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Tentative Conclusions (tentative + conclusion)
Selected AbstractsAssortative mating also indicates that common crossbill Loxia curvirostra vocal types are speciesJOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2008Pim Edelaar Compared to most other birds, the taxonomy of crossbills (Loxia) is still highly unsettled. However, much progress seems to be achievable when data on vocalisations is included. In a recent paper, Summers et al. (2007) argued that strong assortative mating indicated that parrot crossbill Loxia pytyopsittacus, Scottish crossbill Loxia scotica and common crossbill Loxia curvirostra behave as good species when breeding in sympatry. Here I argue that their data, when placed in the context of other studies, also indicate that three vocally differentiated European populations within the common crossbill are species (following the biological species concept of Mayr (1963): species are groups of interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups). If this tentative conclusion remains to be upheld, it might have large repercussions for our understanding of the speciation process as well as for a number of more applied issues such as the discovery and description of biodiversity and the conversation of mobile, cryptic species. [source] Early indicators of child abuse and neglect: a multi-professional Delphi studyCHILD ABUSE REVIEW, Issue 1 2003Catherine Powell Abstract Through the application of the Delphi technique, this study draws on the expertise of British child protection academics and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines in seeking to develop a consensus opinion on possible early indicators of child abuse and neglect. The search for early indicators is described in the context of a secondary preventative approach to the problem of child maltreatment. A very tentative conclusion arising from the study is that the early indicators of child abuse and neglect that achieved consensus of agreement may help in diagnosing child abuse and neglect at an earlier stage, although they are not necessarily diagnostic. Alternative explanations, differential diagnoses and information-gathering are paramount, as is a willingness and ability to act on concerns. Although great caution is urged, it is suggested that the findings from the study are credible and of interest to those who are working towards more timely recognition and referral of abused and neglected children. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Sometimes more equal than others: how health inequalities depend on the choice of welfare indicatorHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2006Magnus Lindelow Abstract In recent years, a large body of empirical work has focused on measuring and explaining socio-economic inequalities in health outcomes and health service use. In any effort to address these questions, analysts must confront the issue of how to measure socioeconomic status. In developing countries, socioeconomic status has typically been measured by per capita consumption or an asset index. Currently, there is only limited information on how the choice of welfare indicators affect the analysis of health inequalities and the incidence of public spending. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the potential sensitivity of the analysis of health related inequalities to how socioeconomic status is measured. Using data from Mozambique, the paper focuses on five key health service indicators, and tests whether measured inequality (concentration index) in health service utilization differs depending on the choice of welfare indicator. The paper shows that, at least in some contexts, the choice of welfare indicator can have a large and significant impact on measured inequality in utilization of health services. In consequence, we can reach very different conclusions about the ,same' issue depending on how we define socioeconomic status. The paper also provides some tentative conclusions about why and in what contexts health inequalities can be sensitive to the choice of living standards measure. The results call for more clarity and care in the analysis of health related inequalities, and for explicit recognition of the potential sensitivity of findings to the choice of welfare measure. The results also point at the need for more careful research on how different dimensions of SES are related, and on the pathways by which the respective different dimensions impact on health related variables. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Action-oriented representation of peripersonal and extrapersonal space: Insights from manual and locomotor actions1JAPANESE PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2006TAKAHIRO HIGUCHI Abstract:, This paper reviews behavioral evidence demonstrating that space is accurately represented in the brain in relation to action capabilities. We initially review intriguing neuropsychological findings that show that space is differentially represented depending on whether the area is in reach of the hand (peripersonal space) or out of reach of the hand (extrapersonal space). We then review the literature on the characteristics of locomotor actions for avoiding obstacles to show that the relative dimensions of obstacles to relevant body parts are accurately represented at least one step before the obstacles are reached, i.e., while the obstacles are present in the extrapersonal space. The findings obtained from a number of studies on manual and locomotor actions will yield tentative conclusions: (a) the representation of one's body (body schema) is deeply involved in one's representation of space; (b) the representation of space is modified in response to alteration of action capabilities, although this is likely to occur only for well-learned actions, irrespective of the type; and (c) representation of space centered on the hand somewhat differs from that centered on the whole body. [source] Issues in Growing a Family Business: A Strategic Human Resource ModelJOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2001Sandra W. King The conceptual literature on family businesses suggests that family businesses have difficulty managing their human resources, especially when it concerns a family member or the transition from the founder to the successor. The authors empirically examined the assumptions raised in the conceptual literature regarding whether family businesses were experiencing human resource problems in growing their business and what factors enabled or constrained the ability of their businesses to grow. The authors used in-depth interviewing to collect data in order to emphasize the depth of the issue. Using content analysis with subject matter experts coding the data, the authors sought to mine the richness of data. Finally, the authors analyzed the data using Elliot Jaques' Stratified Systems Theory as a model to examine the strategic human resource issues and to draw some tentative conclusions. [source] Soil chemical quality changes and implications for fertilizer management after 11 years of no-tillage wheat production systems in semiarid MoroccoLAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2001R. Mrabet Abstract A long-term experiment comparing no-till with conventional tillage systems across five rotations