bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nosema maddoxi sp. nov. (Microsporidia, Nosematidae), a Widespread Pathogen of the Green Stink Bug Chinavia hilaris (Say) and the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Halyomorpha halys (Stål)
Authors: Hajek Ann E. , Solter Leellen F. , Maddox Joseph V. , Huang Wei‐Fone , Estep Alden S. , Krawczyk Grzegorz , Weber Donald C. , Hoelmer Kim A. , Sanscrainte Neil D. , Becnel James J.
Published: October 2017

We describe a unique microsporidian species that infects the green stink bug, Chinavia hilaris; the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys; the brown stink bug, Euschistus servus; and the dusky stink bug, Euschistus tristigmus. All life stages are unikaryotic, but analysis of the consensus small subunit region of the ribosomal gene places this microsporidium in the genus Nosema, which historically has been characterized by diplokaryotic life stages. It is also characterized by having the reversed arrangement of the ribosomal gene (LSU –ITS‐ SSU) found in species within the “true Nosema” clade. This microsporidium is apparently Holarctic in distribution. It is present in H. halys both where it is native in Asia and where it is invasive in North America, as well as in samples of North American native C. hilaris collected prior to the introduction of H. halys from Asia. Prevalence in H. halys from mid‐Atlantic, North America in 2015–2016 ranged from 0.0% to 28.3%, while prevalence in C. hilaris collected in Illinois in 1970–1972 ranged from 14.3% to 58.8%. Oral infectivity and pathogenicity were confirmed in H. halys and C. hilaris. Morphological, ultrastructural, and ecological features of the microsporidium, together with a molecular phylogeny, establish a new species named Nosema maddoxi sp. nov.
Can floods in large river basins be predicted from floods observed in small subbasins?
Authors: Ayalew T.B. , Krajewski W.F. , Mantilla R. , Zimmerman D.L.
Published: October 2017

Recent results from the analysis of peak floods observed in nested watersheds have revealed the existence of a scale invariant relationship between peak floods and drainage area at the scale of a single rainfall‐runoff event. The relationship follows the power law E[Qe| A] = α(e)Aθ(e) where E[Qe| A] is the expected value of peak flood at a given drainage area A, α(e) is the intercept, and θ(e) is the exponent for a given rainfall‐runoff event ‘e’. These results also revealed that α(e) and θ(e) change from one rainfall‐runoff event to another. In this article, we show that a log‐linear relationship between α(e) and θ(e) can be used to simplify the problem of predicting α(e) and θ(e) from the physical characteristics of the catchment and rainfall. In particular, we show that α(e) can be predicted from peak floods observed in the smallest gauged subcatchment in the basin and its log‐linear relationship with θ(e) can be used to predict peak flood at any location in the basin. We demonstrate this using observed peak floods from the Iowa River basin in the Upper Midwest part of United States.
Pyogenic liver abscess related to intrahepatic bile duct stones: Difficulties in infectious control and diagnosis of concomitant cholangiocarcinoma
Authors: Shi Shao‐hua , Feng Xiao‐ning , Wang Zhuo‐yi , Sun Ke , Xu Jing‐feng , Kong Hai‐shen , Zheng Shu‐sen
Published: October 2017

Background and Aim

Cholangitis, bacteremia, and pyogenic liver abscess (PLA) can be often caused by intrahepatic bile ducts stone (IBDS), which is endemic to South‐East Asia. The association between IBDS and cholangiocarcinoma has been well recognized. Concomitant cholangiocarcinoma in the PLA related to IBDS is often missed.

Methods

A case–control study consisting of 64 patients with PLA related to IBDS and 256 control patients with PLA not related to IBDS was used to investigate clinical features of PLA and incidence of concomitant cholangiocarcinoma in patients with PLA related to IBDS.

Results

The main imaging manifestations of PLA related to IBDS was cystic‐solid lesions and solid lesions. Of seven patients (10.9%) with pathology‐proven cholangiocarcinoma in the same area of PLA related to IBDS among 64 patients, only two patients were initially diagnosed as having concomitant cholangiocarcinoma by biopsy, and other five patients diagnosed as acute inflammatory lesion. Within 60 days after onset, the infection‐related death rate and recurrence rate in patients with PLA related to IBDS were 12.9% and 20.3%, respectively, whereas in patients with PLA not related to IBDS were 3.9% and 3.1%, respectively. Only 25% of patients with PLA related to IBDS underwent surgery after admission. The main pathogens in PLA patients related to IBDS were Escherichia coli and extended‐spectrum beta‐lactamase‐producing Enterobacteriaceae.

