Reflections: what are the mutualistic benefits of university – nature reserve collaborations?

The outcomes of a six year collaboration between Keele University and Silverdale Country Park was reported in the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management special issue on “Nature conservation on a shoestring” (Taylor et al. 2017). The article, authored by Sarah Taylor (Keele University lecturer), Andrew Hunt (Groundwork West Midlands ranger) and Khaled de Jesus (Keele graduate), examined the pros and cons of collaborations from the perspectives of the respective institutions and the student. This short reflective piece highlights the key findings and expounds what it all means for me as a lecturer

A sore red eye with systemic involvement

The study of happiness has long been a playground for philosophical speculation. By lack of empirical measures of happiness, it was not possible to check propositions about the matter. In the late 20th century, survey-research methods introduced by the social sciences have brought a break-through. Dependable measures of happiness have developed, by means of which a significant body of knowledge has evolved

Effect of screening abdominal ultrasound examination on the decision to pursue advanced diagnostic tests and treatment in dogs with neurologic disease.

BackgroundAbdominal ultrasound examinations (AUS) are commonly performed before advanced neurodiagnostics to screen for diseases that might affect diagnostic plans and prognosis.ObjectivesDescribe the type and frequency of abnormalities found by AUS in dogs presenting with a neurological condition, identify risk factors associated with abnormalities, and evaluate treatment decisions based on findings.AnimalsSeven hundred and fifty-nine hospitalized dogs.MethodsRetrospective study. Medical records of dogs presented from 2007 to 2009 for neurologic disease were searched for signalment, neuroanatomic localization, and AUS findings. Whether dogs had advanced neurodiagnostics and treatment was analyzed.ResultsFifty-eight percent of dogs had abnormal findings on AUS. Probability of abnormalities increased with age (P < 0.001). Nondachshund breeds had higher probability of abnormal AUS than dachshunds (odds ratio [OR] = 1.87). Eleven percent of dogs did not have advanced neurodiagnostics and in 1.3%, this was because of abnormal AUS. Dogs with ultrasonographic abnormalities were less likely than dogs without to have advanced neurodiagnostics (OR = 0.3 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.17, 0.52]), however, the probability of performing advanced diagnostics was high regardless of normal (OR = 0.95 [95% CI: 0.92, 0.97]) or abnormal (OR = 0.85 [95% CI: 0.81, 0.88]) AUS. Treatment was more often pursued in small dogs and less often in dogs with brain disease.Conclusions and clinical importanceFindings from screening AUS had a small negative effect on the likelihood of pursuing advanced neurodiagnostics. Although it should be included in the extracranial diagnostic workup in dogs with significant history or physical examination abnormalities, AUS is considered a low-yield diagnostic test in young dogs and dachshunds

Errors in estimating unexpected accruals in the presence of large changes in net external financing

We demonstrate that the articulation among accruals, cash flows and revenues which is typically assumed in tests of earnings management does not hold when large (positive or negative) external financing activities are present. Our study provides evidence that managers normal operating decisions associated with net external financing activities are likely to lead to economically and statistically significant measurement errors in unexpected accruals. This is a serious concern given the frequency with which the partitioning variable used to identify instances of alleged earnings management is correlated with significant movements in net external financing. Simulation tests show that even at modest levels of net external financing changes, rejection frequencies for the null hypothesis of no earnings management rise dramaticall

Optimizing Echo State Networks for Static Pattern Recognition

Static pattern recognition requires a machine to classify an object on the basis of a combination of attributes and is typically performed using machine learning techniques such as support vector machines and multilayer perceptrons. Unusually, in this study, we applied a successful time-series processing neural network architecture, the echo state network (ESN), to a static pattern recognition task. The networks were presented with clamped input data patterns, but in this work, they were allowed to run until their output units delivered a stable set of output activations, in a similar fashion to previous work that focused on the behaviour of ESN reservoir units. Our aim was to see if the short-term memory developed by the reservoir and the clamped inputs could deliver improved overall classification accuracy. The study utilized a challenging, high dimensional, real-world plant species spectroradiometry classification dataset with the objective of accurately detecting one of the world’s top 100 invasive plant species. Surprisingly, the ESNs performed equally well with both unsettled and settled reservoirs. Delivering a classification accuracy of 96.60%, the clamped ESNs outperformed three widely used machine learning techniques, namely support vector machines, extreme learning machines and multilayer perceptrons. Contrary to past work, where inputs were clamped until reservoir stabilization, it was found that it was possible to obtain similar classification accuracy (96.49%) by clamping the input patterns for just two repeats. The chief contribution of this work is that a recurrent architecture can get good classification accuracy, even while the reservoir is still in an unstable state

Mammals of the Upper Henty River Region, Western Tasmania

A mammal survey was conducted in the Upper Henty River Region in western Tasmania. The area had been subject to much disturbance from mining, forestry and frequent fires and was covered by a maze of roads and tracks. Nineteen native species (including bats) were recorded. Four of the species listed in 1983 as occurring in the Lower Gordon Region, 80 km south of the present study area, were not recorded during our survey. It is considered that three of these species would probably have been found in the area with further searching. The fourth species, Mastacomysfuscus, is thought not to be present due to increased fire frequency in the sedgeland areas compared with the Lower Gordon Region. Potorous tridactylus is recorded for the first time from rainforest. Microhabitat selection by Rattus lutreolus and Pseudomys higginsi differed from that previously reported. Disturbance from road construction led to the creation of a new food source for Thylogale billardierii. The abundance of tracks in the area increased ease of movement for carnivorous mammals. Only one introduced species Felis catus, which is also known to occur in the Lower Gordon, was recorded. Disturbance had thus not led to an invasion of exotics

Guilt, shame and expressed emotion in carers of people with long-term mental health difficulties: A systematic review

Expressed emotion (EE) is a global index of familial emotional climate, whose primary components are emotional over-involvement (EOI) and critical comments (CC)/hostility. There is a strong theoretical rationale for hypothesising that carers’ guilt and shame may be differentially associated with their EOI and CC/hostility respectively. This systematic review investigates the magnitude of these theorised associations in carers of people with long-term mental health difficulties. Electronic searches (conducted in May 2016 across Medline, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO and ProQuest) were supplemented with iterative hand searches. Ten papers, reporting data from eight studies, were included. Risk of bias was assessed using a standardised checklist. Relevant data were extracted and synthesised narratively. EOI was positively associated with both guilt and shame, whereas CC/hostility was positively associated with shame. The strength of associations varied depending on whether or not guilt and shame were assessed within the context of the caring relationship. Based on these data, an argument can be made for the refinement, development and evaluation of systemic and individual interventions designed to target carers’ guilt and shame. However, more research is needed to clarify the strength of these associations and their direction of effect before firm conclusions can be drawn.Key words: emotional over-involvement; critical comments; hostility; family interventions; systemic practice; clinical psychology.<br/