bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Forest structure drives changes in light heterogeneity during tropical secondary forest succession
Authors: Matsuo Tomonari , Martínez‐Ramos Miguel , Bongers Frans , van der Sande Masha T. , Poorter Lourens 
Published: April 2021

Abstract

Light is a key resource for tree performance and hence, tree species partition spatial and temporal gradients in light availability. Although light distribution drives tree performance and species replacement during secondary forest succession, we yet lack understanding how light distribution changes with tropical forest development.

This study aims to evaluate how changes in forest structure lead to changes in vertical and horizontal light heterogeneity during tropical forest succession.

We described successional patterns in light using a chronosequence approach in which we compared 14 Mexican secondary forest stands that differ in age (8–32 years) since agricultural abandonment. For each stand, we measured vertical light profiles in 16 grid cells, and structural parameters (diameter at breast height, height and crown dimensions) for each tree.

During succession, we found a rapid increase in stand size (basal area, crown area and length) and stand differentiation (i.e. a gradual leaf distribution along the forest profile), which leads to fast changes in light conditions and more light heterogeneity. The inflection points of the vertical light gradient (i.e. the absolute height at which 50% relative light intensity is attained) rapidly moved towards higher heights in the first 20 years, indicating that larger amounts of light are intercepted by canopy trees. Light attenuation rate (i.e. the rate of light extinction) decreased during succession due to slower accumulation of the crown area with height. Understorey light intensity and heterogeneity slightly decreased during succession because of an increase in crown size and a decrease in lateral gap frequency. Understorey relative light intensity was 1.56% at 32 years after abandonment.

Synthesis. During succession, light conditions changed linearly, which should lead to a continuous and constant replacement of species. Especially in later successional stages, stronger vertical light gradients can limit the regeneration of light‐demanding pioneer species and increase the proportion of shade‐tolerant late‐successional species under the canopy. These changes in light conditions were largely driven by the successional changes in forest structure, as basal area strongly determined the height where most light is absorbed, whereas crown area, and to a lesser extent crown length, determined light distribution.
Effect of dialyzer membranes on mortality in uremic patients undergoing long‐term hemodialysis: A Nationwide population‐based study using the Taiwan Dialysis Registry Data System 2005–2012
Authors: Chang Chih‐Yu , Wu Mai‐Szu , Chang Chen‐Hao , Lin Chih‐Chieh , Lin Hsiang‐Ling , Kao Chih‐Chin , Chen Hsi‐Hsien , Li Albert , Hsu Chih‐Cheng , Lin Yen‐Chung 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe characteristics in dialyzer are associated with mortality in patients with end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) receiving hemodialysis (HD). This study is to investigate the effects of dialyzer membranes on 3‐year mortality in ESRD patients. From the long‐term nationwide population database. Prevalent HD patients during 2005–2012 were enrolled. Our main analysis to calculate the effect was cox regression multivariate model. Overall, the mean age of all population (N = 73 565) was 61.0 ± 13.6 years, the observation period is 2.46 years ±0.98 within 3 years and 64.6% used polysulfone (PS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) (11.6%), polyethersulfone (11.4%), and cellulose triacetate (CTA) (10.7%), ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVAL) (hazard ratio [HR] 2.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.71–4.33) and CTA (HR 1.35, 95% CI 1.12–1.64) were associated with higher mortality than PS, but PMMA was not. EVAL and CTA adversely affected mortality and PMMA had no protective role. Further investigations on membrane characters on HD patients are warranted. Taipei Medical University (TMU) (TMU‐JIRB (No. N201804051).
Relationship between the index of protein modification (Kolbach index) and degradation of macromolecules in wheat malt
Authors: Liu Junhan , Chu Bao , Yang Xiao , Jin Yuhong 
Published: April 2021

