Why do you want a relationship, anyway? Consent to receive marketing communications and donors’ willingness to engage with nonprofits

Relationship marketing has been key to developing stronger relationships and promoting donor continuity in nonprofit organizations. However, it is not clear whether these efforts are effective for all individuals who choose to financially support an organization. Taking a relationship orientation approach, this study investigates the effect of consenting to direct marketing on occasional donors’ decisions to become members (i.e., contributing through membership programs), and analyzes the moderating role of past donation behavior (i.e., frequency and amount). The results reveal that occasional donors who consent to direct marketing are more likely to develop a long-term relationship as members. This effect is reinforced when donors have contributed greater amounts in the past. The findings also demonstrate that, through their membership, donors consenting to direct marketing provide greater financial support on an ongoing basis. This study offers novel insights into the relationship marketing literature and provides contributions to fundraising managers

Direct observation of melting in a 2-D superconducting vortex lattice

Topological defects such as dislocations and disclinations are predicted to determine the twodimensional (2-D) melting transition. In 2-D superconducting vortex lattices, macroscopic measurements evidence melting close to the transition to the normal state. However, the direct observation at the scale of individual vortices of the melting sequence has never been performed. Here we provide step by step imaging through scanning tunneling spectroscopy of a 2-D system of vortices up to the melting transition in a focused-ion-beam nanodeposited W-based superconducting thin film. We show directly the transition into an isotropic liquid below the superconducting critical temperature. Before that, we find a hexatic phase, characterized by the appearance of free dislocations, and a smectic-like phase, possibly originated through partial disclination unbinding. These results represent a significant step in the understanding of melting of 2-D systems, with impact across several research fields, such as liquid crystal molecules, or lipids in membranes.Comment: Submitted to Nature Physic

A DUAL-TRIGGER SMART HAND WASHING MACHINE

Hand washing is simple and effective in preventing the transmission of infection and sickness in various contexts, including the home, workplace, childcare facilities, and hospitals. It is important to note that contaminated surface like tap heads and manually operated hand sanitizer pose threat to the users of such facility and as such has constituted a global concern due to the emergence of diseases that can be easily transmitted. Hence, this project presents a low-cost automatic hand washing machine with a temperature sensor and counter, triggered by an Ultrasonic sensor and Laser-Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) trip wire that puts ON or OFF the pump and counting at the same time.  The system design was done in two levels, the 3D model and circuit diagram design: firstly, the 3D model design was done with Autodesk Inventor 2017 while the circuit diagram design was done using Fritzing software and simulations performed for both levels. The system was fabricated and evaluated; the result obtained revealed reliable water dispense since the water flow can be activated by either an ultrasonic or laser-LDR sensor, a strong frame at a threshold weight of 166.6 N, and reliable temperature measurement.  The uniqueness of this work is that it combines automated temperature measurement, hand-washing, and counting systems in a single device. Temperature measurement and hand-washing help to prevent disease spread while the counting system assists in recording the number of people using or entering a facility to aid the practice of social distancing as means of curtailing the spread of the diseases

Co-producing and evaluating an innovative eHealth intervention for family carers of people with psychosis – the EFFIP Project

Paper presented at European Academy of Nursing Science Summer Conference, 2019, 10-11 July, Lisbon, Portugal

A Recently Formed Triploid Cardamine insueta Inherits Leaf Vivipary and Submergence Tolerance Traits of Parents

Contemporary speciation provides a unique opportunity to directly observe the traits and environmental responses of a new species. Cardamine insueta is an allotriploid species that appeared within the past 150 years in a Swiss village, Urnerboden. In contrast to its two progenitor species, Cardamine amara and Cardamine rivularis that live in wet and open habitats, respectively, C. insueta is found in-between their habitats with temporal water level fluctuation. This triploid species propagates clonally and serves as a triploid bridge to form higher ploidy species. Although niche separation is observed in field studies, the mechanisms underlying the environmental robustness of C. insueta are not clear. To characterize responses to a fluctuating environment, we performed a time-course analysis of homeolog gene expression in C. insueta in response to submergence treatment. For this purpose, the two parental (C. amara and C. rivularis) genome sequences were assembled with a reference-guided approach, and homeolog-specific gene expression was quantified using HomeoRoq software. We found that C. insueta and C. rivularis initiated vegetative propagation by forming ectopic meristems on leaves, while C. amara did not. We examined homeolog-specific gene expression of three species at nine time points during the treatment. The genome-wide expression ratio of homeolog pairs was 2:1 over the time-course, consistent with the ploidy number. By searching the genes with high coefficient of variation of expression over time-course transcriptome data, we found many known key transcriptional factors related to meristem development and formation upregulated in both C. rivularis and rivularis-homeolog of C. insueta, but not in C. amara. Moreover, some amara-homeologs of these genes were also upregulated in the triploid, suggesting trans-regulation. In turn, Gene Ontology analysis suggested that the expression pattern of submergence tolerant genes in the triploid was inherited from C. amara. These results suggest that the triploid C. insueta combined advantageous patterns of parental transcriptomes to contribute to its establishment in a new niche along a water-usage gradient

