How to be a chaste species pluralist-realist: the origins of species modes and the synapomorphic species concept

The biological species (biospecies) concept applies only to sexually reproducing species, which means that until sexual reproduction evolved, there were no biospecies. On the universal tree of life, biospecies concepts therefore apply only to a relatively small number of clades, notably plants and animals. I argue that it is useful to treat the various ways of being a species (species modes) as traits of clades. By extension from biospecies to the other concepts intended to capture the natural realities of what keeps taxa distinct, we can treat other modes as traits also, and so come to understand that the plurality of species concepts reflects the biological realities of monophyletic groups. We should expect that specialists in different organisms will tend to favour those concepts that best represent the intrinsic mechanisms that keep taxa distinct in their clades. I will address the question whether modes of reproduction such as asexual and sexual reproduction are natural classes, given that they are paraphyletic in most clades.

Family Business: how family and ownership shapes business professionalization

This article`s main purpose consists in showing how family and ownership cultures may influence the process of making a ""well-performing"" organization, based on an empirical study in family business in Brazil. The study aimed to find critical moments of company`s history and the focus was to compare critical moments with the three-dimension model of family business development proposed by Davis et al. (1996). Through facts sequence, research was organized so as to find how the process influenced company`s professionalization. The article concludes that family and its value and culture may impact on the evolution, and the first step to organize a company is to organize the family that leads the company.

Indirect Emissions from Biofuels: How Important?

A global biofuels program will lead to intense pressures on land supply and can increase greenhouse gas emissions from land-use changes. Using linked economic and terrestrial biogeochemistry models, we examined direct and indirect effects of possible land-use changes from an expanded global cellulosic bioenergy program on greenhouse gas emissions over the 21st century. Our model predicts that indirect land use will be responsible for substantially more carbon loss ( up to twice as much) than direct land use; however, because of predicted increases in fertilizer use, nitrous oxide emissions will be more important than carbon losses themselves in terms of warming potential. A global greenhouse gas emissions policy that protects forests and encourages best practices for nitrogen fertilizer use can dramatically reduce emissions associated with biofuels production.

Uncommon mechanism of egg incubation in the endemic Southern hermit crab Loxopagurus loxochelis: how is this phenomenon related to egg production?

The aim of the present work was to characterize the egg production of Loxopagurus loxochelis. A total of 71 ovigerous females were obtained, 28% of which were simultaneously incubating eggs at different developmental stages. This phenomenon can be the result of incomplete fertilization, or may represent a rapid gonadal cycle by this species in this area, which is, to our understanding, the best explanation of this phenomenon. Egg volume decreased 25.6% during the incubation period. The reproductive output based on dry and wet weight was 6.8 and 19.3%, respectively. Water was the prevailing component of the eggs, representing 86.0% of the total weight at initial stage, increasing to 95.1% at the final stage. Ash content increased at the same time as a decrease in the organic content occurred, indicating the consumption of yolk and absorption of salts from the water medium. In conclusion, we hypothesized that this population has the capacity to copulate and deposit another brood even before the release of the larvae from the previous one, intensifying the reproductive effort of these hermit crabs as a strategy of adaptation in a region considered the northern limit of the geographical distribution of this species.

How does a colony of Apoica flavissima (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Epiponini) maintain a constant temperature?

The thermal characteristics of a colony of Apoica flavissima, an epiponine wasp, were examined. The nest, with a diameter of slightly less than 30 cm, was built on a twig of an orange tree. The temperature of the roof surface fluctuated greatly, ranging between 19.1 and 41.5 degrees C. However, the temperature in the central cell was kept constant at around 27 degrees C throughout a day. Although heavy rain pelted the nest roof in the morning, the central cell maintained temperatures higher than 25 degrees C. On the contrary, after all immature and adult wasps were removed the temperature in the nest fluctuated considerably. The presence of immature individuals and adult wasps densely covering the under surface of the comb seemed to function as an effective insulator. The smaller temperature fluctuation in the central cell than on the roof surface, when the nest was in the empty state, suggests that the thick spongy tissue of the roof made from curled plant leaf hairs serves as an insulator to prevent the conduction of solar heat into the cells and the outward flow of heat generated in cells, especially at night.

