Search

Abstract Does stepping back to evaluate a situation from a distanced perspective lead us to be selfish or fair? This question has been of philosophical interest for centuries, and, more recently, the focus of extensive empirical inquiry. Yet, extant research reveals a puzzle: some studies suggest that adopting a distanced perspective will produce more rationally self-interested behavior, whereas others suggest that it will produce more impartial behavior. Here we adjudicate between these perspectives by testing the effects of adopting a third-person perspective on decision making in a task that pits rational self-interest against impartiality: the dictator game. Aggregating across three experiments (N = 774), participants who used third-person (i.e., distanced) vs. first-person (i.e., immersed) self-talk during the dictator game kept more money for themselves. We discuss these results in light of prior research showing that psychological distance can promote cooperation and fairmindedness and how the effect of psychological distance on moral decision-making may be sensitive to social context.

Background: Distributive leadership has been proposed as an effective means towards achieving integrated health services. This study draws from the case of 'Foundry', a network of integrated youth health centres in British Columbia, Canada, and explores the function and impact of distributive leadership in the context of a large-scale effort towards integrated service delivery for youth experiencing mental health and substance use challenges. Methods: Qualitative data was obtained from a developmental evaluation of Foundry using a longitudinal, ethnographic approach. Over 150 participants involved in the development of six Foundry centres were interviewed individually or in focus groups. Purposive and theoretical sampling strategies were used to maximize the diversity of perspectives represented in the data set. Results and Discussion: Distributive leadership was observed to be a facilitator for achieving service and system-level integration. Distributive leadership was effective in promoting streamlined service provision, and coordinating efforts towards optimized access to care. A new culture of leadership emerged through collaboration and relationship-building based on a common value system to prioritize youth needs. Conclusion: As Foundry, and other integrated youth services, continues to expand, distributive leadership shows promise in assuring diverse and coordinated input for integrating services.

Abstract Representing climate‐crop interactions is critical to Earth system modeling. Despite recent progress in modeling dynamic crop growth and irrigation in land surface models (LSMs), transitioning these models from field to regional scales is still challenging. This study applies the Noah‐MP LSM with dynamic crop‐growth and irrigation schemes to jointly simulate the crop yield and irrigation amount for corn and soybean in the central United States. The model performance of crop yield and irrigation amount are evaluated at county‐level against the USDA reports and USGS water withdrawal data, respectively. The bulk simulation (with uniform planting/harvesting management and no irrigation) produces significant biases in crop yield estimates for all planting regions, with root‐mean‐square‐errors (RMSEs) being 28.1% and 28.4% for corn and soybean, respectively. Without an irrigation scheme, the crop yields in the irrigated regions are reduced due to water stress with RMSEs of 48.7% and 20.5%. Applying a dynamic irrigation scheme effectively improves crop yields in irrigated regions and reduces RMSEs to 22.3% and 16.8%. In rainfed regions, the model overestimates crop yields. Applying spatially varied planting and harvesting dates at state‐level reduces crop yields and irrigation amount for both crops, especially in northern states. A “nitrogen‐stressed” simulation is conducted and found that the improvement of irrigation on crop yields is limited when the crops are under nitrogen stress. Several uncertainties in modeling crop growth are identified, including yield‐gap, planting date, rubisco capacity, and discrepancies between available data sets, pointing to future efforts to incorporating spatially varying crop parameters to better constrain crop growing seasons.

Water use efficiency (WUE) can be calculated using a range of methods differing in carbon uptake and water use variable selection. Consequently, inconsistencies arise between WUE calculations due to complex physical and physiological interactions. The purpose of this study was to quantify and compare WUE estimates (harvest or flux-based) for alfalfa (C3 plant) and maize (C4 plant) and determine effects of input variables, plant physiology and farming practices on estimates. Four WUE calculations were investigated: two “harvest-based” methods, using above ground carbon content and either precipitation or evapotranspiration (ET), and two “flux-based” methods, using gross primary productivity (GPP) and either ET or transpiration. WUE estimates differed based on method used at both half-hourly and seasonal scales. Input variables used in calculations affected WUE estimates, and plant physiology led to different responses in carbon assimilation and water use variables. WUE estimates were also impacted by different plant physiological responses and processing methods, even when the same carbon assimilation and water use variables were considered. This study highlights a need to develop a metric of measuring cropland carbon-water coupling that accounts for all water use components, plant carbon responses, and biomass production.

