De archeologie van de pladijs

status: publishe

The Holocene occurrence of the European catfish (<i>Silurus glanis</i>) in Belgium: the archaeozoological evidence

An overview is given of the skeletal remains of the European catfish Silurus glanis found thus far in Belgian archaeological sites. These finds demonstrate that the species is autochthonous and allow documenting its occurrence and disappearance during the Holocene in the Scheldt and Meuse basins. Possible causes for the local extinction of this catfish are discussed

The Status of the United States Population of Night Shark, Carcharhinus signatus

Night sharks, Carcharhinus signatus, are an oceanic species generally occurring in outer continental shelf waters in the western North Atlantic Ocean including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Although not targeted, night sharks make up a segment of the shark bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery. Historically, night sharks comprised a significant proportion of the artisanal Cuban shark fishery but today they are rarely caught. Although information from some fisheries has shown a decline in catches of night sharks, it is unclear whether this decline is due to changes in fishing tactics, market, or species identification. Despite the uncertainty in the decline, the night shark is currently listed as a species of concern due to alleged declines in abundance resulting from fishing effort, i.e. overutilization. To assess their relevance to the species of concern list, we collated available information on the night shark to provide an analysis of its status. Night shark landings were likely both over- and under-reported and thus probably did not reflect all commercial and recreational catches, and overall they have limited relevance to the current status of the species. Average size information has not changed considerably since the 1980’s based on information from the pelagic longline fishery when corrected for gear bias. Analysis of biological information indicates night sharks have intrinsic rates of increase (r) about 10% yr–1 and have moderate rebound potential and an intermediate generation time compared to other sharks. An analysis of trends in relative abundance from four data sources gave conflicting results, with one series in decline, two series increasing, and one series relatively flat. Based on the analysis of all currently available information, we believe the night shark does not qualify as a species of concern but should be retained on the prohibited species list as a precautionary approach to management until a more comprehensive stock assessment can be conducted

Classroom Interventions for Reducing Public Speaking Anxiety

Findings of many studies demonstrate that instructors are able to offer instructional interventions that mediate state anxiety. The present study therefore examined several additional interventions designed to moderate situational factors contributing to state anxiety. The interventions were tested by creating cover stories similar to the Booth-Butterfield (1988a) study that described various instructional formats through which the first required speech in the introductory public speaking course would be processed. Respondents did not participate in actual in-class manipulations but were instructed to rate their perceived state anxiety if their first speech was structured in the manner described within each cover story. The primary purpose of the study was to generate a list of interventions that instructors may incorporate in the classroom with confidence. Support for perceptual responses will eventually require that manipulations actually be performed within the classroom. However, an extremely large number of interventions could be tested for in-class treatment. Thus, the process of selecting interventions may best be served by first narrowing the list to those that have been found to affect anxiety levels

Defining the fracture population in a pragmatic multicentre randomised controlled trial : PROFHER and the Neer classification of proximal humeral fractures

OBJECTIVES: Accurate characterisation of fractures is essential in fracture management trials. However, this is often hampered by poor inter-observer agreement. This article describes the practicalities of defining the fracture population, based on the Neer classification, within a pragmatic multicentre randomised controlled trial in which surgical treatment was compared with non-surgical treatment in adults with displaced fractures of the proximal humerus involving the surgical neck. METHODS: The trial manual illustrated the Neer classification of proximal humeral fractures. However, in addition to surgical neck displacement, surgeons assessing patient eligibility reported on whether either or both of the tuberosities were involved. Anonymised electronic versions of baseline radiographs were sought for all 250 trial participants. A protocol, data collection tool and training presentation were developed and tested in a pilot study. These were then used in a formal assessment and classification of the trial fractures by two independent senior orthopaedic shoulder trauma surgeons. RESULTS: Two or more baseline radiographic views were obtained for each participant. The independent raters confirmed that all fractures would have been considered for surgery in contemporaneous practice. A full description of the fracture population based on the Neer classification was obtained. The agreement between the categorisation at baseline (tuberosity involvement) and Neer classification as assessed by the two raters was only fair (kappa 0.29). However, this disparity did not appear to affect trial findings, specifically in terms of influencing the effect of treatment on the primary outcome of the trial. CONCLUSIONS: A key reporting requirement, namely the description of the fracture population, was achieved within the context of a pragmatic multicentre randomised clinical trial. This article provides important guidance for researchers designing similar trials on fracture management.Cite this article: H. H. G. Handoll, S. D. Brealey, L. Jefferson, A. Keding, A. J. Brooksbank, A. J. Johnstone, J. J. Candal-Couto, A. Rangan. Defining the fracture population in a pragmatic multicentre randomised controlled trial: PROFHER and the Neer classification of proximal humeral fractures.Bone Joint Res 2016;5:481-489. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.510.BJR-2016-0132.R1

A Probabilistic View of Certain Weighted Fibonacci Sums

In this article, we pursue the reverse strategy of using probability to derive an and develop an exponential generating function for an in Section 3. In Section 4, we present a method for finding an exact, non-recursive, formula for an