AbstractKolbach index (KI) is an important index to evaluate the qualities of malt, which will affect protein molecular composition, enzyme activity, and other macromolecules degradation during wheat malting. In this paper, the relationship between wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) malts KI and the (i) characterization of albumins, globulins, gliadins, and glutenins and their hydrolysis and (ii) the enzymatic breakdown of starch and arabinoxylans during malting were studied. As malt KI values increased, all fractions of glutenins and gliadins were extensively hydrolyzed. The higher Mw globulins (36.6 to 70.8 kDa) were also increasingly degraded at higher KI values, but the concentration of smaller globulin fractions (14.9 to 35.0 kDa) had increased significantly. As for albumins, although their overall concentration had increased as KI increased, changes in the concentration of individual albumin fractions was more complex. While there were significant increases in the concentration of some new albumin proteins (43.8 and 84.4 kDa), the concentration of some albumins decreased (21.1 to 64.3 kDa), and some fractions had completely disappeared (28.8 and 64.3 kDa). Following mashing, the hydrophobicity of the worts had decreased significantly at higher KI values. At malt KI values between 39.5% and 42.7%, the enzymatic activity was at its highest, the degradation of starch was adequate and stable, and the concentration of water‐soluble arabinoxylans was optimal.A KI value of about 39.5% to 42.7% was therefore considered optimal for the production of wheat malts with superior quality attributes.Practical ApplicationThe findings from this study will be valuable to beer companies; a more precise control of the malting and brewing parameters, fundamental for the production of high‐quality wheat malts and wheat beer, can be achieved.
The interaction mechanism between liposome and whey protein: Effect of liposomal vesicles concentration
Authors: Chen Yang , Yi Xiangzhou , Pan Min‐Hsiung , Chiou Yi‐Shiou , Li Zhenshun , Wei Shudong , Yin Xiaoli , Ding Baomiao 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe interaction mechanism between liposomes (Lips) and whey protein isolates (WPI) with different mass ratios was explored in this paper. After binding with different concentration of Lips, the changes in hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions of WPI were investigated with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and pyrene fluorescence probes. The spatial structure changes of WPI were further characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and circular dichroism. The results indicated that the structure of WPI was changed due to binding with Lips in hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups. The binding process might result in the migration, recombination, and alignment of WPI and Lip groups. Moreover, the oil‐water interfacial tension with WPI decreased from 9.20 mN/m to 3.29 mN/m upon increasing the Lip‐to‐WPI ratio. This work suggests that the physiochemical properties of Lip–WPI complexes could be manipulated by adjusting the Lip‐to‐WPI ratio. This study shed some light on the mechanism explanation of the WPI structural changes due to the interaction with Lips during food processing.
Incidence, outcomes and effect of delayed intervention in patients with hollow viscus injury due to major trauma in the Northern region of New Zealand
Authors: Kommunuri Jophia Sushith , Loto‐Aso Eseta , Harmston Christopher 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackgroundPatients with hollow viscus injury (HVI) are often a cause for diagnostic uncertainty. The incidence and outcomes of patients suffering hollow viscus injury secondary to major trauma have not been previously described in New Zealand. These metrics are important to guide quality improvement and resource allocation. The aim of our study is to define the incidence, outcomes and effect of delayed intervention on patients admitted to hospital with hollow viscus injury secondary to blunt abdominal trauma in the Northern region of New Zealand.MethodsA 4‐year multicentre retrospective study was performed in the Northern region of New Zealand between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2019. A primary cohort of patients with confirmed hollow viscus injury secondary to blunt abdominal injury, who underwent a laparotomy, were assessed. The primary outcome measures were incidence, 30‐day mortality and morbidity. Secondary outcomes included the effect of timing of surgical intervention.ResultsThe incidence of hollow viscus injury in the region was 2.03 per 100 000. The 30‐day mortality rate was 5% and the 30‐day morbidity rate was 82%. Immediate surgical intervention was carried out in 36%, early surgical intervention in 56% and delayed surgical intervention in 8%.ConclusionThe incidence of hollow viscus injury is in keeping with similar studies, but with lower mortality and higher morbidity. The rate of immediate or early surgical intervention was high. These findings are important to clinicians managing patients with major trauma and those involved in planning and allocation of resources.
“Watching the tsunami come”: A case study of female healthcare provider experiences during the COVID‐19 pandemic
Authors: Austin Elizabeth J. , Blacker Alexandria , Kalia Isha 
Published: April 2021

AbstractAs health systems rapidly respond to COVID‐19, it is unclear how these changes influence the experiences and well‐being of female healthcare providers (FHCPs), including the potential for FHCPs to develop compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress. We conducted qualitative interviews (n = 15) with FHCPs at three locations (Washington, California, and New York). Interviews explored FHCP's perspectives on how care delivery changed, processes of information delivery and decision‐making, gender inclusion, and approaches to managing stress and well‐being. An inductive coding process was used to generate themes. FHCPs described significant changes to the way they delivered care, and their work environments, during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Five themes emerged that characterized the experiences of FHCPs during COVID‐19, including conflicting feelings while providing care, managing information and decisions, balancing roles, coping and well‐being, and considerations for moving forward. FHCPs experienced many impacts to their professional and personal lives during COVID‐19 that further complicated their ability to manage stress and well‐being. The themes identified through this work offer important lessons about how to support the well‐being of FHCPs and signify the widespread potential for compassion fatigue among FHCPs as a result of COVID‐19.
Pancreas‐left gastric artery angle is associated with postoperative inflammation and drain amylase after laparoscopic gastrectomy
Authors: Sugase Takahito , Takahashi Tsuyoshi , Takiguchi Shuji , Kurokawa Yukinori , Teranishi Ryugo , Saito Takuro , Miyazaki Yasuhiro , Yamamoto Kazuyoshi , Yamashita Kotaro , Tanaka Koji , Makino Tomoki , Nakajima Kiyokazu , Motoori Masaaki , Kimura Yutaka , Yamasaki Makoto , Eguchi Hidetoshi , Doki Yuichiro 
Published: April 2021

