449 research outputs found
Does Long-Term Macrophyte Management in Lakes Affect Biotic Richness and Diversity?
We hypothesize that the richness and diversity of the biota
in Lake Moraine (42°50â47âN, 75°31â39âW) in New York have
been negatively impacted by 60 years of macrophyte and algae
management to control Eurasian watermilfoil (
Myriophyllum
spicatum
L.) and associated noxious plants. To test this
hypothesis we compare water quality characteristics, richness
and selected indicators of plant diversity, zooplankton, benthic
macroinvertebrates and fish in Lake Moraine with those in
nearby Hatch Lake (42°50â06âN, 75°40â67âW). The latter is
of similar size and would be expected to have similar biota,
but has not been subjected to management. Measurements of
temperature, pH, oxygen, conductivity, Secchi transparency,
calcium, total phosphorus and nitrites + nitrates are comparable.
Taxa richness and the diversity indices applied to the
aquatic macrophytes are similar in both lakes. (PDF has 8 pages.
Lexical acquisition through category matching: 12-month-old infants associate words to visual categories
Although it is widely recognized that human infants build a sizeable conceptual repertoire before mastering language, it remains a matter of debate whether and to what extent early conceptual and category knowledge contributes to language development. We addressed this question by investigating whether 12-month-olds used preverbal categories to discover the meanings of new words. We showed that one group of infants (n = 18) readily extended novel labels to previously unseen exemplars of preverbal visual categories after only a single labeling episode, but two other groups struggled to do so when taught labels for unfamiliar categories (those who had been previously exposed, n = 18, or not exposed, n = 18, to category tokens). These results suggest that infants expect labels to denote categories of objects and are equipped with learning mechanisms responsible for matching prelinguistic knowledge structures with linguistic inputs. This ability is consistent with the idea that our conceptual machinery provides building blocks for vocabulary and language acquisition
Defining the gap between research and practice in public relations programme evaluation - towards a new research agenda
The current situation in public relations programme evaluation is neatly summarized by McCoy who commented that 'probably the most common buzzwords in public relations in the last ten years have been evaluation and accountability' (McCoy 2005, 3). This paper examines the academic and practitioner-based literature and research on programme evaluation and it detects different priorities and approaches that may partly explain why the debate on acceptable and agreed evaluation methods continues. It analyses those differences and proposes a research agenda to bridge the gap and move the debate forward
Nurture, nature and some very dubious social skills: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of talent identification practices in elite English youth soccer
This paper reports qualitative findings regarding the concepts and practices utilised in talent identification (TI) among professional coaches working in English youth soccer. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, detailed interviews with seven such coaches are explored, with a view to elucidating the links between understanding, practice, experience and professional context. Findings reveal three superordinate themes, relating to (1) a primarily ânurturedâ and trainable understanding of the broad concept of talent itself, (2) an ostensibly contradictory model of semi-static player psychology, and (3) a highly selective mechanism for separating evidence for âmental strengthâ and âsocial skillsâ. It is contended that these findings underscore a case for more thorough interrogation of the real worlds inhabited by coaches, such that ideas about âgood practiceâ in TI might be more effectively reconciled with grounded knowledge of the practical everyday necessities of being a coach
Banking union in historical perspective: the initiative of the European Commission in the 1960s-1970s
This article shows that planning for the organization of EU banking regulation and supervision did not just appear on the agenda in recent years with discussions over the creation of the eurozone banking union. It unveils a hitherto neglected initiative of the European Commission in the 1960s and early 1970s. Drawing on extensive archival work, this article explains that this initiative, however, rested on a number of different assumptions, and emerged in a much different context. It first explains that the Commission's initial project was not crisis-driven; that it articulated the link between monetary integration and banking regulation; and finally that it did not set out to move the supervisory framework to the supranational level, unlike present-day developments
Genetic noise control via protein oligomerization
Gene expression in a cell entails random reaction events occurring over
disparate time scales. Thus, molecular noise that often results in phenotypic
and population-dynamic consequences sets a fundamental limit to biochemical
signaling. While there have been numerous studies correlating the architecture
of cellular reaction networks with noise tolerance, only a limited effort has
been made to understand the dynamic role of protein-protein interactions. Here
we have developed a fully stochastic model for the positive feedback control of
a single gene, as well as a pair of genes (toggle switch), integrating
