bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Age‐related common miRNA polymorphism associated with severe toxicity in lung cancer patients treated with platinum‐based chemotherapy
Authors: Fang Chao , Li Xiang‐Ping , Gong Wei‐Jing , Wu Na‐Yiyuan , Tang Jie , Yin Ji‐Ye , Li Xi , Zhang Wei , Zhou Hong‐Hao , Liu Zhao‐Qian
Published: November 2016

Platinum‐based chemotherapy toxicity severely impedes successful treatment in lung cancer patients. MicroRNAs (miRs) have a significant impact on the occurrence and survival rate of lung cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between common miRNA variants and platinum‐based chemotherapy toxicity in lung cancer patients. A total of eight functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of miRNA were genotyped in 408 lung cancer patients by MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry. All the patients were histologically confirmed as lung cancer, and were treated with platinum‐based chemotherapy for at least two cycles. It was found that the polymorphism rs2042553 of miR‐5197 had a significant association with overall severe toxicity in both additive (P=.031, odds ratio [OR]=1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03‐1.93) and dominant (P=.009, OR=1.80, 95% CI 1.16‐2.80) models. MiR‐605 rs2043556 was significantly related to severe hepatotoxicity in dominant model (P=.022, OR=2.51, 95% CI 1.12‐4.14). In addition, rs2910164 of miR‐146a had marginal statistical effect on severe hepatotoxicity in additive model (P=.054). The subgroup analyses showed that miR‐27a rs895819 was related to gastrointestinal toxicity in age >56 years old, smoking and non‐smoking patients. Taken together, our results revealed that polymorphisms of miR‐5197, miR‐605, miR‐146a, and miR‐27a contributed to the chemotherapy toxicity of lung cancer, which may serve as a predictive tool for toxicity evaluation of platinum‐based chemotherapy in lung cancer patients.
Piperine—The Bioactive Compound of Black Pepper: From Isolation to Medicinal Formulations
Authors: Gorgani Leila , Mohammadi Maedeh , Najafpour Ghasem D. , Nikzad Maryam
Published: November 2016

Piperine is the major bio‐active component of pepper, which imparts pungency and biting taste to it. This naturally occurring alkaloid has numerous demonstrated health effects and beneficial therapeutic properties; nevertheless, its biological applications are limited due to its poor solubility in aqueous environments. This emphasizes an implementation of advanced extraction approaches which could enhance the extraction yield of piperine from pepper and also the development of new formulations containing piperine to improve its in vivo bioavailability. This paper presents a review on the therapeutic and medicinal effects of piperine, its isolation from pepper fruit and the development of new formulations for its medicinal (pharmaceutical) applications. A thorough review on conventional and advanced separation techniques for the extraction of piperine from pepper is presented and an outline of the most significant conditions to improve the extraction yield is provided and discussed. Different methods used to measure and quantify the isolated piperine are also reviewed. An overview of biotechnological advancements for nanoparticle formulations of piperine or its incorporation in lipid formulations, which could enhance its bioavailability, is also presented.
Passive Drip Stain Formation Dynamics of Blood onto Hard Surfaces and Comparison with Simple Fluids for Blood Substitute Development and Assessment,
Authors: Stotesbury Theresa , Taylor Michael C. , Jermy Mark C.
Published: November 2016

The spreading dynamics of blood dripping onto hard surfaces is compared to two spreading models. Samples of human blood, porcine blood, and Millipore® water were dripped onto cardboard, foamcore, and glass surfaces in low velocity passive drip simulations. Final stain diameter, the total number of spines and scallops, and angle of impact were measured and analyzed. Spreading is best predicted by applying the concept of effective viscosity to the Scheller and Bousfield (R2 = 0.91) and Roisman (R2 = 0.89) spreading models. In the tested conditions, blood spreads with Newtonian tendencies; however, has quantifiable differences in stain appearance to Newtonian fluids like water. This is encouraging for the development of water‐based fluids as synthetic blood substitutes (SBSs). The work presents an assessment platform to quantify and score the performance of simple water‐based fluids using final stain diameter (6 points) and number of spines and scallops (6 points) at six dripping heights between 20 and 120 cm. The angle of impact of a stain alone is not a sensitive measure of SBS performance, but stain formation scores the SBS's performance with another 1 point. Together these features generate a quantitative relative ranking system, of a maximum possible 13 points, that can be used to support the use of a particular fluid for the creation of a drip stain. The performance of twenty simple fluids in the simulated dripping assessment test is described.
Lessons Learned from Autopsying an Unidentified Body with Iodine‐125 Seeds Implanted for Prostate Brachytherapy
Authors: Idota Nozomi , Nakamura Mami , Masui Koji , Kakiuchi Yasuhiro , Yamada Kei , Ikegaya Hiroshi
Published: November 2016

