bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ultrasonographic assessment and ultrasound‐guided biopsy of the retropharyngeal lymph nodes in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus)
Authors: Hildebrandt T. B. , Hermes R. , Ratanakorn P. , Rietschel W. , Fickel J. , Frey R. , Wibbelt G. , Reid C. , Göritz F.
Published: October 2014

Endotheliotropic herpesvirus causes a fatal disease in young Asian elephants, but there are no methods for identifying latent carriers of the virus. During the postmortem study of one female African elephant and three male and two female Asian elephants, a lymph node located bilaterally caudoventral to the parotid gland, approximately 1·5 to 5 cm below the skin, was identified as suitable for transcutaneous ultrasound‐guided biopsy. An ultrasonographic assessment and two biopsies were performed on 39 Asian elephants, and these lymph nodes were classified ultrasonographically as active, inactive or chronically active. The calculated mean (se) volume of 10 active lymph nodes was 17·4 (6·9) cm3, and that of three chronically active lymph nodes was 10·6 (1·0) cm3, whereas the mean volume of 17 inactive lymph nodes was 3·1 (0·6) cm3. The presence of lymph node tissue in samples obtained by ultrasound‐guided biopsy from three animals that were maintained under conditions that allowed for additional sampling was confirmed histologically. The DNA extracted from the lymphoid tissue and the whole blood of all the elephants was negative for endotheliotropic herpesvirus by PCR.
Field evaluation of the efficacy of fenbendazole in captive wild ruminants
Authors: Goossens E. , Dorny P. , Vercammen F. , Vercruysse J.
Published: October 2014

The efficacy of in‐feed fenbendazole at a dose rate of 7·5 mg/kg bodyweight for three consecutive days was assessed in five Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx), six scimitar‐horned oryx (Oryx dammah), 14 slender‐horned gazelles (Gazella leptoceros), eight Soay sheep (Ovis aries aries soay), 13 alpine ibex (Capra ibex ibex), six red deer (Cervus elaphus hippelaphus) and 11 Nelson’s elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) kept in five herds in a zoo. The efficacy was assessed by means of repeated faecal egg count reduction (FECR) tests and in vitro egg hatch assays. Fenbendazole was highly effective against nematodes in five of the seven species, consistently reducing egg shedding by more than 90 per cent. In the egg hatch assays of the five herds, 50 per cent inhibition of hatching (LD50) was observed at a concentration of thiabendazole below 0·1 μg/ml. In the Arabian oryx and alpine ibex the efficacy of fenbendazole was less than 90 per cent, and the LD50 in the egg hatch assays was between 0·1 and 0·2 μg/ml thiabendazole.
Cholecystitis in otters (Lutra lutra) and mink (Mustela vison) caused by the fluke Pseudamphistomum truncatum
Authors: Simpson V. R. , Gibbons L. M. , Khalil L. F. , Williams J. L. R.
Published: October 2014

Between 1988 and 2004, postmortem examinations were carried out on 445 otters found dead, mostly as a result of road traffic accidents, in southern and south‐west England. Thickened, shrunken gall bladders were observed in 10 cases, the first in 2000 and the others between February 2002 and August 2004. A digenean fluke, Pseudamphistomum truncatum, was found in the gall bladders of three cases and also in three of seven American mink examined. Nine of the 10 otters and all the mink came from a localised area of Somerset, indicating that the fluke has become established in the local fish population. P truncatum has not been recorded previously in Britain, and the results suggest that it has been introduced recently, possibly in imported fish
Shedding of Mycobacterium bovis in the nasal mucus of cattle infected experimentally with tuberculosis by the intranasal and intratracheal routes
Authors: McCorry T. , Whelan A. O. , Welsh M. D. , McNair J. , Walton E. , Bryson D. G. , Hewinson R. G. , Vordermeier H. M. , Pollock J. M.
Published: October 2014

Four groups of six calves were infected experimentally with either a low dose of approximately 104 colony‐forming units (cfu) or a high dose of approximately 106 cfu of Mycobacterium bovis. Each dose was delivered by the intranasal and intratracheal routes. More severe disease was observed in the groups inoculated with the high dose. Visible lesions were identified in 21 of the 24 animals, all of which also gave positive skin tests and interferon‐γ (IFN ‐γ) responses. Nasal shedding was detected in 15 of the 24 animals and the frequency of shedding was influenced by both the route and the dose of infection; no shedding was observed in the group infected intratracheally with the low dose. Two of the 15 confirmed shedders had no visible lesions at postmortem examination; both of these calves gave IFN ‐γ responses but only one was skin test positive.
Molecular evidence of tick‐transmitted infections in dogs and cats in the United Kingdom
Authors: Shaw S. E. , Binns S. H. , Birtles R. J. , Day M. J. , Smithson R. C. , Kenny M. J.
Published: October 2014

