Experimental Evidence of an Eco-evolutionary Feedback during Adaptive Divergence

Differences in how organisms modify their environment can evolve rapidly and might influence adaptive population divergence [1, 2]. In a common garden experiment in aquatic mesocosms, we found that adult stickleback from a recently diverged pair of lake and stream populations had contrasting effects on ecosystem metrics. These modifications were caused by both genetic and plastic differences between populations and were sometimes comparable in magnitude to those caused by the presence/ absence of stickleback. Lake and streamfish differentially affected the biomass of zooplankton and phytoplankton, the concentration of phosphorus, and the abundance of several prey (e.g., copepods) and non-prey (e.g., cyanobacteria) species. The adult mediated effects on mesocosm ecosystems influenced the survival and growth of a subsequent generation of juvenile stickleback reared in the same mesocosms. The prior presence of adults decreased the overall growth rate of juveniles, and the prior presence of stream adults lowered overall juvenile survival. Among the survivors, lake juveniles grew faster than co-occurring stream juveniles, except in mesocosm ecosystems previously modified by adult lake fish that were reared on plankton. Overall, our results provide evidence for reciprocal interactions between ecosystem dynamics and evolutionary change (i.e., eco-evolutionary feedbacks) in the early stages of adaptive population divergence.

The Rice Transcription Factor WRKY53 Suppresses Herbivore-Induced Defenses by Acting as a Negative Feedback Modulator of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Activity

The mechanisms by which herbivore-attacked plants activate their defenses are well studied. By contrast, little is known about the regulatory mechanisms that allow them to control their defensive investment and avoid a defensive overshoot. We characterized a rice (Oryza sativa) WRKY gene, OsWRKY53, whose expression is rapidly induced upon wounding and induced in a delayed fashion upon attack by the striped stem borer (SSB) Chilo suppressalis. The transcript levels of OsWRKY53 are independent of endogenous jasmonic acid but positively regulated by the mitogen-activated protein kinases OsMPK3/OsMPK6. OsWRKY53 physically interacts with OsMPK3/OsMPK6 and suppresses their activity in vitro. By consequence, it modulates the expression of defensive, MPK-regulated WRKYs and thereby reduces jasmonic acid, jasmonoyl-isoleucine, and ethylene induction. This phytohormonal reconfiguration is associated with a reduction in trypsin protease inhibitor activity and improved SSB performance. OsWRKY53 is also shown to be a negative regulator of plant growth. Taken together, these results show that OsWRKY53 functions as a negative feedback modulator of MPK3/MPK6 and thereby acts as an early suppressor of induced defenses. OsWRKY53 therefore enables rice plants to control the magnitude of their defensive investment during early signaling.

Sustained impact of a short small group course with systematic feedback in addition to regular clinical clerkship activities on musculoskeletal examination skills-a controlled study.

BACKGROUND The discrepancy between the extensive impact of musculoskeletal complaints and the common deficiencies in musculoskeletal examination skills lead to increased emphasis on structured teaching and assessment. However, studies of single interventions are scarce and little is known about the time-dependent effect of assisted learning in addition to a standard curriculum. We therefore evaluated the immediate and long-term impact of a small group course on musculoskeletal examination skills. METHODS All 48 Year 4 medical students of a 6 year curriculum, attending their 8 week clerkship of internal medicine at one University department in Berne, participated in this controlled study. Twenty-seven students were assigned to the intervention of a 6×1 h practical course (4-7 students, interactive hands-on examination of real patients; systematic, detailed feedback to each student by teacher, peers and patients). Twenty-one students took part in the regular clerkship activities only and served as controls. In all students clinical skills (CS, 9 items) were assessed in an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) station, including specific musculoskeletal examination skills (MSES, 7 items) and interpersonal skills (IPS, 2 items). Two raters assessed the skills on a 4-point Likert scale at the beginning (T0), the end (T1) and 4-12 months after (T2) the clerkship. Statistical analyses included Friedman test, Wilcoxon rank sum test and Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS At T0 there were no significant differences between the intervention and control group. At T1 and T2 the control group showed no significant changes of CS, MSES and IPS compared to T0. In contrast, the intervention group significantly improved CS, MSES and IPS at T1 (p < 0.001). This enhancement was sustained for CS and MSES (p < 0.05), but not for IPS at T2. CONCLUSIONS Year 4 medical students were incapable of improving their musculoskeletal examination skills during regular clinical clerkship activities. However, an additional small group, interactive clinical skills course with feedback from various sources, improved these essential examination skills immediately after the teaching and several months later. We conclude that supplementary specific teaching activities are needed. Even a single, short-lasting targeted module can have a long lasting effect and is worth the additional effort.