We report here lessons learned from an autopsy case involving radioactive materials. We performed an autopsy of an unidentified mummified man with no available medical history whom from imaging findings we suspected had received radioactive seed implants for prostate brachytherapy. We returned the excised prostate and seeds to the body. A few days later, the body was identified by DNA matching and cremated. According to the man's medical record, he had undergone iodine‐125 seeds implantation for prostate cancer 11 months earlier. We should have removed the radioactive seeds from the body to prevent radiation exposure to the bereaved family and/or environmental pollution due to cremation. Surprisingly, one seed was found in the stored prostate specimen. Forensic experts should be cognizant of the risk of both radiation exposure in the autopsy room and environmental pollution. We must remain abreast of the latest advances in medicine.
Retrospective review of Prothrombinex use by SAAS MedSTAR
Authors: Fischer Roy , Brettig Simon , Pearce Andrew
Published: November 2016

Objective

The aim of this study was to review and describe the use of Prothrombinex by a physician‐led retrieval service based remote from a hospital blood bank.

Methods

This is a retrospective observational study. Patients to whom Prothrombinex was administered by the retrieval team were identified from the retrieval service patient database. The paper case cards of the identified patients were then manually reviewed and the data matched to patients in the state‐wide electronic laboratory record.

Results

Between 1 January 2010 and 30 November 2013 38 cases were identified. For 28 the indication was warfarinisation associated with life‐threatening bleeding (most commonly intracranial or gastrointestinal tract). In the remaining 10 cases, Prothrombinex was used to treat coagulopathy associated with liver disease or massive haemorrhage. The median time saved by the retrieval team administering PTX‐VF, rather than waiting to the receiving centre, was 120 min (interquartile range: 85–195 min). The median dose of PTX‐VF administered was 23.25 IU/kg (interquartile range: 20–33 IU/kg). Paired international normalised ratios (INRs) were available for 33 of the 38 patients. In the warfarin group, all patients had an improvement in their INR and 21 of 25 had correction of their INR. In the non‐warfarin group, the effect on INR was more variable.

Conclusion

Prothrombinex is a clinically useful product that can be relatively easily stored and used by retrieval services, even if they are based in isolation from a hospital blood bank. More research is required to look at the utility of Prothrombinex for non‐warfarin‐related bleeding in the pre‐hospital and retrieval environment.
The role of microbiota in compensatory growth of protein‐restricted rats
Authors: Zhu Yizhi , Niu Qingyan , Shi Chao , Wang Jing , Zhu Weiyun
Published: November 2016

Compensatory growth is a physiological phenomenon found in both humans and animals. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. In this study, for the first time, we investigated the role of microbiota in compensatory growth induced by protein restriction using a rat model. Weaned Sprague‐Dawley rats were fed a low protein diet (L group), a normal protein diet (N group) and a low protein diet for 2 weeks followed by a normal protein diet (LN group). The results showed that in contrast with the inhibited growth of rats in the L group, compensatory growth was observed in the LN group. Meanwhile, rats in the LN group had increased concentrations of total short chain fatty acids, particularly butyrate, and an altered bacterial composition with modified abundances of Peptostreptococcaceae, Bifidobacteriaceae, Porphyromonadaceae and Prevotellaceae in the colonic content. Furthermore, gene expression analysis indicated that the rats that experienced compensatory growth had improved barrier function and innate immune function in the colon. Our data revealed the importance of colonic microbiota in achieving compensatory growth.
The Spectatorial Gaze: Viewer–Voyeur Dynamics in Book Illustrations of Diderot's La Religieuse
Authors: Pierse Síofra
Published: November 2016

This article analyses the manner in which Diderot's novel La Religieuse (1796) has been interpreted in book illustration. There has long been an assumption that Jean‐François Le Barbier was the first illustrator of La Religieuse, whereas this article posits that a number of significant artists preceded him: an anonymous artist (1796), the designer P. J. Challiou (1797) and another unknown illustrator (1797). This analytical investigation is followed by an overview of viewer–voyeur trends in the subsequent illustration of La Religieuse, suggesting that core representation dilemmas, together with the interpretative strategies adopted, vary remarkably little across more than two centuries of reception and illustration.
The Other Pamela: Readership and the Illustrated Chapbook Abridgement
Authors: Jung Sandro
Published: November 2016

This article investigates questions of readership, pricing and visual literacy by relating eighteenth‐century illustrated chapbook abridgements of Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740) to the author's 1742 edition, featuring illustrations by Hubert‐François Gravelot and Francis Hayman. It focuses on the affordability of chapbook abridgements and the straightforward readability of their illustrations, which would have been accessible to many readers. While few readers would have had access, financially, to the Gravelot–Hayman de luxe edition, Pamela chapbooks reached larger groups of readers and shaped the text's popular reception.
Visual Sterneana: Graphic Afterlives and a Sense of Infinite Mobility
Authors: Friant‐Kessler Brigitte
Published: November 2016