PCR analysis was used to determine the prevalence of tick‐transmitted infections in 120 systemically ill dogs and 60 cats recruited over a period of three months from 52 veterinary practices in the UK. The animals had not travelled outside the UK and had one or more of the following clinical criteria: acute or recurrent pyrexia, anaemia and/or thrombocytopenia, polyarthritis/muscle pain, splenomegaly/lymphadenopathy, and intraocular inflammation with systemic signs. Blood samples from the animals were tested for the presence of DNA from Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and Anaplasma phagocytophilum by using simple PCR targeting. B burgdorferi sensu lato was detected in five dogs and two cats, and A phagocytophilum was detected in one dog and one cat. These results provide the first molecular evidence of naturally occurring B burgdorferi sensu lato infection in cats in the UK and confirm that A phagocytophilum infection is present in cats. There were no statistically significant associations between the infections and the clinical signs shown by the dogs and cats.
Slaughterhouse survey of pyelonephritis in dairy cows
Authors: Rosenbaum A. , Guard C. L. , Njaa B. L. , McDonagh P. L. , Schultz C. A. , Warnick L. D. , White M. E.
Published: October 2014

Twenty‐one rejected kidneys from 2426 slaughtered dairy cows (0·87 per cent) had gross signs of pyelonephritis that were confirmed by histopathology. In all the kidneys the findings were consistent with a chronic rather than an acute infection. One species of bacteria was cultured from 12 of the kidneys and two species of bacteria were cultured from six. The most commonly isolated bacteria were Escherichia coli, from eight kidneys, Arcanobacterium pyogenes, from seven kidneys and Corynebacterium renale, from five kidneys. The other bacteria cultured were Corynebacterium cystitidis, Corynebacterium species, Streptococcus species group G and Enterococcus faecalis. E coli was cultured from all the kidneys from which two species were isolated; the accompanying bacteria were A pyogenes in three kidneys, C renale in two and C cystitidis in one. No bacteria were cultured from two of the kidneys and no significant bacteria were cultured from another. The kidneys with pyelonephritis were slightly larger than a comparison group of 72 kidneys without nephritis.
Spread of Coxiella burnetii infection in a flock of sheep after an episode of Q fever
Authors: Berri M. , Crochet D. , Santiago S. , Rodolakis A.
Published: October 2014

In October 1998, two abortions associated with Coxiella burnetii occurred in a group of 34 pregnant ewes in the sheep flock belonging to INRA Tours‐Nouzilly. The flock was kept in groups of approximately 40 ewes, which were housed together in the same accommodation. The prevalence of C burnetii infection in the groups was investigated by using ELISA and PCR tests, which revealed a high prevalence of C burnetii. The ewes were treated with oxytetracycline to reduce the shedding of C burnetii and to prevent further abortions. Nevertheless, five abortions attributed to C burnetii occurred in January and March 1999 in three groups of ewes, and 24 of the ewes still shed the bacteria into their vaginal tracts. In addition, a serological study was carried out during the first year of life of the female lambs born in 1999 and 2000; 12 per cent of 113 lambs born in 1999 were seropositive for C burnetii by ELISA, and half of the ELISA ‐positive lambs were born either to serologically positive ewes or to dams that excreted the pathogen into their vaginal tracts. However, all the 150 lambs born in 2000 were ELISA ‐negative, suggesting that the preventive measures undertaken had suppressed both the abortions and the shedding of C burnetii, and reduced the transmission of the agent.
Effects of insulation on the temperature within farrowing huts and the weaning weights of piglets reared on a commercial outdoor pig unit
Authors: Randolph C. E. , O’Gorman A. J. , Potter R. A. , Jones P. H. , Miller B. G.
Published: October 2014

The air temperatures inside uninsulated and insulated huts were recorded on an outdoor pig unit in the south of England between September 1997 and September 1998, and the herd’s production parameters were also recorded. During the summer the temperatures inside some of the uninsulated huts exceeded 45°C, but the temperatures inside the insulated huts were lower and fluctuated less. Despite the high temperatures, the weaning weight of piglets reared in the uninsulated huts were often higher than those of the piglets reared in the insulated huts, possibly as a result of the higher mortality of small piglets in the uninsulated huts, especially during the winter. The weaning weights of the piglets were higher during the summer.
Clinical and pathological responses of weaned pigs to atmospheric ammonia and dust
Authors: Done S. H. , Chennells D. J. , Gresham A. C. J. , Williamson S. , Hunt B. , Taylor L. L. , Bland V. , Jones P. , Armstrong D. , White R. P. , Demmers T. G. M. , Teer N. , Wathes C. M.
Published: October 2014

