bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Male size and reproductive performance in three species of livebearing fishes (Gambusia spp.): A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Kim Bora , Moran Nicholas Patrick , Reinhold Klaus , Sánchez‐Tójar Alfredo 
Published: July 2021

Abstract

The genus Gambusia represents approximately 45 species of polyandrous livebearing fishes with reversed sexual size dimorphism (i.e. males smaller than females) and with copulation predominantly via male coercion. Male body size has been suggested as an important sexually selected trait, but despite abundant research, evidence for sexual selection on male body size in this genus is mixed.

Studies have found that large males have an advantage in both male–male competition and female choice, but that small males perform sneaky copulations better and at higher frequency and thus may sire more offspring in this coercive mating system. Here, we synthesized this inconsistent body of evidence using pre‐registered methods and hypotheses.

We performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis of summary and primary (raw) data combining both published (n = 19 studies, k = 106 effect sizes) and unpublished effect sizes (n = 17, k = 242) to test whether there is overall selection on male body size across studies in Gambusia. We also tested several specific hypotheses to understand the sources of heterogeneity across effects.

Meta‐analysis revealed an overall positive correlation between male size and reproductive performance (r = 0.23, 95% confidence interval: 0.10–0.35, n = 36, k = 348, 4,514 males, three Gambusia species). Despite high heterogeneity, the large‐male advantage appeared robust across all measures studied (i.e. female choice, mating success, paternity, sperm quantity and quality), and was considerably larger for female choice (r = 0.43, 95% confidence interval: 0.28–0.59, n = 14, k = 43). Meta‐regressions found several important factors explaining heterogeneity across effects, including type of sperm characteristic, male‐to‐female ratio, female reproductive status and environmental conditions. We found evidence of publication bias; however, its influence on our estimates was attenuated by including a substantial amount of unpublished effects, highlighting the importance of open primary data for more accurate meta‐analytic estimates.

In addition to positive selection on male size, our study suggests that we need to rethink the role and form of sexual selection in Gambusia and, more broadly, to consider the ecological factors that affect reproductive behaviour in livebearing fishes.
Dreams and COVID‐19
Authors: Di Renzo Magda , Tagliacozzi Bruno 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThis work originates from reflections on the observation of recurring themes in dreams of patients in psychoanalytic treatment during the most restrictive lockdown period in Italy (March ‐ May 2020). The authors focus on the peculiar dialogic state between consciousness and the unconscious that arose following a collective event such as that of the pandemic, which determined the activation of complex personal nuclei, compensatory effects of the unconscious psyche and new perspective functions. These latter aspects are interpreted with reference to the contributions of Erich Neumann, bringing a new psychological vision of the relationship between Man and Nature in relation to catastrophic events.
Reflections on a wounded and bleeding temenos
Authors: Zeiger Robin B. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractCOVID‐19, Black Lives Matter, and financial and political turmoil have uprooted our sense of personal and collective safety and predictability. Analysts are faced with professional and personal challenges, as well as a charge to help make sense of this new normal. This reflective piece focuses on the author’s thoughts on a wounded and bleeding temenos. She grapples with the new reality of analysis carried out via technology (e.g. Zoom or telehealth). The article interweaves personal experiences with theoretical and professional reflections on two Jewish myths that relate to creating temenos or sacred space in the face of ancient disasters. Specifically, she discusses Choni HaMagel, a first‐century BCE Jewish scholar and miracle‐maker who prays for relief from a drought from inside a sacred circle. She also tells the tale of four Chassidic Rebbes who face crisis from a sacred space in the forest. The author frames this piece with two personal and numinous dreams dreamt during the pandemic; one offering scenes of destruction and one offering hope for a future transformation.
Racial and cultural in‐betweenness meet in the consulting room: the case of ‘Anna’
Authors: Hernandez Lourdes 
Published: July 2021

