From ignorance to evidence? The use of programme evaluation in conservation: Evidence from a Delphi survey of conservation experts.

Persistent gaps in the evidence base regarding the performance of conservation policies has put pressure on the conservation policy field to adopt 'best practice' programme evaluation methods. These are methods that account for the counterfactual and are able to attribute causality between a conservation policy and specific observable environmental and social impacts. Despite this pressure, use of such methods continues to be rare. This paper uses the Delphi technique to provide the first systematic assessment of the reasons behind the apparent hesitation of conservation practitioners to adopt rigorous policy impact evaluation methods. The Delphi study consisted of two online questionnaires conducted on conservation policy experts. The results presented confirm that the use of rigorous impact evaluation methods in conservation is still very limited but this, crucially, is not because conservationists are ignorant of these methods or their advantages. In fact, considerable effort is being made to develop and improve evidence standards but these efforts have largely been thwarted by large financial and time related constraints that mean even elementary evaluations are hard to achieve. The results from this Delphi study allow us to provide more realistic recommendations on how impact evaluation studies can be more widely embraced and implemented in conservation practice.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.05.06

Entwurf eines agilen Requirements Engineering Vorgehens mit Fokus auf Gebrauchstauglichkeit für das Allianz Business System

Um einen agilen Requirements Engineering-Prozess mit Fokus auf Gebrauchstauglichkeit für das Allianz Business System zu etablieren, erläutert diese Arbeit zunächst den IST-Zustand. Dabei sticht vor allem die ungenügende Einbindung von Benutzerinnen und Benutzern hervor. Bisher werden diese erst am Ende des Prozesses eingebunden. Um dies zu beheben, werden zwei bekannte Ansätze aus der Literatur näher betrachtet und deren „Best Practices“ vereint. Auch für die Integration von klassischem Requirements Engineering und agilen Methoden werden aus der Literatur die Praktiken extrahiert. Diese beiden Sammlungen an Praktiken sind die Grundlage für die Behebung der identifizierten Defizite, um das Ziel eines agilen Require¬ments Engineering-Prozesses mit Fokus auf Gebrauchstauglichkeit für das Allianz Business System zu erreichen

Study on the Decomposition of the Amadori Compound N-( l-Deoxy-D-fructos-l-yl)-glycine in Model Systems : Quantification by Fast Atom Bombardment Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A new method for the quantification of N-(ldeoxy-D-huctas-l-yl)-glycine (DFG) was developed based on isotope dilution fast atom bombardment tandem mass spectrometry using '3C-laheUed DFG as an internal standard. This method, which requires neither derivatization nor clean-up of the samples, was used to study the degradation of DFG under different conditions (time and pH). It was found that the decomposition of DFG at 90°C was favoured at pH 7 compared to pH 6. The higher stability of DFG at pH 6 was due to 1,2-enolization leading to the relatively stable 3deoxglucoson

Tetra­kis(1,3-diphenyl­propane-1,3-dionato)hafnium(IV)

In the title compound, [Hf(C15H11O2)4], the HfIV atom is coordinated by four 1,3-diphenyl­propane-1,3-dionato ligands with an average Hf—O distance of 2.17 (3) Å and O—Hf—O bite angles varying from 74.5 (1) to 75.02 (9)°. The coordination polyhedron shows a slightly distorted Archimedean square-anti­prismatic geometry. The crystal packing is stabilized by weak C—H⋯O inter­actions

