Low Resource Levels Research Articles

Surface Acting and Job-Related Affective Wellbeing: Preventing Resource Loss Spiral and Resource Loss Cycle for Sustainable Workplaces

This study empirically examines the synergistic negative effect of two kinds of job demand on job-related affective wellbeing (JAW) and the accelerating effects of cynicism in the negative relationships between job demands and JAW using a sample of 299 employees in the Chinese banking industry. Job demands include quantitative role overload and surface acting to represent the quantitative and qualitative aspects of job demands. Cynicism is introduced as a state where one’s energy resource is lost. The results of this study show that surface acting has a negative relationship with JAW, but quantitative role overload has no relationship with JAW. High levels of quantitative role overload exacerbate the negative relationship between surface acting and JAW. Cynicism also exacerbates the negative relationship between surface acting and JAW but does not have any moderating effect in the relationship between quantitative role overload and JAW. These results are consistent with the relationships predicted by resource loss spiral and resource loss cycle. The resource loss spiral means that resource loss, caused by handling with a quantitative role overload, lessens the employee’s ability to cope with surface acting. The resource loss cycle represents a vicious circle that amplifies the resource loss caused by surface acting. Surface acting reduces the level of one’s resources. Furthermore, surface acting reduces JAW and resources more strongly when an individual has low levels of previous energy resources than it reduces JAW and resources when he or she has high levels of previous energy resources.

Unsolved murders and the investigative failures of the Nigerian police force: Security and sociopolitical implications

ABSTRACTThis article focuses on the systemic failures of the Nigerian police force to unravel the mysteries surrounding homicides in the country, along with the security, social and political implications of the ongoing trend. The article draws on documented pieces of evidence of high-profile murders, along with the causes of the upsurge in murder incidences and the inhibitive factors relating to the investigative procedures of the police. The suitability of the theory of subaltern realism and the concept of third-world security predicaments in explaining the peculiarities of Nigeria’s internal security challenges is examined, along with the problems of the legitimacy of political regimes and weak borders. There is a need for the National Assembly of Nigeria to exercise its constituted powers in reawakening and supervising investigations into dormant cases of murder through its committees on police affairs, public safety and national security. The police should check its organisational failures, which may be related to using the wrong investigative approaches, low levels of information, limited resources, corrupt practices, and pressure to obtain quick results.

Featured Article: Interpersonal Stressors and Resources as Predictors of Adolescent Adjustment Following Traumatic Brain Injury.

The present study sought to examine adolescents' perceptions of their interpersonal stressors and resources across parent, sibling, friend, and school relationships, and the longitudinal associations with self-reported adjustment after traumatic brain injury (TBI) over a 12-month period. We examined the main effects of stressors and resources on internalizing and externalizing symptoms in 152 adolescents who had sustained complicated mild-to-severe TBI. We also investigated the conjoint effects of stressors and resources and the moderating effects of TBI severity with stressors and resources on outcomes. High stressors consistently predicted worse adjustment. High resources were generally only associated with fewer internalizing symptoms. Main effects were qualified by interactions between school stressors and resources in predicting externalizing symptoms and between friend stressors and resources in predicting internalizing and externalizing symptoms. For school stressors, the effects of resources on externalizing symptoms functioned as a buffer. In comparison, the buffering effects of friend resources on internalizing and externalizing symptoms disappeared at moderate-to-high levels of friend stress. Moderating effects of TBI severity were also observed, such that as family resources increased, only adolescents with complicated mild-to-moderate TBI, but not those with severe TBI, experienced decreases in internalizing and eternalizing symptoms. Interpersonal stressors and social support have important implications for adolescent adjustment after TBI. Adolescents with low levels of school resources, with high levels of friend stress, and who sustain severe TBI are at greatest risk for difficulties with adjustment.

Gliding Motility and Expression of Motility-Related Genes in Spreading and Non-spreading Colonies of Flavobacterium columnare.