The beetle-hunting habits of ground nesting wasps in the genus Cerceris Latreille have been recently exploited as a survey technique for exotic and native Buprestidae, particularly Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (the emerald ash-borer). While such methods have been developed for the wide-ranging eastern Cerceris fumipennis Say, the survey potential of western buprestid-hunting Cerceris spp. has not been explored. Cerceris californica Cresson is the most well-studied of the western buprestid feeders, and the only one known to occur in Washington state. Here we report the results of surveys conducted in Washington in 2012–2013 for C. californica colonies, and numbers of buprestid beetles collected from monitored colonies. Eight C. californica colonies were found through visual search of 228 baseball fields and sandy clearings, but only four were large enough to monitor. Fifty-four beetles were recovered from the four colonies, comprising five native species. Four of these are new prey records for C. californica, and one (Chrysobothris quadriimpressa Gory & Laporte) is newly recorded from Washington. Cerceris californica colonies do not appear to be large or common enough in Washington to be a significant exotic buprestid survey strategy. However, even the limited monitoring resulted in more buprestid captures than nearby purple sticky traps, and monitoring C. californica nests may be a locally useful supplement for general buprestid surveys.

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are an excellent vertebrate model for studying heart development, regeneration and cardiotoxicity. Zebrafish embryos exposed during the temporal window of epicardium development to the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) agonist 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) exhibit severe heart malformations. TCDD exposure prevents both proepicardial organ (PE) and epicardium development. Exposure later in development, after the epicardium has formed, does not produce cardiac toxicity. It is not until the adult zebrafish heart is stimulated to regenerate does TCDD again cause detrimental effects. TCDD exposure prior to ventricular resection prevents cardiac regeneration. It is likely that TCDD-induced inhibition of epicardium development and cardiac regeneration occur via a common mechanism. Here, we describe experiments that focus on the epicardium as a target and sensor of zebrafish heart toxicity.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of visual examination (International Caries Detection and Assessment System—ICDAS II), light-emitting diodes (LED) fluorescence (SPECTRA), laser fluorescence (DIAGNODent, DD), photothermal radiometry and modulated luminescence (PTR-LUM, The Canary System, CS) to detect natural decay beneath resin-modified glass ionomer (RMGIC) and compomer restorations in vitro. Twenty-seven extracted human molars and premolars, consisting of 2 control teeth, 10 visually healthy/sound and 15 teeth with natural cavitated lesions, were selected. For the carious teeth, caries was removed leaving some carious tissue on one wall of the preparation. For the sound teeth, 3 mm deep cavity preparations were made. All cavities were restored with RMGIC or compomer restorative materials. Sixty-eight sites (4 sites on sound unrestored teeth, 21 sound sites and 43 carious sites with restorations) were selected. CS and DD triplicate measurements were done at 2, 1.5, 0.5, and 0 mm away from the margin of the restoration (MOR). SPECTRA images were taken, and two dentists provided ICDAS II scoring for the restored surfaces. The SPECTRA data and images were inconclusive due to signal interference from the restorations. Visual examinations of the restored tooth surfaces were able to identify 5 of the 15 teeth with caries. In these situations, the teeth were ranked as having ICDAS II 1 or 2 rankings, but they could not identify the location of the caries or depth of the lesion. CS and DD were able to differentiate between sound and carious tissue at the MOR, but larger variation in measurement, and poorer accuracy, was observed for DD. It was concluded that the CS has the potential to detect secondary caries around RMGIC and compomer restorations more accurately than the other modalities used in this study.

