Search results for "origin"
showing 10 items of 4356 documents
On hidden heterogeneity in directional asymmetry – can systematic bias be avoided?
2006
8 pages; International audience; Directional asymmetry (DA) biases the analysis of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) mainly because among-individual differences in the predisposition for DA are difficult to detect. However, we argue that systematic bias mainly results from predictable associations between signed right-left asymmetry and other factors, i.e. from systematic variation in DA. We here demonstrate methods to test and correct for this, by analysing bilateral asymmetry in size and shape of an irregular sea urchin. Notably, in this model system, DA depended significantly on body length and geographic origin, although mean signed asymmetry (mean DA) was not significant in the sample as a wh…
Consistency of Targeted Metatranscriptomics and Morphological Characterization of Phytoplankton Communities
2020
The composition of phytoplankton community is the basis for environmental monitoring and assessment of the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems. Community composition studies of phytoplankton have been based on time-consuming and expertise-demanding light microscopy analyses. Molecular methods have the potential to replace microscopy, but the high copy number variation of ribosomal genes and the lack of universal primers for simultaneous amplification of prokaryotic and eukaryotic genes complicate data interpretation. In this study, we used our previously developed directional primer-independent high-throughput sequencing (HTS) approach to analyze 16S and 18S rRNA community structures. C…
Individual vulnerability to stress is associated with increased demand for intravenous heroin self-administration in rats
2019
AbstractOpioid use is a widespread epidemic, and traumatic stress exposure is a critical risk factor in opioid use and relapse. There is a significant gap in our understanding of how stress contributes to heroin use, and there are limited studies investigating individual differences underlying stress reactivity and subsequent stress-induced heroin self-administration. We hypothesized that greater individual vulnerability to stress would predict higher demand for heroin self-administration in a within-subjects rodent model of stress and heroin use comorbidity. Male rats were exposed to inescapable intermittent swim stress and individual biological (corticosterone) or behavioral (open field, …
Global Perspective on Marital Satisfaction
2020
Across the world, millions of couples get married each year. One of the strongest predictors of whether partners will remain in their relationship is their reported satisfaction. Marital satisfaction is commonly found to be a key predictor of both individual and relational well-being. Despite its importance in predicting relationship longevity, there are relatively few empirical research studies examining predictors of marital satisfaction outside of a Western context. To address this gap in the literature and complete the existing knowledge about global predictors of marital satisfaction, we used an open-access database of self-reported assessments of self-reported marital satisfaction wit…
Teachers' Knowledge and Stigmatizing Attitudes Associated With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Effectiveness of a Brief Educational Intervention
2021
Because children and adolescents are vulnerable to developing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), classroom teachers play an important role in the early identification and intervention in students with OCD. The present study aims to explore the recognition of OCD, general knowledge about this disorder, implications in the classroom, and stigmatizing attitudes among teachers, as well as the effectiveness of a brief educational intervention about OCD. Participants (n = 95; mean age = 43. 29 years old; 64.3% female) were primary and secondary school teachers who were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. All of them completed a set of self-report questionnaires, read …
Distractor Efficiency in an Item Pool for a Statistics Classroom Exam: Assessing Its Relation With Item Cognitive Level Classified According to Bloom…
2018
Multiple-choice items are one of the most commonly used tools for evaluating students’ knowledge and skills. A key aspect of this type of assessment is the presence of functioning distractors, i.e., incorrect alternatives intended to be plausible for students with lower achievement. To our knowledge, no work has investigated the relationship between distractor performance and the complexity of the cognitive task required to give the correct answer. The aim of this study was to investigate this relation, employing the first three levels of Bloom’s taxonomy (Knowledge, Comprehension, and Application). Specifically, it was hypothesized that items classified into a higher level of Bloom’s class…
Otolith chemical composition suggests local populations of Antarctic silverfish Pleuragramma antarctica (Boulenger, 1902) around Antarctica are expos…
2021
The Antarctic silverfish Pleuragramma antarctica is a key species in the Southern Ocean ecosystem, and it is potentially threatened by the climate change affecting Antarctic ecosystems. Assessing the possible exposure to similar or different environmental conditions at early life stages and gathering information about connectivity or segregation between local populations of P. antarctica can be key for planning sound management strategies for this species. By using Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, we characterized the otolith chemical composition of 163 adult Antarctic silverfish collected from three areas located thousands of kilometers apart from each other: Ca…
Continental-scale patterns of pathogen prevalence: a case study on the corncrake
2014
Pathogen infections can represent a substantial threat to wild populations, especially those already limited in size. To determine how much variation in the pathogens observed among fragmented populations is caused by ecological factors, one needs to examine systems where host genetic diversity is consistent among the populations, thus controlling for any potentially confounding genetic effects. Here, we report geographic variation in haemosporidian infection among European populations of corncrake. This species now occurs in fragmented populations, but there is little genetic structure and equally high levels of genetic diversity among these populations. We observed a longitudinal gradient…
Intra-urban residential differentiation in the post-Soviet city: the case of Riga, Latvia
2014
Cities in many Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have transformed rapidly since the political and socio-economic restructuring started in the early 1990s. Economi reforms, growing income inequalities, changes in housing system and selective residential mobility are resulting in increasing socio-spatial differentiation among urban neighbourhoods also in Riga. In addition, litt le is known about the ethnic dimension of intra-urban residential differentiation, despite the existence of sizeable minority populations. The focus on ethnicity is important, since Riga is the only capital city in the Baltic States where the ethnic majority is outnumbered by the non-Latvian minority. This p…
COVID-19 and Its Triangle Effects on Human's Well-Being: a Qualitative Research Method Used to Collect Appropriate Data.
2021
Background: The health-related challenges caused by the virus and the implications of the policies implemented to fight against it further cause psychological and socio-economic consequences that could threaten the well-being of the people. Objective: This study has been carried out to identify people's psychosoical reactions toward COVID-19. Method: Semi-structured interviews as a qualitative research method were used to collect data from 20 people across three countries, and content analysis was applied to interpret the data. Results: Overall, the results indicated that COVID-19 has had negative consequences on psychological well-being of the general population. COVID-19 has forced people…