Gliding motility facilitates the movement of bacteria along surfaces in many Bacteroidetes species and results in spreading colonies. The adhesins required for the gliding are secreted through a gliding motility-associated protein secretion system, known as the type IX secretion system (T9SS). The fish pathogen Flavobacterium columnare produces spreading (rhizoid [Rz], soft [S]) and non-spreading (rough [R]) colony types, of which only the spreading Rz type is virulent. In this study, we explored the spreading behavior of these colony types by microscopic imaging and measured the expression of genes associated with gliding motility and T9SS (gldG, gldH, gldL, sprA, sprB, sprE, sprF, sprT, and porV) under high and low resource levels by using RT-qPCR (reverse transcription quantitative PCR). The spreading colony types responded to the low resource level with increased colony size. The non-spreading colony type, as well as the cells growing under high nutrient level expressed only moderate cell movements. Yet, a low nutrient level provoked more active gliding motility in individual cells and increased spreading by cooperative gliding. The gene expression survey demonstrated an increased expression level of sprA (a core component of T9SS) and sprF (needed for adhesin secretion) under low nutrient conditions. Surprisingly, the expression of gliding motility genes was not consistently associated with more active spreading behavior. Furthermore, no genetic differences were found between spreading and non-spreading colony types in the studied genes associated with gliding motility. Our study demonstrates that environmental nutrient level is an important regulator of both gliding motility and the expression of some of the associated genes. These results may help to understand the connections between nutrient concentration, gliding motility, and virulence of F. columnare.

Abstract P161: Self-Management Resources in Heart Failure: A Prospective Community Study

Introduction: Little is known about the characteristics and resources that enable patients with heart failure (HF) to engage in effective self-management. To address this gap in knowledge, we measured personal and health care resources for self-management and examined associations with mortality among patients with HF. Methods: We surveyed 5543 residents of 11 counties in Southeast Minnesota with a first-ever code for HF [International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision code 428 or Tenth Revision code I50] between 1/1/2013 and 3/31/2016. Self-management resources were measured with the health care and personal subscales of the Chronic Illness Resources Survey (CIRS), both of which included 3 questions on a 5-point scale. The responses were averaged and participants were categorized as low if the mean score was below the median of the distribution (range from 1 to 5). The survey was returned by 2866 participants (response rate 52%) and those with complete data on the main items of interest were retained for analysis (N=2212). Cox proportional hazards regression was used to determine the association between each subscale and mortality. Results: Among 2212 participants (mean age 72.8 years, 54.1% men) the median health care score was 4, while the personal score was 3. Those with low health care resources were older and less educated than those with a higher score (p<0.05), while those with low personal resources had less comorbidities and lower education attainment compared to those with a higher score (p<0.05). After a mean (SD) follow-up of 1.3 ± 0.6 years, 207 deaths occurred. Low levels of both self-management resources were associated with an increased risk of death compared with patients with high levels (Table). Conclusions: Having limited self-management resources is associated with an increased risk of mortality among patients with HF. Thus, interventions aimed at supporting self-management among patients with HF may improve outcomes.

Assessing the effectiveness of a protected area network: a case study of Bhutan

AbstractAn assessment of management effectiveness was carried out for all the protected areas in the Kingdom of Bhutan. During 2014–2016 the Royal Government of Bhutan developed a custom-made tool for assessing management effectiveness: the Bhutan Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool Plus (Bhutan METT +). This was implemented in Bhutan's 10 protected areas and one botanical park, and the results were verified through field trips and expert reviews. The assessment indicates that protected areas in Bhutan are well managed and there are generally good relationships with local communities, despite an increase in livestock predation and crop damage. However, effectiveness is limited by a low level of resources (both financial and appropriate technical resources) and by gaps in monitoring and research data, which limits the ability to understand the impact of conservation, react to changing conditions and undertake adaptive management to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Bhutan is in the midst of mobilizing considerable conservation funding. The Government is working in partnership with WWF to create an innovative funding mechanism for the protected area system: the Bhutan for Life initiative. The Bhutan METT + study provides an example of how to develop a baseline against which to measure the effectiveness of protected areas over time and assess the impact of conservation inputs.

