Importance Of Different Forms Research Articles

Higher education, bridging capital, and developmental leadership in the Philippines: Learning to be a crossover reformer

The article presents findings from a research project which explored how experiences of higher education supported – or not – the emergence of developmental leadership and the formation of networks among leaders of three political and social movements in the Philippines in the post-Marcos era. Based on life history interviews with key leaders, the study points to the importance of different forms of social capital, especially bridging capital, in navigating a stratified system within this oligarchical democracy. Experiences of higher education were important for leaders' development, but not necessarily in predictable ways.

Oviposition traits generate extrinsic postzygotic isolation between two pine sawfly species

BackgroundAlthough empirical data indicate that ecological speciation is prevalent in nature, the relative importance of different forms of reproductive isolation and the traits generating reproductive isolation remain unclear. To address these questions, we examined a pair of ecologically divergent pine-sawfly species: while Neodiprion pinetum specializes on a thin-needled pine (Pinus strobus), N. lecontei utilizes thicker-needled pines. We hypothesized that extrinsic postzygotic isolation is generated by oviposition traits. To test this hypothesis, we assayed ovipositor morphology, oviposition behavior, and host-dependent oviposition success in both species and in F1 and backcross females.ResultsCompared to N. lecontei, N. pinetum females preferred P. strobus more strongly, had smaller ovipositors, and laid fewer eggs per needle. Additionally, we observed host- and trait-dependent reductions in oviposition success in F1 and backcross females. Hybrid females that had pinetum-like host preference (P. strobus) and lecontei-like oviposition traits (morphology and egg pattern) fared especially poorly.ConclusionsTogether, these data indicate that maladaptive combinations of oviposition traits in hybrids contribute to extrinsic postzygotic isolation between N. lecontei and N. pinetum, suggesting that oviposition traits may be an important driver of divergence in phytophagous insects.

The Influence of Responses to Self-Disclosure on Liking in Computer-Mediated Communication

The relationship between self-disclosure and liking another person is well-known, as is the prevalence and importance of self-disclosure in computer-mediated interactions. The effects of conversation partners’ responses to disclosures are an overlooked issue, implicated but not examined in most previous research. An original experiment examined whether different forms of response to self-disclosure in computer-mediated communication affect liking differently. Participants engaged in dyadic online chat with either their friend or a stranger. An interviewer communicated one of three types of response to another individual’s self-disclosures: reciprocal self-disclosures, compliments, or neutral deflections. Both reciprocal self-disclosure and compliments generated greater liking than did deflection. The effects of response types on attraction did not differ between friends and strangers. The findings indicate the importance of different forms of response to self-disclosure in interpersonal attraction online and the role of responsiveness to disclosure in initial as well as established relationships.

Enhancing adaptation to climate variability in the East African highlands: a case for fostering collective action among smallholder farmers in Kenya and Uganda

There is an increasing recognition of the role of climate change adaptation among smallholder farmers in rain-fed agriculture in Africa. Collective action among smallholder farmers has been suggested as influencing local adaptation processes hence the need to evaluate its impact in different contexts. This paper provides evidence of collective action in enhancing local adaptation to climate variability. It determines the importance of different forms of collective action for enhancing adaptation. Through simple random sampling, a survey of 240 households in Embu County in Kenya and 200 households from Kapchorwa district of Uganda was undertaken. Focus-group discussions involving farmer groups and local government representatives were performed to triangulate information collected through the surveys. The results show a positive relationship between membership in farmer groups and adaptation to climate variability in both sites. Four main components of collective action were identified in Embu and these included the development of internal group capacities, assets mobilization and management, collective marketing, and management of human and natural capital. In Kapchorwa, the development of internal group capacities, risk spreading, and financial resources were significant. We argue that local-level governance and institutional arrangements for collective action are critical for successful adaptation to climate variability.

Employees’ eldercare demands, strain, and perceived support

Purpose – In many countries, both the number of older people in need of care and the number of employed caregivers of elderly relatives will increase over the next decades. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which perceived organizational, supervisor, and coworker support for eldercare reduce employed caregivers’ strain and weaken the relationship between eldercare demands and strain. Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected from 100 employed caregivers from one organization. Findings – Results showed that eldercare demands were positively related to strain, and perceived organizational eldercare support (POES) was negatively related to strain. In addition, high POES weakened the relationship between eldercare demands and strain. Research limitations/implications – The cross-sectional design and use of self-report scales constitute limitations of the study. Practical implications – POES is a resource for employed caregivers, especially when their eldercare demands are high. Originality/value – This research highlights the relative importance of different forms of perceived support for reducing employed caregivers’ strain and weakening the relationship between eldercare demands and strain.