Nine hundred and sixty weaned pigs were exposed for five weeks to controlled concentrations of atmospheric ammonia and dust in a single, multifactorial experiment. The treatments were a mean dust concentration of either 1·2, 2·7, 5·1 or 9·9 mg/m3 (inhalable fraction) and a mean ammonia concentration of either 0·6, 10·0, 18·8 or 37·0 ppm, concentrations representative of commercial conditions. The experiment was carried out over two years and the pigs were used in eight batches, each consisting of five lots of 24 pigs. Each treatment combination was replicated once, and an additional control lot (nominally 0 mg/m3 dust and 0 ppm ammonia) was included in each batch. The dust concentration was the same in the other four lots in each batch in which the four concentrations of ammonia were used; thus, the split‐plot design was more sensitive to the effects of ammonia than dust. The groups of pigs were kept separately in five rooms in a purpose‐built facility, and the pollutants were injected continuously into the air supply. Ammonia was supplied from a pressurised cylinder, and the endogenous dust in each room was supplemented by an artificial dust manufactured from feed, barley straw and faeces, mixed by weight in the proportions 5:1:4; its ingredients were oven‐dried, milled and mixed, and then resuspended in the air supply. The health of the pigs was assessed in terms of general pathology, respiratory tract pathology, and the microbiology of the nasal cavity, trachea and lung. In each batch, postmortem examinations were carried out on 40 pigs after five weeks’ exposure to the pollutants and on 30 pigs two weeks later to test for carryover and recovery – a total of 560 pigs. These examinations revealed minimal gross pathology and widespread minor pathological changes of little significance. The pigs’ turbinate and lung scores were low and unaffected by exposure to pollutants. All the putative bacterial pathogens, with the exception of toxigenic Pasteurella multocida type D, were isolated from the respiratory tract of the pigs of both ages, but there were no differences between the effects of the different concentrations of pollutants.
Frequency and cost of human intervention at lambing: an interbreed comparison
Authors: Dwyer C. M. , Lawrence A. B.
Published: October 2014

The frequency of human intervention during lambing was assessed for 708 lambs and 162 ewes in up to four deliveries. In total, 21·8 per cent of the lambs born alive required some assistance at birth and 9·4 per cent were delivered manually. Assistance was required less frequently by twin lambs and ewe lambs, and Scottish blackface lambs required assistance less frequently than Suffolk lambs. Approximately one‐third of the ewes were assisted in at least one delivery and 10 per cent were assisted in all their deliveries; however, less than 20 per cent of ewes were assisted more than once. A quarter of the lambs needed some human intervention to suck successfully, and Suffolk lambs needed help more frequently. The lambs born to almost half the first‐parity ewes needed help to suck, but at later deliveries the lambs born to less than a third of the ewes needed assistance. In blackface flocks the survival of 100 lambs required 4·6 hours of human intervention whereas in Suffolk flocks 28 hours were required.
Bluetongue virus isolations from midges belonging to the Obsoletus complex (Culicoides, Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in Italy
Authors: Savini G. , Goffredo M. , Monaco F. , Di Gennaro A. , Cafiero M. A. , Baldi L. , de Santis P. , Meiswinkel R. , Caporale V.
Published: October 2014

Between July and September 2002 there were outbreaks of bluetongue on three sheep holdings in the communities of San Gregorio Magno (Salerno, Campania), Laviano (Salerno, Campania) and Carpino (Foggia, Puglia), and the involvement of bluetongue virus (BTV) was confirmed serologically and virologically. The mortality rate was at least 11 per cent and involved BTV serotype 2 (BTV‐2) and serotype 9 (BTV‐9). These holdings were also surveyed for the Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) vectors; approximately 10,000 midges belonging to 15 species were captured, but they did not include a single specimen of the classical Afro‐Asiatic bluetongue vector, Culicoides imicola. Species belonging to the Obsoletus complex dominated the light‐trap collections, and Culicoides obsoletus Meigen, Culicoides scoticus Downes and Kettle and Culicoides dewulfi Goetghebuer constituted 90 per cent of all the Culicoides species captured. Fifty‐six pools of the Obsoletus complex (excluding C dewulfi), each containing 100 individual midges and containing only parous and gravid females, were assayed for virus. BTV‐2 was isolated from three pools from San Gregorio Magno and Carpino, and BTV‐9 was isolated from one pool from Laviano. These results indicate that a species other than C imicola is involved in the current re‐emergence of bluetongue in the Mediterranean Basin, but whether it is C obsoletus sensu stricto or C scoticus, or both, is uncertain.
Persistence of Salmonella Typhimurium DT120 in abattoir paddocks holding sheep
Authors: Purvis G. M. , Hullah K. , Pascoe S. J. S. , Evans S. J. , Davies R. H.
Published: October 2014

In the summer of 1999 there was an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium DT120 in people in the north of England which was unusual in being sensitive to antimicrobial drugs. The outbreak was linked to mutton and lamb from a local abattoir, and attention focused on four holding paddocks used to retain sheep before slaughter. In November 1999, samples of soil and faeces were taken from these paddocks and samples of faeces were taken from the concrete race leading from them. Salmonella Typhimurium was isolated from 59 of the 100 samples. Between January 2000 and October 2000 seven visits were made to the abattoir at each of which 100 samples were taken from the paddocks and concrete race and examined for the presence of Salmonella. The paddocks remained heavily contaminated with S Typhimurium DT120 until April when there was a marked reduction in the recovery of the organism. By June the contamination was minimal and by August it had disappeared, and the organism was not recovered in September or October.
Carpal collateral ligament desmopathy in three horses
Authors: Desmaizières L‐M. , Cauvin E. R.
Published: October 2014