This article explores how the notion of mobility resonates with visual responses to Sterne's fiction (1996‐2016). With a specific focus on migration patterns of the Sterne/Tristram/Yorick triad, it is argued that artists have created, in a variety of media, a body of visual Sterneana characterised by embedded imaginary spaces and multiple interpretative frames through a fluctuating proximity with the text and the enduring ubiquity of eighteenth‐century images in the form of graphic afterlives. Emblematic motifs and isolated fragments, as well as circulation in cyberspace, also raise the issue of how the word and image relationship is continuously reconfigured.
Intermedial Approaches to Marivaux's La Vie de Marianne: Text, Illustration, Film
Authors: Lewis Ann
Published: November 2016

Using the theoretical framework of ‘intermediality’, this article examines the ways in which Marivaux's novel La Vie de Marianne (1731‐42) has been pictured through time. It explores the relationship between text and image in various illustrations and in Benoît Jacquot's film adaptation Marianne (1995), focusing on episodes involving Marianne and her benefactor M. de Climal. Not only do these transpositions suggest complex forms of reception of Marivaux's text, but in their anticipation of and engagement with other media (theatre, painting, cinema) they also provide a richly suggestive interrogation of the conditions of theatricality and of what it means to become a ‘spectacle’.
Why is alcohol cancer's best‐kept secret?
Authors: Slevin Terry , Chikritzhs Tanya
Published: November 2016

Commentary to: Alcohol consumption as a cause of cancer
Which costs of alcohol do policymakers care about?
Authors: Angus Colin
Published: November 2016

Commentary to: Which cost of alcohol? What should we compare it against?
Temperature, invaders and patchy habitat interact to limit the distribution of a vulnerable freshwater fish
Authors: Boddy Nixie C. , McIntosh Angus R.
Published: November 2016

Interacting global‐change drivers such as invasive species and climate warming are likely to have major and potentially unexpected influences on aquatic ecosystems. In river networks, modified water temperature combined with patchy physical conditions will likely cause shifts in the amount and distribution of suitable habitat, with influential invasive species further altering habitat availability. We examined how distributions of a thermally sensitive galaxiid fish native to the alpine rivers of New Zealand, Galaxias paucispondylus, were influenced by these drivers using spatially extensive presence–absence electrofishing surveys of 46 sites spread over four subcatchments. A unimodal response to water temperature and an interaction with substratum size meant G. paucispondylus were limited to streams with average summer water temperatures between 10.6 and 13.8 °C and were absent when average substratum sizes were <36 mm, regardless of temperature. In addition, non‐native trout >150 mm long excluded G. paucispondylus, but were only found in streams with average summer water temperatures <10.6 °C. These influences of trout likely strengthened the unimodal temperature response of G. paucispondylus and led to a very small G. paucispondylus realized niche. When predicted temperature increases were applied to catchment models, G. paucispondylus distributions were patchy and variable across subcatchments. Moreover, local physical characteristics of river networks were particularly important because of the non‐linear and interactive influences of temperature and substratum size on the outcome of species interactions. Therefore, substratum sizes, water temperature and a non‐native predator combined to influence the distribution of this thermally sensitive fish, illustrating how the effects of climate warming will likely be strongly context‐dependent and interactive.
Can protective attributes of artificial refuges offset predation risk in lizards?
Authors: Bourke Gaye , Matthews Alison , Michael Damian R.
Published: November 2016

Artificial refuges are often used to supplement habitat in areas where natural shelters have been degraded or removed. Although artificial refuges are intended to support particular species, they may be equally attractive and accessible to others, including predators. We explored the influence of snake predation risk and shelter attributes on the overnight use of different artificial refuges (timber, tiles, and iron) using the predator‐prey relationship between Boulenger's skink,Morethia boulengeriand the curl snake,Suta suta. We collected adultM. boulengerifrom two bioregions in south‐eastern Australia: the Riverina, where the two species co‐occur, and the South Western Slopes, whereS. sutadoes not occur. Two adultS. sutawere collected for use as chemical donors. We conducted four experiments on overnight refuge choice to determine: (i) predator‐scent avoidance, (ii) artificial refuge preferences, (iii) a trade‐off between a preferred refuge and predator‐avoidance, and (iv) the effect of gap height on refuge preference. We found that skinks avoided predator‐scented refuges in favour of identical, but unscented refuges. Skinks preferred timber refuges, and most skinks maintained this preference when predator‐scent was added. However, when gap height was manipulated, skinks shifted to the refuge with the smallest gap. Skinks displayed complex regional variation in behaviour; skinks from both bioregions avoided predator‐scent, but in the trade‐off experiment, skinks from the South Western Slopes were less likely to avoid predator‐scented timber refuges than those from the Riverina. Our findings suggest that protective refuge attributes, such as small gap height, can offset the risk implied by predator‐scent within a refuge. This study highlights the need to consider predator‐prey interactions when designing and using artificial refuges for habitat restoration or biological monitoring.
There might be blood: Oil, humility, and the cosmopolitics of a Cofán petro‐being
Authors: CEPEK MICHAEL L.
Published: November 2016