was evaluated 11 years after initiation. The objectives of the present paper are (1) to report differences in soil chemical properties (namely soil organic matter, total nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and pH) that have resulted by converting from conventional to no-till under contrasting cropping systems and (2) to draw tentative conclusions and recommendations on fertility status and fertilizer use and management. Soil in the no-till system had increased surface soil organic C levels relative to conventional tillage regardless of rotation. In addition, depending on the rotation, the N and P content of the soil improved with no-till compared with conventional tillage. In other words, no-till has helped to retain soil organic matter (SOM), conserved more N, and resulted in increased extractable P and exchangeable K concentrations in the upper root-zone. Hence, wheat produced in a no-till system may receive more nutrients from decomposition of SOM and acidification of the seed zone. It is possible that lesser amounts of fertilizer nutrients will be needed because of the greater efficiency of nutrient cycling in no-till systems relative to conventional systems. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Communing with Disaster: What We Can Learn from the Jusen and the Savings and Loan CrisesLAW & POLICY, Issue 3-4 2000Edward Rubin Now that the Japanese economic miracle has soured into the Japanese economic meltdown, scholars are confronted with a new challenge: instead of trying to penetrate the secret of Japan's successes, they must try to unravel the enigma of its misfortunes. Professors Curtis Milhaupt and Geoffrey Miller (1997) have performed a great service in documenting one of the most dramatic of those misfortunes , the collapse of the jusen companies. Professor Shinsaku Iwahara (1997) has also performed an equally valuable service by placing this event in the larger context of Japanese politics and society. But despite its record setting scale, the jusen problem was not unprecedented; Japan merely followed in the footsteps of its economic mentor, the United States, which experienced a very similar financial meltdown about a decade earlier. This commentary briefly describes that event , the U.S. savings and loan crisis , and then draws some tentative conclusions on the basis of a comparison of the two events. [source] How to bring about change in the Bangladesh civil service?PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2009Attempts to change mindsets, behaviours, practice Abstract This article addresses three critical questions central to many donor funded programmes which seek to enable pro-poor reform and growth. In the context of Bangladesh, the research asks first, does the civil service has a role in promoting change of this kind? Second, can a senior civil service development programme succeed in creating reform minded civil servants? And, third, if so how might the contribution be made both more substantive and of value? These questions are addressed systematically through a literature review and evidence drawn from Managing at the Top (MATT 2),a DFID funded programme. Some tentative conclusions are drawn in the final section. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] "It's doom alone that counts": can international human rights law be an effective source of rights in correctional conditions litigation?,BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 5 2009Michael L. Perlin J.D. Over the past three decades, the U.S. judiciary has grown increasingly less receptive to claims by convicted felons as to the conditions of their confinement while in prison. Although courts have not articulated a return to the "hands off" policy of the 1950s, it is clear that it has become significantly more difficult for prisoners to prevail in constitutional correctional litigation. The passage and aggressive implementation of the Prison Litigation Reform Act has been a powerful disincentive to such litigation in many areas of prisoners' rights law. From the perspective of the prisoner, the legal landscape is more hopeful in matters that relate to mental health care and treatment. Here, in spite of a general trend toward more stringent applications of standards of proof and a reluctance to order sweeping, intrusive remedies, some courts have aggressively protected prisoners' rights to be free from "deliberate indifference" to serious medical needs, and to be free from excessive force on the part of prison officials. A mostly hidden undercurrent in some prisoners' rights litigation has been the effort on the part of some plaintiffs' lawyers to look to international human rights doctrines as a potential source of rights, an effort that has met with some modest success. It receives support by the inclination of other courts to turn to international human rights conventions,even in nations where such conventions have not been ratified,as a kind of "best practice" in the area. The recent publication and subsequent ratification (though not, as of yet, by the United States) of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) may add new support to those using international human rights documents as a basis for litigating prisoners' rights claims. To the best of our knowledge, there has, as of yet, been no scholarly literature on the question of the implications of the CRPD on the state of prisoners' rights law in a U.S. domestic context. In this article, we raise this question, and offer some tentative conclusions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Longterm survival of transplanted human corneal epithelial cells and corneal stem cellsACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 4 2005Maria Egarth Abstract. Purpose:,To investigate the survival of donor-derived epithelial cells in conventional penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) and in homologous penetrating central limbal keratoplasty (HPCLK). Methods and Patients:,Epithelial cells from 26 eyes of 26 patients were analysed. All cases were sex-mismatched (i.e. the transplant and patient were of different genders). At suture removal more than 1 year post surgery, epithelial cells were obtained by gently wiping the removed sutures on glass slides. The cell samples were analysed using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) of the sex chromosomes. This technique makes it possible to allocate the origin of each cell nucleus to either the donor or the recipient. Results:,All 19 conventional PKPs were clear and seven had donor-derived epithelial cells at suture removal. Five of the seven HPCLK grafts were clear at the time of investigation (365,1355 days post surgery), and donor-derived epithelial cells were found in two grafts. Conclusion:,Harvesting cells from removed sutures in combination with FISH enables the clinical study of cell survival in corneal transplants without jeopardizing functioning grafts. From the limited sample investigated, the following tentative conclusions can be made. Donor-derived epithelial cells can remain in conventional PKP for over 1 year. In combined stem cell and corneal grafts (HPCLK), donor-derived epithelial cells may also be retrieved at 1 year or beyond following surgery but the correlation between their presence and a remaining clear graft is uncertain. [source] | ||||||||||||||||