bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Wild zebra finches that nest synchronously have long‐term stable social ties
Authors: Brandl Hanja B. , Griffith Simon C. , Farine Damien R. , Schuett Wiebke
Published: August 2019

Many animals live and breed in colonies, and yet, with just a few exceptions, the value of the social bonds between colony members has rarely been examined. Social ties are important for group coordination at collective tasks, and social coordination can facilitate synchronized reproduction among colony members. Synchronized reproduction in turn can amplify the benefits of coloniality, such as social foraging and predator avoidance.

We conducted a field study to investigate whether synchronized reproduction among individuals in replicated colonies is linked to the strength of their social bond, and whether these strong bonds are maintained beyond the reproductive period.

We PIT‐tagged wild zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), monitoring their reproduction and social foraging over two consecutive years. We then used social network analysis to characterize the strength of social bonds among birds in the population.

We show that birds that are more synchronized in their reproductive timing (and breed in the same colony) had significantly stronger social ties both during and after reproduction than expected by chance. Our long‐term sampling also revealed that the strong social ties between synchronized breeders were carried over across years.

Our study reveals a strong correspondence between synchronized breeding and the social structure of the breeding colony. This suggests that the synchrony between pairs is not a simple process based on opportunity, but a mechanism underpinned by more complex sociality, which could be carried over to other behavioural contexts. The maintenance of cross‐contextual social ties across years suggests that social structure could have extensive consequences on the overall life history of individuals in addition to playing a key role for the reproductive dynamics of colonial breeders.
Females facilitate male food patch discovery in a wild fish population
Authors: Snijders Lysanne , Kurvers Ralf H. J. M. , Krause Stefan , Tump Alan N. , Ramnarine Indar W. , Krause Jens
Published: August 2019

Responding to the information provided by others is an important foraging strategy in many species. Through social foraging, individuals can more efficiently find unpredictable resources and thereby increase their foraging success.

When individuals are more socially responsive to particular phenotypes than others, however, the advantage they obtain from foraging socially is likely to depend on the phenotype composition of the social environment. We tested this hypothesis by performing experimental manipulations of guppy,Poecilia reticulata, sex compositions in the wild.

Males found fewer novel food patches in the absence of females than in mixed‐sex compositions, while female patch discovery did not differ regardless of the presence or absence of males.

We argue that these results were driven by sex‐dependent mechanisms of social association: Markov chain‐based fission–fusion modelling revealed that less social individuals found fewer patches and that males reduced sociality when females were absent. In contrast, females were similarly social with or without males.

Our findings highlight the relevance of considering how individual‐ and population‐level traits interact in shaping the advantages of social foraging in the wild.
Disentangling the relative influences of global drivers of change in biodiversity: A study of the twentieth‐century red fox expansion into the Canadian Arctic
Authors: Gallant Daniel , Lecomte Nicolas , Berteaux Dominique
Published: August 2019

The poleward range shift of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) > 1,700 km into the Arctic is one of the most remarkable distribution changes of the early twentieth century. While this expansion threatens a smaller arctic ecological equivalent, the arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), the case became a textbook example of climate‐driven range shifts.

We tested this classical climate change hypothesis linked to an important range shift which has attracted little research thus far.

We analysed Canadian fur harvest data from the Hudson's Bay Company Archives (14 trading posts; 1926–1950), testing hypotheses based on changes in summer and winter climates. Summer warming might have triggered a bottom‐up increase in ecosystem productivity, while winter warming might have lowered thermal stress, both favouring red fox expansion. Additionally, we evaluated the hypothesis that red fox expansion was driven by the appearance of human sedentary sites (n = 110) likely bringing food subsidies into the unproductive tundra.

Analysis of red fox expansion chronologies showed that expansion speed was higher during warmer winters. However, the expansions occurred under both cooling and warming trends, being faster during cooler summers in the Baffin Island region. The increasing proportion of red fox in fox fur harvests was best explained by human activity, while generalized linear mixed models also revealed a marginal effect of warmer winters. Generalized additive models confirmed human presence as the most important factor explaining rates of change in the proportion of red fox in fox fur harvests.

Using historical ecology, we disentangled the relative influences of climate change and anthropogenic habitat change, two global drivers that transformed arctic biodiversity during the last century and will likely continue to do so during this century. Anthropogenic food subsidies, which constitute stable food sources, facilitated the invasion of the tundra biome by a new mammalian predator and competitor, with long‐term consequences that still remain to be understood.
Morin attenuates oxidized low‐density lipoprotein‐mediated injury by inducing autophagy via activating AMPK signalling in HUVECs
Authors: Zhang Xiaodong , Han Xiping , Zhang Peng , Zhou Tingting , Chen Yun , Jin Jian , Ma Xin
Published: August 2019