A central directive of recent writings on cosmopolitics and ontology is that critically minded anthropologists should “humble” themselves and view their subjects’ statements as propositions that disclose multiple real worlds. An exploration of Cofán people's uncertainty regarding the idea that oil is the blood of a sacred mythological being—a position that romanticizing Westerners repeatedly attribute to them—calls into question the implications of the call for anthropological humility. Cofán discussions of oil's sanguinary nature demonstrate that the best way to comprehend the intellectual agency of our collaborators is to acknowledge, rather than ignore, the social, pragmatic, and epistemological contours of their discourse, cosmological or otherwise. [cosmopolitics, ontology, oil, indigeneity, Cofán, Ecuador, Amazonia]

Una directriz central de escritos recientes sobre cosmopolítica y ontología es que los antropólogos con espíritu crítico deberían “humillarse” y tomar las afirmaciones de sus sujetos de estudio como proposiciones que revelan múltiples mundos reales. Explorar la indecisión que tienen los cofán acerca de la idea de que el petróleo es la sangre de un sagrado ser mitológico —posición que les atribuyen constantemente los occidentales románticos— cuestiona las implicaciones de esta llamada a la humildad. Las discusiones entre los cofán acerca de la naturaleza sanguinaria del petróleo nos muestran que la mejor manera de comprender la capacidad intelectual de nuestros colaboradores es reconocer, en vez de ignorar, los contornos sociales, pragmáticos y epistemológicos de su discurso, sea este cosmológico o no. [cosmopolítica, ontología, petróleo, indigeneidad, Cofán, Ecuador, Amazonia]
From humanitarianism to humanitarianization: Intimacy, estrangement, and international aid in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina
Authors: GILBERT ANDREW C.
Published: November 2016

In 2002, Bosnia and Herzegovina was the site of massive housing‐reconstruction projects run by international aid organizations as part of a plan to move refugees back to their prewar homes. Alongside the usual technical tasks of such projects, aid workers spent considerable time and effort establishing and stabilizing the categorical distinction between things humanitarian and things political. Analysis of these efforts by one aid organization reveals the often‐overlooked social and cultural work necessary to maintain a humanitarian field of operation, demonstrating that the humanitarian status of aid projects is never more than provisionally settled. This unstable, provisional nature of humanitarian action constitutes an underexplored dynamic shaping and limiting international responses to suffering and need. [humanitarianism, politics, ethics, international aid, refugee return, Bosnia and Herzegovina]

Tokom 2002. godine, međunarodne organizacije u Bosni i Hercegovini organizovale su masovne obnove kuća kako bi ostvarile plan povratka izbjeglica u njihove predratne domove. Pored uobičajnih tehničkih zadataka vezanih za ovakve projekate, zaposleni u ovim organizacijama proveli su mnogo vremena i truda na uspostavljanju i utvrđivanju kategoričkih razlika između humanitarnog i političkog. Analiza ovih napora, koju je sprovela jedna od tih organizacija, daje uvid u često previđen društveni i kulturni rad koji je neophodan da se humanitarno djelovanje održi, ukazujući na to da je humanitarni status projekata pomoći uvijek samo privremen. Ova nestabilna, privremena priroda humanitarnog djelovanja sastavni je dio nedovoljno istražene dinamike koja oblikuje i ograničava odgovore međunarodnih organizacija na patnju i potrebu. [humanitarizam, politika, etika, međunarodna humanitarna pomoć, povratak izbjeglica, Bosna i Hercegovina]
Ethnography at its edges: Bringing in contemporary art
Authors: BUCKLEY LIAM M.
Published: November 2016

How might the making of art offer approaches and procedures for anthropologists who seek to incorporate contemporary art into their own fieldwork and scholarship? Recent anthropological inquiries into contemporary art have generated a range of results, including artworks made by anthropologists and by artists who engage with anthropological theories, scholarly concepts of artworks not as illustrations of questions already answered but as ways of changing how questions emerge in the first place, and aesthetics of fieldwork centered on curiosity, wonder, and curatorial disposition. The making of contemporary artworks thus indicates a set of theories and methods for anthropologically observing the world.
Ethnography at its edges: Forces in the wind
Authors: MANDERSON LENORE
Published: November 2016

Increasingly, anthropologists are using art practices to represent their work and, with this shift in media and style, reach out to new audiences in the process. In Aeolian Politics, Cymene Howe and Dominic Boyer collaborated with Ethnographic Terminalia to outfit a two‐room cottage with video footage, turbomachinery, poetry, and supplementary ethnographic material. These media tell a story of politics and power on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, which has the best wind resources in the world. Zapotecs on the isthmus stare down state authorities and energy oligopolies, battling these forces that, like the wind itself, are beyond their control. Encased in the sensory environment of the installation, we are reminded forcefully of unintended consequences, even when the arguments for intervention—in this case, renewable energy—seem so compelling. [art and anthropology, environmental politics, art installation, wind power, Mexico]
Low Tidal Volume Reduces Lung Inflammation Induced by Liquid Ventilation in Piglets With Severe Lung Injury
Authors: Jiang Lijun , Feng Huizhen , Chen Xiaofan , Liang Kaifeng , Ni Chengyao
Published: November 2016