AbstractAn upper‐middle‐class black woman, who grew up adapting to a white‐dominated environment, entered the consulting room of a multicultural ‘white‐passing’ analyst, and here unique emotional experiences were reflected in dream images of racial disorganization, internal racism, and identity confusion. While sorting through the analysand’s internal dynamics, the external world erupted in May 2020 with the murder of George Floyd, catapulting both analysand and analyst (and the nation) into a transformative confrontation with their mutual, deep‐seated woundings of American racial and cultural inequities. The analysand’s racial complexity directly impacted the analyst’s ‘white‐passing’ privilege, bringing into question established classifications of American whiteness. Overlapping dynamics and experiences as ‘in‐betweeners’ and ‘outsiders’ – a black woman subsumed by a white‐dominated society and an immigrant refugee acculturated to American life – provided a common exilic ground for mutual understanding and mirroring. The analyst explores the racial and multicultural straddling that served as a lens into the analysand’s fragmented racial identity during the eruption of American racial unrest.
Phenomenology of the trickster archetype, U.S. electoral politics and the Black Lives Matter movement
Authors: Vaughan Alan G. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThis paper examines the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in cultural, historical and relational contexts at the intersection of the U.S. Civil Rights movement, U.S. Civil Rights legislation, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and reforms thereto in the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision of Shelby County v Holder, 570 U.S.529 (2013). The intergenerational relations between the BLM movement and these ongoing movements for civil and human rights is underscored. In the wake of protests about the sadistic murder of George Floyd, an unarmed African American man, by a Caucasian police officer, the BLM movement has been mischaracterized as an affront to law and order by the Trump‐led U.S. administration. The mischaracterization was a re‐election campaign effort designed to ignite ‘white fear’, ‘white rage’ and to defend police brutality and systemic racism. Analytical psychology and the phenomenology of the trickster archetype, as amplified from the African‐centric perspective in the Yoruba deity Esu‐Elegba, are employed to interrogate partisan obstructionist behaviours that assault multicultural democracy in both contemporary U.S. electoral politics and the political economy. The paper concludes with a brief note on the social activism of Fair Fight Georgia and the integration of its agenda into the BLM movement.
Classroom behavioural climate in inclusive education – a study on secondary students’ perceptions
Authors: Hoffmann Lisa , Närhi Vesa , Savolainen Hannu , Schwab Susanne 
Published: July 2021

AbstractPrevious studies pointed out that dealing with difficult behaviour is perceived by teachers as a major challenge in inclusive settings. However, research on the students' perception of the classroom behavioural climate (CBC) is rare. Therefore, this study aims to examine students’ perceptions of CBC and to identify predictors of CBC as well as associated variables. The sample consists of 650 German students from secondary schools (5th‐9th grade) of whom 83 students are diagnosed with special educational needs (SEN). CBC was measured via four subscales (‘students’ possibilities to study and concentrating on teaching’, ‘disruptive behaviour’, ‘physical and psychological safety’ and ‘caring for the physical environment’). Results show significant differences in students’ perceptions of CBC between students from different school tracks. Furthermore, gender (being male) and SEN (having a) predict the perception of ‘physical and psychological safety’. Additionally, social inclusion, emotional experience as well as teacher support and care are associated with CBC. Accordingly, a positive CBC is important for the successful implementation of inclusive education: while diversity in classrooms is a challenge for behavioural climate, poor behavioural climate may also pose specific barriers to learning for some students with SEN and thus is a general challenge for equity in inclusive classrooms.
A field‐friendly method of measuring faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentration as a simple stress checker in snow leopards
Authors: Kinoshita Kodzue 
Published: July 2021

Abstract

The hormonal analysis of excrement has been employed to non‐invasively assess the physiological conditions of domestic, experimental, zoo and wild animals to. However, conventional hormone analysis techniques require frozen and refrigerated reagents, and laboratory equipment; therefore, it is almost impossible to obtain the results on‐site. This study attempted to establish a method for the simple and rapid quantitative on‐site analysis of faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGM) concentrations; this method involved using hand‐shaking for faecal hormone extraction, and immunochromatography using test strips and a smartphone application. This study focused specifically on snow leopards and developed a new, simple fGM measurement method to evaluate their stress levels on‐site.

First, the effects of ultraviolet exposure and bacterial activity on fGM concentration, including sample age, were evaluated using faeces from a captive snow leopard. Second, a field‐friendly hormone extraction method was evaluated; this method does not require storage of faeces in the field because the hormones are extracted by hand‐shaking of faeces in ethanol at the time of collection. In addition, to measure hormone concentrations on‐site, a simple immunochromatography measurement kit was used. The concentrations were measured by quantifying the colour reactions using a smartphone application.

