scholarly journals Dietary specialization is linked to reduced species durations in North American fossil canids

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 171861 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mairin Balisi ◽  
Corinna Casey ◽  
Blaire Van Valkenburgh
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Dispersal Ability ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
High Coverage ◽  
Dietary Specialization ◽  
Size Evolution ◽  
Primary Model ◽  
Average Size ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Cope’S Rule

How traits influence species persistence is a fundamental question in ecology, evolution and palaeontology. We test the relationship between dietary traits and both species duration and locality coverage over 40 million years in North American canids, a clade with considerable ecomorphological disparity and a dense fossil record. Because ecomorphological generalization—broad resource use—may enable species to withstand disturbance, we predicted that canids of average size and mesocarnivory would exhibit longer durations and wider distributions than specialized larger or smaller species. Second, because locality coverage might reflect dispersal ability and/or survivability in a range of habitats, we predicted that high coverage would correspond with longer durations. We find a nonlinear relationship between species duration and degree of carnivory: species at either end of the carnivory spectrum tend to have shorter durations than mesocarnivores. Locality coverage shows no relationship with size, diet or duration. To test whether generalization (medium size, mesocarnivory) corresponds to an adaptive optimum, we fit trait evolution models to previously generated canid phylogenies. Our analyses identify no single optimum in size or diet. Instead, the primary model of size evolution is a classic Cope's Rule increase over time, while dietary evolution does not conform to a single model.

Fiscal Decentralization and Public debt in the European Union

10.4335/171 ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lenka Horváthová ◽  
Julius Horváth ◽  
Vladimír Gazda ◽  
Matúš Kubák
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
Fiscal Decentralization ◽  
Panel Data Analysis ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Small Countries ◽  
Average Size ◽  
The Relationship

This paper analyses the relationship between fiscal decentralization and the level of the public debt in the twenty seven member countries of the European Union. Our panel data analysis points to the importance of size as fiscal decentralization reduces public debt in large and small countries, but not in medium - size countries. In addition, our results show that the number of government levels and average size of the lowest government unit is insignificant with respect to the public debt in these countries.

EARLY RESULTS OF INGUINAL HERNIA REPAIR BY THE “MESH PLUG” TECHNIQUE

2012 ◽  
pp. 43-51
Author(s):  
Doan Van Phu Nguyen ◽  
Loc Le ◽  
Van Lieu Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Inguinal Hernia ◽  
Postoperative Pain ◽  
Operating Time ◽  
Life Assessment ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Mesh Plug ◽  
Postoperative Rehabilitation ◽  
Early Return ◽  
Early Results ◽  
Average Size

Background: In 1989, Lichtenstein I. L., Shulman A. G., Amid P. K., and Montlor M. M. presented an idea of using Mesh Plug to repair the defect inguinal canal. The new technique quickly became accepted by surgeons all over the world for several reasons: faster overall rehabilitation, less postoperative pain, less complication, shorter stay in the hospital and early return to normal activities and work. Materials and method: From Dec 2011 to July 2012, 42 patients with inguinal hernia were surgically treated with 48 Mesh Plugs applied at the Surgery Unit of Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Result: The patients’ average age was 49.12±21.17. There were 25 patients over 40 years old, accounting for 59,5%, and 39 of the group were males, accounting for 92.8%. 10 cases were direct hernia, accounting for 20.8%, and 38 cases were indirect hernia accounting for 79.2%. Based on Nyhus’s classification, there were 33 cases of IIIA and IIIB (68.8%). Based on the position of protrusion, there were 30 cases of right inguinal hernia (62.5%), 18 cases of left inguinal hernia (37.5%), and 6 cases of hernia on both sides. The average size of the deep ring is 2.16±1.64cm. 24 cases used Mesh Plug of medium size (54.5%). The mean operating time was 35.75 minutes. The time of staying in the hospital was 3.52±1.14 days. Quality of life assessment after the surgery showed 46 very good and good cases 95.8% and 2 cases (4.2%) with satisfactory result. No case of bad outcome was recorded. Conclusion: Surgical treatment of inguinal hernia by the Mesh Plug technique is really effective, safe with faster postoperative rehabilitation, less postoperative pain, less complications, shorter hospital stay and early return to normal activities and work.

scholarly journals A Risk-Based Approach to Assess the Operational Resilience of Transmission Grids

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (14) ◽  
pp. 4761
Author(s):  
Milorad Papic ◽  
Svetlana Ekisheva ◽  
Eduardo Cotilla-Sanchez
Keyword(s):  
Power System ◽  
North American ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Transmission System ◽  
Energy Delivery ◽  
The North ◽  
System Components ◽  
Bulk Power ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