Total liquid ventilation (TLV) is an alternative treatment for severe lung injury. High tidal volume is usually required for TLV to maintain adequate CO2 clearance. However, high tidal volume may cause alveolar barotrauma. We aim to investigate the effect of low tidal volume on pulmonary inflammation in piglets with lung injury and under TLV. After the establishment of acute lung injury model by infusing lipopolysaccharide, 12 piglets were randomly divided into two groups, TLV with high tidal volume (25 mL/kg) or with low tidal volume (6 mL/kg) for 240 min, respectively. Extracorporeal CO2 removal was applied in low tidal volume group to improve CO2 clearance and in high tidal volume group as sham control. Gas exchange and hemodynamic status were monitored every 30 min during TLV. At the end of the study, pulmonary mRNA expression and plasmatic concentration of interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) and interleukin‐8 (IL‐8) were measured by collecting lung tissue and blood samples from piglets. Arterial blood pressure, PaO2, and PaCO2 showed no remarkable difference between groups during the observation period. Compared with high tidal volume strategy, low tidal volume resulted in 76% reduction of minute volume and over 80% reduction in peak inspiratory pressure during TLV. In addition, low tidal volume significantly diminished pulmonary mRNA expression and plasmatic level of IL‐6 and IL‐8. We conclude that during TLV, low tidal volume reduces lung inflammation in piglets with acute lung injury without compromising gas exchange.
Role of neural integrators in oculomotor systems: a systematic narrative literature review
Authors: Sanchez Katherine , Rowe Fiona J.
Published: November 2016

Purpose

To evaluate the role of neural integrators (NI) in the oculomotor system.

Methods

A literature search was carried out using several electronic databases during the months of June 2014 to March 2015. The following keywords were used to generate focused results: ‘neural integrators’, ‘gaze‐holding’, ‘oculomotor integration’, ‘impaired gaze‐holding’, ‘gaze evoked nystagmus’ and ‘gaze dysfunction’. Further materials were found through searching relevant articles within reference lists. Seventy‐one articles were sourced for this review which analysed animal and human subjects and network models; 45 were studies of humans, 16 studies of primates, three studies of felines and one study from rats and network models. The remaining articles were literature reviews.

Results

The horizontal and vertical, including torsional, NI are located logically in the brainstem, nearby their appropriate target extraocular motoneuron nuclei for stable eye position in eccentric position. The nucleus prepositus hypoglossi (NPH) and medial vestibular nuclei (MVN) are closely linked at the caudal pons and dorsal rostral medulla, integrating horizontal conjugate eye movement. The interstitial nucleus of Cajal (INC) integrates vertical and torsional eye movement at the upper midbrain. The integrator time constant is averaged to 25 seconds in human horizontal and animal vertical NI to perform its function. Case reports revealed that dysfunction of horizontal NI also resulted in vertical ocular deviations, indicating some overlap of horizontal and vertical gaze control. Furthermore, pharmacological inactivation of NI exposed a population of inhibitory neurotransmitters that permits its mechanism of action; allowing for smooth conjugate movement.

Conclusions

Neural integrators operate to integrate eye velocity and eye position information to provide signals to extraocular motoneurons to attain and maintain a new position. Therefore, NI allow image stabilization during horizontal and vertical eye movements at eccentric positions for comfortable single vision.
Rapid allergen‐induced interleukin‐17 and interferon‐γ secretion by skin‐resident memory CD8+ T cells
Authors: Schmidt Jonas D. , Ahlström Malin G. , Johansen Jeanne D. , Dyring‐Andersen Beatrice , Agerbeck Christina , Nielsen Morten M. , Poulsen Steen S. , Woetmann Anders , Ødum Niels , Thomsen Allan R. , Geisler Carsten , Bonefeld Charlotte M.
Published: November 2016

Background

Skin‐resident memory T (TRM) cells are associated with immunological memory in the skin. Whether immunological memory responses to allergens in the skin are solely localized to previously allergen‐exposed sites or are present globally in the skin is not clear. Furthermore, the mechanisms whereby TRM cells induce rapid recall responses need further investigation.

Objectives

To study whether contact allergens induce local and/or global memory, and to determine the mechanisms involved in memory responses in the skin.

Methods

To address these questions, we analysed responses to contact allergens in mice and humans sensitized to 2,4‐dinitrofluorobenzene and nickel, respectively.

Results

Challenge responses in both mice and humans were dramatically increased at sites previously exposed to allergens as compared with previously unexposed sites. Importantly, the magnitude of the challenge response correlated with the epidermal accumulation of interleukin (IL)‐17A‐producing and interferon (IFN)‐γ‐producing TRM cells. Moreover, IL‐17A and IFN‐γ enhanced allergen‐induced IL‐1β production in keratinocytes.