Abstract This is a series of 10 modules developed to instruct residents how to teach within the constraints of a busy workday. The content emphasizes the application of teaching principles to common occurrences in an inpatient setting, such as oral presentations, reviewing progress notes, working up a new patient, and performing physical examinations. They are designed to have minimal didactic content and focus more on promoting discussions and providing skills practice. They are intended to be adapted to meet individual programs' needs and can also supplement existing resident-as-teacher programs. The authors have used these modules successfully at their own institutions and have received positive feedback from program directors who have used these modules successfully at their own institutions. They have been used as part of a formal resident-as-teacher program (both longitudinal programs and limited half-day workshops) and have been used to reinforce concepts later in training. The cases have also been incorporated into locally-developed modules as springboards for small-group discussion and skills practice.

Passive microwave measurements from space are known to be sensitive to the freeze/thaw (F/T) state of the land surface. These measurements are at a coarse spatial resolution (~15–50 km) and the spatial variability of the microwave emissions within a pixel can have important effects on the interpretation of the signal. An L-band ground-based microwave radiometer campaign was conducted in the Canadian Prairies during winter 2014–2015 to examine the spatial variability of surface emissions during frozen and thawed periods. Seven different sites within the Kenaston soil monitoring network were sampled five times between October 2014 and April 2015 with a mobile ground-based L-band radiometer system at approximately monthly intervals. The radiometer measurements showed that in a seemingly homogenous prairie landscape, the spatial variability of brightness temperature (TB) is non-negligible during both frozen and unfrozen soil conditions. Under frozen soil conditions, TB was negatively correlated with soil permittivity (εG). This correlation was related to soil moisture conditions before the main freezing event, showing that the soil ice volumetric content at least partly affects TB. However, because of the effect of snow on L-Band emission, the correlation between TB and εG decreased with snow accumulation. When compared to satellite measurements, the average TB of the seven plots were well correlated with the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) TB with a root mean square difference of 8.1 K and consistent representation of the strong F/T signal (i.e., TB increases and decreases when soil freezing and thawing, respectively). This study allows better quantitative understanding of the spatial variability in L-Band emissions related to landscape F/T, and will help the calibration and validation of satellite-based F/T retrieval algorithms.

The previously published structure of the fungal metabolite acremine P is revised by re-evaluation of chemical shift values and NOESY data, and by DFT calculations.

Abstract Introduction This resource is a teaching module on the pulmonary exam. Exam skills highlighted in this curriculum include pulmonary assessments in disease states such as asthma, pneumonia/lobar consolidation, pleural effusion, interstitial fibrosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Methods This resource incorporates a case-based lecture, a bedside teaching experience, and a student assessment tool. The intended audience is third-year medical students. Results On lecture feedback evaluations, a majority of students strongly agreed that content and format were relevant to learning needs and that instructors' facilitation enhanced learning needs. Discussion Data thus far suggest that our curriculum has led to improvement in student knowledge of and confidence in performing the bedside pulmonary exam. Further research may include testing the durability of these changes and assessing the clinical impact of the intervention, including how it helps improve the actual student performance of the pulmonary exam and patient assessment at the bedside.

Experiments using controlled manipulation of climate variables in the field are critical for developing and testing mechanistic models of ecosystem responses to climate change. Despite rapid changes in climate observed in many high latitude and high altitude environments, controlled manipulations in these remote regions have largely been limited to passive experimental methods with variable effects on environmental factors. In this study, we tested a method of controlled soil warming suitable for remote field locations that can be powered using alternative energy sources. The design was tested in high latitude, alpine tundra of southern Yukon Territory, Canada, in 2010 and 2011. Electrical warming probes were inserted vertically in the near-surface soil and powered with photovoltaics attached to a monitoring and control system. The warming manipulation achieved a stable target warming of 1.3 to 2 °C in 1 m(2) plots while minimizing disturbance to soil and vegetation. Active control of power output in the warming plots allowed the treatment to closely match spatial and temporal variations in soil temperature while optimizing system performance during periods of low power supply. Active soil heating with vertical electric probes powered by alternative energy is a viable option for remote sites and presents a low-disturbance option for soil warming experiments. This active heating design provides a valuable tool for examining the impacts of soil warming on ecosystem processes.

Nature Communications 6: Article number:7074 (2015); Published: 05 June 2015; Updated: 29 Marrch 2016 The financial support for this article was not fully acknowledged. The Acknowledgements should have included the following: PLB was supported by the National Institute for Health Research BiomedicalResearch Centre at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust and University College London.

