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Appropriate Response (appropriate + response)
Selected AbstractsIMAGES OF GOD AND PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: DOES A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH A LOVING GOD MATTER?,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 4 2006JAMES D. UNNEVER This study argues that the nature and intensity of a person's relationship with God creates a transposable cognitive schema that shapes people's views toward public policies such as executing convicted murderers. In this context, we investigate whether Americans who report having a close personal relationship with a loving God are less likely to support the death penalty. We hypothesize that such a relationship tempers the tendency to see punitiveness as an appropriate response to human failings. Individuals who hold a loving God image are more likely to believe that God responds to those who have "failed" or "sinned" by demonstrating unconditional love, forgiveness, and mercy. Accordingly, support for capital punishment is problematic because it contradicts the image of a merciful, forgiving deity; God's purpose,and admonition to believers,is to demonstrate compassion toward those who have trespassed against others. We test these possibilities using the 2004 General Social Survey (GSS). Controlling for a range of religious factors and other known predictors of death penalty attitudes, the results show that Americans with a personal relationship with a loving God are less likely to support capital punishment for convicted murderers. [source] Clinical pathologic correlations for diagnosis and treatment of nail disordersDERMATOLOGIC THERAPY, Issue 1 2007Olympia I. Kovich ABSTRACT:, Clinicopathologic correlation is crucial to the correct diagnosis of disorders of the nail unit. This chapter will explore four common clinical scenarios and how pathology can help differentiate between their various etiologies. These include: dark spot on the nail plate (melanin versus heme), subungual hyperkeratosis (onychomycosis versus psoriasis), longitudinal melanonychia (benign versus malignant), and verrucous papule (verruca versus squamous cell carcinoma). Consideration must be given to both when to perform a biopsy and the location of the biopsy site, which must be based on an understanding of the origin of the changes. An overarching principle is that lesions within the same differential diagnosis may be present concomitantly, such as malignant melanoma of the nail unit associated with hemorrhage. Therefore, even with a biopsy-proven diagnosis, the clinician must always monitor lesions of the nail unit for appropriate response to treatment and consider an additional biopsy for recalcitrant lesions. [source] Integration of diverse inputs in the regulation of Caenorhabditis elegans DAF-16/FOXODEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS, Issue 5 2010Jessica N. Landis Abstract In a remarkably conserved insulin signaling pathway that is well-known for its regulation of longevity in worms, flies, and mammals, the major C. elegans effector of this pathway, DAF-16/FOXO, also modulates many other physiological processes. This raises the question of how DAF-16/FOXO chooses the correct targets to achieve the appropriate response in a particular context. Here, we review current knowledge of tissue-specificity and interacting partners that modulate DAF-16/FOXO functional output. Developmental Dynamics 239:1405,1412, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] A Community Intervention by Firefighters to Increase 911 Calls and Aspirin Use for Chest PainACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 4 2006Hendrika Meischke PhD Abstract Objectives: To test the effectiveness of an intervention, delivered face-to-face by local firefighters, designed to increase utilization of 911 and self-administration of aspirin for seniors experiencing chest pain. Methods: King County, Washington was divided into 126 geographically distinct areas that were randomized to intervention and control areas. A mailing list identified households of seniors within these areas. More than 20,000 homes in the intervention areas were contacted by local firefighters. Data on all 911 calls for chest pain and self-administration of aspirin were collected from the medical incident report form (MIRF). The unit of analysis was the area. Firefighters delivered a heart attack survival kit (that included an aspirin) and counseled participants on the importance of aspirin and 911 use for chest pain. Main outcome measures were 911 calls for chest pain and aspirin ingestion for a chest pain event, obtained from the MIRFs that are collected by emergency medical services personnel for 2 years after the intervention. Results: There were significantly more calls (16%) among seniors on the mailing list in the intervention than control areas in the first year after the intervention. Among the seniors who were not on the mailing list, there was little difference in the intervention and control areas. The results were somewhat sensitive to the analytical model used and to an outlier in the treatment group. Conclusions: A community-based firefighter intervention can be effective in increasing appropriate response to symptoms of a heart attack among elders. [source] Mapping immune response profiles: The emerging scenario from helminth immunologyEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 12 2007Alvaro Díaz Abstract Metazoan parasites of mammals (helminths) belong to highly divergent animal groups and yet induce a stereotypical host response: Th2-type immunity. It has long been debated whether this response