bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Benthic cyanobacteria of the genus Nostoc are a source of microcystins in Greenlandic lakes and ponds
Authors: Trout‐Haney Jessica V. , Ritger Amelia L. , Cottingham Kathryn L. 
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Benthic primary producers are recognised for their important role in contributing to ecosystem productivity and nutrient cycling in lake and stream ecosystems, particularly in polar environments. In Arctic lakes, benthic producers often comprise mats or colonies of cyanobacteria capable of producing cyanotoxins. However, the extent to which benthic communities contribute cyanotoxins in polar regions remains poorly described.

We evaluated the potential for benthic colonies of the cyanobacterium Nostoc pruniforme from lakes in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, to contribute microcystins (MCs) to lake water using three approaches. First, we dissected field‐collected Nostoc colonies and measured MCs within multiple layers of fresh colony tissue. Second, we conducted a laboratory experiment to evaluate the temporal dynamics of MC release by incubated, intact colonies. Finally, we quantified whether MC concentrations in water and sediment samples in the field were higher in and above dense bands of benthic Nostoc as compared to bare sediment.

Field‐collected Nostoc colonies contained MCs throughout the colony tissue, suggesting that damage to colonies from grazers or physical disturbance could facilitate the release of toxins into the water. Undamaged Nostoc colonies incubated in high‐nutrient conditions in the laboratory leaked MCs into the surrounding water at a steady mass‐specific rate over the course of 7 days.

Microcystin concentrations in water and sediment from two Greenlandic lakes were highly variable, but slightly higher in lake water immediately above dense bands of Nostoc than in water immediately above bare sediments, suggesting that benthic Nostoc colonies contribute cyanotoxins to lake water and that MCs vary at very fine, 1–2 m spatial scales.

Benthic cyanobacteria may be important in releasing MCs into aquatic ecosystems, especially in systems where benthic producers dominate, such as polar environments.
Determinants of the economic viability of mallee eucalypts as a short rotation coppice crop integrated into farming systems of Western Australia
Authors: Spencer Beren , Abadi Amir , Bartle John , Sudmeyer Robert , Van Gent Sarah , Gibberd Mark , Zerihun Ayalsew 
Published: October 2020

AbstractMallee eucalypts are being developed as a short rotation coppice crop for integration into agricultural systems in the south‐west of Western Australia. These have potential for biomass production for bioenergy, eucalyptus oil and generating carbon credits and to help control the extensive occurrence of dryland salinity. Some 12,000 ha of mallee planting has been undertaken since 1994, mostly in the form of wide‐spaced, narrow belts within the annual agricultural system. Production and market data were used to estimate levelized costs (LC) of mallee biomass production under different harvest regimes across 11 sites from 2006 to 2012. We found LC ranged from AUD40 to AUD257 fresh Mg−1. LC was most strongly determined by mallee production, followed by the crop/pasture rotation decisions of the landholder. Mallee harvest regime had minor impact on LC. Crop and pasture yield loss due to competition from the mallee belts accounted for 38% of costs, harvesting biomass was 32%, opportunity cost of the land occupied by the mallee belts was 16% while establishment and maintenance costs accounted for 14% of the costs. When income from carbon sequestered in mallee root biomass was included, the LC dropped by an average of 11% at the current Australian price of AUD15 Mg−1 CO2 equivalent (CO2e). The income from carbon sequestered in root biomass alone is unlikely to make mallee agroforestry economically viable. Hence, income from harvested biomass in the form of feedstocks for industry or carbon credits is necessary to make mallee agroforestry commercially attractive. LC for unharvested mallee belts ranged from AUD33 to AUD237 Mg−1. Where above‐ and below‐ground biomass is converted to CO2e at AUD15 Mg−1, the LC drops to AUD11–AUD64, with three of 11 sites likely to be profitable. These three sites were characterized by high biomass production with low agricultural gross margins.
COVID‐19, varying genetic resistance to viral disease and immune tolerance checkpoints
Authors: Goodnow Christopher C 
Published: October 2020

AbstractCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is a zoonosis like most of the great plagues sculpting human history, from smallpox to pandemic influenza and human immunodeficiency virus. When viruses jump into a new species the outcome of infection ranges from asymptomatic to lethal, historically ascribed to “genetic resistance to viral disease.” People have exploited these differences for good and bad, for developing vaccines from cowpox and horsepox virus, controlling rabbit plagues with myxoma virus and introducing smallpox during colonization of America and Australia. Differences in resistance to viral disease are at the core of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) crisis, yet our understanding of the mechanisms in any interspecies leap falls short of the mark. Here I review how the two key parameters of viral disease are countered by fundamentally different genetic mechanisms for resistance: (1) virus transmission, countered primarily by activation of innate and adaptive immune responses; and (2) pathology, countered primarily by tolerance checkpoints to limit innate and adaptive immune responses. I discuss tolerance thresholds and the role of CD8 T cells to limit pathological immune responses, the problems posed by tolerant superspreaders and the signature coronavirus evasion strategy of eliciting only short‐lived neutralizing antibody responses. Pinpointing and targeting the mechanisms responsible for varying pathology and short‐lived antibody were beyond reach in previous zoonoses, but this time we are armed with genomic technologies and more knowledge of immune checkpoint genes. These known unknowns must now be tackled to solve the current COVID‐19 crisis and the inevitable zoonoses to follow.
Making Asylum Seekers More Vulnerable in South Africa: The Negative Effects of Hostile Asylum Policies on Livelihoods
Authors: Carciotto Sergio 
Published: October 2020