Agromorphological genetic diversity of Spanish traditional melons

[EN] The variability of 62 Spanish landraces (and two hybrids used as reference) was described by analysing 39 morphological traits and eight SSR makers. Results showed that 81% of the examined genetic pool belonged to the inodorus type. Spanish traditional melons presented fruits from flattened and globular shapes to elliptical. Rind colour varied from pale green, almost white and yellow to dark green and almost black. Rind texture varied from smooth to intensely wrinkled. Spanish landraces also had larger fruits (average fruit weight 2.6 kg) and longer vegetative cycles (117 days to maturity) compared to landraces from other geographical origins. Farmers seem to have focused on selection towards large fruits, which usually requires the longest production cycles. Fruit colour, size and shape seemed to have been determinant in varietal selection. Hierarchical clustering resulted in two main groups (climacteric and non-climacteric). The largest group was composed of 60 accessions of non-climacteric types, which includes the most demanded by national markets, 'Piel de Sapo', which fruits were characterized by an ovate or elliptical shape, a green rind, big spots and stains distributed over the whole fruit, a rounded blossom end shape and a very pointed stem end shape. The study demonstrates that the Spanish genetic pool is much more diverse. Wide variability was found in a geographical area with vast historical importance in melon farming. These evaluations has allowed the identification of several uniform groups of non-climacteric cultivars ('Piel de Sapo', 'Mochuelo', 'Tendral', Yellow/White, Winter and Black groups) and a set of highly variable climacteric ones. However, many accessions with singular properties remain unclassified, demonstrating the morphological variability of the studied collection. Melons in Spain have wide variability together with a vast historical importance on farms. Some fruit types, or at least some morphological characters reflected by painters during centuries, have reached the present. The present study confirmed the need to preserve these irreplaceable genetic resources and continue their study and evaluation for valuable traits which could enhance farmer's opportunities for entering new markets.The authors would like to thank Maria Jose Diez, the curator of the COMAV's Genebank for providing some of the melon varieties included in this study. Financial support was received from the Genome-Spain Foundation through the Project MELONOMICS (http://www.gen-es.org/es/melanomics.cfm). This study was partially supported by the Project AGL2014-53398-C2-R (funded by the Spanish Economy and Competitiveness Department, and the European Regional Development Fund).Lázaro, A.; Fernandez, I.; Borrero, M.; Cabello, F.; Lopez-Sese, A.; Gómez-Guillamon, M.; Picó Sirvent, MB. (2017). Agromorphological genetic diversity of Spanish traditional melons. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 64(7):1687-1706. doi:10.1007/s10722-016-0466-0S16871706647Alvarez de Sotomayor JM (1824) Columela (AD 4–AD 70) Los Doce Libros de Agricultura. Traducidos al castellano por D.Juan María Alvarez de Sotomayor y Rubio, SantanderBlanca J, Esteras C, Ziarsolo P, Perez D, Fernandez-Pedrosa V, Collado C, Rodriguez de Pablos R, Ballester A, Roig C, Canizares J, Pico B (2012) Transcriptome sequencing for SNP discovery across Cucumis melo. BMC Genomics 13:280. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-13-280Camacho-Villa TC, Maxted N, Scholtena M, Ford-Lloyd B (2005) Defining and identifying crop landraces. Plant Genet Resour Charact Util 3(3):373–384Cubero JI (2001) El libro de agricultura de Al Awam/Edición y comentario sobre la traducción de Banqueri. Empresa Pública para el Desarrollo Agrario y Pesquero de Andalucía, SevillaECPGR Working Group on Cucurbits (2008) Minimum descriptors for Cucurbita spp., cucumber, melon and watermelon. ECPGR Secretariat, Rome, ItalyEscribano S, Lázaro A (2009) Agro-morphological diversity of Spanish traditional melons (Cucumis melo L.) of the Madrid provenance. Genet Resour Crop Evol 56(4):481–497Escribano S, Lázaro A (2012) Sensorial characteristics of Spanish traditional melon genotypes: has the flavor of melon changed in the last century? Eur Food Res Technol 234(4):581–592. doi: 10.1007/s00217-012-1661-7Escribano S, Lázaro A, Cuevas HE, Lopez-Sese AI, Staub JE (2012) Spanish melons (Cucumis melo L.) of the Madrid provenance: a unique germplasm reservoir. Genet Resour Crop Evol 59(3):359–373Esquinas-Alcázar JT, Gulik PJ (1983) Genetic resources of Cucurbitaceae: a global report. International Board of Plant Genetic Resources, RomeEsteras C, Nuez F, Picó MB (2011) Genetic diversity studies in cucurbits using molecular tools. In: Wang Y-H, Behera TK, Kole C (eds) Genetics, genomics and breeding of crop plants. Genetics, genomics and breeding of cucurbits. Science, pp 225–255Esteras C, Formisano G, Roig C, Diaz A, Blanca J, Garcia-Mas J, Gomez-Guillamon ML, Lopez-Sese AI, Lazaro A, Monforte AJ, Pico B (2013) SNP genotyping in melons: genetic variation, population structure, and linkage disequilibrium. Theor Appl Genet 126(5):1285–1303FAO (2013) FAOSTAT-trade and markets. http://www.fao.org/es/esc/en/index.html . Accessed 31 Mar 2016Fernandez-Trujillo JP, Fernandez-Talavera M, Ruiz-Leon M, Roca MJ, Dos-Santos N (2012) Aroma volatiles during whole melon ripening in a climacteric near-isogenic line and its inbred non-climacteric parents. International Society of Horticulture Science, Leuven, p 1Gao P, Ma H, Luan F, Song H (2012) DNA fingerprinting of Chinese melon provides evidentiary support of seed quality appraisal. PLoS ONE 7(12): e52431. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052431Hammer K, Gladis T (2014) Notes on infraspecific nomenclature and classifications of cultivated plants in Compositae, Cruciferae, Cucurbitaceae, Gramineae (with a remark on Triticum dicoccon Schrank) and Leguminosae. Genet Resour Crop Evol 61(8):1455–1467Herrera GA (1777) Agricultura general. Don Antonio de Sancha, MadridKerje T, Grum M (2000) The origin of melon, Cucumis melo: a review of the literature. Acta Hortic 510:37–44Kimura M, Crow JF (1964) The number of alleles that can be maintained in a finite population. Genetics 49:725–738Laguna A (1991) Pedacio Dioscorides anazarbeo, Acerca de la materia medicinal y de los venenos mortiferos. Consejería de Agricultura y Cooperación de la Comunidad, Secretaría General Técnica, MadridLázaro A, Fernández-Navarro I, Cabello F, de Lorenzo C (2010) Catálogo de variedadres de melón tradicionales españolas. IMIDRA, Madrid, ISBN-10: 84-695-6262-2. www.madrid.org/bvirtual/BVCM003438.pdfLázaro A, Fernández-Navarro I, de Lorenzo C (2016) Using landraces in agriculture, food and cooking: experiences around a big city in Southern Europe. In: Maxted N, Dulloo MF-LB (eds) Enhancing crop genepool use. CABI, Birmingham, pp 313–317Levene H (1949) On a matching problem arising in genetics. Ann Math Stat 20:91–94Lewontin RC (1972) The apportionment of human diversity. Evol Biol 6:381–398López-Sesé AI, Staub JE, Gómez-Guillamón ML (2003) Genetic analysis of Spanish melon (Cucumis melo L.) germplasm using a standardized molecular-marker array and geographically diverse reference accessions. Theor Appl Genet 108(1):41–52Lotti C, Marcotrigiano A, De Giovanni C, Resta P, Ricciardi A, Zonno V, Fanizza G, Ricciardi L (2008) Univariate and multivariate analysis performed on bio-agronomical traits of Cucumis melo L. germplasm. Genet Resour Crop Evol 55(4):511–522McCreight JD, Nerson H, Grumet R (1993) Melon, Cucumis melo L. In: Kalloo G, Berkg BO (eds) Genetic improvement of vegetable crops. Pergamon Press, New York, pp 267–294Negri V, Becker H, Onnela J, Sartori A, Strajeru S, Laliberté B (2000) A first inventory of on-farm conservation and management activities in Europe including examples of formal and informal sector cooperation. In: Laliberté B, Maggioni L, Maxted N, Negri V (eds) ECP/GR In situ and on-farm conservation network. Report of a task force on wild species conservation in genetic reserves and a task force on on-farm conservation and management. Isola Polvese, Italy, pp 15–31Nei M (1973) Analysis of gene diversity in subdivided populations. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 70(12):3321–3323Paris HS, Amar Z, Lev E (2012) Medieval emergence of sweet melons, Cucumis melo (Cucurbitaceae). Ann Bot 110(1):23–33Pitrat M (2008) Melon (Cucumis melo L.). In: Prohens J, Nuez F (eds) Handbook of crop breeding: vegetables, vol 1. Springer, New York, pp 283–315Rodriguez-Mohedano R, Rodriguez-Mohedano P (1781) Historia Literaria de España. Joachin Ibarra, MadridRoy A, Bal SS, Fergany M, Kaur S, Singh H, Malik A, Singh J, Monforte AJ, Dhillon NPS (2012) Wild melon diversity in India (Punjab State). Genet Resour Crop Evol 59(5):755–767Sensoy S, Buyukalaca S, Abak K (2007) Evaluation of genetic diversity in Turkish melons (Cucumis melo L.) based on phenotypic characters and RAPD markers. Genet Resour Crop Evol 54(6):1351–1365Spataro G, Negri V (2013) The European seed legislation on conservation varieties: focus, implementation, present and future impact on landrace on farm conservation. Genet Resour Crop Evol 60(8):2421–2430Staub JE, Danin-Poleg Y, Fazio G, Horejsi T, Reis N, Katzir N (2000) Comparative analysis of cultivated melon groups (Cucumis melo L.) using random amplified polymorphic DNA and simple sequence repeat markers. Euphytica 115(3):225–241Staub J, López-Sesé A, Fanourakis N (2004) Diversity among melon landraces (Cucumis melo L.) from Greece and their genetic relationships with other melon germplasm of diverse origins. Euphytica 136(2):151–166Szamosi C, Solmaz I, Sari N, Barsony C (2010) Morphological evaluation and comparison of Hungarian and Turkish melon (Cucumis melo L.) germplasm. Sci Hortic 124(2):170–182Tomason Y, Nimmakayala P, Levi A, Reddy U (2013) Map-based molecular diversity, linkage disequilibrium and association mapping of fruit traits in melon. Mol Breed 31(4):829–841Tzitzikas EN, Monforte AJ, Fatihi A, Kypriotakis Z, Iacovides TA, Ioannides IM, Kalaitzis P (2009) Genetic diversity and population structure of traditional Greek and Cypriot melon cultigens (Cucumis melo L.) based on simple sequence repeat variability. HortScience 44(7):1820–182

