bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Spatial patterns of phylogenetic diversity and endemism in the Western Ghats, India: A case study using ancient predatory arthropods
Authors: Bharti D. K. , Edgecombe Gregory D. , Karanth K. Praveen , Joshi Jahnavi 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThe Western Ghats (WG) mountain chain in peninsular India is a global biodiversity hotspot, one in which patterns of phylogenetic diversity and endemism remain to be documented across taxa. We used a well‐characterized community of ancient soil predatory arthropods from the WG to understand diversity gradients, identify hotspots of endemism and conservation importance, and highlight poorly studied areas with unique biodiversity. We compiled an occurrence dataset for 19 species of scolopendrid centipedes, which was used to predict areas of habitat suitability using bioclimatic and geomorphological variables in Maxent. We used predicted distributions and a time‐calibrated species phylogeny to calculate taxonomic and phylogenetic indices of diversity, endemism, and turnover. We observed a decreasing latitudinal gradient in taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity in the WG, which supports expectations from the latitudinal diversity gradient. The southern WG had the highest phylogenetic diversity and endemism, and was represented by lineages with long branch lengths as observed from relative phylogenetic diversity/endemism. These results indicate the persistence of lineages over evolutionary time in the southern WG and are consistent with predictions from the southern WG refuge hypothesis. The northern WG, despite having low phylogenetic diversity, had high values of phylogenetic endemism represented by distinct lineages as inferred from relative phylogenetic endemism. The distinct endemic lineages in this subregion might be adapted to life in lateritic plateaus characterized by poor soil conditions and high seasonality. Sites across an important biogeographic break, the Palghat Gap, broadly grouped separately in comparisons of species turnover along the WG. The southern WG and Nilgiris, adjoining the Palghat Gap, harbor unique centipede communities, where the causal role of climate or dispersal barriers in shaping diversity remains to be investigated. Our results highlight the need to use phylogeny and distribution data while assessing diversity and endemism patterns in the WG.
Great tits do not compensate over time for a radio‐tag‐induced reduction in escape‐flight performance
Authors: Tomotani Barbara M. , Muijres Florian T. , Johnston Bronwyn , van der Jeugd Henk P. , Naguib Marc 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThe use of biologging and tracking devices is widespread in avian behavioral and ecological studies. Carrying these devices rarely has major behavioral or fitness effects in the wild, yet it may still impact animals in more subtle ways, such as during high power demanding escape maneuvers. Here, we tested whether or not great tits (Parus major) carrying a backpack radio‐tag changed their body mass or flight behavior over time to compensate for the detrimental effect of carrying a tag. We tested 18 great tits, randomly assigned to a control (untagged) or one of two different types of a radio‐tag as used in previous studies in the wild (0.9 g or 1.2 g; ~5% or ~6–7% of body mass, respectively), and determined their upward escape‐flight performance 1, 7, 14, and 28 days after tagging. In between experiments, birds were housed in large free‐flight aviaries. For each escape‐flight, we used high‐speed 3D videography to determine flight paths, escape‐flight speed, wingbeat frequency, and actuator disk loading (ratio between the bird weight and aerodynamic thrust production capacity). Tagged birds flew upward with lower escape‐flight speeds, caused by an increased actuator disk loading. During the 28‐day period, all groups slightly increased their body mass and their in‐flight wingbeat frequency. In addition, during this period, all groups of birds increased their escape‐flight speed, but tagged birds did so at a lower rate than untagged birds. This suggests that birds may increase their escape‐flight performance through skill learning; however, tagged birds still remained slower than controls. Our findings suggest that tagging a songbird can have a prolonged effect on the performance of rapid flight maneuvers. Given the absence of tag effects on reproduction and survival in most songbird radio‐tagging studies, tagged birds in the wild might adjust their risk‐taking behavior to avoid performing rapid flight maneuvers.
Mass‐ratio and complementarity effects simultaneously drive aboveground biomass in temperate Quercus forests through stand structure
Authors: Gao Wen‐Qiang , Lei Xiang‐Dong , Gao Dong‐Li , Li Yu‐Tang 
Published: November 2021

AbstractForests play a key role in regulating the global carbon cycle, a substantial portion of which is stored in aboveground biomass (AGB). It is well understood that biodiversity can increase the biomass through complementarity and mass‐ratio effects, and the contribution of environmental factors and stand structure attributes to AGB was also observed. However, the relative influence of these factors in determining the AGB of Quercus forests remains poorly understood. Using a large dataset retrieved from 523 permanent forest inventory plots across Northeast China, we examined the effects of integrated multiple tree species diversity components (i.e., species richness, functional, and phylogenetic diversity), functional traits composition, environmental factors (climate and soil), stand age, and structure attributes (stand density, tree size diversity) on AGB based on structural equation models. We found that species richness and phylogenetic diversity both were not correlated with AGB. However, functional diversity positively affected AGB via an indirect effect in line with the complementarity effect. Moreover, the community‐weighted mean of specific leaf area and height increased AGB directly and indirectly, respectively; demonstrating the mass‐ratio effect. Furthermore, stand age, density, and tree size diversity were more important modulators of AGB than biodiversity. Our study highlights that biodiversity–AGB interaction is dependent on the regulation of stand structure that can be even more important for maintaining high biomass than biodiversity in temperate Quercus forests.
Intermediate disturbances are a key driver of long‐term tree demography across old‐growth temperate forests
Authors: Nagel Thomas A. , Firm Dejan , Rozman Andrej 
Published: November 2021