Calnexin, an ER-induced protein, is a prognostic marker and potential therapeutic target in colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer mortality in the Western world and commonly treated with genotoxic chemotherapy. Stress in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) was implicated to contribute to chemotherapeutic resistance. Hence, ER stress related protein may be of prognostic or therapeutic significance. METHODS: The expression levels of ER stress proteins calnexin, calreticulin, GRP78 and GRP94 were determined in n = 23 Stage II and III colon cancer fresh frozen tumour and matched normal tissue samples. Data were validated in a cohort of n = 11 rectal cancer patients treated with radiochemotherapy in the neoadjuvant setting. The calnexin gene was silenced using siRNA in HCT116 cells. RESULTS: There were no increased levels of ER stress proteins in tumour compared to matched normal tissue samples in Stage II or III CRC. However, increased calnexin protein levels were predictive of poor clinical outcome in the patient cohort. Data were validated in the rectal cancer cohort treated in the neoadjuvant setting. Calnexin gene-silencing significantly reduced cell survival and increased cancer cell susceptibility to 5FU chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: Increased tumour protein levels of calnexin may be of prognostic significance in CRC, and calnexin may represent a potential target for future therapies

Prohormones in the early diagnosis of cardiac syncope

Background--The early detection of cardiac syncope is challenging. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of 4 novel prohormones, quantifying different neurohumoral pathways, possibly involved in the pathophysiological features of cardiac syncope: midregional-pro-A-type natriuretic peptide (MRproANP), C-terminal proendothelin 1, copeptin, and midregionalproadrenomedullin. Methods and Results--We prospectively enrolled unselected patients presenting with syncope to the emergency department (ED) in a diagnostic multicenter study. ED probability of cardiac syncope was quantified by the treating ED physician using a visual analogue scale. Prohormones were measured in a blinded manner. Two independent cardiologists adjudicated the final diagnosis on the basis of all clinical information, including 1-year follow-up. Among 689 patients, cardiac syncope was the adjudicated final diagnosis in 125 (18%). Plasma concentrations of MRproANP, C-terminal proendothelin 1, copeptin, and midregional-proadrenomedullin were all significantly higher in patients with cardiac syncope compared with patients with other causes (P < 0.001). The diagnostic accuracies for cardiac syncope, as quantified by the area under the curve, were 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76-0.84), 0.69 (95% CI, 0.64-0.74), 0.58 (95% CI, 0.52-0.63), and 0.68 (95% CI, 0.63-0.73), respectively. In conjunction with the ED probability (0.86; 95% CI, 0.82-0.90), MRproANP, but not the other prohormone, improved the area under the curve to 0.90 (95% CI, 0.87-0.93), which was significantly higher than for the ED probability alone (P=0.003). An algorithm to rule out cardiac syncope combining an MRproANP level of < 77 pmol/L and an ED probability of < 20% had a sensitivity and a negative predictive value of 99%. Conclusions--The use of MRproANP significantly improves the early detection of cardiac syncope among unselected patients presenting to the ED with syncope

Erratum to: Calnexin, an ER stress-induced protein, is a prognostic marker and potential therapeutic target in colorectal cancer

Erratum to: Calnexin, an ER stress-induced protein, is a prognostic marker and potential therapeutic target in colorectal cancer

The European NAFLD Registry: A real-world longitudinal cohort study of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), a progressive liver disease that is closely associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia, represents an increasing global public health challenge. There is significant variability in the disease course: the majority exhibit only fat accumulation in the liver but a significant minority develop a necroinflammatory form of the disease (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, NASH) that may progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. At present our understanding of pathogenesis, disease natural history and long-term outcomes remain incomplete. There is a need for large, well characterised patient cohorts that may be used to address these knowledge gaps and to support the development of better biomarkers and novel therapies. The European NAFLD Registry is an international, prospectively recruited observational cohort study that aims to establish a large, highly-phenotyped patient cohort and linked bioresource. Here we describe the infrastructure, data management and monitoring plans, and the standard operating procedures implemented to ensure the timely and systematic collection of high-quality data and samples. Already recruiting subjects at secondary/tertiary care centres across Europe, the Registry is supporting the European Union IMI2-funded LITMUS 'Liver Investigation: Testing Marker Utility in Steatohepatitis' consortium, which is a major international effort to robustly validate biomarkers that diagnose, risk stratify and/or monitor NAFLD progression and liver fibrosis stage. The European NAFLD Registry has the demonstrable capacity to support research and biomarker development at scale and pace