Conclusions

The imaging manifestations of PLA related to IBDS often present cystic‐solid or solid lesions. PLA related to IBDS is characterized by high rate of recurrence and infection‐related death, difficulty in diagnosis of concomitant cholangicarcinoma.
Lateral hypothalamic Orexin‐A‐ergic projections to the arcuate nucleus modulate gastric function in vivo
Authors: Luan Xiao , Sun Xiangrong , Guo Feifei , Zhang Di , Wang Cheng , Ma Li , Xu Luo
Published: October 2017

It has been well‐known that hypothalamic orexigenic neuropeptides, orexin‐A, and melanin‐concentrating hormone (MCH), play important roles in regulation of gastric function. However, what neural pathway mediated by the two neuropeptides affects the gastric function remains unknown. In this study, by way of nucleic stimulation and extracellular recording of single unit electrophysiological properties, we found that electrically stimulating the lateral hypothalamic area (LH) or microinjection of orexin‐A into the arcuate nucleus (ARC) excited most gastric distension‐responsive neurons in the nuclei and enhanced the gastric function including motility, emptying, and acid secretion of conscious rats. The results indicated that LH‐ARC orexin‐A‐ergic projections may exist and the orexin‐A in the ARC affected afferent and efferent signal transmission between ARC and stomach. As expected, combination of retrograde tracing and immunohistochemistry showed that some orexin‐A‐ergic neurons projected from the LH to the ARC. In addition, microinjection of MCH and its receptor antagonist PMC‐3881‐PI into the ARC affected the role of orexin‐A in the ARC, indicating a possible involvement of the MCH pathway in the orexin‐A role. Our findings suggest that there was an orexin‐A‐ergic pathway between LH and ARC which participated in transmitting information between the central nuclei and the gastrointestinal tract and in regulating the gastric function of rats.

image
ZENK induction in the zebra finch brain by song: Relationship to hemisphere, rhythm, oestradiol and sex
Authors: Lampen J. , McAuley J. D. , Chang S.‐E. , Wade J.
Published: October 2017

Oestradiol is abundant in the zebra finch auditory forebrain and has the capacity to modulate neural responses to auditory stimuli with specificity as a result of both hemisphere and sex. Arrhythmic song induces greater ZENK expression than rhythmic song in the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM), caudomedial mesopallium (CMM) and nucleus taeniae (Tn) of adult zebra finches. The increases in the auditory regions (i.e. NCM and CMM) may result from detection of errors in the arrhythmic song relative to the learned template. In the present study, zebra finches were treated with oestradiol, the aromatase inhibitor fadrozole or a control and then exposed to rhythmic or arrhythmic song to assess the effect of oestradiol availability on neural responses to auditory rhythms. ZENK mRNA was significantly greater in the left hemisphere within the NCM, CMM and Tn. Main effects of sex were detected in both auditory regions, with increased ZENK in males in the NCM and in females in the CMM. In the CMM, an effect of hormone treatment also existed. Although no pairwise comparison was statistically significant, the pattern suggested greater ZENK expression in control compared to both fadrozole‐ and oestradiol‐treated birds. In the NCM, an interaction between sex and hormone treatment suggested that the sex effect was restricted to control animals. An additional interaction in the NCM among sex, stimulus rhythmicity and hemisphere indicated that the strongest effect of laterality was present in males exposed to arrhythmic song. The hormone effects suggest that an optimal level of oestradiol may exist for processing rhythmicity of auditory stimuli. The overall pattern for left lateralisation parallels the left lateralisation of language processing in humans and may suggest that this hemisphere is specialised for processing conspecific vocalisations. The reversed sex differences in the NCM and CMM suggest that males and females differentially rely on components of the auditory forebrain for processing conspecific song.
Mutation analysis by whole exome sequencing of endometrial hyperplasia and carcinoma in one patient: Abnormalities of polymerase epsilon and the phosphatidylinositol‐3 kinase pathway
Authors: Miyamoto Tsutomu , Ando Hirofumi , Asaka Ryoichi , Yamada Yasushi , Shiozawa Tanri
Published: October 2017

In order to understand the role of gene mutations in endometrial carcinogenesis, whole exome sequencing via laser microdissection was performed in the normal endometrium, atypical endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial carcinoma in the same patient. A total of 4046 and 5746 mutations with amino acid substitution were detected in endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial carcinoma, respectively; 2252 were common in both tissues and might play crucial roles in early carcinogenesis. These common mutations included polymerase epsilon (POLE) and DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes, indicating that an ultra‐mutated phenotype, and also included PTEN and PIK3CA. The mutation‐prone environment evoked by mutations in the POLE and MMR genes associated with the activated phosphatidylinositol‐3 kinase pathway played a pivotal role in this case.
Influence of perinatal low‐dose acetylsalicylic acid therapy on fetal hemodynamics evaluated by determining the acceleration‐time/ejection‐time ratio in the ductus arteriosus
Authors: Miyazaki Miwa , Kuwabara Yoshimitsu , Takeshita Toshiyuki
Published: October 2017

Aim

Acceleration‐time/ejection‐time ratio (At/Et ratio) of Doppler waveform is an established hemodynamic parameters that reflect proximal stenosis. Using this parameter, we evaluated whether perinatal low‐dose acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) therapy could alter hemodynamics in the ductus arteriosus.

Methods

Pulse Doppler measurements of the fetal ductus arteriosus were performed longitudinally from 20 to 37 gestational weeks in 106 healthy pregnant women (controls) and 65 pregnant women taking daily low‐dose ASA (80 or 100 mg/day) because of a history of recurrent pregnancy loss. The At/Et ratio, pulsatility index (PI), and peak systolic velocity were evaluated and statistically analyzed.

