It has previously been postulated that L-arginine emitted by penetrating Schistosoma mansoni cercariae serves as an intraspecific signal guiding other cercariae to the penetration site. It was suggested that penetrating in groups offers a selective advantage. If this hypothesis is correct and group penetration at one site on the host offers an advantage, it would follow that at such a site, successive groups of cercariae would be able to penetrate skin in either greater numbers or at a faster rate. This prediction was tested by the use of an in vitro model of cercarial penetration based on the Franz cell and using human skin. It was demonstrated that there was no increase in the percentage of cercariae able to penetrate the skin with subsequent exposures. Consequently, it seems unlikely that the release of L-arginine by cercariae during penetration could have evolved as a specific orientation system based on a selective advantage offered by group penetration.

We investigate the role of optimism bias in bull price expectations using incentivized lab-in-the-field experiments with Alabama and Tennessee cattle producers. We develop bull price prediction tasks and reward accurate predictions. We find that the EPD information provision prevents optimism bias from contaminating price expectations in the whole sample. However, we also document that, unlike buyers, sellers are prone to unrealistic optimistic expectations, and our results reveal that optimism bias can be moderated by the type of expected progeny difference information utilized, breed characteristics, and regional differences in cattle operations. We contribute to the literature by documenting the role of behavioral biases.

The effect of transport on core and peripheral body temperatures and heart rate was assessed in ten 18-month-old Coopworth ewes (Ovis aries) Manual recordings of core (rectal) temperatures were obtained, and automated logging of peripheral (external auditory canal and pinna) temperatures and heart rate was carried out on the day prior to (day 1) and during (day 2) a standardised transport procedure. Transport produced a significant increase in the rectal temperature, which declined following unloading. Peripheral measures of body temperature also exhibited changes with transport. However, both ear-canal and pinna temperatures declined during actual transport, reflecting to some extent the decline in ambient temperatures recorded externally by sensors on the ear tags of the animals. Peripheral measurement of temperature, particularly at the readily accessible ear canal, may offer potential as a technique for the long-term monitoring of thermal responses to stress. However, further research is required into the potentially confounding effects of ambient temperature and wind chill factors.

Recognizing the need for organizational change in a transition setting, we specify a research model entailing the effects of two important workplace variables on the relationship between dispositional resistance to change and organizational commitment. Organizational commitment is important because of its relationship with a host of considerations relevant to successful organizational change and development. We test the model with samples from four Ukrainian firms undergoing comparable substantive change, including in their human resource systems. The results indicate that the negative relationship between resistance to change and organization commitment is moderated by trust in management. Specifically, it is the lack of trust that exacerbates the negative influence of resistance to change on commitment. Also, high procedural justice strengthens the negative relationship, thereby reducing organizational commitment, an interesting divergence from the Western literature. These indigenous findings in a markedly different context from the West hold potential for theory that is richer and more comprehensive in its explanatory reach. The findings also provide useful insights for managers in Ukraine in their efforts to change organizational practices.

Gravitational waves from coalescing neutron stars encode information about nuclear matter at extreme densities, inaccessible by laboratory experiments. The late inspiral is influenced by the presence of tides, which depend on the neutron star equation of state. Neutron star mergers are expected to often produce rapidly rotating remnant neutron stars that emit gravitational waves. These will provide clues to the extremely hot post-merger environment. This signature of nuclear matter in gravitational waves contains most information in the 2–4 kHz frequency band, which is outside of the most sensitive band of current detectors. We present the design concept and science case for a Neutron Star Extreme Matter Observatory (NEMO): a gravitational-wave interferometer optimised to study nuclear physics with merging neutron stars. The concept uses high-circulating laser power, quantum squeezing, and a detector topology specifically designed to achieve the high-frequency sensitivity necessary to probe nuclear matter using gravitational waves. Above 1 kHz, the proposed strain sensitivity is comparable to full third-generation detectors at a fraction of the cost. Such sensitivity changes expected event rates for detection of post-merger remnants from approximately one per few decades with two A+ detectors to a few per year and potentially allow for the first gravitational-wave observations of supernovae, isolated neutron stars, and other exotica.

Mixed-methods designs, especially those in which case selection is regression-based, have become popular across the social sciences. In this paper, we highlight why tools from spatial analysis—which have largely been overlooked in the mixed-methods literature—can be used for case selection and be particularly fruitful for theory development. We discuss two tools for integrating quantitative and qualitative analysis: (1) spatial autocorrelation in the outcome of interest; and (2) spatial autocorrelation in the residuals of a regression model. The case selection strategies presented here enable scholars to systematically use geography to learn more about their data and select cases that help identify scope conditions, evaluate the appropriate unit or level of analysis, examine causal mechanisms, and uncover previously omitted variables.

