Attributes of clinical guidelines that influence use of guidelines in general practice: observational study

Objective: To determine which attributes of clinical practice guidelines influence the use of guidelines in decision making in clinical practice.

PartsList: a web-based system for dynamically ranking protein folds based on disparate attributes, including whole-genome expression and interaction information

As the number of protein folds is quite limited, a mode of analysis that will be increasingly common in the future, especially with the advent of structural genomics, is to survey and re-survey the finite parts list of folds from an expanding number of perspectives. We have developed a new resource, called PartsList, that lets one dynamically perform these comparative fold surveys. It is available on the web at http://bioinfo.mbb.yale.edu/partslist and http://www.partslist.org. The system is based on the existing fold classifications and functions as a form of companion annotation for them, providing ‘global views’ of many already completed fold surveys. The central idea in the system is that of comparison through ranking; PartsList will rank the approximately 420 folds based on more than 180 attributes. These include: (i) occurrence in a number of completely sequenced genomes (e.g. it will show the most common folds in the worm versus yeast); (ii) occurrence in the structure databank (e.g. most common folds in the PDB); (iii) both absolute and relative gene expression information (e.g. most changing folds in expression over the cell cycle); (iv) protein–protein interactions, based on experimental data in yeast and comprehensive PDB surveys (e.g. most interacting fold); (v) sensitivity to inserted transposons; (vi) the number of functions associated with the fold (e.g. most multi-functional folds); (vii) amino acid composition (e.g. most Cys-rich folds); (viii) protein motions (e.g. most mobile folds); and (ix) the level of similarity based on a comprehensive set of structural alignments (e.g. most structurally variable folds). The integration of whole-genome expression and protein–protein interaction data with structural information is a particularly novel feature of our system. We provide three ways of visualizing the rankings: a profiler emphasizing the progression of high and low ranks across many pre-selected attributes, a dynamic comparer for custom comparisons and a numerical rankings correlator. These allow one to directly compare very different attributes of a fold (e.g. expression level, genome occurrence and maximum motion) in the uniform numerical format of ranks. This uniform framework, in turn, highlights the way that the frequency of many of the attributes falls off with approximate power-law behavior (i.e. according to V–b, for attribute value V and constant exponent b), with a few folds having large values and most having small values.

Stochastic game theory: For playing games, not just for doing theory

Recent theoretical advances have dramatically increased the relevance of game theory for predicting human behavior in interactive situations. By relaxing the classical assumptions of perfect rationality and perfect foresight, we obtain much improved explanations of initial decisions, dynamic patterns of learning and adjustment, and equilibrium steady-state distributions.

The role of genetic and genomic attributes in the success of polyploids

In 1950, G. Ledyard Stebbins devoted two chapters of his book Variation and Evolution in Plants (Columbia Univ. Press, New York) to polyploidy, one on occurrence and nature and one on distribution and significance. Fifty years later, many of the questions Stebbins posed have not been answered, and many new questions have arisen. In this paper, we review some of the genetic attributes of polyploids that have been suggested to account for the tremendous success of polyploid plants. Based on a limited number of studies, we conclude: (i) Polyploids, both individuals and populations, generally maintain higher levels of heterozygosity than do their diploid progenitors. (ii) Polyploids exhibit less inbreeding depression than do their diploid parents and can therefore tolerate higher levels of selfing; polyploid ferns indeed have higher levels of selfing than do their diploid parents, but polyploid angiosperms do not differ in outcrossing rates from their diploid parents. (iii) Most polyploid species are polyphyletic, having formed recurrently from genetically different diploid parents. This mode of formation incorporates genetic diversity from multiple progenitor populations into the polyploid “species”; thus, genetic diversity in polyploid species is much higher than expected by models of polyploid formation involving a single origin. (iv) Genome rearrangement may be a common attribute of polyploids, based on evidence from genome in situ hybridization (GISH), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, and chromosome mapping. (v) Several groups of plants may be ancient polyploids, with large regions of homologous DNA. These duplicated genes and genomes can undergo divergent evolution and evolve new functions. These genetic and genomic attributes of polyploids may have both biochemical and ecological benefits that contribute to the success of polyploids in nature.

Making and Keeping Friends: A social skills game that promotes parental involvement to more effectively address social deficits in children with ADHD

The social deficits of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have great impact on overall functioning and life satisfaction; however, ways of addressing these deficits to promote positive interpersonal functioning have been limited. The following paper explores the literature that highlights these social deficits, identifies skills that are proposed to target these impairments, discusses child and parent factors that are relevant to positive therapeutic change, and describes the development of a therapeutic game that incorporates variables important to treatment success of these interpersonal difficulties.