Results

The At/Et ratio significantly increased with gestational age in both the ASA group (r = 0.54) and the control group (r = 0.35), while the PI did not. Median peak systolic velocities also increased with gestational age in both the ASA group (r = 0.39) and the control group (r = 0.31). No significant differences in At/Et ratio, PI, or peak systolic velocity were observed between the ASA group and the control group.

Conclusion

Administration of low‐dose ASA during pregnancy did not appear to alter hemodynamics in the fetal ductus arteriosus.
Odontogenic myxoma: A 63‐year retrospective multicenter study of 85 cases in a Brazil population and a review of 999 cases from literature
Authors: Vasconcelos Ana Carolina Uchoa , Silveira Felipe Martins , Gomes Ana Paula Neutzling , Tarquinio Sandra Beatriz Chaves , Sobral Ana Paula Veras , de Arruda José Alcides Almeida , da Silva Leorik Pereira , da Silveira Marcia Maria Fonseca , Barbosa Larissa Ferreira , Kato Camila de Nazaré Alves de Oliveira , Jaeger Filipe , da Silva Tarcília Aparecida , Mesquita Ricardo Alves
Published: October 2017

Background

Odontogenic myxoma (OM) is an uncommon neoplasm of the jaws. Considering the importance of defining the relative incidence and demographic profile of these lesions in South America, the aim of this study was to analyze the clinical and imagiological features of OM from three South American oral pathology services and to discuss these findings in light of the literature.

Methods

Data regarding age, gender, anatomic site, and imagiological features from 85 cases of OM were collected. Additionally, we did a review of OM studies published in three electronic databases.

Results

Among 63 450 oral biopsies, 1178 (1.85%) were odontogenic tumors (World Health Organization ‐ 2017), of which 85 (7.21%) met the criteria of OM. The mean age was 30.7 years (range: 10‐61 years; SD: 12.22). Forty‐five (52.9%) cases occurred in females and 40 (47.1%) in males (ratio: 1:1.12). Maxilla was affected in 44 cases (53%) and mandible in 39 (47%). Of the 41 informed cases (48.2%), all of them were radiolucent lesions. The literature review indicated a majority of mean ages in third decade and a predilection for females, mandible, and multilocular radiolucent lesions.

Conclusions

The features of OM samples have strong similarity to that reported in studies from other continents. It is possible to infer that geographic variation does not help to explain some differences observed in the clinical features of OM.
In situ and in vitro evaluation of crude protein degradation and utilisable crude protein content of barley, rye and triticale grains for ruminants
Authors: Krieg J. , Seifried N. , Steingass H. , Rodehutscord M.
Published: October 2017

Rations for dairy cows are comprised of high proportions of cereal grains. Thus, despite their low crude protein (CP) content, grains can contribute considerably to the CP intake of dairy cows. This study was conducted to describe and compare ruminal CP degradation of a broad range of barley, rye and triticale genotypes in situ and in vitro and different methods to estimate the utilisable CP at the duodenum (uCP). Twenty samples each of rye, barley and triticale were incubated in situ and in vitro. Exponential regression analyses were used to estimate in situ degradation parameters. Further, the effective degradability (ED), ruminal undegraded CP (UDP) and uCP for ruminal passage rates of 5% and 8% per hr were estimated. The uCP was estimated in vitro and based on two different approaches using in situ UDP data and estimates of microbial synthesised protein (based on fermented organic matter [fOM] or equations of the Gesellschaft für Ernährungsphysiologie). The degradation rate declined from rye (43% per hr) to triticale (27% per hr) to barley (20% per hr), and it exhibited remarkable variation between the genotypes of a single species. The maximal degradable CP fraction also differed between the species, but was overall very high (94%–99%). The lowest washout fraction (26%) and the highest variation in ED (77%–86% and 69%–80% for a passage rate of 5% and 8% per hr, respectively) were found in barley. The in situ uCP content (estimated using fOM) was lower for barley than for rye and triticale at ruminal passage rates of 5% and 8% per hr (barley: 157 g/kg DM at both passage rates; rye and triticale: 168 (at 5% per hr) and 169 (at 8% per hr) g/kg DM). In vitro estimations of uCP did not differ between the grain species and uCP estimated according to GfE was higher for triticale than for barley and rye, which did not differ. The low variation within a single grain species and the weak correlations between ruminal CP degradation and nutrient concentrations suggested that differentiation of ED and uCP between the genotypes of a single grain species is not necessary.
Preschoolers’ Distributive Justice When They Distribute Few Total Rewards in a Third‐Party Task
Authors: Tsutsu Kiyomi
Published: October 2017

Five‐year‐old children were presented with a story in which one character made three origami stars and another made nine. Then the participants were asked to distribute small rewards to each character (“Three” or “Four” candies), and were told to use all the candies (“All” instruction), or that “You can leave some candies, if you don't want to use all the candies (‘Partial’ instruction).” In Study 1, almost all children distributed the candies equally (Four). Some participants (28.1%) refused the All instruction for Three, and then equally distributed the candies. They conducted equality allocations in three or all four of the conditions, giving a ratio for “Thorough Egalitarians” of 20–30%. Study 2 used looking‐time measures to assess participants’ judgment. Children looked longer at the amounts of production of two characters in condition Three than in condition Four. Allocation patterns were almost identical to Study 1, but the condition “Partial‐Three” results were not reproduced. The paper discusses the types of egalitarian behavior and the associated production and reward quantities observed.
Bluestocking Studies 2011–2017: The Transnational Turn
Authors: Johns Alessa
Published: October 2017

