Short‐term positive effects of wildfire on diurnal insects and pollen transport in a Mediterranean ecosystem

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Banza ◽  
Darren M. Evans ◽  
Renata Medeiros ◽  
Callum J. Macgregor ◽  
Anabela D. F. Belo
2021 ◽  
pp. 009164712110115
Author(s):  
Charissa H. W. Wong ◽  
Li Neng Lee ◽  
Alberto Pérez Pereiro

Short-term Christian overseas volunteer trips, also known as short-term mission trips (STMs), have become increasingly prevalent (Howell & Dorr, 2007). However, research on these programs has been limited. This quasi-experimental study adds to the literature by quantitatively measuring the effects of an STM from Singapore to Thailand. STM recipients’ ( n = 44) self-esteem and readiness for self-directed learning (RSDL) were compared across timepoints – pre-test, post-test, follow-up – and with a control group ( n = 50). It was hypothesized that recipients would experience an increase in self-esteem and RSDL such that their scores would be higher than the control group post-STM. Results provide partial support for the hypotheses; while improvements among recipients were either not significant (for self-esteem) or not long-lasting (for RSDL), recipients had higher scores than the control group post-STM. This suggests that STMs have some, albeit limited, positive effects. Recommendations for promoting greater and longer-lasting effects are offered.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1019
Author(s):  
Barbara Frączek ◽  
Aleksandra Pięta ◽  
Adrian Burda ◽  
Paulina Mazur-Kurach ◽  
Florentyna Tyrała

The aim of this meta-analysis was to review the impact of a Paleolithic diet (PD) on selected health indicators (body composition, lipid profile, blood pressure, and carbohydrate metabolism) in the short and long term of nutrition intervention in healthy and unhealthy adults. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of 21 full-text original human studies was conducted. Both the PD and a variety of healthy diets (control diets (CDs)) caused reduction in anthropometric parameters, both in the short and long term. For many indicators, such as weight (body mass (BM)), body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC), impact was stronger and especially found in the short term. All diets caused a decrease in total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG), albeit the impact of PD was stronger. Among long-term studies, only PD cased a decline in TC and LDL-C. Impact on blood pressure was observed mainly in the short term. PD caused a decrease in fasting plasma (fP) glucose, fP insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in the short run, contrary to CD. In the long term, only PD caused a decrease in fP glucose and fP insulin. Lower positive impact of PD on performance was observed in the group without exercise. Positive effects of the PD on health and the lack of experiments among professional athletes require longer-term interventions to determine the effect of the Paleo diet on athletic performance.


Author(s):  
V. Pan'kov

In a long historical perspective, the globalization of the economy is, no doubt, the future of the mankind. However, we should not overlook the contradiction that has dramatically intensified as a result of the 2008-2009 recession. This is the contradiction between globalization as an objective process with mostly positive effects and its model that is being implemented today (namely, the policy of globalization). Furthermore, we can propose a number of important arguments in favor of a statement that at the current state of affairs the globalization has exhausted itself. Nobody can exclude a short-term braking down of the globalization progress nor even a U-turn, albeit temporary, to a de-globalization. Under unfavorable circumstances such a reverse movement can cover the entire period up to 2020. The author states that transnational corporations are the main subject of the world economy which will the most actively oppose such a development.


Author(s):  
Valentina Tocchioni ◽  
Alessandra Petrucci ◽  
Alessandra Minello

In the last years, there has been a large increase in high-educated and high-skilled people’s mobility as a consequence of the internationalization and globalization, the weakening of research and university systems of sending countries (the “brain drain” process), the increase in skilled demand and improvements in higher education of host countries (the “brain gain” process). At the micro-level, academic mobility has positive consequences on occupational prospects and careers of researchers, both in the short- and long- run. Nevertheless, numerous research studies have demonstrated the challenges of engaging in international academic mobility for people with caring responsibilities, particularly women. Using Italian data on occupational conditions of PhDs collected in 2018 by Istat and modelling multinomial logistic regression analyses, we intend to verify if female researchers are associated with a lower international mobility irrespective their field of study, and the extent to which gender interacts differently in the various fields of study in affecting the probability of moving abroad after PhD qualification. Also, the distinction between long-term and short-term mobility, which has been mainly neglected in the literature concentrating on longer stays, has taken into account. In this respect, short-term mobility is a potentially high-value investment that may be pursued also by those researchers and scientists who cannot move for longer periods, such as women with caring responsibilities. In the literature, it is acknowledged that an experience abroad during early career may have positive effects on future occupational prospects. With our work, we intend to shed light on potential disparities on moving abroad that may exist among researchers in their early career by gender, and which could contribute to leave behind women in academia.


2020 ◽  
pp. 000765032097343
Author(s):  
Saurabh A. Lall ◽  
Jacob Park

Although early-stage finance is critical to the growth of most ventures, it is even more important for social ventures as they face the challenges of balancing their social and commercial objectives. Drawing on institutional logics and signaling theory, this study uses a panel data set of 3,401 nascent social ventures to investigate the important role philanthropic grant funding plays in the organizational and financial development of social ventures. We find mixed results, with positive effects on employment and subsequent access to debt finance, but no effects on revenues and access to equity. Our findings connect these theories by suggesting philanthropic grants provide social ventures with flexibility to invest in human capital without pushing them to pursue short-term financial objectives, and that receiving a philanthropic grant provides a signal that is interpreted differently by debt and equity financiers. These findings are especially relevant as funders increasingly use grants to support social entrepreneurship.


