Predators and dispersers: context-dependent outcomes of the interactions between rodents and a megafaunal fruit plant

Many plant species bear fruits that suggest adaptation to seed dispersal by extinct megafauna. Present-day seed dispersal of these megafaunal plants is carried out by rodents, which can act as predators or dispersers; whether this interaction is primarily positive or negative can depend on the context. Here, we parameterized a stochastic model using data from the field and experimental arenas to estimate the effect of rodents on the recruitment of Myrcianthes coquimbensis -an Atacama Desert shrub with megafaunal fruits- and examine whether environmental conditions can alter the sign and strength of these rodent-plant interactions. We show that the outcome of these interactions is context-dependent: in wet conditions seed removal by rodents negatively impacts the recruitment probability of M. coquimbensis; in contrast, in dry conditions, the interaction with rodents increases recruitment success. In all cases, the strength of the effect of rodents on the recruitment success was determined mainly by their role as dispersers, which could be positive or negative. This study demonstrates that by caching seeds, rodents can be effective dispersers of a megafaunal fruit plant, but that the sign and magnitude of their effect on recruitment changes as a function of the environmental context in which the interaction occursInstituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Chile | Ref. P05-002Universidad de La Serena, Chile | Ref. PT14122Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, España | Ref. PGC2018-096656-B-I00FONDECYT, Chile | Ref. 11140400Conicyt, Chile | Ref. AFB17000

Infecciones intrahospitalarias en el estudiante de medicina.: Intrahospital infections in the medical student

The diseases associated with care in the health sector is a problem that not only involves patients who enter the service, but also the staff and students who carry out their practices in the different institutions. In-hospital infections are defined as: "Localized or systemic diseases resulting from an adverse reaction resulting from exposure to an infectious agent or its toxins, with no evidence that the infection was present or in the incubation period at the time of care." The lack of knowledge on the part of the personnel and students of the health sciences that are in contact with the patients, in addition to the realization of sanitary practices without taking into account the pertinent biosecurity measures are the main reasons for contracting a nosocomial infection.Las enfermedades asociadas a la atención en el sector salud es una problemática que no solo implica a los pacientes que ingresan al servicio, si no al personal y a los estudiantes que llevan a cabo sus prácticas en las diferentes instituciones. Las infecciones intrahospitalarias están definidas como: “Enfermedades localizadas o sistémicas que resultan de una reacción adversa consecuente a la exposición a un agente infeccioso o a sus toxinas, sin evidencia que la infección estuviera presente o en periodo de incubación en el momento de la atención” . La falta de conocimientos por parte del personal y estudiantes de las ciencias de la salud que están en contacto con los pacientes, además de la realización de prácticas sanitarias sin tomar en cuenta las medidas de bioseguridad pertinentes son los principales motivos para contraer una infección nosocomial

PRIVATE SAVINGS IN TRANSITION ECONOMIES: ARE THERE TERMS OF TRADE SHOCKS?

The paper examines the impact of terms of trade shocks on private savings in the transition economies after accounting for the effect of other determinants. Economic agents in the transition economies are subject to tight credit constraints which are more pronounced during bad state of nature. Thus, adverse shocks to commodity prices in the world market can force them to reduce savings by a larger amount than they would otherwise have. Empirical analysis using a dynamic panel model and data from twenty one transition economies confirm that most of the determinants of savings identified in the literature also apply to the transition economies. Favorable movements in both the permanent and transitory components of the terms of trade have a significant positive impact on private savings with transitory movements having a larger impact than the permanent component. This reflects the lack of access to foreign borrowing that many of the transition economies have faced during the last decade. Although the impact of terms of trade shocks are found to be asymmetric, the magnitude of the impact appears to be small. The results are robust for alternative estimators, determinants, and country groupings.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39958/3/wp572.pd

Important Teacher Qualities for Integrating Blended Learning in Higher Education

Blended learning is widely accepted in Peruvian higher education for a number of reasons, including the fact that it allows students more leeway to accommodate their own unique schedule and learning needs. The present qualitative research investigates the qualities of effective teachers that are crucial to the successful implementation of blended learning from the vantage point of experts, who can gain valuable insight into the causes of organizational problems and the best strategies for resolving them. There are seven positive characteristics of blended learning teachers, such as the ability to recognize the need for pedagogical change or the confidence to incorporate technology into learning processes, and four negative characteristics, such as a lack of familiarity with blended learning or anxiety about students use of technology. Blended learning in higher education is investigated here to identify the factors that influence it

Diagnostic Accuracy of Anthropometric Markers of Obesity for Prediabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Introduction: Prediabetes is a significant public health concern due to its high risk of progressing to diabetes. Anthropometric measures of obesity, including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) have been demonstrated as key risk factors in the development of prediabetes. However, there is a lack of clarity on the diagnostic accuracy and cut-off points of these measures. Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of these anthropometric measures for their most effective use in identifying prediabetes. Methodology: A systematic review (SR) with metanalysis of observational studies was carried out. The search was conducted in four databases: Pubmed/Medline, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and EMBASE. For the meta-analysis, sensitivity and specificity, together with their 95% confidence intervals (CI 95%) were calculated. Results: Among all the manuscripts chosen for review, we had four cross-sectional studies, and three were classified as cohort studies. The forest plots showed the combined sensitivity and specificity for both cross-sectional and cohort studies. For cross-sectional studies, the values were as follows: BMI had a sensitivity of 0.63 and specificity of 0.56, WC had a sensitivity of 0.59 and specificity of 0.58, and WHtR had a sensitivity of 0.63 and specificity of 0.73. In the cohort studies, the combined sensitivity and specificity were: BMI at 0.70 and 0.45, WC at 0.68 and 0.56, and WHtR at 0.68 and 0.56, respectively. All values are provided with 95% confidence intervals. Conclusions: This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of BMI, WC, and WHtR in identifying prediabetes. The results showed variations in sensitivity and specificity, with WHtR having the highest specificity in cross-sectional studies and BMI having improved sensitivity in cohort studies

Policy volatility and growth

The paper aims to examine how fiscal and monetary volatility might affect the balanced economic growth rate using a standard monetary growth model characterized by nominal wage rigidity and productive public spending. The model shows that any type of shock — monetary or fiscal — can generate either a negative or positive relationship between short-run volatility and long-run growth, critically de- pending on the size of government and the elasticity of output with respect to labor/ capital. In particular, given the labor income share, it shows that excessive government spending may cause the impact of fiscal volatility on long-run growth to turn from positive to negative. In addition, a rise in the volatility of the monetary shock is capable of generating either an increase or decrease in the mean of growth. With the range of the labor share values in reality, the model produces results consistent with the fact that the relationship between volatility and growth is generally found empirically to be more negative in developing than in developed countries. The model can be seen as a further explanation for the ambiguous empirical evidence in the existing literature.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Light Converts Endosymbiotic Fungus to Pathogen, Influencing Seedling Survival and Niche-Space Filling of a Common Tropical Tree, Iriartea deltoidea

Pathogens are hypothesized to play an important role in the maintenance of tropical forest plant species richness. Notably, species richness may be promoted by incomplete filling of niche space due interactions of host populations with their pathogens. A potentially important group of pathogens are endophytic fungi, which asymptomatically colonize plants and are diverse and abundant in tropical ecosystems. Endophytes may alter competitive abilities of host individuals and improve host fitness under stress, but may also become pathogenic. Little is known of the impacts of endophytes on niche-space filling of their hosts