bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Responses of leaf traits to low temperature in an evergreen oak at its upper limit
Authors: Zhang Xi Jin , Song Kun , Pan Ying Ji , Gao Zhi Wen , Pu Fa Guang , Lu Jia Hui , Shang Kan Kan , Da Liang Jun , Cieraad Ellen 
Published: July 2020

AbstractLow temperature is a major driver of the upper distributional limits of subtropical evergreen broadleaved forests in East Asia. The eco‐physiology of evergreen broadleaved trees at the upper limits could respond to both lower winter temperature and lower averaged annual temperature that covary with elevation. To analyze these responses, we assessed the variations in leaf chemical traits of Cyclobalanopsis gracilis with seasonality and along elevation in the ecotone from subtropical to temperate climate, and analyzed the relationships between traits of mature leaves and temperature. The study showed that the mass‐based nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) content reached the highest level across elevations during winter; however, the winter NSC content did not differ between elevations. For mature leaves, leaf dry mass per area (LMA) tended to be higher approaching the upper limit. The leaf carbon to phosphorus ratio (C/P) showed an increasing trend with decreasing temperature, as did leaf carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) to some extent. The mass‐based P content showed a decreasing trend approaching the upper limit, whereas area‐based P content showed no significant variation. Our main results indicate that leaf NSC content is highest at all elevations in winter, and individuals at high elevations have high LMA and high nutrient use efficiency. The results suggest that for C. gracilis, an increasing leaf NSC results in a baseline protection to cope with cold in winter, which, at higher elevations is supplemented with increasing LMA and nutrient use efficiency to cope with associated low‐temperature stress.
The impact of institutions on financial development: Evidence from East Asian countries
Authors: Feng Yongqi , Yu Xinye 
Published: July 2020

AbstractThis paper examines the impact of institutions on regional financial development using a panel data model of 11 East Asian countries during 1996–2017. It divides the institutional factors into six economic factors and six legal‐political factors. The analysis demonstrates that the legal‐political institutional factors have a stronger impact on financial development than the economic institutional factors in East Asia. Improvement in institutional quality such as fiscal freedom, business freedom, control of corruption, government effectiveness, regulatory quality and rule of law can promote financial development. Improvements of these institutional factors facilitate the ability of enterprises to allocate resources and improve the strength of business operations, thereby reducing transaction costs and making the financial operating environment fairer and more efficient. With the improvement of institutional factors, financial development will have more opportunities to develop better. Institutional impacts are more pronounced in the financial development in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar than in the other countries such as China, Japan, Korea and Singapore.
Democracy through Time: Identity Politics and Future Generations
Authors: Ware Alan 
Published: July 2020

AbstractSince the 1980s identities have re‐emerged as a powerful factor shaping support for specific public policies, often doing so at the expense of prioritising the interests of future generations. Outside the United States a major causal factor has been the declining ability of many political parties to mobilise support for themselves and their policies. Consequently, considerations derived from the past can be at the expense of future citizens. This article analyses two major policies separated by a century—Prohibition in the US and Brexit. With both, the enacted policies featured limited previous public discussion about their likely consequences. Moreover, in both cases it was a ‘hard’ version that would be enacted, even though some supporters had favoured more moderate policy options. While not all policies driven by support from particular identities harm future generations, some do. This results from politicians in public utterances previously being insufficiently focussed in detail on the policy’s consequences.
Elevated intracellular cyclic‐di‐GMP level in Shewanella oneidensis increases expression of c‐type cytochromes
Authors: Ng Chun Kiat , Xu Jiabao , Cai Zhao , Yang Liang , Thompson Ian P. , Huang Wei E. , Cao Bin 
Published: July 2020