The radiographic and ultrasonographic findings in three horses with severe damage to the collateral ligaments of the carpus, associated with degenerative joint disease, are described. The horses remained lame despite prolonged rest and medical management, primarily because of the progression of the joint disease. Ultrasonography was found to be an accurate method for diagnosing the injury to the ligaments and is recommended as part of a routine examination in suspected carpal injuries.
Risk factors for the infection of Swiss goat herds with small ruminant lentivirus: a case‐control study
Authors: Brülisauer F. , Vogt H‐R. , Perler L. , Rüfenacht J.
Published: October 2014

In the mid‐1980s, Switzerland started a programme to eradicate caprine arthritis‐encephalitis – an infectious disease of goats caused by the small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV). Since 1996, progress towards eradication has slowed down, owing to infections occurring on farms from which the infection had previously been eliminated. To investigate specific risk factors for these new infections and to improve the eradication programme, a case‐control study was conducted. Cases consisted of farms that had been officially free of SRLV for at least three consecutive years but on which at least one SRLV ‐seropositive animal had been detected during the annual serological surveys of 2001 and 2002. On all the case and control farms where sheep were housed together with goats, a subset of sheep was screened for antibodies to SRLV. Potential risk factors were analysed in a logistic regression model; the results indicated that close contact with SRLV ‐seropositive sheep was highly correlated with seroconversion in SRLV ‐seronegative goat herds (odds ratio=26·9), supporting the hypothesis that SRLV can be transmitted between sheep and goats, and suggesting that the measures taken so far will not lead to the complete eradication of SRLV from Switzerland within the next few years.
Absence of mutations in the survival motor neuron cDNA from labrador retrievers with an inherited myopathy
Authors: Green S. L. , Tolwani R. J. , Varma S. , Shelton G. D.
Published: October 2014

The clinical phenotype of hereditary myopathy of labrador retrievers is consistent, but the pathological changes within muscle biopsy specimens can vary from type 1 fibre predominance (type 2 fibre deficiency) to dystrophic changes or overt neurogenic atrophy. The condition shares many clinical and pathological features with the mildest form of human childhood spinal muscular atrophy, and the survival motor neuron gene was therefore evaluated in dogs with the disease. Direct sequencing and comparisons of cDNA from the gene in seven labrador retrievers homozygous for the disease and four control dogs revealed no nucleotide mutations leading to changes in the deduced amino acid sequences. A single polymorphism was detected in two of the seven affected dogs, which was characterised by a nucleotide substitution at amino acid position 1155 within the non‐coding 3’ untranslated region of exon 8. Northern blot analysis indicated that there were no differences in the steady state levels of mRNA from the gene of the affected labrador retrievers and control dogs.
Electrical properties of temperate forest trees: a review and quantitative comparison with vines
Authors: Gora Evan M. , Yanoviak Stephen P.
Published: October 2014

Trees form the terrestrial interface with the atmosphere in forested regions. The electrical properties of trees may influence their response to atmospheric conditions and potentially lethal phenomena (e.g., lightning). We review the literature describing electrical properties of trees and provide a tabular summary of the methods and goals of each study. We hypothesized that electrical resistivity varies consistently among species and between growth forms. We surveyed resistivity of eight tree and three vine species in Michigan and Kentucky, and we quantified resistivity over a moisture gradient for wood blocks of four tree species. Resistivity varied predictably with stem diameter and differed among species and growth forms. Specifically, resistivity of trees was approximately 200% higher than resistivity of vines, and resistivity of conifers was 135% higher than that of hardwoods. The regional comparison showed no difference in resistivity of red maple (Acer rubrum L.) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) between Michigan and Kentucky. These results, in combination with interspecific differences observed among wood blocks, suggest that there is a phylogenetic basis for variation in resistivity that reflects differences in anatomy and physiology. Our review and empirical survey provide a framework for studying the ecological effects of lightning in the context of the electrical properties of trees.
Impact of donor compensation ratio on photorefractive two–wave mixing dynamics in multiple quantum wells structures
Authors: Jabłoński Błażej
Published: October 2014

The kind of defects and their concentration have a significant impact on photorefractive phenomena taking place within the structure of semi-insulating GaAs / AlGaAs multiple quantum wells. In this paper, the impact of donor-to-acceptor concentration ratio on the grating in photorefractive two-waves mixing was examined. The formation of the space charge field for different defect concentrations as well as different external electric field intensities are analyzed.
Propagation of Ince–Gaussian beams in strongly nonlocal nonlinear media using paraxial group transformation
Authors: Keshavarz Alireza , Honarasa Gholamreza
Published: October 2014

In this paper, the propagation of Ince–Gaussian beams in strongly nonlocal nonlinear media is studied by using paraxial group transformation. An analytical expression for the Ince–Gaussian beams propagating through optical ABCD system is introduced. Then, by considering the transfer matrix of the strongly nonlocal nonlinear media, the transverse intensity patterns of the Ince–Gaussian beams propagate in these media are simulated analytically.
Credit Rating Changes and Leverage Adjustments: Concurrent or Continual?
Authors: Maung Min , Chowdhury Reza H.
Published: October 2014

