bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Antimicrobial combinations: Bliss independence and Loewe additivity derived from mechanistic multi-hit models
Authors: Baeder Desiree Y. , Yu Guozhi , Hozé Nathanaël , Rolff Jens , Regoes Roland R.
Published: May 2016

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and antibiotics reduce the net growth rate of bacterial populations they target. It is relevant to understand if effects of multiple antimicrobials are synergistic or antagonistic, in particular for AMP responses, because naturally occurring responses involve multiple AMPs. There are several competing proposals describing how multiple types of antimicrobials add up when applied in combination, such as Loewe additivity or Bliss independence. These additivity terms are defined ad hoc from abstract principles explaining the supposed interaction between the antimicrobials. Here, we link these ad hoc combination terms to a mathematical model that represents the dynamics of antimicrobial molecules hitting targets on bacterial cells. In this multi-hit model, bacteria are killed when a certain number of targets are hit by antimicrobials. Using this bottom-up approach reveals that Bliss independence should be the model of choice if no interaction between antimicrobial molecules is expected. Loewe additivity, on the other hand, describes scenarios in which antimicrobials affect the same components of the cell, i.e. are not acting independently. While our approach idealizes the dynamics of antimicrobials, it provides a conceptual underpinning of the additivity terms. The choice of the additivity term is essential to determine synergy or antagonism of antimicrobials.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘Evolutionary ecology of arthropod antimicrobial peptides’.
Friend, foe or food? Recognition and the role of antimicrobial peptides in gut immunity and
Drosophila
–microbe interactions
Authors: Broderick Nichole A.
Published: May 2016

Drosophila melanogaster
lives, breeds and feeds on fermenting fruit, an environment that supports a high density, and often a diversity, of microorganisms. This association with such dense microbe-rich environments has been proposed as a reason that
D. melanogaster
evolved a diverse and potent antimicrobial peptide (AMP) response to microorganisms, especially to combat potential pathogens that might occupy this niche. Yet, like most animals,
D. melanogaster
also lives in close association with the beneficial microbes that comprise its microbiota, or microbiome, and recent studies have shown that antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) of the epithelial immune response play an important role in dictating these interactions and controlling the host response to gut microbiota. Moreover,
D. melanogaster
also eats microbes for food, consuming fermentative microbes of decaying plant material and their by-products as both larvae and adults. The processes of nutrient acquisition and host defence are remarkably similar and use shared functions for microbe detection and response, an observation that has led to the proposal that the digestive and immune systems have a common evolutionary origin. In this manner,
D. melanogaster
provides a powerful model to understand how, and whether, hosts differentiate between the microbes they encounter across this spectrum of associations.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘Evolutionary ecology of arthropod antimicrobial peptides’.
Perspectives on the evolutionary ecology of arthropod antimicrobial peptides
Authors: Rolff Jens , Schmid-Hempel Paul
Published: May 2016

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are important elements of the innate immune defence in multicellular organisms that target and kill microbes. Here, we reflect on the various points that are raised by the authors of the 11 contributions to a special issue ofPhilosophical Transactionson the ‘evolutionary ecology of arthropod antimicrobial peptides'. We see five interesting topics emerging. (i) AMP genes in insects, and perhaps in arthropods more generally, evolve much slower than most other immune genes. One explanation refers to the constraints set by AMPs being part of a finely tuned defence system. A new view argues that AMPs are under strong stabilizing selection. Regardless, this striking observation still invites many more questions than have been answered so far. (ii) AMPs almost always are expressed in combinations and sometimes show expression patterns that are dependent on the infectious agent. While it is often assumed that this can be explained by synergistic interactions, such interactions have rarely been demonstrated and need to be studied further. Moreover, how to define synergy in the first place remains difficult and needs to be addressed. (iii) AMPs play a very important role in mediating the interaction between a host and its mutualistic or commensal microbes. This has only been studied in a very small number of (insect) species. It has become clear that the very same AMPs play different roles in different situations and hence are under concurrent selection. (iv) Different environments shape the physiology of organisms; especially the host-associated microbial communities should impact on the evolution host AMPs. Studies in social insects and some organisms from extreme environments seem to support this notion, but, overall, the evidence for adaptation of AMPs to a given environment is scant. (v) AMPs are considered or already developed as new drugs in medicine. However, bacteria can evolve resistance to AMPs. Therefore, in the light of our limited understanding of AMP evolution in the natural context, and also the very limited understanding of the evolution of resistance against AMPs in bacteria in particular, caution is recommended. What is clear though is that study of the ecology and evolution of AMPs in natural systems could inform many of these outstanding questions, including those related to medical applications and pathogen control.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘Evolutionary ecology of arthropod antimicrobial peptides’.
Antimicrobial effectors in the nematode
Caenorhabditis elegans
: an outgroup to the Arthropoda
Authors: Dierking Katja , Yang Wentao , Schulenburg Hinrich
Published: May 2016