AbstractIn post‐apartheid South Africa, migration policies and legislation have left critical issues such as social cohesion and integration unsolved. Furthermore, the inability to reconcile the national interest of maintaining borders’ integrity with respecting moral and legal obligations has placed the asylum system under tremendous stress. Drawing from secondary sources, as well as qualitative interviews, this paper explores the development of new asylum policies aimed at curtailing asylum seekers’ right to work in South Africa. The study’s findings provide support for the conclusions of earlier research that highlights the consequences of hostile policies and practices for asylum seekers’ livelihoods. The author argues that curtailments on asylum seekers’ right to work will have many possible socio‐economic ramifications. In the immediate term, the legislation seeks to inhibit asylum seekers from engaging in self‐employment, while in the long run it may achieve the undesired effect of producing more precarious forms of livelihood.
Death, dying and donation: community perceptions of brain death and their relationship to decisions regarding withdrawal of vital organ support and organ donation
Authors: Skowronski George , O'Leary Michael J. , Critchley Christine , O'Reilly Lisa , Forlini Cynthia , Ghinea Narcyz , Sheahan Linda , Stewart Cameron , Kerridge Ian 
Published: October 2020

AbstractDespite brain death (BD) being established as a definition of death for over 50 years, the concept remains controversial. Little is known about public perception of death determination in decision‐making about withdrawal of organ support and organ donation (OD), and the importance of the ‘Dead Donor Rule’ (DDR). We examined perceptions about death in a BD patient and their relationship to decisions about withdrawal of vital organ support, OD and the DDR, using an online survey of 1017 Australian adults. A BD patient scenario was presented, followed by a series of questions. Statistically significant differences in responses were determined using repeated measures analyses of variance and t tests. Seven hundred and fourteen respondents (70.2%) agreed that a hypothetical BD patient was dead. Those disagreeing most commonly cited the presence of heartbeat and breathing. Seven hundred and seventy (75.7%) favoured removal of ‘life support’, including 136 (13.3%) who had not agreed the patient was dead. Support for OD was high, but most favoured organ removal only after heartbeat and breathing had ceased. Where OD was in keeping with the patient's known wishes, 464 (45.6%) agreed that organs could be removed even if this caused death. Forty‐one (20%) of those who had indicated they considered the patient was not dead agreed to organ removal even if it caused death. Australian public views on BD, withdrawal of ‘life support’ and OD are complex. Emphasis on prognosis and the impact of significant brain injury may be more appropriate in these situations, rather than focussing on death determination and upholding the DDR.
Investigating volatility transmission across international equity markets using multivariate fractional models
Authors: Saâdaoui Foued , Ghadhab Imen 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThe growing number of cross‐listed stocks has significantly contributed to the integration of national economies over the last few decades, and has consequently strengthened the interdependence between international stock markets. This phenomenon has sparked a fervent debate in academia and in decision‐making circles dealing with volatility spillovers between international stock prices. Accordingly, isolated examinations of single foreign cross‐listing markets appear inadequate. On this basis, the aim of this article is to recognize volatility transmission patterns within international equity markets using a unique and comprehensive sample of highly traded companies simultaneously cross‐listed in the United States and the UK. An important fact to be noted here is that long‐range dependence is statistically proved in the studied cases, which means that the efficient market hypothesis is utterly rejected. Therefore, a multivariate fractionally co‐integrated model is preliminarily used to fit various samples of high‐frequency time series. Resulting residuals are then subject to a deeper analysis, allowing us to reveal significant volatility transmissions between markets of multiple cross‐listed stocks. Causality experiments are finally conducted on processed data. The results show strong bi‐directional volatility causations between various marketplaces. The overall deduction of this work is that price discovery takes place essentially in local and British markets, thus implying a satellite role in the price discovery process for American exchanges.
Explaining the better‐than‐average effect among prisoners
Authors: Taylor Sarah G. , Eisenbarth Hedwig , Sedikides Constantine , Alicke Mark D. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractWe addressed explanations for why prisoners manifest the Better‐Than‐Average Effect (perceptions of superiority to the average peer), focusing on three biases: self‐enhancing (social as well as temporal) comparisons, denial, and self‐serving attributions. We tested the Better‐Than‐Average Effect in regards to prisoners’ perceptions of their worst trait, and assessed the relationship between the three biases and positive self‐evaluations. Prisoners engaged in self‐enhancing comparisons, differentiating themselves from other prisoners and their past selves who committed the crime, but also expected self‐improvement in the future. Prisoners also demonstrated denial for intentions to commit the crime, planning of it, recidivism, and over‐estimation of crime prevalence in the general population. Although prisoners made self‐serving attributions by distancing their own character from their criminal behavior and reporting they had experienced more hardship relative to others, they did not attribute the cause of their crime to such hardship. More extensive self‐enhancing temporal comparisons and denial predicted more positive self‐evaluations of prisoners’ worst trait relative to the average community member. The strength of some of these biases varied with levels of narcissism and psychopathy.
Calcium signaling in endocardial and epicardial ventricular myocytes from streptozotocin‐induced diabetic rats
Authors: Al Kury Lina T , Sydorenko Vadym , Smail Manal MA , Qureshi Muhammad A , Shmygol Anatoly , Papandreou Dimitrios , Singh Jaipaul , Howarth Frank Christopher 
Published: October 2020