不同种植方式下两种草本营养元素对土壤厚度和水分减少的响应

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 不同种植方式下两种草本营养元素对土壤厚度和水分减少的响应 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201709191673 作者: 作者单位: 三峡库区生态环境教育部重点实验室，重庆市三峡库区植物生态与资源重点实验室，西南大学生命科学学院，重庆 400715,三峡库区生态环境教育部重点实验室，重庆市三峡库区植物生态与资源重点实验室，西南大学生命科学学院，重庆 400715,三峡库区生态环境教育部重点实验室，重庆市三峡库区植物生态与资源重点实验室，西南大学生命科学学院，重庆 400715,三峡库区生态环境教育部重点实验室，重庆市三峡库区植物生态与资源重点实验室，西南大学生命科学学院，重庆 400715,三峡库区生态环境教育部重点实验室，重庆市三峡库区植物生态与资源重点实验室，西南大学生命科学学院，重庆 400715,三峡库区生态环境教育部重点实验室，重庆市三峡库区植物生态与资源重点实验室，西南大学生命科学学院，重庆 400715,三峡库区生态环境教育部重点实验室，重庆市三峡库区植物生态与资源重点实验室，西南大学生命科学学院 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金项目（31500399）；教育部第49批留学回国人员科研启动基金资助项目 Responses of nutrient elements of two grasses to the decline of soil thickness and/or water under different planting patterns Author: Affiliation: Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region Ministry of Education,Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in Three Gorges Reservoir Region,School of Life Sciences,Southwest University,Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region Ministry of Education,Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in Three Gorges Reservoir Region,School of Life Sciences,Southwest University,,Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region Ministry of Education,Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in Three Gorges Reservoir Region,School of Life Sciences,Southwest University,,Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region Ministry of Education,Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in Three Gorges Reservoir Region,School of Life Sciences,Southwest University,Key Laboratory of Eco-environment in Three Gorges Reservoir Region(Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:为了探究不同种植方式下草本植物对喀斯特"土层浅薄"和"岩溶干旱"生境的养分调节响应，选择苇状羊茅（Festuca arundinacea）和黑麦草（Lolium perenne）为研究材料，在盆栽水分控制条件下设置了2种土壤厚度[对照土壤厚度（TCK）和浅土（TS）]、2种水分处理[对照水分（WCK）和干旱（WD）]和2种种植方式（单种和混种），研究土壤厚度和水分减少对混种下两种草本植物元素含量、积累和分配的影响。结果表明：（1）与对照组（CK：TCKWCK）相比，在浅土组（S：TSWCK）、干旱组（D：TCKWD）和浅土+干旱组（SD：TSWD），苇状羊茅和黑麦草的地上和根系C和N含量在单种和混种下（浅土除外）显著增加，P含量和各部分元素积累量显著降低；而苇状羊茅的根系各元素分配比在3种低资源水平下（S、D、SD）由单种时增加转为混种时降低，而黑麦草的根系营养元素分配比在浅土中增加，但在干旱处理下减少。（2）在对照资源水平下（CK），混种后苇状羊茅的地上部分C含量、根系P含量、地上、地下和总的元素积累量和根系元素分配比显著高于单种，而在3种低资源水平下达到各参数在单种和混种下无显著差异。（3）在各资源水平下，混种后黑麦草各部分C、N、P的含量、积累量和根系元素分配比大体上与单种无显著差异。结果表明，在低资源水平下，苇状羊茅和黑麦草通过增加C和N元素含量表现出较强的资源获取和防御能力。在混种条件下，苇状羊茅能够通过调节自身元素的积累和分配来提高竞争力，而黑麦草保持相对恒定的策略来响应竞争。 Abstract:The karst ecosystems in southwest China are extremely fragile and vulnerable. The phenomenon of rocky desertification has become more serious, which causes karst soil to be scarcer and shallower. In addition, under the change of global rainfall pattern, the climate in SW China appears to have the trend of high temperature, low rainfall, and frequent occurrence of the continuous extreme drought events, which exacerbates the frequency and intensity of karst drought. Plants in karst regions have strong morphological plasticity and physiological regulation ability to minimize the impact of adverse environmental factors, such as shallow soil and drought. Meanwhile, in order to maximize the use of limited resources, plants in karst regions may have some ecological niche differentiation to reduce the inhibition of resource limitation on co-existence species. The nutritional characteristics play an important role in plant growth and physiological regulation, and might reveal clues about the adaptive and competitive mechanisms of plants in karst habit with shallow soil and karst drought. The gramineous perennial grass, Festuca arundinacea, is a deep-rooted plant as the root can be up to 40 cm depth in soil, while Lolium perenne, with root depth up to 25 cm, is a shallow-rooted plant. These two species are both introduced as pioneer grasses for re-vegetation in karst regions due to their high drought resistance, barren-tolerance, strong ecological adaptability, high yield and good economic benefit. They effectively improve the local ecological environment and help to alleviate rural poverty. Therefore, we chose these two species to study the effects of decline of soil thickness and/or water on the nutrient element contents, accumulation and distribution under different planting patterns. In our study, three factors, namely soil thickness (TCK:15 cm, and TS:5 cm), water (WCK:120 mL/3 d and WD:36 mL/3 d), and planting pattern (monoculture and mixture) were designed in a full three-way randomized block design. The results showed that:(1) Compared with control group (CK:TCKWCK), the C and N contents in aboveground part, root, and whole plant of both species increased (except in shallow soil group, S:TSWCK), while the P contents and their accumulations decreased in the shallow soil group (S:TSWCK), drought group (D:TCKWD), and shallow soil plus drought group (SD:TSWD) both in monoculture and in mixture. The root nutrient distribution ratio of F. arundinacea increased in monoculture but decreased in mixture at three low resource levels (S, D, SD). The root nutrient distribution ratio of L. perenne increased in the shallow soil group, but decreased in the drought group. (2) The C content in aboveground part, P content in root, and their accumulations of each part and root nutrient distribution ratio of F. arundinacea were significantly higher in mixture than in monoculture at control resource level (CK), while there was no-significant difference between mixture and monoculture for above traits of F. arundinacea at low resources levels. (3) At all resource levels, there was no significant difference between monoculture and mixture for all the above traits of L. perenne. The results indicated that both species had higher absorbing-resource and defense abilities by increasing C and N contents at low resource levels. In mixed planting, F. arundinacea could improve its competitiveness by adjusting element accumulation and distribution, while L. perenne might maintain a constant strategy of nutrient regulation in response to competition. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Cybersecurity in Hospitals: A Systematic, Organizational Perspective