Endothelial dysfunction is a precursor of cardiovascular disease, and oxidized low‐density lipoprotein (ox‐LDL) has been implicated in the development of atherosclerosis by directly targeting endothelial cells. Morin, a natural flavonol, has been shown to protect endothelial cells from dysfunction. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of morin on ox‐LDL‐induced injury and to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The results showed that morin alleviated ox‐LDL‐induced endothelial injury and promoted the viability of HUVECs exposed to ox‐LDL. Morin significantly inhibited the oxidative stress induced by ox‐LDL by inhibiting the production of reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde, and downregulating the level of superoxide dismutase. Moreover, morin markedly attenuated the overexpressed mRNA levels of the inflammatory factors interleukin (IL)‐1β, IL‐6, and the adhesion molecules ICAM‐1 and VCAM‐1 induced by exposure to ox‐LDL. We found that morin attenuated ox‐LDL‐induced injury in HUVECs by inducing autophagy. The protective effects of morin against ox‐LDL‐induced injury were dramatically reversed by chloroquine phosphate (CQ) treatment. Furthermore, morin up‐regulated the expression of p‐AMPK and down‐regulated the level of p‐mTOR in HUVECs exposed to ox‐LDL, and this was significantly reversed by the AMPK inhibitor Compound C (CC). Taken together, our results demonstrated that morin attenuates ox‐LDL‐mediated injury by inducing autophagy via activating AMPK signalling in HUVECs.
MiR‐203a‐3p inhibits retinal angiogenesis and alleviates proliferative diabetic retinopathy in oxygen‐induced retinopathy (OIR) rat model via targeting VEGFA and HIF‐1α
Authors: Han Ning , Xu Haitao , Yu Na , Wu Yazhen , Yu Li
Published: August 2019

Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) is a common complication of diabetes mellitus, characterized by abnormal retinal angiogenesis. MicroRNA‐203‐3p (miR‐203‐3p) was found to be down‐regulated in a murine model of proliferative retinopathy. This study was performed to explore the role of miR‐203a‐3p in retinal angiogenesis of PDR. Firstly, a rat OIR model, which was used to mimic PDR, was established and the OIR rats were treated with scrambled control or miR‐203a‐3p agomir by intravitreal injection. The results showed that the level of miR‐203a‐3p was decreased in OIR rats, and forced over‐expression of miR‐203a‐3p inhibited OIR‐induced retinal angiogenesis as evidenced by reduced blood vessel profiles and CD31 expression. OIR‐induced up‐regulation of VEGFA, HIF‐α, PCNA, and MMPs in the retina was also counteracted by miR‐203a‐3p. Additionally, high glucose (HG)‐induced proliferation, migration and tube formation of human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (HRMECs) were also dampened by the up‐regulation of miR‐203a‐3p. Dual‐luciferase reporter assay showed that miR‐203a‐3p could specifically bind to the 3′UTR of VEGFA and HIF‐1α. Over‐expression of VEGFA or HIF‐1α restored the tube formation activity of HRMECs suppressed by miR‐203a‐3p. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that up‐regulation of miR‐203a‐3p might inhibit pathological retinal angiogenesis of PDR by targeting VEGFA and HIF‐1α.
German Farmers’ Perspectives on Direct Payments in the Common Agricultural Policy
Authors: Michels Marius , Möllmann Johannes , Musshoff Oliver
Published: August 2019

After several reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy and gradual liberalisation, direct payments that serve to stabilise farm incomes remain highly pertinent for EU farmers in that they continue to contribute a high share of total farm income. This was also reflected in our survey of German farmers’ perspectives on direct payments, which showed the importance that these payments play in their financial situation. However, several economists have pointed to the lack of justification for poorly targeted direct payments in achieving societal goals, namely the delivery of valued public goods. In particular, the surveyed German farmers also recognised societal disapproval of the direct payment scheme. However, without direct payments, an accelerated structural change in German agriculture is very likely, leading to larger, less diversified farms and more intensive farming; which contrasts with the expectations of the German society for the agriculture sector. As German tax payers contribute substantially to financing the CAP, societal approval in terms of animal welfare and environmental services should receive greater priority in the direct payment scheme. The latter could be achieved by a well‐aimed targeting of direct payments, providing compensation for farmers producing agri‐environmental public goods and/or clearly contributing to improved animal welfare.
What goes in, must come out: Combining scat‐based molecular diet analysis and quantification of ingested microplastics in a marine top predator
Authors: Nelms Sarah E. , Parry Helen E. , Bennett Kimberley A. , Galloway Tamara S. , Godley Brendan J. , Santillo David , Lindeque Penelope K.
Published: August 2019

Microplastics (plastic particles <5 mm in size) are highly available for ingestion by a wide range of organisms, either through direct consumption or indirectly, via trophic transfer, from prey to predator. The latter is a poorly understood, but potentially major, route of microplastic ingestion for marine top predators.

We developed a novel and effective methodology pipeline to investigate dietary exposure of wild top predators (grey seals; Halichoerus grypus) to microplastics, by combining scat‐based molecular techniques with a microplastic isolation method. We employed DNA metabarcoding, a rapid method of biodiversity assessment, to garner detailed information on prey composition from scats, and investigated the potential relationship between diet and microplastic burden.

Outcomes of the method development process and results of both diet composition from metabarcoding analysis and detection of microplastics are presented. Importantly, the pipeline performed well and initial results suggest the frequency of microplastics detected in seal scats may be related to the type of prey consumed.

