implications of haemophilia in the Spanish royal familyHAEMOPHILIA, Issue 2 2003C. Ojeda-Thies Summary. ,The political implications of haemophilia in the marriage of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Princess Victoria Eugenie Battenberg of England have been reviewed in recent books on history. However, the fact that they had haemophilic sons also affected their personal relationship. In this article, we review the consequences haemophilia bore on their lives. We feel great compassion for families who suffer the illness, be it ordinary people or members of royalty; however, in this case, it can be said that when the disease affected a royal couple, the political consequences were great. [source] Pedagogy and the Practice of Science: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, 2005 by David Kaiser (ed.)HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2006JOHN L. RUDOLPH [source] The triggering of debris flow due to channel-bed failure in some alpine headwater basins of the Dolomites: analyses of critical runoffHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 13 2008C. Gregoretti Abstract The debris deposits at the bottom of very steep natural channels and streams in high mountain areas can be mobilized by runoff, triggering a water,sediment mixture flow known as debris flow. The routing of debris flow through human settlements can cause damage to civil structures and loss of human lives. The prediction of such an event, or the runoff discharge that triggers it, assumes an interest in risk analyses and the planning of defence measures. The object of this study is to find a method to determine the critical runoff value that triggers debris flow as a result of channel-bed failure. Historical and rainfall data on 30 debris flows that occurred in six watersheds of the Dolomites (north-eastern Italian Alps) were collected from different sources. Field investigations at the six sites, together with the hydrologic response to the rainfalls that triggered the events, were performed to obtain a realistic scenario of the formation of the debris flow there occurred. Field observations include a survey along the channel of the triggering reach of debris flow, with measurements of the channel slope and cross-section and sampling of debris deposits for grain size distribution. Simulated runoff discharge values based on the rainfall recorded by pluviometers were then compared with values obtained through experimental criteria on the initiation and formation of debris flow by bed failure. The results are discussed to provide a plausible physical-based method for the prediction of the triggering of debris flow by channel-bed failure. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Solar correlates of Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude climate variabilityINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 8 2002Ronald E. Thresher Abstract Atmospheric circulation in the southern mid-latitudes is dominated by strong circum-Antarctic zonal west winds (ZWW) over the latitude range of 35 to 60°S. These winds exhibit coherent seasonal and interannual variability, which has been related both to Antarctic (e.g. polar ice) and low-latitude climate (e.g. El Niño,southern oscillation) parameters. Historical and recent studies suggest that, at its northern margins, variability in the ZWW also has a marked quasi-decadal component. Analysis of sea-level pressure and rainfall data for the Australian region, South Africa and South America confirms frequent indications of quasi-decadal variability in parameters associated with the ZWW, which appears to be in phase around the hemisphere. This variation broadly correlates with the sunspot cycle, and specifically appears to reflect sunspot-correlated, seasonally modulated shifts in the latitude range each year of the sub-tropical ridge over eastern Australia. Sunspot-correlated variability in the southern mid-latitudes is likely to have substantial effects on temperate climate and ecology and is consistent with recent models of solar effects on upper atmospheric climate, though the mechanisms that link these to winds and rainfall at sea level remain obscure. Copyright © 2002 Royal Meteorological Society [source] Spirituality and clinical care in eating disorders: A qualitative studyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EATING DISORDERS, Issue 1 2007Patricia Marsden MA Abstract Objective: Historical and contemporary research has posited links between eating disorders and religious asceticism. This study aimed to examine relationships between eating disorders, religion, and treatment. Method: Qualitative study using purposeful sampling, applying audiotaped and transcribed depth interview, subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: Participants were 10 adult Christian women receiving inpatient treatment for anorexia or bulimia nervosa. Five dominant categories emerged: locus of control, sacrifice, self-image, salvation, maturation. Appetitive control held moral connotations. Negative self-image was common, based more on sin than body-image. Medical treatment could be seen as salvation, with religious conversion manifesting a quest for healing, but treatment failure threatened faith. Beliefs matured during treatment, with prayer, providing a healing relationship. Conclusion: Religious beliefs impact on attitudes and motivation in eating disorders. Clinicians' sensitivity determines how beliefs influence clinical outcome. Treatment modifies beliefs such that theological constructs of illness cannot be ignored. © 2006 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2006 [source] Historical and contemporary distributions of carnivores in forests of the Sierra Nevada, California, USAJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 8 2005William J. Zielinski Abstract Aim, Mammalian carnivores are considered