benefits the host or the parasite. We review the current literature and suggest that Th2 immunity is an evolutionarily appropriate response to metazoan invaders both in terms of controlling parasites and repairing the damage they inflict. However, successful parasites induce regulatory responses, which become superimposed with, and control, Th2 responses. Beyond helminth infection, this superimposition of response profiles may be the norm: both Th1 and Th2 responses coexist with regulatory responses or, on the contrary, with the inflammatory Th17 responses. Thus, typical responses to helminth infections may differ from Th2-dominated allergic reactions in featuring not only a stronger regulatory component but also a weaker Th17 component. The similarity of immune response profiles to phylogenetically distinct helminths probably arises from mammalian evolution having hard-wired diverse worm molecules, plus tissue-damage signals, to the beneficial Th2 response, and from the convergent evolution of different helminths to elicit regulatory responses. We speculate that initiation of both Th2 and regulatory responses involves combinatorial signaling, whereby TLR-mediated signals are modulated by signals from other innate receptors, including lectins. [source] Areca nut-abuse liability, dependence and public healthADDICTION BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2002A. Winstock It may, however, stigmatize substance use, especially when western diagnostic criteria are applied to essentially culture-bound substances. However, when the pattern of use of a substance results in significant personal harm, then whether dependence exists or not is less important than developing an appropriate response, if its use is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Such is the case with areca nut, the fourth most commonly used drug in the world after tobacco, alcohol and caffeine. In this paper I will explore its use and properties with respect to its abuse and dependence liability and consider the associated implications for public health. [source] Group motives in threatening contexts: When a loyalty conflict paradoxically reduces the influence of an anti-discrimination ingroup normEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Juan M. Falomir-Pichastor The influence of pro- versus anti-discrimination ingroup norms on Swiss nationals' attitudes towards foreigners was investigated as a function of national identification and perceived material ingroup threat. As predicted, results revealed a significant interaction between identification and threat: High identifiers showed a more negative attitude than low identifiers mainly when perceived threat was high. In other words, high identifiers conformed to the pro-discrimination norm, but showed a counter-conformity effect for the anti-discrimination norm. Additional results revealed that high identifiers actually disagreed with the anti-discrimination norm when perceived threat was high, but that they were more attached to the ingroup. These findings suggest that when the ingroup norm is not an appropriate response to an ingroup threat (i.e. anti-discrimination norm), high identifiers find themselves in a loyalty conflict: they are unable to simultaneously conform to the group norm and protect the group. This conflict was resolved through a compensatory mechanism: High identifiers distanced themselves from the ingroup norm in order to protect the group (i.e. by increasing negative attitudes towards foreigners) but reinforced other ingroup ties (i.e. by increasing attachment to the ingroup values). Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Feeding signals to the hungry mindEXPERIMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 8 2009Nina Balthasar Obesity, due to its associated co-morbidities, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, is at the forefront of today's health care concerns. Our need for novel, multifaceted approaches to tackle the global increase of waistlines is urgent, and understanding the physiological processes underlying our vulnerability to weight gain is an important one of them. Evidence for considerable heritability of body weight indicates genetic influences in the susceptibility to our obesogenic environment. Here, we will focus on neurons in brain structures such as the hypothalamus, which sense the body's metabolic state and, through an intricate cascade of events, elicit an appropriate response. We will explore the use of genetically modified mouse models in the investigation of physiological functions of genes and pathways in neuronal regulation of metabolic balance. Use of these techniques allows us to make manipulations at the molecular level (e.g. in the neuronal metabolic sensing mechanism) and combine this with systems-level physiological analysis (e.g. body weight). Recent technological advances also enable the investigation of the contributions of genes to the co-morbidities of obesity, such as obesity-induced hypertension. Reviewing examples of improvements as well as large gaps in our knowledge, this lecture aims to incite interest in whole body physiological research. [source] Molecular versatility of antibodiesIMMUNOLOGICAL REVIEWS, Issue 1 2002Henry Metzger Summary: As immunology developed into a discrete discipline, the principal experimental efforts were directed towards uncovering the molecular basis of the specificity exhibited by antibodies and the mechanism by which antigens induced their production. Less attention was given to how antibodies carry out some of their effector functions, although this subject presents an interesting protein-chemical and evolutionary problem; that is, how does