quantitative results from previous in vivo and in vitro studies. We find that
the overall noise-level is reduced and the frequency content of the noise is
dramatically shifted to the physiologically irrelevant high-frequency regime in
the presence of protein dimerization. This is independent of the choice of
monomer or dimer as transcription factor and persists throughout the multiple
model topologies considered. For the toggle switch, we additionally find that
the presence of a protein dimer, either homodimer or heterodimer, may
significantly reduce its random switching rate. Hence, the dimer promotes the
robust function of bistable switches by preventing the uninduced (induced)
state from randomly being induced (uninduced). The specific binding between
regulatory proteins provides a buffer that may prevent the propagation of
fluctuations in genetic activity. The capacity of the buffer is a non-monotonic
function of association-dissociation rates. Since the protein oligomerization
per se does not require extra protein components to be expressed, it provides a
basis for the rapid control of intrinsic or extrinsic noise
Positive youth development in swimming: clarification and consensus of key psychosocial assets
The purpose of this study was to gain a more cohesive understanding of the assets considered necessary to develop in young swimmers to ensure both individual and sport specific development. This two stage study involved (a) a content analysis of key papers to develop a list of both psychosocial skills for performance enhancement and assets associated with positive youth development, and (b) in-depth interviews involving ten expert swim coaches, practitioners and youth sport scholars. Five higher order categories containing seventeen individual assets emerged. These results are discussed in relation to both existing models of positive youth development and implications for coaches, practitioners and parents when considering the psychosocial development of young British swimmers
Recommended from our members
The Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia: Canadian Cohort Study.
BackgroundThe Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia (COMPASS-ND) cohort study of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) is a national initiative to catalyze research on dementia, set up to support the research agendas of CCNA teams. This cross-country longitudinal cohort of 2310 deeply phenotyped subjects with various forms of dementia and mild memory loss or concerns, along with cognitively intact elderly subjects, will test hypotheses generated by these teams.MethodsThe COMPASS-ND protocol, initial grant proposal for funding, fifth semi-annual CCNA Progress Report submitted to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research December 2017, and other documents supplemented by modifications made and lessons learned after implementation were used by the authors to create the description of the study provided here.ResultsThe CCNA COMPASS-ND cohort includes participants from across Canada with various cognitive conditions associated with or at risk of neurodegenerative diseases. They will undergo a wide range of experimental, clinical, imaging, and genetic investigation to specifically address the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of these conditions in the aging population. Data derived from clinical and cognitive assessments, biospecimens, brain imaging, genetics, and brain donations will be used to test hypotheses generated by CCNA research teams and other Canadian researchers. The study is the most comprehensive and ambitious Canadian study of dementia. Initial data posting occurred in 2018, with the full cohort to be accrued by 2020.ConclusionAvailability of data from the COMPASS-ND study will provide a major stimulus for dementia research in Canada in the coming years
Exploring the relationship between media coverage and participation in entrepreneurship : initial global evidence and research implications
Using a set of variables measured in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) study, our empirical investigation explored the influence of mass media through national culture on national entrepreneurial participation rates in 37 countries over 4 years (2000 to 2003). We found that stories about successful entrepreneurs, conveyed in mass media, were not significantly associated with the rate of nascent (opportunity searching) or the rate of actual (business activities commenced up to 3 months old) start-up activity, but that there was a significant positive association between the volume of entrepreneurship media stories and a nation’s volume of people running a young business (that is in GEM terminology, a business aged greater than 3 but less than 42 months old). More particularly, such stories had strong positive association with opportunity oriented operators of young businesses. Together, these findings are compatible with what in the mass communications theory literature may be called the ‘reinforcement model’. This argues that mass media are only capable of reinforcing their audience’s existing values and choice propensities but are not capable of shaping or changing those values and choices. In the area covered by this paper, policy-makers are committing public resources to media campaigns of doubtful utility in the absence of an evidence base. A main implication drawn from this study is the need for further and more sophisticated investigation into the relationship between media coverage of entrepreneurship, national culture and the rates and nature of people’s participation in the various stages of the entrepreneurial process.<br /
- âŠ