SummaryElectrochemically active biofilms are capable of exchanging electrons with solid electron acceptors and have many energy and environmental applications such as bioelectricity generation and environmental remediation. The performance of electrochemically active biofilms is usually dependent on c‐type cytochromes, while biofilm development is controlled by a signal cascade mediated by the intracellular secondary messenger bis‐(3ʹ‐5ʹ) cyclic dimeric guanosine monophosphate (c‐di‐GMP). However, it is unclear whether there are any links between the c‐di‐GMP regulatory system and the expression of c‐type cytochromes. In this study, we constructed a S. oneidensis MR‐1 strain with a higher cytoplasmic c‐di‐GMP level by constitutively expressing a c‐di‐GMP synthase and it exhibited expected c‐di‐GMP‐influenced traits, such as lowered motility and increased biofilm formation. Compared to MR‐1 wild‐type strain, the high c‐di‐GMP strain had a higher Fe(III) reduction rate (21.58 vs 11.88 pM of Fe(III)/h cell) and greater expression of genes that code for the proteins involved in the Mtr pathway, including CymA, MtrA, MtrB, MtrC and OmcA. Furthermore, single‐cell Raman microspectroscopy (SCRM) revealed a great increase of c‐type cytochromes in the high c‐di‐GMP strain as compared to MR‐1 wild‐type strain. Our results reveal for the first time that the c‐di‐GMP regulation system indirectly or directly positively regulates the expression of cytochromes involved in the extracellular electron transport (EET) in S. oneidensis, which would help to understand the regulatory mechanism of c‐di‐GMP on electricity production in bacteria.
Samuel Johnson and Good Hating
Authors: Leonard‐Roy Thomas 
Published: July 2020

AbstractThis article proposes a definition of Johnson’s popular term, the ‘good hater’, in order to explore his ideas about malicious conversation and criticism. Good hating was a conversational and critical ideal for Johnson, in contrast to ‘bad hating’ – hatred motivated by malice or malignity – which threatened civil discourse. Johnson’s own malice and ‘roughness’ are a vexed question in biographies by James Boswell, John Hawkins and Hester Lynch Piozzi. In spite of the efforts of Boswell, who has largely influenced the popular image of Johnson, I argue that Johnson fails to meet his own standards of good hating.
Gossip and Sexual Transgression in ‘English Society’ in 1790s’ Naples
Authors: Hanley‐Smith Natalie 
Published: July 2020

AbstractThis essay analyses Lady Elizabeth Webster's journal, in which she chronicled her travels across Europe in the 1790s. Her journal suggests that there was an English community in Naples, whose codes of conduct were modelled on those that regulated elite society in England. Elite women who transgressed the rules could face consequences: Naples was not a place where women could hide from gossip and scrutiny. The journals also provide a fascinating insight into an elite woman's approach to sexual mores and demonstrate that, while attitudes towards sexual behaviour were highly internalised, how individuals put codes into practice was far more complex and open to discrepancies.
The phytochemical epigallocatechin gallate prolongs the lifespan by improving lipid metabolism, reducing inflammation and oxidative stress in high‐fat diet‐fed obese rats
Authors: Yuan Hang , Li Yuqiao , Ling Fan , Guan Yue , Zhang Dandan , Zhu Qiushuang , Liu Jinxiao , Wu Yuqing , Niu Yucun 
Published: July 2020

AbstractWe have recently reported that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) could extend lifespan in healthy rats. This study aimed to investigate the effects and mechanisms of a high dose of EGCG in extending the lifespan of obese rats. Ninety adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into the control (NC), high‐fat (HF) and EGCG groups. Serum glucose and lipids, inflammation and oxidative stress were dynamically determined from adulthood to death, and the transcriptome and proteome of the liver were also examined. The median lifespans of the NC, HF and EGCG groups were 693, 599 and 683 days, respectively, and EGCG delayed death by 84 days in obese rats. EGCG improved serum glucose and lipids and reduced inflammation and oxidative stress associated with aging in obese rats induced by a high‐fat diet. EGCG also significantly decreased the levels of total free fatty acids (FFAs), SFAs and the n‐6/n‐3 ratio but significantly increased the n‐3 FFAs related to longevity. The joint study of the transcriptome and proteome in liver found that EGCG exerted its effects mainly by regulating the suppression of hydrogen peroxide and oxygen species metabolism, suppression of oxidative stress, activation of fatty acid transport and oxidation and cholesterol metabolism. EGCG significantly increased the protein expression of FOXO1, Sirt1, CAT, FABP1, GSTA2, ACSL1 and CPT2 but significantly decreased NF‐κB, ACC1 and FAS protein levels in the livers of rats. All the results indicate that EGCG extends lifespan by improving FFA metabolism and reducing the levels of inflammatory and oxidative stress in obese rats.
Assessing the risks of changing ongoing management of endangered species
Authors: Ferrière C. , Zuël N. , Ewen J. G. , Jones C. G. , Tatayah V. , Canessa S. 
Published: July 2020

