bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Response diversity, functional redundancy, and post‐logging productivity in northern temperate and boreal forests
Authors: Correia David Laginha Pinto , Raulier Frédéric , Bouchard Mathieu , Filotas Élise 
Published: April 2018

AbstractThe development of efficient ecosystem resilience indicators was identified as one of the key research priorities in the improvement of existing sustainable forest management frameworks. Two indicators of tree diversity associated with ecosystem functioning have recently received particular attention in the literature: functional redundancy (FR) and response diversity (RD). We examined how these indicators could be used to predict post‐logging productivity in forests of Québec, Canada. We analysed the relationships between pre‐logging FR and RD, as measured with sample plots, and post‐logging productivity, measured as seasonal variation in enhanced vegetation index obtained from MODIS satellite imagery. The effects of the deciduous and coniferous tree components in our pre‐disturbance diversity assessments were isolated in order to examine the hypothesis that they have different impacts on post‐disturbance productivity. We also examined the role of tree species richness and species identity effects. Our analysis revealed the complementary nature of traditional biodiversity indicators and trait‐based approaches in the study of biodiversity–ecosystem‐functioning relationships in dynamic ecosystems. We report a significant and positive relationship between pre‐disturbance deciduous RD and post‐disturbance productivity, as well as an unexpected significant negative effect of coniferous RD on productivity. This negative relationship with post‐logging productivity likely results from slower coniferous regeneration speeds and from the relatively short temporal scale examined. Negative black‐spruce‐mediated identity effects were likely associated with increased stand vulnerability to paludification and invasion by ericaceous shrubs that slow down forest regeneration. Response diversity outperformed functional redundancy as a measure of post‐disturbance productivity most likely due to the stand‐replacing nature of the disturbance considered. To the best of our knowledge, this is among the first studies to report a negative significant relationship between a component of RD and ecosystem functioning, namely coniferous RD and forest ecosystem productivity after a stand‐replacing disturbance.
Differential levels of gene expression and molecular mechanisms between red maple (Acer rubrum) genotypes resistant and susceptible to nickel toxicity revealed by transcriptome analysis
Authors: Nkongolo Kabwe , Theriault Gabriel , Michael Paul 
Published: April 2018

AbstractKnowledge of regulation of genes associated with metal resistance in higher plants is very limited. Many plant species have developed different genetic mechanisms and metabolic pathways to cope with metal toxicity. The main objectives of this study were to 1) assess gene expression dynamics of A. rubrum in response to nickel (Ni) stress and 2) describe gene function based on ontology. Certified A. rubrum genotypes were treated with 1,600 mg of Ni per 1 Kg of soil corresponding to a soil total nickel content in a metal‐contaminated region in Ontario, Canada. Nickel resistant and susceptible genotypes were selected and used for transcriptome analysis. Overall, 223,610,443 bases were generated. Trinity reads were assembled to trinity transcripts. The transcripts were mapped to protein sequences and after quality controls and appropriate trimmings, 66,783 annotated transcripts were selected as expressed among the libraries. The study reveals that nickel treatment at a high dose of 1,600 mg/kg triggers regulation of several genes. When nickel‐resistant genotypes were compared to water controls, 6,263 genes were upregulated and 3,142 were downregulated. These values were 3,308 and 2,176, respectively, when susceptible genotypes were compared to water control. The coping mechanism of A. rubrum to Ni toxicity was elucidated. Upregulation of genes associated with transport in cytosol was prevalent in resistant genotypes compared to controls while upregulation of genes associated with translation in the ribosome was higher in susceptible genotypes when compared to water. The analysis revealed no major gene associated with Ni resistance in A. rubrum. Overall, the results of this study suggest that the genetic mechanism controlling the resistance of this species to nickel is controlled by genes with limited expression. The subtle differences between resistant and susceptible genotypes in gene regulation were detected using water‐treated genotypes as references.
Dispersal capacity explains the evolution of lifespan variability
Authors: Galván Ismael , Møller Anders P. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractThe evolutionary explanation for lifespan variation is still based on the antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis, which has been challenged by several studies. Alternative models assume the existence of genes that favor aging and group benefits at the expense of reductions in individual lifespans. Here we propose a new model without making such assumptions. It considers that limited dispersal can generate, through reduced gene flow, spatial segregation of individual organisms according to lifespan. Individuals from subpopulations with shorter lifespan could thus resist collapse in a growing population better than individuals from subpopulations with longer lifespan, hence reducing lifespan variability within species. As species that disperse less may form more homogeneous subpopulations regarding lifespan, this may lead to a greater capacity to maximize lifespan that generates viable subpopulations, therefore creating negative associations between dispersal capacity and lifespan across species. We tested our model with individual‐based simulations and a comparative study using empirical data of maximum lifespan and natal dispersal distance in 26 species of birds, controlling for the effects of genetic variability, body size, and phylogeny. Simulations resulted in maximum lifespans arising from lowest dispersal probabilities, and comparative analyses resulted in a negative association between lifespan and natal dispersal distance, thus consistent with our model. Our findings therefore suggest that the evolution of lifespan variability is the result of the ecological process of dispersal.
Effects of Ionomer Carbon Ratio and Ionomer Dispersity on the Performance and Durability of MEAs
Authors: Lee M.‐R. , Lee H.‐Y. , Yim S.‐D. , Kim C.‐S. , Shul Y.‐G. , Kucernak A. , Shin D. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractMembrane‐electrode assemblies (MEAs) are fabricated using different catalysts and ionomers, in order to investigate the effects of these factors on the performance and stability of the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Platinum catalysts with different degrees of graphitization in the carbon support (less graphitized: Tanaka, more graphitized: RTX) are used. Perfluorosulfonic acid polymer‐based ionomers with water‐based or organic solvent‐based solvents are also prepared as binders for the electrode. The optimum composition of catalyst and ionomer is identified based on the results of cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, single cell performance, and long‐term durability tests. Tanaka catalyst and water‐based ionomer show the best performance and durability. In addition, the ionomer to carbon (I/C) weight ratio affects the fuel cell performance, and the optimum value is I/C = 1 for both water‐based and organic solvent‐based ionomers.
The Predicament of Bank Creditors in Chinese Bankruptcy and the Way Out
Authors: Wei Chuyi , Chen Yongwei 
Published: April 2018