AbstractIntroductionThe pancreas often interferes with the surgical field during laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) and its disorders cause severe postoperative complications. This study aimed to evaluate the association between the anatomical location of the pancreas and surgical outcome and to investigate the optimal surgical position in LG.MethodsWe newly defined the angle formed between the supra‐pancreatic region and the root of the left gastric artery (LGA) as the pancreas‐LGA angle (PLA). The association between PLA and surgical outcomes in 107 consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (LDG) was investigated. Then, the change in PLA before and after insertion of the back pillow in 30 patients with gastric cancer was examined.ResultsThe median PLA was 62° (range, 2°‐157°). No differences were found in the patient background between patients with small PLA (PLA < 62°; n = 53) and those with large PLA (PLA ≧ 62°; n = 54). The postoperative inflammation response (white blood cells, neutrophils, and C‐reactive protein) and amylase concentration in the drainage fluid (D‐AMY) were significantly higher in the small PLA group than large PLA group. Multivariable analyses demonstrated that small PLA was an independent risk factor for high D‐AMY. After insertion of a back pillow, PLA was noninvasively increased in all patients, and the median PLA was changed to 92° (range, 8°‐151°) from 61° (range, 2°‐140°). Of 17 patients with small PLA, nine developed large PLA.ConclusionsThese results suggest that PLA can become one of the indicators of postoperative complications related to anatomical patient factors in LDG.
Ecophysiological steps of marine adaptation in extant and extinct non‐avian tetrapods
Authors: Motani Ryosuke , Vermeij Geerat J. 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACTMarine reptiles and mammals are phylogenetically so distant from each other that their marine adaptations are rarely compared directly. We reviewed ecophysiological features in extant non‐avian marine tetrapods representing 31 marine colonizations to test whether there is a common pattern across higher taxonomic groups, such as mammals and reptiles. Marine adaptations in tetrapods can be roughly divided into aquatic and haline adaptations, each of which seems to follow a sequence of three steps. In combination, these six categories exhibit five steps of marine adaptation that apply across all clades except snakes: Step M1, incipient use of marine resources; Step M2, direct feeding in the saline sea; Step M3, water balance maintenance without terrestrial fresh water; Step M4, minimized terrestrial travel and loss of terrestrial feeding; and Step M5, loss of terrestrial thermoregulation and fur/plumage. Acquisition of viviparity is not included because there is no known case where viviparity evolved after a tetrapod lineage colonized the sea. A similar sequence is found in snakes but with the haline adaptation step (Step M3) lagging behind aquatic adaptation (haline adaptation is Step S5 in snakes), most likely because their unique method of water balance maintenance requires a supply of fresh water. The same constraint may limit the maximum body size of fully marine snakes. Steps M4 and M5 in all taxa except snakes are associated with skeletal adaptations that are mechanistically linked to relevant ecophysiological features, allowing assessment of marine adaptation steps in some fossil marine tetrapods. We identified four fossil clades containing members that reached Step M5 outside of stem whales, pinnipeds, sea cows and sea turtles, namely Eosauropterygia, Ichthyosauromorpha, Mosasauroidea, and Thalattosuchia, while five other clades reached Step M4: Saurosphargidae, Placodontia, Dinocephalosaurus, Desmostylia, and Odontochelys. Clades reaching Steps M4 and M5, both extant and extinct, appear to have higher species diversity than those only reaching Steps M1 to M3, while the total number of clades is higher for the earlier steps. This suggests that marine colonizers only diversified greatly after they minimized their use of terrestrial resources, with many lineages not reaching these advanced steps. Historical patterns suggest that a clade does not advance to Steps M4 and M5 unless these steps are reached early in the evolution of the clade. Intermediate forms before a clade reached Steps M4 and M5 tend to become extinct without leaving extant descendants or fossil evidence. This makes it difficult to reconstruct the evolutionary history of marine adaptation in many clades. Clades that reached Steps M4 and M5 tend to last longer than other marine tetrapod clades, sometimes for more than 100 million years.
Design and preliminary experience of a transportable equine operating theatre
Authors: Riggs Christopher M. , Riggs Simon J. , Cheung TY , Tsang Frankie , Oldaker Lachlan 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackgroundEquine surgical facilities are not always available, even in situations where high‐value horses are involved in relatively high‐risk activities.ObjectivesTo develop a self‐contained equine surgical unit that can be relocated and transported by road.Study designProof of concept.MethodsA modular operating suite for horses, which included a theatre, scrub room, instrument preparation and storage room, and an anaesthetic induction/recovery box: Transportable Equine Operating Theatre (TEOT) was designed, constructed and tested. A second, larger unit was then built following the same design criteria.ResultsBoth units were based on modifications of standard 6.06 × 2.35 m (20 × 8 ft), steel shipping containers that were fitted out to provide anaesthetic and surgical facilities in a functional and safe working environment. The two TEOTs consisted of either two or three containers that had selected sections of their sides removed so that they could be joined together to create a single large internal space. This space was subdivided to create separate working areas. A dedicated anaesthetic induction/recovery box was fabricated from a modular steel frame that could be disassembled for transport. The component parts could be loaded onto the bed of a standard lorry for road transport. The unit was designed to incorporate equipment that is found in any high‐quality equine operating theatre. Surgical procedures on adult Thoroughbred horses have been successfully completed in both units.Main limitationsThe two units have had minimal use to date, and there is little data on their performance.ConclusionsThe equipment described here is a way to provide equine surgical facilities that can be assembled and disassembled to allow their relocation to different sites.
Combination of human papillomaviruses L1 and L2 multiepitope constructs protects mice against tumor cells
Authors: Namvar Ali , Bolhassani Azam , Javadi Gholamreza , Noormohammadi Zahra 
Published: April 2021

