Neotropical ant-plant Triplaris americana attracts Pseudomyrmex mordax ant queens during seedling stages

The association between the myrmecophyte Triplaris and ants of the genus Pseudomyrmex is an often-reported example of mutualism in the Neotropics. The ants colonize the hollow stems of their hosts, and in exchange, the plants benefit from a reduced degree of herbivory. The previous studies have shown that workers can discriminate their host from other plants, including a closely related species. Little is known about how queens locate their host during the colonization process, but it has been suggested that host recognition is mediated by volatiles. Since queens of Pseudomyrmex mordax colonize their hosts during the seedling stage, we hypothesized that queens would discriminate leaves of seedlings from adult plants. To evaluate our hypothesis, we used a two-sided olfactometer, to test the preference of queens towards different leaf and plant ages of Triplaris americana. Virgin queens of Pseudomyrmex mordax preferred seedlings over adult plants, as well as plant leaves over empty controls, showing no discrimination for leaf age. Our results suggest that the volatiles virgin queens recognize are either produced or are more abundant at the early growing stage of the host when colonization is crucial for the host's survival. © 2017, The Author(s)

Birth in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: Knowledge and Representations

Mentor: Colette Winn From the Washington University Undergraduate Research Digest: WUURD, Volume 6, Issue 1, Fall 2010. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Henry Biggs, Director of Undergraduate Research and Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Joy Zalis Kiefer, Undergraduate Research Coordinator, Co-editor, and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Kristin Sobotka, Editor

iTeach we learn via mobile apps : "a case study in a business course"

Mobile smart phones and Mobile applications (apps) can be seen as an added opportunity for education and for teachers in particular, this can be true if educational institutions are willing to enable this type of delivery mechanism. With the recent development of app technologies in today’s society and the shift towards mobile technologies (devices and applications), it seems hard to imagine better devices and tools that can grant students easy and on demand access to learning content. These smart devices and technologies are multitasking and can offer variety of educational apps that teachers and students are able to integrate into their daily learning activities and can carry with them anywhere. In this paper mobile apps and their integration in education are discussed, a case study on the use of three mobile apps (e-Lecture-Producer, Dropbox and QR Code) in an educational setting in a Business e-commerce course is described. Results and outcomes are discussed based on the results from the case study

Birth in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: Knowledge and Representations

From the Washington University Senior Honors Thesis Abstracts (WUSHTA), Volume 2, Spring 2010. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Henry Biggs, Director, Office of Undergraduate Research / Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences; Joy Zalis Kiefer, Undergraduate Research Coordinator / Assistant Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; E. Holly Tasker, Editor. Mentor: Colette Win

Cultural Distance in International Ventures. Exploring Perceptions of European and Chinese Managers

The book: Draws on recent empirical data collected in the field as well as theoretical studies Focuses on the main actors in international business scenarios and how they perceive cultural and legal differences in European-Chinese ventures Provides theoretical and conceptual content relating to internationalisation, FDI and the drivers / drawbacks of international ventures with a focus on cultural distanc

Pregnancies lost and found: a quality improvement project to increase follow-up for early pregnancy complications

Pregnancy of unknown location (PUL) and medically managed ectopic pregnancy (EP) require longitudinal surveillance to avoid adverse outcomes; however, patients with PUL/EP in the United States (U.S.) are often unable to adhere to recommended treatment plans. This quality improvement (QI) project sought to improve PUL/EP follow-up using a three-pronged intervention: standardised recall procedures, direct patient-provider communication and electronic medical record (EMR) documentation templates and tracking. We compared patients with PUL/EP managed before and after the QI project. Our primary outcome was completion of PUL/EP clinical care. Demographics, initial diagnoses and adverse outcomes were similar between 87 pre-QI and 81 post-QI patients. Significantly more patients completed PUL/EP clinical care post-QI (80.2 vs. 65.5% p = .03). Post-QI, more providers contacted patients at standard intervals (100 vs. 57.1%, p < .0001), and EMR documentation was improved (100 vs. 69.0%, p < .001). Simple changes to PUL/EP management improved completion of clinical care and compliance with standardised recall and documentation.IMPACT STATEMENT What is already known on this subject? Pregnancy of unknown location (PUL) and medically managed ectopic pregnancy (EP) require longitudinal surveillance to avoid adverse outcomes; however, patients with PUL/EP in the United States (U.S.) are often unable to adhere to recommended treatment plans. What do the results of this study add? By standardising recall procedures, ensuring direct communication between patients and providers using a dedicated cell phone, and integrating case tracking and documentation into the electronic medical record (EMR), this quality improvement (QI) project improved completion of clinical follow-up for patients with PUL/EP (overall, 80.2 vs. 65.5% pre-QI, p=.03) and for the subgroup with medically managed EP not requiring surgery (76.5 vs. 36.4% pre-QI, p= .05). We also improved providers’ compliance with standardised recall procedures and EMR documentation post-QI (p < .0001). There was no difference in the number of attempts to contact patients, or in the number of surveillance blood draws actually performed. Post-QI, survey responses indicated that patients were easily able to contact their provider and understood the importance of follow-up processes. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or research? Early pregnancy care providers can utilise simple strategies to improve follow-up of patients with PUL and medically managed EP, without increasing burdens to their health systems. Patients’ favourable experiences with this management support its implementation

Is this an ipad revolution or mobile learning revolution? A global perspective across countries : " iWorld, iLearn"

&nbsp;This evolution of mobile technologies and application integration in education across the world has provided a shift to a new learning environment via various mobile platforms.Educational institutions globally are missing to identify specific mobile technologies initiatives and strategies as a method to evaluate these mobile technologies and to expose both students and teachers to the potential it engenders.This panel will undertake a cross country comparison among culturally diverse countries: Turkey,UAE,USA,Lebanon,Iceland,Israel,Japan,Germany.Questions will be raised such as:Why some countries are branding mobile learning and their integration of these technologies has been made device specific, app specific and operating system specific?Is this the right approach?The digital gap between countries will be discussed?Availability access, barriers and limitations for some countries are described.We will try to figure out similarities,differences and challenges among these countries

Perspectives on environmental ethics in sustainability of membrane based technologies for water and energy production

Securing a sustainable supply of water and energy is nowadays a key global issue. In the current practice of water and energy supply, there is still some gap in meeting the value criteria for sustainable development mainly related to environmental pollution as well as ecosystem disturbances. In this work, the sustainability of integrated membrane based processes for water and energy production is assessed with a special focus on environmental and ecosystem impacts. Feasibility of bridging the available gaps through process performance improvements is presented. Major environmental impacts from hybrid membrane based technologies for water and energy production are identified and considered for upstream balance of social benefits and burdens to the present and future generations. Ethical considerations were pointed mainly in the aspect of intergenerational justice (IRG-J) and ecological justice (EC-J) while setting value criteria for sustainability. The ethical significance of the identified impacts was predicted based on the associated difficulties to meet these criteria. The overall outcome will be beneficial in designing strategies for development and implementation of sustainable hybrid processes for clean water and energy production