bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
What are the organismic elements of vegetation science?
Authors: Berg Christian , Ewald Jörg , Berg Gabriele , Hobohm Carsten 
Published: February 2018

AbstractThe recent inclusion of communities of planktonic algae and microbial crusts into the system of European vegetation types is critically discussed. It is argued that formal vegetation classification should be limited to plant taxa represented by macroscopic individuals within a plot, including all vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens, charophyta and macrophytic chlorophyta, rhodophyta or phaeophyta. In the interest of comparability and methodological stringency, all microscopic algae and all prokaryotes, including cyanobacteria, and the habitats dominated by such microorganisms (e.g. plankton, biofilms and crusts), should be excluded from vegetation classification.
Marketing medicines: charting the rise of modern therapeutics through a systematic review of adverts in UK medical journals (1950–1980)
Authors: Green A. Richard , Haddad Peter M. , Aronson Jeffrey K. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractAimsTo examine how pharmaceutical products that were first marketed between 1950 and 1980 were promoted to physicians through advertisements and briefly review advertising regulations and accuracy of the advertisements in the light of modern knowledge.MethodsWe systematically reviewed advertisements promoting drugs for specific therapeutic areas, namely central nervous system disorders (anxiety and sleep disorders, depression, psychoses, and Parkinson's disease), respiratory disorders, cardiovascular disorders, and gastrointestinal disorders. We examined about 800 issues of the British Medical Journal (1950–1980) and about 150 issues of World Medicine (1965–1984).ResultsAdvertising material was minimally regulated until the mid‐1970s. Many drugs were marketed with little preclinical or clinical knowledge and some with the expectation that prescribers would obtain further data. The peak of advertising occurred in parallel with the surge in the release of novel drugs during the 1960s, but declined markedly after the mid‐1970s. Advertisements generally contained little useful prescribing information. The period we investigated saw the release of many novel pharmaceuticals in the therapeutic areas we examined, and many (or their class successors) still play important therapeutic roles, including benzodiazepines, tricyclic antidepressants, phenothiazines, levodopa, selective and non‐selective β‐adrenoceptor antagonists, thiazide diuretics, β‐adrenoceptor agonists, and histamine H2 receptor antagonists.ConclusionsAdvertising pharmaceuticals in the BMJ and World Medicine in 1950–1980 was poorly regulated and often lacked rigour. However, advertisements were gradually modified in the light of increasing clinical pharmacological knowledge, and they reflect an exciting period for the introduction of many drugs that continue to be of benefit today.
Fostering caring relationships: Suggestions to rethink liberal perspectives on the ethics of newborn screening
Authors: van der Burg Simone , Oerlemans Anke 
Published: February 2018

AbstractNewborn screening (NBS) involves the collection of blood from the heel of a newborn baby and testing it for a list of rare and inheritable disorders. New biochemical screening technologies led to expansions of NBS programs in the first decade of the 21st century. It is expected that they will in time be replaced by genetic sequencing technologies. These developments have raised a lot of ethical debate. We reviewed the ethical literature on NBS, analyzed the issues and values that emerged, and paid particular interest to the type of impacts authors think NBS should have on the lives of children and their families. Our review shows that most authors keep their ethical reflection confined to policy decisions, about for instance (a) the purpose of the program, and (b) its voluntary or mandatory nature. While some authors show appreciation of how NBS information empowers parents to care for their (diseased) children, most authors consider these aspects to be ‘private’ and leave their evaluation up to parents themselves. While this division of moral labor fits with the liberal conviction to leave individuals free to decide how they want to live their private lives, it also silences the ethical debate about these issues. Given the present and future capacity of NBS to offer an abundance of health‐related information, we argue that there is good reason to develop a more substantive perspective to whether and how NBS can contribute to parents’ good care for children.
An Alternative Robust Estimator of Average Treatment Effect in Causal Inference
Authors: Liu Jianxuan , Ma Yanyuan , Wang Lan 
Published: February 2018

Summary
The problem of estimating the average treatment effects is important when evaluating the effectiveness of medical treatments or social intervention policies. Most of the existing methods for estimating the average treatment effect rely on some parametric assumptions about the propensity score model or the outcome regression model one way or the other. In reality, both models are prone to misspecification, which can have undue influence on the estimated average treatment effect. We propose an alternative robust approach to estimating the average treatment effect based on observational data in the challenging situation when neither a plausible parametric outcome model nor a reliable parametric propensity score model is available. Our estimator can be considered as a robust extension of the popular class of propensity score weighted estimators. This approach has the advantage of being robust, flexible, data adaptive, and it can handle many covariates simultaneously. Adopting a dimension reduction approach, we estimate the propensity score weights semiparametrically by using a non-parametric link function to relate the treatment assignment indicator to a low-dimensional structure of the covariates which are formed typically by several linear combinations of the covariates. We develop a class of consistent estimators for the average treatment effect and study their theoretical properties. We demonstrate the robust performance of the estimators on simulated data and a real data example of investigating the effect of maternal smoking on babies’ birth weight.
Tropical tree species diversity in a mountain system in southern Mexico: local and regional patterns and determinant factors
Authors: Martínez‐Camilo Rubén , González‐Espinosa Mario , Ramírez‐Marcial Neptalí , Cayuela Luis , Pérez‐Farrera Miguel Ángel 
Published: February 2018