AbstractAlthough Chinese banks are the major creditors for companies in China, their role in bankruptcy is often neglected. Even if this may be justified in the past, as banks did not assume an important role, it is not the case now as banks have become more proactive in the bankruptcy procedure and begin to conduct debt‐for‐equity swaps under the initiative of the government. This article considers the role of Chinese banks in bankruptcy both in and out of formal bankruptcy procedure. It argues that based on the reality of the country, especially its corporate governance structure, bank intervention is feasible for corporate rescues in China. The debt‐for‐equity swap scheme could be the start. Copyright © 2018 INSOL International and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Association between pelvic organ prolapse types and levator‐urethra gap as measured by 3D transperineal ultrasound
Authors: Kozma Bence , Larson Kindra , Scott Lauren , Cunningham Tina D. , Abuhamad Alfred , Poka Robert , Takacs Peter 
Published: April 2018

ObjectivesTo evaluate the association between pelvic organ prolapse (POP) types and levator‐urethra gap (LUG) as measured by 3‐dimensional transperineal tomographic ultrasound.MethodsA retrospective study was carried out on 98 women with symptomatic POP. Three‐dimensional transperineal tomographic ultrasound images and POP quantification coordinates were reviewed. Each vaginal compartment was staged for the degree of prolapse, and total number of involved compartments identified. LUG was measured on 3‐dimensional tomographic sonograms as the distance between the center of the urethra and the levator insertion bilaterally. Based on prior studies, an abnormal LUG of 25 mm or greater indicated levator avulsion. The LUG and the presence or absence of unilateral/bilateral avulsions was analyzed with reference to the clinical diagnosis of prolapse (single versus multicompartment, and mild [stage II] versus severe [stage III–IV]). Generalized logit models were used to evaluate the association between avulsion and prolapse type and stage.ResultsThe LUG was substantially larger in women with multicompartment compared to single‐compartment POP (28.9 ± 4.1 mm versus 22.7 ± 4.1 mm, P < .01). Similarly, LUG was substantially larger in women with severe (stage III–IV) compared to mild (stage II) POP (28.8 ± 4.7 mm versus 23.3 ± 4.5 mm, P < .01). Women with severe prolapse were 32 times more likely than women with mild prolapse to have bilateral levator avulsion. Those with POP involving all 3 vaginal compartments were 76 times more likely than single‐compartment POP to have bilateral levator avulsions.ConclusionsBilateral levator ani avulsion as diagnosed by LUG measurements of 25 mm or greater at rest is associated with multicompartment, severe prolapse.
Effectiveness of protected areas in preventing rubber expansion and deforestation in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China
Authors: Sarathchandra Chaya , Dossa Gbadamassi G.O. , Ranjitkar Niranjan Bhakta , Chen Huafang , Deli Zhai , Ranjitkar Sailesh , de Silva Kaluwa Handi Wasana Lalanthi , Wickramasinghe Sriyani , Xu Jianchu , Harrison Rhett D. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractProtected areas (PAs) are supposedly key refuges for the world's remaining biodiversity. Our study site, Xishuangbanna, harbors a high proportion of China's biodiversity but is threatened by rapid deforestation and expansion of monoculture rubber. We quantified the success of Xishuangbanna's PAs in preventing deforestation. Most previous analyses of PA effectiveness have insufficiently accounted for biases arising from PA location and establishment, because they overlooked the importance of site‐matching in accounting for landscape change. We used matching methods to minimize such biases in comparing land use conversion rates inside and outside‐PAs. By 2010, Xishuangbanna had 3,455.5 km2 (~18%) designated as PAs. However, rubber occupied 22% of its land area and was expanding at a rate of 153.4 km2/year. Between 1988 and 2010, conventional analysis showed a deforestation rate of 9.3 km2/year. However, matching analysis showed a significantly higher rate of deforestation, 10.7 km2/year, which resulted in the deforestation of ~11% of PA's land. We argue that PAs were less effective than had previously been thought. The situation worsened from 2002 to 2010, when the deforestation rate within PAs was actually higher than that of outside PAs, although this difference was not significant. The designated higher levels of protection in ‘core’ zones were also unsuccessful in preventing deforestation. At current rates, within the next 50 years, a further 16% of PAs would be deforested in Xishuangbanna. This could even be an underestimate, as without intervention, drivers of deforestation tend to accelerate. Therefore, reviewing and strengthening current PA management policies is essential.
Low‐Temperature Wafer‐Scale Deposition of Continuous 2D SnS2 Films
Authors: Mattinen Miika , King Peter J. , Khriachtchev Leonid , Meinander Kristoffer , Gibbon James T. , Dhanak Vin R. , Räisänen Jyrki , Ritala Mikko , Leskelä Markku 
Published: April 2018