particularly sensitive indicators of environmental change. Information on the distribution of carnivores from the early 1900s provides a unique opportunity to evaluate changes in their distributions over a 75-year period during which the influence of human uses of forest resources in California greatly increased. We present information on the distributions of forest carnivores in the context of two of the most significant changes in the Sierra Nevada during this period: the expansion of human settlement and the reduction in mature forests by timber harvest. Methods, We compare the historical and contemporary distributions of 10 taxa of mesocarnivores in the conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range by contrasting the distribution of museum and fur harvest records from the early 1900s with the distribution of detections from baited track-plate and camera surveys conducted from 1996 to 2002. A total of 344 sample units (6 track plates and 1 camera each) were distributed systematically across c. 3,000,000 ha area over a 7-year period. Results, Two species, the wolverine (Gulo gulo) and the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), present in the historical record for our survey area, were not detected during the contemporary surveys. The distributions of 3 species (fisher [Martespennanti], American marten [M. americana], and Virginia opossum [Didelphisvirginiana]) have substantially changed since the early 1900s. The distributions of fishers and martens, mature-forest specialists, appeared to have decreased in the northern Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade region. A reputed gap in the current distribution of fishers was confirmed. We report for the first time evidence that the distribution of martens has become fragmented in the southern Cascades and northern Sierra Nevada. The opossum, an introduced marsupial, expanded its distribution in the Sierra Nevada significantly since it was introduced to the south-central coast region of California in the 1930s. There did not appear to be any changes in the distributions of the species that were considered habitat generalists: gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), western spotted skunk (Spilogale gracilis), or black bear (Ursus americanus). Detections of raccoons (Procyon lotor) and badgers (Taxidea taxus) were too rare to evaluate. Contemporary surveys indicated that weasels (M. frenata and M. erminea) were distributed throughout the study area, but historical data were not available for comparison. Main conclusions, Two species, the wolverine and Sierra Nevada red fox, were not detected in contemporary surveys and may be extirpated or in extremely low densities in the regions sampled. The distributions of the mature forest specialists (marten and fisher) appear to have changed more than the distributions of the forest generalists. This is most likely due to a combination of loss of mature forest habitat, residential development and the latent effects of commercial trapping. Biological characteristics of individual species, in combination with the effect of human activities, appear to have combined to affect the current distributions of carnivores in the Sierra Nevada. Periodic resampling of the distributions of carnivores in California, via remote detection methods, is an efficient means for monitoring the status of their populations. [source] Spirituality at the beginning of lifeJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 7 2006Jennifer Hall MSc, PGDip(HE) Aim., The aim of this paper was to explore the issues surrounding the spirit of the unborn child. Background., Pregnancy and birth have been recognised to have a spiritual nature by women and health professionals caring for them. Midwives and nurses are expected to have a holistic approach to care. I suggest that for care to be truly holistic exploration is required of the spiritual nature of the unborn fetus. Methods., Historical, philosophical and religious views of the spirit of the fetus, are explored as well as those of women. Investigation was made of views of the timing of ,ensoulment'. Results., The review demonstrates the value women place on the sacredness of pregnancy and birth, and that the spiritual nature of the unborn should be recognised. Conclusion., This paper shows that the views and values women have of pregnancy and birth and the powerful, spiritual relationship they have with the unborn, indicates that further discussion and research needs to be carried out in this area. Relevance to clinical practice., It is recommended that all who work with women who are pregnant should recognise the spiritual nature of the unborn when carrying out care. [source] Sedimentary record of a tsunami during Roman times, Bay of Cadiz, SpainJOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, Issue 5-6 2002L. Luque Abstract Historical data show that the Gulf of Cadiz has been exposed to destructive tsunamis during at least the past 2000 yr. The last tsunami was generated by the AD 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which affected the Atlantic coasts of Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Today, these littoral areas are intensely populated and the expected damage could be much greater. Tsunami studies are of great importance in helping to determine the recurrence interval of these events. The presence of washover fan deposits on the inland margin of the Valdelagrana Spit bar (Cadiz, Spain) indicates the occurrence of a high energy marine event ca. 2300 cal. yr BP. Historical, geomorphological, sedimentological, palaeontological and geochronological data suggest that a tsunami could have affected the area during Roman times. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Historical and theoretical perspectives in language policy and planningJOURNAL OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS, Issue 2 2000Thomas Ricento This paper explores the evolution of language policy and planning (LPP) as an area of research from the end of World War II to the present day. Based on analysis of the LPP literature, three types of factors are identified as having been instrumental in shaping the field. These factors , macro sociopolitical, epistemological, and strategic , individually and interactively have influenced the kinds of questions asked, methodologies adopted, and goals aspired to in LPP research. Research in LPP is divided into three historical phases: (1) decolonization, structuralism, and pragmatism; (2) the failure of modernization, critical sociolinguistics, and access; and (3) the new world order, postmodernism, and linguistic human rights. The article concludes with a discussion of current research trends and areas requiring further investigation. [source] Hindcasting extreme events: the occurrence and expression of damaging floods and landslides in Southern ItalyLAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2006M. L. Clarke Abstract Extreme rainstorm events across the Mediterranean have caused significant loss of life and damage to property and livelihoods. Italy is particularly vulnerable to natural hazards with recent events such as the 1996 floods in Versilia and the 1998 mass-movement failures at Sarno causing the deaths of 174 people. We have analysed 50 years of rainfall records to hindcast extreme rainstorms that have affected the eastern Basilicata region of southern Italy. Historical and archive data of individual floods and landslides have been compared with their antecedent rainfall conditions in order to characterize the nature of events that cause damage to society and infrastructure. Analysis of extreme-event frequency shows a decreasing annual trend related to changes in regional climate conditions in the western and central Mediterranean driven by changes in the strength of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Land-degradation problems associated with floods and landslides are decreasing due to a drier winter climate coupled with improved hazard mitigation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Perspectives on Philosophy of Science in Nursing: an Historical and Contemporary AnthologyNURSING PHILOSOPHY, Issue 3 2001Trevor Hussey [source] Perspectives on Eternal Security: Biblical, Historical, and Philosophical Perspectives , Edited by Kirk R. MacGregor and Kevaughn MattisRELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 3 2010Daniel Castelo No abstract is available for this article. [source] Exploring the Origins of the Bible: Canon Formation in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective , Edited by Craig A. Evans and Emanuel TovRELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 4 2009Michael W. Holmes No abstract is available for this article. [source] The Glory of the Atonement: Biblical, Historical and Practical Perspectives: Essays in Honor of Roger Nicole , Edited by Charles E. Hill and Frank A. James IIIRELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 2 2006Hans Boersma No abstract is available for this article. [source] Bauxite Mining Restoration by Alcoa World Alumina Australia in Western Australia: Social, Political, Historical, and Environmental ContextsRESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 2007John H. Gardner Abstract Alcoa World Alumina Australia mines bauxite under lease agreements with the Government of Western Australia. The leases lie in the Darling Range to the east of Perth, the capital and major population center. In addition to bauxite and other mineral ores, the Darling Range is a major potable water source and harbors a species-rich forest dominated by Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata), a significant commercial timber. Conservation and recreation are important land uses in the region. Social and political pressures have led to stringent governmental requirements for restoration. In addition, a summer drought period, a soil deficient in most nutrients, water management challenges, an introduced disease, caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands, and a post-mining ecosystem that must be conducive to the prescribed burning management of the region pose significant challenges to successful restoration. Alcoa presently mines and restores approximately 550 ha per annum. Although the "footprint" at the end of the life of the mining operations represents only about 4% of the total forest estate, Alcoa is committed to restoring the forest values of the region of all lands impacted by mining. The major objective of restoration is to enhance or maintain forest values by restoring habitat and structural characteristics of the native forest environment. Completion criteria for Alcoa's mine restoration have been developed. The original Alcoa mine at Jarrahdale has been rehabilitated, and in 2005, a 975-ha area received a "certificate of completion" and was returned to the management control of the State of Western Australia. [source] ,Cavemen in an Era of Speed-of-Light Technology': Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Communication within PrisonsTHE HOWARD JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, Issue 2 2009YVONNE JEWKES Abstract: Many prisoners believe that the restricted access they have to computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies and, in particular, the almost total absence of computers and Internet access in prisons is a form of censure that renders them second-class citizens in the Information Age. This article examines contemporary rationales and historical precedents for denying prisoners the means to communicate (both with each other and with those outside the prison) and argues that the prevention of communication, a pivotal feature of the Victorian and Edwardian prison