a family of proteins that can bind a virtually infinite variety of ligands, many of which the species producing that protein has never encountered, reproducibly initiate an appropriate response? The experimental data persuasively suggested that aggregation of the antibody was a necessary and likely sufficient initiating event, but this only begged the question: how does aggregation induce a response? I used the IgE:mast cell system as a paradigm to investigate this subject. Data from our own group and from many others led to a molecular model that appears to explain how a cell ,senses' that antigen has reacted with the IgE. The model is directly applicable to one of the fundamental questions cited above, i.e. the mechanism by which antigens induce the production of antibodies. Although the model is conceptually simple, incorporating the actual molecular events into a quantitatively accurate scheme represents an enormous challenge. [source] What happens when people disclose sexual or physical abuse to staff at a community mental health centre?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 2 2002Kirsty Agar ABSTRACT: The files of 200 users of a community mental health centre revealed that 46% of the files contained documentation of sexual or physical abuse as children or adults. Only 36% of summary formulations and 33% of treatment plans for the abused clients mentioned the abuse. Only 22% of the abused clients received abuse-focused therapy. Response rates were lower for clients who were male or had a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis, and if the clinician was male or a psychiatrist. None of the alleged crimes, past, recent or ongoing, was reported to legal authorities. Development of unit policies and training programmes to ensure appropriate response to abuse histories is recommended. [source] Community health practitioner's practice guideline for a changing health care: Korean contributionJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 8 2009Il Sun Ko Aims and objectives., The specific aims of the study were (1) to identify community residents' health problems and community health practitioners' activities, (2) to explore community health practitioners' perception of the practice guidelines and (3) to provide recommendations for the development of a new practice guideline in the future. Background., Community health practitioners in Korea are recognised as a critical component of the public health workforce in rural areas. Community health practitioners are registered nurses with six months special training, who have the chief responsibility of delivering primary health care to remote or isolated communities. Although there has been numerous changes in focus of community health practitioners practice over the two decades, community health practitioners guidelines have never been updated since being first developed in 1981. Design., This investigation employed a cross-sectional survey and focus group interview. Methods., The samples included two different groups: 1003 community health practitioners participated in a survey and a group of 12 community health practitioners participated in a focus group interview. A measure of perception of the guideline was developed from Mansfield's work. Goolsby's criteria were revised and used to guide the focus group interview. Results., The participants recognised that the role of community health practitioners is in a process of transition and expect to use well developed guidelines that will allow an appropriate response to the needs of the community. Community health practitioners are generally supportive of practice guidelines although they report various contextual, social and resource barriers to the use of practice guidelines. Finally, the researchers have provided recommendations for the development of new community health practitioners practice guidelines. Conclusion., A newly developed community health practitioners guideline should assist in articulating new roles and responsibilities in the practice of community health practitioners and establish a foundation for knowledge, skills and training necessary for them to work independently. Relevance to clinical practice., New services made available for under-recognised health problems may be a direct outcome of newly developed guidelines. [source] Neuronal pigmented autophagic vacuoles: lipofuscin, neuromelanin, and ceroid as macroautophagic responses during aging and diseaseJOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY, Issue 1 2008David Sulzer Abstract The most striking morphologic change in neurons during normal aging is the accumulation of autophagic vacuoles filled with lipofuscin or neuromelanin pigments. These organelles are similar to those containing the ceroid pigments associated with neurologic disorders, particularly in diseases caused by lysosomal dysfunction. The pigments arise from incompletely degraded proteins and lipids principally derived from the breakdown of mitochondria or products of oxidized catecholamines. Pigmented autophagic vacuoles may eventually occupy a major portion of the neuronal cell body volume because of resistance of the pigments to lysosomal degradation and/or inadequate fusion of the vacuoles with lysosomes. Although the formation of autophagic vacuoles via macroautophagy protects the neuron from cellular stress, accumulation of pigmented autophagic vacuoles may eventually interfere with normal degradative pathways and endocytic/secretory tasks such as appropriate response to growth factors. [source] Preparedness for Influenza Pandemic in Hong Kong Nursing UnitsJOURNAL OF NURSING SCHOLARSHIP, Issue 4 2006Agnes Tiwari Background: To present