Conclusions

We show that sensitization with contact allergens induces a strong, long‐lasting local memory and a weaker, temporary global immunological memory response to the allergen that is mediated by IL‐17A‐producing and IFN‐γ‐producing CD8+ TRM cells.
Finding needles in the haystack: where to look for rare species in the American tropics
Authors: Zizka Alexander , Steege Hans ter , Pessoa Maria do Céo R. , Antonelli Alexandre
Published: November 2016

Tropical America (the Neotropics) harbours more plant species than any other region on Earth. The contribution of rare species to this diversity has been recently recognised, but their spatial distribution remains poorly understood. Here, we use all collection records of angiosperms from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to delineate Neotropical bioregions, and to identify putatively rare species within the Neotropics and the Amazonian rainforest. We analyse the spatial distribution of these species and validate the results on a largely independent dataset based on vegetation plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network. We find that rare species are homogeneously distributed through most parts of the lowland Neotropics and Amazonia, but more concentrated in highlands. The second collection of any rare species is most often found in the close vicinity of the first, but in 20% of cases they are more than 580 km apart. We also find cross‐taxonomic patterns of disjunct distributions within the Andes, the Atlantic forest in eastern Brazil, and between Amazonia and the Atlantic forest, but no clear disjunction patterns within lowland areas. These results suggest that a considerable proportion of rare plant species have surprisingly large distribution ranges, and that collections of rare species across most of the lowland Neotropics, and in particular in Amazonia, show no clear directionality. The second record of many rare species may be found virtually anywhere, urging the need for intensifying and broadening biological sampling.
ecospat: an R package to support spatial analyses and modeling of species niches and distributions
Authors: Di Cola Valeria , Broennimann Olivier , Petitpierre Blaise , Breiner Frank T. , D'Amen Manuela , Randin Christophe , Engler Robin , Pottier Julien , Pio Dorothea , Dubuis Anne , Pellissier Loic , Mateo Rubén G. , Hordijk Wim , Salamin Nicolas , Guisan Antoine
Published: November 2016

The aim of the ecospat package is to make available novel tools and methods to support spatial analyses and modeling of species niches and distributions in a coherent workflow. The package is written in the R language (R Development Core Team) and contains several features, unique in their implementation, that are complementary to other existing R packages. Pre‐modeling analyses include species niche quantifications and comparisons between distinct ranges or time periods, measures of phylogenetic diversity, and other data exploration functionalities (e.g. extrapolation detection, ExDet). Core modeling brings together the new approach of ensemble of small models (ESM) and various implementations of the spatially‐explicit modeling of species assemblages (SESAM) framework. Post‐modeling analyses include evaluation of species predictions based on presence‐only data (Boyce index) and of community predictions, phylogenetic diversity and environmentally‐constrained species co‐occurrences analyses. The ecospat package also provides some functions to supplement the ‘biomod2’ package (e.g. data preparation, permutation tests and cross‐validation of model predictive power). With this novel package, we intend to stimulate the use of comprehensive approaches in spatial modelling of species and community distributions.
Well‐being in the Welfare State: the redistributive capacity of education
Authors: Jongbloed Janine , Pullman Ashley
Published: November 2016

Focusing on the macro‐micro interaction between institutional arrangements and individual life outcomes, this article investigates how welfare régime types impact the association between education and well‐being, as measured by satisfaction with life. Theorising with Esping‐Andersen's ideal‐typical welfare régime typology, we hypothesise that decommodified institutional arrangements reduce the association between education and well‐being through compensatory social protections for at‐risk individuals, while stratifying forces strengthen this association. These results are only partly supported; we find that Conservative Welfare States show the most robust association, whilst Liberal and Social‐Democratic Welfare States display weaker relationships. Thus, stratification appears to play a more important role than decommodification in moderating this association. We also examine potential mediating factors and how they differ between welfare régime types, finding that health and income mediate the effects of education on well‐being to varying degrees.
Collective decision‐making promotes fitness loss in a fusion‐fission society
Authors: Sigaud Marie , Merkle Jerod A. , Cherry Seth G. , Fryxell John M. , Berdahl Andrew , Fortin Daniel
Published: November 2016

While collective decision‐making is recognised as a significant contributor to fitness in social species, the opposite outcome is also logically possible. We show that collective movement decisions guided by individual bison sharing faulty information about habitat quality promoted the use of ecological traps. The frequent, but short‐lived, associations of bison with different spatial knowledge led to a population‐wide shift from avoidance to selection of agricultural patches over 9 years in and around Prince Albert National Park, Canada. Bison were more likely to travel to an agricultural patch for the first time by following conspecifics already familiar with agricultural patches. Annual adult mortality increased by 12% due to hunting of bison on agricultural lands. Maladaptive social behaviour accordingly was a major force that contributed to a ~50% population decline in less than a decade. In human‐altered landscapes, social learning by group‐living species can lead to fitness losses, particularly in fusion‐fission societies.
Environmental drivers of invertebrate population dynamics in Neotropical tank bromeliads
Authors: Dézerald Olivier , Leroy Céline , Corbara Bruno , Dejean Alain , Talaga Stanislas , Céréghino Régis
Published: November 2016

Tank bromeliads form a conspicuous, yet neglected freshwater habitat in Neotropical forests. Recent studies driven by interests in medical entomology, fundamental aspects of bromeliad ecology and experimental research on food webs have, however, prompted increasing interest in bromeliad aquatic ecosystems. As yet, there is nothing in the literature about the life histories and environmental drivers of invertebrate population dynamics in tank bromeliads.