AbstractDisentangling the relative influence of background versus disturbance related mortality on forest demography is crucial for understanding long‐term dynamics and predicting the influence of global change on forests. Quantifying the rates and drivers of tree demography requires direct observations of tree populations over multiple decades, yet such studies are rare in old‐growth forest, particularly in the temperate zone of Europe. We use multi‐decade (1980–2020) monitoring of permanent plots, including observations of mode of mortality and disturbance events, to quantify rates and drivers of tree demography across a network of old‐growth remnants in temperate mountain forests of Slovenia. Annual rates of mortality and recruitment varied markedly among sites and over time; census intervals that captured intermediate severity canopy disturbances caused subtle peaks in annual mortality (e.g., >2%/year), while rates of background mortality in non‐disturbed intervals averaged about 1%/year. Roughly half of the trees died from modes of mortality associated with disturbance (i.e., uprooting or snapped‐alive). Results of a Bayesian multilevel model indicate that beech (Fagus sylvatica) had a higher likelihood of disturbance related mortality compared to fir (Abies alba), which mainly died standing, and there was a notable increase in the odds of disturbance mortality with increasing diameter for all species. Annual recruitment rates were consistently low at sites (<0.5%) that lacked evidence of disturbance, but often exceeded 3% on sites with higher levels of past canopy mortality. Recruitment was dominated by beech on sites with more diffuse background mortality, while the less shade tolerant maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) recruited following known disturbance events. Our study highlights the important role of stand‐scale, partial canopy disturbance for long‐term forest demography. These results suggest that subtle climate‐driven changes in the regime of intermediate severity disturbances could have an important influence on future forest dynamics and warrant attention.
Transpiration patterns and water use strategies of beech and oak trees along a hillslope
Authors: Fabiani Ginevra , Schoppach Remy , Penna Daniele , Klaus Julian 
Published: November 2021

AbstractThe role of landscape topography in mediating subsurface water availability and ultimately tree transpiration is still poorly understood. To assess how hillslope position affects tree water use, we coupled sap velocity with xylem isotope measurements in a temperate beech‐oak forest along a hillslope transect in Luxembourg. We generally observed greater sap velocities at the upslope locations in trees from average‐sized trees, suggesting the presence of more suited growing conditions. We found a lower difference in sap velocity among hillslope positions for larger trees, likely due to the exploitation of deeper and more persistent water sources and the larger canopy light interception. Beech trees exploited a shallower and seasonally less persistent water source than oak trees, due to the shallower root system than oak trees. The different water exploitation strategy could also explain the stronger stomatal sensitivity of beech to vapour pressure deficit compared to oak trees. Xylem isotopic composition was seasonally variable at all locations, mainly reflecting the contribution of variable soil water sources and suggesting that groundwater did not contribute, or only marginally contributed, to tree transpiration. Overall, our results suggest that trees along the hillslope mainly rely on water stored in the unsaturated zone and that seasonally shallow groundwater table may not necessarily subsidize water uptake for species that do not tolerate anoxic conditions. Contrary to previous studies, at our site, we did not find higher sap velocity downslope as the subsurface hillslope structure promotes vertical water flux over lateral redistribution in the vadose zone.
Research on electric vehicle‐supercapacitor hybrid system participates in the application of tracking PV project output
Authors: Zhao Song , Zhou Lei , Zhang Qian , Dang Shaojia , Yu Haicun , Zhang Guobin , Guo Ruijun , Zhao Wei 
Published: November 2021