Background: Cybersecurity incidents are a growing threat to the health care industry in general and hospitals in particular. The health care industry has lagged behind other industries in protecting its main stakeholder (ie, patients), and now hospitals must invest considerable capital and effort in protecting their systems. However, this is easier said than done because hospitals are extraordinarily technology-saturated, complex organizations with high end point complexity, internal politics, and regulatory pressures. Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop a systematic and organizational perspective for studying (1) the dynamics of cybersecurity capability development at hospitals and (2) how these internal organizational dynamics interact to form a system of hospital cybersecurity in the United States. Methods: We conducted interviews with hospital chief information officers, chief information security officers, and health care cybersecurity experts; analyzed the interview data; and developed a system dynamics model that unravels the mechanisms by which hospitals build cybersecurity capabilities. We then use simulation analysis to examine how changes to variables within the model affect the likelihood of cyberattacks across both individual hospitals and a system of hospitals. Results: We discuss several key mechanisms that hospitals use to reduce the likelihood of cybercriminal activity. The variable that most influences the risk of cyberattack in a hospital is end point complexity, followed by internal stakeholder alignment. Although resource availability is important in fueling efforts to close cybersecurity capability gaps, low levels of resources could be compensated for by setting a high target level of cybersecurity. Conclusions: To enhance cybersecurity capabilities at hospitals, the main focus of chief information officers and chief information security officers should be on reducing end point complexity and improving internal stakeholder alignment. These strategies can solve cybersecurity problems more effectively than blindly pursuing more resources. On a macro level, the cyber vulnerability of a country’s hospital infrastructure is affected by the vulnerabilities of all individual hospitals. In this large system, reducing variation in resource availability makes the whole system less vulnerable—a few hospitals with low resources for cybersecurity threaten the entire infrastructure of health care. In other words, hospitals need to move forward together to make the industry less attractive to cybercriminals. Moreover, although compliance is essential, it does not equal security. Hospitals should set their target level of cybersecurity beyond the requirements of current regulations and policies. As of today, policies mostly address data privacy, not data security. Thus, policy makers need to introduce policies that not only raise the target level of cybersecurity capabilities but also reduce the variability in resource availability across the entire health care system.