Based on fortnightly samples taken over one year, size frequency plots and individual dry masses allowed us to establish the life cycles and growth rates of the dominant aquatic invertebrates in a common bromeliad species of French Guiana. Linear mixed‐effect models and Mantel tests were used to predict changes in density, biomass, and growth rates in relation to temperature, rainfall, humidity and detrital resources.

Annual variations in invertebrate densities and biomasses could be described according to three types of distribution: unimodal, bimodal or almost constant. Despite seasonal variations, precipitation, temperature, relative humidity and detritus concentration accounted significantly for changes in density and biomass, but we found no significant responses in growth rates of most invertebrate species. Species rather displayed non‐seasonal life cycles with overlapping cohorts throughout the year. There was also a trend for delayed abundance peaks among congeneric species sharing similar functional traits, suggesting temporal partitioning of available resources.

Beyond novel knowledge, quantitative information on life histories is important to predict food‐web dynamics under the influence of external forcing and self‐organisation. Our results suggest that changes in species distribution that will affect population dynamics through biotic interactions in space and/or time could have greater effects on food webs and ecosystem functioning than changes in environmental factors per se.
It is about time: genetic variation in the timing of leaf‐litter inputs influences aquatic ecosystems
Authors: Rodriguez‐Cabal Mariano A. , Barrios‐Garcia M. Noelia , Rudman Seth M. , McKown Athena D. , Sato Takuya , Crutsinger Gregory M.
Published: November 2016

Phenology, or the timing of life cycle events, is a key trait of organisms that has significance for how communities are assembled and ecosystems function. Although variation in phenology in plants has received increased attention over the past decade as a result of changing climate, we are only beginning to understand the role of genetic variation in these phenological traits on ecological interactions and ecosystem‐level processes.

The influence of tree species on riparian environments presents an interesting system for understanding the effects of phenology in terrestrial species on aquatic ecosystems. Here, we used a dominant riparian tree (Populus trichocarpa: Salicaceae) and tested intraspecific genetic variation in the phenological timing of leaf drop, which influenced leaf‐litter inputs into our experimental aquatic ecosystems.

Our empirical results found that genotypic differences in P. trichocarpa explained much of the variation both in leaf‐litter decomposition and aquatic invertebrate species richness within our experimental ponds. Moreover, our results showed that variation in the timing of leaf‐litter inputs outweighed the effects of variation in leaf‐litter quality among P. trichocarpa genotypes on aquatic invertebrate species richness.

Taken together, our results suggest that genetic variation in the timing of litter inputs from dominant plant species is likely to be a strong underlying mechanism driving litter decomposition and invertebrate communities in aquatic ecosystems. This emphasises that studies disregarding phenology may significantly underestimate an important and variable component in communities and ecosystems.
Evaluating the Effects of Product Innovation on the Performance of European Firms by Using the Generalised Propensity Score
Authors: D’Attoma Ida , Pacei Silvia
Published: November 2016

The relationship between product innovation intensities and the performance of European firms is assessed, assuming that the selection into different intensities is based on a set of observed covariates. Most studies only distinguish between the innovating and non-innovating status of firms within a binary treatment framework. Instead, we use a generalised propensity score to estimate a dose-response function, which connects the product innovation intensities of the firms to their labour productivity and profitability growth rates, as measures of performance. The results indicate that high levels of product innovation intensity have significant positive effects on the profitability rate, whilst no significant effects are found on productivity rate.
The Tax-rate Elasticity of Local Business Profits
Authors: Fossen Frank M. , Steiner Viktor
Published: November 2016

Local business profits respond to local business tax (LBT) rates that vary across municipalities. We estimate that a 1% increase in the LBT rate decreases the LBT base by 0.45%, based on the universe of German LBT return files, which include corporations and unincorporated businesses. However, the fiscal equalization scheme largely compensates municipalities for the loss in the LBT base when they increase the LBT rate. Our estimates suggest that using tax revenue data instead of tax return data, as commonly done in the literature, results in a significant bias of the elasticity away from zero.
Predictive validity of the Braden Scale, Norton Scale, and Waterlow Scale in the Czech Republic
Authors: Šateková Lenka , Žiaková Katarína , Zeleníková Renáta
Published: November 2016