Mathematics Game e-Library for Elementary School, study case: Mexico

One of the most relevant subjects for the intellectual formation of elementary school students is Mathematics where its importance goes back to ancient civilizations and which its importance is underestimated nowadays. This phenomenon occurs in Mexico, where 63.1% of the total population of elementary school students between the third and sixth grade have insufficient/elemental level of mathematics knowledge. This has resulted in the need to use a new mechanism to complement student’s classroom learning. With the rapid growth of wireless and mobile technologies, the mobile learning has been gradually considered as a novel and effective form of learning due to it inherits all the advantages of e-learning as well as breaks the limitations of learning time and space occurring in the traditional classroom teaching. This project proposes the use of a Mathematics Game e-Library integrated by a set of games for mobile devices and a distribution/management tool. The games are developed for running on mobile devices and for cover the six competencies related with the mathematics learning approach established in Mexico. The distribution/management tool allows students to reach contents according to their needs; this is achieved through a core engine that infers, from an initial profile, the games that cover the user’s knowledge gaps.

Community attributes determine facilitation potential in a semi-arid steppe

Studies on positive plant–plant relations have traditionally focused on pair-wise interactions. Conversely, the interaction with other co-occurring species has scarcely been addressed, despite the fact that the entire community may affect plant performance. We used woody vegetation patches as models to evaluate community facilitation in semi-arid steppes. We characterized biotic and physical attributes of 53 woody patches (patch size, litter accumulation, canopy density, vegetation cover, species number and identity, and phylogenetic distance), and soil fertility (organic C and total N), and evaluated their relative importance for the performance of seedlings of Pistacia lentiscus, a keystone woody species in western Mediterranean steppes. Seedlings were planted underneath the patches, and on their northern and southern edges. Woody patches positively affected seedling survival but not seedling growth. Soil fertility was higher underneath the patches than elsewhere. Physical and biotic attributes of woody patches affected seedling survival, but these effects depended on microsite conditions. The composition of the community of small shrubs and perennial grasses growing underneath the patches controlled seedling performance. An increase in Stipa tenacissima and a decrease in Brachypodium retusum increased the probability of survival. The cover of these species and other small shrubs, litter depth and community phylogenetic distance, were also related to seedling survival. Seedlings planted on the northern edge of the patches were mostly affected by attributes of the biotic community. These traits were of lesser importance in seedlings planted underneath and in the southern edge of patches, suggesting that constraints to seedling establishment differed within the patches. Our study highlights the importance of taking into consideration community attributes over pair-wise interactions when evaluating the outcome of ecological interactions in multi-specific communities, as they have profound implications in the composition, function and management of semi-arid steppes.

Annual report of the Commissioners of Fisheries, Game and Forests of the State of New York.

2nd (1896)

Annual report of the Commissioners of Fisheries, Game and Forests of the State of New York.

7th (1901)

An early archaeological example of tattooing from northwestern Alaska / James W. VanStone, Curator, North American Archaeology and Ethnology, Field Museum of Natural History, and Charles V. Lucier, Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game.

v.66:no.1(1974)

Game birds from northwestern Venezuela, by Wilfred H. Osgood and Boardman Conover.

v.12:no.3(1922)

Play the game or get played? Researchers’ strategies around R&D policies

This chapter focuses on possible effects of current R&D policies in the scientific work, exploring some of the dilemmas they cause to researchers. In a transnational scale, R&D policies embrace performance-based research funding systems, calling for a growing accountability and a more useful and published research. Often justified by the importance of knowledge in public policies or as part of the new managerialism regime, these trends emphasize performativity on research. In this scenario, how researchers receive and interpret R&D policies is influenced according to their values and interests? Do they play the game or do they get played by it? These questions rely on a conceptual framework that conceives the research as a political scene, where researchers and R&D policies meet. Moreover, researchers’ strategies are perceived as political, considering that it is in the context of the practices that policy is interpreted and reinvented. The chapter presents an empirical study conducted in Portugal, which will be taken as an example of what Waitere et al (2011) already named as “choosing whether to resist or reinforce” R&D policies. In fact, the study revealed a strategic calculation made by researchers and the coexistence of convergent and divergent strategies concerning R&D policies. I will argue that the tensions in this strategic game are both a reflex and generator of the dilemmas of scientific work today and a sign of the complexity of public policies.