AbstractWith the increase in new energy power generation and the continuous augment in the penetration rate of electric vehicles, it is of crucial importance to use electric vehicles as energy storage devices to promote the consumption of new energy. Aiming at the uncertainty of electric vehicles, this paper proposes a method based on multiobjective optimization for electric vehicle‐supercapacitor hybrid energy storage system to track PV project output. The hybrid system consists of electric vehicles and supercapacitor. Electric vehicles and supercapacitors supplement the deviation of PV actual power and predicted power by charging and discharging. The electric vehicle is regarded as a nonspecific way to label a piece of equipment that can store energy. First and foremost, on the basis of traditional method of predicting PV output, a PSO‐BP prediction method based on PCA is proposed to improve the accuracy of PV output prediction. Secondarily, according to the different characteristics of electric vehicles and supercapacitors, the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method is used to decompose the deviation that the hybrid energy storage system needs to bear with the purpose of initially allocating the energy. Furthermore, a multiobjective optimization model is established for the precise energy distribution of the hybrid energy storage system, and the NSGA‐III algorithm is used to solve it. Ultimately, the data of a domestic PV power station are used for simulation. After optimized control, the result shows that the standard deviation of the system output is reduced from 1967 to 75.77. The research in this article provides a theoretical basis for the application of electric vehicle virtual energy storage technology in the field of auxiliary new energy grid connection.
Provenance of Baker River sediments (Chile, 48°S): Implications for the identification of flood deposits in fjord sediments
Authors: Liu Dawei , Bertrand Sebastien , Vandekerkhove Elke , Renson Virginie 
Published: November 2021

AbstractFloods are among the most destructive natural hazards on Earth. In paleohydrology, sediments are generally considered as one of the best archives to extend flood records to pre‐historical timescales. Doing so requires being able to identify flood deposits from sediment archives and decipher between flood types. The latter is particularly important in glacierized regions, where meteorological floods frequently co‐occur with glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). In Patagonia, results from a recent study suggest that GLOFs are recorded in downstream fjord sediments as fine‐grained and organic‐poor layers, representing the high amount of glacier rock flour transported during lake outbursts, whereas meteorological floods are represented by coarser and more organic deposits. However, not all fine‐grained organic‐poor deposits could be associated with historical GLOFs. Here, we reconstruct the provenance of these Baker River flood deposits using 87Sr/86Sr and εNd, taking advantage of the clear lithological differences that exist between both sides of the watershed. Our results show that both 87Sr/86Sr and εNd are suited to reconstruct sediment provenance in the Baker River watershed but that εNd is the most effective and the least affected by grain‐size variations. Our provenance results confirm that the 21st‐century fine‐grained and organic‐poor deposits represent GLOFs and that the largest winter meteorological flood on record has a distinct coarse and organic‐rich signature. However, our results show that rain‐on‐snow events that occur in summer, and therefore primarily affect the western glacierized part of the watershed, have the same fine‐grained organic‐poor signature as GLOFs. Therefore, this study shows that the sedimentary signature of rain‐on‐snow floods in partially glacierized watersheds depends on the season during which they occur. We anticipate that our findings will contribute to a better interpretation of flood records from partially glacierized watersheds.
From statistical‐ to machine learning‐based network traffic prediction
Authors: Lohrasbinasab Iraj , Shahraki Amin , Taherkordi Amir , Delia Jurcut Anca 
Published: November 2021

AbstractNowadays, due to the exponential and continuous expansion of new paradigms such as Internet of Things (IoT), Internet of Vehicles (IoV) and 6G, the world is witnessing a tremendous and sharp increase of network traffic. In such large‐scale, heterogeneous, and complex networks, the volume of transferred data, asbig data, is considered a challenge causing different networking inefficiencies. To overcome these challenges, various techniques are introduced to monitor the performance of networks, called Network Traffic Monitoring and Analysis (NTMA). Network Traffic Prediction (NTP) is a significant subfield of NTMA which is mainly focused on predicting the future of network load and its behavior. NTP techniques can generally be realized in two ways, that is, statistical‐ and Machine Learning (ML)‐based. In this paper, we provide a study on existing NTP techniques through reviewing, investigating, and classifying the recent relevant works conducted in this field. Additionally, we discuss the challenges and future directions of NTP showing that how ML and statistical techniques can be used to solve challenges of NTP.
Upfront progression under pembrolizumab followed by a complete response after encorafenib and cetuximab treatment in BRAF V600E‐mutated and microsatellite unstable metastatic colorectal cancer patient: A case report
Authors: Gallois Claire , Taieb Julien , Sabouret Annabelle , Broudin Chloé , Karoui Mehdi , Garinet Simon , Zaanan Aziz 
Published: November 2021

AbstractTwo new treatments have recently become standard care for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC): encorafenib (BRAF inhibitor) associated with cetuximab (anti‐EGFR) in the second or third line of chemotherapy for BRAF V600E tumors, and pembrolizumab (an anti PD‐1 immune checkpoint inhibitor) for tumors harboring microsatellite instability (MSI)‐high and/or deficient mismatch repair (dMMR). Furthermore, 30% of BRAF V600E mutated mCRC are MSI/dMMR through a sporadic hypermethylation of the promoter of hMLH1. We report here, for the first time, the case of a patient with BRAF V600E, PIK3CA, and SMAD4 mutated and dMMR/MSI mCRC, in whom we observed an atypical response pattern under the sequence of pembrolizumab followed by the doublet encorafenib and cetuximab treatment. The patient was progressive after a single cycle of pembrolizumab followed by a rapid complete response after only 2 months of treatment with encorafenib and cetuximab, discovered during R0 cytoreduction surgery for peritoneal carcinomatosis.
Dystrophin deficiency affects human astrocyte properties and response to damage
Authors: Lange Jenny , Gillham Olivia , Alkharji Reem , Eaton Simon , Ferrari Giulia , Madej Monika , Flower Michael , Tedesco Francesco Saverio , Muntoni Francesco , Ferretti Patrizia 
Published: November 2021