The toxicity by 2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is thought to be caused by activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). However, our understanding of how AHR activation by TCDD leads to toxic effects is poor. Ideally we would like to manipulate AHR activity in specific tissues and at specific times. One route to this is expressing dominant negative AHRs (dnAHRs). This work describes the construction and characterization of dominant negative forms of the zebrafish Ahr2 in which the C-terminal transactivation domain was either removed, or replaced with the inhibitory domain from the Drosophila engrailed repressor protein. One of these dnAhr2s was selected for expression from the ubiquitously active e2fα promoter in transgenic zebrafish. We found that these transgenic zebrafish expressing dnAhr2 had reduced TCDD induction of the Ahr2 target gene cyp1a, as measured by 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity. Furthermore, the cardiotoxicity produced by TCDD, pericardial edema, heart malformation, and reduced blood flow, were all mitigated in the zebrafish expressing the dnAhr2. These results provide in vivo proof-of-principle results demonstrating the effectiveness of dnAHRs in manipulating AHR activity in vivo, and demonstrating that this approach can be a means for blocking TCDD toxicity.

Background: Although the subinternship is often regarded as an important part of many fourth year curricula it is rarely studied. Purpose: We aimed to understand the how well the subinternship prepared medical students to perform core clinical skills. Methods: Senior medical students at Boston University School of Medicine rated their perception of the effectiveness of the subinternship and medical school overall in preparing them to perform core clinical skills using a written survey. Results: Overall, 69% (101) of students responded. Students believe that the subinternship prepares them to perform most key skills involved in day-to-day medical care. However, students feel less prepared by either their subinternship or overall medical school experience to carry out some complex patient communication skills including delivering bad news and discussing end-of-life wishes. Conclusions: The subinternship appears to be effective in preparing students for many of the challenges they will face as an intern and beyond. However, students identified several complex communication skills that could be addressed in part by the subinternship for which they felt unprepared. Student learning would likely be enhanced by creating a longitudinal program to teach these higher-level communication skills during medical school and by integrating practice and feedback of these skills into the subinternship

This study addresses the effect of using animal excreta on the nutritional content of forages, focusing on macro- and micro-element concentrations (nitrogen; N, phosphorus; P, sulphur; S, copper; Cu, zinc; Zn, manganese; Mn, selenium; Se) from animal feed to excreta, soil, and plants. Data were collected from pot and field trials using separate applications of sheep or cattle urine and faeces. Key findings indicate that soil organic carbon (SOC) and the type of excreta significantly influences nutrient uptake by forages, with varied responses among the seven elements defined above. Although urine contributes fewer micronutrients compared to faeces (as applied at a natural volume/mass basis, respectively), it notably improves forage yield and micronutrient accumulation, thus potentially delivering positive consequences at the farm level regarding economic performance and soil fertility when swards upon clayey soil types receive said urine in temperate agro-climatic regions (i.e., South West England in the current context). In contrast, faeces application in isolation hinders Se and Mn uptake, once again potentially delivering unintended consequences such as micronutrient deficiencies in areas of high faeces deposition. As it is unlikely that (b)ovine grazing fields will receive either urine or faeces in isolation, we also explored combined applications of both excreta types which demonstrates synergistic effects on N, Cu, and Zn uptake, with either synergistic or dilution effects being observed for P and S, depending largely on SOC levels. Additionally, interactions between excreta types can result in dilution or antagonistic effects on Mn and Se uptake. Notably, high SOC combined with faeces reduces Mn and Se in forages, raising concerns for grazed ruminant systems under certain biotic situations, e.g., due to insufficient soil Se levels typically observed in UK pastures for livestock growth. These findings underscore the importance of considering SOC and excreta nutritional composition when designing forage management to optimize nutrient uptake. It should be noted that these findings have potential ramifications for broader studies of sustainable agriculture through system-scale analyses, as the granularity of results reported herein elucidate gaps in knowledge which could affect, both positively and negatively, the interpretation of model-based environmental impact assessments of cattle and sheep production (e.g., in the case of increased yields [beneficial] or the requirement of additional synthetic supplementation [detrimental])., (© 2024. The Author(s).)