Autonomy, Perfectionism and the Justification of Education

This paper is concerned with the practical importance of different forms of paternalism for educational theory and practice. Contrary to the traditional treatment of paternalism as a sometimes necessary and rather messy aspect of educational practices, I demonstrate that paternalism is to be regarded as an “indigenous concept” (Herbart) of educational theory and as the ‘indigenous model of justification’ that underlies the structure of educational practices. Based on an analysis of the intricate nexus between autonomy-oriented forms of paternalism and educational forms of autonomy-based perfectionism I furthermore argue that a perfectionistically structured conception of autonomy provides a more adequate evaluative framework for justifying autonomy as an educational aim than alternative educational regimes of autonomy can deliver. Finally, I discuss some major theoretical problems of bridging the gap between general ethical principles and their application in practical fields.

Forms of Safety and Their Impact on Health: An Exploration of HIV/AIDS-Related Risk and Resilience Among Trans Women in Lebanon

Using minority stress theory, the authors investigated risk behaviors of transgender women (trans women) in Lebanon. Using semistructured interviews, the authors explored six areas: relationships with family and friends; openness about gender and sexuality; experiences with stigma; sexual behavior; attitudes and behaviors regarding HIV testing; and perceived HIV-related norms among transgender peers. Participants voiced the importance of different forms of safety: social/emotional, physical, sexual, and financial. Strategies for obtaining safety were negotiated differently depending on social, behavioral, and structural factors in the environment. In this article, we provide study findings from the perspectives of trans women, their exposure to stigma, and the necessary navigation of environments characterized by transphobia.

The importance of different forms of Pb on diminishing biological activities in a calcareous soil

In this experimental study, we evaluated the effect of different lead (Pb) fractions on biological properties in soil spiked with 0, 600, 1200 and 1800 mg kg−1 Pb, during a 90-day incubation period at 25−28°C. Different Pb fractions were measured by sequential extraction at days 1 and 90 after soil treatment. Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA)-extractable Pb and soil biological properties at days 1, 5, 15, 45 and 90 were measured. The concentration of Pb in soluble and exchangeable fractions was very high at day 1, but it showed remarkable transfer into carbonate and residual fractions by day 90. Substrate-induced respiration, basal respiration, acid and alkaline phosphatases, microbial populations (bacterial, fungal and actinomycetes) and biomass carbon decreased significantly with soil contamination compared with the control. With Pb ageing, these biological properties increased. Metabolic quotient (qCO2) increased significantly compared with the control with increasing Pb concentration. The toxicity of various forms of Pb for the biological status of the soil was in the following order: KNO3 extractable>NaOH extractable>EDTA extractable>HNO 3 extractable>total content Pb. Thus, the bioavailable fractions are better indicators of Pb pollution in soils.

A high-definition view of functional genetic variation from natural yeast genomes.

The question of how genetic variation in a population influences phenotypic variation and evolution is of major importance in modern biology. Yet much is still unknown about the relative functional importance of different forms of genome variation and how they are shaped by evolutionary processes. Here we address these questions by population level sequencing of 42 strains from the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its closest relative S. paradoxus. We find that genome content variation, in the form of presence or absence as well as copy number of genetic material, is higher within S. cerevisiae than within S. paradoxus, despite genetic distances as measured in single-nucleotide polymorphisms being vastly smaller within the former species. This genome content variation, as well as loss-of-function variation in the form of premature stop codons and frameshifting indels, is heavily enriched in the subtelomeres, strongly reinforcing the relevance of these regions to functional evolution. Genes affected by these likely functional forms of variation are enriched for functions mediating interaction with the external environment (sugar transport and metabolism, flocculation, metal transport, and metabolism). Our results and analyses provide a comprehensive view of genomic diversity in budding yeast and expose surprising and pronounced differences between the variation within S. cerevisiae and that within S. paradoxus. We also believe that the sequence data and de novo assemblies will constitute a useful resource for further evolutionary and population genomics studies.

