Mapping species distributions: A comparison of skilled naturalist and lay citizen science recording

To assess the ability of traditional biological recording schemes and lay citizen science approaches to gather data on species distributions and changes therein, we examined bumblebee records from the UK’s national repository (National Biodiversity Network) and from BeeWatch. The two recording approaches revealed similar relative abundances of bumblebee species but different geographical distributions. For the widespread common carder (Bombus pascuorum), traditional recording scheme data were patchy, both spatially and temporally, reflecting active record centre rather than species distribution. Lay citizen science records displayed more extensive geographic coverage, reflecting human population density, thus offering better opportunities to account for recording effort. For the rapidly spreading tree bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum), both recording approaches revealed similar distributions due to a dedicated mapping project which overcame the patchy nature of naturalist records. We recommend, where possible, complementing skilled naturalist recording with lay citizen science programmes to obtain a nation-wide capability, and stress the need for timely uploading of data to the national repository

Neurochemical Changes in the Mouse Hippocampus Underlying the Antidepressant Effect of Genetic Deletion of P2X7 Receptors.

Recent investigations have revealed that the genetic deletion of P2X7 receptors (P2rx7) results in an antidepressant phenotype in mice. However, the link between the deficiency of P2rx7 and changes in behavior has not yet been explored. In the present study, we studied the effect of genetic deletion of P2rx7 on neurochemical changes in the hippocampus that might underlie the antidepressant phenotype. P2X7 receptor deficient mice (P2rx7-/-) displayed decreased immobility in the tail suspension test (TST) and an attenuated anhedonia response in the sucrose preference test (SPT) following bacterial endotoxin (LPS) challenge. The attenuated anhedonia was reproduced through systemic treatments with P2rx7 antagonists. The activation of P2rx7 resulted in the concentration-dependent release of [3H]glutamate in P2rx7+/+ but not P2rx7-/- mice, and the NR2B subunit mRNA and protein was upregulated in the hippocampus of P2rx7-/- mice. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression was higher in saline but not LPS-treated P2rx7-/- mice; the P2rx7 antagonist Brilliant blue G elevated and the P2rx7 agonist benzoylbenzoyl ATP (BzATP) reduced BDNF level. This effect was dependent on the activation of NMDA and non-NMDA receptors but not on Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR1,5). An increased 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation was also observed in the dentate gyrus derived from P2rx7-/- mice. Basal level of 5-HT was increased, whereas the 5HIAA/5-HT ratio was lower in the hippocampus of P2rx7-/- mice, which accompanied the increased uptake of [3H]5-HT and an elevated number of [3H]citalopram binding sites. The LPS-induced elevation of 5-HT level was absent in P2rx7-/- mice. In conclusion there are several potential mechanisms for the antidepressant phenotype of P2rx7-/- mice, such as the absence of P2rx7-mediated glutamate release, elevated basal BDNF production, enhanced neurogenesis and increased 5-HT bioavailability in the hippocampus

The Role of Individual Variables, Organizational Variables and Moral Intensity Dimensions in Libyan Management Accountants’ Ethical Decision Making

This study investigates the association of a broad set of variables with the ethical decision making of management accountants in Libya. Adopting a cross-sectional methodology, a questionnaire including four different ethical scenarios was used to gather data from 229 participants. For each scenario, ethical decision making was examined in terms of the recognition, judgment and intention stages of Rest’s model. A significant relationship was found between ethical recognition and ethical judgment and also between ethical judgment and ethical intention, but ethical recognition did not significantly predict ethical intention—thus providing support for Rest’s model. Organizational variables, age and educational level yielded few significant results. The lack of significance for codes of ethics might reflect their relative lack of development in Libya, in which case Libyan companies should pay attention to their content and how they are supported, especially in the light of the under-development of the accounting profession in Libya. Few significant results were also found for gender, but where they were found, males showed more ethical characteristics than females. This unusual result reinforces the dangers of gender stereotyping in business. Personal moral philosophy and moral intensity dimensions were generally found to be significant predictors of the three stages of ethical decision making studied. One implication of this is to give more attention to ethics in accounting education, making the connections between accounting practice and (in Libya) Islam. Overall, this study not only adds to the available empirical evidence on factors affecting ethical decision making, notably examining three stages of Rest’s model, but also offers rare insights into the ethical views of practising management accountants and provides a benchmark for future studies of ethical decision making in Muslim majority countries and other parts of the developing world

Interactions of dietary whole-grain intake with fasting glucose- and insulin-related genetic loci in individuals of European descent: a meta-analysis of 14 cohort studies.