Nematodes and arthropods likely form the taxon Ecdysozoa. Information on antimicrobial effectors from the model nematode
Caenorhabditis elegans
may thus shed light on the evolutionary origin of these defences in arthropods. This nematode species possesses an extensive armory of putative antimicrobial effector proteins, such as lysozymes, caenopores (or saposin-like proteins), defensin-like peptides, caenacins and neuropeptide-like proteins, in addition to the production of reactive oxygen species and autophagy. As
C. elegans
is a bacterivore that lives in microbe-rich environments, some of its effector peptides and proteins likely function in both digestion of bacterial food and pathogen elimination. In this review, we provide an overview of
C. elegans
immune effector proteins and mechanisms. We summarize the experimental evidence of their antimicrobial function and involvement in the response to pathogen infection. We further evaluate the microbe-induced expression of effector genes using WormExp, a recently established database for
C. elegans
gene expression analysis. We emphasize the need for further analysis at the protein level to demonstrate an antimicrobial activity of these molecules both
in vitro
and
in vivo
.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘Evolutionary ecology of arthropod antimicrobial peptides'.
UMI-tools: Modelling sequencing errors in Unique Molecular Identifiers to improve quantification accuracy
Authors: Smith Tom , Heger Andreas , Sudbery Ian
Published: May 2016

Unique Molecular Identifiers (UMIs) are random oligonucleotide barcodes that are increasingly used in high-throughout sequencing experiments. Through a UMI, identical copies arising from distinct molecules can be distinguished from those arising through PCR amplification of the same molecule. However, bioinformatic methods to leverage the information from UMIs have yet to be formalised. In particular, sequencing errors in the UMI sequence are often ignored, or else resolved in an ad-hoc manner. We show that errors in the UMI sequence are common and introduce network-based methods to account for these errors when identifying PCR duplicates. Using these methods, we demonstrate improved quantification accuracy both under simulated conditions and real iCLIP and single cell RNA-Seq datasets. Reproducibility between iCLIP replicates and single cell RNA-Seq clustering are both improved using our proposed network-based method, demonstrating the value of properly accounting for errors in UMIs. These methods are implemented in the open source UMI-tools software package (https://github.com/CGATOxford/UMI-tools).
Gene Expression Elucidates Functional Impact of Polygenic Risk for Schizophrenia
Authors: Fromer Menachem , Roussos Panos , Sieberts Solveig K , Johnson Jessica S , Kavanagh David H , Perumal Thanneer M , Ruderfer Douglas M , Oh Edwin C , Topol Aaron , Shah Hardik R , Klei Lambertus L , Kramer Robin , Pinto Dalila , Gümüş Zeynep H , Cicek A. Ercument , Dang Kristen K , Browne Andrew , Lu Cong , Xie Li , Readhead Ben , Stahl Eli A , Parvisi Mahsa , Hamamsy Tymor , Fullard John F , Wang Ying-Chih , Mahajan Milind C , Derry Jonathan M.J. , Dudley Joel , Hemby Scott E , Logsdon Benjamin A , Talbot Konrad , Raj Towfique , Bennett David A , De Jager Phil L , Zhu Jun , Zhang Bin , Sullivan Patrick F , Chess Andrew , Purcell Shaun M , Shinobu Leslie A , Mangravite Lara M , Toyoshiba Hiroyoshi , Gur Raquel E , Hahn Chang-Gyu , Lewis David A , Haroutonian Vahram , Peters Mette A , Lipska Barbara K , Buxbaum Joseph D , Schadt Eric E , Hirai Keisuke , Roeder Kathryn , Brennand Kristen J , Katsanis Nicholas , Dominici Enrico , Devlin Bernie , Sklar Pamela
Published: May 2016

Over 100 genetic loci harbor schizophrenia associated variants, yet how these common variants confer risk is uncertain. The CommonMind Consortium has sequenced dorsolateral prefrontal cortex RNA from schizophrenia cases (n=258) and control subjects (n=279), creating the largest publicly available resource to date of gene expression and its genetic regulation; ∼5 times larger than the latest release of GTEx. Using this resource, we find that ∼20% of the schizophrenia risk loci have common variants that could explain regulation of brain gene expression. In five loci, these variants modulate expression of a single gene:FURIN, TSNARE1, CNTN4, CLCN3 or SNAP91. Experimentally altered expression of three of them,FURIN,TSNARE1, andCNTN4, perturbs the proliferation and apoptotic index of neural progenitors and leads to neuroanatomical deficits in zebrafish. Furthermore, shRNA mediated knock-down ofFURIN1in neural progenitor cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells produces abnormal neural migration. Although 4.2% of genes (N = 693) display significant differential expression between cases and controls, 44% show some evidence for differential expression. All fold changes are ≤ 1.33, and an independent cohort yields similar differential expression for these 693 genes (r = 0.58). These findings are consistent with schizophrenia being highly polygenic, as has been reported in investigations of common and rare genetic variation. Co-expression analyses identify a gene module that shows enrichment for genetic associations and is thus relevant for schizophrenia. Taken together, these results pave the way for mechanistic interpretations of genetic liability for schizophrenia and other brain diseases.
Visualization and analysis of single-cell RNA-seq data by kernel-based similarity learning
Authors: Wang Bo , Zhu Junjie , Pierson Emma , Ramazzotti Daniele , Batzoglou Serafim
Published: May 2016

