Estimation of Benchmark Dose of Lifetime Cadmium Intake for Adverse Renal Effects Using Hybrid Approach in Inhabitants of an Environmentally Exposed River Basin in Japan

The aim of this study is to estimate the reference level of lifetime cadmium intake (LCd) as the benchmark doses (BMDs) and their 95% lower confidence limits (BMDLs) for various renal effects by applying a hybrid approach. The participants comprised 3,013 (1,362 men and 1,651 women) and 278 (129 men and 149 women) inhabitants of the Cd‐polluted and nonpolluted areas, respectively, in the environmentally exposed Kakehashi River basin. Glucose, protein, aminonitrogen, metallothionein, and β₂‐microglobulin in urine were measured as indicators of renal dysfunction. The BMD and BMDL that corresponded to an additional risk of 5% were calculated with background risk at zero exposure set at 5%. The obtained BMDLs of LCd were 3.7 g (glucose), 3.2 g (protein), 3.7 g (aminonitrogen), 1.7 g (metallothionein), and 1.8 g (β₂‐microglobulin) in men and 2.9 g (glucose), 2.5 g (protein), 2.0 g (aminonitrogen), 1.6 g (metallothionein), and 1.3 g (β₂‐microglobulin) in women. The lowest BMDL was 1.7 g (metallothionein) and 1.3 g (β₂‐microglobulin) in men and women, respectively. The lowest BMDL of LCd (1.3 g) was somewhat lower than the representative threshold LCd (2.0 g) calculated in the previous studies. The obtained BMDLs may contribute to further discussion on the health risk assessment of cadmium exposure.     

Spatial pattern changes of grazing cattle population I

Summary A cattle population presents three spatial patterns according to their behaviour. These patterns are as follows: the random spatial pattern which occurs when the cattle move during grazing (feeding), the aggregated spatial pattern which occurs when they rest, and the regular or quasi-regular spatial pattern which occurs when they separate into two or more subgroups. In this study, these three states of behaviour were represented by a mathematical model, and a method to test the pattern statistically was derived.     

二元制度环境、制度能力对新兴经济体创业企业加速国际化的影响

新兴经济体(EE)创业企业在与母国缺失的制度环境互动的过程中形成制度能力。运用大规模访谈和扎根理论方法,本文提炼出制度能力的概念及其三个维度:制度适应力、制度关系力和制度创业力。在此基础上,本研究通过融合制度理论和组织能力理论,采用探索性案例研究设计,探讨了二元制度环境、制度能力与E E创业企业加速国际化之间的关系,并构建了一个被中介的调节模型。研究结果显示:(1)完善的母国制度环境减轻了东道国缺失的制度环境对EE创业企业加速国际化的阻碍作用,而母国缺失的制度环境则提升了完善的东道国制度环境对E E创业企业加速国际化的促进作用;(2)母国缺失的制度坏境有助于E E创业企业开发制度能力,而完善的母国制度环境则不利于E E创业企业制度能力的开发;(3)东道国缺失的制度环境对制度能力较强的EE创业企业加速国际化的抑制作用较弱;完善的东道国制度环境对制度能力较弱的EE创业企业加速国际化的激励作用较强;(4)E E创业企业的制度能力中介母国制度缺失性对东道国制度缺失性和加速国际化之间关系的正向调节作用。本研究有助于E E政府创造国际创业友好型制度环境和创业企业加快实施"走出去"战略。     

Infants born preterm and infants born full-term generate more selective leg joint movement during the scaffolded mobile task

Infants born very preterm (PT), prior to 32 weeks gestation, are at increased risk of developing cerebral palsy. Children with spastic cerebral palsy have impaired selective leg joint movement, which contributes to lifelong walking limitations. We investigated whether infants born PT generated more selective hip–knee joint movement (e.g., hip flexes as knee extends) while participating in a scaffolded mobile task. Infants born PT and infants born full-term (FT) at 4 months corrected age participated in a scaffolded mobile task for 2–3 consecutive days. The scaffolded mobile task required infants to raise their legs vertically over a virtual threshold. Three threshold heights (low, middle, and high) were used to test whether the middle and high heights encourage infants to move their legs more selectively. Fifteen infants born FT learned the task and showed more selective hip–knee movement at each of the three threshold heights on the day that they learned, compared with their baseline spontaneous kicking. Thirteen infants born PT learned the task and showed more selective hip–knee movement on their learning day, but only when the middle and high thresholds were used. The results show that the scaffolded mobile task effectively encouraged infants to generate more selective hip–knee joint movement.     

How Changes in Sending Countries Influenced Patterns of Interracial Families Through Intercountry Adoption

The racial characteristics of children adopted from abroad by American parents have fluctuated sharply over time in response to changing legislation and attitudes toward intercountry adoptions in the United States and the sending countries. This study investigates how the likelihood of parents adopting a White versus non-White child varies by the characteristics of the adopted child, the parents, and the household. Our analyses, using the 2008–2012 American Community Survey, show that parents consider the child's age, sex, and health; the presence of adopted and biologically related children in the household; and shifts in the availability of children across major sending countries.     

Infants born full term and preterm increase the height of anti-gravity leg movements during a kick-activated mobile task using a scaffolded task environment

Prior research supports that infants born very preterm (PT), compared with full term (FT), have early differences in rate of learning and motor control that may hinder their ability to learn challenging motor tasks. Four-month-old infants born FT (n = 18) and PT (n = 18) participated in an infant kick-activated mobile task that was scaffolded to motivate progressively higher kicks. We found the FT group learned the association between their leg movements and mobile activation on the second day, but the PT group learned the association on the third day. Both groups of infants increased the height of their kicks on the day they learned the task, compared with their spontaneous kicking height. These findings suggest that infants born PT have the ability to learn challenging motor tasks, such as kicking high, when participating in a task environment that uses scaffolding.     

Factors affecting children’s judgement of culturally deviant acts: findings from an international school in Japan

This study explored the relationship between perceptions of culturally deviant acts and multicultural experiences of elementary-school children attending an international school in Japan. Findings indicated that children judged a Japanese harsher than a foreigner, irrespective of the children’s age. It was also found that younger children were more susceptible to cultural factors such as their own experience abroad and mother’s activities, which encouraged the formation of less stereotypical images of foreigners.     

An Integrated Approach to Managing Change

Complex systems often involve a huge number of variables whose interdependence must be taken into account. This makes the adoption of an integrated approach essential for the proper management of a wide range of aspects related to human life, from social matters to the environment. In particular, this paper takes into consideration three different experiences in which the use of an integrated approach represented the most effective response for managing the evolving realities we took into consideration. We focused on the issue of land management, with particular attention to the problem of monoculture in Brazil. Then we analyzed the attempted cooperation between the States of the Aral Sea area for efficient water management of the basin and, finally, we dealt with the matter of energy efficiency and how the production of home integrated systems could lead to a better rationalization of energy consumption in the near future.