preparedness planning for an influenza pandemic for two nursing subunits: nursing services in hospitals and schools of nursing in universities. Discussion: The preparedness plan is modeled on a modified Haddon matrix, a logical approach to identify measures appropriate for the pre-event, event, and postevent phases of an influenza pandemic. For the pre-event phase, the objective is to ensure preparedness for the potential pandemic outbreak through training, communication, surveillance, infection control, and vaccination. Once the pandemic outbreak is declared, the aim is to implement effective measures to ensure a rapid and appropriate response. For the postevent phase, the plan is focused on the restoration of core functions, vigilance for a second or possibly more waves of the pandemic, and psychosocial support to staff and students. Conclusion: Measures required to prepare for, respond to, and manage the consequences of influenza pandemic are identified. This planning indicates the need to balance a logical approach with contextual perspectives and the importance for nursing leaders to develop plans for subunits of larger entities. [source] Understanding the Judicial Role in Addressing Gender Bias: A View from the Eighth Circuit Federal Court SystemLAW & SOCIAL INQUIRY, Issue 2 2002Kimberly A. Lonsway The role of trial judges in the litigation process is frequently debated. Are judges to be dispassionate adjudicators, disengaged referees in a sport in which attorneys compete? Or are they charged with a more active role in promoting the substance, form, and process of justice? In the present paper, we explore the judicial role in addressing gender bias in federal litigation, using data gathered for the Eighth Circuit Gender Fairness Task Force. The federal judges of this circuit were surveyed about their experiences, observations, and opinions of gender-biased conduct. Results indicated that although judges viewed judicial intervention as an appropriate response to gender bias, they had little personal experience with intervention in such a situation. Fur thermore, when specific hypothetical scenarios were presented, they generally agreed that the described conduct was inappropriate but offered little consensus regarding the best course of action for an attorney or judge confronted with such behavior. The Eighth Circuit data thus provide the basis for expanded understanding of the conduct at issue, the options for action in response, and the persistent discrepancy in viewpoints on gender bias and the judicial role. [source] TEMPORARY INTRINSICS AND RELATIVIZATIONPACIFIC PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2010M. ORESTE FIOCCO Some have concluded that the only appropriate response to the problem of temporary intrinsics is the view that familiar, concrete objects persist through time by perduring, that is, by having temporal parts. Many, including myself, believe this view of persistence is false, and so reject this conclusion. However, the most common attempts to resolve the problem and yet defend the view that familiar, concrete objects endure are self-defeating. This has heretofore gone unnoticed. I consider the most familiar such attempts, based on a strategy called tensing the copula, and present a general argument to demonstrate why this strategy , and any strategy based on relativization, fails. I then show how the considerations raised in this general argument undermine other attempts to resolve the problem while denying perdurance. All these attempts are undermined by an assumption essential to the problem of temporary intrinsics, to wit, that there are many moments of time and all have the same ontological status. As long as this assumption is maintained, the only solution to the problem is that familiar, concrete objects perdure. Thus, in order to defend the view that objects persist through time by enduring, one must adopt a different metaphysics of time (viz., presentism). I conclude that it is neither unreasonable nor impracticable to do so. [source] Innate recognition of intracellular pathogens: detection and activation of the first line of defenseAPMIS, Issue 5-6 2009SIMON B. RASMUSSEN The innate immune system constitutes the first line of defense against infections and is also important for initiating the development of an adaptive immune response. The innate immune system recognizes microbial infection through germline-encoded pattern recognition receptors, which are responsible for decoding the microbial fingerprint and activating an appropriate response against the invading pathogen. In this review, we present and discuss current knowledge on how the innate immune system recognizes intracellular pathogens, activates intracellular signaling, induces gene expression, and orchestrates the microbicidal response against pathogens with a habitat within host cells. [source] VIOLENCE AMONG ADOLESCENTS LIVING IN PUBLIC HOUSING: A TWO-SITE ANALYSIS,CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2003TIMOTHY O. IRELAND Research Summary: Current knowledge about violence among public housing residents is extremely limited. Much of what we know about violence in and around public housing is derived from analysis of Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data or victimization surveys of public housing residents. The results of these studies suggest that fear of crime among public housing residents is high and that violent offense rates may be higher in areas that contain public housing compared with similar areas without public housing. Yet, "[r]ecorded crime rates (and victimization rates) are an index not of the rate of participation in crime by residents of an area, but