Single-cell RNA-seq technologies enable high throughput gene expression measurement of individual cells, and allow the discovery of heterogeneity within cell populations. Measurement of cell-to-cell gene expression similarity is critical to identification, visualization and analysis of cell populations. However, single-cell data introduce challenges to conventional measures of gene expression similarity because of the high level of noise, outliers and dropouts. Here, we propose a novel similarity-learning framework, SIMLR (single-cell interpretation via multi-kernel learning), which learns an appropriate distance metric from the data for dimension reduction, clustering and visualization applications. Benchmarking against state-of-the-art methods for these applications, we used SIMLR to re-analyse seven representative single-cell data sets, including high-throughput droplet-based data sets with tens of thousands of cells. We show that SIMLR greatly improves clustering sensitivity and accuracy, as well as the visualization and interpretability of the data.
EM and component-wise boosting for Hidden Markov Models: a machine-learning approach to capture-recapture
Authors: Rankin Robert W.
Published: May 2016

This study introduces statistical boosting for capture-mark-recapture (CMR) models. It is a shrinkage estimator that constrains the complexity of a CMR model in order to promote automatic variable-selection and avoid over-fitting. I discuss the philosophical similarities between boosting and AIC model-selection, and show through simulations that a boosted Cormack-Jolly-Seber model often out-performs AICc methods, in terms of estimating survival and abundance, yet yields qualitatively similar estimates. This new boosted CMR framework is highly extensible and could provide a rich, unified framework for addressing many topics in CMR, such as non-linear effects (splines and CART-like trees), individual-heterogeneity, and spatial components.
Whole-genome sequencing of an advanced case of small-cell gallbladder neuroendocrine carcinoma
Authors: Li Maolan , Liu Fatao , Zhang Yijian , Wu Xiangsong , Wu Wenguang , Wang Xu-An , Zhao Shuai , Liu Shibo , Liang Haibin , Zhang Fei , Gao Yuan , Xiang Shanshan , Li Huaifeng , Lu Wei , Weng Hao , Mu Jiasheng , Shu Yijun , Bao Runfa , Jiang Lin , Hu Yunping , Gong Wei , Zhang Yun , Ma Tieliang , Zhang Kai , Liu Yun , Liu Yingbin
Published: May 2016

The majority of gallbladder cancer cases are discovered at later stages, which frequently leads to poor prognoses. Small-cell gallbladder neuroendocrine carcinoma (GB-SCNEC) is a relatively rare histological type of gallbladder cancer, and its survival rate is exceptionally low because of its greater malignant potential. In addition, the genomic landscape of GB-SCNEC is rarely considered in treatment decisions. We performed whole-genome sequencing on an advanced case of GB-SCNEC. By analyzing the whole-genome sequencing data of the primary cancer tissue (76.29X coverage), lymphatic metastatic cancer tissue (73.92X coverage) and matched non-cancerous tissue (35.73X coverage), we identified approximately 900 high-quality somatic single nucleotide variants (SNVs), 109 of which were shared by both the primary and metastatic tumor tissues. Somatic non-synonymous coding variations with damaging impact in HMCN1 and CDH10 were observed in both the primary and metastatic tissue specimens. A pathway analysis of the genes mapped to the SNVs revealed gene enrichment associated with axon guidance, ERBB signaling, sulfur metabolism and calcium signaling. Furthermore, we identified 20 chromosomal rearrangements that included 11 deletions, 4 tandem duplications and 5 inversions that mapped to known genes. Two gene fusions, NCAM2-SGCZ and BTG3-CCDC40 were also discovered and validated by Sanger sequencing. Additionally, we identified genome-wide copy number variations and microsatellite instability. In this study, we identified novel biological markers of GB-SCNEC that may serve as valuable prognostic factors or indicators of treatment response in patients with GB-SCNEC with lymphatic metastasis.
Crystal structures of (E)-3-(furan-2-yl)-2-phenyl-N-tosylacrylamide and (E)-3-phenyl-2-(m-tolyl)-N-tosylacrylamide
Authors: Cheng Dong , Meng Xiangzhen , Sheng Zeyuan , Wang Shuangming , Duan Yuanyuan , Li Ziqian
Published: May 2016

In the titleN-tosylacrylamide compounds, C20H17NO4S, (I), and C23H21NO3S, (II), the conformation about the C=C bond isE. The acrylamide groups, [–NH—C(=O)—C=C–], are almost planar, with the N—C—C=C torsion angle being −170.18 (14)° in (I) and −168.01 (17)° in (II). In (I), the furan, phenyl and 4-methylbenzene rings are inclined to the acrylamide mean plane by 26.47 (11), 69.01 (8) and 82.49 (9)°, respectively. In (II), the phenyl, 3-methylbenzene and 4-methylbenzene rings are inclined to the acrylamide mean plane by 11.61 (10), 78.44 (10) and 78.24 (10)°, respectively. There is an intramolecular C—H...π interaction present in compound (II). In the crystals of both compounds, molecules are linked by pairs of N—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming inversion dimers with anR22(8) ring motif. In (I), the dimers are reinforced by C—H...O hydrogen bonds and linked by C—H...π interactions, forming chains along [011]. In the crystal of (II), the dimers are linkedviaC—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming chains along [100]. The chains are further linked by C—H...π interactions, forming layers parallel to (010).
N′-[(E)-4-Methylbenzylidene]pyridine-4-carbohydrazide monohydrate
Authors: Pereira Almeida Wanda , Paes Koury Isabela , Simoni Deborah de Alencar
Published: May 2016