There was no consistent increase or decrease in fGM concentration with ultraviolet irradiation time. In addition, a high correlation was observed between concentrations extracted using the conventional method (using a vortex mixer and methanol extraction) and those from the field‐friendly method (r = 0.812, p < 0.05). Changes in fGM concentration measured using immunochromatography were also highly consistent with those measured using the conventional method (enzyme immunoassay; r = 0.825, p < 0.05). The analytical validation of immunochromatography also showed high accuracy, that is parallelism (ANCOVA: F = 0.597, df = 1, p = 0.445) and recovery tests (98.2% ± 5.1% and 107.5% ± 18.7%). Further, for biological validation, the change in fGM concentration was examined before and after the transportation of the snow leopards to another zoo.

This field‐friendly hormone analysis method is expected to contribute as a simple and rapid stress evaluation tool to manage conservation and animal welfare by monitoring the stress levels.
Increased cell‐free fetal DNA release after apoptosis and sterile inflammation in human trophoblast cells
Authors: Kazemi Nazanin Yeganeh , Fedyshyn Bohdana , Yelsa Isabel , Fedyshyn Yaroslav , Ruano Rodrigo , Markovic Svetomir N. , Chakraborty Rana , Enninga Elizabeth Ann L. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractProblemCell‐free fetal DNA (cffDNA) shed from the placenta can be detected in maternal blood and increases incrementally during gestation. Concentrations are further elevated with pregnancy complications. Specific activators of cffDNA release in such complications have not been identified. Here, we use trophoblast cells from early and term placenta to examine cffDNA release following apoptosis, infection, and sterile inflammatory stress.Method of StudyHTR8/SVneo cells were used to model first‐trimester trophoblasts, and term cytotrophoblasts (CTBs) were isolated from placentae collected after uncomplicated deliveries. Trophoblasts were treated with varying concentrations of doxorubicin (DOX), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or high‐mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1) for 18 h. Cells or supernatants were quantified for caspase‐3/7 cleavage, pro‐inflammatory cytokine secretion, and cffDNA release.ResultsBoth HTR8/SVneo and CTBs underwent caspase‐3/7 cleavage following DOX treatment, with HTR8/SVneo cells more sensitive to apoptosis than term CTBs. Apoptotic cells released more cffDNA in a dose‐dependent manner. Treatment with LPS resulted in an increase in pro‐inflammatory IL‐6 release, particularly in term CTBs compared to early trophoblasts; however, LPS did not affect cffDNA release. Lastly, while neither cell released more TNF‐α following stimulation with HMGB1, both HTR8/SVneo and CTBs released significantly more cffDNA in the presence of HMGB1.ConclusionsThese data show that apoptosis and sterile inflammation induced by DOX and HMGB1, respectively, cause an increase in cffDNA concentrations in both first‐trimester and term trophoblasts. Understanding physiologic release of cffDNA during healthy and complicated pregnancy can identify new targets for the diagnosis and treatment of gestational complications.
The Beetle or the Bug? Multispecies Politics in a West Papuan Oil Palm Plantation
Authors: Chao Sophie 
Published: July 2021

ABSTRACTThis article examines how Indigenous Marind communities in West Papua conceptualize interspecies relations in monocrop oil palm ecologies. Many villagers identify with native species that, like Marind, are displaced or dispossessed to make way for plantations and their primarily non‐Papuan labor force and operators. On the other hand, parasites that undermine oil palm's growth become figures of hope for Marind who conceive resistance to the state and corporations as the only legitimate path to self‐determination. Meanwhile, species that entertain mutualistic relations with oil palm point to cooperation and accommodation as an alternative strategy of survival. Oil palm's multispecies lifeworld thus complicates the characterization of industrial monocrops as ecologically impoverished landscapes engineered solely by and for humans. Attending to oil palm's biological allies and foes as material‐semiotic actors brings us instead to ask what species benefit from agribusiness expansion, which lives and deaths matter within plantation ecologies, and to whom. It also invites attention to the conflictual horizons of justice offered by interspecies resistance and collaboration in the Plantationocene for Indigenous communities as they strive to reconcile their aspirations for survival and self‐determination under entrenched regimes of race and capital. [collaboration, resistance, political ecology, pests, Indonesia]
Characterization and interrelationships of theory of mind, socially competitive emotions and affective empathy in bipolar disorder
Authors: Lemvigh Cecilie K. , Karantonis James A. , Furlong Lisa S. , Carruthers Sean P. , Pantelis Christos , Rossell Susan L. , Van Rheenen Tamsyn E. 
Published: July 2021