of the rate of crime (or victimization) that occurs in an area whether committed by residents or non-residents" (Weatherburn et al., 1999:259). Therefore, neither UCR nor victimization data measurement strategies address whether crime in and around public housing emanates from those who reside in public housing. Additionally, much of this research focuses on atypical public housing,large developments with high-rise buildings located in major metropolitan areas. To complement the existing literature, we compare rates of self-reported crime and violence among adolescents who reside in public housing in Rochester, N.Y., and Pittsburgh, Pa., with adolescents from the same cities who do not live in public housing. In Rochester, property crime and violence participation rates during adolescence and early adulthood among those in public housing are statistically equivalent to participation rates among those not in public housing. In Pittsburgh, living in public housing during late adolescence and early adulthood, particularly in large housing developments,increases the risk for violent offending, but not for property offending. The current study relies on a relatively small number of subjects in public housing at any single point in time and is based on cross-sectional analyses. Even so, there are several important policy implications that can be derived from this study, given that it moves down a path heretofore largely unexplored. Policy Implications: If replicated, our findings indicate that not all public housing is inhabited disproportionately by those involved in crime; that to develop appropriate responses, it is essential to discover if the perpetrators of violence are residents or trespassers; that policy should target reducing violence specifically and not crime in general; that a modification to housing allocation policies that limits, to the extent possible, placing families with children in late adolescence into large developments might reduce violence perpetrated by residents; that limited resources directed at reducing violence among residents should be targeted at those developments or buildings that actually have high rates of participation in violence among the residents; and that best practices may be derived from developments where violence is not a problem. [source] State Collapse and Fresh Starts: Some Critical ReflectionsDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 5 2002Martin Doornbos In examining the incidence of state collapse, two central themes emerge, one concerned with the search for causalities and the other concerned with appropriate responses. There is often a misplaced tendency to look for single causes and explanations of state collapse, and similarly to propose single, preferably ,quick,fix' solutions. Instead, what seems to be called for is a more nuanced scrutiny which differentiates the factors leading to collapse in specific instances, and a reconsideration, in the light of this scrutiny, of responses and possible external actor involvement. This article addresses these two themes. Firstly, it takes a preliminary look into the complex web of conditioning and facilitating factors that may or may not set in motion a chain reaction eventually leading to state collapse, examining the extent to which any emerging patterns can be identified. Secondly, it looks more closely at the response side to incidences of state collapse, specifically external responses. Whilst external actors, notably the ,donor community', are trying to better prepare themselves for the eventualities of crises of governance and state collapse in various countries, and to design more effective strategies and instruments, it remains to be seen to what extent there is a ,fit' between the determinants and dynamics of state collapse and the responses and solutions for restoration which are offered. [source] Neurophysiology of hunger and satietyDEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESEARCH REVIEW, Issue 2 2008Pauline M. Smith Abstract Hunger is defined as a strong desire or need for food while satiety is the condition of being full or gratified. The maintenance of energy homeostasis requires a balance between energy intake and energy expenditure. The regulation of food intake is a complex behavior. It requires discrete nuclei within the central nervous system (CNS) to detect signals from the periphery regarding metabolic status, process and integrate this information in a coordinated manner and to provide appropriate responses to ensure that the individual does not enter a state of positive or negative energy balance. This review of hunger and satiety will examine the CNS circuitries involved in the control of energy homeostasis as well as signals from the periphery, both hormonal and neural, that convey pertinent information regarding short-term and long-term energy status of the individual. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Dev Disabil Res Rev 2008;14:96,104. [source] Phenotype and function of neonatal DCEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Fabienne Willems Abstract Newborns face complex physical and immunological changes before and after birth. Although the uterus is a sterile environment for the fetus, it also contains non-self material from the mother. Birth involves the transition from the sterile intra-uterine environment to an environment rich in microbes and requires rapid induction of appropriate responses to control these microbes. In this review we focus on the similarities and differences of human and murine neonatal DC and their reaction to various stimuli. A better understanding of the newborn immune system , in particular, the DC,T-cell interaction , will be beneficial for the development of improved strategies to prevent or treat infections in this vulnerable population and prepare the immune system to cope with allergens and tumors later in life. [source] Evolutionary ecology, sexual conflict, and behavioral differentiation among baboon populationsEVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 5 2003Peter Henzi Abstract A central assumption of baboon socio-ecological models is that all populations have the same capacity to react to different environments. The burden of our argument is that this assumption needs to be reconsidered. Data suggest not only that hamadryas, but chacma as well, differ in interesting ways from the stock baboon model that has been derived, in the main, from earlier work on anubis and cynocephalus. Although environmental factors are behind these differences, much of their influence is a consequence of their effect on restricted ancestral populations, where selection for appropriate responses to the social challenges set by local conditions now constrains the nature of individual responses to contemporary environments. Available genetic evidence suggess a southern African origin for Papio at a time when climatic conditions were certainly no better than they are now and when temperatures, if nothing else, were probably lower. In light of this, a reconstruction of how climate has structured the sexual conflict between males and female charcma, which itself hinges on infanticide, can help explain not only the East African pattern, but also how the apparently anomalous hamadryas pattern has been derived. [source] Control of tiller recruitment in bunchgrasses: uniting physiology and ecologyFUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2004K. W. TOMLINSON Summary 1Bunchgrasses are clonal plants whose dominance of moist grasslands worldwide is maintained largely through tiller recruitment. Tiller recruitment in clonal plants is a subset of the problem of lateral bud outgrowth in higher plants. This paper proposes that three currently competing hypotheses of lateral bud outgrowth , apical dominance; the nutrition hypothesis; and photosensitivity to the red : far-red light ratio , all operate in a manner dependent on environment and plant form. 2The evidence for each hypothesis is reviewed, following which an integrated model is provided that links the three hypotheses into a cohesive strategy. Consequently we assess tiller recruitment by bunchgrasses in terms of the constraints of their functional growth form and their environment. Of the mineral nutrients, only nitrogen is considered because it is the only nutrient whose relationship with tiller recruitment is well established. 3The integrated model maintains the accepted paradigm that actual bud release is hormonally controlled by the auxin : cytokinin ratio, although local nutrient concentrations may also be inhibitory. Importantly, each hormone is controlled by local signals in the shoots and roots, respectively, facilitating appropriate responses to environmental conditions. Auxin production and export from the shoots is moderated by phytochrome responses to red : far-red light ratios. Cytokinin production is mediated by root N concentration which, in turn, is a function of N absorption from the soil and seasonal reallocation of tissue N. 4The growth form of bunchgrasses and the environment in which they are found emphasize that N has a strong mediatory role over tiller production which allows the grass plant to respond appropriately to shifts in this limiting resource. This suggests that control of lateral bud outgrowth may have an evolutionary basis in resource competition for N. [source] Predicting changes in community composition and ecosystem functioning from plant traits: revisiting the Holy GrailFUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2002S. Lavorel Summary 1The concept of plant functional type proposes that species can be grouped according to common responses to the environment and/or common effects on ecosystem processes. However, the knowledge of relationships between traits associated with the response of plants to environmental factors such as resources and disturbances (response traits), and traits that determine effects of plants on ecosystem functions (effect traits), such as biogeochemical cycling or propensity to disturbance, remains rudimentary. 2We present a framework using concepts and results from community ecology, ecosystem ecology and evolutionary biology to provide this linkage. Ecosystem functioning is the end result of the operation of multiple environmental filters in a hierarchy of scales which, by selecting individuals with appropriate responses, result in assemblages with varying trait composition. Functional linkages and trade-offs among traits, each of which relates to one or several processes, determine whether or not filtering by different factors gives a match, and whether ecosystem effects can be easily deduced from the knowledge of the filters. 3To illustrate this framework we analyse a set of key environmental factors and ecosystem processes. While traits associated with response to nutrient gradients strongly overlapped with those determining net primary production, little direct overlap was found between response to fire and flammability. 4We hypothesize that these patterns reflect general trends. Responses to resource availability would be determined by traits that are also involved in biogeochemical cycling, because both these responses and effects are driven by the trade-off between acquisition and conservation. On the other hand, regeneration and demographic traits associated with response to disturbance, which are known to have little connection with adult traits involved in plant ecophysiology, would be of little relevance to ecosystem processes. 