bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The role of genetic diversity in the evolution and maintenance of environmentally-cued, male alternative reproductive tactics
Authors: Stewart KA , Draaijer R , Kolasa MR , Smallegange IM 
Published: January 2019

AbstractBackgroundAlternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) are taxonomically pervasive strategies adopted by individuals to maximize reproductive success within populations. Even for conditionally-dependent traits, consensus postulates most ARTs involve both genetic and environmental interactions (GEIs), but to date, quantifying genetic variation underlying the threshold disposing an individual to switch phenotypes in response to an environmental cue has been a difficult undertaking. Our study aims to investigate the origins and maintenance of ARTs within environmentally disparate populations of the microscopic bulb mite, Rhizoglyphus robini, that express ‘fighter’ and ‘scrambler’ male morphs mediated by a complex combination of environmental and genetic factors.ResultsUsing never-before-published individual genetic profiling, we found all individuals across populations are highly inbred with the exception of scrambler males in stressed environments. In fact within the poor environment, scrambler males and females showed no significant difference in genetic differentiation (Fst) compared to all other comparisons, and although fighters were highly divergent from the rest of the population in both poor or rich environments (e.g., Fst, STRUCTURE), fighters demonstrated approximately three times less genetic divergence from the population in poor environments. AMOVA analyses further corroborated significant genetic differentiation across subpopulations, between morphs and sexes, and among subpopulations within each environment.ConclusionOur study provides new insights into the origin of ARTs in the bulb mite, highlighting the importance of GEIs: genetic correlations, epistatic interactions, and sex-specific inbreeding depression across environmental stressors. Asymmetric reproductive output, coupled with the purging of highly inbred individuals during environmental oscillations, also facilitates genetic variation within populations, despite evidence for strong directional selection. This cryptic genetic variation also conceivably facilitates stable population persistence even in the face of spatially or temporally unstable environmental challenges. Ultimately, understanding the genetic context that maintains thresholds, even for conditionally-dependent ARTs, will enhance our understanding of within population variation and our ability to predict responses to selection.
Mai1 protein acts between host recognition of pathogen effectors and MAPK signaling
Authors: Hind Sarah R. , Roberts Robyn , Pedley Kerry F. , Diner Benjamin A. , Szarzanowicz Matthew J. , Luciano-Rosario Dianiris , Majhi Bharat B. , Popov Georgy , Sessa Guido , Oh Chang-Sik , Martin Gregory B. 
Published: January 2019

AbstractThe molecular mechanisms acting between host recognition of pathogen effectors by NOD-like receptor (NLR) proteins and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling cascades are unknown. MAPKKKα (M3Kα) activates MAPK signaling leading to programmed cell death (PCD) associated with NLR-triggered immunity. We identified a tomato M3Kα-interacting protein, SlMai1, that has 80% amino acid identity withArabidopsisbrassinosteroid kinase 1 (AtBsk1). SlMai1 has a protein kinase domain and a C-terminal tetratricopeptide repeat domain which interacts with the kinase domain of M3Kα. Virus-induced gene silencing ofMai1homologs inNicotiana benthamianaincreased susceptibility toPseudomonas syringaeand compromised PCD induced by four NLR proteins. PCD was restored by expression of a syntheticSlMai1gene that resists silencing. Expression of AtBsk1 did not restore PCD inMai1-silenced plants, suggesting SlMai1 is functionally divergent from AtBsk1. PCD caused by overexpression of M3Kα or MKK2 was unaffected byMai1silencing indicating Mai1 acts upstream of these proteins. Co-expression of Mai1 with M3Kα in leaves enhanced MAPK phosphorylation and accelerated PCD. These findings reveal Mai1 as a molecular link acting between host recognition of pathogens and MAPK signaling.Author SummaryPlants use intracellular immune receptors to detect and respond to specific effector proteins which pathogens translocate into the host cell as part of their infection process. Localized programmed cell death (PCD) involving a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade is an important host response associated with effector-triggered immunity, although the molecular connections between immune receptors and MAPK signaling is unknown. The Mai1 protein was found to act downstream of multiple immune receptors inNicotiana benthamianaand to physically interact with MAPKKKα. The Mai1-MAPKKKα interaction enhances MAPK phosphorylation, triggers PCD and promotes disease resistance.
Co-movements between the British pound, the euro and the Japanese yen: the Brexit impact
Authors: Alvarez-Diez Susana , Baixauli-Soler J. Samuel , Belda-Ruiz Maria 
Published: January 2019