Our non‐invasive, data‐rich approach maximizes time and resource–efficiency, while minimizing costs and sample volumes required for analysis. This pipeline could be used to underpin a much‐needed increase in understanding of the relationship between diet composition and rates of microplastic ingestion in high trophic level species.
Mitochondrial DNA somatic mutation burden and heteroplasmy are associated with chronological age, smoking, and HIV infection
Authors: Ziada Adam S. , Lu Meng Ying , Ignas‐Menzies Jarek , Paintsil Elijah , Li Min , Ogbuagu Onyema , Saberi Sara , Hsieh Anthony Y. Y. , Sattha Beheroze , Harrigan P. Richard , Kalloger Steve , Côté Hélène C. F. ,   the CIHR team grant on cellular aging, HIV comorbidities in women, children (CARMA)
Published: August 2019

The gradual accumulation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations is implicated in aging and may contribute to the accelerated aging phenotype seen with tobacco smoking and HIV infection. mtDNA mutations are thought to arise from oxidative damage; however, recent reports implicate polymerase γ errors during mtDNA replication. Investigations of somatic mtDNA mutations have been hampered by technical challenges in measuring low‐frequency mutations. We use primer ID‐based next‐generation sequencing to quantify both somatic and heteroplasmic blood mtDNA point mutations within the D‐loop, in 164 women and girls aged 2–72 years, of whom 35% were smokers and 56% were HIV‐positive. Somatic mutations and the occurrence of heteroplasmic mutations increased with age. While transitions are theorized to result from polymerase γ errors, transversions are believed to arise from DNA oxidative damage. In our study, both transition and transversion mutations were associated with age. However, transition somatic mutations were more prevalent than transversions, and no heteroplasmic transversions were observed. We also measured elevated somatic mutations, but not heteroplasmy, in association with high peak HIV viremia. Conversely, heteroplasmy was higher among smokers, but somatic mutations were not, suggesting that smoking promotes the expansion of preexisting mutations rather than de novo mutations. Taken together, our results are consistent with blood mtDNA mutations increasing with age, inferring a greater contribution of polymerase γ errors in mtDNA mutagenesis. We further suggest that smoking and HIV infection both contribute to the accumulation of mtDNA mutations, though in different ways.
Six‐Month Follow‐up of the Families on Track Intervention Pilot Trial for Children With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and Their Families
Authors: Petrenko Christie L. M. , Demeusy Elizabeth M. , Alto Michelle E.
Published: August 2019

Background

When the primary disabilities associated with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are not well supported, individuals are at higher risk for mental health problems and other secondary conditions. The Families on Track (FOT) intervention was designed to prevent secondary conditions and improve family functioning in children with FASD. Promising results from a pilot study demonstrated positive effects on child and caregiver outcomes immediately following the intervention. The objective of this study was to examine the sustainability of these effects 6 months postintervention.

Methods

Thirty children (ages 4 to 8) with prenatal alcohol exposure and their caregivers were enrolled in the original study. Families were randomized to the FOT intervention or an active comparison group that provided comprehensive assessment and individualized feedback. The intervention integrated a positive parenting curriculum and a child skills group. Families were assessed at baseline, postintervention, and 6‐month follow‐up visits. Follow‐up data were available for 24 families on child and caregiver outcomes. Data were analyzed using effect size calculations and analysis‐of‐variance techniques.

Results

Relative to the comparison group, intervention families showed continued gains in parenting efficacy and maintained prior improvements in FASD knowledge over the follow‐up period. Although intervention families reported a decrease in their needs being met over the follow‐up period, they continued to report their needs being met to greater extent than those in the comparison group. Consistent with postintervention outcomes, children in both groups exhibited similar decreases in child disruptive behavior 6 months following the intervention. Unfortunately, positive gains seen at postintervention for child self‐esteem and emotion regulation were attenuated at follow‐up.

Conclusions

This pilot study yielded promising effects on important areas of caregiver functioning. However, the intervention's impact on child functioning waned over time, suggesting the need for sustained or alternate child intervention.
Social network analysis reveals specialized trade in an Endangered songbird
Authors: Sánchez‐Mercado A. , Cardozo‐Urdaneta A. , Moran L. , Ovalle L. , Arvelo M. Á. , Morales‐Campos J. , Coyle B. , Braun M. J. , Rodríguez‐Clark K. M.
Published: August 2019

