scholarly journals Shape and size of the arenas affect amphipod behaviours: implications for ecotoxicology

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanelle A. Kohler ◽  
Matthew O. Parker ◽  
Alex T. Ford
Keyword(s):  
False Negative ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Major Drawback ◽  
Test Species ◽  
Amphipod Crustacean ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Invertebrate Models ◽  
A Current

The use of behaviour in ecotoxicology is expanding, however the lack of standardisation and validation of these assays currently presents a major drawback in moving forward in the development of behavioural assays. Furthermore, there is a current paucity of control data on test species, particularly invertebrate models. In this study we assessed a range of behaviours associated with spatial distribution and locomotion in relation to arena size and shape in two species of amphipod crustacean (Echinogammarus marinus and Gammarus pulex). Arena shape had significant effects on almost all behavioural parameters analysed. Increasing arena size resulted in an increased mean velocity and activity plus increased proportional use of the central zones. These results indicate that ‘ceiling effects’ may occur in some ecotoxicological studies resulting in potentially ‘false’ negative effects if careful consideration is not paid to experimental design. Differences in behaviours were observed between the two species of amphipod. For example, G. pulex spend approximately five times (∼20%) more of the available time crossing the central zones of the arenas compared to E. marinus (∼4%) which could have implications on assessing anxiolytic behaviours. The results of this study highlight several behaviours with potential for use in behavioural ecotoxicology with crustaceans but also underscore the need for careful consideration when designing these behavioural assays.

Diploma Democracy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Bovens ◽  
Anchrit Wille
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
University Graduates ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Organized Interests ◽  
Political Office ◽  
Political Meritocracy ◽  
Almost All

Lay politics lies at the heart of democracy. Political offices are the only offices for which no formal qualifications are required. Contemporary political practices are diametrically opposed to this constitutional ideal. Most contemporary democracies in Western Europe are diploma democracies—ruled by those with the highest formal qualifications. Citizens with low or medium educational qualification levels currently make up about 70 per cent of the electorates, yet they have become virtually absent from almost all political arenas. University graduates have come to dominate all relevant political institutions and venues, from political parties, parliaments and cabinets, to organized interests, deliberative settings, and internet consultations. This rise of a political meritocracy is part of larger trend. In the information society, educational background, like class, or religion, is an important source of social and political divides. Those who are well educated tend to be cosmopolitans, whereas the lesser educated citizens are more likely to be nationalists. This book documents the context, contours, and consequences of this rise of a political meritocracy. It explores the domination of higher educated citizens in political participation, civil society, and political office in Western Europe. It discusses the consequences of this rise of political meritocracy, such as descriptive deficits, policy incongruences, biased standards, and cynicism and distrust. Also, it looks at ways to remedy, or at least mitigate, some of the negative effects of diploma democracy.

scholarly journals An Emulation of Randomized Trials of Administrating Antipsychotics in PTSD Patients for Outcomes of Suicide-Related Events

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 178
Author(s):  
Noah R. Delapaz ◽  
William K. Hor ◽  
Michael Gilbert ◽  
Andrew D. La ◽  
Feiran Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Clinical Trials ◽  
Previous History ◽  
Current Treatment ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
P Value ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
History Of ◽  
Almost All