OBJECTIVE: Whole-grain foods are touted for multiple health benefits, including enhancing insulin sensitivity and reducing type 2 diabetes risk. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with fasting glucose and insulin concentrations in individuals free of diabetes. We tested the hypothesis that whole-grain food intake and genetic variation interact to influence concentrations of fasting glucose and insulin. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Via meta-analysis of data from 14 cohorts comprising ∼ 48,000 participants of European descent, we studied interactions of whole-grain intake with loci previously associated in GWAS with fasting glucose (16 loci) and/or insulin (2 loci) concentrations. For tests of interaction, we considered a P value <0.0028 (0.05 of 18 tests) as statistically significant. RESULTS: Greater whole-grain food intake was associated with lower fasting glucose and insulin concentrations independent of demographics, other dietary and lifestyle factors, and BMI (β [95% CI] per 1-serving-greater whole-grain intake: -0.009 mmol/l glucose [-0.013 to -0.005], P < 0.0001 and -0.011 pmol/l [ln] insulin [-0.015 to -0.007], P = 0.0003). No interactions met our multiple testing-adjusted statistical significance threshold. The strongest SNP interaction with whole-grain intake was rs780094 (GCKR) for fasting insulin (P = 0.006), where greater whole-grain intake was associated with a smaller reduction in fasting insulin concentrations in those with the insulin-raising allele. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the favorable association of whole-grain intake with fasting glucose and insulin and suggest a potential interaction between variation in GCKR and whole-grain intake in influencing fasting insulin concentrations

Untangling knowledge creation and knowledge integration in enterprise wikis

A central challenge organizations face is how to build, store, and maintain knowledge over time. Enterprise wikis are community-based knowledge systems situated in an organizational context. These systems have the potential to play an important role in managing knowledge within organizations, but the motivating factors that drive individuals to contribute their knowledge to these systems is not very well understood. We theorize that enterprise wiki initiatives require two separate and distinct types of knowledge-sharing behaviors to succeed: knowledge creation (KC) and knowledge integration (KI). We examine a Wiki initiative at a major German bank to untangle the motivating factors behind KC and KI. Our results suggest KC and KI are indeed two distinct behaviors, reconcile inconsistent findings from past studies on the role of motivational factors for knowledge sharing to establish shared electronic knowledge resources in organizations, and identify factors that can be leveraged to tilt behaviors in favor of KC or KI

Immunological mechanism of action and clinical profile of disease-modifying treatments in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a life-long, potentially debilitating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). MS is considered to be an immune-mediated disease, and the presence of autoreactive peripheral lymphocytes in CNS compartments is believed to be critical in the process of demyelination and tissue damage in MS. Although MS is not currently a curable disease, several disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) are now available, or are in development. These DMTs are all thought to primarily suppress autoimmune activity within the CNS. Each therapy has its own mechanism of action (MoA) and, as a consequence, each has a different efficacy and safety profile. Neurologists can now select therapies on a more individual, patient-tailored basis, with the aim of maximizing potential for long-term efficacy without interruptions in treatment. The MoA and clinical profile of MS therapies are important considerations when making that choice or when switching therapies due to suboptimal disease response. This article therefore reviews the known and putative immunological MoAs alongside a summary of the clinical profile of therapies approved for relapsing forms of MS, and those in late-stage development, based on published data from pivotal randomized, controlled trials

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: The role of disc fading and progenitor bias in kinematic transitions