Literature Review on Imitation Innovation Strategy

The progress of science and technology and the development of innovation activities are the important impetus for the rapid development of China’s economy. Due to the low level of technology, insufficient funds and scarce resources of scientific and technological innovation, China’s innovation strategy tends to imitate technological innovation. For developing countries, this model of imitation and innovation has indeed played an important role in improving a country’s technological conditions and laid a technological foundation for catching up with developed countries. First, this paper defines the concept of imitation innovation, analyzes the relationship between the imitation innovation and independent innovation, the issue between imitation innovation and intellectual property, the influence factors of imitation innovation; secondly, the influence of imitation innovation on enterprise innovation performance is summarized. Finally, the future research of imitation innovation is prospected.

Ecosystem engineering as an energy transfer process: a simple agent-based model

Ecosystem engineers are defined as organisms who modulate the availability of resources for themselves and other organisms by physically changing the environment. Ecosystem engineering is a well-recognised ecological interaction, but there is a limited number of general models due to the recent development of the field. Agent-based models are often used to study how organisms respond to changing environments and are suitable for modelling ecosystem engineering. To our knowledge, agent-based methodology has not yet been used to model ecosystem engineering. In this paper, we develop a simple agent-based population dynamics model of ecosystem engineering as an energy transfer process. We apply energy budget approach to conceptually explain how ecosystem engineers transfer energy to the environment and define various types of energy transfers relative to their effects on the engineers and other organisms. We simulate environments with various levels of resource abundance and compare the results of the model without ecosystem engineering agents to the model with ecosystem engineering agents. We find that in environments with higher levels of resources, the presence of ecosystem engineers increases the average carrying capacity and the strength of population fluctuations, while in environments with lower levels of resources, ecosystem engineering mitigates fluctuations, increases average carrying capacity and makes environments more resilient. Finally, we discuss about the further application of agent-based modelling for the theoretical and experimental development of the ecosystem engineering concept.

Subcutaneous Rituximab for the Treatment of B-Cell Hematologic Malignancies: A Review of the Scientific Rationale and Clinical Development.

Rituximab (MabThera®/Rituxan®), a chimeric murine/human monoclonal antibody that binds specifically to the transmembrane antigen CD20, was the first therapeutic antibody to enter clinical practice for the treatment of cancer. As monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy, rituximab has been shown to prolong progression-free survival and, in some indications overall survival, in patients with various B-cell malignancies, while having a well-established and manageable safety profile and a wide therapeutic window. As a result, rituximab is considered to have revolutionized treatment practices for patients with B-cell malignancies. A subcutaneous (SC) formulation of rituximab has been developed, comprising the same monoclonal antibody as the originally marketed formulation [rituximab concentrate for solution for intravenous (IV) infusion], and has undergone a detailed, sequential clinical development program. This program demonstrated that, at fixed doses, rituximab SC achieves non-inferior serum trough concentrations in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, with comparable efficacy and safety relative to the IV formulation. The added benefit of rituximab SC was demonstrated in dedicated studies showing that rituximab SC allows for simplified and shortened drug preparation and administration times resulting in a reduced treatment burden for patients as well as improved resource utilization (efficiency) at the treatment facility. The improved efficiency of delivering rituximab’s benefit to patients may broaden patient access to rituximab therapy in areas with low levels of healthcare resources, including IV-chair capacity constraints. This article is a companion paper to G. Salles, et al., which is also published in this issue. FundingF. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

