Carbon isotope discrimination and water stress in trembling aspen following variable retention harvesting

Variable retention harvesting (VRH) has been proposed as a silvicultural practice to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. No previous study has examined tree carbon isotope discrimination to provide insights into water stress that could lead to dieback and mortality of trees following VRH. We measured and compared the carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) in stem wood of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) before and after VRH. Eight trees were sampled from isolated residual, edge and control (interior of unharvested stand) positions from each of seven plots in three regions (Calling Lake and Drayton Valley, Alberta and Lac Duparquet, Qu

Adolescent substance use and educational attainment: an integrative data analysis comparing cannabis and alcohol from three Australasian cohorts

Background: The relative contributions of cannabis and alcohol use to educational outcomes are unclear. We examined the extent to which adolescent cannabis or alcohol use predicts educational attainment in emerging adulthood. Methods: Participant-level data were integrated from three longitudinal studies from Australia and New Zealand (Australian Temperament Project, Christchurch Health and Development Study, and Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study). The number of participants varied by analysis (N = 2179–3678) and were assessed on multiple occasions between ages 13 and 25. We described the association between frequency of cannabis or alcohol use prior to age 17 and high school non-completion, university non-enrolment, and degree non-attainment by age 25. Two other measures of alcohol use in adolescence were also examined. Results: After covariate adjustment using a propensity score approach, adolescent cannabis use (weekly+) was associated with 1½ to two-fold increases in the odds of high school non-completion (OR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.09–2.35), university non-enrolment (OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.06–2.13), and degree non-attainment (OR = 1.96, 95% CI = 1.36–2.81). In contrast, adjusted associations for all measures of adolescent alcohol use were inconsistent and weaker. Attributable risk estimates indicated adolescent cannabis use accounted for a greater proportion of the overall rate of non-progression with formal education than adolescent alcohol use. Conclusions: Findings are important to the debate about the relative harms of cannabis and alcohol use. Adolescent cannabis use is a better marker of lower educational attainment than adolescent alcohol use and identifies an important target population for preventive intervention

"The Bayesian Objection" - Ch 4 of Seemings and Epistemic Justification

In this chapter I analyse an objection to phenomenal conservatism to the effect that phenomenal conservatism is unacceptable because it is incompatible with Bayesianism. I consider a few responses to it and dismiss them as misled or problematic. Then, I argue that this objection doesn’t go through because it rests on an implausible formalization of the notion of seeming-based justification. In the final part of the chapter, I investigate how seeming-based justification and justification based on one’s reflective belief that one has a seeming interact with one another

Leadership in Improving Schools: A Qualitative Perspective

This article reports early case-study data gathered from 20 schools involved in the ‘Impact of School Leadership on Pupil Outcomes’ project. We present and discuss the perceptions of headteachers and other school leaders regarding leadership factors that directly and indirectly affect pupil outcomes in these improving schools. Included are issues relating to the pivotal role played by the headteacher in setting and communicating a strategic vision for the school; models of distributed leadership; and the building of leadership capacity so as to build a collective responsibility for the improvement of pupil outcomes

Adverse adult consequences of different alcohol use patterns in adolescence: An integrative analysis of data to age 30 years from four Australasian cohorts

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Studies have linked adolescent alcohol use with adverse consequences in adulthood; yet it is unclear how strong the associations are and to what extent they may be due to confounding. Our aim was to estimate the strength of association between different patterns of adolescent drinking and longer-term psychosocial harms taking into account individual, family, and peer factors. DESIGN: Participant-level data were integrated from four long running longitudinal studies: Australian Temperament Project; Christchurch Health and Development Study; Mater Hospital and University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy; Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study. SETTING: Australia and New Zealand. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were assessed on multiple occasions between ages 13 and 30 years (from 1991-2012). Number of participants varied (up to N=9453) by analysis. MEASUREMENTS: Three patterns of alcohol use (frequent, heavy episodic, and problem drinking) were assessed prior to age 17. Thirty outcomes were assessed to age 30 spanning substance use and related problems, antisocial behavior, sexual risk-taking, accidents, socioeconomic functioning, mental health, and partner relationships. FINDINGS: After covariate adjustment, weekly drinking prior to age 17 was associated with a two to three-fold increase in the odds of binge drinking (OR: 2.14; 95%CI: 1.57-2.90), drink driving (OR: 2.78; 95%CI: 1.84-4.19), alcohol-related problems (OR: 3.04; 95%CI: 1.90-4.84), and alcohol dependence (OR: 3.30; 95%CI: 1.69-6.47) in adulthood. Frequency of drinking accounted for a greater proportion of the rate of most adverse outcomes than the other measures of alcohol use. Associations between frequent, heavy episodic, and problem drinking in adolescence and most non-alcohol outcomes were largely explained by shared risk factors for adolescent alcohol use and poor psychosocial functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Frequency of adolescent drinking predicts substance use problems in adulthood as much as, and possibly more than, heavy episodic and problem drinking independent of individual, family and peer predictors of those outcomes

