bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Invasive paper wasps have strong cascading effects on the host plant of monarch butterflies
Authors: McGruddy Rose A. , Howse Matthew W. F. , Haywood John , Ward Chrissie J. I. , Staufer Tony B. , Hayek‐Williams Mary , Toft Richard J. , Lester Philip J. 
Published: December 2020

The direct and indirect impacts that invasive predators have on communities within their invaded range are poorly understood, particularly in the early stages of invasion. Through top‐down control of their prey, predators have the capacity to trigger cascading effects on lower trophic levels.
We found the recent arrival of the invasive paper wasp Polistes dominula Christ has been associated with substantial declines in local butterfly abundance in New Zealand. One of the butterfly species we observed to be affected is the monarch, Danaus plexippus Linnaeus with densities reduced by 66% at the study site. Field experiments were conducted to examine the strength of the predation pressure exerted by P. dominula on monarch caterpillars and the cascading effects on milkweed (Gomphocarpus physocarpus E. Mey.) fitness.
A survival study of monarch caterpillars was conducted across three habitat types (coastal, forest, and suburban). Caterpillar survival in suburban areas was lowest, with only 45% of caterpillars remaining after just 6 h of exposure to wasp foraging. Predation by P. dominula explained 85% of caterpillar deaths within the trial period.
The cascading effects of P. dominula presence were quantified through changes in the height, foliage, and reproductive output of milkweed plants. Monarch caterpillar predation by P. dominula was found to have a positive effect on milkweed fitness.
This study demonstrates a strong trophic cascade initiated by an invasive predator. These findings highlight the impacts an invasive species can have on local communities beyond their direct predatory effects.
Plasticity in bilateral hippocampi after a 3‐month physical activity programme in lung cancer patients
Authors: Vaquero Lucía , Rodríguez‐Fornells Antoni , Pera‐Jambrina María Ángeles , Bruna Jordi , Simó Marta 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackground and purposeCancer treatments have deleterious effects on both brain structure and the cognition of lung cancer patients. Physical activity (PA) has beneficial effects on the cognition of healthy adults by eliciting brain plasticity, especially on the medial temporal lobe (hippocampus). Therefore, the aim was to study the neuroprotective effects of a 3‐month PA programme (PAP) on the brain structure and cognitive performance of lung cancer patients.MethodsTwelve patients (seven non‐small‐cell lung cancer [NSCLC] patients following chemotherapy, five small‐cell lung cancer [SCLC] patients following chemotherapy and prophylactic cranial irradiation) agreed to complete the PAP and underwent baseline and 3‐month (post‐PAP) brain magnetic resonance imaging and neuropsychological evaluations (PAP group). Twelve lung cancer patients (seven NSCLC, five SCLC; non‐PAP group) and 12 healthy sex‐, age‐ and education‐matched controls were recruited and completed two evaluations separated by the same amount of time. A region of interest voxel‐based morphometry analysis focused on bilateral hippocampi was performed.ResultsPhysical activity programme patients presented greater grey matter volume (GMV) across time in both hippocampi. Moreover, it was observed that SCLC patients in both the PAP and non‐PAP groups presented a time‐dependent GMV loss in bilateral hippocampi that was not significant in NSCLC patients. Importantly, the PA intervention decreased the magnitude of that GMV loss, becoming thus especially beneficial at the brain structural level for SCLC patients.ConclusionsOur study demonstrates, using a neuroimaging approach for the first time, that PA is able to stop the deleterious effects of systemic chemotherapy and brain radiation on brain structures of the lung cancer population, especially in SCLC patients.
An approach to sustainable agriculture by untangling the fate of contrasting nitrogen sources in double‐season rice grown with and without biochar
Authors: Ullah Saif , Ali Izhar , Liang He , Zhao Quan , Wei Shanqing , Muhammad Ihsan , Huang Min , Amanullah  , Ali Nawab , Jiang Ligeng 
Published: December 2020