Modern risk analysis studies of the power system increasingly rely on big datasets, either synthesized, simulated, or real utility data. Particularly in the transmission system, outage events have a strong influence on the reliability, resilience, and security of the overall energy delivery infrastructure. In this paper we analyze historical outage data for transmission system components and discuss the implications of nearby overlapping outages with respect to resilience of the power system. We carry out a risk-based assessment using North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Transmission Availability Data System (TADS) for the North American bulk power system (BPS). We found that the quantification of nearby unscheduled outage clusters would improve the response times for operators to readjust the system and provide better resilience still under the standard definition of N-1 security. Finally, we propose future steps to investigate the relationship between clusters of outages and their electrical proximity, in order to improve operator actions in the operation horizon.

scholarly journals High coverage COVID-19 mRNA vaccination rapidly controls SARS-CoV-2 transmission in long-term care facilities

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo M. De Salazar ◽  
Nicholas B. Link ◽  
Karuna Lamarca ◽  
Mauricio Santillana
Keyword(s):  
Long Term Care ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
High Coverage ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Early Effect ◽  
Care Facilities ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Background Residents of Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCFs) represent a major share of COVID-19 deaths worldwide. Measuring the vaccine effectiveness among the most vulnerable in these settings is essential to monitor and improve mitigation strategies. Methods We evaluate the early effect of the administration of BNT162b2-mRNA vaccine to individuals older than 64 years residing in LTCFs in Catalonia, Spain. We monitor all the SARS-CoV-2 documented infections and deaths among LTCFs residents once more than 70% of them were fully vaccinated (February–March 2021). We develop a modeling framework based on the relationship between community and LTCFs transmission during the pre-vaccination period (July–December 2020). We compute the total reduction in SARS-CoV-2 documented infections and deaths among residents of LTCFs over time, as well as the reduction in the detected transmission for all the LTCFs. We compare the true observations with the counterfactual predictions. Results We estimate that once more than 70% of the LTCFs population are fully vaccinated, 74% (58–81%, 90% CI) of COVID-19 deaths and 75% (36–86%, 90% CI) of all expected documented infections among LTCFs residents are prevented. Further, detectable transmission among LTCFs residents is reduced up to 90% (76–93%, 90% CI) relative to that expected given transmission in the community. Conclusions Our findings provide evidence that high-coverage vaccination is the most effective intervention to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission and death among LTCFs residents. Widespread vaccination could be a feasible avenue to control the COVID-19 pandemic conditional on key factors such as vaccine escape, roll out and coverage.

Introduced North American Black Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) Populations are Biennial

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 624-630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christa E. Fettig ◽  
Ruth A. Hufbauer
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Common Garden ◽  
Hyoscyamus Niger ◽  
Active Growth ◽  
Black Henbane ◽  
Introduced Populations ◽  
Winter Temperatures ◽  
American Black ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Bolting And Flowering

AbstractBlack henbane can be either annual or biennial. We investigated which life cycle is found in four introduced western North American populations. Plants were grown in a greenhouse common garden until half were vernalized by exposure to natural winter temperatures, while the other half remained in the greenhouse above 20 C, with 16 h of light and 8 h of dark. In total the plants were monitored 313 d after germination. We measured whether plants bolted, the time it took for bolting to commence, and the size at bolting. All vernalized plants bolted after 117 d of active growth (within 26 d of the end of the vernalization treatment), whereas only 26% of the nonvernalized plants bolted after an average of 278 d of active growth. Vernalized plants bolted at a smaller size than the nonvernalized plants that bolted (28 vs. 41 leaves on average). In the nonvernalized plants, the relationship between time to bolting and size was strong, but not so with the vernalized plants. Our results indicate that introduced black henbane plants are biennial, and that vernalization is more critical to bolting and flowering than reaching a certain size. Nonetheless, the fact that nonvernalized plants were capable of bolting if grown long enough suggests that vernalization is not the only cue that can trigger reproduction in introduced populations.

Human Resource Management, TQM, and Firm Performance in Small and Medium-Size Enterprises

2000 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaylen N. Chandler ◽  
Glenn M. Mcevoy
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
The Relationship

This study analyzes the moderating effect of two key human resource practices on the relationship between organizational strategy and firm performance. In a sample of 66 small to medium-sized manufacturing firms we found that a total quality management strategy was most effective when supported by significant training and group-based incentive compensation. This result is discussed in light of the current debate in the field about “best practice” versus “fit” models of human resource management and business strategy.

scholarly journals The effects of geographic range size and abundance on extinction during a time of “sluggish”’ evolution

Paleobiology ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Michelle M. Casey ◽  
Erin E. Saupe ◽  
Bruce S. Lieberman
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Late Paleozoic ◽  
The North ◽  
Geographic Range Size ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Habitat Tracking

Abstract Geographic range size and abundance are important determinants of extinction risk in fossil and extant taxa. However, the relationship between these variables and extinction risk has not been tested extensively during evolutionarily “quiescent” times of low extinction and speciation in the fossil record. Here we examine the influence of geographic range size and abundance on extinction risk during the late Paleozoic (Mississippian–Permian), a time of “sluggish” evolution when global rates of origination and extinction were roughly half those of other Paleozoic intervals. Analyses used spatiotemporal occurrences for 164 brachiopod species from the North American midcontinent. We found abundance to be a better predictor of extinction risk than measures of geographic range size. Moreover, species exhibited reductions in abundance before their extinction but did not display contractions in geographic range size. The weak relationship between geographic range size and extinction in this time and place may reflect the relative preponderance of larger-ranged taxa combined with the physiographic conditions of the region that allowed for easy habitat tracking that dampened both extinction and speciation. These conditions led to a prolonged period (19–25 Myr) during which standard macroevolutionary rules did not apply.