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the Brexit effect – pre-Brexit and post-Brexit referendum periods – on the co-movements between the British pound (GBP), the euro (EUR) and the yen (JPY) against the US dollar (USD).Design/methodology/approachTo ascertain the asymmetric behavior of dynamic correlations, the authors use the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) model, the asymmetric dynamic conditional correlation (A-DCC) model and the diagonal BEKK model assuming Gaussian and Student’stdistribution. Several dummy variables have been included in order to identify the main periods related to Brexit.FindingsFindings show a negative impact of the pre-Brexit referendum period on the correlation between GBP and EUR, while there is no significant effect on GBP–JPY and EUR–JPY pairs. The loss of correlation in the GBP–EUR pairing has not recovered during the post-Brexit referendum period, which could be attributed to the uncertainty about the final impact of Brexit on British and Eurozone economies.Practical implicationsThe loss of correlation in the GBP–EUR pair has important implications for individual investors, portfolio managers and traders with respect to hedging activities, international trading and investment strategies.Originality/valueThe results are the first to address how Brexit has impacted on the co-movements between exchange rates using different multivariate models that allow for correlations to change over time.
More than just characters in a story: effective and meaningful involvement of young people in mental health research
Authors: MacSweeney Niamh , Bowman Sarah , Kelly Clare 
Published: January 2019

Purpose
The story of youth mental health remains poorly understood. To truly progress our understanding of youth mental health, we must shift our focus from one in which young people are the subjects, or “characters”, of research efforts to one in which they are active agents, or “authors”. This change in dynamic falls under the banner of public and patient involvement (PPI), a growing movement that emphasises the meaningful involvement of the public in health research. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
Here, the authors aim to stimulate this shift in focus by describing emerging practices of youth involvement in paediatric research and outlining how such practices can be extended to the domain of youth mental health. In particular, the authors highlight Young Persons’ Advisory Groups (YPAG), through which young people can be involved in an active, meaningful and mutually beneficial manner, at each step in the research life cycle.

Findings
A YPAG comprises young people who act as research partners, providing guidance on a range of activities. In the health domain, YPAGs have provided fresh perspectives, generated valuable knowledge and changed attitudes about youth involvement in research. Moreover, they provide young people with genuine opportunities to shape research so that it addresses issues they encounter in their everyday lives.

Originality/value
The establishment of youth mental health YPAGs will enhance the authors’ research questions, design, delivery and impact. The authors outline how researchers can embrace PPI and work together with young people to tell a different story of youth mental health.
Size‐mediated priority and temperature effects on intra‐cohort competition and cannibalism in a damselfly
Authors: Sniegula Szymon , Golab Maria J. , Johansson Frank 
Published: January 2019

Abstract

A shift in the relative arrival of offspring, for example a shift in hatching time, can affect competition at the intraspecific level through size‐mediated priority effects, where the larger individuals gain more resources. These priority effects are likely to be affected by climate warming and the rate of intraspecific predation, that is cannibalism.

In a laboratory experiment, we examined size‐mediated priority effects in larvae of the univoltine damselfly, Lestes sponsa, at two different temperatures (21 and 23°C). We created three size groups of larvae by manipulating hatching time: early hatched with a large size (extra‐advanced), intermediate hatched with an intermediate size (advanced) and late hatched with a small size (non‐advanced). Thereafter, we reared the larvae from these groups in non‐mixed and mixed groups of 12 larvae.