AbstractRecovery programmes for endangered species can become increasingly demanding over time, but managers may be reluctant to change ongoing actions that are believed to be assisting recovery. We used a quantitative risk assessment to choose support strategies for a reintroduced population of Mauritius olive white‐eyesZosterops chloronothos. Facing increasing costs, managers considered changing the ongoing supplementary feeding strategy, but at the same time worried this could jeopardize the observed positive population trend. We used a feeding experiment to compare the current feeding regime and a cheaper alternative (a simple sugar/water mix). Results suggested the cheaper alternative would only marginally reduce population vital rates. We assessed the influence of these results and the associated uncertainty on population recovery and management costs using two decision‐analytic criteria, incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio and stochastic dominance. The new feeding regime was expected to be, on average, more cost‐effective than thestatus quo. Moreover, even negative outcomes would only likely mean a slower growing population, not a declining one, whereas not changing feeding regime actually entailed greater risk. Because shifting from the current regime to a cheaper sugar/water mixture was both a risk‐averse and a cost‐effective choice, we decided to implement this change. Four years after the experiment, the population continues to grow and costs have been contained, matching predictions almost exactly. In this case, the field experiment provided useful empirical information about prospective actions; the risk analysis then helped us understand the real implications of changing the feeding regime. We encourage managers of recovery plans facing a similar situation to explicitly recognize trade‐offs and risk aversion, and address them by combining targeted research and formal decision analysis.
Comparison of surgical outcomes using Gyrus PKS™ vs LigaSure™ in total laparoscopic hysterectomy: A randomised controlled trial
Authors: Wong Clare , Goh Amy , Merkur Harry 
Published: July 2020

BackgroundAdvanced vessel sealing devices are widely used in laparoscopic surgery. However, there remains a lack of adequately powered trials comparing laparoscopic advanced vessel sealing devices in the clinical setting, especially in gynaecology.AimsThis single‐blinded randomised controlled trial aims to compare the surgical outcomes of total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) using either the Gyrus PKS™ LYONS dissecting forceps or the LigaSure™ Maryland jaw vessel sealer/divider.Materials and MethodsWomen who required TLHs for benign indications were randomised to having their surgeries performed using either Gyrus PKS™ or LigaSure™. Time to haemostasis (from initial skin incision to detachment of the uterus with secured haemostasis) was the primary outcome; a 20% difference in time was considered clinically significant. Secondary outcomes measured were intra‐operative blood loss, complications, conversions, post‐operative analgesia use, and length of stay. This study was registered with the Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12615000639516.ResultsSixty‐four women were included in the study – 33 and 31 in the Gyrus PKS™ and LigaSure™ arms, respectively. TLHs performed by LigaSure™ had statistically significantly shorter time to haemostasis compared to Gyrus PKS™ by 10.6 min (95% CI 1.3–2.0, P = 0.03). There were no differences in any of the other secondary outcomes measured.ConclusionsThis trial suggests there is no difference between using either device. TLHs performed using LigaSure™ have statistically significantly shorter time to haemostasis than those using Gyrus PKS™; however, the difference is not considered clinically significant as it was only 14.2%. No other differences in surgical outcomes were detected.
Silicon Fox
Authors: Monserrate Steven Gonzalez 
Published: July 2020