Italo-Swiss "Chalk and blackboard interactive 2-day workshop"-participants feedback

Ten "chalk and blackboard interactive workshops" have taken place between 2011 and 2015 in Southern Switzerland or Italy. Students, residents and expert pediatricians meet during 2 days and discuss 10-15 cases. Pediatricians promote reasoning, provide supporting information and correct statements. Emphasis is placed on history taking and examination, and on all participants being involved in a stimulating atmosphere. Thirty-seven participants were asked, ≥3 months after workshop-completion, to evaluate the workshop and a recent teaching session. Thirty answered and scored the workshop as excellent (N = 24) or above average (N = 6). The scores assigned to the workshop were higher (P < 0.001) than those assigned to the lecture-based teaching.

Entwicklung eines deutschsprachigen Fragebogens zur Durchführung von Multisource-Feedback in der ärztlichen Weiterbildung

Fragestellung/Einleitung: Multisource-Feedback (MSF) ist ein anerkanntes Instrument zur Überprüfung und Verbesserung der ärztlichen Tätigkeit [1]. Es beinhaltet Feedback, das von MitarbeiterInnen verschiedener Tätigkeitsbereiche und verschiedener Hierarchiestufen gegeben wird. Das Feedback wird anonym mithilfe eines Fragebogens gegeben, der verschiedene Kriterien der ärztlichen Kompetenz beschreibt. Das Feedback wird anschlieβend für die zu beurteilenden ÄrztInnen in einem Gespräch von einer/m SupervisorIn zusammengefasst. Bislang existiert kein deutschsprachiger Fragebogen für Multisource-Feedback für die ärztliche Tätigkeit. Unsere Zielsetzung war es daher, einen deutschsprachigen Fragebogen zu erstellen und diesen bzgl. relevanter Validitätskriterien zu untersuchen. Methoden: Zur Erstellung des Fragebogens sammelten wir die beste verfügbare Evidenz der entsprechenden Literatur. Wir wählten einen validierten englischen Fragebogen, der bereits in der Weiterbildung in Groβbritannien angewendet wird [2] und den wichtigsten Kriterien entspricht. Dieser wurde übersetzt und in einigen Bereichen erweitert, um ihn sprachlichen Gegebenheiten und lokalen Bedürfnissen anzupassen. Bezüglich der Validität wurden zwei Kriterien untersucht: Inhaltsvalidität (content validity evidence) und Antwortprozesse (response process validity evidence). Um die Inhaltsvalidität zu untersuchen, wurde in einer Expertenrunde diskutiert, ob der übersetzte Fragebogen die erwarteten Kompetenzen widerspiegelt. Im Anschluss wurden die Antwortprozesse mithilfe eines sog. „think-alouds“ mit ÄrztInnen in Weiterbildung und ihren AusbilderInnen untersucht. Ergebnisse: Der resultierende Fragebogen umfasst 20 Fragen. Davon sind 15 Items den Bereichen „Klinische Fähigkeiten“, „Umgang mit Patienten“, „Umgang mit Kollegen“ und „Arbeitsweise“ zuzuordnen. Diese Fragen werden auf einer fünfstufigen Likert-Skala beantwortet. Zusätzlich bietet jede Frage die Möglichkeit, einen Freitext zu besonderen Stärken und Schwächen der KandidatInnen aufzuführen. Weiterhin gibt es fünf globale Fragen zu Stärken und Verbesserungsmöglichkeiten, äuβeren Einflüssen, den Arbeitsbedingungen und nach Zweifeln an der Gesundheit oder Integrität des Arztes/ der Ärztin. In der Expertenrunde wurde der Fragebogen als für den deutschsprachigen Raum ohne Einschränkungen anwendbar eingeschätzt. Die Analyse der Antwortprozesse führte zu kleineren sprachlichen Anpassungen und bestätigt, dass der Fragebogen verständlich und eindeutig zu beantworten ist und das gewählte Konstrukt der ärztlichen Tätigkeit vollständig umschreibt. Diskussion/Schlussfolgerung: Wir entwickelten einen deutschsprachigen Fragebogen zur Durchführung von Multisource-Feedback in der ärztlichen Weiterbildung. Wir fanden Hinweise für die Validität dieses Fragebogens bzgl. des Inhalts und der Antwortprozesse. Zusätzliche Untersuchungen zur Validität wie z.B. die durch den Fragebogen entstehenden Auswirkungen (consequences) sind vorgesehen. Dieser Fragebogen könnte zum breiteren Einsatz von MSF in der ärztlichen Weiterbildung auch im deutschsprachigen Raum beitragen. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. You are free: to Share - to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/.