In the title hydrate, C14H13N3O·H2O, the C=N double bond adopts anEconformation and the dihedral angle between the aromatic rings is 16.36 (10)°. In the crystal, N—H...O, O—H...O and O—H...N hydrogen bonds link the components into (001) sheets.
4-(3-Bromopropyloxy)-1-hydroxy-9,10-anthraquinone
Authors: Ohira Natsumi , Takehara Munenori , Inoue Yoshinori , Kitamura Chitoshi
Published: May 2016

In the molecule of the title compound, C17H13BrO4, the anthraquinone ring system is slightly bent, with a dihedral angle of 169.99 (7)° between the planes of the two benzene rings. The side chain (O—C—C—C—Br) has agauche–gaucheconformation, as indicated by the O—C—C—C and C—C—C—Br torsion angles of −66.9 (2) and −65.8 (2)°, respectively. In addition, there is an intramolecular O—H...O hydrogen bond enclosing anS(6) ring motif. The hydrogen-bond donor is bifurcated; in the crystal, a pair of O—H...O hydrogen bonds connects two molecules, forming an inversion dimer with anR22(12) ring motif.
The relationship between transformational leadership and effort-reward imbalance
Authors: Weiß Eva-Ellen , Süß Stefan
Published: May 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between transformational leadership and effort-reward imbalance as well as the moderating role of overcommitment and subjective well-being. In particular, the study focuses on the transformational leadership component individualized consideration and its relationship with effort-reward imbalance.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using linear hierarchical regression analyses, the authors tested four hypotheses on a broad sample of 229 German employees.

Findings

– The results confirm the expected relationship between transformational leadership and effort-reward imbalance and that the strongest relationship exists with individualized consideration. However, there is no support for the hypothesized moderating effects.

Research limitations/implications

– First, the recruitment of the sample via fora and periodicals may bias the results. Second, the dependent and the independent variables were assessed with the same method, thus facilitating a common method bias. Third, the study underlies a cross-sectional design which does not allow drawing conclusions on causality.

Practical implications

– The findings provide implications for leaders by showing that the most effective leadership behaviours are those encompassed by the transformational leadership component individualized consideration when it comes to reducing negative health effects of adverse working conditions. Furthermore, the results suggest that overcommitment plays a major role for employees’ effort-reward imbalance and should thus be addressed by specific training measures.

Originality/value

– Researchers have devoted little attention to revealing how effort-reward imbalance can be avoided or reduced by leaders. The study attempts to fill this gap by exploring the relationship between effort-reward imbalance and transformational leadership.
The impact of supervisor humor on newcomer adjustment
Authors: Gkorezis Panagiotis , Petridou Eugenia , Lioliou Katerina
Published: May 2016

Purpose

– Substantial research has examined the pivotal role of supervisor positive humor in generating employee outcomes. To date, though, little is known about the relationship between supervisor humor and newcomers’ adjustment. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this gap by examining the effect of supervisor positive humor on newcomers’ adjustment. In doing so, the authors highlighted relational identification with the supervisor as a mediating mechanism that explains the aforementioned association.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data were drawn from 117 newcomers. In order to collect the data the authors used the snowball method. Also, hierarchical regression analysis was conducted.

Findings

– The results demonstrated that supervisor positive humor affects employees’ relational identification with the supervisor which, in turn, positively relates to newcomers’ adjustment.

Research limitations/implications

– Data were collected using a cross-sectional design and, therefore, the authors cannot directly assess causality. Moreover, the authors used self-report measures which may strengthen the causal relationships.

Originality/value

– To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study that illustrates the role of supervisor humor in enhancing both newcomers’ relational identification and adjustment.
Making rhetoric a reality: inclusion in practice as “transformative learning”
Authors: Mercer Dave , Kenworthy Heidi , Pierce-Hayes Ian
Published: May 2016

Purpose

– “Inclusivity” and “empowerment” are central concepts in the philosophy of nursing practice and education. Recent professional concern has focused on the need to embed compassion in healthcare cultures where practice contributes to learning. The purpose of this paper is to explore an innovative partnership approach to undergraduate placement provision for adult-general nursing students in the context of learning disability and mental health.

Design/methodology/approach

– Critical discussion focuses on evaluation of a non-clinical placement centred on the health and social care of individuals with a learning disability or mental health needs. Two projects from practice around healthy living and hate crime illustrated the value of transformative learning as a pedagogic philosophy.

Findings

– Student feedback offered insight into social and cultural processes that impact on practice-based learning, and factors promoting inclusive engagement. Such included the context of identity formation, narrative as an evidence-base for caring, and personal/emotional growth through critical reflection.

