Synthetic Ethos: The Believability of Collections at the Intersection of Classification and Curation

This article explores the rhetorical notion of ethos, or a believable character, in the context both of classification schemes, or means of organizing documents, and of the resource collections that make use of those schemes. Ethos, the article contends, explains how a particular audience is more or less likely to accept the interpretive frame that classification or collection inscribes on its contents. Two case studies, one of a classification and one of a resource collection that incorporates a classification, show how these communicative artifacts can generate ethos despite their lack of typical textual mechanisms, such as linear narrative. The article concludes by suggesting that properties of collections—their synthesis of multiple, often independent parts, their continuous versioning—stretch the basic idea of ethos itself, and the notion of synthetic ethos is proposed to better encompass these properties.     

Implementation Planning to Promote Parents' Treatment Integrity of Behavioral Interventions for Children with Autism

Behavioral interventions delivered across home and school settings can promote positive outcomes for youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Yet, stakeholders who deliver these interventions may struggle to implement interventions as intended. Low levels of treatment integrity can undermine potentially positive intervention outcomes. One way to promote implementers' treatment integrity is Implementation Planning, a logistical planning and barrier reduction strategy that is supported by emerging school-based research. The current study extended the research on Implementation Planning and evaluated the effectiveness of the strategy with parents implementing a behavioral intervention at home within a Conjoint Behavioral Consultation model. The behavioral intervention aimed to increase compliance and decrease aggression for two children with ASD at home. Initially, parents struggled to deliver the intervention consistently; however, after Implementation Planning, parents' treatment integrity increased and, subsequently, child outcomes improved. Implications for future research and consultation are presented.     

Sibling differentiation in adolescence: implications for behavioral genetic theory

The presence of sibling "differentiating processes"--defined as processes in which increased sibling similarity in environmental or genetic factors leads to differences in sibling outcomes-poses a challenge for standard behavioral genetic theory and research. The presence of differentiation processes may affect estimates of genetic and environmental parameters in ways that have not been fully recognized. Utilizing data from the Nonshared Environment and Adolescent Development project, this study examined whether differentiating processes existed for seven composite indices of positive and negative adolescent adjustment. The 720 sibling pairs in the study were broken down into groups by age difference (0-4 years) between siblings. The hypothesis that siblings close in age would demonstrate lower correlations on adjustment measures was generally supported at two time points, three years apart. However, siblings one year apart at Time 1 were more similar to each other than were siblings two years apart, suggesting that shared environmental influences counteract sibling differentiation processes for these siblings. The overall trend supporting sibling differentiation was found to be unrelated to measures of sibling positivity and negativity.     

In vitro inhibition of lipid peroxidation in fish by turmeric (Curcuma longa)

The beneficial effects of ∈-3 fatty acids on human health have been well documented. Fish and fish oils are the richest sources of ∈-3 fatty acids. However, due to their high degree of unsaturation, they are highly susceptible to lipid peroxidation. Regular consumption of peroxidised oils may represent a risk factor for the induction and development of atherosclerosis. In view of the above reports, it was considered necessary to study the effects of tumeric on fish lipid peroxidation during standard cooking practices and on time-dependent changes in the peroxidation of fish homogenate. The antioxidant effect of α-tocopherol was also studied to confirm the relevance of the study. The results suggest that turmeric may be considered as a safe, cheap and readily usable antioxidant for food preparations.     

Anthropogenic emission is the main contributor to the rise of atmospheric methane during 1993–2017

Atmospheric methane (CH₄) concentrations have shown a puzzling resumption in growth since 2007 following a period of stabilization from 2000 to 2006. Multiple hypotheses have been proposed to explain the temporal variations in CH₄ growth, and attribute the rise of atmospheric CH₄ either to increases in emissions from fossil fuel activities, agriculture and natural wetlands, or to a decrease in the atmospheric chemical sink. Here, we use a comprehensive ensemble of CH₄ source estimates and isotopic δ¹³C-CH₄ source signature data to show that the resumption of CH₄ growth is most likely due to increased anthropogenic emissions. Our emission scenarios that have the fewest biases with respect to isotopic composition suggest that the agriculture, landfill and waste sectors were responsible for 53 ± 13% of the renewed growth over the period 2007–2017 compared to 2000–2006; industrial fossil fuel sources explained an additional 34 ± 24%, and wetland sources contributed the least at 13 ± 9%. The hypothesis that a large increase in emissions from natural wetlands drove the decrease in atmospheric δ¹³C-CH₄ values cannot be reconciled with current process-based wetland CH₄ models. This finding suggests the need for increased wetland measurements to better understand the contemporary and future role of wetlands in the rise of atmospheric methane and climate feedback. Our findings highlight the predominant role of anthropogenic activities in driving the growth of atmospheric CH₄ concentrations.     

eJournals Delivery Service: an email to Internet experiment

The eJournals Delivery Service (eJDS) allows scientists based in institutions in developing countries with slow access to the Internet due to very low bandwith or extreme economic problems, to retrieve online articles from well-known journals, using offline browsing with email. This pioneering experiment, run by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in collaboration with Academic Press, American Physical Society, and World Scientific, started in Jan. 2002.