ObjectiveEvidence shows impaired theory of mind (ToM) in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), yet research examining its cognitive and affective components simultaneously is sparse. Moreover, recognition of socially competitive ‘fortune of others’ emotions (e.g. envy/gloat) may be related to ToM, but has not been assessed in BD. Finally, if and how ToM and ‘fortune of others’ emotions relate to affective empathy in BD is currently unclear. This study aimed to address these points.Methods64 BD patients and 34 healthy controls completed the Yoni task, a visual task assessing first‐ and second‐order cognitive and affective ToM as well as ‘fortune of others’ emotions. The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire was used to assess self‐reported affective empathy.ResultsPatients with BD showed no deficits in cognitive and affective ToM or recognition of ‘fortune of others’ emotions. The ability to infer ‘fortune of others’ emotions correlated with several ToM measures, indicating that these functions are part of the same system. Patients with BD reported similar levels of affective empathy to healthy controls, and this was not related to ToM or ‘fortune of others’ emotions, suggesting that affective empathy represents a separate social domain.ConclusionsThese findings highlight areas of spared social functioning in BD, which may be utilized in therapeutic strategies.Practitioner points

Our results suggest theory of mind and empathy may represent areas of potentially spared cognitive functioning in BD.

As many BD patients have experienced adversity during developmental periods in which theory of mind and empathy develop, our findings suggest that these abilities may be markers of resilience in the disorder.

Our findings are important for the formulation of therapeutic interventions for BD, which may include considering practical ways that a patients’ knowledge of intact ToM and empathy could be utilized to reduce self‐stigma and promote self‐efficacy, improved well‐being and functioning.
Quantitative prediction of P‐glycoprotein‐mediated drug–drug interactions and intestinal absorption using humanized mice
Authors: Miyake Taiji , Tsutsui Haruka , Haraya Kenta , Tachibana Tatsuhiko , Morimoto Kayoko , Takehara Shoko , Ayabe Miho , Kobayashi Kaoru , Kazuki Yasuhiro 
Published: July 2021

Background and PurposeP‐glycoprotein (P‐gp) exhibits a broad substrate specificity and affects pharmacokinetics, especially intestinal absorption. However, prediction, in vivo, of P‐gp‐mediated drug–drug interaction (DDI) and non‐linear absorption at the preclinical stage, is challenging. Here we evaluate the use of human MDR1 mouse artificial chromosome (hMDR1‐MAC) mice carrying human P‐gp and lacking their own murine P‐gp to quantitatively predict human P‐gp‐mediated DDI and non‐linear absorption.Experimental ApproachThe P‐gp substrates (aliskiren, betrixaban, celiprolol, digoxin, fexofenadine and talinolol) were administered orally to wild‐type, Mdr1a/b‐knockout (KO) and hMDR1‐MAC mice, and their plasma concentrations were measured. We calculated the ratio of area under the curve (AUCR) in mice (AUCMdr1a/b‐KO/AUCwild‐type or AUCMdr1a/b‐KO/AUChMDR1‐MAC) estimated as attributable to complete P‐gp inhibition and the human AUCR with and without P‐gp inhibitor administration. The correlations of AUCRhuman with AUCRwild‐type and AUCRhMDR1‐MAC were investigated. For aliskiren, betrixaban and celiprolol, the Km and Vmax values for P‐gp in hMDR1‐MAC mice and humans were optimized from different dosing studies using GastroPlus. The correlations of Km and Vmax for P‐gp between human and hMDR1‐MAC mice were investigated.Key ResultsA better correlation between AUCRhuman and AUCRhMDR1‐MAC (R2 = 0.88) was observed. Moreover, good relationships of Km (R2 = 1.00) and Vmax (R2 = 0.98) for P‐gp between humans and hMDR1‐MAC mice were observed.Conclusions and ImplicationsThese results suggest that P‐gp‐mediated DDI and non‐linear absorption can be predicted using hMDR1‐MAC mice. These mice are a useful in vivo tool for quantitatively predicting P‐gp‐mediated disposition in drug discovery and development.
Targeting Na+/K+‐ATPase by berbamine and ouabain synergizes with sorafenib to inhibit hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Yang Songpeng , Yang Shu , Zhang Hongying , Hua Hui , Kong Qingbin , Wang Jiao , Jiang Yangfu 
Published: July 2021