Prior research has shown that credit downgrades affect firm's capital structure decision. However, after adjusting for biases associated with the use of market debt ratio and after controlling for simultaneity between credit ratings and leverage, we find that rating upgrades also play a role in firms' leverage. Contrary to previously reported findings, our evidence also indicates that the effect of rating downgrades on capital structure lasts for more than just one year.
SUSTAINABLE COOPERATION IN GLOBAL CLIMATE POLICY: SPECIFIC FORMULAS AND EMISSION TARGETS
Authors: BOSETTI VALENTINA , FRANKEL JEFFREY
Published: October 2014

We propose a framework that, building on the pledges made by governments after the Copenhagen Accord of 2009, could be used to assign allocations of emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), across all countries, one budget period at a time, as envisioned at the 2011 negotiations in Durban. Under this two-part plan: (i) China, India, and other developing countries accept targets at Business as Usual (BAU) in the coming budget period, the same period in which the U.S. first agrees to cuts below BAU; and (ii) all countries are asked in the future to make further cuts in accordance with a common numerical formula that each country is likely to view as fair. We use a state of the art integrated assessment model to project economic and environmental effects of the computed emission targets.
THE ROLE OF SCENARIO UNCERTAINTY IN ESTIMATING THE BENEFITS OF CARBON MITIGATION
Authors: MARTEN ALEX L.
Published: October 2014

The benefits of carbon mitigation are subject to numerous sources of uncertainty and accounting for this uncertainty in policy analysis is crucial. One often overlooked source uncertainty are the forecasts of future baseline conditions (e.g., population, economic output, emissions) from which carbon mitigation benefits are assessed. Through, in some cases highly non-linear relationships, these baseline conditions determine the forecast level and rate of climate change, exposed populations, vulnerability, and way in which inter-temporal tradeoffs are valued. We study the impact of explicitly considering this uncertainty on a widely used metric to asses the benefits of carbon dioxide mitigation, the social cost of carbon (SCC). To explore this question, a detailed integrated assessment that couples economic and climate systems to assess the damages of climate change is driven by a library of consistent probabilistic socioeconomic-emission scenarios developed using a comprehensive global computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. We find that scenario uncertainty has a significant effect on estimates of the SCC and that excluding this source of uncertainty could lead to an underestimate of the mitigation benefits. A detailed decomposition finds that this effect is driven primarily through the role that uncertainty regarding future consumption per capita growth has on the value of inter-temporal tradeoffs through the consumption discount rate.
UNILATERAL EMISSIONS MITIGATION, SPILLOVERS, AND GLOBAL LEARNING
Authors: CHATTERJI SHUROJIT , GHOSAL SAYANTAN , WALSH SEAN , WHALLEY JOHN
Published: October 2014

What's the role of unilateral measures in global climate change mitigation in a post-Durban, post 2012 global policy regime? We argue that under conditions of preference heterogeneity, unilateral emissions mitigation at a subnational level may exist even when a nation is unwilling to commit to emission cuts. We establish that under certain assumptions, in a global strongly connected network of countries, learning the costs of switching to a low emissions activity can result in a universal adoption of such activities. We analyze the features of a policy proposal that could accelerate convergence to a low carbon world in the presence of global learning.
Do Local Investors Know More? Evidence from Mutual Fund Location and Investments
Authors: Sulaeman Johan
Published: October 2014

This study finds that actively managed mutual funds do not display abnormal superior performance in local stocks relative to their own performance in distant stocks. However, the trading behavior of these funds is consistent with a widespread perception that local funds have an informational advantage. This perception is not only held by the local fund managers themselves (who tend to trade more aggressively), but also shared by distant managers (who tend to mimic local managers).
Thermal Biology of Domestic Animals
Authors: Collier Robert J. , Gebremedhin Kifle G.
Published: October 2014

The thermal environment is the most important ecological factor determining the growth, development, and productivity of domestic animals. Routes of energy exchange (sensible heat and latent heat) between animals and their environment are greatly influenced by body weight, fat deposition, hair-coat properties, functional activity, and number of sweat glands, as well as the presence or absence of anatomical respiratory countercurrent heat exchange capability. Differences in these anatomical features across species have led to specialization of heat exchange. Thermal plasticity and degree of acclimation are critical factors determining the ability of animals to respond to environmental change. Increases in productive capability of domestic animals can compromise thermal acclimation and plasticity, requiring greater investments in housing systems that reduce variability of the thermal environment. The combination of steadily increasing metabolic heat production as domestic animal productivity increases and a rising world temperature poses ongoing and future challenges to maintaining health and well-being of domestic animals.
Speciation in Freshwater Fishes
Authors: Seehausen Ole , Wagner Catherine E.
Published: October 2014

The extraordinary species richness of freshwater fishes has attracted much research on mechanisms and modes of speciation. We here review research on speciation in freshwater fishes in light of speciation theory, and place this in a context of broad-scale diversity patterns in freshwater fishes. We discuss several major repeated themes in freshwater fish speciation and the speciation mechanisms they are frequently associated with. These include transitions between marine and freshwater habitats, transitions between discrete freshwater habitats, and ecological transitions within habitats, as well as speciation without distinct niche shifts. Major research directions in the years to come include understanding the transition from extrinsic environment-dependent to intrinsic reproductive isolation and its influences on species persistence and understanding the extrinsic and intrinsic constraints to speciation and how these relate to broad-scale diversification patterns through time.
Chorion Genes: A Landscape of Their Evolution, Structure, and Regulation
Authors: Papantonis Argyris , Swevers Luc , Iatrou Kostas
Published: October 2014