AbstractExcessive use of inorganic nitrogen (N) fertilizers is the primary anthropogenic cause of low N use efficiency and environmental damage in wetland rice agriculture. However, little is known about the performance of traditional inorganic N sources used in paddy rice production. Biochar (BC) is considered to be a climate change mitigation tool that can enhance N uptake and utilization in N‐fertilized crops. To test this hypothesis, we performed a pot experiment to study the fate of15N‐labeled urea, ammonium nitrate, and ammonium sulfate with and without BC at tillering, heading, and maturity stages of rice in the early and late seasons of 2019. Fertilizer N leaching was significantly reduced by 75.69% and 110.32% in BC vs. non‐BC treatments across growth stages in the early and late seasons. The rate of leaching was lower for urea than for ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate. Furthermore, the addition of BC resulted in 55.58% and 41.33% higher soil15N concentrations in the early and late season, respectively, indicating that BC increased N adsorption.15N uptake by roots, stems, leaves, panicles, and grains averaged 52.39%, 37.14%, 40.86%, 36.37%, and 29.94% higher in BC‐amended pots than in BC‐free pots in both seasons. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) among N sources in terms of fertilizer N loss, residual N, and N uptake, and performance was ranked in the order urea > ammonium sulfate > ammonium nitrate. Overall, our results indicate that urea with BC is a preferable N source for double rice cropping systems compared with ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate.
The human melanocyte and melanoblast populations per unit area of epidermis in the rete ridge are greater than in the inter‐rete ridge
Authors: Hirobe Tomohisa , Enami Hisao , Nakayama Ai 
Published: December 2020

AbstractObjectiveIn human skin, melanocytes and melanoblasts are mostly located in the epidermis in addition to hair follicles. In hairy skin such as mouse skin, the inter‐follicular epidermis is generally flat. In contrast, in human skin, the epidermis is wavy and possesses well‐developed rete ridges. It is not well understood what difference exists in cell function between melanocytes present in the inter‐rete ridge and those in the rete ridge. To clarify this problem, we first tried to determine the melanocyte and melanoblast populations per unit area of epidermis both in the rete ridge and inter‐rete ridge epidermis.MethodsThirty‐eight samples from normal skin sites of 28 patients (14 males and 14 females) aged from 5 to 76 years were fixed and processed to dopa and combined dopa‐premelanin reactions. The numbers of cells positive to the dopa (melanocytes) and combined dopa‐premelanin (melanoblasts and melanocytes) reactions were scored.ResultsThe average melanocyte population/0.1 mm2 of the inter‐rete ridge was 74 cells, whereas that of the rete ridge was 147 cells. Moreover, the average melanoblast population/0.1 mm2 in the inter‐rete ridge was 43 cells, whereas that of the rete ridge was 131 cells. The melanoblast population in the rete ridge differed between female and male, but the melanocyte populations in the rete ridge and inter‐rete ridge and the melanoblast population in the inter‐rete ridge did not differ between female and male. However, no age difference in the melanocyte and melanoblast populations was observed between the rete ridge and inter‐rete ridge.ConclusionHuman epidermal melanocytes and melanoblasts in the rete ridge exist more numerously than in the inter‐rete ridge.
IgG4‐positive plasma cells are more often detected in chronic periapical lesions arising from permanent rather than primary teeth
Authors: Polanco X. B. J. , Bertasso A. S. , Silveira H. A. , Yamamoto de Almeida L. , Almeida L. K. Y. , da Silva R. A. B. , da Silva L. A. B. , de Rossi A. , Nelson‐Filho P. , León J. E. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractAimTo characterize plasma cell subsets in chronic periapical lesions affecting permanent and primary teeth.MethodologyOnly chronic periapical lesions without root canal treatment were selected. Twenty‐one radicular cysts and 7 periapical granulomas affecting permanent teeth and 19 radicular cysts and 4 periapical granulomas affecting primary teeth were assessed for immunoglobulin (Ig) light chain (kappa and lambda), Ig heavy chain (IgG, IgG4, IgA, IgM and IgD) and plasma cell immunohistochemical markers (MUM1/IRF4, EMA and CD138). The data acquired were analysed by Student’s t test, Mann–Whitney U, Friedman test followed by Dunn's multiple comparison test and Spearman’s rank correlation.ResultsAll cases were polyclonal (having similar kappa/lambda light chain ratios). IgG was most abundant compared to other Ig heavy chains (all, P < 0.001); like Ig light chains, but unlike IgA, there was greater expression of IgG in the primary compared to the permanent dentition, for both radicular cysts (P < 0.001) and periapical granulomas (P = 0.53). Notably, IgG4 expression was greater in the permanent than the primary dentition, for both radicular cyst (P < 0.05) and periapical granuloma (P = 0.65). IgM and IgD expression was scarce and variable, whereas plasma cell populations were detected efficiently through EMA, CD138 and MUM1/IRF4 markers, the latter being more sensitive in both dentitions.ConclusionsThere were slight variations in the Ig light and heavy chain profiles in chronic periapical lesions when comparing the permanent and primary dentitions. The ability of IgG4+ plasma cell infiltration to modulate inflammatory responses in chronic periapical lesions arising from permanent as opposed to primary teeth should be considered in future studies.
Response rate and diagnostic accuracy of early PET‐CT during neo‐adjuvant therapies in oesophageal adenocarcinoma: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Foley Kieran G. , Jeffries Jacqueline , Hannon Clare , Coles Bernadette , Bradley Kevin M. , Smyth Elizabeth 
Published: December 2020