Redesigning academic essays to promote teacher reflection on selected issues of learning and teaching related to the current educational reform in Hong Kong

Teachers in Hong Kong have faced constant demand for practice renewal due to successive waves of educational reforms in the past decade. This paper describes the design of an assignment structure that promotes teacher reflection on important issues related to a major education reform in Hong Kong. This particular assignment structure includes three components – self-reflection, understanding alternative perspectives and situated analysis. Teachers are expected to complete these components in a sequence. The design addresses teachers’ teaching experiences, engages them in learning alternative perspectives, and assists them to juxtapose self-reflection and alternative perspectives in analysing commonly encountered teaching situations. An evaluation of teachers’ levels of reflection in these assignments showed that both high- and low-scored teachers improved their reflection. Based on the findings of an interview study, this paper reported a grounded model explaining how this innovative assignment structure promotes reflection. The model situated the reflective assignments within the local teaching context in Hong Kong and highlighted the importance of different forms of assistance and guidance in facilitating teachers’ reflective engagement in completing these cognitively demanding assignments.

On the Plasticity of Institutions: Containing and Restoring Practice Breakdowns at the Cambridge University Boat Club

Using a 199-day ethnography of Cambridge's 2007 season preparations for the annual University Boat Race, we explore the microprocesses through which highly institutionalized practices are maintained by examining how institutional inhabitants collectively restore breakdowns in institutionalized practice. Our analysis reveals how institutions can be inoculated against such breakdowns through maintenance work. We find that the salience and importance of different forms of maintenance work vary with the nature and process history of practice breakdowns. This lends institutions the plasticity through which ever-changing practice performances can be accommodated without necessarily effecting permanent structural change.

Communication, Procedural Justice & Employee Adjustment During Change: A Longitudinal Investigation

The current study investigates the importance of different forms of communication before and after the completion of a major multinational acquisition in predicting survivor adjustment following subsequent downsizing. In addition, we examine the role that procedural justice perceptions have in mediating relationships between voice provision during acquisition, information sharing (before and immediately after acquisition) with four key indicators of adjustment (job satisfaction, job-related strain, organizational identification, and intention to quit). Testing for indirect mediation, we show, with a bootstrapped sample of 155 employees (tracked across 12 months from The Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK), that the provision of voice opportunities during the acquisition has a positive long-term impact on all employee adjustment indices; importantly the analysis indicates that this “voice effect” on survivor adjustment occurs through the impact that voice provision has on perceptions of procedural justice imm...

Comparative application of two methods (COP and PaPRIKa) for groundwater vulnerability mapping in Mediterranean karst aquifers (France and Spain)

A comparative test of two vulnerability mapping methods (COP and PaPRIKa) specifically dedicated to for karst aquifers was carried out on two Mediterranean carbonate aquifers. The vulnerability maps obtained for each aquifer present important differences. To identify and determine the origin of these differences, the results were statistically analyzed using sensitivity analysis, coefficients of determination and scatter graphs. In addition, the global vulnerability (Gv) parameter was used to measure the general vulnerability of the aquifer and to compare the results obtained. This statistical analysis led us to conclude that the main cause of differences between these two methods used to assess aquifer vulnerability lie in the relative importance of the parameters employed in calculating the vulnerability index. For the PaPRIKa method, the variable related to infiltration (slope and karst features) has the most influence, with less weight being assigned to the protective capacity of layers overlying the aquifer. For the COP method, the most influent variable is defined by the layers overlying the aquifer, together with infiltration characteristics, determined by the relative importance of different forms of infiltration in each aquifer. The vulnerability mappings performed using the COP method present greater coherence with the known hydrogeological behavior of the study areas, especially the Spanish aquifers. Nevertheless, further hydrogeological investigations are needed, such as ones to validate the obtained vulnerability maps.

Response of litter decomposition and related soil enzyme activities to different forms of nitrogen fertilization in a subtropical forest

AbstractWith the continuing increase in the impact of human activities on ecosystems, ecologists are increasingly becoming interested in understanding the effects of nitrogen deposition on litter decomposition. At present, numerous studies have investigated the effects of single form of nitrogen fertilization on litter decomposition in forest ecosystems. However, forms of N deposition vary, and changes in the relative importance of different forms of N deposition are expected in the future. Thus, identifying the effects of different forms of N deposition on litter decomposition in forest ecosystems is a pressing task. In this study, two dominant litter types were chosen from Zijin Mountain in China: Quercus acutissima leaves from a late succession broad‐leaved forest and Pinus massoniana needles from an early succession coniferous forest. The litter samples were incubated in microcosms with original forest soil and treated with four different forms of nitrogen fertilization [NH4+, NO3−, CO(NH2)2, and a mix of all three]. During a 5‐month incubation period, litter mass losses, soil pH values, and soil enzyme activities were determined. Results show that all four forms of nitrogen fertilization significantly accelerate litter decomposition rates in the broadleaf forest, while only two forms of nitrogen fertilization [i.e., mixed nitrogen and CO(NH2)2] significantly accelerate litter decomposition rates in the coniferous forest. Litter decomposition rates with the mixed nitrogen fertilization were higher than those in any single form of nitrogen fertilization. All forms of nitrogen fertilization enhanced soil enzyme activities (i.e., catalase, cellulase, invertase, polyphenol oxidase, nitrate reductase, urease, and acid phosphatase) during the litter decomposition process for the two forest types. Soil enzyme activities under the mixed nitrogen fertilization were higher than those under any single form of nitrogen fertilization. These results suggest that the type and activity of the major degradative enzymes involved in litter decomposition vary in different forest types under different forms of nitrogen fertilization. They also indicate that a long‐term consequence of N deposition‐induced acceleration of litter decomposition rates in subtropical forests may be the release of carbon stored belowground to the atmosphere.