'You can criticise because you care': How attributions affect responses to ingroup and outgroup critics

There are times when people feel compelled to stand up and articulate their group's shortcomings, an act that carries with it enormous social risks. Indeed, a mechanistic reading of social identity theory might lead one to believe that ingroup critics are doomed to face hostility because they are attacking a fundamental part of people's self-concept. But often ingroup critics are doing more than attacking their group — they are trying to incite positive change. Criticism is the cornerstone of protest, and it is difficult to imagine how a group can be reinvigorated, reinvented, or reformed without some process of critical self-reflection. Thus, although the ingroup critic might create tension within the group, it is possible that internal criticism could be seen by other group members as beneficial in terms of promoting positive change and stimulating innovation, creativity, and flexibility in decision making. In this talk I examine the 'identity rules' that ingroup critics need to follow to avoid defensiveness, and look at empirical evidence of how factors such as language, the intergroup context, and choice of audience shape people's attributions regarding criticism and their subsequent evaluations of critics.

How well does B-type natriuretic peptide predict death and cardiac events in patients with heart failure: systematic review

Objective To assess how well B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) predicts prognosis in patients with heart failure. Design Systematic review of studies assessing BNP for prognosis m patients with heart failure or asymptomatic patients. Data sources Electronic searches of Medline and Embase from January 1994 to March 2004 and reference lists of included studies. Study selection and data extraction We included all studies that estimated the relation between BNP measurement and the risk of death, cardiac death, sudden death, or cardiovascular event in patients with heart failure or asymptomatic patients, including initial values and changes in values in response to treatment. Multivariable models that included both BNP and left ventricular ejection fraction as predictors were used to compare the prognostic value of each variable. Two reviewers independently selected studies and extracted data. Data synthesis 19 studies used BNP to estimate the relative risk of death or cardiovascular events in heart failure patients and five studies in asymptomatic patients. In heart failure patients, each 100 pg/ml increase was associated with a 35% increase in the relative risk of death. BNP was used in 35 multivariable models of prognosis. In nine of the models, it was the only variable to reach significance-that is, other variables contained no prognostic information beyond that of BNP. Even allowing for the scale of the variables, it seems to be a strong indicator of risk. Conclusion Although systematic reviews of prognostic studies have inherent difficulties, including die possibility of publication bias, the results of the studies in this review show that BNP is a strong prognostic indicator for both asymptomatic patients mid for patients with heart failure at all stages of disease.

How Much Older Do You Get When a Wrinkle Appears on Your Face? Modifying Age Estimates by Number of Wrinkles

The present study investigated the influence of wrinkles on facial age judgments. In Experiment 1, preadolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults made categorical age judgments for male and female faces. The qualitative (type of wrinkle) and quantitative (density of wrinkles and depth of furrows) contributions of wrinkles were analyzed. Results indicated that the greater the number of wrinkles and the depth of furrows, the older a face was rated. The roles of the gender of the face and the age of the participants were discussed. In Experiment 2, participants performed relative age judgments by comparing pairs of faces. Results revealed that the number of wrinkles had more influence on the perceived facial age than the type of wrinkle. A MDS analysis showed the main dimensions on which participants based their judgments, namely, the number of wrinkles and the depth of furrows. We conclude that the quantitative component is more likely to increase perceived facial age. Nevertheless, other variables, such as the gender of the face and the age of the participants, also seem to be involved in the age estimation process.