AbstractIn addition to progressive muscular degeneration due to dystrophin mutations, 1/3 of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients present cognitive deficits. However, there is currently an incomplete understanding about the function of the multiple dystrophin isoforms in human brains. Here, we tested the hypothesis that dystrophin deficiency affects glial function in DMD and could therefore contribute to neural impairment. We investigated human dystrophin isoform expression with development and differentiation and response to damage in human astrocytes from control and induced pluripotent stem cells from DMD patients. In control cells, short dystrophin isoforms were up‐regulated with development and their expression levels changed differently upon neuronal and astrocytic differentiation, as well as in 2‐dimensional versus 3‐dimensional astrocyte cultures. All DMD‐astrocytes tested displayed altered morphology, proliferative activity and AQP4 expression. Furthermore, they did not show any morphological change in response to inflammatory stimuli and their number was significantly lower as compared to stimulated healthy astrocytes. Finally, DMD‐astrocytes appeared to be more sensitive than controls to oxidative damage as shown by their increased cell death. Behavioral and metabolic defects in DMD‐astrocytes were consistent with gene pathway dysregulation shared by lines with different mutations as demonstrated by bulk RNA‐seq analysis. Together, our DMD model provides evidence for altered astrocyte function in DMD suggesting that defective astrocyte responses may contribute to neural impairment and might provide additional potential therapeutic targets.
Isolating the sources of pipeline‐variability in group‐level task‐fMRI results
Authors: Bowring Alexander , Nichols Thomas E. , Maumet Camille 
Published: November 2021

AbstractTask‐fMRI researchers have great flexibility as to how they analyze their data, with multiple methodological options to choose from at each stage of the analysis workflow. While the development of tools and techniques has broadened our horizons for comprehending the complexities of the human brain, a growing body of research has highlighted the pitfalls of such methodological plurality. In a recent study, we found that the choice of software package used to run the analysis pipeline can have a considerable impact on the final group‐level results of a task‐fMRI investigation (Bowring et al., 2019, BMN). Here we revisit our work, seeking to identify the stages of the pipeline where the greatest variation between analysis software is induced. We carry out further analyses on the three datasets evaluated in BMN, employing a common processing strategy across parts of the analysis workflow and then utilizing procedures from three software packages (AFNI, FSL, and SPM) across the remaining steps of the pipeline. We use quantitative methods to compare the statistical maps and isolate the main stages of the workflow where the three packages diverge. Across all datasets, we find that variation between the packages' results is largely attributable to a handful of individual analysis stages, and that these sources of variability were heterogeneous across the datasets (e.g., choice of first‐level signal model had the most impact for the balloon analog risk task dataset, while first‐level noise model and group‐level model were more influential for the false belief and antisaccade task datasets, respectively). We also observe areas of the analysis workflow where changing the software package causes minimal differences in the final results, finding that the group‐level results were largely unaffected by which software package was used to model the low‐frequency fMRI drifts.
Flipping the script: The effects of opioid prescription monitoring on specialty‐specific provider behavior
Authors: Ellyson Alice M. , Grooms Jevay , Ortega Alberto 
Published: November 2021

AbstractMandatory access Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (MA‐PDMPs) aim to curb the epidemic at a common point of initiation of use, the prescription. However, there is recent concern about whether opioid policies have been too restrictive and reduced appropriate access to patients with the most need for opioid pharmaceuticals. We assess MA‐PDMP's effect on specialty‐specific opioid prescribing behavior of Medicare providers. Our findings suggest that requiring providers to query a PDMP differentially affects opioid prescribing across provider specialties. We find a three to four percent decrease in prescribing for Primary Care and Internal Medicine providers. This result is driven by healthcare providers at the lower end of the prescribing distribution. There is also suggestive evidence of an increase in opioid use disorder treatment drugs prescribed by these same providers. We also find no evidence for the hypothesis that MA‐PDMPs restrict prescribing by providers who treat patients with potentially high levels of pain, few drug substitutes, or urgency for pain treatment (e.g., Oncology/Palliative care). This result is not dependent on whether a state provides exemptions for these providers. Our results indicate that MA‐PDMPs may help close provider‐patient informational gaps while retaining a provider's ability to supply these drugs to patients with a need for opioids.