Is all space created equal? Uncovering the relationship between competing land uses in subdivisions

Evaluating the importance of different forms of open space to households requires an evaluation of the service flows provided by each type of open space. For many non-market goods, these flows occur over multiple spatial scales and require analysis that simultaneously accounts for capitalization at each scale. To meet this often overlooked need, we apply a newly developed extension to the Hausman-Taylor model that treats multiple housing transactions occurring in a spatial location as a panel. This methodology allows us to account for omitted variables within a subdivision while instrumenting for variables identified through differences between subdivisions. We measure capitalization of open space at three distinct spatial extents: adjacency, walkability, and subdivision-wide. We find that the interactions between subdivision open space and private open space in the form of lot size change from complementarity at small scales to substitutability at large scales. These results confirm much of the intuition developed by ecologists and public planners on the likely service flows associated with open space and show how our approach to accounting for multiple spatial scales of capitalization in the evaluation of non-market goods could be beneficial to other areas of applied research.

Reporting to the Police as a Response to Intimate Partner Violence

Research on police involvement in cases of intimate partner violence (IPV) focuses mainly on best intervention strategies and often neglects the key prerequisite of any intervention: the victim's decision to contact the police. This article concentrates on the circumstances that make IPV incidents more likely to be reported to the police, and it also analyses the reasons for victims' not reporting and for their distrust of the police. It makes use of data from the Czech part of the International Violence Against Women Survey, which allows us to analyse the reporting behaviour of 709 female victims of IPV. The reporting rate among them is very low - only 8%. Logistic regression mod- els of reporting confi rmed the high relevance of the features of the particular incident and revealed also several factors related to the history of violence in the relationship; on the other hand, the victim's resources were found to have no infl uence. Distrust of the police proved to be an important factor for not reporting to the police (29% of women), and further analysis of this factor suggested the possible occurrence of learned helplessness syndrome among some victims. An additional substantial outcome of this study is its highlight- ing of the importance of different forms of psychological abuse (threats vs. control) which have diverse effects on victims' reporting behaviour.

The importance of different forms of prevention in travel medicine

The Asia–Pacific region is becoming an increasingly popular destination for holidaymakers and business travelers. Despite the seductive tourist attractions and the growing financial importance of the region, infectious diseases have unfortunately repeatedly caused major epidemics in the region. The area includes various geographical situations from high mountains to the subtropical and monsoon forests, dry deserts and seashore. The travel medicine specialist's task is to decrease the various risk of travel to the region. Infectious diseases, extreme temperatures and marine hazards could be almost entirely prevented by primary prevention forms of travel medicine such as vaccination, chemoprophylaxis and pretravel advice. There are some high–risk groups (e.g., elderly people, backpackers, families with children, adventure travelers) among the growing number of tourists. Obviously, the increased numbers of such travelers result in a rising incidence of travel–related illnesses and accidents. For those groups, primary prevention sometimes is not enough. The pretravel medical check up, specialists' consultations and treatment, as forms of secondary prevention, are also essential in travel medicine. Patients who suffer from serious illnesses or who have accidents must often be repatriated. “State–of–the–art repatriation”, as a special form of tertiary prevention of travel medicine will play an important role in the future and is directly related to effective travel insurance, which could help in providing good medical care to the patients even far from their home. The levels, methods and importance of prevention in travel medicine are discussed in this article.