Differential regulation at the level of transcription provides a means for controlling gene expression in eukaryotes, especially during development. Insect model systems have been extensively used to decipher the molecular basis of such regulatory cascades, and one of the oldest such model systems is the regulation of chorion gene expression during ovarian follicle maturation. Recent experimental and technological advances have shed new light onto the system, allowing us to revisit it. Thus, in this review we try to summarize almost 40 years' worth of studies on chorion gene regulation while—by comparing Bombyx mori and Drosophila melanogaster models—attempting to present a comprehensive, unified model of the various regulatory aspects of choriogenesis that takes into account the evolutionary conservation and divergence of the underlying mechanisms.
Multiorganismal Insects: Diversity and Function of Resident Microorganisms
Authors: Douglas Angela E.
Published: October 2014

All insects are colonized by microorganisms on the insect exoskeleton, in the gut and hemocoel, and within insect cells. The insect microbiota is generally different from microorganisms in the external environment, including ingested food. Specifically, certain microbial taxa are favored by the conditions and resources in the insect habitat, by their tolerance of insect immunity, and by specific mechanisms for their transmission. The resident microorganisms can promote insect fitness by contributing to nutrition, especially by providing essential amino acids, B vitamins, and, for fungal partners, sterols. Some microorganisms protect their insect hosts against pathogens, parasitoids, and other parasites by synthesizing specific toxins or modifying the insect immune system. Priorities for future research include elucidation of microbial contributions to detoxification, especially of plant allelochemicals in phytophagous insects, and resistance to pathogens; as well as their role in among-insect communication; and the potential value of manipulation of the microbiota to control insect pests.
Adenotrophic Viviparity in Tsetse Flies: Potential for Population Control and as an Insect Model for Lactation
Authors: Benoit Joshua B. , Attardo Geoffrey M. , Baumann Aaron A. , Michalkova Veronika , Aksoy Serap
Published: October 2014

Tsetse flies (Glossina spp.), vectors of African trypanosomes, are distinguished by their specialized reproductive biology, defined by adenotrophic viviparity (maternal nourishment of progeny by glandular secretions followed by live birth). This trait has evolved infrequently among insects and requires unique reproductive mechanisms. A key event in Glossina reproduction involves the transition between periods of lactation and nonlactation (dry periods). Increased lipolysis, nutrient transfer to the milk gland, and milk-specific protein production characterize lactation, which terminates at the birth of the progeny and is followed by a period of involution. The dry stage coincides with embryogenesis of the progeny, during which lipid reserves accumulate in preparation for the next round of lactation. The obligate bacterial symbiont Wigglesworthia glossinidia is critical to tsetse reproduction and likely provides B vitamins required for metabolic processes underlying lactation and/or progeny development. Here we describe findings that utilized transcriptomics, physiological assays, and RNA interference–based functional analysis to understand different components of adenotrophic viviparity in tsetse flies.
Termites as Targets and Models for Biotechnology
Authors: Scharf Michael E.
Published: October 2014

Termites have many unique evolutionary adaptations associated with their eusocial lifestyles. Recent omics research has created a wealth of new information in numerous areas of termite biology (e.g., caste polyphenism, lignocellulose digestion, and microbial symbiosis) with wide-ranging applications in diverse biotechnological niches. Termite biotechnology falls into two categories: (a) termite-targeted biotechnology for pest management purposes, and (b) termite-modeled biotechnology for use in various industrial applications. The first category includes several candidate termiticidal modes of action such as RNA interference, digestive inhibition, pathogen enhancement, antimicrobials, endocrine disruption, and primer pheromone mimicry. In the second category, termite digestomes are deep resources for host and symbiont lignocellulases and other enzymes with applications in a variety of biomass, industrial, and processing applications. Moving forward, one of the most important approaches for accelerating advances in both termite-targeted and termite-modeled biotechnology will be to consider host and symbiont together as a single functional unit.
Small Is Beautiful: Features of the Smallest Insects and Limits to Miniaturization
Authors: Polilov Alexey A.
Published: October 2014

Miniaturization leads to considerable reorganization of structures in insects, affecting almost all organs and tissues. In the smallest insects, comparable in size to unicellular organisms, modifications arise not only at the level of organs, but also at the cellular level. Miniaturization is accompanied by allometric changes in many organ systems. The consequences of miniaturization displayed by different insect taxa include both common and unique changes. Because the smallest insects are among the smallest metazoans and have the most complex organization among organisms of the same size, their peculiar structural features and the factors that limit their miniaturization are of considerable theoretical interest to general biology.
Insects in Fluctuating Thermal Environments
Authors: Colinet Hervé , Sinclair Brent J. , Vernon Philippe , Renault David
Published: October 2014