Unsustainable harvest is one of the most important threats to biodiversity, and birds are highly impacted, but avian markets remain poorly understood. When species value and corruption/criminality are high, the “parallel trafficking” hypothesis predicts that illegal animal items will move through networks used for other illicit products. Alternatively, when particular demands, logistical skills or access limits trade, “specialized trafficking” hypotheses predict that few, expert actors will control markets. Here, we use social network analysis of trade in an Endangered songbird, the Red Siskin Spinus cucullatus, originating in Venezuela, to examine the generality of the parallel trafficking hypothesis in a setting where corruption/criminality and species value are high. In spite of these circumstances, of 2575 Red Siskin (RS) records compiled from 2010 to 2017, we found just six reports consistent with parallel trafficking. Instead, we discovered an independent network of 15 actor types, and a trade structure consistent with specialized trafficking. Just two intermediary types (national vendors to intermediaries and to consumers) and one consumer type (national breeders) had the highest exposure to the flow of birds, and the most trade connectivity. Use of wild‐caught over captive‐bred birds was high (67% of records), as was use of natural‐phenotype birds over hybrid or mutant‐phenotype birds (65% of records). Geographically, Spain and Venezuela had the highest exposure to the flow of birds, but Brazil and Colombia had the most direct connections with other countries. The unexpected lack of evidence for parallel trafficking suggests that combined flows of illicit products are not inevitable, even in adverse settings. In a context where law enforcement may not be feasible, our results suggest that it may be possible to reduce unsustainable harvest using breeder connectivity in informational campaigns to stimulate peer‐to‐peer interactions and accelerate behavior change.
Heavy cannabis use, dependence and the brain: a clinical perspective
Authors: Kroon Emese , Kuhns Lauren , Hoch Eva , Cousijn Janna
Published: August 2019

Aims

To summarize and evaluate our knowledge of the relationship between heavy cannabis use, cannabis use disorder (CUD) and the brain.

Methods

Narrative review of relevant literature identified through existing systematic reviews, meta‐analyses and a PubMed search. Epidemiology, clinical representations, potential causal mechanisms, assessments, treatment and prognosis are discussed.

Results

Although causality is unclear, heavy and dependent cannabis use is consistently associated with a high prevalence of comorbid psychiatric disorders and learning and memory impairments that seem to recover after a period of abstinence. Evidence regarding other cognitive domains and neurological consequences, including cerebrovascular events, is limited and inconsistent. Abstinence after treatment is only achieved in a minority of cases; treatment targeted at reduction in use appears have some success. Potential moderators of the impact of CUD on the brain include age of onset, heaviness of use, CUD severity, the ratio of ∆9‐tetrahydrocannabinol to cannabidiol and severity of comorbid disorders.

Conclusions

Current evidence of long‐term effects of daily cannabis use and cannabis use disorder on brain‐related outcomes is suggestive rather than conclusive, but use is associated with psychiatric morbidity and with cognitive impairments that recover after a period of abstinence.
Comment
Authors: HERZFELD MICHAEL
Published: August 2019

A comment on Heath Cabot's “The Business of Anthropology and the European Refugee Regime,” American Ethnologist 46, no. 3 (2019): 261–75.
Early identification of bipolar from unipolar depression before manic episode: Evidence from dynamic rfMRI
Authors: Shao Junneng , Dai Zhongpeng , Zhu Rongxin , Wang Xinyi , Tao Shiwan , Bi Kun , Tian Shui , Wang Huan , Sun Yurong , Yao Zhijian , Lu Qing
Published: August 2019

Objective

Misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder (BD) as unipolar disorder (UD) may cause improper treatment strategy to be chosen, especially in the early stages of disease. The aim of this study was to characterize alterations in specific brain networks for depressed patients who transformed into BD (tBD) from UD.

Method

The module allegiance from resting‐fMRI by applying a multilayer modular method was estimated in 99 patients (33 tBD, 33 BD, 33 UD) and 33 healthy controls (HC). A classification model was trained on tBD and UD patients. HC was used to explore the functional declination patterns of BD, tBD, and UD.

Results

Based on our classification model, difference mainly reflected in default‐mode network (DMN). Compared with HC, both BD and tBD focused on the difference of somatomotor network (SMN), while UD on the abnormity of DMN. The patterns of brain network between patients with BD and tBD were well‐overlapped, except for cognitive control network (CCN).

Conclusion

The functional declination of internal interaction in DMN was suggested to be useful for the identification of BD from UD in the early stage. The higher recruitment of DMN may predispose patients to depressive states, while higher recruitment of SMN makes them more sensitive to external stimuli and prone to mania. Furthermore, CCN may be a critical network for identifying different stages of BD, suggesting that the onset of mania in depressed patients is accompanied by CCN related cognitive impairments.
Explanatory learner models: Why machine learning (alone) is not the answer
Authors: Rosé Carolyn P. , McLaughlin Elizabeth A. , Liu Ran , Koedinger Kenneth R.
Published: August 2019

Using data to understand learning and improve education has great promise. However, the promise will not be achieved simply by AI and Machine Learning researchers developing innovative models that more accurately predict labeled data. As AI advances, modeling techniques and the models they produce are getting increasingly complex, often involving tens of thousands of parameters or more. Though strides towards interpretation of complex models are being made in core machine learning communities, it remains true in these cases of “black box” modeling that research teams may have little possibility to peer inside to try understand how, why, or even whether such models will work when applied beyond the data on which they were built. Rather than relying on AI expertise alone, we suggest that learning engineering teams bring interdisciplinary expertise to bear to develop explanatory learner models that provide interpretable and actionable insights in addition to accurate prediction. We describe examples that illustrate use of different kinds of data (eg, click stream and discourse data) in different course content (eg, math and writing) and toward different goals (eg, improving student models and generating actionable feedback). We recommend learning engineering teams, shared infrastructure and funder incentives toward better explanatory learner model development that advances learning science, produces better pedagogical practices and demonstrably improves student learning.