AbstractMechanisms explaining patterns of biodiversity along elevation gradients in tropical mountain systems remain controversial. We use a set of climatic, topographic, and soil variables encompassing regional, landscape, and local‐level spatial scales to explain the spatial variation of tree species diversity in the Sierra Madre of Chiapas, Mexico. We sampled 128 circular plots (0.1‐ha each) in four elevational bands along four elevation gradients or transects encompassing 100–2200 m. A total of 12,533 trees belonging to 444 species were recorded. Diversity patterns along the elevation gradient and the explanatory power of independent variables were dependent on spatial scale (regional vs transect) and functional group (total vs late‐successional or pioneer species). Diversity of all species and late‐successional species (1 – proportion of pioneer species) showed a constant pattern at the regional and transect scales, with low predictive power of climatic variables and/or elevation. A linear decrease in either number or proportion of pioneer species diversity was observed with increasing elevation, which was correlated with temperature, rainfall, and human disturbance trends. Total species diversity showed an increase with rainfall of the warmest quarter, indicating a regional‐level limiting effect of seasonality (drought duration). Yet the explanatory power of climatic and topographic variables was higher at the individual transect level than at the regional scale, suggesting the parallel but differential influence of evolutionary and geological history factors on diversification not so far studied to explain elevation patterns of species diversity in tropical mountain systems.
Resource use and food preferences in understory ant communities along a complete elevational gradient in Papua New Guinea
Authors: Orivel Jérôme , Klimes Petr , Novotny Vojtech , Leponce Maurice 
Published: February 2018

AbstractElevational gradients provide an interesting opportunity for studying the effect of climatic drivers over short distances on the various facets of biodiversity. It is globally assumed that the decrease in species richness with increasing elevation follows mainly the decrease in ecosystem productivity, but studies on functional diversity still remain limited. Here, we investigated how resource use and food preferences by both individual ant species and communities foraging in the understory vary with elevation along a complete elevational gradient (200 to 3200 m asl). Five bait types reflecting some of the main ecosystem processes in which ants are involved were tested: mutualism (sucrose and melezitose), predation (live termites), and detritivory (crushed insects and chicken feces). The observed monotonic decrease in both species richness and occurrences with elevation increase was accompanied by changes in some of the tested ecosystem processes. Such variations can be explained by resource availability and/or resource limitation: Predation and bird feces removal decreased with increasing elevation possibly reflecting a decline in species able to use these resources, while insect detritivory and nectarivory were most probably driven by resource limitation (or absence of limitation), as their relative use did not change along the gradient. Consequently, resource attractiveness (i.e., food preferences at the species level) appears as an important factor in driving community structuring in ants together with the abiotic environmental conditions.
An Exception to Mental Simulation: No Evidence for Embodied Odor Language
Authors: Speed Laura J. , Majid Asifa 
Published: February 2018

AbstractDo we mentally simulate olfactory information? We investigated mental simulation of odors and sounds in two experiments. Participants retained a word while they smelled an odor or heard a sound, then rated odor/sound intensity and recalled the word. Later odor/sound recognition was also tested, and pleasantness and familiarity judgments were collected. Word recall was slower when the sound and sound‐word mismatched (e.g., bee sound with the wordtyphoon). Sound recognition was higher when sounds were paired with a match or near‐match word (e.g., bee sound withbeeorbuzzer). This indicates sound‐words are mentally simulated. However, using the same paradigm no memory effects were observed for odor. Instead it appears odor‐words only affect lexical‐semantic representations, demonstrated by higher ratings of odor intensity and pleasantness when an odor was paired with a match or near‐match word (e.g., peach odor withpeachormango). These results suggest fundamental differences in how odor and sound‐words are represented.
Cell‐fate determination in Myxococcus xanthus development: Network dynamics and novel predictions
Authors: Arias Del Angel Juan A. , Escalante Ana E. , Martínez‐Castilla León Patricio , Benítez Mariana 
Published: February 2018