As international trade, exploration, and communication proliferated in the 18th and early 19th centuries, a significant group of British intellectual women, the Bluestockings, came to recognize themselves as part of a transnational network. They were attentive especially to intellectual pursuits, women's cultural, sociopolitical, and economic interests, and various forms of social progress, and some of these preoccupations developed over the period and fed into first‐wave feminist programs later in the 19th century. I consider the extensive Bluestocking scholarship concentrating on transnationalism as well as recent research that has incorporated international themes. The field of bluestocking studies at this juncture forcefully extends the feminist recovery project and, because of its international interest, might help to counter nationalist and anti‐feminist pressures currently challenging the academy.
KV channels and the regulation of vascular smooth muscle tone
Authors: Jackson William F.
Published: October 2017

VSMCs in resistance arteries and arterioles express a diverse array of KV channels with members of the KV1, KV2 and KV7 families being particularly important. Members of the KV channel family: (i) are highly expressed in VSMCs; (ii) are active at the resting membrane potential of VSMCs in vivo (−45 to −30 mV); (iii) contribute to the negative feedback regulation of VSMC membrane potential and myogenic tone; (iv) are activated by cAMP‐related vasodilators, hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen peroxide; (v) are inhibited by increases in intracellular Ca2+ and vasoconstrictors that signal through Gq‐coupled receptors; (vi) are involved in the proliferative phenotype of VSMCs; and (vii) are modulated by diseases such as hypertension, obesity, the metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Thus, KV channels participate in every aspect of the regulation of VSMC function in both health and disease.
The APSES protein Sok2 is a positive regulator of sporulation in Ashbya gossypii
Authors: Wasserstrom Lisa , Dünkler Alexander , Walther Andrea , Wendland Jürgen
Published: October 2017

Ashbya gossypii is a homothallic, flavinogenic, filamentous ascomycete that starts overproduction of riboflavin and fragments its mycelium quantitatively into spore producing sporangia at the end of a growth phase. Mating is not required for sporulation and the standard homothallic laboratory strain is a MATa strain. Here we show that ectopic expression of Saccharomyces cerevisiae MATα2 in A. gossypii completely suppresses sporulation, inhibits riboflavin overproduction and downregulates among others AgSOK2. AgSok2 belongs to a fungal‐specific group of (APSES) transcription factors. Deletion of AgSOK2 strongly reduces riboflavin production and blocks sporulation. The initiator of meiosis, AgIME1, is a transcription factor essential for sporulation. We characterized the AgIME1 promoter region required for complementation of the Agime1 mutant. Reporter assays with AgIME1 promoter fragments fused to lacZ showed that AgSok2 does not control AgIME1 transcription. However, global transcriptome analysis identified two other essential regulators of sporulation, AgIME2 and AgNDT80, as potential targets of AgSok2. Our data suggest that sporulation and riboflavin production in A. gossypii are under mating type locus and nutritional control. Sok2, a target of the cAMP/protein kinase A pathway, serves as a central positive regulator to promote sporulation. This contrasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae where Sok2 is a repressor of IME1 transcription.
“The Miserable Supper”: César Vallejo and the Poetics of Communion
Authors: Glover Adam
Published: October 2017

This essay examines the image of the Eucharist in the poetry of the Peruvian writer César Vallejo (1892-1938). I argue that unlike his modernista forebears, Vallejo regularly employs the Eucharist not as an image of the ecstasy of sexual union, but instead as an image of guilt, melancholy, frustration, and loss. In one sense, such images can be read as deliberately blasphemous distortions of the Christian picture of the Eucharist Vallejo imbibed as a child. My central thesis, however, will be that the same images can also be read, perhaps in part against Vallejo's own intentions, not as distortions of the Eucharist but as offering insights into the nature of the sacrament itself. I develop this thesis in two parts. First, I argue that despite the centrality to eucharistic theology of the themes of communion, spiritual intimacy, and “real presence”—themes that made it an almost irresistible poetic symbol of sexual desire—the Eucharist itself is also and fundamentally a sacrament of absence, delay, and failure. Second, I suggest that by drawing, however implicitly, on these latent elements of eucharistic theology, Vallejo's poetry opens up a space to think about certain aspects of the sacrament which the modernistas’ erotic exuberance tended systematically to obscure.
Metabolism within the specialized guard cells of plants
Authors: Daloso Danilo M. , Medeiros David B. , dos Anjos Letícia , Yoshida Takuya , Araújo Wagner L. , Fernie Alisdair R.
Published: October 2017