All climate change scenarios predict an increase in both global temperature means and the magnitude of seasonal and diel temperature variation. The nonlinear relationship between temperature and biological processes means that fluctuating temperatures lead to physiological, life history, and ecological consequences for ectothermic insects that diverge from those predicted from constant temperatures. Fluctuating temperatures that remain within permissive temperature ranges generally improve performance. By contrast, those which extend to stressful temperatures may have either positive impacts, allowing repair of damage accrued during exposure to thermal extremes, or negative impacts from cumulative damage during successive exposures. We discuss the mechanisms underlying these differing effects. Fluctuating temperatures could be used to enhance or weaken insects in applied rearing programs, and any prediction of insect performance in the field—including models of climate change or population performance—must account for the effect of fluctuating temperatures.
Exaggerated Trait Growth in Insects
Authors: Lavine Laura , Gotoh Hiroki , Brent Colin S. , Dworkin Ian , Emlen Douglas J.
Published: October 2014

Animal structures occasionally attain extreme proportions, eclipsing in size the surrounding body parts. We review insect examples of exaggerated traits, such as the mandibles of stag beetles (Lucanidae), the claspers of praying mantids (Mantidae), the elongated hindlimbs of grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Caelifera), and the giant heads of soldier ants (Formicidae) and termites (Isoptera). Developmentally, disproportionate growth can arise through trait-specific modifications to the activity of at least four pathways: the sex determination pathway, the appendage patterning pathway, the insulin/IGF signaling pathway, and the juvenile hormone/ecdysteroid pathway. Although most exaggerated traits have not been studied mechanistically, it is already apparent that distinct developmental mechanisms underlie the evolution of the different types of exaggerated traits. We suggest this reflects the nature of selection in each instance, revealing an exciting link between mechanism, form, and function. We use this information to make explicit predictions for the types of regulatory pathways likely to underlie each type of exaggerated trait.
Honey Bee Toxicology
Authors: Johnson Reed M.
Published: October 2014

Insecticides are chemicals used to kill insects, so it is unsurprising that many insecticides have the potential to harm honey bees (Apis mellifera). However, bees are exposed to a great variety of other potentially toxic chemicals, including flavonoids and alkaloids that are produced by plants; mycotoxins produced by fungi; antimicrobials and acaricides that are introduced by beekeepers; and fungicides, herbicides, and other environmental contaminants. Although often regarded as uniquely sensitive to toxic compounds, honey bees are adapted to tolerate and even thrive in the presence of toxic compounds that occur naturally in their environment. The harm caused by exposure to a particular concentration of a toxic compound may depend on the level of simultaneous exposure to other compounds, pathogen levels, nutritional status, and a host of other factors. This review takes a holistic view of bee toxicology by taking into account the spectrum of xenobiotics to which bees are exposed.
Insect Heat Shock Proteins During Stress and Diapause
Authors: King Allison M. , MacRae Thomas H.
Published: October 2014

Insect heat shock proteins include ATP-independent small heat shock proteins and the larger ATP-dependent proteins, Hsp70, Hsp90, and Hsp60. In concert with cochaperones and accessory proteins, heat shock proteins mediate essential activities such as protein folding, localization, and degradation. Heat shock proteins are synthesized constitutively in insects and induced by stressors such as heat, cold, crowding, and anoxia. Synthesis depends on the physiological state of the insect, but the common function of heat shock proteins, often working in networks, is to maintain cell homeostasis through interaction with substrate proteins. Stress-induced expression of heat shock protein genes occurs in a background of protein synthesis inhibition, but in the course of diapause, a state of dormancy and increased stress tolerance, these genes undergo differential regulation without the general disruption of protein production. During diapause, when ATP concentrations are low, heat shock proteins may sequester rather than fold proteins.
Corporate Takeovers and Economic Efficiency
Authors: Eckbo B. Espen
Published: October 2014

I review recent takeover research that advances our understanding of “who buys who” in the drive for productive efficiency. This research provides detailed information on text-based definitions of product market links between bidders and targets, the role of the supply chain and industrial networks in driving takeovers, target plant efficiency, and pre- and post-takeover investment in product innovation. Moreover, recent evidence adds to our understanding of “how firms are sold” (transaction efficiency). Almost half of takeovers involving public targets are initiated by the seller and not by the buyer. Targets are strongly averse to bidder toeholds, and the merger negotiation process strongly protects proprietary information. Takeover premiums leave traces of rational bidding strategies, including bid preemption and winner’s curse avoidance. Recent tests employing exogenous instrumentation of bidder valuations reject that bidder shares are systematically overpriced in all-stock bids and suggest that bidder synergy gains are much larger than previously thought.
Investor Flows to Asset Managers: Causes and Consequences
Authors: Christoffersen Susan E.K. , Musto David K. , Wermers Russ
Published: October 2014

Cash flows between investors and funds are both cause and effect in a complex web of economic decisions. Among the issues at stake are the prospects and fees of the funds, the efforts and risk choices by the funds’ managers, the pricing and comovement of the assets they trade, the stability of the financial system and the real economy, and the retirement security and protection of the investors. There is an accordingly large and growing literature on flows that has concentrated on the main retail investment pool, the open-end mutual fund, and has used flows to explore many aspects of retail financial decision making. We survey this literature and, where relevant, describe how open-end flows compare to other investment vehicles. We also identify opportunities both for future research and for refinement of mutual fund design, in particular as suggested by the recent rethinking of retail investment pools in the European Union.
Corporate Liquidity Management: A Conceptual Framework and Survey
Authors: Almeida Heitor , Campello Murillo , Cunha Igor , Weisbach Michael S.
Published: October 2014