Summary“Silicon Fox” is a work of speculative fiction derived from fieldwork research in the emerging Icelandic and North American data storage industry. The story narrativizes the anxieties and hopes of people in the cloud infrastructure sector in Iceland and investors in North America. This work of fiction is a meditation on the future promise and peril of Iceland as a hub for cloud computing and data storage in the near future. The scenarios, settings, and characters depicted are fabulations based in part on interview data and ethnographic field notes. Given the salience and widespread appeal of the murder mystery genre in Iceland, the story takes on this meta‐frame and relies on it to showcase the moral anxieties and dilemmas of Icelanders as they speculate on what challenges the future may bring for Iceland if it becomes a data hub.
The “business–territory” relationship of cooperative societies as compared to the conventional business sector in the region of Andalusia
Authors: Pérez González Maria del Carmen , Valiente Palma Lidia 
Published: July 2020

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to identify whether cooperativism in Andalusia is related to the territory in which it takes place. The discovery of a “cooperativism–territory” relationship is of particular interest, given Andalusia's significant territorial diversity and the ability of cooperative societies to adapt to different surroundings. Noteworthy among the results is the greater connection shown by cooperative societies to the area in which they carry out their activities, compared with that seen in the conventional business sector. As such, cooperative societies are strategic entities in terms of responding and adapting to the evolution of certain localized social needs emerging in the region of Andalusia.
Randomised clinical trial: combined impact and resistance training in adults with stable Crohn's disease
Authors: Jones Katherine , Baker Katherine , Speight R. Ally , Thompson Nicholas P. , Tew Garry A. 
Published: July 2020

SummaryBackgroundCrohn's disease (CD) is a predisposing factor for bone loss and muscle dysfunction, which could lead to osteoporotic fractures and physical disability, respectively.AimTo assess the effect of 6 months of combined impact and resistance training on bone mineral density (BMD) and muscle function in adults with CD.MethodsIn this randomised controlled trial, 47 adults with stable CD were assigned to exercise (n = 23) or control (n = 24) groups and followed up for 6 months. The exercise group received usual care plus a 6‐month combined impact and resistance training programme, involving three, 60‐minute sessions per week and a gradual tapering of supervision to self‐management. The control group received usual care alone. The primary outcomes were BMD (via dual energy X‐ray absorptiometry) and muscle function (measures of upper and lower limb strength and endurance) at 6 months.ResultsAt 6 months, BMD values were superior in the exercise group with statistical significance at lumbar spine (adjusted mean difference 0.036 g/cm2, 95% CI 0.024‐0.048; P < 0.001), but not at femoral neck (0.018 g/cm2, 0.001‐0.035; P = 0.059) or greater trochanter (0.013 g/cm2, −0.019 to 0.045; P = 0.415) after correcting for multiple outcomes. The exercise group also had superior values for all muscle function outcomes (P < 0.001; unadjusted mean differences ranging 22.6‒48.2%), and lower fatigue severity (P = 0.005). Three exercise‐related adverse events were recorded: two instances of light‐headedness and one of nausea.ConclusionsThe intervention improved BMD and muscle function in adults with CD and appears as a suitable model of exercise for reducing future risk of osteoporotic fractures and disability.Trial registration: ISRCTN11470370.
Proton pump inhibitors increase risk of bone fractures in men with cirrhosis: a population‐based study
Authors: Labenz Christian , Wörns Marcus‐Alexander , Adarkwah Charles C. , Galle Peter R. , Schattenberg Jörn M. , Kostev Karel 
Published: July 2020