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent mental disorder marked by psychological and behavioral changes. Currently, there is no consensus of preferred antipsychotics to be used for the treatment of PTSD. We aim to discover whether certain antipsychotics have decreased suicide risk in the PTSD population, as these patients may be at higher risk. A total of 38,807 patients were identified with a diagnosis of PTSD through the ICD9 or ICD10 codes from January 2004 to October 2019. An emulation of randomized clinical trials was conducted to compare the outcomes of suicide-related events (SREs) among PTSD patients who ever used one of eight individual antipsychotics after the diagnosis of PTSD. Exclusion criteria included patients with a history of SREs and a previous history of antipsychotic use within one year before enrollment. Eligible individuals were assigned to a treatment group according to the antipsychotic initiated and followed until stopping current treatment, switching to another same class of drugs, death, or loss to follow up. The primary outcome was to identify the frequency of SREs associated with each antipsychotic. SREs were defined as ideation, attempts, and death by suicide. Pooled logistic regression methods with the Firth option were conducted to compare two drugs for their outcomes using SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). The results were adjusted for baseline characteristics and post-baseline, time-varying confounders. A total of 5294 patients were eligible for enrollment with an average follow up of 7.86 months. A total of 157 SREs were recorded throughout this study. Lurasidone showed a statistically significant decrease in SREs when compared head to head to almost all the other antipsychotics: aripiprazole, haloperidol, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, and ziprasidone (p < 0.0001 and false discovery rate-adjusted p value < 0.0004). In addition, olanzapine was associated with higher SREs than quetiapine and risperidone, and ziprasidone was associated with higher SREs than risperidone. The results of this study suggest that certain antipsychotics may put individuals within the PTSD population at an increased risk of SREs, and that careful consideration may need to be taken when prescribed.

scholarly journals Application of Hyperspectral Imaging in the Assessment of Drought and Salt Stress in Magneto-Primed Triticale Seeds

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 835
Author(s):  
Jose Alvarez ◽  
Elvira Martinez ◽  
Belén Diezma
Keyword(s):  
Salt Stress ◽  
Hyperspectral Imaging ◽  
Human Observer ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Stress Symptoms ◽  
Data Variability ◽  
Drought And Salt Stress ◽  
The One ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Germination Parameters

Hyperspectral imaging is an appropriate method to thoroughly investigate the microscopic structure of internally heterogeneous agro-food products. By using hyperspectral technology, identifying stress symptoms associated with salinity, before a human observer, is possible, and has obvious benefits. The objective of this paper was to prove the suitability of this technique for the analysis of Triticale seeds subjected to both magneto-priming and drought and salt stress conditions, in terms of image differences obtained among treatments. It is known that, on the one hand, drought and salt stress treatments have negative effects on seeds of almost all species, and on the other hand, magneto-priming enhances seed germination parameters. Thus, this study aimed to relate hyperspectral imaging values—neither positive nor negative in themselves—to the effects mentioned above. Two main conclusions were reached: Firstly, the hyperspectral application is a feasible method for exploring the Triticale structure and for making distinctions under different drought and salt stress treatments, in line with the data variability obtained. Secondly, the lower spectral reflectance in some treatments—in the 400–1000 nm segment—is the result of a great number of chemical compounds in the seed that could be related to magneto-priming.

Advertisements for Medicines in Leading Medical Journals in 18 Countries: A 12-Month Survey of Information Content and Standards

1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Herxheimer ◽  
Cecilia Stålsby Lundborg ◽  
Barbro Westerholm
Keyword(s):  
Information Content ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Brand Name ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Medical Journals ◽  
National Medical ◽  
Ethical Criteria ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Medicinal Drug

The information content of 6,710 advertisements for medicines in medical journals was surveyed to provide a baseline for monitoring the effect of WHO's Ethical Criteria for Medicinal Drug Promotion. The advertisements (ads) appeared during 12 months (1987–1988) in 23 leading national medical journals in 18 countries. Local participants, mostly doctors or pharmacists, examined them. The presence or absence in each ad of important information was noted. In most ads the generic name appeared in smaller type than the brand name. Indications were mentioned more often than the negative effects of medicines. The ads gave less pharmacological than medical information. However, important warnings and precautions were missing in half, and side effects and contraindications in about 40 percent. Prices tended to be given only in countries where a social security system pays for the medicines. The information content of ads in the developing countries differed surprisingly little from that in the industrialized countries. Almost all the ads (96 percent) included one or more pictures; 58 percent of these were considered irrelevant. The authors believe it is a mistake to regard ads as trivial. If they are not considered seriously they will influence the use of medicines as they are intended to do, but read critically they can provide useful information.

scholarly journals A semi-dominant mutation in OsCESA9 improves biomass enzymatic digestibility and salt tolerance by relatively remodeling cell walls in rice