Association of body composition indices with insulin resistance in European adolescents: The HELENA study

Background: The different body components may contribute to the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The aim of the present study was to examine the association of fat mass and fat free mass indices with markers of insulin resistance, independently of each other and giving, at the same time, gender-specific information in a wide cohort of European adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study in a school setting was conducted in 925 (430 males) adolescents (14.9 ± 1.2 years). Weight, height, anthropometric, bioimpedance and blood parameters were measured. Indices for fat mass and fat free mass, and homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) were calculated. Multiple regression analyses were performed adjusting for several confounders including fat free mass and fat mass when possible. Results: Indices of fat mass were positively associated with HOMA (all p < 0.01) after adjusting for all the confounders including fat free mass indices, in both sexes. Fat free mass indices were associated with HOMA, in both males and females, after adjusting for center, pubertal status, socioeconomic status and cardiorespiratory fitness, but the associations disappear when including fat mass indices in the adjustment’s model. Conclusion: Fat mass indices derived from different methods are positively associated with insulin resistance independently of several confounders including fat free mass indices. In addition, the relationship of fat free mass with insulin resistance is influenced by the amount of fat mass in European adolescents. Nevertheless, future studies should focus not only on the role of fat mass, but also on other body components such as fat free mass because its role could vary depending of the level and distribution of fat mass