The aim of this study was to determine the predictive validity of the Braden, Norton, and Waterlow scales in 2 long‐term care departments in the Czech Republic. Assessing the risk for developing pressure ulcers is the first step in their prevention. At present, many scales are used in clinical practice, but most of them have not been properly validated yet (for example, the Modified Norton Scale in the Czech Republic). In the Czech Republic, only the Braden Scale has been validated so far. This is a prospective comparative instrument testing study. A random sample of 123 patients was recruited. The predictive validity of the pressure ulcer risk assessment scales was evaluated based on sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. The data were collected from April to August 2014. In the present study, the best predictive validity values were observed for the Norton Scale, followed by the Braden Scale and the Waterlow Scale, in that order. We recommended that the above 3 pressure ulcer risk assessment scales continue to be evaluated in the Czech clinical setting.
Induction of hepatocyte‐like cells from human umbilical cord‐derived mesenchymal stem cells by defined microRNAs
Authors: Zhou Xia , Cui Lina , Zhou Xinmin , Yang Qiong , Wang Lu , Guo Guanya , Hou Yu , Cai Weile , Han Zheyi , Shi Yongquan , Han Ying
Published: November 2016

Generating functional hepatocyte‐like cells (HLCs) from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is of great urgency for bio‐artificial liver support system (BALSS). Previously, we obtained HLCs from human umbilical cord‐derived MSCs by overexpressing seven microRNAs (HLC‐7) and characterized their liver functions in vitro and in vivo. Here, we aimed to screen out the optimal miRNA candidates for hepatic differentiation. We sequentially removed individual miRNAs from the pool and examined the effect of transfection with remainder using RT‐PCR, periodic acid—Schiff (PAS) staining and low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) uptake assays and by assessing their function in liver injury models. Surprisingly, miR‐30a and miR‐1290 were dispensable for hepatic differentiation. The remaining five miRNAs (miR‐122, miR‐148a, miR‐424, miR‐542‐5p and miR‐1246) are essential for this process, because omitting any one from the five‐miRNA combination prevented hepatic trans‐differentiation. We found that HLCs trans‐differentiated from five microRNAs (HLC‐5) expressed high level of hepatic markers and functioned similar to hepatocytes. Intravenous transplantation of HLC‐5 into nude mice with CCl4‐induced fulminant liver failure and acute liver injury not only improved serum parameters and their liver histology, but also improved survival rate of mice in severe hepatic failure. These data indicated that HLC‐5 functioned similar to HLC‐7 in vitro and in vivo, which have been shown to resemble hepatocytes. Instead of using seven‐miRNA combination, a simplified five‐miRNA combination can be used to obtain functional HLCs in only 7 days. Our study demonstrated an optimized and efficient method for generating functional MSC‐derived HLCs that may serve as an attractive cell alternative for BALSS.
Tactic‐specific benefits of polyandry in Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
Authors: Lewis J. A. , Pitcher T. E.
Published: November 2016

This study examined whether polyandrous female Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha obtain benefits compared with monandrous females through an increase in hatching success. Both of the alternative reproductive tactics present in male O. tshawytscha (large hooknoses and small, precocious jacks) were used, such that eggs were either fertilized by a single male (from each tactic) or multiple males (using two males from the same or different tactics). The results show that fertilized eggs from the polyandrous treatments had a significantly higher hatching success than those from the monandrous treatments. It is also shown that sperm speed was positively related with offspring hatching success. Finally, there were tactic‐specific effects on the benefits females received. The inclusion of jacks in any cross resulted in offspring with higher hatching success, with the cross that involved a male from each tactic providing offspring with the highest hatching success than any other cross. This study has important implications for the evolution of multiple mating and why it is so prevalent across taxa, while also providing knowledge on the evolution of mating systems, specifically those with alternative reproductive tactics.
The behavioural homing response of adult chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta to amino‐acid profiles
Authors: Chen E. Y. , Leonard J. B. K. , Ueda H.
Published: November 2016

Adult chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta homing behaviour in a two‐choice test tank (Y‐maze) was monitored using a passive integrated transponder (PIT)‐tag system in response to river‐specific dissolved free amino‐acid (DFAA) profiles and revealed that the majority of O. keta showed a preference for artificial natal‐stream water and tended to stay in this maze arm for a longer period; natal‐stream water was chosen over a nearby tributary's water, but not when the O. keta were presented with a non‐tributary water. The results demonstrate the ability of O. keta to discriminate artificial stream waters containing natural levels of DFAA.
Predicting Follow‐up Outcomes in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: The Role of Change in Trust, Relationship‐Specific Attachment, and Emotional Engagement
Authors: Wiebe Stephanie A. , Johnson Susan M. , Burgess Moser Melissa , Dalgleish Tracy L. , Tasca Giorgio A.
Published: November 2016

Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT), an evidence‐based couple therapy (Johnson, Hunsley, Greenberg, & Schindler, 1999), strives to foster lasting change through the creation of secure attachment bonds in distressed couples. Although studies have demonstrated lasting change in follow‐up (Wiebe et al., in press), research is needed to investigate predictors of long‐term outcomes. Our goal was to investigate predictors of long‐term outcomes in relationship satisfaction. Relationship satisfaction was assessed across 24 months in a sample of 32 couples who received an average of 21 EFT sessions. Decreases in attachment avoidance were most predictive of higher relationship satisfaction across follow‐up. These findings support the theoretical assumption that EFT helps couples foster lasting change in relationship satisfaction through the facilitation of secure attachment bonds.