Designing Effective Tsunami Messages: Examining the Role of Short Messages and Fear in Warning Response

Although tsunamis have the potential to be extremely destructive, relatively little research on tsunami messaging has taken place. Discovering whether tsunami warning messages can be written in a way that leads to increased protective response is crucial, particularly given the increased use of mobile message services and the role they play in notifying the public of imminent threats such as tsunami and other hazards. The purpose of this study was to examine the possibility of designing warning messages for tsunamis that improve upon message style and content used by public alerting agencies to date and to gain insight that can be applied to other hazards. This study tested the impact of tsunami messages that varied in length and content on six message outcomes—understanding, believing, personalizing, deciding, milling, and fear. Relative to the short message, revised messages resulted in significantly more understanding and deciding, known precursors to taking protective action under threat. The revised message also resulted in significantly more fear, which is believed to influence behavioral intentions. Findings suggest that shorter messages may not deliver enough content to inform message receivers about the threat they face and the protective actions they should perform. Longer messages delivered with more specific information about the location of impact, threat-associated risks, and recommended protective actions were associated with better message outcomes, including quicker intended response. Recommendations for future tsunami warnings are provided

Physical Examination Findings Among Children and Adolescents With Obesity: An Evidence-Based Review

Overweight and obesity affects 1 in 3 US children and adolescents. Clinical recommendations have largely focused on screening guidelines and counseling strategies. However, the physical examination of the child or adolescent with obesity can provide the clinician with additional information to guide management decisions. This expert-based review focuses on physical examination findings specific to children and adolescents with obesity. For each physical examination element, the authors define the finding and its prevalence among pediatric patients with obesity, discuss the importance and relevance of the finding, describe known techniques to assess severity, and review evidence regarding the need for additional evaluation. The recommendations presented represent a comprehensive review of current evidence as well as expert opinion. The goal of this review is to highlight the importance of conducting a targeted physical examination during pediatric weight management visits

Governing Well after War: How Improving Female Representation Prolongs Post-conflict Peace

Previous studies suggest that women’s access to political power often increases following the termination of civil conflicts, particularly those ending in negotiated settlement. However, the effect of these changes has received limited attention. We argue that the proportion of female representatives in a national legislature prolongs peace following a negotiated settlement. Moreover, we highlight two mechanisms through which greater female representation reduces the risk of conflict recurrence: (1) by prioritizing social welfare spending over military spending and (2) by improving public perceptions of good governance and the credibility of political elites. We further argue that legislative independence and authority conditions this relationship, implying that greater female representation is more likely to promote peace in states with nominally democratic political institutions. Our empirical analyses of peace duration following negotiated settlements between 1946 and 2011 provide robust support for our general argument and the underlying mechanisms we believe drive this relationship

Chimpanzees demonstrate individual differences in social information use

Studies of transmission biases in social learning have greatly informed our understanding of how behaviour patterns may diffuse through animal populations, yet within-species inter-individual variation in social information use has received little attention and remains poorly understood. We have addressed this question by examining individual performances across multiple experiments with the same population of primates. We compiled a dataset spanning 16 social learning studies (26 experimental conditions) carried out at the same study site over a 12-year period, incorporating a total of 167 chimpanzees. We applied a binary scoring system to code each participant’s performance in each study according to whether they demonstrated evidence of using social information from conspecifics to solve the experimental task or not (Social Information Score—‘SIS’). Bayesian binomial mixed effects models were then used to estimate the extent to which individual differences influenced SIS, together with any effects of sex, rearing history, age, prior involvement in research and task type on SIS. An estimate of repeatability found that approximately half of the variance in SIS was accounted for by individual identity, indicating that individual differences play a critical role in the social learning behaviour of chimpanzees. According to the model that best fit the data, females were, depending on their rearing history, 15–24% more likely to use social information to solve experimental tasks than males. However, there was no strong evidence of an effect of age or research experience, and pedigree records indicated that SIS was not a strongly heritable trait. Our study offers a novel, transferable method for the study of individual differences in social learning

A Mild and Efficient Synthesis of Oxindoles: Progress Towards the Synthesis of Welwitindolinone A Isonitrile

The complete carbon skeleton of welwitindolinone A isonitrile has been prepared by using a [2+2] cycloaddition to establish the bicyclo[4.2.0]octane core and a SmI2-mediated intramolecular reductive cyclization between an enone and an aryl isocyanate to stereoselectively install the spiro-oxindole (see scheme; DBU=1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene)

Tenofovir-Associated Nephrotoxicity in Two HIV-Infected Adolescent Males

We report two cases of tenofovir (TDF)-associated nephrotoxicity in perinatally HIV-infected adolescents. The first case, a 16-year-old African American male with an absolute CD4+ cell count of 314 cells/mm3, presented with an abrupt rise in serum creatinine leading to irreversible renal failure while on TDF-containing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). While the patient had evidence of underlying kidney disease, the timing of his renal failure indicates that TDF played a central role. The second case, a 16-year-old African-American male with an absolute CD4+ cell count of 895 cells/mm3, presented with rickets and hypophosphatemia while receiving TDF-based HAART. To our knowledge, these cases represent the first reports of TDF-associated irreversible renal failure and rickets in pediatric patients. We believe these cases highlight important and potentially irreversible side effects of this agent and emphasize the need for further studies of the renal safety of TDF in pediatric patients

Vascular disease and vascular risk factors in relation to motor features and cognition in early Parkinson's disease

Funded by Parkinson's UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) DeNDRoN network NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Unit Newcastle University NIHR funded Biomedical Research Centre in CambridgePeer reviewedPublisher PD

Describing the relationships among meat quality traits in domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) populations.

The presence of meat quality defects is increasing in the turkey industry. While the main strategy for mitigating these issues is through improved housing, management, and slaughter conditions, it may be possible to incorporate meat quality into a turkey breeding strategy with the intent to improve meat quality. Before this can occur, it is important to describe the current state of turkey meat quality as well as the correlations among the different meat quality traits and important production traits. The main objective of the present study was to provide a descriptive analysis of 8 different meat quality traits for turkey breast meat from 3 different purebred lines (A, B, and C), and their correlation with a selection of production traits. Using a total of 7,781 images, the breast meat (N = 590-3,892 birds depending on trait) was evaluated at 24 h postmortem for color (L*, a*, b*), pH, and physiochemical characteristics (drip loss, cooking loss, shear force). Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and Pearson correlations were computed to describe the relationships among traits within each genetic line. A one-factor ANOVA and post hoc t-test were conducted for each trait and between each of the genetic lines. We found significant differences between genetic lines for some color traits (L* and a*), pHinitial, drip loss, and cooking loss. The lightest line in weight (line B) had meat that was the lightest (L*) in color. The heaviest line (line C) had meat that was less red (a*) with a higher pHinitial and greater cooking loss. Unfavorable correlations between production traits and meat quality were also found for each of the genetic lines where increases in production (e.g., body weight, growth rate) resulted in meat that was lighter and redder in color and in some cases (line B and C), with an increased moisture loss. The results of this study provide an important benchmark for turkey meat quality in purebred lines and provide an updated account of the relationships between key production traits and meat quality. Although the magnitude of these correlations is low, their cumulative effect on meat quality can be more significant especially with continued selection pressure on growth and yield