We found strong priority and temperature effects. First, extra‐advanced larvae most often had higher survival, growth and development rates than non‐advanced larvae in mixed groups, compared to groups that consisted of only extra‐advanced larvae. Second, temperature increased growth and development rates and cannibalism.

However, the strength of priority effects did not differ between the two experimental temperatures, because there was no statistical interaction between temperature and treatments. That is, the mixed and non‐mixed groups of non‐advanced, advanced and extra‐advanced larvae showed the same relative change in life‐history traits across the two temperatures.

Non‐advanced and advanced larvae had similar or higher growth rate and mass in mixed groups compared to non‐mixed groups, suggesting that predation from advanced larvae in the mixed group released resources for the non‐advanced and advanced larvae that survived despite cannibalism risk. Thus, a thinning effect occurred due to cannibalism caused by priority effects.

The results suggest that a shift in the relative arrival of offspring can cause temperature‐dependent priority effects, mediated through cannibalism, growth and development, which may change the size distribution and abundance of emerging aquatic insects.
Seasonal differences in baseline innate immune function are better explained by environment than annual cycle stage in a year‐round breeding tropical songbird
Authors: Nwaogu Chima J. , Cresswell Will , Versteegh Maaike A. , Tieleman B. Irene 
Published: January 2019

Abstract

Seasonal variation in innate immunity is often attributed to either temporal environmental variation or to life‐history trade‐offs that arise from specific annual cycle stages but decoupling them is difficult in natural populations.

Here, we effectively decouple seasonal environmental variation from annual cycle stage effects by exploiting cross‐seasonal breeding and moult in the tropical Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus. We test how annual cycle stage interacts with a key seasonal environmental variable, rainfall, to determine immunity at population and individual level. If immune challenge varies with precipitation, we might expect immune function to be higher in the wet season due to increased environmental productivity. If breeding or moult imposes resource constraints on birds, depending on or independent of precipitation, we might expect lower immune indices during breeding or moult.

We sampled blood from 818 birds in four annual cycle stage categories: breeding, moult, simultaneous breeding and moulting, or neither. We quantified indices of innate immunity (haptoglobin, nitric oxide (NOx) and ovotransferrin concentrations, and haemagglutination and haemolysis titres) over two annual cycles of wet and dry seasons.

Environment (but not annual cycle stage or interactions between both) explained variation in all immune indices, except NOx. NOx concentration differed between annual cycle stages but not between seasons. However, within the wet season, haptoglobin, NOx, ovotransferrin and haemolysis differed significantly between breeding and non‐breeding females. Aside from some recorded inconsistencies, population level results were largely similar to results within individuals that were measured repeatedly. Unexpectedly, most immune indices were higher in the dry season and during breeding.

Higher immune indices may be explained if fewer or poorer quality resources force birds to increase social contact, thereby exposing individuals to novel antigens and increased infection risk, independently of environmental productivity. Breeding birds may also show higher immunity if less immune‐competent and/or infected females omit breeding. We conclude that seasonal environmental variation impacts immunity more directly in natural animal populations than via resource trade‐offs. In addition, immune indices were more often variable within than among individuals, but some indices are characteristic of individuals, and so may offer selective advantages if heritable.
Compensatory mechanisms to climate change in the widely distributed species Silene vulgaris
Authors: Kahl Sandra M. , Lenhard Michael , Joshi Jasmin 
Published: January 2019

Abstract

The adaptation of plants to future climatic conditions is crucial for their survival. Not surprisingly, phenotypic responses to climate change have already been observed in many plant populations. These responses may be due to evolutionary adaptive changes or phenotypic plasticity. Especially plant species with a wide geographic range are either expected to show genetic differentiation in response to differing climate conditions or to have a high phenotypic plasticity.