Background and PurposeThe multikinase inhibitor sorafenib is a first‐line drug for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. The response to sorafenib varies among hepatocellular carcinoma patients and many of the responders suffer from reduced sensitivity after long‐term treatment. This study aims to explore a novel strategy to potentiate or maximize the anti‐hepatocellular carcinoma effects of sorafenib.Experimental ApproachWe used hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines, western blotting, various antagonists, siRNA and tumour xenografts mouse model to determine the anti‐ hepatocellular carcinoma effects of sorafenib in combination with berbamine or other Na+/K+‐ATPase ligands.Key ResultsBerbamine and the cardiotonic steroid, ouabain, synergize with sorafenib to inhibit hepatocellular carcinoma cells growth. Mechanistically, berbamine induces Src phosphorylation in Na+/K+‐ATPase‐dependent manner, leading to the activation of p38MAPK and EGFR‐ERK pathways. The Na+/K+‐ATPase ligand ouabain also induces Src, EGFR, type I insulin‐like growth factor receptor, ERK1/2 and p38MAPK phosphorylation in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma cells with Src or EGFR inhibitor inhibits the induction of ERK1/2 phosphorylation by berbamine. Moreover, sorafenib inhibits the induction of Src, p38MAPK, EGFR and ERK1/2 phosphorylation by berbamine and ouabain. Importantly, combination of sorafenib with berbamine or ouabain synergistically inhibits both sorafenib‐naïve and sorafenib‐resistant hepatocellular carcinoma cells growth. Co‐treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma cells with berbamine and sorafenib significantly induces cell death and significantly inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma xenografts growth in vivo.Conclusion and ImplicationsBerbamine or other Na+/K+‐ATPase ligands have a potential for improving sorafenib responsiveness in hepatocellular carcinoma. Targeting Na+/K+‐ATPase represents a novel strategy to potentiate the anti‐ hepatocellular carcinoma effects of sorafenib.
Ectomycorrhizal fungal community assembly on seedlings of a Neotropical monodominant tree
Authors: Delevich Carolyn A. , Koch Rachel A. , Aime M. Catherine , Henkel Terry W. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractEctomycorrhizal tree species may benefit from positive plant–soil feedbacks, where soil environments near adult trees enhance conspecific seedling growth and survival. In tropical monodominant forests, seedling survival is particularly important, as seedling banks help maintain stand‐level dominance over generations. Positive plant–soil feedbacks may be mediated by diverse ectomycorrhizal fungal communities, which improve nutrient acquisition of heavily shaded seedlings. Despite the potential importance of these fungi, little is known about ectomycorrhizal fungal community development on seedlings of tropical monodominant trees. In Guyana, we sequentially monitored percent colonization and species composition of ectomycorrhizal fungi on an even‐age cohort of seedlings of the tropical monodominant tree Dicymbe corymbosa (Fabaceae subfamily Detarioideae). Ectomycorrhizal fungi found on D. corymbosa seedlings over a 12‐month period of early development were compared to those of conspecific adults and four other ectomycorrhizal tree species in the region. Species turnover was high (80%) between 6‐ and 12‐month‐old seedlings, though the /russula‐lactarius, /clavulina, and /tomentella‐thelephora lineages were species‐rich on seedlings at all ages. The number of ectomycorrhizal morphotypes per seedling increased with age, but extent of fungal colonization did not. Seedling ectomycorrhizal fungi were shared with sympatric conspecific adults (55%) and, to a lesser extent, regional heterospecific adults (27%), but numerous species were previously unrecorded for Guyana. Over their development D. corymbosa seedlings did not rely strictly on adult trees for their mycobionts but appeared to foster unique assemblages of ectomycorrhizal fungi.