AbstractSemiconducting 2D materials, such as SnS2, hold immense potential for many applications ranging from electronics to catalysis. However, deposition of few‐layer SnS2 films has remained a great challenge. Herein, continuous wafer‐scale 2D SnS2 films with accurately controlled thickness (2 to 10 monolayers) are realized by combining a new atomic layer deposition process with low‐temperature (250 °C) postdeposition annealing. Uniform coating of large‐area and 3D substrates is demonstrated owing to the unique self‐limiting growth mechanism of atomic layer deposition. Detailed characterization confirms the 1T‐type crystal structure and composition, smoothness, and continuity of the SnS2 films. A two‐stage deposition process is also introduced to improve the texture of the films. Successful deposition of continuous, high‐quality SnS2 films at low temperatures constitutes a crucial step toward various applications of 2D semiconductors.
Diplomatic Gifts: Rethinking Colonial Politics in Uganda through Objects
Authors: Bennett Alison 
Published: April 2018

Abstract:This article examines the material underpinnings of the political diplomacy pursued by Ugandan leaders towards European colonial figures in the late nineteenth century. Imperial historians have traditionally understood the institutional processes of treaty-making, diplomacy and state administration as part of the workings of the European “Official Mind.” As such, analyses have been overwhelmingly based upon written colonial sources such as governmental papers. This article provides an alternative perspective on institutional life in Uganda by demonstrating that material objects also served as sites of political praxis for both the governed and those governing when exchanged in the form of a gift. The products of these exchanges can be found in museums across Uganda, Kenya, and Britain. Their biographies shed important new light on the interactions between the material and political worlds as well as between local leaders and the imperial state, yet they have received little critical attention from historians. This article seeks to reinstate their role into the political process, and in doing so, reconfigures our understanding of these different imperial institutions.
The Alur-ization of Aidan Southall – Contested Ethnonymic Traditions in North-Western Uganda
Authors: Browne Adrian J. 
Published: April 2018