AbstractPurposeOnly 25% of oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) patients have a pathological response to neo‐adjuvant therapy (NAT) before oesophagectomy. Early response assessment using PET imaging may help guide management of these patients. We performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis to synthesise the evidence detailing response rate and diagnostic accuracy of early PET‐CT assessment.MethodsWe systematically searched several databases including MEDLINE and Embase. Studies with mixed cohorts of histology, tumour location and a repeat PET‐CT assessment after more than one cycle of NAT were excluded. Reference standard was pathological response defined by Becker or Mandard classifications. Primary outcome was metabolic response rate after one cycle of NAT defined by a reduction in maximum standardised uptake value (SUVmax) of 35%. Secondary outcome was diagnostic accuracy of treatment response prediction, defined as the sensitivity and specificity of early PET‐CT using this threshold. Quality of evidence was also assessed. Random‐effects meta‐analysis pooled response rates and diagnostic accuracy. This study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42019147034).ResultsOverall, 1341 articles were screened, and 6 studies were eligible for analysis. These studies reported data for 518 patients (aged 27‐78 years; 452 [87.3%] were men) between 2005 and 2020. Pooled sensitivity of early metabolic response to predict pathological response was 77.2% (95% CI 53.2%‐100%). Significant heterogeneity existed between studies (I2 = 80.6% (95% CI 38.9%‐93.8%), P = .006). Pooled specificity was 75.0% (95% CI 68.2%‐82.5%), however, no significant heterogeneity between studies existed (I2 = 0.0% (95% CI 0.0%‐67.4%), P = .73).ConclusionHigh‐quality evidence is lacking, and few studies met the inclusion criteria of this systematic review. The sensitivity of PET using a SUVmax reduction threshold of 35% was suboptimal and varied widely. However, specificity was consistent across studies with a pooled value of 75.0%, suggesting early PET assessment is a better predictor of treatment resistance than of pathological response. Further research is required to define optimal PET‐guided treatment decisions in OAC.
Differences in pulmonary group 2 innate lymphoid cells are dependent on mouse age, sex and strain
Authors: Loering Svenja , Cameron Guy JM , Bhatt Nirmal P , Belz Gabrielle T , Foster Paul S , Hansbro Philip M , Starkey Malcolm R 
Published: December 2020