We investigated phenotypic responses and plasticity as an estimate of the adaptive potential in the widespread species Silene vulgaris. In a greenhouse experiment, 25 European populations covering a geographic range from the Canary Islands to Sweden were exposed to three experimental precipitation and two temperature regimes mimicking a possible climate‐change scenario for central Europe. We hypothesized that southern populations have a better performance under high temperature and drought conditions, as they are already adapted to a comparable environment.

We found that our treatments significantly influenced the plants, but did not reveal a latitudinal difference in response to climate treatments for most plant traits. Only flower number showed a stronger plasticity in northern European populations (e.g. Swedish populations) where numbers decreased more drastically with increased temperature and decreased precipitation treatment.

Synthesis. The significant treatment response in Silene vulgaris, independent of population origin – except for the number of flowers produced – suggests a high degree of universal phenotypic plasticity in this widely distributed species. This reflects the likely adaptation strategy of the species and forms the basis for a successful survival strategy during upcoming climatic changes. However, as flower number, a strongly fitness‐related trait, decreased more strongly in northern populations under a climate‐change scenario, there might be limits to adaptation even in this widespread, plastic species.
The Perfect uberPOOL: A Case Study on Trade‐Offs
Authors: LO JENNY , MORSEMAN STEVE 
Published: January 2019

One of Uber's company missions is to make carpooling more affordable and reliable for riders, and effortless for drivers. In 2014 the company launched uberPOOL to make it easy for riders to share their trip with others heading in the same direction. Fundamental to the mechanics of uberPOOL is the intelligence that matches riders for a trip, which can introduce various uncertainties into the user experience. Core to the business objective is understanding how to deliver a ‘Perfect POOL'—an ideal situation where 3 people in the vehicle are able to get in and out at the same time and location allowing for a more predictable and affordable experience. This case study argues that, for a reduced fare and a more direct route, riders are willing to forego the convenience of getting picked up at their door in exchange for waiting and walking a set amount to meet their driver.This case study explores the integration of qualitative and quantitative research to understand user tradeoffs. Methods utilized were in‐person interviews and two large‐scale surveys: a maxdiff and a conjoint, each with a different purpose. The study started with a multi‐city qualitative research study designed to understand how users make trade‐offs among their transportation options, suggesting key characteristics of a ‘Perfect POOL.’ The team followed up with a maxdiff survey to validate these characteristics and identify the factors most important for riders’ decisions. A customized conjoint survey was then built to study what values each product feature contributes to maximize rider opt‐in to the ‘Perfect POOL’ product. The team subsequently explored ways to translate the trade‐offs revealed by the conjoint survey back into the product experience. This case study will discuss the conjoint survey's outcomes and implications that directly confirmed the hypothesis that riders are willing to make experiential trade‐offs. Learnings from this multi‐phase research led to the initial Beta‐launch of Express POOL in November 2017.
Importance of Mean Platelet Volume in Predicting Cardiac Mechanics Parameters and Carotid‐Intima Media Thickness in Children With End‐Stage Renal Disease and Comparison With Healthy Children
Authors: Gheissari Alaleh , Dehghan Bahar , Ghaed Sharafi Bijan , Abedini Amin , Merrikhi Alireza , Madihi Yahya , Mehrkash Mehryar 
Published: January 2019