How can the skills of Early Years leaders support other leaders in a primary school setting?

This study investigated the leadership skills Early Years leaders demonstrated through their daily practice of teaching, assessing and teamwork within their setting. It explored how revealing the potential of Early Years leaders could have a positive impact on the leadership practice of other leaders in the same setting to improve pupil outcomes. A qualitative approach using interviews with Early Years leaders in 20 primary settings from the East Midlands and Bedfordshire areas was undertaken by two academics from two different UK based universities. Ethical guidelines ensuring anonymity and trustworthiness were followed. Using verbatim comments, data were analysed in themes against contemporary Early Years literature. Findings showed the skills of Early Years leaders could support pedagogy and practice but some of these skills were not utilized beyond this age phase. Our conclusion suggested that Early Years leaders had a range of leadership skills which were deemed specialist as they were unique to the success of the age phase, but needed to be exposed beyond Early Years for wider success and impact

A prospective study of the relationship between prediagnostic Human Papillomavirus seropositivity and HPV DNA in subsequent cervical carcinomas

Several prospective studies with invasive carcinoma as endpoint have supported Human Papillomavirus as a cause of cervical carcinoma. However, the largest study used seroepidemiology and did not analyse presence of Human Papillomavirus DNA in the subsequent tumour. Linkage of serum bank registries and cancer registries had identified 196 women with a registered cervical carcinoma after donation of a serum sample. For the present study, biopsies for 127 cases could be located, verified to contain invasive carcinoma and be amplified by PCR. Three control women who had remained alive and without cervical carcinoma during an equal length of follow-up had been matched to each of the case women and tested for HPV antibodies. Presence of Human Papillomavirus DNA in the tumours was analysed by general primer and type specific PCR. HPV16-seropositive women had a relative risk of 4.4 (95% CI: 2.2–8.8) to develop cervical carcinoma carrying HPV16 DNA. By contrast, there was no excess risk for Human Papillomavirus 16-seropositive women to develop cervical carcinoma devoid of HPV16 DNA. Prediagnostic HPV16 seropositivity was strongly correlated with later HPV16 DNA positivity of the tumour (P<0.001) and prediagnostic HPV18 seropositivity correlated with HPV18 DNA in the tumour (P<0.03). The link between prediagnostic seropositivity and type of viral DNA in the cancer implies that the carcinogenic effect of infection with these viruses is dependent on persistent presence of type-specific viral DNA

Expression of the VEGF and angiopoietin genes in endometrial atypical hyperplasia and endometrial cancer

Angiogenesis is critical for the growth and metastasis of endometrial cancer and is therefore an important therapeutic target. Vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) is a key molecule in angiogenesis, but the identification of related molecules and the angiopoietins suggests a more complex picture. We investigated the presence of transcripts for VEGF-A, VEGF-B, VEGF-C, VEGF-D, Angiopoietin-1 and Angiopoietin-2 in benign endometrium, atypical complex hyperplasia (ACH) and endometrioid endometrial carcinoma using in situ hybridisation. We confirmed the presence of VEGF-A mRNA in the epithelial cells of cancers examined (13 out of 13), but not in benign endometrium or ACH. We also demonstrate, using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, that levels of VEGF-B mRNA are significantly lower in endometrial cancer than benign endometrium. We conclude that loss of VEGF-B may contribute to the development of endometrial carcinoma by modulating availability of receptors for VEGF-A