AbstractInnate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are resident in the lung and are involved in both the maintenance of homeostasis and the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases. In this study, murine lung ILCs were characterized using flow cytometry and the impact of mouse age, sex and strain were assessed. Lung ILCs were found as early as postnatal day 4 and numbers peaked at 2 weeks, and then decreased as the lung matured. During postnatal lung development, ILC expressed differential amounts of group 2 ILC (ILC2)‐associated cell surface antigens including ST2, CD90.2 and ICOS. Using Il5venusIl13td‐tomato dual reporter mice, neonates were found to have increased constitutive interleukin (IL)‐13 expression compared with adult mice. Neonates and adults had similar ratios of IL‐5+CD45+ leukocytes; however, these cells were mostly composed of ILCs in neonates and T cells in adults. Sex‐specific differences in ILC numbers were also observed, with females having greater numbers of lung ILCs than males in both neonatal and adult mice. Female lung ILCs also expressed higher levels of ICOS and decreased KLRG1. Mouse strain also impacted on lung ILCs with BALB/c mice having more ILCs in the lung and increased expression of ST2 and ICOS compared with C57BL/6J mice. Collectively, these data show that lung ILC numbers, cell surface antigen expression, IL‐5 and IL‐13 levels differed between neonatal and adult lung ILCs. In addition, cell surface antigens commonly used for ILC2 quantification, such as ST2, CD90.2 and ICOS, differ depending on age, sex and strain and these are important considerations for consistent universal identification of lung ILC2s.
Tabu search with strategic oscillation for improving collection assignment plans of waste electric and electronic equipment
Authors: Ríos‐Mercado Roger Z. , González‐Velarde José Luis , Maldonado‐Flores Jabneel R. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractThis paper studies a districting problem arising in the collection of waste of electrical and electronic equipment. Given a set of collection bins, where users return end‐of‐life electronic goods, located across a region or country, the design problem involves assigning these bins to the companies responsible for the collection at a later stage. This assignment must meet specific planning and legal requirements such as a fair household distribution according to each company's market share and a fair assignment based on the bin infrastructure quality. According to the current law, this assignment must be done in such a way to avoid, to the best possible extent, regional monopolies. This anti‐monopoly requirement is achieved by maximizing a dispersion function. A tabu search metaheuristic with an advanced feature of strategic oscillation is proposed for this ‐hard combinatorial optimization problem. The particular components are designed to exploit the mathematical structure of the problem entirely. Besides, a few upper bounding schemes are developed and tested. The empirical work shows the tabu search's effectiveness and its components over a broad set of instances from the literature. In particular, the strategic oscillation idea turned out to have a very positive impact. Overall, the proposed metaheuristic outperformed the best existing method for this problem.
Rethinking Macro Measurement
Authors: Sweeney James 
Published: December 2020

Economists have long recognized that widely reported and followed economic indicators such as GDP, productivity, and real wage growth often fail to do a good job of capturing the concepts they purport to measure. And as the chief economist of Credit Suisse begins by noting in this article, this mismeasurement problem has been viewed as significant in the cases of inflation and inflation‐adjusted (or real) measures, and even more troubling in the case of productivity.Even before the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic, the U.S. economy, as viewed through the lens of conventional macro statistics, was almost universally agreed to be struggling with pronounced demographic and productivity slowdowns. But if the slowdowns in nominal GDP and wage growth are indisputable, the author suggests that systematic overstatement of U.S. inflation may well have not only exaggerated the extent of such slowdowns, but obscured the possibility of actual increases in productivity and real wages during the past three or four decades.Along with the possible mismeasurement of some macroeconomic data, the author also discusses the ways in which macro measures tend to be misused. Though the limitations of macro data have long been understood by experts, the widespread use and uncritical acceptance of such numbers as representing concepts such as living standards, the cost of living, worker efficiency, technology growth, and welfare have very significant implications for today's policy debates and public assessment of the health of the economy. After discussing some of these measurement challenges and calling for greater acknowledgment of the limitations of conventional macro statistics by economists when citing them, the author suggests that “the prestige of national accounts data has likely peaked,” and better approaches appear to be emerging. Notable among such approaches are alternative measures, some spawned by the pandemic, that are improving how economists track the economy in real time and, in so doing, making possible “a deeper, more accurate, and more realistic view of economic activity.”
Using ESG to Enhance Fixed‐Income Returns: The Case of Inherent Group
Authors: Mirchandani Nikhil , Rossetti Chelsea 
Published: December 2020