A tale of four practices

PurposeThe Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) has become a dominant model of primary care re-design. This transformation presents a challenge to many care delivery organizations. The purpose of this paper is to describe attributes shaping successful and unsuccessful practice transformation within four medical practice groups.Design/methodology/approachAs part of a larger study of 25 practices transitioning into a PCMH, the current study focused on diabetes care and identified high- and low-improvement medical practices in terms of quantitative patient measures of glycosylated hemoglobin and qualitative assessments of practice performance. A subset of the top two high-improvement and bottom two low-improvement practices were identified as comparison groups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with diverse personnel at these practices to investigate their experiences with practice transformation and data were analyzed using analytic induction.FindingsResults show a variety of key attributes facilitating more successful PCMH transformation, such as empanelment, shared goals and regular meetings, and a clear understanding of PCMH transformation purposes, goals, and benefits, providing care/case management services, and facilitating patient reminders. Several barriers also exist to successful transformation, such as low levels of resources to handle financial expense, lack of understanding PCMH transformation purposes, goals, and benefits, inadequate training and management of technology, and low team cohesion.Originality/valueFew studies qualitatively compare and contrast high and low performing practices to illuminate the experience of practice transformation. These findings highlight the experience of organizational members and their challenges in practice transformation while providing quality diabetes care.

Resilience and psychopathology among victimized youth in residential care

This study examines the role of several resilience resources in the relationship between lifetime victimization and mental health problems among adolescents in care. The sample comprised 127 adolescents (53.% females, aged 12–17 years) from residential care facilities in Catalonia, Spain. The Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire, the Youth Self-Report, and the Adolescent Resilience Questionnaire were used to assess victimization, psychological symptoms, and resilience respectively. Results indicated that poly-victimization was associated with fewer resources, and with an increased risk of mental health problems. Self-resources mediated the relationship between victimization and internalizing and externalizing symptoms; community support mediated the relationship between victimization and internalizing symptoms. Self, school and peer support moderated the relationship between victimization and externalizing symptoms. Adolescents with fewer self-resources and less school support reported more externalizing symptoms, as did those with more peer support. However, poly-victimized youths reported symptoms within the clinical range, regardless of their level of resources. The findings stress the importance of preventing poly-victimization and of empowering poly-victimized adolescents, who appear to present low levels of resources. Researchers and clinicians should continue to study the poly-victimization/psychopathology relationship, and also design interventions and prevention programs which incorporate the most relevant resilience resources.

Barriers and Facilitators of Colorectal Cancer Screening for Patients of Rural Accountable Care Organization Clinics: A Multilevel Analysis.

This study examines multilevel factors related to colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in a rural Accountable Care Organization (ACO) setting. The study used electronic medical record data from 8 rural ACO clinics in Nebraska. The final sample included 15,866 average-risk patients aged 50-75 years who visited participating clinics at least once from June 2014 to May 2015. Logistic regression was conducted to examine simultaneous effects of patient, provider, and county characteristics on CRC screening after accounting for provider-county-level correlation using a generalized estimating equations method. The results indicated that patients aged 65 years and older, non-Hispanic white, whose preferred language was English, who had insurance, who had a wellness visit in the past year, and who had chronic conditions were more likely to be up-to-date on CRC screening. Patients were also more likely to be up-to-date when their primary care provider was a female medical doctor who was aware of clinic CRC screening protocols or who manually checked patient CRC screening status during the patient visit. Patients in a county with no gastroenterologist, a high poverty rate, and low insurance coverage were less likely to be up-to-date on CRC screening. A variety of patient, provider, and county characteristics were associated with CRC screening. Effective strategies to promote CRC screening should address multilevel factors, including: targeting patients with identified individual barriers, modifying physician and clinical practices, and focusing on communities with low socioeconomic status or low levels of medical resources.