regime, represents a significant continuity in the experience of prison life in the 21st Century. [source] Ladies of the Night: A Historical and Personal Perspective on the Oldest Profession in the WorldTHE JOURNAL OF POPULAR CULTURE, Issue 3 2009Elizabeth B. Christian No abstract is available for this article. [source] Predictors of Hospital Admission for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbations in Canadian Emergency DepartmentsACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 4 2009Brian H. Rowe MD, CCFP(EM) Abstract Objectives:, The objective was to examine predictors of hospital admission among adults presenting to Canadian emergency departments (EDs) for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Current acute treatment approaches and outcomes 2 weeks after the ED visit are also described. Methods:, Subjects, aged ,35 years presenting with COPD exacerbations to 16 EDs across Canada, underwent a structured in-ED interview and a telephone interview 2 weeks later. Results:, Of 501 study patients, 247 (49.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 44.9% to 53.6%) were admitted. Admitted patients were older, were more often former smokers, and had more admissions for COPD during the past 2 years. They also reported more days of activity limitation and use of inhaled beta2 -agonists in the previous 24 hours. Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS), respiratory rate (RR), and airflow obstruction were more severe in the hospitalized group. Most of the patients received inhaled beta2 -agonists, anticholinergics, oral corticosteroids (CS), and antibiotics; hospitalized patients received more aggressive treatments. The median ED length of stay (LOS) of admitted patients was 13.1 hours (interquartile range [IQR] = 7.4-23.0) compared to 5.6 hours (IQR = 4.2-8.4) in discharged patients. Admission was associated with at least two COPD admissions in the past 2 years (odds ratio [OR] = 2.10; 95% CI = 1.24 to 3.56), receiving oral CS for COPD (OR = 1.72; 95% CI = 1.08 to 2.74), having a CTAS score of 1,2 (OR = 2.04; 95% CI = 1.33 to 3.12), and receiving adjunct ED treatments (OR = 3.95; 95% CI = 2.45 to 6.35). Use of EDs for usual COPD care was associated with a reduced risk of admission (OR = 0.43; 95% CI = 0.28 to 0.66). Conclusions:, Exacerbations of COPD in Canadian EDs result in prolonged ED stays and approximately 50% hospitalization despite aggressive acute treatment approaches. Historical, severity, and treatment-related factors were strongly associated with hospital admission. Validation of these results should be completed prior to widespread use. [source] Historical and ecological correlates of body shape in the brook stickleback, Culaea inconstansBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 4 2009JESSICA LYN WARD Using geometric morphometric methods, we evaluated the correlation between phenotypic variation and available historical and habitat information for two genetically differentiated, allopatric lineages of a widespread North American species, the brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans). The results obtained revealed strong patterns of structured phenotypic differentiation across the species range with extreme phenotypes occurring at the northwest and southeast range boundaries. Shape variation was broadly congruent with the distribution of two mitochondrial DNA lineages; a deep-bodied eastern form (Atlantic refugium) and a slim-bodied western form (Mississippian refugium); however, the two forms were not lineage-specific and phenotypic cladistic diversification is likely to be an artefact of underlying clinal variation associated with longitudinal and latitudinal gradients. In addition, we found little evidence of diagnosable lake and river forms across North America. Taken together, large-scale patterns of phenotypic diversity observed in C. inconstans suggest that relatively recent factors, such as continually varying natural selection across the range and/or potential local gene flow, may substantially mitigate the effects of historical separation or a generalized adaptive response to alternative habitats. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 96, 769,783. [source] The compelling effects of compulsory schooling: evidence from CanadaCANADIAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2006Philip Oreopoulos The implications of these laws, however, are not well understood. Historical changes to compulsory schooling in Canada permit an examination of their effects on would-be-dropouts under very different circumstances than those during changes in other countries. Mandating education substantially increased adult income and substantially decreased the likelihood of being below the low-income cut-off unemployed, and in a manual occupation. These findings suggest significant gains from this legislation, which seem unlikely offset by the costs incurred while having to remain in school. JEL classification: I20, I28 Les effets incontournables de l'école obligatoire: résultats pour le Canada., Des lois sur l'école obligatoire existent depuis plus de cent ans et on continue à discuter la possibilité d'en allonger le mandat. Les impacts de ces lois ne sont cependant pas très bien compris. Des changements à cette législation à divers moments dans l'histoire au Canada permettent d'examiner les effets de ces lois sur le décrochage scolaire dans des situations très différentes de celles observées dans d'autres pays. L'instruction obligatoire augmente substantiellement le niveau de revenu à l'âge adulte et réduit de manière substantielle la probabilité d'avoir un Revenu très faible, d'être en chômage et d'être un travailleur manuel. Ces résultats suggèrent que cette législation a des effets bénéfiques significatifs qui ne sont vraisemblablement pas compensés par les coûts encourus en restant à l'école. [source] |