Prevalence of Obesity Is Higher in Patients Admitted to an Acute Behavioral Hospital

Text: Relevance: Depression is a significant health problem. Low folate is related to depression but the importance of different forms of dietary folate is unknown. Our objective was to examine the cross-sectional associations between folate intake and depression diagnosis in an elderly cohort of depressed and non-depressed individuals. Priority: Given the known association of folate with depression, and folic acid fortification of the food supply, determining the importance of different forms of folate to depression is critical. Methods: Folate intake was assessed in 247 elderly subjects (111 with depression, 136 without depression) using a Block 1998 food frequency questionnaire. Dietary folate equivalents (DFEs) of naturally-occurring food folate, folic acid from food fortification, and supplemental folic acid, as well as kilocalories were determined. Subjects were age 60 or over, and were participants in a longitudinal study of depression in the elderly. Results: In logistic regression models, controlling for age, sex, race, and kilocalories, low intake of naturally-occurring food folate was associated with a diagnosis of depression (p 0.0003). Total folate intake (from all sources), fortified folic acid, and supplemental folic acid were not significantly associated with depression diagnosis. Synthesis: Low intake of natural food folate may be associated with depression in elderly subjects. This association may be due to unique effects of the natural folate form (as compared with folic acid) on brain health, to non-folate dietary behaviors that are found in high-folate consumers, or to another mechanism. This research indicates the potential importance of naturally-occurring food folate for late-life depression.

Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneity in Nucleotide Sequence Evolution

Models of nucleotide substitution make many simplifying assumptions about the evolutionary process, including that the same process acts on all sites in an alignment and on all branches on the phylogenetic tree. Many studies have shown that in reality the substitution process is heterogeneous and that this variability can introduce systematic errors into many forms of phylogenetic analyses. I propose a new rigorous approach for describing heterogeneity called a temporal hidden Markov model (THMM), which can distinguish between among site (spatial) heterogeneity and among lineage (temporal) heterogeneity. Several versions of the THMM are applied to 16 sets of aligned sequences to quantitatively assess the different forms of heterogeneity acting within them. The most general THMM provides the best fit in all the data sets examined, providing strong evidence of pervasive heterogeneity during evolution. Investigating individual forms of heterogeneity provides further insights. In agreement with previous studies, spatial rate heterogeneity (rates across sites [RAS]) is inferred to be the single most prevalent form of heterogeneity. Interestingly, RAS appears so dominant that failure to independently include it in the THMM masks other forms of heterogeneity, particularly temporal heterogeneity. Incorporating RAS into the THMM reveals substantial temporal and spatial heterogeneity in nucleotide composition and bias toward transition substitution in all alignments examined, although the relative importance of different forms of heterogeneity varies between data sets. Furthermore, the improvements in model fit observed by adding complexity to the model suggest that the THMMs used in this study do not capture all the evolutionary heterogeneity occurring in the data. These observations all indicate that current tests may consistently underestimate the degree of temporal heterogeneity occurring in data. Finally, there is a weak link between the amount of heterogeneity detected and the level of divergence between the sequences, suggesting that variability in the evolutionary process will be a particular problem for deep phylogeny.

The Importance of Poisoning vs. Road Traffic Injuries as a Cause of Death in Rural Sri Lanka

BackgroundRoad traffic crashes are considered by the WHO to be the most important global cause of death from injury. However, this may not be true for large areas of rural Asia where road vehicles are uncommon. The issue is important, since emphasising the importance of road traffic crashes risks switching resources to urban areas, away from already underfunded rural regions. In this study, we compared the importance of road traffic crashes with other forms of injury in a poor rural region of South Asia.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe collected data on all deaths from injury in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka (NCP; population 1,105,198 at 2001 census) over 18 months using coronial, hospital, and police data. We calculated the incidence of death from all forms of intentional and unintentional injury in the province. The annual incidence of death from injury in the province was high: 84.2 per 100,000 population. Half of the deaths were from self-harm (41.3/100,000). Poisoning (35.7/100,000)—in particular, pesticide self-poisoning (23.7/100,000)—was the most common cause of death, being 3.9-fold more common than road traffic crashes (9.1/100,000).Conclusions/SignificanceIn poor rural regions of South Asia, fatal self-harm and pesticide self-poisoning in particular are significantly more important than road traffic injuries as a cause of death. It is possible that the data used by the WHO to calculate global injury estimates are biased towards urban areas with better data collection but little pesticide poisoning. More studies are required to inform a debate about the importance of different forms of injury and how avoidable deaths from any cause can be prevented. In the meantime, marked improvements in the effectiveness of therapy for pesticide poisoning, safer storage, reduced pesticide use, or reductions in pesticide toxicity are required urgently to reduce the number of deaths from self-poisoning in rural Asia.