To determine the burden of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI), the nature of antimicrobial prescribing and factors contributing to inappropriate prescribing for SSTIs in Australian aged care facilities, SSTI and antimicrobial prescribing data were collected via a standardised national survey. The proportion of residents prescribed ⩾1 antimicrobial for presumed SSTI and the proportion whose infections met McGeer et al. surveillance definitions were determined. Antimicrobial choice was compared to national prescribing guidelines and prescription duration analysed using a negative binomial mixed-effects regression model. Of 12 319 surveyed residents, 452 (3.7%) were prescribed an antimicrobial for a SSTI and 29% of these residents had confirmed infection. Topical clotrimazole was most frequently prescribed, often for unspecified indications. Where an indication was documented, antimicrobial choice was generally aligned with recommendations. Duration of prescribing (in days) was associated with use of an agent for prophylaxis (rate ratio (RR) 1.63, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08–2.52), PRN orders (RR 2.10, 95% CI 1.42–3.11) and prescription of a topical agent (RR 1.47, 95% CI 1.08–2.02), while documentation of a review or stop date was associated with reduced duration of prescribing (RR 0.33, 95% CI 0.25–0.43). Antimicrobial prescribing for SSTI is frequent in aged care facilities in Australia. Methods to enhance appropriate prescribing, including clinician documentation, are required.

Why have some Mexican states proceeded faster than others in the revolutionary transformation of overhauling criminal procedure? Contributing an original index of criminal procedure reform across Mexico's 32 states from 2002 to 2011 and building on existing research on policy diffusion, this article seeks to answer this question. It finds that the 2008 constitutional reform at the federal level exerts a strong positive effect (federal mandate); being situated in a neighborhood of states that have reformed has a counterintuitive negative effect (spatial proximity); and having a governor from the same party as governors of other states that have reformed has a positive influence (network affinity). These findings yield a better understanding of the vertical, cross-level and horizontal, cross-unit diffusion of reform, with implications for understanding how to overcome challenges to criminal justice reform in Mexico, Latin America, and elsewhere.

Mixed-methods designs, especially those where cases selected for small-N analysis (SNA) are nested within a large-N analysis (LNA), have become increasingly popular. Yet, since the LNA in this approach assumes that units are independently distributed, such designs are unable to account for spatial dependence, and dependence becomes a threat to inference, rather than an issue for empirical or theoretical investigation. This is unfortunate, since research in political science has recently drawn attention to diffusion and interconnectedness more broadly. In this paper we develop a framework for mixed-methods research with spatially dependent data—a framework we label “geo-nested analysis”—where insights gleaned at each step of the research process set the agenda for the next phase and where case selection for SNA is based on diagnostics of a spatial-econometric analysis. We illustrate our framework using data from a seminal study of homicides in the United States.

The strontium isotopic compositions of foraminifers ( Elphidiella hannaiwere determined to refine the age of coastal sediments of the Merced Formation and to evaluate the relation between transgressive–regressive cycles and Pleistocene glacio-eustatic sea-level fluctuations. Relatively good age resolution (± 0.1 myr) is possible in the upper part of the section. The Sr isotope ages provide strong supporting evidence for the fission track ages of an ash layer at the top of the formation (0.45 myr), as well as recent age estimates for the mammoth fossil of ∼0.45 myr. Sr isotope ages in the upper part of the section also confirm that marine/nonmarine cyclic sedimentation in the Merced Formation is controlled by glacial–interglacial cycles. Good age resolution for the lower part of the section is not possible, due to little variation of the87Sr/86Sr ratio in global sea water between 2.4 and 4.3 myr. The age of the base of the formation is constrained only between 2.4 and 4.8 myr. Sediment accumulation rates in the upper portion of the Merced Formation (between 0 and 720 m) are significantly higher than those calculated for the basal portion (between 720 and 1670 m). The change in accumulation rate may be due to increased continental weathering rates and/or increased tectonic subsidence beginning about 0.8 myr ago.

Existing research shows that the ideas of judges shape their behaviour. A natural next question to ask is, where do these ideas come from? Yet, there is little empirical evidence regarding the content and distribution of these ideas and even less evidence regarding the sources of these ideas, especially how ideas transfer or diffuse among judges. In this article, a survey of judges in the Mexican state of Michoacán generates original data on the attitudes and professional ties among these legal elites, and a mixed-methods design examines the diffusion of these attitudes along these ties, sequencing quantitative network analyses and interviews with judges to strengthen causal inferences. The core finding that the social structure of judges influences the attitudes judges hold contributes a valuable analytic complement to scholarship on comparative judicial behaviour, and clarifies our understanding of the role of judicial networks in strengthening democracy and the rule of law.