Improving residency training with the help of multisource feedback: Generation of a model of influencing factors

Background: Feedback is considered to be one of the most important drivers of learning. One form of structured feedback used in medical settings is multisource feedback (MSF). This feedback technique provides the opportunity to gain a differentiated view on a doctor’s performance from several perspectives using a questionnaire and a facilitating conversation, in which learning goals are formulated. While many studies have been conducted on the validity, reliability and feasibility of the instrument, little is known about the impact of factors that might influence the effects of MSF on clinical performance. Summary of Work: To study under which circumstances MSF is most effective, we performed a literature review on Google Scholar with focus on MSF and feedback in general. Main key-words were: MSF, multi-source-feedback, multi source feedback, and feedback each combined with influencing/ hindering/ facilitating factors, effective, effectiveness, doctors-intraining, and surgery. Summary of Results: Based on the literature, we developed a preliminary model of facilitating factors. This model includes five main factors influencing MSF: questionnaire, doctor-in-training, group of raters, facilitating supervisor, and facilitating conversation. Discussion and Conclusions: Especially the following points that might influence MSF have not yet been sufficiently studied: facilitating conversation with the supervisor, individual aspects of doctors-in-training, and the causal relations between influencing factors. Overall there are only very few studies focusing on the impact of MSF on actual and long-term performance. We developed a preliminary model of hindering and facilitating factors on MSF. Further studies are needed to better understand under which circumstances MSF is most effective. Take-home messages: The preliminary model might help to guide further studies on how to implement MSF to use it at its full potential.

The unstable CO2 feedback cycle on ocean planets

Ocean planets are volatile-rich planets, not present in our Solar system, which are thought to be dominated by deep, global oceans. This results in the formation of high-pressure water ice, separating the planetary crust from the liquid ocean and, thus, also from the atmosphere. Therefore, instead of a carbonate-silicate cycle like on the Earth, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is governed by the capability of the ocean to dissolve carbon dioxide (CO2). In our study, we focus on the CO2 cycle between the atmosphere and the ocean which determines the atmospheric CO2 content. The atmospheric amount of CO2 is a fundamental quantity for assessing the potential habitability of the planet's surface because of its strong greenhouse effect, which determines the planetary surface temperature to a large degree. In contrast to the stabilizing carbonate-silicate cycle regulating the long-term CO2 inventory of the Earth atmosphere, we find that the CO2 cycle feedback on ocean planets is negative and has strong destabilizing effects on the planetary climate. By using a chemistry model for oceanic CO2 dissolution and an atmospheric model for exoplanets, we show that the CO2 feedback cycle can severely limit the extension of the habitable zone for ocean planets.

Motivational interviewing and feedback for college drinkers: Handling missing values with complete case analysis and multiple imputation

Objective: In this secondary data analysis, three statistical methodologies were implemented to handle cases with missing data in a motivational interviewing and feedback study. The aim was to evaluate the impact that these methodologies have on the data analysis. ^ Methods: We first evaluated whether the assumption of missing completely at random held for this study. We then proceeded to conduct a secondary data analysis using a mixed linear model to handle missing data with three methodologies (a) complete case analysis, (b) multiple imputation with explicit model containing outcome variables, time, and the interaction of time and treatment, and (c) multiple imputation with explicit model containing outcome variables, time, the interaction of time and treatment, and additional covariates (e.g., age, gender, smoke, years in school, marital status, housing, race/ethnicity, and if participants play on athletic team). Several comparisons were conducted including the following ones: 1) the motivation interviewing with feedback group (MIF) vs. the assessment only group (AO), the motivation interviewing group (MIO) vs. AO, and the intervention of the feedback only group (FBO) vs. AO, 2) MIF vs. FBO, and 3) MIF vs. MIO.^ Results: We first evaluated the patterns of missingness in this study, which indicated that about 13% of participants showed monotone missing patterns, and about 3.5% showed non-monotone missing patterns. Then we evaluated the assumption of missing completely at random by Little's missing completely at random (MCAR) test, in which the Chi-Square test statistic was 167.8 with 125 degrees of freedom, and its associated p-value was p=0.006, which indicated that the data could not be assumed to be missing completely at random. After that, we compared if the three different strategies reached the same results. For the comparison between MIF and AO as well as the comparison between MIF and FBO, only the multiple imputation with additional covariates by uncongenial and congenial models reached different results. For the comparison between MIF and MIO, all the methodologies for handling missing values obtained different results. ^ Discussions: The study indicated that, first, missingness was crucial in this study. Second, to understand the assumptions of the model was important since we could not identify if the data were missing at random or missing not at random. Therefore, future researches should focus on exploring more sensitivity analyses under missing not at random assumption.^

The Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning: A Next Generation Formative Evaluation and Feedback System

Recent developments in federal policy have prompted the creation of state evaluation frameworks for principals and teachers that hold educators accountable for effective practices and student outcomes. These changes have created a demand for formative evaluation instruments that reflect current accountability pressures and can be used by schools to focus school improvement and leadership development efforts. The Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning (CALL) is a next generation, 360-degree on-line assessment and feedback system that reflect best practices in feedback design. Some unique characteristics of CALL include a focus on: leadership distributed throughout the school rather than as carried out by an individual leader; assessment of leadership tasks rather than perceptions of leadership practice; a focus on larger complex systems of middle and high school; and transparency of assessment design. This paper describes research contributing to the design and validation of the CALL survey instrument.

El valor psicológico del color y su uso en la comunicación

Fil: Porras, María del Carmen. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Artes y Diseño

Panorama psicológico argentino : antecedentes, constitución, institucionalización y profesionalización de la Psicología

Fil: Rovaretti, María Lucrecia.