Ensuring that a firm has sufficient liquidity to finance valuable projects that occur in the future is at the heart of the practice of financial management. However, although discussion of these issues goes back at least to Keynes (1936) , a substantial literature on the ways in which firms manage liquidity has developed only recently. We argue that many of the key issues in liquidity management can be understood through the lens of a framework in which firms face financial constraints and wish to ensure efficient investment in the future. We present such a model and use it to survey many of the empirical findings on liquidity management. In addition, we discuss agency-based theories of liquidity, the real effects of liquidity choices, and the impact of the 2008–2009 Financial Crisis on firms’ liquidity management.
Recent Therapeutic Advances in the Treatment of Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Ciombor Kristen K. , Wu Christina , Goldberg Richard M.
Published: October 2014

Metastatic colorectal cancer is a prevalent disease for which novel targeted therapies and biologically based combinations are under development. Cytotoxic chemotherapy doublets (FOLFOX, FOLFIRI) and triplets (FOLFOXIRI) in combination with biologics are standard regimens, and efforts are ongoing to delineate the optimal sequence for each patient based on unique underlying tumor biology. Molecular profiling of metastatic colorectal cancer (including mutational analysis for KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, PIK3CA, and others) has become increasingly important for identification of prognostic and predictive biomarkers, as well as for insights into the biology that drives the tumor. Large comprehensive analyses such as that of The Cancer Genome Atlas have provided important clues into carcinogenesis and discerned potentially druggable targets for metastatic colorectal cancer. Novel therapeutic agents currently under investigation for subtypes of this disease include immunotherapies such as anti–programmed cell death receptor antibody, cancer stem cell inhibitors, targeted combinations such as BRAF and PI3K inhibitors, and the anti-RAS reovirus Reolysin®.
Lessons from the RV144 Thai Phase III HIV-1 Vaccine Trial and the Search for Correlates of Protection
Authors: Kim Jerome H. , Excler Jean-Louis , Michael Nelson L.
Published: October 2014

RV144 remains the only HIV-1 vaccine trial to demonstrate efficacy against HIV-1 acquisition. The prespecified analysis of immune correlates of risk showed that antibodies directed against the V1V2 region of gp120, in particular the IgG1 and IgG3 subclass mediating antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, seem to play a predominant role in protection against HIV-1 acquisition and that plasma envelope (Env)-specific IgA antibodies were directly correlated with risk. RV144 and recent nonhuman primate challenge studies suggest that Env is essential, and perhaps sufficient, to induce protective antibody responses against mucosal HIV-1 acquisition. Follow-up clinical trials are ongoing to further dissect the immune responses elicited by the RV144 ALVAC-HIV and AIDSVAX® B/E regimen. The study of gp120 Env immunogens and immune correlates of risk has resulted in the development of improved antigens. Whether the RV144 immune correlates of risk will generalize to other populations vaccinated with similar immunogens with different modes and intensity of transmission remains to be demonstrated. Efficacy trials are now planned in heterosexual populations in southern Africa and men who have sex with men in Thailand.
Ketamine and Rapid-Acting Antidepressants: A Window into a New Neurobiology for Mood Disorder Therapeutics
Authors: Abdallah Chadi G. , Sanacora Gerard , Duman Ronald S. , Krystal John H.
Published: October 2014

Ketamine is the prototype for a new generation of glutamate-based antidepressants that rapidly alleviate depression within hours of treatment. Over the past decade, there has been replicated evidence demonstrating the rapid and potent antidepressant effects of ketamine in treatment-resistant depression. Moreover, preclinical and biomarker studies have begun to elucidate the mechanism underlying the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine, offering a new window into the biology of depression and identifying a plethora of potential treatment targets. This article discusses the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of ketamine, summarizes the neurobiology of depression, reviews the mechanisms underlying the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine, and discusses the prospects for next-generation rapid-acting antidepressants.
Drug Disposition in Obesity: Toward Evidence-Based Dosing
Authors: Knibbe Catherijne A.J. , Brill Margreke J.E. , van Rongen Anne , Diepstraten Jeroen , van der Graaf Piet Hein , Danhof Meindert
Published: October 2014

Obesity and morbid obesity are associated with many physiological changes affecting pharmacokinetics, such as increased blood volume, cardiac output, splanchnic blood flow, and hepatic blood flow. In obesity, drug absorption appears unaltered, although recent evidence suggests that this conclusion may be premature. Volume of distribution may vary largely, but the magnitude and direction of changes seem difficult to predict, with extrapolation on the basis of total body weight being the best approach to date. Changes in clearance may be smaller than in distribution, whereas there is growing evidence that the influence of obesity on clearance can be predicted on the basis of reported changes in the metabolic or elimination pathways involved. For obese children, we propose two methods to distinguish between developmental and obesity-related changes. Future research should focus on the characterization of physiological concepts to predict the optimal dose for each drug in the obese population.