AbstractDifferent types of cancer including cervical (>90%), anal (~88%), vaginal (~40%), and penile (~40%) cancers are associated with human papillomaviruse (HPV) infections. Three prophylactic vaccines (Cervarix, Gardasil, and Gardasil‐9) were approved to provide immuno‐protection against certain types of HPVs. Currently, next‐generation HPV vaccines such as L1/L2‐based vaccines are being developed to provide broad‐type HPV protection. In this study, we introduced a comprehensive framework for design of L1/L2 polyepitope‐based HPV vaccine candidate. This framework started with protein sequence retrieval and followed by conservancy analysis between high‐risk HPVs, MHC‐I and MHC‐II epitope mapping, and B‐cell and T‐cell epitope mapping. Subsequently, we performed Tap transport and proteasomal cleavage, population coverage, antigenicity, allergenicity and cross‐reactivity. After that, peptide‐MHCI/II flexible docking and comprehensive conservancy analysis against all HPV types were carried out. The next steps were prediction of interferon‐gamma and interleukin‐10 inducing epitopes, epitope selection and construct design, tertiary structure prediction, refinement and validation, discontinuous B‐cell epitope prediction, vaccine‐TLR4 molecular docking, and codon optimization. Our data showed that two designed vaccine constructs harboring 8 L1 peptides or 7 L2 peptides, individually were highly conserved between all well‐known HPV types. In addition, the combination of in silico/in vivo approaches indicated the potential ability of L1 and L2 polyepitope constructs for development of next generation prophylactic/therapeutic HPV vaccine.
Is there value in international accreditation beyond quality? An empirical analysis of the AACSB accredited schools
Authors: Okulova Olga , Shakina Elena 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe paper investigates the value of AACSB accreditation for business schools. The status of an accredited school decreases the asymmetry of information and the study aims to fill the gap if this market signal has a value beyond enhancing the quality itself. It is based on the international panel data of the AACSB Business Schools Questionnaire and shows that, on average, business schools demonstrate a higher economic performance after the accreditation is received. The results contribute to the signalling theory hypothesis that quality enhances the ability to observe the signal by the market. The positive effect of AACSB accreditation is heterogeneous and stronger for MBA programmes. In addition, we discovered that the effect lags in time and the market fully observes it at least one enrolment cycle later. The results provide an international perspective of the effects that AACSB accreditation has on the performance of business schools and is relevant both for academics and education policymakers.
Biological functions of IL‐17‐producing cells in mycoplasma respiratory infection
Authors: Luo Ying , Li Cheng , Zhou Zhou , Gong Zhande , Zhu Cuiming , Lei Aihua 
Published: April 2021

AbstractMycoplasmas are the smallest and simplest bacteria that lack a cell wall but have the capability of self‐replication. Among them, Mycoplasma pneumoniae is one of the most common causes of community‐acquired pneumonia. The hallmark of mycoplasma respiratory diseases is the persistence of lung inflammation that involves both innate and adaptive immune responses. In recent years, a growing body of evidence demonstrates that IL‐17 plays an important role in respiratory mycoplasma infection, and associates with the pathologic outcomes of infection, such as pneumonitis and asthma. Numerous studies have shown that a variety of cells, in particular Th17 cells, in the lung can secrete IL‐17 during respiratory mycoplasma infection. In this article, we review the biological functions of distinct IL‐17‐producing cells in mycoplasma respiratory infection with a focus on the effect of IL‐17 on the outcomes of infection.