AbstractCardiovascular disease (CVD) is the major cause of death in children with ESRD. Echocardiography and Doppler ultrasound are useful devices for diagnosing cardiovascular abnormalities in such patients. However, they are expensive, difficult to perform as a routine, and not available in many centers. Therefore, finding a more accessible and inexpensive method for CVD evaluation biomarkers is needed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between mean platelet volume (MPV) as a routine hematological parameter with cardiac mechanics characteristics in children with ESRD. Forty‐two children under dialysis and 60 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy subjects as control group were enrolled in the study. Carotid‐intima media thickness (CIMT) and echocardiographic parameters were measured in both groups. In addition, hematological and biochemical variables were evaluated in blood samples of participants. MPV was significantly higher in patients than in controls. CIMT, left ventricular mass index (LVMI), end diastolic diameter, strain rate, and global longitudinal strain were significantly different between the two groups. MPV was positively correlated with LVMI and inversely with ejection fraction. In receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) values for MPV in predicting left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and abnormal CIMT were 0.65 (P = 0.07) and 0.53 (P = 0.74), respectively. MPV was correlated with some cardiac abnormalities in children with ESRD. However, it could not show appropriate predictive values in diagnosing LVH and subclinical atherosclerosis. Further studies with prospective design could shed more light in this topic.
Pseudomonas bacteriocin syringacin M released upon desiccation suppresses the growth of sensitive bacteria in plant necrotic lesions
Authors: Li Jun‐Zhou , Zhou Li‐Ying , Peng You‐Liang , Fan Jun 
Published: January 2019

SummaryBacteriocins are regarded as important factors mediating microbial interactions, but their exact role in community ecology largely remains to be elucidated. Here, we report the characterization of a mutant strain, derived from Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst), that was incapable of growing in plant extracts and causing disease. Results showed that deficiency in a previously unannotated gene saxE led to the sensitivity of the mutant to Ca2+ in leaf extracts. Transposon insertions in the bacteriocin gene syrM, adjacent to saxE, fully rescued the bacterial virulence and growth of the ΔsaxE mutant in plant extracts, indicating that syrM‐saxE encode a pair of bacteriocin immunity proteins in Pst. To investigate whether the syrM‐saxE system conferred any advantage to Pst in competition with other SyrM‐sensitive pathovars, we compared the growth of a SyrM‐sensitive strain co‐inoculated with Pst strains with or without the syrM gene and observed a significant syrM‐dependent growth reduction of the sensitive bacteria on plate and in lesion tissues upon desiccation–rehydration treatment. These findings reveal an important biological role of SyrM‐like bacteriocins and help to understand the complex strategies used by P. syringae in adaptation to the phyllosphere niche in the context of plant disease.
Minor allele frequency thresholds strongly affect population structure inference with genomic data sets
Authors: Linck Ethan , Battey C. J. 
Published: January 2019

AbstractA common method of minimizing errors in large DNA sequence data sets is to drop variable sites with a minor allele frequency (MAF) below some specified threshold. Although widespread, this procedure has the potential to alter downstream population genetic inferences and has received relatively little rigorous analysis. Here we use simulations and an empirical single nucleotide polymorphism data set to demonstrate the impacts of MAF thresholds on inference of population structure—often the first step in analysis of population genomic data. We find that model‐based inference of population structure is confounded when singletons are included in the alignment, and that both model‐based and multivariate analyses infer less distinct clusters when more stringent MAF cutoffs are applied. We propose that this behaviour is caused by the combination of a drop in the total size of the data matrix and by correlations between allele frequencies and mutational age. We recommend a set of best practices for applying MAF filters in studies seeking to describe population structure with genomic data.
Research horizons for public and private not‐for‐profit sector reporting: moving the bar in the right direction
Authors: Gilchrist David J. , Simnett Roger 
Published: January 2019

AbstractThe examination of public and private not‐for‐profit sector financial reporting has been a topic of interest on a cyclical basis in Australia over the last 30 years. Traditional topics have included examinations of the intended and unintended consequences of specific standards, the accountability value of financial reports, transaction neutrality, compliance with the accounting standards, and more recently, the prospective implications of new, differently focused reporting standards considering such issues as income measurement and outcomes reporting. With increased recent attention from standard setters and regulators, and greater data availability, the opportunities for undertaking impactful research in these and related areas are increasing. In this paper, we focus on research that has examined the following questions: (i) Which private and public NFPOs lodge financial reports and what is reported; (ii) Who are the users and what are their information needs? (iii) Which private and public NFPs should lodge financial reports and what should be included in them; and (iv) How should the accounting frameworks for NFP sector reporting be set? For each of these issues, we identify the research gaps and opportunities for further research.