Practitioner Notes

What is already known about this topic

Researchers in learning analytics and educational data mining have been successful in creating innovative models of data that optimize prediction.

Some of these models produce scientific or practical insights and fewer have been put into use and demonstrated to enhance student learning.

What this paper adds

We provide examples of development of explanatory models of learners that not only accurately predict data but also provide scientific insights and yield practical outcomes.

In particular, researchers with expertise in cognitive science and math education content use AI‐based data analytics to discover previously unrecognized barriers to geometry student learning. They use model‐derived insights to redesign an online tutoring system and “close‐the‐loop” by experimentally demonstrating that the new system produces better student learning than the original.

Implications for practice and/or policy

We define explanatory learning models and provide an articulation of a process for generating them that involves interdisciplinary teams employing human–computer interaction and learning engineering methods.

Based on our experiences, we recommend learning engineering teams, shared infrastructure and funder incentives toward better explanatory learner model development that advances learning science, produces better pedagogical practices and demonstrably improves student learning.
Practical ethics for building learning analytics
Authors: Kitto Kirsty , Knight Simon
Published: August 2019

Artificial intelligence and data analysis (AIDA) are increasingly entering the field of education. Within this context, the subfield of learning analytics (LA) has, since its inception, had a strong emphasis upon ethics, with numerous checklists and frameworks proposed to ensure that student privacy is respected and potential harms avoided. Here, we draw attention to some of the assumptions that underlie previous work in ethics for LA, which we frame as three tensions. These assumptions have the potential of leading to both the overcautious underuse of AIDA as administrators seek to avoid risk, or the unbridled misuse of AIDA as practitioners fail to adhere to frameworks that provide them with little guidance upon the problems that they face in building LA for institutional adoption. We use three edge cases to draw attention to these tensions, highlighting places where existing ethical frameworks fail to inform those building LA solutions. We propose a pilot open database that lists edge cases faced by LA system builders as a method for guiding ethicists working in the field towards places where support is needed to inform their practice. This would provide a middle space where technical builders of systems could more deeply interface with those concerned with policy, law and ethics and so work towards building LA that encourages human flourishing across a lifetime of learning.

Practitioner Notes

What is already known about this topic

Applied ethics has a number of well‐established theoretical groundings that we can use to frame the actions of ethical agents, including, deontology, consequentialism and virtue ethics.

Learning analytics has developed a number of checklists, frameworks and evaluation methodologies for supporting trusted and ethical development, but these are often not adhered to by practitioners.

Laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) apply to fields like education, but the complexity of this field can make them difficult to apply.

What this paper adds

Evidence of tensions and gaps in existing ethical frameworks and checklists to support the ethical development and implementation of learning analytics.

A set of three edge cases that demonstrate places where existing work on the ethics of AI in education has failed to provide guidance.

A “practical ethics” conceptualisation that draws on virtue ethics to support practitioners in building learning analytics systems.

Implications for practice and/or policy

Those using AIDA in education should collect and share example edge cases to support development of practical ethics in the field.

A multiplicity of ethical approaches are likely to be useful in understanding how to develop and implement learning analytics ethically in practical contexts.
Tyrosine kinase inhibitor prophylaxis after transplant for Philadelphia chromosome‐positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Authors: Akahoshi Yu , Nishiwaki Satoshi , Mizuta Shuichi , Ohashi Kazuteru , Uchida Naoyuki , Tanaka Masatsugu , Fukuda Takahiro , Ozawa Yukiyasu , Takahashi Satoshi , Onizuka Makoto , Shiratori Souichi , Nakamae Hirohisa , Kanda Yoshinobu , Ichinohe Tatsuo , Atsuta Yoshiko , Kako Shinichi ,   the Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Working Group of the Japan Society for Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
Published: August 2019

Tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) administration after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) may carry a survival benefit in Philadelphia chromosome‐positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL). Therefore, we investigated whether TKI prophylaxis for negative‐minimal residual disease (MRD) after HSCT would improve patient outcomes in this nationwide retrospective cohort study. We included patients with Ph+ ALL who underwent their first allogeneic HSCT between 2001 and 2016, received TKI before HSCT, and achieved negative‐MRD status within 180 days after HSCT. Of 850 patients for inclusion, 50 patients received TKI prophylaxis, mostly imatinib or dasatinib (median dose: 400 mg with imatinib and 40 mg with dasatinib). In a multivariate analysis, disease status at HSCT was the sole risk factor for relapse (hazard ratio, 3.58; P < .001 for positive‐MRD with complete remission [CR] and hazard ratio, 6.13; P < .001 for active disease). TKI prophylaxis was not associated with a decreased risk of relapse or superior overall survival in either the whole cohort or in the analysis limited to negative‐MRD or positive‐MRD with CR1 at HSCT. Meanwhile, TKI prophylaxis limited to dasatinib might be associated with a decreased risk of relapse (hazard ratio, 0.34; P = .140), unlike imatinib. Alternative strategies using new‐generation TKI for high‐risk patients are warranted to improve the outcomes after allogeneic HSCT.
Association of ghrelin dynamics with beta cell function in Japanese subjects with normal glucose tolerance
Authors: Murai Norimitsu , Saito Naoko , Kodama Eriko , Iida Tatsuya , Mikura Kentaro , Imai Hideyuki , Kaji Mariko , Hashizume Mai , Kigawa Yasuyoshi , Koizumi Go , Tadokoro Rie , Sugisawa Chiho , Endo Kei , Iizaka Toru , Saiki Ryo , Otsuka Fumiko , Shun Ishibashi , Nagasaka Shoichiro
Published: August 2019