How configurations of binocular disparity determine whether stereoscopic slant or stereoscopic occlusion is seen

A partially occluded contour and a slanted contour may generate identical binocular horizontal disparities. We investigated conditions promoting an occlusion resolution indicated by an illusory contour in depth along the aligned ends of horizontally disparate line sets. For a set of identical oblique lines with a constant width added to one eye's view, strength, depth, and stability of the illusory contour were poor, whereas for oblique lines of alternating orientations the illusory contours were strong, indicating a reliance on vertical size disparities rather than vertical positional disparities in generating perceived occlusion. For horizontal lines, occlusion was seen when the lines were of different lengths and absolute width disparity was invariant across the set. In all line configurations, when the additional length was on the wrong eye to be attributed to differential occlusion, lines appeared slanted consistent with their individual horizontal disparities. This rules out monocular illusory contours as the determining factor.

PHRENIC NERVE TRANSFER IN THE RESTORATION OF ELBOW FLEXION IN BRACHIAL PLEXUS AVULSION INJURIES: HOW EFFECTIVE AND SAFE IS IT?

OBJECTIVE: Phrenic nerve transfer has been used for treating lesions of the brachial plexus since 1970. Although, today, surgeons are more experienced with the technique, there are still widespread concerns about its effects on pulmonary function. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of this procedure. METHODS: Fourteen patients with complete palsy of the upper limb were submitted to phrenic nerve transfer as part of a strategy for surgical reconstruction of their plexuses. Two patients were lost to follow-up, and 2 patients were followed for less than 2 years. Of the remaining 10 patients, 9 (90%) were male. The lesions affected both sides equally. The mean age of the patients was 24.8 years (range, 14-43 years), and the mean interval from injury to surgery was 6 months (range, 3-9 months). The phrenic nerve was always transferred to the musculocutaneous nerve, and a nerve graft (mean length, 8 cm; range, 4.5-12 cm) was necessary in all cases. RESULTS: There was no major complication related to the surgery. Seven patients (70%) recovered functional level biceps strength (Medical Research Council grade >= 3). All of the patients exhibited a transient decrease in pulmonary function tests, but without clinical respiratory problems. CONCLUSION: On the basis of our small series and data from the literature, we conclude that phrenic nerve transfer in well-selected patients is a safe and effective procedure for recovering biceps function.

Discontinuation of continuous renal replacement therapy: A post hoc analysis of a prospective multicenter observational study

Objectives: To describe current practice for the discontinuation of continuous renal replacement therapy in a multinational setting and to identify variables associated with successful discontinuation. The approach to discontinue continuous renal replacement therapy may affect patient outcomes. However, there is lack of information on how and under what conditions continuous renal replacement therapy is discontinued. Design: Post hoc analysis of a prospective observational study. Setting. Fifty-four intensive care units in 23 countries. Patients: Five hundred twenty-nine patients (52.6%) who survived initial therapy among 1006 patients treated with continuous renal replacement therapy. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results., Three hundred thirteen patients were removed successfully from continuous renal replacement therapy and did not require any renal replacement therapy for at least 7 days and were classified as the ""success"" group and the rest (216 patients) were classified as the ""repeat-RRT"" (renal replacement therapy) group. Patients in the ""success"" group had lower hospital mortality (28.5% vs. 42.7%, p < .0001) compared with patients in the ""repeat-RRT"" group. They also had lower creatinine and urea concentrations and a higher urine output at the time of stopping continuous renal replacement therapy. Multivariate logistic regression analysis for successful discontinuation of continuous renal replacement therapy identified urine output (during the 24 hrs before stopping continuous renal replacement therapy: odds ratio, 1.078 per 100 mL/day increase) and creatinine (odds ratio, 0.996 per mu mol/L increase) as significant predictors of successful cessation. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve to predict successful discontinuation of continuous renal replacement therapy was 0.808 for urine output and 0.635 for creatinine. The predictive ability of urine output was negatively affected by the use of diuretics (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.671 with diuretics and 0.845 without diuretics). Conclusions. We report on the current practice of discontinuing continuous renal replacement therapy in a multinational setting. Urine output at the time of initial cessation (if continuous renal replacement therapy was the most important predictor of successful discontinuation, especially if occurring without the administration of diuretics. (Crit Care Med 2009; 37:2576-2582)