AbstractAims/IntroductionAbnormalities in Ca2+ signaling have a key role in hemodynamic dysfunction in diabetic heart. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced diabetes on Ca2+ signaling in epicardial (EPI) and endocardial (ENDO) cells of the left ventricle after 5–6 months of STZ injection.Materials and MethodsWhole‐cell patch clamp was used to measure the L‐type Ca2+ channel (LTCC) and Na+/Ca2+ exchanger currents. Fluorescence photometry techniques were used to measure intracellular free Ca2+ concentration.ResultsAlthough the LTCC current was not significantly altered, the amplitude of Ca2+ transients increased significantly in EPI‐STZ and ENDO‐STZ compared with controls. Time to peak LTCC current, time to peak Ca2+ transient, time to half decay of LTCC current and time to half decay of Ca2+ transients were not significantly changed in EPI‐STZ and ENDO‐STZ myocytes compared with controls. The Na+/Ca2+ exchanger current was significantly smaller in EPI‐STZ and in ENDO‐STZ compared with controls.ConclusionsSTZ‐induced diabetes resulted in an increase in amplitude of Ca2+ transients in EPI and ENDO myocytes that was independent of the LTCC current. Such an effect can be attributed, at least in part, to the dysfunction of the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger. Additional studies are warranted to improve our understanding of the regional impact of diabetes on Ca2+ signaling, which will facilitate the discovery of new targeted treatments for diabetic cardiomyopathy.
Individual and group characteristics affecting nest building in sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinusL. 1758)
Authors: Dhamelincourt Marius , Buoro Mathieu , Rives Jacques , Sebihi Stellia , Tentelier Cédric 
Published: October 2020

AbstractNest building relates to reproductive effort, sexual selection, intersexual conflict and cooperation and may be linked to individual phenotype and interindividual interactions. In particular, larger individuals having more energy reserves are expected to build more, larger nests, without having to trade intrasexual competition for cooperative nest building. Capture–mark–recapture and nest survey of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus L. 1758) were combined to assess the relationship between individuals and nesting activity on a spawning ground, throughout a breeding season, during which 202 nests were observed and 114 individuals were captured. On average, males and females stayed 8.33 ± 1.02 and 3.57 ± 1.04 days on the spawning ground, visited 2.26 ± 1.72 and 1.67 ± 1.17 nests and encountered 2.33 ± 2.13 mates for males and 2.29 ± 1.32 mates for females, respectively, and the number of mates encountered increased with the number of nests visited. Body size had no effect on the duration of presence on spawning ground, number of nests visited, number of individuals per nest and sex ratio on nest or nest volume. Bigger nests were found at the end of the season and were not necessarily built by more individuals. This work brings insights on the mating system and cooperative nest building in sea lamprey and may inform managers who want to estimate sea lamprey populations via nest surveys.
A brief history of the octopus imaging facility to celebrate its 10th anniversary
Authors: MARTIN‐FERNANDEZ M.L. 
Published: October 2020