Practical implications

– Evaluation provided a platform to re-think model(s) of clinical practice learning in healthcare education derived from a non-clinical placement. There are tangible benefits for sustaining value-led practice at a time of political change in the way health services are configured and delivered.

Social implications

– When engagement with the principles of inclusivity and empowerment become part of the lived-experience of the nursing student, longer-term recognition and retention of caring, and enabling values are more likely to endure.

Originality/value

– The emotional development and skills acquired by nursing students transfer to all branches of the profession by revitalising core conditions of compassion, respect, dignity, and humanity.
Evaluation of a cognitive-behavioural intervention augmenting individual placement and support
Authors: Boycott Naomi , Schneider Justine , McMurran Mary
Published: May 2016

Purpose

– A feasibility study of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) as an adjunct to individual placement and support (IPS) with adults with severe mental illness showed that fewer people who received CBT dropped out and more obtained jobs. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the adjunct CBT programme worked. CBT used a problem-solving approach to address common psychological barriers to employment.

Design/methodology/approach

– Baseline and six-month follow-up scores were compared on measures of problem solving, executive functioning, fear of negative evaluation, self-esteem, and stigma.

Findings

– At baseline, the majority of the 23 participants scored within the normal range on measures. Around half of the participants showed improvement in social problem solving, executive functioning, and fear of negative evaluation. General improvements in self-esteem were seen. Change in the expected areas according to module choice was evident, however this was inconsistent.

Research limitations/implications

– Many participants were within normal ranges on the measures at baseline. Offering participants a choice of topics led to some people having few sessions, possibly too few to produce benefits. Although the modules on offer targeted commonly experienced problems, they may not have been the most important to these participants.

Practical implications

– CBT does appear to enhance IPS but the mechanisms by which this occurs is unclear. To improve adjunct CBT, there is a need to clarify the most beneficial targets and identify the mechanisms by which CBT may augment IPS.

Originality/value

– This study begins to identify the processes by which CBT can enhance IPS for adults with severe mental illness.
Enhanced yeast feeding following mating facilitates control of the invasive fruit pest Drosophila suzukii
Authors: Mori Boyd A. , Whitener Alix B. , Leinweber Yannick , Revadi Santosh , Beers Elizabeth H. , Witzgall Peter , Becher Paul G.
Published: May 2016

The highly invasive spotted wing Drosophila Drosophila suzukii is a key pest of soft fruit and berries in Europe and North America, and development of control techniques is an urgent research challenge. Drosophila suzukii is widely associated with the yeast Hanseniaspora uvarum. Yeasts are symbionts of drosophilid flies and communicate with insects through volatile metabolites for spore dispersal. Accordingly, yeasts and behaviour‐modifying chemicals produced by yeasts are prospective tools for environmentally sound insect management.

We first bioassayed flight attraction, feeding and oviposition of D. suzukii females in response to H. uvarum yeast and blueberries, which are a preferred host fruit. We then investigated the combined effect of yeast and insecticide on adult female oviposition behaviour and mortality towards the development of a yeast‐based control method.

Following mating, attraction of female flies to blueberry and yeast odour cues was strongly enhanced. Yeast feeding significantly increased in mated females, while yeast did not increase oviposition on blueberries. This observation suggests that mated flies become attracted to yeast for feeding and to fruit for egg laying. A combined feeding–oviposition assay demonstrated different roles and interference between yeast and fruit stimuli: during the day after mating, females laid fewer eggs when yeast was available.

The post‐mating yeast‐feeding response is an opportunity for the development of an attract‐and‐kill technique for population control of D. suzukii. Exposing flies to a blend of yeast and insecticide reduced oviposition and greatly enhanced adult fly mortality compared with an insecticide treatment alone.

Synthesis and applications. Mated females are the key life stage for Drosophila suzukii population control. Egg‐laying females perforate fruit skin and fungal infestations ensue, even when eggs and larvae are killed off by insecticide sprays. Behaviour‐modifying chemicals, including yeast metabolites, enable environmentally safe insect management via manipulation of olfactory‐mediated reproductive behaviour. Our results highlight that yeast and yeast semiochemicals hold potential for D. suzukii management and that response modulation to olfactory stimuli following mating is a vital element for the development of D. suzukii control methods. Yeast feeding is enhanced in mated D. suzukii females, and this change in post‐mating behaviour can be exploited by an attract‐and‐kill strategy, combining a fly‐associated yeast with an insecticide. Furthermore, using the D. suzukii yeast mutualist, H. uvarum, may reduce non‐target effects and increase species specificity, which further contributes to the development of an efficient and safe control method.
Investigating the impacts of field‐realistic exposure to a neonicotinoid pesticide on bumblebee foraging, homing ability and colony growth
Authors: Stanley Dara A. , Russell Avery L. , Morrison Sarah J. , Rogers Catherine , Raine Nigel E.
Published: May 2016

The ability to forage and return home is essential to the success of bees as both foragers and pollinators. Pesticide exposure may cause behavioural changes that interfere with these processes, with consequences for colony persistence and delivery of pollination services.

We investigated the impact of chronic exposure (5–43 days) to field‐realistic levels of a neonicotinoid insecticide (2·4 ppb thiamethoxam) on foraging ability, homing success and colony size using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in free‐flying bumblebee colonies.