Background

Ghrelin is involved in feeding regulation and energy metabolism and is also known to inhibit insulin secretion (β). However, few clinical studies have demonstrated the relationship between β and ghrelin dynamics. This study tested the hypothesis that, in oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT), ghrelin dynamics are associated with β.

Methods

Subjects were 1145 healthy individuals <40 years old who tested normal on the 75‐g OGTT. The following indicators and the ghrelin suppression ratio (GSR) during OGTT were calculated: insulin sensitivity (SI) [1/homoeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, insulin sensitivity index‐Matsuda and 1/fasting insulin (1/FIRI)]; and β [Stumvoll first‐phase index (Stumvoll‐1), Stumvoll second‐phase index and insulinogenic index]. From nine combinations of SI and β, combinations that produce hyperbolic relationships were identified.

Results

Stumvoll‐1 and 1/FIRI showed a hyperbolic relationship in nonobese subjects, and the product of Stumvoll‐1 and 1/FIRI was used as the disposition index (DI). When analyzed by BMI quartiles, post‐loading glucose and insulin levels at each time point increased from Q1 (low BMI) through Q4 (high BMI), whereas the DI, ghrelin levels at each time point, and GSR decreased from Q1 to Q4. On multivariate and bivariate analysis, GSR and DI were positive and independent, and fasting ghrelin and FIRI were negatively and independently correlated.

Conclusions

Ghrelin dynamics were associated with beta cell function in subjects with normal glucose tolerance. Glucose intolerance in obesity may be due not only to insulin resistance but also to impaired beta cell function associated with abnormalities of ghrelin dynamics.
FEAR, ANGER, AND CREDIT. ON BANK ROBBERIES AND LOAN CONDITIONS
Authors: Morales‐Acevedo Paola , Ongena Steven
Published: August 2019

We study the impact of emotions on real‐world decisions made by loan officers by analyzing the loan conditions of loans granted immediately after a bank branch robbery. We find significant differences between the conditions of loans granted after a robbery and changes in loan conditions that occur contemporaneously at unaffected branches. In general, loan officers seem to adopt so‐called avoidance behavior. In accordance with the literature on posttraumatic stress, their avoidance behavior is halved within 2 weeks following the robbery and the effect further varies depending on the presence, or absence, of a firearm during the robbery. (JEL G02, G2)
Chronic stress, depression and personality type in patients with myasthenia gravis
Authors: Bogdan A. , Barnett C. , Ali A. , AlQwaifly M. , Abraham A. , Mannan S. , Ng E. , Bril V.
Published: August 2019

Background and purpose

Stress is a known risk factor for the onset and modulation of disease activity in autoimmune disorders. The aim of this cross‐sectional study was to determine any associations between myasthenia gravis (MG) severity and chronic stress, depression and personality type.

Methods

In all, 179 consecutive adult patients with confirmed MG attending the Neuromuscular Clinic between March 2017 and December 2017 were included. At baseline, patients were assessed clinically and they completed self‐administered scales for disease severity, perceived stress, depression and personality type.

Results

Higher disease severity [Myasthenia Gravis Impairment Index (MGII)] showed a moderate correlation with depression score (Beck's Depression Inventory, Second Edition, r = 0.52, P < 0.001) and a lower correlation with chronic stress (Trier Inventory for Assessment of Chronic Stress, r = 0.28, P = 0.001). Chronic stress scores were different according to personality types (anova, P = 0.02). The linear regression model with MGII score as the dependent variable showed R2 = 0.34, likelihood ratio chi‐squared 74.55, with P < 0.0001. The only variables that predicted disease severity were depression scores (P < 0.0001) and female sex (P = 0.003).