Contents

Summary
1018

I.
Introduction
1018

II.
Guard cell photosynthesis
1019

III.
Guard cell central metabolism
1022

IV.
Guard cell starch metabolism differs from that of mesophyll cells and plays a key role in stomatal movement
1025

V.
Connectors between mesophyll and guard cells
1026

VI.
Challenges and perspectives in understanding and modelling guard cell metabolism
1029

Acknowledgements
1030

References
1030

Stomata are leaf epidermal structures consisting of two guard cells surrounding a pore. Changes in the aperture of this pore regulate plant water‐use efficiency, defined as gain of C by photosynthesis per leaf water transpired. Stomatal aperture is actively regulated by reversible changes in guard cell osmolyte content. Despite the fact that guard cells can photosynthesize on their own, the accumulation of mesophyll‐derived metabolites can seemingly act as signals which contribute to the regulation of stomatal movement. It has been shown that malate can act as a signalling molecule and a counter‐ion of potassium, a well‐established osmolyte that accumulates in the vacuole of guard cells during stomatal opening. By contrast, their efflux from guard cells is an important mechanism during stomatal closure. It has been hypothesized that the breakdown of starch, sucrose and lipids is an important mechanism during stomatal opening, which may be related to ATP production through glycolysis and mitochondrial metabolism, and/or accumulation of osmolytes such as sugars and malate. However, experimental evidence supporting this theory is lacking. Here we highlight the particularities of guard cell metabolism and discuss this in the context of the guard cells themselves and their interaction with the mesophyll cells.
Two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional models for studying atherosclerosis pathogenesis induced by periodontopathogenic microorganisms
Authors: Gualtero D.F. , Lafaurie G.I. , Fontanilla M.R.
Published: October 2017

Epidemiological studies have established a clinical association between periodontal disease and atherosclerosis. Bacteremia and endotoxemia episodes in patients with periodontitis appear to link these two diseases by inducing a body‐wide production of cardiovascular markers. The presence of oral bacteria in atherosclerotic lesions in patients with periodontitis suggests that bacteria, or their antigenic components, induce alterations in the endothelium associated with atherosclerosis. Therefore, a causal mechanism explaining the association between both diseases can be constructed using in vitro models. This review presents current experimental approaches based on in vitro cell models used to shed light on the mechanism by which periodontal pathogenic microorganisms, and their antigenic components, induce proatherosclerotic endothelial activity. Monolayer cultures of endothelial vascular or arterial cells have been used to assess periodontal pathogenic bacteria and their antigenic compounds and endothelial activation. However, these models are not capable of reflecting the physiological characteristics of the endothelium inside vascularized tissue. Therefore, the shift from two‐dimensional (2D) cellular models toward three‐dimensional (3D) models of endothelial cells resembling an environment close to the physiological environment of the endothelial cell within the endothelium is useful for evaluating the physiological relevance of results regarding the endothelial dysfunction induced by periodontopathogens that are currently obtained from 2D models. The use of in vitro 3D cellular models can also be relevant to the search for therapeutic agents for chronic inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis. Here, we present some strategies for the assembly of 3D cultures with endothelial cells, which is useful for the study of periodontopathogen‐mediated disease.
Predictors of aging based on the analysis of heart rate variability
Authors: Botsva Nataliia , Naishtetik Iryna , Khimion Ludmyla , Chernetchenko Dmitriy
Published: October 2017

Background

The current significant progress in the use of heart rate variability in the solution of many diagnostic and therapeutic problems is determined by the availability of standardized methods of measurement and physiological interpretation of heart rate variability indices on the one hand and the high technological level of state‐of‐the‐art electronic measuring equipment that is used for automatic registration and computer processing of cardio‐signals.

Methods

A retrospective analysis of anonymized cardio screening results of 22,433 adult residents of 565 settlements (cities and villages) across all 20 administrative districts of the Khmelnytskyi Region (Ukraine) was conducted to find a statistically significant connection between individual heart rate variability parameters and the age of people.

Results

Primary statistical analysis and visualization showed a correlation between the selected heart rate variability parameters and the age and sex of the examined persons.

The study found values of the predicted age slightly over estimation versus the actual age for very young test subjects and below estimation for elderly subjects.

Conclusion

The use of neural network computations and the modification of the algorithm through the construction of individual training samples for different age intervals, and the creation of individual ensembles of classification neural networks, therefore achieved a prediction of the age of examined persons based on the values of their time and frequency domain heart rate variability indices, with 87% accuracy for women and 85% accuracy for men in the 66–85 years age interval and at least 85% for age groups across the entire sample.
Hypertension and improved left ventricular mass index in children after renal transplantation
Authors: Ramoğlu Mehmet G. , Uçar Tayfun , Yılmaz Songül , Özçakar Z. Birsin , Kurt‐Şükür Eda Didem , Tutar Ercan , Yalçınkaya Fatoş , Atalay Semra
Published: October 2017