The relationship between forelimb morphology and behaviour in North American carnivores (Carnivora)

1999 ◽  
Vol 77 (7) ◽  
pp. 1064-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew N Iwaniuk ◽  
Sergio M Pellis ◽  
Ian Q Whishaw
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Prey Capture ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Independent Contrasts ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Predatory Behaviour ◽  
Olecranon Process ◽  
The Relationship

We tested the validity of previously described relationships between forelimb structure and behaviour in mammals by measuring the forelimbs of 22 species of North American carnivores. Nine ratios were calculated from these measurements and made independent of the effects of allometry and phylogeny through the use of log-transformed regressions and independent contrasts analysis. The ratios were then directly compared with two behavioural traits: arboreal locomotion and vertebrate predation. Only five of the nine ratios exhibited a significant relationship with arboreal locomotion and three with vertebrate predation. It was concluded that the brachial index, relative size of the olecranon process, and total forelimb robusticity may be reliable predictors of arboreal locomotion, and that the brachial index, relative size of the olecranon process, and radial robusticity may be accurate predictors of vertebrate predation. The data also suggest that the morphology of the lower forelimb may be an important indicator of prey-capture and feeding behaviour in carnivores and could be used in conjunction with craniodental variables to extrapolate predatory behaviour of extinct species.

Wilhelm Von Humboldt and North American Ethnolinguistics

1990 ◽  
Vol 17 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 111-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. F. Konrad Koerner
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North American ◽  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Wilhelm Von Humboldt ◽  
Franz Boas ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Language Structure ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
General Linguistics ◽  
The Relationship

Summary Noam Chomsky’s frequent references to the work of Wilhelm von Humboldt during the 1960s produced a considerable revival of interest in this 19th-century scholar in North America. This paper demonstrates that there has been a long-standing influence of Humboldt’s ideas on American linguistics and that no ‘rediscovery’ was required. Although Humboldt’s first contacts with North-American scholars goes back to 1803, the present paper is confined to the posthumous phase of his influence which begins with the work of Heymann Steinthal (1823–1899) from about 1850 onwards. This was also a time when many young Americans went to Germany to complete their education; for instance William Dwight Whitney (1827–1894) spent several years at the universities of Tübingen and Berlin (1850–1854), and in his writings on general linguistics one can trace Humboldtian ideas. In 1885 Daniel G. Brinton (1837–1899) published an English translation of a manuscript by Humboldt on the structure of the verb in Amerindian languages. A year later Franz Boas (1858–1942) arrived from Berlin soon to establish himself as the foremost anthropologist with a strong interest in native language and culture. From then on we encounter Humboldtian ideas in the work of a number of North American anthropological linguists, most notably in the work of Edward Sapir (1884–1939). This is not only true with regard to matters of language classification and typology but also with regard to the philosophy of language, specifically, the relationship between a particular language structure and the kind of thinking it reflects or determines on the part of its speakers. Humboldtian ideas of ‘linguistic relativity’, enunciated in the writings of Whitney, Brinton, Boas, and others, were subsequently developed further by Sapir’s student Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1941). The transmission of the so-called Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis – which still today is attracting interest among cultural anthropologists and social psychologists, not only in North America – is the focus of the remainder of the paper. A general Humboldtian approach to language and culture, it is argued, is still present in the work of Dell Hymes and several of his students.

scholarly journals Does Emotional Value Play a Role in the Relationship between Risk and Loyalty?

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mircea-Andrei Scridon
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Financial Risk ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Equation Modelling ◽  
Modelling Techniques ◽  
The One ◽  
Emotional Value ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Although perceived value is considered essential in any marketing activity, the role it plays regarding the relationship between perceived risk and loyalty in the context of organizational markets is not thoroughly considered. Therefore, this paper addresses the aforementioned issues in the context of the small and medium size enterprise market in Romania. From a sample of 229 entities, data were collected and analysed using structural equation modelling techniques. Results confirmed that different relationships are established between functional or financial risk and emotional value on the one hand, and emotional value and loyalty on the other hand. Discussions of the results integrate main findings with other studies that partially or tangentially study the connections between emotional value, risk and loyalty. The paper end with a brief limitations and avenues for future research.

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