Individual foragers from pesticide‐exposed colonies carried out longer foraging bouts than untreated controls (68 vs. 55 min). Pesticide‐exposed bees also brought back pollen less frequently than controls indicating reduced foraging performance.

A higher proportion of bees from pesticide‐exposed colonies returned when released 1 km from their nests; this is potentially related to increased orientation experience during longer foraging bouts. We measured no impact of pesticide exposure on homing ability for bees released from 2 km, or when data were analysed overall.

Despite a trend for control colonies to produce more new workers earlier, we found no overall impacts of pesticide exposure on whole colony size.

Synthesis and applications. This study shows that field‐realistic neonicotinoid exposure can have impacts on both foraging ability and homing success of bumblebees, with implications for the success of bumblebee colonies in agricultural landscapes and their ability to deliver crucial pollination services. Pesticide risk assessments should include bee species other than honeybees and assess a range of behaviours to elucidate the impact of sublethal effects. This has relevance for reviews of neonicotinoid risk assessment and usage policy world‐wide.
Yield of temperate forage grassland species is either largely resistant or resilient to experimental summer drought
Authors: Hofer Daniel , Suter Matthias , Haughey Eamon , Finn John A. , Hoekstra Nyncke J. , Buchmann Nina , Lüscher Andreas
Published: May 2016

Due to climate change, an increasing frequency and severity of drought events are expected to impair grassland productivity, particularly of intensively managed temperate grasslands.

To assess drought impacts, a common field experiment to manipulate precipitation was set up at three sites (two Swiss and one Irish) using monocultures and mixtures with two and four key forage species. Species differed in their functional traits: a shallow‐rooted non‐legume (Lolium perenne L.), a deep‐rooted non‐legume (Cichorium intybus L.), a shallow‐rooted legume (Trifolium repens L.) and a deep‐rooted legume (Trifolium pratense L.). A 9‐week summer drought was simulated, and soil water status, above‐ground biomass yield and plant nitrogen (N) limitation were compared to a rainfed control.

Based on soil water measurements, the drought induced severe stress at both Swiss sites and extreme stress at the Irish site. Under severe stress, the legumes were more drought resistant and showed an average change in above‐ground biomass (CAB, compared to rainfed control) of only −8% and −24% (for the two Swiss sites), while the non‐legumes had an average CAB of −51% and −68%. The lower resistance of non‐legumes coincided with an apparent limitation of plant N, which further increased under drought. Under extreme drought (Irish site), growth nearly ceased with an average CAB of −85%.

During a 6‐week post‐drought period with adequate water supply (Swiss sites), formerly drought‐stressed species were highly resilient and either attained (legumes) or clearly outperformed (non‐legumes) the yield level of the rainfed controls. This outperformance coincided with post‐drought reductions in N limitation in formerly drought‐stressed species. As a result, aggregated over the drought and the post‐drought periods, a negative drought impact was found only for the shallow‐rooted L. perenne at one of the severely stressed sites.

Significant overyielding by multispecies mixtures was evident under rainfed control conditions (+38% across all three sites, P < 0·05) and was equally apparent under severe drought (+50%, P < 0·05). This overyielding was greatest in mixtures with approximately equal species proportions and was sufficiently large that drought‐stressed mixtures at least attained the same yield as the average of the rainfed monocultures. Under extreme drought, growth almost ceased in monocultures and mixtures.

Synthesis and applications. Yields of selected species of intensively managed temperate grasslands are either resistant to a single severe drought or are highly resilient as soon as soil moisture levels recover after the drought event. However, these forage species seem unable to cope with an extreme drought event. Combining species in mixtures can compensate for yield reductions caused by severe drought and it offers a practical management tool to adapt forage production to climate change.
Use of predictive text in text messaging over the course of a year and its relationship with spelling, orthographic processing and grammar
Authors: Waldron Sam , Wood Clare , Kemp Nenagh
Published: May 2016

An investigation into the impact of predictive text use upon the literacy skills of primary school, secondary school and university cohorts was conducted over the course of a year. No differences in use of text abbreviations (‘textisms’) were found between predictive text users and nonusers. However, secondary school children who used predictive text made more genuine spelling errors than nonusers. Predictive text was related to use of some specific grammatical violations in school‐age children's text messages but was not related overall to the tendency to make grammatical errors when texting. University students, however, made significantly fewer grammatical errors in their text messages when they used predictive text. Over the course of a year, predictive text use was variable for all age groups. Consistency of predictive text use was unrelated to grammatical understanding, spelling or orthographic processing for primary and secondary school cohorts. Predictive text use was negatively related to morphological awareness for adult participants.
Using Social Media, Online Social Networks, and Internet Search as Platforms for Public Health Interventions: A Pilot Study
Authors: Huesch Marco D. , Galstyan Aram , Ong Michael K. , Doctor Jason N.
Published: May 2016

Objective

To pilot public health interventions at women potentially interested in maternity care via campaigns on social media (Twitter), social networks (Facebook), and online search engines (Google Search).