Myxococcus xanthus is a myxobacterium that exhibits aggregation and cellular differentiation during the formation of fruiting bodies. Therefore, it has become a valuable model system to study the transition to multicellularity via cell aggregation. Although there is a vast set of experimental information for the development on M. xanthus, the dynamics behind cell‐fate determination in this organism's development remain unclear. We integrate the currently available evidence in a mathematical network model that allows to test the set of molecular elements and regulatory interactions that are sufficient to account for the specification of the cell types that are observed in fruiting body formation. Besides providing a dynamic mechanism for cell‐fate determination in the transition to multicellular aggregates of M. xanthus, this model enables the postulation of specific mechanisms behind some experimental observations for which no explanations have been provided, as well as new regulatory interactions that can be experimentally tested. Finally, this model constitutes a formal basis on which the continuously emerging data for this system can be integrated and interpreted.
Practical knowledge and the subjectivity of truth inKant andKierkegaard:The cover of skepticism
Authors: Nisenbaum Karin 
Published: February 2018

AbstractKant developed a distinctive method of philosophical argumentation, the method of transcendental argumentation, which continues to have contemporary philosophical promise. Yet there is considerable disagreement among Kant's interpreters concerning the aim of transcendental arguments. On ambitious interpretations, transcendental arguments aim to establish certain necessary features of the world from the conditions of our thinking about or experiencing the world; they areworld‐directed. On modest interpretations, transcendental arguments aim to show that certain beliefs have a special status that renders them invulnerable to skeptical doubts; they arebelief‐directed. This paper brings Kierkegaard's thesis of the “subjectivity of truth” to bear on these questions concerning the aim of transcendental arguments. I focus on Kant's argument for the postulate of God's existence in hisCritique of Practical Reasonand show that Kierkegaard's thesis of the subjectivity of truth can help us construe the argument asbothbelief and world directed. Yet I also argue that Kierkegaard's thesis of the subjectivity of truth can help us understand the source of our dissatisfaction with Kant's transcendental arguments: It can help us understand that dissatisfaction as an expression of what Stanley Cavell calls the “cover of skepticism,” the conversion of metaphysical finitude into intellectual lack.
Paediatric acute disseminated encephalomyelitis followed by optic neuritis: disease course, treatment response and outcome
Authors: Wong Y. Y. M. , Hacohen Y. , Armangue T. , Wassmer E. , Verhelst H. , Hemingway C. , van Pelt E. D. , Catsman‐Berrevoets C. E. , Hintzen R. Q. , Deiva K. , Lim M. J. , Rostásy K. , Neuteboom R. F. 
Published: February 2018

Background and purposeAcute disseminated encephalomyelitis followed by optic neuritis (ADEM‐ON) is a rare demyelinating syndrome that is different from multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder. The aim of this study was to describe the disease course, treatment response and outcome of children with ADEM‐ON.MethodsChildren of <18 years of age were identified from six countries of the EU Paediatric Demyelinating Disease Consortium. Patients fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for ADEM followed by at least one ON. Anti‐myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibodies were tested in all patients.ResultsIn this study of 17 patients (nine boys) with ADEM‐ON, anti‐myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibodies were identified in 16 patients. Age at onset was 6.1 years (interquartile range, 5.1–9.2 years). Twelve patients received oral prednisolone and 10 received maintenance immunosuppression (e.g. azathioprine, intravenous immunoglobulins, Rituximab). During a follow‐up of 5.3 years (interquartile range, 1.8–10.2 years), 54 relapses occurred with a median of 3 relapses per patient (range, 1–9 per patient). Patients relapsed on all treatments but no relapses occurred on a prednisolone dose >10 mg/day. Visual and cognitive residual deficits were common in this group.ConclusionsAcute disseminated encephalomyelitis followed by optic neuritis is an anti‐MOG antibody‐associated relapsing disorder that can have a heterogeneous disease course. Patients were refractory for maintenance immunosuppression and appeared to be corticosteroid‐dependent. Further international collaborations are now required to unify guidelines in this difficult‐to‐manage group of patients.
Increased neuronal synchrony prepares mesial temporal networks for seizures of neocortical origin
Authors: Misra Amrit , Long Xianda , Sperling Michael R. , Sharan Ashwini D. , Moxon Karen A. 
Published: February 2018