SummaryBackgroundBone fractures are a frequent complication in patients with cirrhosis. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are among the most frequently prescribed medications and may impair bone quality and quantity.AimsTo investigate whether PPI use predisposes patients with cirrhosis to bone fractures.MethodsWe performed a population‐based case‐control study exploring a sample of patients with cirrhosis derived from the Disease Analyzer database. In total, 1795 cirrhotic patients with fractures were compared to 10 235 cirrhotic patients without fractures. PPI use overall and the cumulative PPI dose 5 years prior to the index date were analysed. To estimate the association between PPI use and fractures, logistic regression analyses were performed taking cofounding factors into consideration.ResultsPPI use was more frequently seen in cirrhotic patients with fractures compared to controls (67.0% vs 53.4%, P < 0.001). In regression analyses, PPI use was associated with bone fractures after adjusting for important confounders (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.20‐1.51, P < 0.001). Importantly, the strongest effect of PPIs on bone fractures was seen in men and patients below 70 years of age. On further sensitivity analyses, we observed a dose‐dependent effect for all PPIs with the strongest effect in cirrhotic patients receiving a dose of >50 000 mg during the 5 years prior to index date (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.32‐2.03).ConclusionsPPI use was associated with bone fractures in a dose‐dependent fashion in patients with cirrhosis. PPI use in these patients should be based on a careful risk‐benefit assessment.
All‐trans‐retinoic acid shifts Th1 towards Th2 cell differentiation by targeting NFAT1 signalling to ameliorate immune‐mediated aplastic anaemia
Authors: Tang Dabin , Liu Shengli , Sun Huiying , Qin Xia , Zhou Neng , Zheng Weiwei , Zhang Mengyi , Zhou Hang , Tuersunayi Abudureheman , Duan Caiwen , Chen Jing 
Published: July 2020

SummarySevere acquired aplastic anaemia (AA) is a serious disease characterised by autoreactive T cells attacking haematopoietic stem cells, leading to marrow hypoplasia and pancytopenia. Immunosuppressive therapy combined with antithymocyte globulin and ciclosporin can rescue most patients with AA. However, the relapse after ciclosporin withdrawal and the severe side effects of long‐term ciclosporin administration remain unresolved. As such, new strategies should be developed to supplement current therapeutics and treat AA. In this study, the possibility of all‐trans‐retinoic acid (ATRA) as an alternative AA treatment was tested by using an immune‐mediated mouse model of AA. Results revealed that ATRA inhibited T‐cell proliferation, activation and effector function. It also restrained the Fas/Fasl pathway, shifted Th1 towards Th2 cell development, rebalanced T‐cell subsets at a relatively high level and corrected the Th1/Th2 ratio by targeting NFAT1 signalling. In addition, ATRA inhibited Th17 cell differentiation and promoted regulatory T‐cell development. Therefore, ATRA was an effective agent to improve AA treatment outcomes.
Disclosure and plan of care at end of life: Perspectives of people with intellectual disabilities and families in Ireland
Authors: Cithambaram Kumaresan , Duffy Mel , Courtney Eileen 
Published: July 2020

Accessible summary

Professionals are reluctant to discuss sensitive information with people with intellectual disabilities.

People with intellectual disabilities and families wish to engage in end‐of‐life discussions.

People with intellectual disabilities expressed how they could handle bad news and they felt that this information could be used to help make choices.

People with intellectual disabilities and families want to develop a plan based on their choices and wishes and there is a need to respect this at the end of life.

AbstractBackgroundRecently, more and more people with intellectual disabilities have been dying from life‐limiting conditions, and on many occasions, people with intellectual disabilities have not been informed of this. There is limited evidence concerning the views and opinions of this cohort regarding the information that is needed in order for decision‐making to occur at the end of life. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the perceptions of people with intellectual disabilities and families in terms of the information that is needed as part of end‐of‐life decision‐making.Materials and MethodsA qualitative approach was employed to explore the information needed by, and the decision‐making ability of, people with intellectual disabilities at the end‐of‐life phase. One‐to‐one interviews were carried out with nineteen people following the obtaining of ethical approval. The constant comparative method was used to analyse the data.ResultsIt was found that people with intellectual disabilities were comfortable with, and wished to know about, what was happening in their lives, including the existence of life‐limiting conditions, so that they would be able to create a good plan for their future care. It was also expressed how it was essential to create a plan of care that allowed professionals to provide excellent care and use of which prevented the occurrence of any ambiguity.ConclusionsThe study found that people with intellectual disabilities, especially those with mild and moderate, are able to handle complex and sensitive information and make decisions for themselves regarding their care when adequate support is in place.