We use comparisons between the Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral Field Spectrograph (SAMI) Galaxy Survey and equilibrium galaxy models to infer the importance of disc fading in the transition of spirals into lenticular (S0) galaxies. The local S0 population has both higher photometric concentration and lower stellar spin than spiral galaxies of comparable mass and we test whether this separation can be accounted for by passive aging alone. We construct a suite of dynamically self-consistent galaxy models, with a bulge, disc, and halo using the galactics code. The dispersion-dominated bulge is given a uniformly old stellar population, while the disc is given a current star formation rate putting it on the main sequence, followed by sudden instantaneous quenching. We then generate mock observables (r-band images, stellar velocity, and dispersion maps) as a function of time since quenching for a range of bulge/total (B/T) mass ratios. The disc fading leads to a decline in measured spin as the bulge contribution becomes more dominant, and also leads to increased concentration. However, the quantitative changes observed after 5 Gyr of disc fading cannot account for all of the observed difference. We see similar results if we instead subdivide our SAMI Galaxy Survey sample by star formation (relative to the main sequence). We use EAGLE simulations to also take into account progenitor bias, using size evolution to infer quenching time. The EAGLE simulations suggest that the progenitors of current passive galaxies typically have slightly higher spin than present day star-forming disc galaxies of the same mass. As a result, progenitor bias moves the data further from the disc fading model scenario, implying that intrinsic dynamical evolution must be important in the transition from star-forming discs to passive discs

Differential response effects of data collection mode in a cancer screening study of unmarried women ages 40–75 years: A randomized trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little is known about the impact of data collection method on self-reported cancer screening behaviours, particularly among hard-to-reach populations. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of data collection mode on response to indicators of cancer screenings by unmarried middle-aged and older women.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Three survey methods were evaluated for collecting data about mammography and Papanicolaou (hereafter, Pap) testing among heterosexual and sexual minority (e.g., lesbian and bisexual) women. Women ages 40–75 were recruited from June 2003 – June 2005 in Rhode Island. They were randomly assigned to receive: Self-Administered Mailed Questionnaire [SAMQ; N = 202], Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview [CATI; N = 200], or Computer-Assisted Self-Interview [CASI; N = 197]. Logistic regression models were computed to assess survey mode differences for 13 self-reported items related to cancer screenings, adjusting for age, education, income, race, marital status, partner gender, and recruitment source.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared to women assigned to CATI, women assigned to SAMQ were less likely to report two or more years between most recent mammograms (CATI = 23.2% vs. SAMQ = 17.7%; AOR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3 – 0.8) and women assigned to CASI were slightly less likely to report being overdue for mammography (CATI = 16.5% vs. CASI = 11.8%; AOR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3 – 1.0) and Pap testing (CATI = 14.9% vs. CASI = 10.0%; AOR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.2 – 1.0). There were no other consistent mode effects.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Among participants in this sample, mode of data collection had little effect on the reporting of mammography and Pap testing behaviours. Other measures such as efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the mode should also be considered when determining the most appropriate form of data collection for use in monitoring indicators of cancer detection and control.</p

NMR Studies of the C-Terminus of alpha4 Reveal Possible Mechanism of Its Interaction with MID1 and Protein Phosphatase 2A

Alpha4 is a regulatory subunit of the protein phosphatase family of enzymes and plays an essential role in regulating the catalytic subunit of PP2A (PP2Ac) within the rapamycin-sensitive signaling pathway. Alpha4 also interacts with MID1, a microtubule-associated ubiquitin E3 ligase that appears to regulate the function of PP2A. The C-terminal region of alpha4 plays a key role in the binding interaction of PP2Ac and MID1. Here we report on the solution structure of a 45-amino acid region derived from the C-terminus of alpha4 (alpha45) that binds tightly to MID1. In aqueous solution, alpha45 has properties of an intrinsically unstructured peptide although chemical shift index and dihedral angle estimation based on chemical shifts of backbone atoms indicate the presence of a transient α-helix. Alpha45 adopts a helix-turn-helix HEAT-like structure in 1% SDS micelles, which may mimic a negatively charged surface for which alpha45 could bind. Alpha45 binds tightly to the Bbox1 domain of MID1 in aqueous solution and adopts a structure consistent with the helix-turn-helix structure observed in 1% SDS. The structure of alpha45 reveals two distinct surfaces, one that can interact with a negatively charged surface, which is present on PP2A, and one that interacts with the Bbox1 domain of MID1