Data Sources/Study Setting

Primary data from Twitter, Facebook, and Google Search on users of these platforms in Los Angeles between March and July 2014.

Study Design

Observational study measuring the responses of targeted users of Twitter, Facebook, and Google Search exposed to our sponsored messages soliciting them to start an engagement process by clicking through to a study website containing information on maternity care quality information for the Los Angeles market.

Principal Findings

Campaigns reached a little more than 140,000 consumers each day across the three platforms, with a little more than 400 engagements each day. Facebook and Google search had broader reach, better engagement rates, and lower costs than Twitter. Costs to reach 1,000 targeted users were approximately in the same range as less well‐targeted radio and TV advertisements, while initial engagements—a user clicking through an advertisement—cost less than $1 each.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that commercially available online advertising platforms in wide use by other industries could play a role in targeted public health interventions.
Using Experimental and Neurological Data to Gain a Deeper Understanding of Realization Utility Theory
Authors: Gibson Scott , Seiler Michael J. , Walden Eric
Published: May 2016

Starting with the premise that realization utility theory helps explain trading behavior, this study combines a carefully crafted experimental design with functional magnetic resonance imaging technology to offer a more inclusive examination of factors that affect REIT trading behavior beyond whether a REIT is simply trading up or down. We add to the nascent field of neurological real estate by finding that local gains/loss domains are more relevant than are global gain/loss considerations, financial skewness is a significant determinant of trading behavior, and that performance inside the REIT market influences how hard subjects think when performing tasks outside the market.
Preference Mapping of Fresh Tomatoes Across 3 Stages of Consumption
Authors: Oltman A.E. , Yates M.D. , Drake M.A.
Published: May 2016

Tomatoes (Solanum lycoperiscum) are a popular produce choice and provide many bioactive compounds. Consumer choice of tomatoes is influenced by flavor and visual appearance and external texture cues including hand firmness and sliceability. The objective of this study was to determine drivers of liking for fresh tomatoes across 3 stages of consumption. Seven tomato cultivars were ripened to a 6 on the USDA color chart. Trained panelists documented appearance, flavor, and texture attributes of tomatoes in triplicate. Tomato consumers (n = 177) were provided with knives and cutting boards and evaluated tomatoes across 3 stages: appearance (stage 1), slicing (stage 2), and consumption (stage 3). Consumers evaluated overall liking at each stage. Analysis of variance and external preference mapping were conducted. Overall liking was highest during the appearance portion of the test and lowest during the consumption portion (P < 0.05). Drivers of liking at stage 1 were color intensity, even outside color, and overall aroma. Drivers of liking at stage 2 were wetness/juiciness and overall aroma. Wetness/juiciness, seed presence, ripe flavor, and sweet and umami tastes were drivers of liking for tomatoes at consumption (stage 3). Four separate clusters of tomato consumers were identified. Cluster 1 preferred tomatoes with even color, higher color intensity, and flavor intensity. Cluster 2 preferred firm tomatoes. Cluster 3 preferred tomatoes that were soft and at peak ripeness; this cluster also had the highest liking scores for all tomatoes. Cluster 4 consumers generally consumed tomatoes in sandwiches rather than as‐is and preferred tomatoes with even and intense color. Tomato growers can utilize these results to target cultivars that are well liked by consumers.
Modeling Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Validating an Ex Vivo Primary Hippocampal Cell Culture System
Authors: Tunc‐Ozcan Elif , Ferreira Adriana B. , Redei Eva E.
Published: May 2016

Background

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is the leading nongenetic cause of mental retardation. There are no treatments for FASD to date. Preclinical in vivo and in vitro studies could help in identifying novel drug targets as for other diseases. Here, we describe an ex vivo model that combines the physiological advantages of prenatal ethanol (EtOH) exposure in vivo with the uniformity of primary fetal hippocampal culture to characterize the effects of prenatal EtOH. The insulin signaling pathways are known to be involved in hippocampal functions. Therefore, we compared the expression of insulin signaling pathway genes between fetal hippocampi (in vivo) and primary hippocampal culture (ex vivo). The similarity of prenatal EtOH effects in these 2 paradigms would deem the ex vivo culture acceptable to screen possible treatments for FASD.

Methods

Pregnant Sprague–Dawley rats received 1 of 3 diets: ad libitum standard laboratory chow (control‐C), isocaloric pair‐fed (nutritional control), and EtOH containing liquid diets from gestational day (GD) 8. Fetal male and female hippocampi were collected either on GD21 (in vivo) or on GD18 for primary culture (ex vivo). Transcript levels of Igf2, Igf2r, Insr, Grb10, Rasgrf1, and Zac1 were measured by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Results

Hippocampal transcript levels differed by prenatal treatment in both males and females with sex differences observed in the expression of Igf2 and Insr. The effect of prenatal EtOH on the hippocampal expression of the insulin pathway genes was parallel in the in vivo and the ex vivo conditions.