Does Access to Basic Amenities Influence Health Status? Evidence from a Household Survey in Three States of India

Social determinants of health (SDH) are extremely important for a developing country like India that is battling a double burden of disease with exceptionally low levels of resources allocated for the health sector. This article adds to the evidence on the linkages between health status and SDH, with special focus on basic amenities, such as housing, water and sanitation. Based on data collected through a large sample household survey covering eight districts in three states of India, the study reports the status of basic amenities, disease burden and explores a link between the two. The study finds that access to basic amenities does affect the likelihood of a communicable disease in a statistically significant manner. The policy implication is that any successful communicable disease prevention agenda must take into account cross-cutting interventions involving multiple sectors, such as housing, water and sanitation. A sustained focus on these can rein in a lot of avoidable morbidity and mortality. In addition, it also has the potential for direct and indirect cost savings for the individual as well as the state.

Do shallow soil, low water availability, or their combination increase the competition between grasses with different root systems in karst soil?

Uneven soil depth and low water availability are the key limiting factors to vegetation restoration and reconstruction in limestone soils such as in vulnerable karst regions. Belowground competition will possibly increase under limited soil resources. Here, we investigate whether low resource availability (including shallow soil, low water availability, and shallow soil and low water availability combined) stimulates the competition between grasses with different root systems in karst soil, by assessing their growth response, biomass allocation, and morphological plasticity. In a full three-way factorial blocked design of soil depth by water availability by neighbor identity, we grew Festuca arundinacea (deep-rooted) and Lolium perenne (shallow-rooted) under normal versus shallow soil depth, high versus low water availability, and in monoculture (conspecific neighbor) versus mixture (neighbor of the other species). The key results were as follows: (1) total biomass and aboveground biomass in either of the species decreased with reduction of resources but were not affected by planting patterns (monoculture or mixture) even at low resource levels. (2) For F. arundinacea, root biomass, root mass fraction, total root length, and root volume were higher in mixture than in monoculture at high resource level (consistent with resource use complementarity), but lower in mixture than in monoculture at low resource levels (consistent with interspecific competition). In contrast for L. perenne, either at high or low resource level, these root traits had mostly similar values at both planting patterns. These results suggest that deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plant species can coexist in karst regions under current climatic regimes. Declining resources, due to shallow soil, a decrease in precipitation, or combined shallow soil and karst drought, increased the root competition between plants of deep-rooted and shallow-rooted species. The root systems of deep-rooted plants may be too small to get sufficient water and nutrients from dry, shallow soil, while shallow-rooted plants will maintain a dominant position with their already adaptive strategy in respect of root biomass allocation and root growth.

Coping Skills Are Associated With Gastrointestinal Symptom Severity and Somatization in Patients With Irritable BowelSyndrome.

Coping resources and processes are altered in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). We investigated the relationship between coping resources and gastrointestinal (GI) and extraintestinal symptom severity in patients with IBS and potential mediators of this relationship. We performed a cross-sectional study of 216 patients with IBS attending a secondary/tertiary care specialized outpatient center in Sweden from 2003 through 2007. We collected data on coping resources, levels of anxiety (general and GI specific), depressive symptoms, levels of GI symptoms, and extraintestinal somatic symptoms (somatization) by administering validated self-report questionnaires. General Linear Models were used to assess associations and mediation. GI symptoms: low levels of physical coping resources (practice of activities that are beneficial for health; P=.0016), high levels of general anxiety symptoms (P= .033), and GI-specific anxiety symptoms (P < .0001), but not depressive symptoms (P= .89), were independently associated with GI symptom levels (R2= 0.31). Anxiety and GI-specific anxiety partially mediated the effect of physical coping. Somatization: low levels of physical coping resources (P= .003), high levels of anxiety (P= .0147), depressive (P= .0005), and GI-specific anxiety symptoms (P= .06) were associated with somatization levels (R2= 0.35). Levels of general and GI-specific anxiety and depressive symptoms partially mediated this physical coping effect. The effect of psychological coping resources (including optimism, social support, and accepting/expressing emotions) on somatization levels was not significant (P= .98), but was fully mediated by levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms, and partially by levels of GI-specific anxiety symptoms. In a cross-sectional study of patients with IBS in Sweden, we found associations of levels of coping resources with GI and extraintestinal symptom severity; these associations were mediated by levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Although confirmation in longitudinal studies is needed, this identifies coping as a potential psychological treatment target in IBS.