Author(s):  
Marc A. Meier ◽  
Manuel Ottiger ◽  
Alaadin Vögeli ◽  
Christian Steuer ◽  
Luca Bernasconi ◽  
...  

AbstractBackground:As part of the immune defense during infection, an increase in enzyme activity of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) leads to a breakdown of tryptophan to kynurenine. In previous animal studies, therapeutic antagonism of IDO resulted in reduced sepsis mortality. We investigated the prognostic ability of tryptophan, serotonin, kynurenine and IDO (represented by the ratio of kynurenine/tryptophan) to predict adverse clinical outcomes in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).Methods:We measured tryptophan, serotonin and kynurenine on admission plasma samples from CAP patients included in a previous multicenter trial by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We studied their association with inflammation (C-reactive protein), infection (procalcitonin) and clinical outcome.Results:Mortality in the 268 included patients was 45% within 6 years of follow-up. IDO and kynurenine showed a strong positive correlation with markers of infection (procalcitonin) and inflammation (C-reactive protein) as well as sepsis and CAP severity scores. Tryptophan showed similar, but negative correlations. In a multivariate regression analysis adjusted for age and comorbidities, higher IDO activity and lower tryptophan levels were strongly associated with short-term adverse outcome defined as death and/or ICU admission within 30 days with adjusted odds ratios of 9.1 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4–59.5, p=0.021] and 0.11 (95% CI 0.02–0.70, p=0.021). Multivariate analysis did not reveal significant associations for kynurenine and serotonin.Conclusions:In hospitalized CAP patients, higher IDO activity and lower tryptophan levels independently predicted disease severity and short-term adverse outcome. Whether therapeutic modulation of IDO has positive effects on outcome needs further investigation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Elaine Elizabeth Bolitho

<p>New Zealand Baptist and Methodist Churches' growth and decline between 1948 and 1988 was caused by the manner of their involvement in this world, in their roles of experiencing and telling about God in word and action. These roles link with the three factors - secularisation, evangelical theology and practice and the Charismatic movement. The roles and factors are encompassed within the context of change and discontinuity. 1. The impact of secularisation showed in declining religious profession and membership, yet also in greater involvement in this world through experiencing God immanent within it. 2. Commitment to evangelical theology and practice led to short term Baptist success, but in the long term triggered membership losses. Methodists without this emphasis showed even greater membership decline. 3. The Charismatic movement which was initially divisive holds within it potential for experiencing God in this world, and for dynamic continuity to make sense of the changing world scene. The relationship of the context of change to the three major factors was that the greater the degree of responding to discontinuity with creative dynamic continuity, the greater the growth of the churches. Increasing the degree of static continuity induced decline. The absence of any form of continuity resulted in even greater decline. The Baptist Churches successfully increased membership through relating well to the post-war generation. Through social service and outreach ministries they became more involved in this world. Evangelism, through a variety of methods, provided continuity in sharing the God news. The Charismatic movement as catalyst for church change in times of societal change brought the potential, through emphases of servant theology, to channel God experience into relational outreach. This led to its meshing with the positive effects of secularisation and evangelism. Methodist church growth was restricted by suspicion of the Charismatic movement, loss of evangelical focuses and recruitment programmes. Social action continued to be the Methodist way of being involved in this world. Profiles completed by 200 Baptist and 168 Methodist churches demonstrated the interplay of these factors. These were complemented by surveys completed by 106 resigned ministers, over 170 interviews, 6 case studies, 46 church visits and extensive reading. Analysis of profiles and membership statistics showed that Baptist churches did not do better because of short term ministries, Pastoral terms, membership and evangelical theology. But without evangelical theology and practice Methodist membership declined more. For every 12 members welcomed Baptists would lose 8 and Methodists 15. This indicated that churches not retaining members and clergy needed a balance of evangelism and whole-of-life theology with longer term focuses to provide dynamic continuity in the discontinuity of life.</p>


Author(s):  
Dhani Ichsanuddin Nur

Background: The research purpose to analyzing impacts of funding source changes on pharmacy company profits that went public on Indonesian Stock Exchange, with analysis period of 2008 to 2013. Methods: The research applied analysis means in line with requirements of change variable measurements of funding sources in its interconnectedness with company profits; the applied model was Auto-regressive. Results: The research results indicated that changes of the last one-period short term debts had negative effects insignificantly on company profits, the last two-period short term debts had positive effects significantly on company profits, changes of the last one-period and two-period long term debts had negative effects insignificantly on company profits, equity changes of the last period had positive effects significantly on company profits, the last period profit changes had negative effects significantly on company profits. Conclusion: Last one-period short term, last one-period long term, last two-period long term debt changes, and last period profit have negative insignificant effect on company profit. Last two-period short term debt changes, last one-period equity changes, and last two-period equity changes have positive significant effect on company profit.


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