State and Transition Models in Space and Time – Using STMs to Understand Broad Patterns of Ecosystem Change in Iceland

Managing ecological systems sustainably requires a deep understanding of ecosystem structure and the processes driving their dynamics. Conceptual models can lead to improved management, by providing a framework for organizing knowledge about a system and identifying the causal agents of change. We developed state-and-transition models (STMs) to describe landscape changes in Iceland over three historical periods with different human influence, from pre-settlement to present days. Our models identified the set of possible states, transitions and thresholds in these ecosystems and their changes over time. To illustrate the use of these models for predicting and improving management interventions, we applied our present-day STM to a case study in the central highlands of Iceland and monitored ecosystem changes within an ongoing field experiment with two management interventions (grazing exclusion and fertilization) in areas experiencing contrasting stages of degradation. The results of the experiment broadly align with the predictions of the model and underscore the importance of conceptual frameworks for adaptive management, where the best available knowledge is used to continuously refine and update the models

Choosy Moral Punishers

The punishment of social misconduct is a powerful mechanism for stabilizing high levels of cooperation among unrelated individuals. It is regularly assumed that humans have a universal disposition to punish social norm violators, which is sometimes labelled “universal structure of human morality” or “pure aversion to social betrayal”. Here we present evidence that, contrary to this hypothesis, the propensity to punish a moral norm violator varies among participants with different career trajectories. In anonymous real-life conditions, future teachers punished a talented but immoral young violinist: they voted against her in an important music competition when they had been informed of her previous blatant misconduct toward fellow violin students. In contrast, future police officers and high school students did not punish. This variation among socio-professional categories indicates that the punishment of norm violators is not entirely explained by an aversion to social betrayal. We suggest that context specificity plays an important role in normative behaviour; people seem inclined to enforce social norms only in situations that are familiar, relevant for their social category, and possibly strategically advantageous

1H NMR-metabolomics: Can they be a useful tool in our understanding of cardiac arrest?

Objective: This review focuses on the presentation of the emerging technology of metabolomics, a promising tool for the detection of identifying the unrevealed biological pathways that lead to cardiac arrest. Data sources: The electronic bases of PubMed, Scopus, and EMBASE were searched. Research terms were identified using the MESH database and were combined thereafter. Initial search terms were "cardiac arrest", "cardiopulmonary resuscitation", "post-cardiac arrest syndrome" combined with "metabolomics". Results: Metabolomics allow the monitoring of hundreds of metabolites from tissues or body fluids and already influence research in the field of cardiac metabolism. This approach has elucidated several pathophysiological mechanisms and identified profiles of metabolic changes that can be used to follow the disease processes occurring in the peri-arrest period. This can be achieved through leveraging the strengths of unbiased metabolome-wide scans, which include thousands of final downstream products of gene transcription, enzyme activity and metabolic products of extraneously administered substances, in order to identify a metabolomic fingerprint associated with an increased risk of cardiac arrest. Conclusion: Although this technology is still under development, metabolomics is a promising tool for elucidating biological pathways and discovering clinical biomarkers, strengthening the efforts for optimizing both the prevention and treatment of cardiac arrest. © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd

Evaluating the extent of patient-centred care in a selection of ESC guidelines

Patient-centred care (PCC) is the cornerstone for healthcare professionals (HCP) to promote high quality care for patients with cardiovascular conditions. It is defined as 'Providing care that is respectful of, and responsive to, individual patient preferences, needs and values, and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions'. PCC can improve patient outcomes and allow patients and HCP to manage care collaboratively using best available evidence. However, there is no clear understanding how extensively these guidelines incorporate PCC recommendations. The aim of the study was to evaluate the incorporation of PCC into a selection of guidelines published by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC)

Meteorological expressions in Latvian

Bakalaura darba Meteoroloģisko parādību atspoguļojums latviešu valodā mērķis ir skatīt meteoroloģiskas parādības gan no semantiska, gan sintaktiska viedokļa – izpētīt, kādās sintaktiskās konstrukcijās tiek atspoguļotas meteoroloģiskas parādības un noteikt šo parādību nosaukumu tipisko apkaimi. Darbs sastāv no ievada, apzīmējumu saraksta, četrām nodaļām, secinājumiem un izmantotās literatūras saraksta. Pirmajā nodaļā ir dots ieskats funkcionālo stilu sistēmā, jo meteoroloģiskās parādības dažādos stilos tiek raksturotas atšķirīgi. Otrajā nodaļa uzmanība vērsta uz vienkārša teikuma sintakses raksturošanu. Trešajā nodaļā teorētiski un praktiski tiek skatītas divkomponentu teikumu shēmas. Ceturtajā nodaļā tiek pētīts, ar kādiem skaņu verbiem var apzīmēt meteoroloģiskas parādības un kādus apzīmētājus piesaista lietvārdi, kas nosauc meteoroloģiskas parādības.The aim of the bachelor’s thesis “Meteorological expressions in Latvian” is to view meteorological expressions from a semantic and syntactic point of view – to see in what kind of syntactic constructions meteorological phenomena are reflected and to determine which sound verbs and what kind of attributes are used in these constructions. The work consists of introduction, a list of terms, four chapters, conclusions and of the list of literature. The first chapter gives an insight into the study of functional styles. The second chapter focuses on describing the syntax of a simple sentence. In the third chapter bipartite sentence schemes are exemined in theory and in practice. The fourth chapter examines adjectives and sound verbs used in meteorological expressions. Key words: meteorological expressions, simple sentence pattern, adjective semantics, sound verbs