SummaryOctopus (Optics Clustered to OutPut Unique Solutions) celebrated in June 2020 its 10th birthday. Based at Harwell, near Oxford, Octopus is an open access, peer reviewed, national imaging facility that offers successful U.K. applicants supported access to single molecule imaging, confocal microscopy, several flavours of superresolution imaging, light sheet microscopy, optical trapping and cryoscanning electron microscopy. Managed by a multidisciplinary team, Octopus has so far assisted >100 groups of U.K. and international researchers. Cross‐fertilisation across fields proved to be a strong propeller of success underpinned by combining access to top‐end instrumentation with a strong programme of imaging hardware and software developments. How Octopus was born, and highlights of the multidisciplinary output produced during its 10‐year journey are reviewed below, with the aim of celebrating a myriad of collaborations with the U.K. scientific community, and reflecting on their scientific and societal impact.
Rural Primary Care Providers’ Experience and Usage of Clinical Recommendations in the CDC Pediatric Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Guideline: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Daugherty Jill , Waltzman Dana , Popat Shena , Groenendaal Amy Horn , Cherney Margaret , Knudson Alana 
Published: October 2020

AbstractPurposeIn 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released an evidence‐based guideline on pediatric mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) to educate health care providers on best practices of mTBI diagnosis, prognosis, and management/treatment. As residents living in rural areas have higher rates of mTBI, and may have limited access to care, it is particularly important to disseminate the CDC guideline to rural health care providers. The purpose of this paper is to describe rural health care providers’ experience with pediatric mTBI patients and their perceptions on incorporating the guideline recommendations into their practice.MethodInterviews with 9 pediatric rural health care providers from all US regions were conducted. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed for themes for each of the main topic areas covered in the interview guide.FindingsCommon causes of mTBI reported by health care providers included sports and all‐terrain vehicles. While health care providers found the guideline recommendations to be helpful and feasible, they reported barriers to implementation, such as lack of access to specialists. To help with uptake of the CDC guideline, they suggested the development of concise implementation tools that can be referenced quickly, integrated into electronic health record‐based systems, and that are customized by visit type and health care setting (eg, initial vs follow‐up visits and emergency department vs primary care visits).ConclusionLength, accessibility, and usability are important considerations when designing clinical tools for busy rural health care providers caring for pediatric patients with mTBI. Customized information, in both print and digital formats, may help with uptake of best practices.
(Dis)honest bureaucrats and (non)compliant firms in an evolutionary game
Authors: Antoci Angelo , Borghesi Simone , Iannucci Gianluca 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThis paper studies environmental corruption via a random‐matching evolutionary game between a population of firms and a population of bureaucrats who have to decide whether to release a ‘green’ licence to the firms. A firm obtains the licence if the bureaucrat checks that it complies with environmental regulations, otherwise it is sanctioned. The model assumes that there are two types of bureaucrats (honest and dishonest), two types of firms (compliant and non‐compliant) and two possible crimes (corruption and extortion). Corruption occurs when a dishonest bureaucrat accepts a bribe from a non‐compliant firm, while extortion occurs when a dishonest bureaucrat claims a bribe from a compliant firm. When there is no dominance of strategies, we show that there exist two bi‐stable regimes, in which two attractive stationary states exist and two regimes with an internal stable equilibrium, corresponding to the mixed‐strategy Nash equilibrium of the one‐shot static game, surrounded by closed trajectories. From comparative statics analysis performed on the latter two dynamic regimes, it emerges that policy instruments may help the Public Administration reduce both corruption and extortion, although increasing sanctions and detection probability do not always get the desired results.
Ablation catheter orientation: In vitro effects on lesion size and in vivo analysis during PVI for atrial fibrillation
Authors: Calzolari Vittorio , De Mattia Luca , Basso Francesco , Crosato Martino , Scalon Alessandra , Squasi Paolo Antonio Maria , Del Favero Simone , Cernetti Carlo 
Published: October 2020

AbstractBackgroundCatheter‐delivered radiofrequency (RF) lesion formation is a complex phenomenon, and few studies have explored the effect of catheter orientation on lesion size and catheter orientation behavior during pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) procedures. We evaluated the influence of catheter orientation on lesion dimensions in an in vitro experimental setting and investigated the catheter orientation behavior during PVI.Methods and results72 lesions were created in vitro on a porcine heart using a contact force catheter in a parallel, oblique, and perpendicular tip to tissue orientation. The superficial lesion length (SLL) increased shifting the catheter from perpendicular to parallel orientation. The intratissue absolute maximal lesion length (AML) was greater with an oblique catheter orientation. The lesion depth (LD) and the superficial lesion width (SLW) resulted similar with any orientation.Data from 21 PVI procedures in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation using the “wide antral circumferential RF ablation” (WACA) technique were retrospectively analyzed. The mean contact angle among 1130 RF lesions was 28 ± 20°. A prevalent parallel orientation was noted in the anterior WACA segments, whereas it resulted more perpendicular in the posterior segments. Significant differences in catheter orientation between the three operators were found only in few WACA segments.ConclusionsIn an in vitro setting, catheter orientation affects SLL and AML, but not LD and SLW. During PVI procedures, catheter orientation resulted mostly parallel to the endocardium. Catheter orientation varied among different WACA segments, but only small differences were found between three operators when considering similar WACA segments.