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yafeng Ye ◽  
Shuoxun Wang ◽  
Kun Wu ◽  
Yan Ren ◽  
Hongrui Jiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Salt Tolerance ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Rice Straw ◽  
Enzymatic Saccharification ◽  
Cellulose Content ◽  
Normal Plant ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Straw Return ◽  
Almost All

Abstract Background: Cellulose synthase (CESA) mutants have potential use in straw processing due to their lower cellulose content, but almost all of the mutants exhibit defective phenotypes in plant growth and development. Balancing normal plant growth with reduced cellulose content remains a challenge, as cellulose content and normal plant growth are typically negatively correlated with one another. Result: Here, the rice (Oryza sativa) semi-dominant brittle culm (sdbc) mutant Sdbc1, which harbors a substitution (D387N) at the first conserved aspartic acid residue of OsCESA9, exhibits lower cellulose content and reduced secondary wall thickness as well as enhanced biomass enzymatic saccharification compared with the wild type (WT). Further experiments indicated that the OsCESA9D387N mutation may compete with the wild-type OsCESA9 for interacting with OsCESA4 and OsCESA7, further forming non-functional or partially functional CSCs. The OsCESA9/OsCESA9D387N heterozygous plants increase salt tolerance through scavenging and detoxification of ROS and indirectly affecting related gene expression. They also improve rice straw return to the field due to their brittle culms and lower cellulose content without any negative effects in grain yield and lodging. Conclusion: Hence, manipulation of OsCESA9D387N can provide the perspective of the rice straw for biofuels and bioproducts due to its improved enzymatic saccharification.

scholarly journals Religion, Moral and Modernisation of Urban Society: A Study on the Roles of Religion in Youth Development in Lampung, Republic of Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-116
Author(s):  
Suhandi ◽  
Azhar Jaafar
Keyword(s):  
Youth Development ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Reduction Process ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Process Data ◽  
The People ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Multi Access ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Role Of Religion

Modernisation is the consequence of the demands of the development that brings negative impacts to the society. It is undeniable that modernization also brings abundance of positive impacts that ease the life of people and that modernization and humanization cannot be separated. In this context, the youth are considered as unstable being, who easily being controlled by multi-access communication technology; from social, fashion, behaviour, lifestyle, and ideology. Almost all of the damaging sides of technology affect the youth. Religion as the spiritual agent has a major role in combating this change in the society. Religion can act as the social control to hinder from immoral behaviour and worthless actions among the society. The main issue in the current study is to investigate the role of religion in strengthening the moral among the teenagers. This research was conducted by using qualitative method. Data were collected through observation, interview and documentation. The participants of this research were the people of the rural areas in Bandar Lampung. After data collection was carried out, the data were processed qualitatively using the data reduction process, data exposure, and data verification. To conclude, the existence of the negative effects of modernization resulted from lack of religious virtues and parents’ control over their children’s social behaviour.

scholarly journals Fiscal, Investment and Export Multipliers and the COVID-19 Pandemic Slowdowns Uncertainty Factor in the First Half of 2020

Risks ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz J. Derkacz
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Gross Domestic Product ◽  
Domestic Product ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Uncertainty Factor ◽  
The World ◽  
European Union Countries ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Fiscal Investment

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant slowdown in the development of almost all economies in the world. In this context, the main goal of this research is to try to present changes in the value of fiscal, investment and export multipliers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was conducted in selected European Union countries. They are France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. This research is based on the theory of effective demand. The values of feeds and leakages of total demand in the period from 2015 to 2020 were examined and calculated. On this basis, the individual multipliers of autonomous spending were analyzed and their changes in the first period of the COVID-19 pandemic were presented. The analyses led to a surprising conclusion: it found that the autonomous spending multipliers in some economies increased. This means that they have become ‘security buffers’ for the health of economies. This means that the increase in their value weakened the negative effects of changes in autonomous expenditure on gross domestic product.

scholarly journals Positive Correlation between Pesticide Consumption and Longevity in Solitary Bees: Are We Overlooking Fitness Trade-Offs?