This study was conducted to evaluate the changes in BP and LVH after the transplantation and to evaluate the effect of BP changes in LVH. Forty‐three pediatric renal transplant patients, with a mean age of 16.99 ± 3.88 years, were enrolled in this study. Twenty‐three (53.5%) of the patients were male. Medical records for pretransplantation period (closest to the time of transplantation) and for post‐transplantation period (9‐12 months after transplantation) were reviewed. All the patients had BP measurements and echocardiographic evaluation in pre‐ and post‐transplantation period. Hypertension was defined as an average systolic and/or diastolic BP that is ≥95th percentile for sex, age, and height. Although the number of patients with hypertension increased from 30 (69.76%) to 35 (81.4%), the number of patients with LVH decreased from 19 (44.1%) to 9 (20.9%) after the transplantation. Although the only significant difference in BP measurements was between the mean Z scores of 24 hour and nighttime mean DBP before and after the transplantation; the mean LVMI, and the prevalence of LVH was significantly lower after the transplantation. There was no significant correlation between the LVMI and the BP measurements. Even though hypertension may persist, there is significant improvement in LVH after renal transplantation.
Physiological dissection revealed that both uptake and assimilation are the major components regulating different growth responses of two tobacco cultivars to nitrogen nutrition
Authors: Fan T.‐F. , He M.‐J. , Li C.‐J. , Shi D.‐X. , Yang C. , Chen Y.‐Y. , Ke J. , Chen Y.‐X. , Zhang L. , Li D.‐Q. , Liu L.‐H. , Xu C.
Published: October 2017

K326 and HD represent major tobacco cultivars in China, which required large N fertiliser input but at different application rates. To understand primary components affecting tobacco N use physiology, we adopted these two varieties as valuable genetic material to assess their growth response to N nutrition.

We established a hydroponic culture system to grow plants supplied with different N regimes. Plant biomass, N, ammonium, nitrate, arginine, GS and NR activity, N transfer and use efficiency as well as root uptake were examined.

Our data revealed the preference of K326 and HD to utilise nitrate or ammonium nitrate but not ammonium alone, with 2 mm N supply probably sufficient and economical to achieve good biomass production at the vegetative stage. Moreover, both varieties were very sensitive to ammonium, perhaps due to lack of or abnormal signalling related to nitrate and/or arginine rather than impairment of N acquisition and initial assimilation; this was supported by measurements of the plant content of N, ammonium and activities of GS and NR. Notably, short‐term 15N root influx studies identified differential uptake kinetics of K326 and HD, with distinct affinities and transport rates for ammonium and nitrate.

The data suggest that the growth adaptation of K326 or HD to higher or lower N may be ascribed to different competences for effective N uptake/translocation and assimilation. Thus, our work provides valuable information to prompt deeper investigation of the molecular basis controlling plant N use efficiency.
How does climate change affect regeneration of Mediterranean high‐mountain plants? An integration and synthesis of current knowledge
Authors: Giménez‐Benavides L. , Escudero A. , García‐Camacho R. , García‐Fernández A. , Iriondo J. M. , Lara‐Romero C. , Morente‐López J.
Published: October 2017

Mediterranean mountains are extraordinarily diverse and hold a high proportion of endemic plants, but they are particularly vulnerable to climate change, and most species distribution models project drastic changes in community composition. Retrospective studies and long‐term monitoring also highlight that Mediterranean high‐mountain plants are suffering severe range contractions. The aim of this work is to review the current knowledge of climate change impacts on the process of plant regeneration by seed in Mediterranean high‐mountain plants, by combining available information from observational and experimental studies. We also discuss some processes that may provide resilience against changing environmental conditions and suggest some research priorities for the future. With some exceptions, there is still little evidence of the direct effects of climate change on pollination and reproductive success of Mediterranean high‐mountain plants, and most works are observational and/or centred only in the post‐dispersal stages (germination and establishment). The great majority of studies agree that the characteristic summer drought and the extreme heatwaves, which are projected to be more intense in the future, are the most limiting factors for the regeneration process. However, there is an urgent need for studies combining elevational gradient approaches with experimental manipulations of temperature and drought to confirm the magnitude and variability of species′ responses. There is also limited knowledge about the ability of Mediterranean high‐mountain plants to cope with climate change through phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation processes. This could be achieved by performing common garden and reciprocal translocation experiments with species differing in life history traits.
The significance of glutathione and ascorbate in modulating the retrograde high light response in Arabidopsis thaliana leaves
Authors: König Katharina , Vaseghi Mohamad Javad , Dreyer Anna , Dietz Karl‐Josef
Published: October 2017

Retrograde signals from the chloroplast control expression of nuclear genes. A large fraction of these genes is affected rapidly upon light intensity shifts. This study was designed to address the interdependence of signaling pathways involved in the rapid high light response and redox and reactive oxygen species signaling by exploiting the glutathione and ascorbate deficient mutants pad2 and vtc1. In the first set of experiments the transcriptional response of the two transcription factors ERF6 and ERF105 that had previously been shown to rapidly respond to light was shown to be deregulated in the pad2 mutant but not in the vtc1 background. The transcriptional response after combining the low‐to‐high light transfer with methylviologen pretreatment further demonstrated the significance of glutathione in strongly modulating the retrograde response. Transcripts encoding small heat shock proteins (HSP17.4, HSP176a, HSP20‐like1 and HSP20‐like2) and the lipid transfer protein LTP3 were taken as markers responding to the combinatorial treatment in wild type, and most strongly in pad2 in high light or upon methylviologen treatment. A correlation with H2O2 accumulation was not observed. It is concluded that glutathione‐dependent processes participate in light‐triggered rapid gene regulation independent on cellular H2O2.
Isolation and analysis of a stromule‐overproducing Arabidopsis mutant suggest the role of PARC6 in plastid morphology maintenance in the leaf epidermis
Authors: Itoh Ryuuichi D. , Ishikawa Hiroki , Nakajima Kohdai P. , Moriyama Shota , Fujiwara Makoto T.
Published: October 2017