Conclusions

A significant association of MG severity with depression and chronic stress was found, as well as with female gender. These findings should raise awareness that the long‐term management of MG should address depression and potential stress and consider behavioural management to prevent stress‐related immune imbalance.
Genomic biosurveillance of forest invasive alien enemies: A story written in code
Authors: Hamelin Richard C. , Roe Amanda D.
Published: August 2019

The world's forests face unprecedented threats from invasive insects and pathogens that can cause large irreversible damage to the ecosystems. This threatens the world's capacity to provide long‐term fiber supply and ecosystem services that range from carbon storage, nutrient cycling, and water and air purification, to soil preservation and maintenance of wildlife habitat. Reducing the threat of forest invasive alien species requires vigilant biosurveillance, the process of gathering, integrating, interpreting, and communicating essential information about pest and pathogen threats to achieve early detection and warning and to enable better decision‐making. This process is challenging due to the diversity of invasive pests and pathogens that need to be identified, the diverse pathways of introduction, and the difficulty in assessing the risk of establishment. Genomics can provide powerful new solutions to biosurveillance. The process of invasion is a story written in four chapters: transport, introduction, establishment, and spread. The series of processes that lead to a successful invasion can leave behind a DNA signature that tells the story of an invasion. This signature can help us understand the dynamic, multistep process of invasion and inform management of current and future introductions. This review describes current and future application of genomic tools and pipelines that will provide accurate identification of pests and pathogens, assign outbreak or survey samples to putative sources to identify pathways of spread, and assess risk based on traits that impact the outbreak outcome.
MROH7‐TTC4 read‐through lncRNA suppresses vascular endothelial cell apoptosis and is upregulated by inhibition of ANXA7 GTPase activity
Authors: He Xiaoying , Zhao Xuan , Su Le , Zhao Baoxiang , Miao Junying
Published: August 2019

Apoptosis of vascular endothelial cells (VEC) is the main form of vascular injury that is closely linked to numerous cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, it is important to find new factors that can suppress VEC apoptosis. By using long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) microarray analysis, we found a new read‐through lncRNA, MROH7‐TTC4, which acted as an apoptosis inhibitor in VECs. Furthermore, by using the inhibitor (ABO) of annexin A7 (ANXA7) GTPase, we discovered that ANXA7 translocated into nucleus and interacted with 5′→3′ exoribonuclease (XRN2). The decreased XRN2 phosphorylation induced by ANXA7 GTPase activity inhibition, promoted MROH7‐TTC4 expression. Moreover, T‐cell intracellular antigen‐1 (TIA1), a binding protein of MROH7‐TTC4, processed it into MROH7 and TTC4 that could inhibit VEC apoptosis. Here, we conclude that inhibiting ANXA7 GTPase activity promotes the interaction of ANXA7 and XRN2 in nucleus, which regulates the read‐through transcription of MROH7‐TTC4, and TIA1 is responsible for the process of MROH7‐TTC4 that inhibits apoptosis through MROH7 and TTC4.
Climate variability impact on Bali sardine fishery: Ecology and fisheries perspective
Authors: Puspasari Reny , Rachmawati Puput Fitri , Muawanah Umi
Published: August 2019

The sardine fishery in Bali is influenced by fishing effort and environmental conditions including temperature and chlorophyll a (chl‐a). Bali's sardine, Sardinella lemuru Bleeker, production decreased significantly during the extreme conditions that occurred in 2010 and 2016. This study assesses the impact of extreme conditions on the sardine fishery of the Bali Strait. Fisheries data were collected from two landing places: Muncar fishing port (Banyuwangi District, East Java Province) and Pengambengan fishing port (Jembrana District, Bali Province) between January 2007 and December 2017. Temperature and chl‐a data were downloaded from satellite readings. Fishing locations were observed by an onboard observer to investigate shifts in fishing grounds. A modified Cobb–Douglas regression model and profile analyses were used to estimate the impact of environmental variables on sardine production and to assess how extreme periods affect the catch composition in the Bali Strait. Seawater temperature and chl‐a concentration had significant impacts on sardine production, but temperature is likely to be less correlated with sardine production than chl‐a concentration. To adapt to extreme weather, purse seiners prefer to modify the vessel type rather than change their fishing ground.
Fifteen important questions in the spatial ecology of diatoms
Authors: Soininen Janne , Teittinen Anette
Published: August 2019

Recently, studies about the spatial distribution of microbial species and communities have increased substantially. Freshwater diatoms are used as one of the most popular model taxa in such macroecological studies, but the most exciting patterns in the spatial ecology of diatoms have not been reviewed. Here, we identify 15 important questions about freshwater diatom ecology, review the major findings, and suggest novel research avenues.

We found that diatoms do not support classical latitudinal diversity gradient, species–area relationship or Rapoport's rule. We found some, albeit inconsistent support for an elevational diversity gradient, Bergmann's rule and niche conservation. Diatoms do support a positive interspecific abundance–occupancy relationship like nearly all other taxa. With regards to metacommunity dynamics, diatom communities are typically structured by species sorting, but neutral dynamics or mass effects are also evident at large or small spatial scale, respectively.

Taken together, this review suggests that diatoms follow some classical biogeographical patterns similarly to larger taxa, but patterns are typically weaker than for macro‐organisms. This may result because diatoms are typically relatively strongly controlled by local factors and often exhibit efficient stochastic dispersal processes both at small and large scales. More research is needed to build a more comprehensive view of diatom species–area relationships and latitudinal gradients in diversity, for example. In the future, well‐replicated macroecological field experiments, diatom studies with intercontinental or global coverage, trait‐based approaches, and DNA‐based species identification would be fruitful avenues to shed more light into the spatial ecology of diatoms.
Life With Migraine: Effects on Relationships, Career, and Finances From the Chronic Migraine Epidemiology and Outcomes (CaMEO) Study
Authors: Buse Dawn C. , Fanning Kristina M. , Reed Michael L. , Murray Sharron , Dumas Paula K. , Adams Aubrey Manack , Lipton Richard B.
Published: August 2019

Objective

To assess the effects of migraine on important life domains and compare differences between respondents with episodic and chronic migraine and between sexes.