A regional experience of the optimization of neurological care for the rural population

At present, the problem of disparity of healthcare, including neurological care, in urban and rural settings is highly relevant. Medical care after acute stroke or other chronic disabling diseases (epilepsy, Parkinson's disease) in rural settings is quite challenging due to the lack of access to specialized medical treatment facilities, low level of resources in medical and obstetric centers, low quality of healthcare, personnel turnover in rural healthcare and insufficient coverage of population with outpatient follow-up services. The most promising optimization approaches, which proved to be effective both abroad and in the Russian Federation, including Tyumen district, are the development of multidisciplinary mobile teams and telemedicine. Introduction of these approaches provides an increased access of rural population to specialized medical care, which leads to improvement in overall population health status.

À espera da seca que vem: capacidade adaptativa em comunidades rurais do semiárido

Este artigo avalia a disponibilidade de recursos necessários para criação de capacidade adaptativa em comunidades rurais do semiárido brasileiro. A pesquisa utiliza dados primários obtidos por meio de aplicação de questionários. Dada a grande extensão geográfica da região, adota-se como recorte uma amostra de comunidades rurais inseridas em áreas susceptíveis à desertificação no Estado do Ceará. A discussão é feita a partir de um sistema de indicadores definido por meio de consultas a especialistas (método Delphi) e subdividido em quatro dimensões da capacidade adaptativa: capital social, capital econômico, capital humano e capital natural, pressupondo que a capacidade adaptativa é definida pela disponibilidade de um conjunto de recursos capazes de promover o bem-estar local. A análise da distribuição dos indicadores selecionados mostra que as comunidades possuem baixos níveis de recursos necessários para adaptação, sendo que os pontos mais críticos são destacados na dimensão de capital humano. No contexto observado acredita-se que as ações governamentais que poderiam melhorar a capacidade adaptativa das comunidades rurais do semiárido em relação às secas não encontram ambiente social propício para expressarem seu potencial, sendo o maior desafio a adoção de estratégias integradas de educação e capacitação da população que atuem de forma transversal em todas as políticas voltadas para o desenvolvimento local.

Increase in Complexity and Information through Molecular Evolution

Biological evolution progresses by essentially three different mechanisms: (I) optimization of properties through natural selection in a population of competitors; (II) development of new capabilities through cooperation of competitors caused by catalyzed reproduction; and (III) variation of genetic information through mutation or recombination. Simplified evolutionary processes combine two out of the three mechanisms: Darwinian evolution combines competition (I) and variation (III) and is represented by the quasispecies model, major transitions involve cooperation (II) of competitors (I), and the third combination, cooperation (II) and variation (III) provides new insights in the role of mutations in evolution. A minimal kinetic model based on simple molecular mechanisms for reproduction, catalyzed reproduction and mutation is introduced, cast into ordinary differential equations (ODEs), and analyzed mathematically in form of its implementation in a flow reactor. Stochastic aspects are investigated through computer simulation of trajectories of the corresponding chemical master equations. The competition-cooperation model, mechanisms (I) and (II), gives rise to selection at low levels of resources and leads to symbiontic cooperation in case the material required is abundant. Accordingly, it provides a kind of minimal system that can undergo a (major) transition. Stochastic effects leading to extinction of the population through self-enhancing oscillations destabilize symbioses of four or more partners. Mutations (III) are not only the basis of change in phenotypic properties but can also prevent extinction provided the mutation rates are sufficiently large. Threshold phenomena are observed for all three combinations: The quasispecies model leads to an error threshold, the competition-cooperation model allows for an identification of a resource-triggered bifurcation with the transition, and for the cooperation-mutation model a kind of stochastic threshold for survival through sufficiently high mutation rates is observed. The evolutionary processes in the model are accompanied by gains in information on the environment of the evolving populations. In order to provide a useful basis for comparison, two forms of information, syntactic or Shannon information and semantic information are introduced here. Both forms of information are defined for simple evolving systems at the molecular level. Selection leads primarily to an increase in semantic information in the sense that higher fitness allows for more efficient exploitation of the environment and provides the basis for more progeny whereas understanding transitions involves characteristic contributions from both Shannon information and semantic information.