Stromules, or stroma‐filled tubules, are thin extensions of the plastid envelope membrane that are most frequently observed in undifferentiated or non‐mesophyll cells. The formation of stromules is developmentally regulated and responsive to biotic and abiotic stress; however, the physiological roles and molecular mechanisms of the stromule formation remain enigmatic. Accordingly, we attempted to obtain Arabidopsis thaliana mutants with aberrant stromule biogenesis in the leaf epidermis. Here, we characterize one of the obtained mutants. Plastids in the leaf epidermis of this mutant were giant and pleomorphic, typically having one or more constrictions that indicated arrested plastid division, and usually possessed one or more extremely long stromules, which indicated the deregulation of stromule formation. Genetic mapping, whole‐genome resequencing‐aided exome analysis, and gene complementation identified PARC6/CDP1/ARC6H, which encodes a vascular plant‐specific, chloroplast division site‐positioning factor, as the causal gene for the stromule phenotype. Yeast two‐hybrid assay and double mutant analysis also identified a possible interaction between PARC6 and MinD1, another known chloroplast division site‐positioning factor, during the morphogenesis of leaf epidermal plastids. To the best of our knowledge, PARC6 is the only known A. thaliana chloroplast division factor whose mutations more extensively affect the morphology of plastids in non‐mesophyll tissue than in mesophyll tissue. Therefore, the present study demonstrates that PARC6 plays a pivotal role in the morphology maintenance and stromule regulation of non‐mesophyll plastids.
A molecular approach to drought‐induced reduction in leaf CO2 exchange in drought‐resistant Quercus ilex
Authors: Rodríguez‐Calcerrada Jesús , Rodrigues Ana M. , Perdiguero Pedro , António Carla , Atkin Owen K. , Li Meng , Collada Carmen , Gil Luis
Published: October 2017

Drought‐induced reduction of leaf gas exchange entails a complex regulation of the plant leaf metabolism. We used a combined molecular and physiological approach to understand leaf photosynthetic and respiratory responses of 2‐year‐old Quercus ilex seedlings to drought. Mild drought stress resulted in glucose accumulation while net photosynthetic CO2 uptake (Pn) remained unchanged, suggesting a role of glucose in stress signaling and/or osmoregulation. Simple sugars and sugar alcohols increased throughout moderate‐to‐very severe drought stress conditions, in parallel to a progressive decline in Pn and the quantum efficiency of photosystem II; by contrast, minor changes occurred in respiration rates until drought stress was very severe. At very severe drought stress, 2‐oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex gene expression significantly decreased, and the abundance of most amino acids dramatically increased, especially that of proline and γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) suggesting enhanced protection against oxidative damage and a reorganization of the tricarboxylic cycle acid cycle via the GABA shunt. Altogether, our results point to Q. ilex drought tolerance being linked to signaling and osmoregulation by hexoses during early stages of drought stress, and enhanced protection against oxidative damage by polyols and amino acids under severe drought stress.
Compassion for self and others as key aspects of well‐being in changing times
Authors: Wiklund Gustin Lena
Published: October 2017

Compassion has been put forth as a core concept in caring science, although there has also been a debate over whether it is a nonprofessional sentiment or not. In this theoretical article, I reflect on compassion not only for others but also for oneself as being important for patients’ as well as professionals’ well‐being. My reflections on compassion as being essential in caring are grounded not only in caring science but also in research from other disciplines, as a means of exploring why we need compassion in caring from different perspectives. My conclusion is that in changing times, where patients as well as caregivers are confronted with challenges in life, compassion for self as well as others must be acknowledged as pivotal in relation to well‐being and care.
Internal architecture of mass‐transport deposits in basinal carbonates: A case study from southern Italy
Authors: Jablonská Danica , Di Celma Claudio Nicola , Alsop Geoffrey Ian , Tondi Emanuele
Published: October 2017