Background

Migraine is associated with a substantial personal and societal burden and can also affect the interpersonal dynamics, psychological health and well‐being, and financial stability of the entire family of the person with migraine.

Methods

The Chronic Migraine Epidemiology and Outcomes (CaMEO) Study is a prospective, longitudinal, Web‐based survey study undertaken between September 2012 and November 2013 in a systematic U.S. sample of people meeting modified International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition migraine criteria: 19,891 respondents were invited to complete the Family Burden Module, which assessed the perceived impact of migraine on family relationships and life, career and finances, and overall health. Respondents were stratified by episodic migraine (<15 headache days/month) and chronic migraine (≥15 headache days/month) and sex for comparisons.

Results

A total of 13,064 respondents (episodic migraine: 11,944 [91.4%]; chronic migraine: 1120 [8.6%]) provided valid data. Approximately 16.8% of respondents not currently in a romantic relationship (n = 536 of 3189) and 17.8% of those in a relationship but not living together (n = 236 of 1323) indicated that headaches had contributed to relationship problems. Of those in a relationship and living together (n = 8154), 3.2% reported that they chose not to have children, delayed having children or had fewer children because of migraine (n = 260; episodic migraine: n = 193 of 7446 [2.6%]; chronic migraine: n = 67 of 708 [9.5%]; P < .001). Of individuals responding to career/finance items (n = 13,061/13,036), 32.7% indicated that headaches negatively affected ≥1 career area (n = 4271; episodic migraine: n = 3617 of 11,942 [30.3%]; chronic migraine: n = 654 of 1119 [58.4%]), and 32.1% endorsed worry about long‐term financial security due to migraine (n = 4180; episodic migraine: n = 3539 of 11,920 [29.7%]; chronic migraine: n = 641 of 1116 [57.4%]).

Conclusions

Migraine can negatively affect many important aspects of life including marital, parenting, romantic and family relationships, career/financial achievement and stability, and overall health. Reported burden was consistently greater among those with chronic migraine than among people with episodic migraine; however, few differences were seen between the sexes.
New Media and Strategy Research: Towards a Relational Agency Approach
Authors: Gulbrandsen Ib T. , Plesner Ursula , Raviola Elena
Published: August 2019

A rapidly growing body of literature focuses on the relationship between new media and strategy, and offers recommendations regarding appropriate strategic actions in relation to new media. This paper systematically reviews 130 articles with a focus on the diagnoses they provide and the directions they offer strategists regarding the role of new media in strategy. The analysis identifies four main ways of conceptualizing new media in the literature: as forces in an increasingly turbulent strategic environment; as changing the role of strategists; as tools for strategically engaging stakeholders; and as both increasing and decreasing the control necessary for strategy making. These conceptualizations are based on often‐implicit assumptions about ‘agency’ in strategy: new media are seen either as forces influencing strategy or as tools in the hands of humans, who are portrayed as the agents of strategy. In both cases, new media are black‐boxed, such that their specific properties and ways of becoming embedded in particular contexts are rarely examined. After discussing these assumptions and a limited number of studies that challenge them, the paper develops an approach to strategy and new media based on a relational understanding of agency, an attention to technological affordances and a methodological sensitivity to tracing strategy‐making assemblages of human and non‐human elements. We argue that future research based on this approach will advance our knowledge of strategy making in ways that do not take new media for granted and ways that are attentive to different kinds of agency.
Ideology in Management Studies
Authors: Seeck Hannele , Sturdy Andrew , Boncori Anne‐Laure , Fougère Martin
Published: August 2019

Ideology is a core and contested concept in the social sciences, but also long deployed in management research to highlight the political, embedded and/or obscuring nature of ideas. Indeed, many would argue that management itself is inherently ideological in legitimating or privileging managerial interests and concealing other groups and ways of organizing. In the first systematic review of how ideology has been conceptualized in management studies, this paper explores its diverse and changing meanings in order to develop and sustain the concept. It is based on a heuristic review of 175 articles and 41 books published between 1956 and 2018. Further developing categories used in the social sciences around its role, we found views of ideology as: (1) domination; (2) legitimation; (3) interpretation; (4) integration; and (5) normative logic. In addition, emerging perspectives were identified where ideology was (6) an object of critique or (7) fantasy structuring social reality. We describe, illustrate and evaluate these often internally diverse and interrelated perspectives, as well as comparing them with sometimes competing notions within the management field, such as discourse, culture and legitimation. We also bring together the different approaches and argue for a pluralist, but not infinitely flexible, approach to the concept. In doing so, we identify research agendas for ideology within management and organization studies.