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 819
Author(s):  
Verena Strobl ◽  
Domenic Camenzind ◽  
Angela Minnameyer ◽  
Stephanie Walker ◽  
Michael Eyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Consumption ◽  
False Negative ◽  
Solitary Bees ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Physiological Factors ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Agricultural Pesticides ◽  
Negative Results ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Survival And Reproduction

The ubiquitous use of pesticides is one major driver for the current loss of biodiversity, and the common practice of simultaneously applying multiple agrochemicals may further contribute. Insect toxicology currently has a strong focus on survival to determine the potential hazards of a chemical routinely used in risk evaluations. However, studies revealing no effect on survival or even indicating enhanced survival are likely to be misleading, if potential trade-offs between survival and other physiological factors are overlooked. Here, we used standard laboratory experiments to investigate the sublethal (i.e., food consumption) and lethal (i.e., survival) effects of two common agricultural pesticides (Roundup® and clothianidin) on adult female solitary bees, Osmia bicornis. The data showed no significant effect of the treatment on cumulative survival; however, a significant positive correlation between herbicide and insecticide exposure and age was revealed, i.e., bees exposed to higher dosages lived longer. As no significant differences in daily food consumption were observed across treatment groups, increased food intake can be excluded as a factor leading to the prolonged survival. While this study does not provide data on fitness effects, two previous studies using solitary bees observed significant negative effects of neonicotinoid insecticides on fitness, yet not on survival. Thus, we conjecture that the observed non-significant effects on longevity may result from a trade-off between survival and reproduction. The data suggest that a focus on survival can lead to false-negative results and it appears inevitable to include fitness or at least tokens of fitness at the earliest stage in future risk assessments.

The Treatment of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in International Investment Law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Karl
Keyword(s):  
Great Majority ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
International Investment Law ◽  
International Investment Agreements ◽  
Internationalization Strategies ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Investment Agreements

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of almost all economies, employing the great majority of the workforce, and making the biggest contribution to GDP. To some extent, they are also active as outward foreign investors or are linked to inward foreign investment through supply chains. This chapter analyses the role of international investment law for the internationalization strategies of SMEs. It explores to what extent international investment agreements specifically promote, facilitate, and protect investments involving SMEs, referring to concrete treaty examples. It also examines the risk of potential negative effects of certain IIA provisions on domestic SMEs. On the basis of this analysis, the chapter makes a number of suggestions regarding how international investment law could further improve the situation of SMEs.

scholarly journals Biogas Upgrading Approaches with Special Focus on Siloxane Removal—A Review

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 6088
Author(s):  
Pardon Nyamukamba ◽  
Patrick Mukumba ◽  
Evernice Shelter Chikukwa ◽  
Golden Makaka
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Biogas Upgrading ◽  
Suitable Alternative ◽  
Adsorption Processes ◽  
Trace Compounds ◽  
End Use

Biogas, a product of anaerobic digestion process that consists mainly of methane and carbon dioxide is a suitable alternative fuel if unwanted impurities are removed as they have a negative impact on the equipment. The most significant technologically troublesome trace compounds that must be removed are siloxanes since they are converted into silica on gas surface engines and turbines resulting in equipment damage. The quality of the gas is certainly improved by reducing the amount of impurities and the end use determines the extent of biogas cleaning needed. The major aim of this study was to compile information that can assist researchers or even designers in selecting a suitable technology to remove siloxanes. Siloxane removal definitely can be achieved using different methods and the effectiveness of each method relies on careful consideration of the characteristics of both biogas and siloxane, as well as the technological aspects of the method. Herein, we review on different cleaning techniques for siloxanes in raw biogas, the negative effects they have, their levels and technologies to reduce their concentrations. This review also incorporates the sources of the siloxanes, the progress to date on their removal and possible ways of regenerating adsorbents. The reviewed literature suggests that biogas upgrading technology should be promoted and encouraged especially in siloxane removal as it has detrimental effects on engines. The parameters and effectiveness of adsorption processes are discussed, and individual adsorbents are compared.

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