Submarine mass‐transport deposits represent important stratigraphic heterogeneities within slope and basinal sedimentary successions. A poor understanding of how their distribution and internal architecture affect the fluid flow migration pathway may lead to unexpected compartmentalization issues in reservoir analysis. Studies of modern carbonate mass‐transport deposits mainly focus on large seismic‐scale slope failures; however, the near‐platform basinal depositional environment often hosts mass‐transport deposits of various dimensions. The small‐scale and meso‐scale (metres to several tens of metres) carbonate mass‐transport deposits play a considerable role in distribution of sediment and therefore have an impact on the heterogeneity of the succession. In order to further constrain the geometry and internal architecture of mass‐transport deposits developed in near‐slope basinal carbonates, a structural and sedimentological analysis of sub‐seismic‐scale mass‐transport deposits has been undertaken on the eastern margin of the Apulian carbonate platform in the Gargano Promontory, south‐east Italy. These mass‐transport deposits, that locally comprise a large proportion (50 to 60%) of the base of slope to basinal sediments of the Cretaceous Maiolica Formation, typically display a vertically bipartite character, including debrites and slump deposits of varying volume ratios. A range of brittle and ductile deformation styles developed within distinct bed packages, together with the presence of both chert clasts, folded chert layers and spherical chert nodules, suggest that sediments were at different stages of lithification prior to downslope movement associated with mass‐transport deposits. This study helps elucidate the emplacement processes, frequency and character of subseismic‐scale mass‐transport deposits within the basinal carbonate environment, and thereby reduces the uncertainties in the characterization of subsurface carbonate geofluid reservoirs.
Eogenetic diagenesis of Chinle sandstones, Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona, USA): A record of Late Triassic climate change
Authors: Jin Cong , Dworkin Steve , Atchley Stacy , Nordt Lee
Published: October 2017

Fluvially derived tuffaceous Chinle sandstones from Petrified Forest National Park provide a well‐preserved Late Triassic archive of climate information. Petrographic analysis of 38 Chinle sandstones provides new insight into the depositional history and evolution of palaeoclimate during Chinle deposition. This study focuses on the relationship between climate and meteoric diagenesis as a guide for constraining climate change in western equatorial Pangea during the Late Triassic. Petrographic analysis of Chinle sandstones reveals their wide range of textural attributes, as well as pedogenic and shallow burial diagenetic features that occurred during the Late Triassic. These diverse petrological characteristics are indicative of the evolving Late Triassic climate, when placed into a well‐constrained stratigraphic and geochronological framework. The stratigraphic succession is characterized by variations in the abundance of framework grains, detrital matrix, weathering intensity of feldspar and volcanic rock fragments, and the mineralogy of clay cements. Climate records from Chinle palaeosol geochemistry indicate a progression from wet to dry conditions. This trend is also reflected in the meteoric diagenetic features of Chinle sandstones. During deposition of the lower Chinle, elevated rainfall promoted the weathering of labile volcanic detritus to kaolinite, whereas feldspars (especially plagioclase) were partially or completely dissolved. In the upper Chinle, a trend towards drier conditions favoured the formation of smectite and less feldspar dissolution resulting in a higher abundance of well‐preserved plagioclase grains. Shallow burial meteoric weathering reactions in Chinle sandstones reflect the evolving climate during the Late Triassic.
When less is more: Psychometric properties of Norwegian short‐forms of the Ambivalent Sexism Scales (ASI and AMI) and the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance (IRMA) Scale
Authors: Bendixen Mons , Kennair Leif Edward Ottesen
Published: October 2017

This paper reports on the development and the psychometric properties of short forms of Ambivalent Sexism Scales toward women (ASI; Glick & Fiske, 1996) and men (AMI; Glick & Fiske, 1999), and a scale measuring rape stereotypes (IRMA; McMahon & Farmer, 2011). The short form AMI/ASI were applied for examining gender and educational differences in university students (N = 512) and in high school students (N = 1381), and for predicting individual differences in rape stereotypes in the latter. The short forms demonstrated good to excellent psychometric properties across samples of emerging adults. Relative to female students, male students reported markedly more hostility toward women and more stereotypical beliefs about rape. Despite sampling from a highly gender egalitarian and secular culture, these gender differences are on a par with those reported internationally. Rape stereotypes were predicted by sexism in high school students. Additional predictors were educational program, relationship status, and acceptance of derogatory sexual slurs. The paper questions the validity of separate constructs for benevolent sexism toward women versus men. The short form versions of the scales may substitute the original versions in future research, and help prevent attrition while measuring the same constructs.
A psychometric evaluation of the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ) in a Swedish sample
Authors: Nystrom Beatrice , Bengtsson Hans
Published: October 2017

Personality is generally considered to be biologically founded in temperament, and temperamental qualities have proven to be relatively stable across childhood and into adulthood (Caspi, Roberts & Shiner, ). Temperament predicts important developmental outcomes such as academic performance (Muris, ), and social functioning (Eisenberg, Fabes, Guthrie & Reiser, ), and it has also been found to be strongly related to the etiology and maintenance of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology in children (Muris, Meesters & Blijlevens, ; Nigg, ). To allow for the possibility of making early interventions, identification of potential risk factors (such as temperamental dispositions) is of great importance (Rettew & McKee, ). As temperament is multidimensional and has many different manifestations, parents and teachers are valuable sources in providing information about children's temperament (Rothbart & Bates, ; Tackett, Slobodskaya, Mar et al., ), and caregiver questionnaires are frequently used in child personality research. However, such questionnaires are only useful if their reliability and validity have been established. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ; Simonds, Kieras, Rueda & Rothbart, ), which focuses specifically on the ages between 7 and 11 years. The TMCQ is the least validated of the Rothbart measures, and although reliability data have been presented, together with some validity data, for a computerized self‐report version of the questionnaire (Simonds & Rothbart, ), information about the reliability and validity for the caregiver version is scant. In the present paper, we report such data for a Swedish sample.