SummaryObjectiveTo gain understanding of the neuronal mechanisms underlying regional seizure spread, the impact of regional synchrony between seizure focus and downstream networks on neuronal activity during the transition to seizure in those downstream networks was assessed.MethodsSeven patients undergoing diagnostic intracranial electroencephalographic studies for surgical resection of epileptogenic regions were implanted with subdural clinical electrodes into the cortex (site of seizure initiation) and mesial temporal lobe (MTL) structures (downstream) as well as microwires into MTL. Neural activity was recorded (24/7) in parallel with the clinical intracranial electroencephalogram recordings for the duration of the patient's diagnostic stay. Changes in (1) regional synchrony (ie, coherence) between the presumptive neocortical seizure focus and MTL, (2) local synchrony between MTL neurons and their local field potential, and (3) neuronal firing rates within MTL in the time leading up to seizure were examined to study the mechanisms underlying seizure spread.ResultsIn seizures of neocortical origin, an increase in regional synchrony preceded the spread of seizures into MTL (predominantly hippocampal). Within frequencies similar to those of regional synchrony, MTL networks showed an increase in unit‐field coherence and a decrease in neuronal firing rate, specifically for inhibitory interneuron populations but not pyramidal cell populations.SignificanceThese results suggest a mechanism of spreading seizures whereby the seizure focus first synchronizes local field potentials in downstream networks to the seizure activity. This change in local field coherence modifies the activity of interneuron populations in these downstream networks, which leads to the attenuation of interneuronal firing rate, effectively shutting down local interneuron populations prior to the spread of seizure. Therefore, regional synchrony may influence the failure of downstream interneurons to prevent the spread of the seizures during generalization.
The political morality of convergence in contract
Authors: Bagchi Aditi 
Published: February 2018

AbstractOne of the most interesting recent developments in contract law has been an academic and political effort to integrate private law. The proposed Common European Sales Law was ultimately withdrawn, and a series of setbacks, including the British referendum to exit the EU, has recast the politics of convergence. But it remains an objective for many European scholars. This essay considers the wisdom of convergence on a single law of transactions from the perspective of philosophical contract theory.The essay proceeds by disaggregating the rights at stake in contract law. It characterises the formal right to contract and describes its moral impetus as one that should underwrite contract law in all states, especially liberal states. But the essay argues that the legitimate contours of the formal right are contingent on tenets of political culture that vary across Member States. Similarly, substantive regulation of contract is morally compulsory and serves universal interests; the essay takes regulation of permissible work and remuneration for work as examples. But the rules and standards that best advance those moral interests depend on economic facts specific to individual political communities. The essay concludes by arguing that contract law is a poor tool by which to accelerate political and economic convergence.
Economic freedom and economic rights: Direction, significance and ideology
Authors: Harding Christopher 
Published: February 2018

AbstractThe discussion here takes stock of and analyses the way in which ideas of economic freedom and basic economic rights have evolved during the last half century to generate legal discourse and legal action, and with what effect, with particular reference to Europe as a site for such developments. It is necessary to probe the understanding and purpose of such ‘rights talk’ and also to set the discourse in relevant ideological contexts. For the purpose of this exercise, a broad distinction is drawn between two major categories of economic right. The first category may be broadly described as ‘integration rights’—entrepreneurial in character, forward‐looking and opportunistic in a historical context of supranational integration and trade liberalisation. The second category, in contrast, may be termed ‘vulnerability rights’; these are more protective in character, and serve to enhance the opportunities of the economically disadvantaged, those sections of the population at risk of social exclusion and poverty. An assessment is made, on the one hand, of the achievement of the movement to exploit integration rights, and on the other hand, the prospect for the mobilisation and assertion of vulnerability rights in the wake of governmental policies of austerity.
Harvesting changes mating behaviour in European lobster
Authors: Sørdalen Tonje K. , Halvorsen Kim T. , Harrison Hugo B. , Ellis Charlie D. , Vøllestad Leif Asbjørn , Knutsen Halvor , Moland Even , Olsen Esben M. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractRemoving individuals from a wild population can affect the availability of prospective mates and the outcome of competitive interactions, with subsequent effects on mating patterns and sexual selection. Consequently, the rate of harvest‐induced evolution is predicted to be strongly dependent on the strength and dynamics of sexual selection, yet there is limited empirical knowledge on the interplay between selective harvesting and the mating systems of exploited species. In this study, we used genetic parentage assignment to compare mating patterns of the highly valued and overexploited European lobster (Homarus gammarus) in a designated lobster reserve and nearby fished area in southern Norway. In the area open to fishing, the fishery is regulated by a closed season, a minimum legal size and a ban on the harvest of egg‐bearing females. Due to the differences in size and sex‐specific fishing mortality between the two areas, males and females are of approximately equal average size in the fished area, whereas males tend to be larger in the reserve. Our results show that females would mate with males larger than their own body size, but the relative size difference was significantly larger in the reserve. Sexual selection acted positively on both body size and claw size in males in the reserve, while it was nonsignificant in fished areas. This strongly suggests that size truncation of males by fishing reduces the variability of traits that sexual selection acts upon. If fisheries continue to target large individuals (particularly males) with higher relative reproductive success, the weakening of sexual selection will likely accelerate fisheries‐induced evolution towards smaller body size.