The authors discuss how their investment firm uses environmental and social as well as financial considerations to produce superior fixed‐income returns for its limited partners. The firm is committed to the idea that, by making ESG analysis part of its deal sourcing, underwriting, monitoring, issuer engagement, and portfolio management decisions, such labor‐intensive practices end up providing valuable investment insights that help drive long‐term value creation.Using three of its investments as case studies—two involving short credit positions and one long position—the authors show how the incorporation of ESG in leveraged credit analysis has not only differentiated its approach, but proved effective in identifying undervalued (and distressed) debt as well as overvalued credits ripe for a fall. Conviction about the firm's two credit shorts rested on fundamental analysis reinforced by social and governance considerations—one involving opioids and price gouging, the other a conflicted governance structure. The third case involved investment in the distressed credit of a California utility premised on both environmental tailwinds from investments in renewables and a view of the bankruptcy process, triggered by California wildfire liabilities, as a social and economic forum for accomplishing an overall welfare‐increasing reassignment of risks and rewards—one likely to benefit society as a whole as well as (some) investors.
The Economic (Not Literary) Offenses of Michael Lewis: The Case of The Big Short and the Global Financial Crisis
Authors: Chew Don 
Published: December 2020

In a shameless abuse of editorial prerogative, the editor of this journal uses Lewis's bestseller as a pretext and occasion for presenting his own theory of the cause of the global financial crisis of 2008. After thanking Lewis for his entertaining and informative account of aspects of the mortgage backed securities markets, the author goes on to cite Peter Wallison's “Dissent” to the 900‐page report compiled by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission as “the only plausible explanation of the crisis he has encountered.” Wallison's main focus is the debasement of U.S. mortgage underwriting standards in the name of expanded home ownership that was initiated by U.S. law and policy makers, starting with President Clinton in 1992 and carried on by the Bush Administration.Along with the 31 million U.S. mortgages (or 56% of the 55 million total) that in June 2008 were classified “sub‐prime” or “Alt‐A”—with typical down payments ranging from anywhere from 0‐3%—the author identifies as the second main contributor to the crisis the “absurdly” low bank capital ratios (roughly 3% of total assets during the height of the crisis) that encouraged excessive risk‐taking throughout the system. Indeed, in what some observers have identified as a “game of bank bargains,” the low capital ratios were widely understood to be concessions by Congress and regulators to banks in return for their relaxation of lending standards—again, all in the name of expanded home ownerships. But this combination of policies, as we now know, did not end well.
The moving learner: Object manipulation in virtual reality improves vocabulary learning
Authors: Fuhrman Orly , Eckerling Anabel , Friedmann Naama , Tarrasch Ricardo , Raz Gal 
Published: December 2020

AbstractA challenging aspect of foreign language acquisition is learning new vocabulary. Research has demonstrated the benefits of motor action to vocabulary learning, though these findings are rarely translated into teaching and learning practices. In this work, we present a novel paradigm for vocabulary learning in a virtual reality environment, capitalizing on the prominent advantages of this technology as an ‘embodied learning’ tool. Hebrew‐speaking adults explored a virtual room and learned the Finnish names of 40 daily objects. Every participant learned the new object names under three conditions: (1) Watch‐only: watching the object without performing any movement (2) performing an irrelevant movement or (3) performing a manipulation movement that implied its habitual use. Participants completed a word–picture matching test after each training block, as well as additional word–picture matching and recall tests a week after the initial training session. The overall results demonstrate improved comprehension rates for items that were learned in the manipulation movement condition compared to the irrelevant movement condition, both in the initial learning session and 1 week following it. These initial findings suggest that VR technology may indeed hold the potential to offer a more authentic, multisensory and motor context to efficient foreign language learning.
Loureirin B activates GLP‐1R and promotes insulin secretion in Ins‐1 cells
Authors: Ding Yanting , Xia Sijing , Zhang Han , Chen Qin , Niu Bing 
Published: December 2020

AbstractLoureirin B (LB) is a natural product derived from Sanguis draconis, which has hypoglycaemic effects. In order to research the possible target of LB in the treatment of diabetes, molecular docking was used to simulate the interaction between LB and potential targets, and among them, glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor (GLP‐1R) had the optimal results. Further, spectroscopy and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments were applied to detect the interaction between LB and GLP‐1R. Ultimately, after GLP‐1R siRNA interfering the expression of GLP‐1R in Ins‐1 cell, the promoting insulin secretion of LB was weaken, which directly proved that GLP‐1R plays an important role. These results show that LB promotes insulin secretion of Ins‐1 cells through GLP‐1R. Hence, the strategy of LB as a prodrug will provide a potential approach for non‐peptide GLP‐1R agonist.