Conclusions

The similarity of gene expression changes in response to prenatal EtOH between the in vivo and the ex vivo conditions ascertains that these effects are already set in the fetal hippocampus at GD18. This strengthens the feasibility of the ex vivo primary hippocampal culture as a tool to test and screen candidate drug targets for FASD.
Adolescent smoking and tertiary education: opposing pathways linking socio‐economic background to alcohol consumption
Authors: Green Michael J. , Leyland Alastair H. , Sweeting Helen , Benzeval Michaela
Published: May 2016

Background and Aims

If socio‐economic disadvantage is associated with more adolescent smoking, but less participation in tertiary education, and smoking and tertiary education are both associated with heavier drinking, these may represent opposing pathways to heavy drinking. This paper examines contextual variation in the magnitude and direction of these associations.

Design

Comparing cohort studies.

Setting

United Kingdom.

Participants

Participants were from the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS58; n = 15 672), the British birth cohort study (BCS70; n = 12 735) and the West of Scotland Twenty‐07 1970s cohort (T07; n = 1515).

Measurements

Participants self‐reported daily smoking and weekly drinking in adolescence (age 16 years) and heavy drinking (> 14/21 units in past week) in early adulthood (ages 22–26 years). Parental occupational class (manual versus non‐manual) indicated socio‐economic background. Education beyond age 18 was coded as tertiary. Models were adjusted for parental smoking and drinking, family structure and adolescent psychiatric distress.

Findings

Respondents from a manual class were more likely to smoke and less likely to enter tertiary education (e.g. in NCDS58, probit coefficients were 0.201 and –0.765, respectively; P < 0.001 for both) than respondents from a non‐manual class. Adolescent smokers were more likely to drink weekly in adolescence (0.346; P < 0.001) and more likely to drink heavily in early adulthood (0.178; P < 0.001) than adolescent non‐smokers. Respondents who participated in tertiary education were more likely to drink heavily in early adulthood (0.110 for males, 0.182 for females; P < 0.001 for both) than respondents with no tertiary education. With some variation in magnitude, these associations were consistent across all three cohorts.

Conclusions

In Britain, young adults are more likely to drink heavily both if they smoke and participate in tertiary education (college and university) despite socio‐economic background being associated in opposite directions with these risk factors.
Barriers and enablers for oral health care for people affected by mental health disorders
Authors: Slack‐Smith L , Hearn L , Scrine C , Durey A
Published: May 2016

Background

People with mental health disorders are reported to have poorer access to dental services and poorer oral health outcomes. The aim of this paper is to analyze current published work regarding barriers and enablers for oral health outcomes and access to dental care for adults with mental health disorders which will be addressed from individual, organizational and systemic perspectives

Methods

A narrative review based on a search of the relevant published work regarding oral health for people with mental health disorders was undertaken using Medline, Web of Science, ERIC and Psychlit. Any relevant systematic reviews were highlighted in this process along with primary studies.

Results

The published work repeatedly verified poorer oral health and inadequate access to dental services in people with mental health disorders. The published work identified barriers at individual, organizational and systemic levels. Much of the published work focused on barriers with less focus on enablers and interventions.

Conclusions

Considerable investigation of barriers had not elucidated options to improve care or outcomes.
Assessing the effect of roads on impala (Aepyceros melampus) stress levels using faecal glucocorticoid metabolites
Authors: Lunde Even Tvede , Bech Claus , Fyumagwa Robert D. , Jackson Craig R. , Røskaft Eivin
Published: May 2016

In Tanzania, a proposed road through the Serengeti National Park has caused international debate as to whether it will cause irreversible damage to the ecosystem. We assessed the effect of current roads and traffic in the Serengeti ecosystem on a model ungulate species, the impala antelope (Aepyceros melampus). We measured how faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM), an indicator of physiological stress levels, were affected by different levels of traffic while accounting for other stress‐related variables such as distance to roads, vegetation type and group size. A total of 196 faecal samples were collected. FGM were measured using an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) validated for several ruminants. FGM levels were significantly elevated near major roads with higher traffic levels compared to roads with less traffic. Predators and illegal hunting might also affect FGM levels in the impala, but the potential effect of these variables was inconsistent with the recorded FGM levels and cannot explain the observed variation. These results show for the first time that an African mammal exhibits significant physiological stress in relation to roads and traffic.
Comparison of data reduction algorithms for LiDAR‐derived digital terrain model generalisation
Authors: Yilmaz M , Uysal M
Published: May 2016

A digital terrain model (DTM) is a three‐dimensional representation of the terrain relief created from discrete points related to each other through their elevations. New technologies such as satellite remote sensing, airborne laser scanning and radar interferometry are efficient methods for constructing high‐quality DTMs in a cost‐effective manner. The accuracy of a DTM is influenced by a number of factors, including the accuracy, density and spatial distribution of elevation points, the terrain surface characteristics, etc. In this paper, direct comparisons of absolute and relative vertical accuracies are made between data reduction algorithms for the generalisation of DTM extracted from airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data. The absolute vertical accuracies are presented in terms of the mean error (ME), the mean absolute error (MAE) and the root mean square error (RMSE) and the relative vertical accuracies are characterised as per cent slope over Mount St Helens in southwest Washington State. The results show that LiDAR datasets can be reduced to 50 per cent density level by a uniform data reduction algorithm using triangulation with a linear interpolation method for the generalisation of DTM while still maintaining the quality of the original data.