5This framework is likely to be broadly applicable, although caution must be exercised to use trait linkages and trade-offs appropriate to the scale, environmental conditions and evolutionary context. It may direct the selection of plant functional types for vegetation models at a range of scales, and help with the design of experimental studies of relationships between plant diversity and ecosystem properties. [source] Interviewing people with chronic illness about sexuality: an adaptation of the PLISSIT modelJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 11c 2008Brenda Mercer RN Aims and objectives., The author will draw on relevant research and her personal experience as someone who lives with a chronic illness to identify the challenges that are inherent in research interviews regarding sexuality in chronic illness. Background., Although sexuality in chronic illness has become a significant body of research in the field of chronic illness, particularly in the field of cancer, there are few guidelines available to assist researchers in interviewing people about such an intimate and sensitive topic. Conclusions., The PLISSIT model used in clinical counselling could be adapted to be used by researchers in interviews about sexuality. With this model a researcher can cover in-depth interview on this individual's sexuality and sexual health. Also, with the use of the PLISSIT model as a research tool, many of the past myths concerning sexuality and sexual health can be exposed and changed. Relevance to clinical practice., The adaptation of the PLISSIT counselling model to an interviewing model can contribute to researchers feeling more confident with participants when interviewing them concerning their sexuality and sexual health. It may illicit more appropriate responses from individuals concerning their sexuality and sexual health. [source] ,Time Out' for Women: Innovation in Scotland in a Context of ChangeTHE HOWARD JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, Issue 4 2008MARGARET MALLOCH Abstract: The 218 Centre was set up following consistent concerns about the increasing number of women in prison in Scotland and the high-level needs of many of these women. It is an innovative and high-profile attempt to develop appropriate responses to women in the criminal justice system. It offers women an opportunity for ,time out' of their normal environment without resorting to ,time in' custody, providing both residential and community-based services. This article outlines some of the issues and challenges which characterised the early development and operation of the 218 Centre. It illustrates the ways in which some of the issues that arose during the evaluation resonate with current and ongoing debates within criminology, and draws attention to the difficulties in using the criminal justice system to address other issues. [source] A NEW SURGICAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMMEANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 7 2007John P. Collins Educating and training tomorrow's surgeons has evolved to become a sophisticated and expensive exercise involving a wide range of learning methods, opportunities and stakeholders. Several factors influence this process, prompting those who provide such programmes to identify these important considerations and develop and implement appropriate responses. The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons embarked on this course of action in 2005, the outcome of which is the new Surgical Education and Training programme with the first intake to be selected in 2007 and commence training in 2008. The new programme is competency based and shorter than any designed previously. Implicitly, it recognizes in the curriculum and assessment development and processes, the nine roles and their underpinning competencies identified as essential for a surgeon. It is an evolution of the previous programme retaining that which has been found to be satisfactory. There will be one episode of selection directly into the candidate's specialty of choice and those accepted will progress in an integrated and seamless fashion, provided they meet the clinical and educational requirements of each year. The curriculum and assessment in the basic sciences include both generic and specially aligned components from the commencement of training in each of the nine surgical specialties. Born of necessity and developed through extensive research, discussion and consensus, the implementation of this programme will involve many challenges, particularly during the transition period. Through cooperation, commitment and partnerships, a more efficient and better outcome will be achieved for trainees, their trainers and their patients. [source] The effects of prompting, fading, and differential reinforcement on vocal mands in non-verbal preschool children with autism spectrum disordersBEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS, Issue 2 2010Benjamin R. Thomas There are few procedures to teach non-vocal children vocal mands. This study evaluated the effects of prompting, fading, and differential reinforcement on eye contact, pointing, vocal approximations, independent requests and immature mands in three children with Autism Spectrum Disorders who in baseline emitted almost no independent vocal mands. This procedure resulted in a large and socially valid increase in independent vocal mands, other appropriate responses and near elimination of immature mands. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||