Abstract:This article concerns some of the personal commitments and relationships that compelled British anthropologist Aidan Southall to write his seminal essay titled “The Illusion of Tribe” (1970). It analyzes the contested ethnic movement that Southall’s doctoral work on the Alur obscured, the reasons for this act of concealment, and the ways these experiences shaped the ideas he later advanced.
Effects of dietary supplementation with milk fat globule membrane on the physical performance of community-dwelling Japanese adults: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Authors: Kokai Yasuo , Mikami Nana , Tada Mitsuhiro , Tomonobu Kazuichi , Ochiai Ryuji , Osaki Noriko , Katsuragi Yoshihisa , Sohma Hitoshi , Ito Yoichi M. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractWe conducted a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to elucidate the effects of dietary milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) on the physical performance of community-dwelling Japanese adults. For this 24-week study, 115 middle-aged subjects (range 50–70 years old) were invited, of whom 113 (seventy-two women, forty-one men) completed the trial. Participants were then divided into either the placebo control or MFGM group. Measurements of physical performance (without undertaking any mandatory exercise) examining muscle strength, agility and balance were tested every 6 weeks until 24 weeks. Analyses were performed using the intention-to-treat method for all participants. Although the effects of MFGM on muscle strength and agility were not significant, we noted that the parameter for balance (such as the ability to stand on one leg with eyes closed for longer durations) increased in the MFGM group (mean 10·1 (95 % CI 8·25, 12·4) s) compared with the placebo (mean 7·53 (95 % CI 6·11, 9·30) s) (P = 0·046). Similarly, application of the mixed-effect model for repeated measures under unstructured covariance also revealed that the effect of MFGM was significant when compared with the placebo (10·2 (95 % CI 8·33, 12·4) v. 7·61 (95 % CI 6·17, 9·30) s) (P = 0·045). In conclusion, we demonstrated that MFGM had an effect on the physical performance of community-dwelling Japanese adults despite mandatory exercise. However, studies using larger cohorts of individuals from different demographic backgrounds are required to further elucidate the mechanisms underlying these effects and to extend the application of MFGM.
Risk of neurological, eye and ear disease in offspring to parents with schizophrenia or depression compared with offspring to healthy parents
Authors: Gunnarsdóttir Elin Dianna , Hällgren Jonas , Hultman Christina M , McNeil Thomas F , Crisby Milita , Sandin Sven 
Published: April 2018

AbstractBackgroundNeurological, visual and hearing deviations have been observed in the offspring of parents with schizophrenia. This study test whether children to parents hospitalized with schizophrenia have increased the likelihood of childhood neurological disorder.MethodsAmong all parents in Sweden born 1950–1985 and with offspring born 1968–2002: 7107 children with a parent hospitalized for schizophrenia were compared to 172 982 children with no parents hospitalized for schizophrenia or major depression, as well as to 32 494 children with a parent hospitalized for major depression as a control population with another severe psychiatric outcome. We estimated relative risks (RR) and two-sided 95% confidence intervals calculated from Poisson regression.ResultsChildren to parents with schizophrenia were more likely than controls to have been hospitalized before the age of 10 with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, RR = 1.76 (95% CI: 1.15–2.69); epilepsy, RR = 1.78 (95% CI: 1.33–2.40), combined neurological disease, RR = 1.33 (95% CI: 1.11–1.60) and certain diseases of the eye, RR = 1.92 (95% CI: 1.17–3.15) and ear, RR = 1.18 (95% CI: 1.05–1.32). Similar disease-risk-pattern was found for children to parents hospitalized with a diagnosis of major depression. A specific risk increase for strabismus RR = 1.21 (95%CI: 1.05–1.40) was found for off-spring with parental depression.ConclusionsCompared with children to healthy parents, children to parents with schizophrenia have increased risk of a variety of neurological disorders as well as visual and hearing disorders at an early age. The risk increase was not specific to schizophrenia but was also seen in children to parents with a diagnosis of major depression.
What Happened in the Summer ofa.d. 122? Hadrian on the British Frontier — Archaeology, Epigraphy and Historical Agency
Authors: Graafstal Erik 
Published: April 2018

AbstractIn the summer ofa.d.122, Hadrian (a.d.117–38) visited Britain as part of his first major journey. It is broadly accepted that the construction of Hadrian's Wall was inaugurated on this occasion. Following recent advances in Upper Germany where thelimespalisade is now known to have been under construction when Hadrian visited the province, this paper re-examines the various strands of evidence for the early chronology of the Wall. It is argued that work started well beforea.d.122 and that it was in fact the ‘fort decision’ which resulted from the imperial visit. The revised sequence offers a fresh perspective on several classic Wall problems and prepares the ground for a new understanding of unique features like the milecastles and Vallum.
Transverse electromagnetic Hermite–Gaussian mode-driven direct laser acceleration of electron under the influence of axial magnetic field
Authors: Ghotra Harjit Singh , Jaroszynski Dino , Ersfeld Bernhard , Saini Nareshpal Singh , Yoffe Samuel , Kant Niti 
Published: April 2018

AbstractHermite–Gaussian (HG) laser beam with transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode indices (m, n) of distinct values (0, 1), (0, 2), (0, 3), and (0, 4) has been analyzed theoretically for direct laser acceleration (DLA) of electron under the influence of an externally applied axial magnetic field. The propagation characteristics of a TEM HG beam in vacuum control the dynamics of electron during laser–electron interaction. The applied magnetic field strengthens the $\vec v \times \vec B$ force component of the fields acting on electron for the occurrence of strong betatron resonance. An axially confined enhanced acceleration is observed due to axial magnetic field. The electron energy gain is sensitive not only to mode indices of TEM HG laser beam but also to applied magnetic field. Higher energy gain in GeV range is seen with higher mode indices in the presence of applied magnetic field. The obtained results with distinct TEM modes would be helpful in the development of better table top accelerators of diverse needs.